Blood Rush (The Lost Witch Trilogy #2) (27 page)

Race’s whole body vibrated with energy and his fingers started to glow. “You killed my wife last time we saw each other and if you touch my daughter, I’ll kill you,” he promised, his eyes blazing with fury.

Charles shook his head at Race, his pale blue eyes lighting up. “You never could control your temper Race. And you don’t want to start throwing out threats cousin. We are in a police department if you haven’t noticed,” he said with a laugh.

Race growled deep in his throat and moved forward, but Gretchen held on to his arm tightly, whispering frantically in his ear.

Charles switched his gaze back to Sarah. “Please don’t believe anything your father has told you about me my dear. I never meant to hurt your mother. She accidently got between your father and I during a heated discussion and was hurt. I’ve suffered over it and will do anything I can to make it up to you. I hope you’ll forgive me and know that I would never intentionally hurt another human being,” he said stepping closer to her and staring into her eyes unblinkingly.

Race swore viciously at the lies as Sarah looked away from Charles’s cold blue gaze. It felt like he was trying to look into her soul. She felt her stomach clench with nausea and sweat break out on her forehead. When she refused to respond, Charles frowned at her.

“I’ve just moved back to town Sarah. I think it’s time we got to know each other better. I’m very much looking forward to having a close relationship with you,” he said in a low intimate voice that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

Zane’s arm tightened protectively around her. She spoke to his mind quickly.
Don’t say anything! Don’t do anything. Don’t draw his attention to you. Slowly remove your arm from around me. Let me handle this.
She waited until Zane’s arm fell away from her before answering.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible as we’re leaving today,” she said firmly looking Charles in the eye fearlessly.

Charles grinned and looked down at his feet guiltily before looking back at her. “About that . . . , you won’t be going anywhere. Your father and all of his friends here can leave any time they want to. But you darling, must stay. I insist on it,” he said softly, staring at her mouth.

Sarah felt an icy coldness wrap around her middle, squeezing the breath from her lungs. She allowed the power she was holding back to envelop her core and push the cold back. Charles’s eyes narrowed at her, but she refused to look away in fear. “I won’t let you break me,” she whispered.

Charles smiled gently and reached out a finger to touch her chin. She barely held her energy back as it leaped to attack. She allowed the small touch as he spoke. “I won’t break you if you come to me
willingly
. You have a choice Sarah. It’s pretty easy if you ask me. Come to me. Be mine in all the ways I want you to be and your power will be safe. Your family will be safe. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you. And you will have a life you’ve never imagined. I can give you everything Sarah. Anything you want will be yours.
Anything
,” he said, staring hard into her eyes.

Sarah shivered uncontrollably. “And if I say no?” she whispered.

Charles frowned and stepped back. “Then I’m afraid you’ll be mine anyways. But you’ll be broken and bound to me. For some strange reason, I find that I want you like you are right now, beautiful, strong, powerful and free. But one way or another, you will be mine. I won’t have it any other way.”

Race roared and bunched his muscles to fling himself at Charles. Charles glanced at him with derision and flicked a finger towards him. Race’s face went white and he grabbed his throat, clawing at it as he fell back onto Lash. Lash tried valiantly to keep Race standing up, but had to lower him to the ground as the older man fought for his life.

Sarah gasped and threw her power around her father, but Charles’s energy was there first and she couldn’t break through. Zane rushed to Race’s other side and held his arm. Together he and Sarah were able to push through Charles’s hold on her father’s throat and break it. Race gasped for air and came to his knees while Gretchen and Agnes hovered over him anxiously.

Sarah looked back at Charles and glared. She glanced around the police department but the few secretaries and officers still there were ignoring them completely. Charles had done something. He could murder them all right there, and no one would pay any attention. They were at his mercy.

Charles raised an eyebrow at her. “You keep surprising me by how strong you are. I can just imagine what it will be like when we’re together.”

Sarah bit her lip and looked down at her father who was still recovering and at the people she cared about and then lastly at Zane. He glanced up at her and their eyes held. Her love for him overwhelmed her. Zane’s words came into her mind.

We’ll find a way. Don’t give in to him. Fight for yourself. Fight for me. Fight for us!

Charlie stepped forward towards Charles. “You’re my father. Aren’t you even going to acknowledge me? That’s the least you could do after kidnapping me the other day.”

Charles’s gaze swung to his daughter and he frowned as if he were puzzled. “I’ve heard a rumor that I could be your father. I’m looking into the possibility. If it turns out I am, you may join me. If not, then it doesn’t matter. Your power is weak and useless to me. Of course I can magnify the power you have but it would take considerable effort and I find myself busy at the moment,” he said turning to stare at Sarah again.

Charlie’s face fell in hurt and disappointment and her pale cheeks turned red. “Then why did you kidnap me?
Huh
? Why did you have me drugged by that psychopath if you didn’t want me?” she yelled, her hazel eyes turning bright and frantic.

Charles shrugged in irritation as he was forced to look once again at his daughter. “It was merely a means to an end. By the way, I brought you your jacket Sarah. I wouldn’t want you to be cold,” he said, holding the coat Sarah had thrown on the ground when she’d been trapped by his invisible cage.

Sarah reached out for her coat and swallowed hard. Charles frowned at her in consternation. “If you’d just stayed put like a good girl, none of this would have been necessary. People wouldn’t have been hurt. You could have been with me this whole time. But I must commend you on your ingenuity.
And your power
. I wish I had been there to see you. What a sight you must have been,” he said, his eyes glowing with admiration and something else that made her step back instinctively.

“Is that why you killed your grandmother? Because you didn’t get your way?” she asked quietly, staring at the twisted man in front of her.

Charles sighed heavily and put his hands in his pants pockets as he tilted his head and looked at her sadly. “My grandmother was a very cruel woman Sarah. She may have given you the impression that she’s good and kind, but underneath it all, she was controlling and uncaring and vicious. I take no responsibility for the death of my grandmother, but I will say this. Whatever happened to her, she had it coming. She’s done everything in her power to destroy me. I’m a good man who’s been misunderstood and treated unfairly Sarah.

Sarah felt like screaming and crying at the lies Charles was spouting but she knew she had to stay calm and in control. If she lost it, then her power would take over and there’d be a witch fight like no other and someone would die. And that someone would most likely be Zane. She breathed in and out slowly while she attempted to calm down. When she was finally able to look up, it was to see Charles watching her avidly.

“Come with me now Sarah. Let’s begin our lives together this minute. The more I see you, the more I know that we’re meant to be together.”

Sarah felt Zane humming with fury at Charles’s words and knew she had to do something fast or it was all over. She cleared her throat and pushed her hair over her ears before answering.

“I need some time to think over your proposition. I would like a month,” she said, turning to stand in front of everyone.

Charles smiled slowly and took a step closer to her. He reached out and touched a strand of red hair and sighed in pleased contentment.

“It seems like I’ve waited forever for you. I’ll gladly give you one month darling. But get used to seeing me around town. I have a copy of my grandmother’s will and strangely enough, she left her home and all of her worldly goods to me. I think it’s her little way of making up for the way she’s treated me. If you get lonely or you find you don’t need a month after all, you can always find me there,” he said softly and then leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

Sarah gasped at the feel of his mouth on her face and was immediately chilled to the bone. She fought the urge to step back and let out a shaky breath as he finally ended the kiss. He looked deeply into her eyes and then smiled before turning around and walking out of the police department.

Sarah scrubbed hard at her cheek where he had kissed her and turned to look at her father. Gretchen and Lash were helping him to stand while Agnes stood to the side with Zane and Charlie, looking at her with sad, hopeless eyes.

“Oh my poor girl, what are we going to do?” Agnes asked in despair.

Zane walked the three steps to Sarah, pulling her in to his arms and holding her tightly. “We’ll figure something out. I won’t let him have you,” he swore, staring at the place where Charles had stood just moments before.

Race coughed loudly, wheezing in and out before walking towards his daughter. He ran his hand over her hair sadly as he looked at her with worry in his eyes. Sarah held tighter to Zane and closed her eyes. If there was a way to save herself and her family, she would find it.

She had one month.

Sneak Peak at Fate Changer – Book #3 in The Lost Witch Trilogy

Chapter 1 - A Change in Plans

Sarah walked out of the Police Station and felt hollowed out. She closed her eyes as a cold breeze wrapped around her, squeezing all the remaining warmth from her. It wasn’t even noon yet and she had flown with Zane on the beach, seen her great-grandmother’s murdered body and been propositioned by Charles Langford, an evil, psychotic witch. Yep, today wasn’t turning out the way she had planned.

Sarah felt two arms wrap around her from behind. She stiffened automatically but then relaxed back into Zane’s warm, strong arms. The cold breeze had no choice but to evaporate.

“I can feel your sadness. Please don’t give up hope Sarah,” Zane whispered into her ear.

Sarah sighed and nodded her head. “I won’t. Let’s get out of here though. We can’t talk here. I can feel him watching us.”

Zane let go of her and they turned around to see her father Race, Zane’s mother Gretchen, his grandmother, Agnes and Lash and Charlie walk out of the building and join them. Sarah frowned at her father. Race Livingston was normally radiant with health and strength but he looked weak, pale and miserable now. Understandable considering Charles had tried to kill him just moments before, but there was something else there now. Sarah walked quickly to her father and reached up around his neck to hug him.

“Dad, everything’s going to be okay. Let’s go back to your house so we can talk,” she said, pulling back to look up into his face.

Race closed his eyes as if he were in pain but nodded his head. “We might as well.”

Sarah looked back over her shoulder at Zane and frowned worriedly. It was as if Charles Langford had sucked the life out of her father. Zane winced and walked quickly to his mother and grandmother and ushered them toward the cars. Sarah waited and joined Zane in his jeep. They drove in silence the few blocks to her father’s home and joined everyone in the front room. She stared at her father’s comfortable home, decorated in a simplistic masculine style and missed her grandmother’s ocean side mansion with a hard twist of her heart. Charles Langford had not only murdered her grandmother, he’d taken over her home as well and she would never step foot in that house again if she had anything to say about it. But that didn’t stop her from missing it.

Everyone piled into the room, stripping off coats and jackets and finding places to sit. Race went into the kitchen and moments later brought out a couple chairs. He sat in one and then motioned for her to take the other. Sarah felt the complete misery of the small group as if a large weight had settled on her shoulders. Life had picked them all up and thrown them off a cliff.

“What are we going to do?” Gretchen asked, her voice shaky and her eyes red and teary.

Race cleared his throat and shook his head, looking away from the people circling around him and out the window. He ran his hands through his dark tousled hair and shook his head silently. Sarah frowned. Her father had taken on the role of leader from the very beginning and now, when they needed him the most, he was too shaken to even talk.

Sarah looked around the room in agony, wishing she had the answers everyone needed but she didn’t. At least not yet. She felt a warm breeze wrap around her middle and she immediately reached for Zane’s hand. She looked at him and tried to smile, but couldn’t. Zane squeezed her fingers and then stood up.

“Race, I’m so sorry about the death of your grandmother. Francis was an amazing woman and we’re all going to miss her. Right now, even though we want to mourn, we have to plan our strategy. Our first priority is safety. According to Charles, we can all leave. However, Sarah won’t be able to. I think it would be wise for those of us who can leave to do so,” he said, looking at his grandmother and mother.

Gretchen’s mouth fell open in surprise and Agnes looked at him like he was insane.

“Boy, you got another thing coming if you think we’re going to leave now when Sarah needs us the most,” Agnes said, her voice shaking in outrage.

Zane’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “Grandma, you’re a fighter. We all know that, but if you stay, you have to understand that Charles will try to kill you if you stand between him and Sarah.”

Agnes sniffed loudly and smoothed her long tan skirt over her knees. “At least I’ll die knowing that I stood up to evil. No Zane. I mean to stay. I’ll do my part. I won’t turn my back on our girl.”