Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (36 page)

William launched himself at Valdus, but he wasn’t quick enough. Valdus easily stepped to the side and William fought to regain his footing. Once steady on his feet again, he backed into the doorway , ready to protect what was his.

“Where is the lovely Sabine this evening?” Valdus asked, his voice dripping with sugary sweetness.

“How did you find us?” Patrick asked, his voice barely masking the rage he felt.

Valdus laughed. “Do you really believe it was hard for one such as I to find a house belonging to an amaranthine? Who else but an amaranthine would hire all witches to work for him? Now, if you will give me what is mine, I will gladly leave.”

“What exactly do you think is yours?” Jilly spat out, her disgust for him showed palpable.

“I think you know what I desire, young witch. Give me the women and this will end peacefully.”

Jilly laughed, “You may as well wage war then. We’ll never give you the women.” With that, she slammed the door and turned toward William. “Will the door keep him out?”

He nodded. “Vampires cannot enter a home unless invited, so Valdus cannot harm us in here.”

“He knows where we are, now. Is that bad?” Hannah whispered. Jilly had almost forgotten she was there; Hannah had been so quiet during the exchange with Valdus.

“No, honey, it’s not bad. It just sped things up some. Like I told Jilly, we’re fine as long as no one invites him in,” William said with a reassuring pat to her shoulder.

“I’ve been dreaming of him. He says it’s my destiny to be with him,” Hannah said quietly.

A flicker of anger crossed Patrick’s face. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Until there is no breath in my body, I will protect you.” He looked at her with such love and intensity that she had to look away.

“Don’t scare the poor girl,” Caroline whispered into his ear. Patrick shook his head, his expression softening.

“I’m not trying to scare you, Hannah. I just want you to know you’ll always be safe.” Hannah nodded and fled up the grand staircase to her room.

“Well, I suppose we should figure out what’s next, right?” Katya asked.

“Should I retrieve Sabine, then?” Nikolai asked.

William shook his head. “The less she knows about this, the better. I don’t want her being able to tell him anything if she ever gets loose.”

“I guess we need to find Valdus’ hideout? If he’s got Maggie and the machine, it will be there,” Nikolai said. “I’ll have a group of my men doing patrols along the perimeter of the property, just in case. I don’t think he’ll come again, now that the element of surprise is gone; but better safe than sorry.”

“We’ll look during the day. I don’t want that slimy bastard getting the upper hand on us,” Patrick added. “Now, it’s been a very long day and I’m going to go up to sleep. We’ll meet first thing in the morning to plan our attack.” He turned to Caroline. “Coming, love?” Caroline smiled and nodded, kissing Jilly on the cheek as she passed her. “I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

Jilly let William lead her up the stairs to their room. Her mind was not focused on anything but what had just happened. She sat down on the bed in the room and looked up at William.

“What does this mean for Hannah? I’m nervous about the dreams she’s been having,” Jilly said.

William shook his head. “I don’t know what it means; it could just be Valdus persuading a witch to insert him into Hannah’s dreams. If he wants her to go with him, it would make it easier if she already knew and liked him.”

Jilly shrugged. “I guess you’re right about that. I like that idea better than him possessing magic.” She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m so tired of being afraid of everything. I wish we could have an easy life with no vampires trying to wage war against us.” William chuckled and leaned over to kiss her lips.

“I agree with you on that, darling. Life would be much easier without an ancient vampire against us. But that is not the hand we were dealt. We’ll figure all of this out soon, and then hopefully have a somewhat normal life.”

“Do you think we’ll find his hideout?” Jilly asked seriously.

“I honestly don’t know; but if he could find us, we should be able to find him,” William responded.

“How old is he?” Jilly asked.

“From what I know, and I don’t know a lot about him, Valdus was turned when he was twenty by one of the ancients. I believe that was over a thousand years ago.”

Jilly’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? We’re dealing with a vampire who is over a thousand years old? How on earth are we supposed to fight him?” She could feel the hysteria bubbling up to the surface and threatening to burst free.

“Ok, calm down. It’s not as bad as you think. As a witch, and a powerful one at that, you have an arsenal at your disposal to use against Valdus and his minions. I, personally, would stick with fire. We all know that fire kills vampires; it’s one of the only things the myth has gotten right. We’ll think of some more spells to use in the morning. We’ll get Caroline trained up on them.”

Jilly felt her worry beginning to ebb. “Thanks, honey, I guess I worry myself over nothing. If you will excuse me, I’m going to have a long soak in the tub and then we can hit the hay.”

Patrick paced around his room. The rage he had felt earlier had not abated.

“Will you calm down, please?” Caroline asked him for the millionth time since they had come up to their room.

“I will not allow him to take you or Hannah. I cannot let him win.” He was seething with fury.

Caroline got up and walked over to him. “Look at me,” she said softly, taking his chin in her hands and looking into his eyes. “We’re safe now. Nothing is going to happen to us. I love that you want to protect us. Now, will you let me help you relax?” Caroline asked with a glint in her eye.

“How do you propose to do that?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Why don’t you join me on the bed and we’ll see what we can do,” she said with a wink as she walked to the bed. There was a trail of clothes behind her as she walked, leaving her in nothing but skin by the time she reached the bed.

“Your turn, my love,” Caroline whispered. Patrick complied and slowly removed his shirt, revealing his taut stomach and the hard planes of his chest. Caroline loved the way the muscles in his shoulders rippled as he pulled the shirt over his head.

“Like what you see?” he asked softly. Caroline nodded vigorously and motioned for him to continue. He stripped off his pants and leapt on the bed.

“What happened to my strip tease?” Caroline asked with a laugh.

“You looked entirely too inviting for me to go slowly any longer,” he murmured, as he slowly licked the peak of her breast, nipping a little with his teeth.

“Mmm, I thought I was the one who was supposed to be relaxing you, not the other way around,” Caroline said as she wiggled out from underneath him and pressed a kiss to the hollow of his neck. Patrick sighed, resigning himself to her ministrations with a smile.

“As you wish, my queen.”

Jilly was submerged completely under the water in the bath. She came up and water streamed down her body. William was sitting on the edge of the tub when she cleared her hair out of her face.

“Can I help you?” she asked with a smile.

“No, just enjoying the view,” he said.

“Are you ready for bed?” Jilly asked, as she stepped out of the tub. William held out a towel for her and wrapped her in it.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go to bed. I’m just trying to turn my brain off,” William said as he followed Jilly back out into the bedroom. “I keep thinking of things that could go wrong with all of this.”

Jilly looked at him pointedly. “Okay, now you sound like me.”

William laughed. “You must be rubbing off on me or something.”

“Must be,” Jilly said with a wink. They hopped into bed once Jilly was in her pajamas, and she instantly fell asleep. She woke up in a strange room, but seeing as it happened a lot to her, she wasn’t as nervous as she could have been. Valdus was standing before her in a giant room that could have been the throne room in a castle, it was that big.

“Who invited you to this party, witch?” he asked Jilly. “It appears that you are under dressed for the occasion as well.” Jilly looked down to find that she was still wearing her pajamas; they consisted of one of William’s shirts, and an old pair of shorts.

“Sorry. If I had known I was coming, I would have RSVP’d. Where am I, anyway?” she asked.

“At my home. I’m rather interested in how you got in past my guards.” His tone was menacing.

“I have my ways,” Jilly said with an air of mystery in her voice. “As for being under dressed, why don’t we change that?” she said as she spun in a slow circle. A form fitting black dress took the place of her pajamas and her wild curls coiled themselves up into a chic-looking updo. Make-up appeared on her face, giving her a sultry look. She boldly looked at him, almost daring him to say something.

His smile widened. “I may have been after the wrong Proctor sister; your talents were not made known to me.”

Jilly brushed off his comment. “So what kind of party are you having?” Valdus lightly put his hand at the small of her back and led her down a long hall. Jilly stiffened, fighting off the urge to scream at his touch.

“It’s a celebration of sorts,” he said vaguely. An enormous door opened as they approached and Jilly’s stomach dropped to her feet. The room was filled with the scent of blood. Valdus smiled and his fangs ran out. “Welcome to the party, little witch. I’m sure my guests will love you,” he said and shoved her into the room.

Jilly had to step over a body to actually enter the room. “Who are all these people? Are they human?”

Valdus looked at her. “Some are human, yes. We found them during the hunt; though most are Vampire. This is the celebration after the hunt, where we consume the spoils of the festivities.” He turned to the side and scented the air. “If I’m not mistaken, I do believe that there is some magical blood around us.” Jilly glanced around her, trying to sense the witch or warlock who could be here, praying silently they were still alive.

“If you touch me, you won’t like what happens,” Jilly said, not bothering to suppress the rage coursing through her. She began to glow as her magic flowed freely to the surface.

“Breathtaking, absolutely astounding,” a voice behind her said.

“Ah, Drew, how wonderful to see you this evening,” Valdus said. Jilly whirled around and found the magic that Valdus had spoken of. She sensed something else though and reached her hand out to touch Drew’s arm, recoiling slightly when she finally made contact.

“You are a vampire?” Jilly shrieked.

Drew smiled. “I am, yes. Valdus turned me years ago.”

“Does Patrick know?” she questioned.

Drew laughed. “Patrick knows what I want him to know. Touch my hand again.” He held out his hand, palm up. Jilly hesitantly placed her palm upon his, her jaw dropping when she lost all sense of the vampire in him. “I was a powerful warlock before Valdus turned me. I did not lose my magic like most do when they are changed.”

Jilly stepped away from him, not wanting to touch him anymore. “What do you get out of all of this?”