Craved (28 page)

“How are you feeling?” I asked. Fiona
looked up at me with bloodshot eyes and gave a small
smile.

“Tired, but alive.” I watched her for
a few moments and then got up and filled a cup with hot water,
placed it in the microwave and retrieved the tea bags Ms. Ozland
had given me for energy.

Two knocks sounded at our front door
so I walked the short distance to answer it. Ian stood on the other
side with crossed arms and a smile. His blonde hair was perfectly
gelled into a spiky style. He wore jeans with a gray turtleneck
sweater and a black leather coat. I squished the thought that
appeared in my mind on his attractiveness. I turned on my heel when
the microwave beeped, leaving the door open and my invitation
unspoken. Vampires had to have an invitation to enter a home, but
Fiona had already invited Ian in, so he didn’t need me to say it.
If I were smart, I’d rescind his invite so he couldn’t come into
our apartment without both of our okays.

“They let you out?” I asked,
astounded. I plopped a teabag into the cup of hot water and set it
in front of Fiona. She started to self-consciously fix her hair and
I noticed she had magicked makeup on her tired face. I hated that
she was worrying about impressing Ian when she needed to focus on
resting.

“They couldn’t hold me without
evidence and the person I was accused of murdering is quite alive,
and looking very lovely.” I rolled my eyes at Ian’s sickening
smooth talk and took my seat. Ian walked over to Fiona and lifted
her hand in his and pressed a kiss atop it. Fiona giggled, while I
silently gagged. What the hell was the matter with her? How could
she not see that Ian Despereaux was bad news?

After whispering sweet nothings to
Fiona, Ian straddled the seat next to her and wrapped his arms
around the back of the chair. I took a drink of my bottled water
and waited for him to say something, hoping he had forgotten about
me helping him with his plan. I had no qualms about capturing the
psycho responsible for the killings, but I didn’t want to work with
Ian.

Two more knocks sounded at the front
door. I pursed my lips at Fiona but got up and answered it. Aiden
and Micah stood next to each other, Micah with his arms crossed and
a scowl on his face. Aiden smiled at me and I smiled back, happy
that he wasn’t pissed at me for feeding Ian.

“Hey guys, what are you doing here? I
looked between both of them. Micah had been leaning against the
rickety railing that was meant to protect anyone from falling from
our second story apartment hall and when he turned, his right eye
was swollen, with red and purple coloring the surrounding flesh. I
gasped and said, “What happened?”

“Micah learned that he shouldn’t kiss
another man’s woman,” Aiden said with a grin. My eyes shot wide and
I stepped out of the apartment to inspect Micah’s eye.

“Like you left me alone when I was
Micah’s?” I shot back at Aiden. Some girls love when men fight over
them, but I wasn’t that type. I didn’t want to be the cause of
anyone’s pain.

“I did leave you alone, at least in
the physical sense, and you shouldn’t coddle him, he deserved it,”
Aiden said with a sneer. As much as I would have loved to argue
with the fact that Micah didn’t deserve it, I couldn’t. Micah
shouldn’t have kissed me when we were both with other people, but I
still didn’t want him to be punched over the violation.

“Did you come to punch me also?” Ian
said from the kitchen. Aiden stepped over the threshold with me
following quickly behind, worried that a full-blown fight would
start in the middle of my little apartment.

“If you guys break anything, you’re
paying to fix it,” I warned. It was pathetic, at best, but I threw
it out anyway.

“I came because there’s no way I’m
letting Gwen be alone with you for a second, but now that you
mention it…”

Aiden was across the room in a flash
as his fist connected with Ian’s face. Luckily, Ian didn’t fight
back and the commotion was over within seconds. Ian held his face
but sniggered. A punch in the face to a vampire was as painful as a
stubbed toe. He’d heal before any bruising.

Fiona jumped up from the table and
rushed to make sure Ian was okay. I’d been slapped over the kiss,
why shouldn’t Ian be punched for it also?

“Feel better?” I asked Aiden. Micah
walked into our apartment and shut the door. His bruising was
already turning yellow. Werewolves could heal at an exceptional
rate but vampires healed quicker. His eye would be yellowish for a
day and then it’d be good as new.

Aiden wrapped his arms around my waist
and said, “I’d much rather rip their heads off, but this will
suffice, I suppose.” He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss that
radiated tingles throughout my body. I smiled at him but realized
that we had an audience so I reluctantly unwound my arms from him
and turned around.

“There hasn’t been another body found,
has there?” I asked Micah. He rubbed the back of his head in
embarrassment and cleared his throat.

“No. I knew that Ian would be coming
over here to have you help him and I didn’t trust him to be alone
with you, so…” he said, leaving the sentence to hang. So I had two
bodyguards against Ian; that was comforting.

Aiden snickered behind me and I
elbowed him and smiled at Micah and said, “Thank you.” He nodded
his head as if to say “no problem.”

“I think I’m offended,” Ian said. We
all turned to look at him, begging him to prove it. He shrugged his
shoulders and crossed his arms across his chest.

Fiona looked like she was dead on her
feet, so I went over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Maybe you should go lie down.” She looked apprehensive to leave
but nodded her head. I walked her back to her bedroom and helped
her get settled into her bed. Then I flipped on the television and
handed her the remote. She smiled up at me but I could tell there
were unspoken words dangling on her lips. After a moment, she
finally spoke. “Gwen, I’m sorry for slapping you and saying that I
was moving out. I don’t know why I acted like that. If you don’t
mind, I’d love to keep living here.”

I sat on the edge of her bed and held
her delicate hand. It wasn’t the first time Fiona and I had fought,
and it wouldn’t be the last. I loved her like a sister and because
of that, I would put up with anything from her.

“I understand you were upset and I’m
sorry for hurting you. Of course, you can live here, for as long as
you want, or until the building collapses,” I laughed. “I love you,
Fiona, and I only want you to be safe.”

“Thanks, Gwen, you really are a great
friend.”

I smiled down at her and squeezed her
hand. “Get some sleep.”

I left her room and returned to the
kitchen where I would have to deal with three stubborn men. I’d
much rather crawl into bed with Fiona and watch reruns of Ghost
Whisperer with her. All three men were sitting at my small table,
eyeing each other with contempt. I released a heavy breath and took
a seat next to Aiden, with Micah directly in front of
me.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” I
asked. We all looked at Ian and waited for him to come forth with
his information.

“What I want to know is, how Ian knew
I was indisposed the night of the Gala and why he came galloping to
escort my girlfriend to the ball?” Aiden said, his hands balling
into fists from his anger. I arched an eyebrow at Ian, wondering
the same thing. Obviously he had lied when he said he knew Aiden
and that Aiden had sent him to escort me.

“Louis told me to escort Gwen and find
out what she was. Aiden had let it slip that a woman from Flora was
able to read the dead. Louis thought you might be a psychic, but he
still wanted to be sure. He made sure Aiden wouldn’t make the
Gala,” Ian said. “Of course, that night didn’t go as I planned, so
I wasn’t sure about your spirit walker status until I drank from
you.”

I looked at him with disgust and Aiden
glared at him with hatred. “So you killed Fiona so you would have
the opportunity to drink from me? Because you knew I’d do it if
Fiona’s life was in danger?” I kept my voice low so that Fiona
wouldn’t hear, but I put all of my anger into my
whispers.

“Fiona was never dead, not
really.”

“What do you mean she
wasn’t really dead? I saw her, she
was
dead.”

“Yes, I knew you’d allow me to drink
from you if it was for her life. I’ve been drinking brew for about
a year now. I’ve learned how to do wonderful things with the
magic,” Ian grinned. “Fiona was under a spell, one that was meant
to make you think of what could happen if you didn’t go along with
Louis’ plans.”

My mouth hung to the floor in
astonishment. Since the night of the Gala, Ian had a plan that I
knew nothing about. Sure, I knew there was something he was hiding,
but I didn’t think it involved me.

“First off,” I started, talking
slowly. “who is Louis? And what exactly does he want from me?” I
watched as Aiden stood up and paced my small kitchen, thoughts
running wild in his eyes.

“Louis is my friend from Chicago, the
one I told you was sending me the sample of brew,” Aiden replied,
shooting daggers at Ian with his eyes. “I know for a fact, I did
not mention anything about Gwen to anyone.” Ian shrugged his
shoulders. “The first time drinking brew is much like a human being
drunk, you don’t always remember what you do or say.”

“You’re drinking witches’ blood?”
Micah said with disgust. Great, the last person I wanted to know
about Aiden’s stroll down brew alley, was the FPD.

“No, he is not. He drank it twice and
that’s because Louis made him,” I said in Aiden’s
defense.

Aiden held up a hand to say that it
was okay. “Yes, I drank witches’ blood because Louis made me, but
afterwards I wanted it. It’s highly addictive and because of Gwen,
I’m getting over my addiction.” Micah snorted and shook his
head.

“You’re one of the last spirit
walkers, Gwen, what do you think Louis wants from you?” Ian said.
I

shrugged my shoulders and shook my
head, at a loss for what a vampire in Chicago would want with me.
“My blood?” It seemed like the obvious answer. Ian laughed and
shook his head.

“I’m sure he’d love to taste you, but
he has more permanent plans. You’re very rare and he’d love to
claim you as his.” Ian watched me with an emotion I didn’t
understand, nor did I care to. I laughed bitterly.

“So what, I’m like a collector’s item
to him?”

“Perhaps,” Ian said. “I don’t claim to
know his reasoning. I only tell you what I know.” I eyed him and
tried to decide if he was telling the truth or feeding me another
story. I could have laced my words with magic, a spell to make him
tell the truth, but somehow I thought he’d be able to dodge it,
using the magic he’d already learned.

“So, Louis is the big man behind the
brew distribution? Why do you want to take him out if you’re
working for him?” I asked. Aiden stopped pacing and crossed his
arms across his muscular chest, curious at Ian’s answer. Micah
shifted so that he was sitting sideways and could watch Ian. It had
only been a little over a week since Amy Harper was killed, but it
seemed like it’d been forever. I knew I was ready to put all of
this to bed and, from the look on Micah’s face, so was
he.

“Louis is most definitely
untrustworthy but he is not the man responsible for the witches’
deaths, nor is he responsible for the distribution. The man who I
have reason to believe is responsible is Liam Fawns. As to why I
want to stop him, let’s just say I have my own reasons.” Micah,
Aidan and I all looked at Ian like he’d lost his mind. Liam Fawns
was a major bigwig and one of the founders of our town. He’s also a
warlock.

“What’s your evidence?” Micah asked,
voicing the question we were all wondering. A grin lifted the
corners of Ian’s face and he leaned back in his chair, propping one
leg atop his knee. He was devilishly handsome. His blue eyes seemed
to twinkle with the information they held. He took so long to
answer, enjoying our suspense that I finally motioned with my hands
to “get on with it already.”

“You’re not the only ones who’ve been
trying to find him. The brew distribution is just like any other
drug world. There are heavy hitters who want to take over the drug
running.”

“You?” Aiden asked.

Ian laughed and shook his head.
“No.”

I rolled my neck as I felt my magic
tingle against my skin from my anger. I could feel it travel all
the way down my arms until a bright blue glow emanated from my
palm. I stood up quickly and raised my hand out towards Ian. I
threw my built-up energy right at his chest. Ian anticipated the
magic and jumped out of the way. The orb of magic smashed into my
cabinet and left a dark brown scorch mark.

“What was that for?” Ian asked,
leaning against my refrigerator. My magic was still revved up and I
worked on controlling my anger so that I could extinguish
it.

“I’m tired of listening to all of
this. You talk as if brew is something as simple as a human drug;
it’s not! Witches are being murdered for their blood and you act
like it’s nothing. Add to the fact that you, yourself, are a brew
user and now you want us to help you take out Liam so ‘someone’ can
take over his drug business?”