Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (32 page)

“It’s William,” she said as she answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, we’re pretty much done here. We’ll be home in an hour, maybe less.”

“That’s good. How did it go?”

“Not terribly great. We’ve got a name, but it looks like we’ve also acquired another travelling companion.”

“What? You better not mean Sabine.”

William sighed. “It’s not my first choice either, but we do what we have to.”

“We’ll talk more about this when you get home. I need more details.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in an hour. I love you.”

“Love you back,” Jilly replied before hanging up. “Well, we’ve got an hour before we need to be home. Want to grab some lunch?” Hannah nodded and they went to find Katya and Emily. Ten minutes later, they were all seated, eating salads at a local deli.

“So, did Will call you?” Katya asked.

“Yeah, I’m assuming you asked because Nik called you,” Jilly replied wryly.

“I’m not super excited about Sabine coming with us, either; but I think we should hear the guys out,” Katya said. Jilly nodded in agreement.

“Someone want to fill me in?” Emily asked.

Jilly laughed. “Sorry Em. It looks like Sabine knows the location of the guy who’s after the girls. We’re going to have to take her with us if we want to find him.”

“Well, that sucks,” Emily said.

“It totally does, but we have no other choice.”

Emily nodded. “That makes sense, I guess; I just don’t like it.”

“None of us do, my friend. We all hate this,” Jilly said as she finished her sandwich.

“Okay, ladies, let’s go talk strategy with the men,” Katya said as she pushed her chair back.

Everyone was seated in Jilly’s living room forty-five minutes later. Patrick had called Caroline and she was there as well.

“Okay, so tell us everything,” Jilly said.

William spoke up first. “Sabine says the man she works for is named Valdus; he’s a vampire. It’s going to make things a bit trickier.”

“Why does a vampire want us?” Caroline asked.

“That’s a good question, Caroline. We have no idea. I’m assuming it has something to do with power. Nik got a call from his friend who was looking over those plans we found at Sabine’s place in New York. He says it’s an extractor of sorts, but he’s not entirely sure what it does, yet. We’re going to meet up with him when we get to Europe,” William replied.

“Are we really bringing Sabine with us?” Caroline asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid we have no choice.” William said. “She will not reveal Valdus’ location to us unless we bring her with us. Now, Nik and I both agree she’s going to try and pull something while we’re there; so don’t think we’re not worried as well.”

Nikolai spoke next. “We’re planning on leaving in a day or so. Will that give everyone enough time to get what they need ready?” He looked around the room and everyone nodded. “Okay then, we’ll be heading to Germany first, to meet with my friend. Sabine will try and contact Valdus when we arrive. We’ll go from there.”

“Are we through, here?” Patrick asked.

“Yes, I suppose we are; unless anyone else has something to say.” No one spoke up, so Patrick got up and headed for the door.

Caroline stood up as well and shot Jilly a small smile. “We should talk soon, okay?” she asked. Jilly nodded and Caroline followed Patrick out the door.

“Well, that was abrupt,” Jilly laughed.

“My brother is nothing if not succinct,” William replied.

Hannah spoke up finally. “Am I going with you guys?”

“Only if you want to. Emily said you could stay with her and Adam, if you’d like,” Jilly replied.

Hannah shook her head. “I think I want to go, if that’s okay with everyone.”

“Of course it is. This is about you as much as anyone else. So, if you want to go, then you’ll go.”

“Ok, thanks. I guess I should start packing. I’ll see you guys later.” She walked upstairs with an armload full of bags. There were still numerous bags lined up against the wall by the stairs.

“Want to help me take these up?” Jilly asked William.

“Sure,” he said and they each grabbed as many bags as they could carry and marched up the stairs to Hannah’s room.

Later that night, William was laying on Jilly’s bed watching TV while she gathered up her things for the trip.

“What should I be packing?” Jilly called out from her closet.

“You’ll want warm stuff. It gets pretty cold in Germany and Romania,” William replied.

She emerged with her arms full of hangers and jeans. After tossing them on the chair by the TV, she returned to her closet to grab some more things. She snagged her suitcases and came out to start packing.

“I think I’ve got enough for a few weeks. Should I bring more?”

“What? No, that’s fine. We can always buy you more things if you need them,” William said, his attention clearly on
Mythbusters
and not on Jilly.

She laughed and started throwing things into the bags on the floor. “When are you packing?”

“Hm? I think tomorrow at some point. I need to go shopping for a new coat to bring. Plus there are a few odds and ends I want to pick up.”

“Is the show really that good, Will?” Jilly asked with a laugh.

He looked at her. “Have you never watched
Mythbusters
?” She shook her head. “Well, my darling, you’ve been missing out. It brings out my inner nerd. They do all sorts of crazy things.”

Jilly shook her head and went on with her packing. An hour later, she was completely done and she joined William on the bed, kicking off her boots on the way.

“Mmm, it feels so nice to just lay here with you,” she purred.

“I know. It seems like we’ve been too busy to relax for a while,” he replied.

She smiled seductively and turned on her side to look at him. “Want to play pretend?”

He smiled back. “How do I play?”

“Well, we pretend that nothing exists outside of this room for tonight. Everyone and everything can take care of themselves for a night, don’t you think?” William made a noise and pounced on Jilly. She squealed in delight. “Wait, wait give me a second,” she said and closed her eyes for a moment.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I made us a Do Not Disturb Until Morning sign for the door,” she said triumphantly. “Now, where were we?”

“Mmm, here, I think,” William said as he kissed her neck.

“Why do you have so many clothes on?” she asked him as she pulled his shirt off.

“I could ask you the same question,” he shot back as he stripped off her shirt and bra. He sighed as he looked at her. “Jilly, you are so amazingly beautiful. I could probably stare at your naked body for the rest of my life and be happy.”

Jilly laughed. “That is such a man thing to say; but thank you. You’re not hard on the eyes either, my love. Now, lose the pants, will you?”

He complied and pulled off his pants, leaving him standing completely naked in front of her. He motioned for her to do the same and then swept her off her feet onto the bed, relishing the feel of her skin against his own. He trailed his way down her body with his mouth until he came to the spot that made her grab the sheets and scream.

He looked up at her, enjoying the flush that appeared with her pleasure. “I can’t be gentle, tonight,” he growled into her ear as he moved on top of her.

“Who said anything about gentle?” she growled as she wrapped her legs around his hips.

The next morning at breakfast, Katya gave Jilly a knowing smile. “We saw your little sign on the door. Did you guys enjoy yourselves?”

“William helped me with my packing,” Jilly joked.

“Packing? Is that what the kids are calling it now?” Katya said with a laugh. Hannah came down the stairs into the kitchen a few moments later.

“Hush your mouth,” Jilly hissed at Katya.

“Morning,” Hannah said, as she grabbed a glass of juice and a bagel.

“Good morning, darling. How did you sleep?” Katya asked her.

“I had a few weird dreams, but okay, I guess.”

Jilly’s brow furrowed with worry. “What did you dream about?”

“Mostly about a man with dark hair and dark eyes. I don’t know what he wanted, but he was in all of my dreams; just watching me and waiting for something to happen.”

“Hm, I guess that would be Valdus, then?” Jilly looked at William.

“I have never met Valdus. I only know him by reputation,” William said carefully.

Jilly was not fond of the tone in his voice when he said reputation. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, signaling her to talk about it later. She nodded and turned her attention back to Hannah. “Try not to worry about him, honey.”

Hannah shrugged. “I never really worry too much about my dreams, anymore. They happen whether I do or not.”

Katya smiled. “That’s a wonderful attitude to have.” Hannah smiled and bit into her bagel. Nikolai came down the stairs a few minutes later and he and Katya left to run some errands before the flight that evening.

“What are you going to do today, Jill?” William asked.

“I think I’m having an uncomfortable conversation with Caroline,” Jilly said with a groan.

William laughed, spitting out his coffee. “Well, enjoy that. I need to run to the mall and to my apartment. Hannah, do you want to come with me?”

Hannah looked extremely excited to be asked to go. “Yeah, that sounds cool,” she said.

“Wonderful, we’ll leave in an hour or so, okay?”

“Okay, I’m going to go and get ready then. Jilly, can I use your blow dryer?” Hannah asked as she got up from the table.

“Yeah, it’s in the middle drawer in my bathroom. Buy yourself one today while you’re out, along with anything else you need for your hair.”

Hannah’s eyes lit up. “Really? That’s so awesome.”

“Yes, really. I told you yesterday, you’re family now; so anything you need, you’ll get,” Jilly replied. “Now scoot upstairs and get ready.” She shooed Hannah out of the kitchen with her hands. “Thanks for taking her with you, today. I kind of get the feeling she’s starving for a father figure in her life.”

“I got that feeling, too. This is a weird situation because she already has a father.”

“I know, but the father she has may not be the one she wants. Just be there for her when she needs you,” Jilly said, and then kissed him on the cheek. “I’m going to go up and call my sister, then jump in the shower. If you need me, that’s where I’ll be.”

“Okay, love. I’ll be, well, I don’t know what I’m going to do; but I’ll be around the house, somewhere. Enjoy your shower.” He kissed her gently on the lips and smacked her butt as she walked past him.

“William!” Jilly squealed and ran up the stairs. She snatched her phone off the nightstand and called her sister.

“Caroline?” Jilly asked, when her sister picked up.

“Yeah, it’s me. What’s up?” Caroline replied.

“Do you want to come over and talk for a bit? William and Hannah are going to run some errands and Nik and Kat left a while ago for the day.”

“Um, yeah, we probably should try and clear the air a bit before this trip. I’ll be over in like forty minutes; I need to jump in the shower.”

“Yeah, I’m about to do the same. I’ll see you soon,” Jilly said and hung up the phone. She went in the bathroom and turned the water on in the shower. Once it was sufficiently warm, Jilly stripped off her clothes and hopped in. She let the water wash away all of her worries and concerns. She felt all of her muscles begin to relax, and she grabbed her shampoo and began to lather her hair up. She rinsed out the suds and slathered conditioner on her hair before grabbing her razor to shave. As soon as she was nice and smooth, she rinsed the conditioner out and lathered herself up with body wash.

“Something smells nice in here,” William said, somewhere in the steamy bathroom.

“That would be me,” Jilly said with a laugh.

“I figured as much. Are you almost done?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Hannah needs the blow-dryer. She wasn’t sure if you were going to use it, too.”

“Just grab it. I’m not going to dry my hair,” Jilly said as she stepped out of the shower.

William took one look at her glistening body and shook his head. “You are not making it easy for me to be fully clothed over here.”