Witchcraft (#2 Witchblood Series)

Witchcraft

By Emma Mills

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 Emma Mills

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to
other people. If you would like to share this book with another
person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not
purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com
and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work
of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. The
names, characters, places and incidents are products of the
writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to
be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead,
actual events, locales or organisations is entirely
coincidental.

Witchcraft

Copyright © 2012 Emma Mills

www.witchbloodthenovel.com

www.twitter.com/EmmaMwriter

Cover Image : Laura Zalenga

www.laurazalenga.de

Acknowledgments

Once again, huge thanks to my mum and my
proof reader, Lynne Poulson for managing to make my imaginative
ramblings into coherent sentences. Big thanks to my great friends,
both new and old who have been great guinea pigs and put up with my
incessant facebook updates with enthusiasm and support, along with
the great new book blogging friends who have hosted me and praised
my debut novel, Witchblood. Finally and most importantly, I just
want to say Thank you and I love you to my husband who has
supported me, boosted me and chivvied me along, and who over the
past few weeks has worked tirelessly in the office and at home,
whilst nursing me through viral meningitis AND looking after the
children. Tom Mills, you are a star!

Chapter One

I guess it’s easy to say in retrospect,
but I probably shouldn’t have answered the door. Nevertheless, the
incessant banging was rudely interrupting my daydreaming.

The hammering on the door paused and my
eyes flicked over to an old, leather-bound book sitting on the
dresser, confirming that my dreams were actually based upon truth,
and I wasn’t going quietly mad. The book had come from Eva,
presented to me only minutes after returning to Daniel’s house, the
night of my brief but terrifying adventures in Sebastian’s cells. I
frowned remembering her words of caution…

‘
What is it Eva?’ I’d whispered,
as Eva had handed me a rather battered looking book, which was
brown with age and had lost its slip-cover, if it ever had one. The
embossed design was faded and flattened, and the spine was damaged
beyond repair. Yet despite all this it was beautiful, and it drew
me in as if calling to me. I held out my hands, a feeling of
yearning welling up, and a look of frustration flickering in my
eyes, as she held it out of reach, a half-smile dancing about her
face.

‘
It’s a book of shadows,’ Eva had
told me. ‘A very old one, and if you’re not hunted down for your
half-witch, half-vamp status, you’ll be hunted down for owning this
book. So don’t mention it or show it to anyone. This is possibly
the only copy in the whole of the UK.’

‘
You’re joking, right?’ I’d asked
nervously, my hands still itching to get a hold of it.

‘
When have you ever known me to
joke, Jess? This book is worth a small fortune. Even Sebastian
couldn’t afford it. Luckily I had a favour to call in.’

What kind of favour
would buy that
? I’d wondered.

‘
It’s fine, sorted,’ she said.
‘Anyway, it’s yours now. Take it,’ she added, passing me the
beautiful book.

The hammering on the door had started up
again. It obviously wasn’t some sales rep, and whoever it was
clearly had no intention of leaving without giving me a headache.
But I’d been forbidden from opening the door or leaving the
house…all the usual rules an untrained half-vampire, teen witch had
to deal with.

I climbed off my bed and paused by the
dresser, my hands drifting towards the book again. In an instant,
all my questions were forgotten as my hands touched its leather
cover. It felt heavy and somehow warm, and after glancing at the
embossed pentagram I quickly opened the book to have a quick flick
through. A gush of air lifted the hair away from my face, as if
someone had opened a window on a breezy day. Or maybe a breezy day
in Florida, as the air felt warm on my cheeks and stung my
eyes.

After a couple of seconds, the
wind dropped until it felt like a comforting breeze, making single
hairs lift up and tickle my cheeks. I felt calm and in control. I
let my eyes delight in the intricate patterns drawn on the title
page. My fingers traced a repetition of the same pentagram from the
cover, but this one had entwined branches delicately drawn through
its lines, and tiny leaves which seemed to dance in the very same
breeze I was caught up in. I focused my eyes and stared at them and
they immediately stilled, but if I let my eyes wander away from
them, I could see them fluttering in the breeze. I
loved
this book!

The visitor’s incessant banging started
up again. Damn it! What was I going to do? It freaked me out a
little. I mean, in the couple of months I’d been living here, the
door had only ever rung a handful of times. And now here I was on
my own, a rare occurrence, as I was not often left unguarded. So my
curiosity was aroused and suddenly I felt the need to prove to
Daniel that I could do something normal, like answer a door. I
closed the book, placed it back on the dresser and ran down the
stairs at vampire speed.

In my head I had it all planned
out. It would be easy. If it was a vamp, I’d just say Daniel and
Eva were at the club. No vamp would mess with me after recent
rumours had got around about Aaron’s unlucky demotion. If it was a
human, I’d simply tell them to call by for Eva or Daniel later, and
if it was the gas meter man, I was going to say that I didn’t own
the house and could he come another time. On no account was I going
to let anyone in. Easy! Except it wasn’t a vampire, a human or the
gas man. It was a
witch
!

I smelt her as soon as I opened the
door, so forgive my confusion, but she smelt human and rather tasty
at that. But of course, witches are the only supernatural kind with
human DNA. However, my questions on her identity were clarified as
soon as she opened her mouth.

‘
Hi, you must be the lovely Jess?’
she said, with a strong American accent. This confirmed her
identity as the witch sent over to meet me, a representative of my
new found family clan in Boston.

‘
Ehm, yes, I am. Daniel and Eva
have gone to meet you at the club. Didn’t you get the message?’ I
asked, wondering what on earth to do with her and knowing Daniel
would have a fit if I asked her in.

‘
Oh silly me! I thought I was to
meet you here and go and see the mighty Sebastian later?’ she said,
her vivid green eyes sparkling with mischief. She opened her mouth
in a wide smile and offered her hand to me. ‘I’m Susannah from the
Malden coven. I guess I must be your cousin, as your mother was my
father’s sister. It’s nice to meet you at last.’

I paused for a second, looking at this
woman who seemed so ready to offer me a new family. She didn’t look
at all as I expected. I thought they were sending an older woman
and I’d imagined a greying spinster, but the woman opposite me was
in her twenties, with beautiful green eyes and shiny black hair
swinging down her slender back. She grinned at me again before
cutting into my thoughts.

‘
Well, are we going to stand here
on the doorstep all day? I could really do with a drink, although
maybe you don’t have anything suitable?’ she asked, her smile
faltering a little.

‘
Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I should
just give Daniel a quick ring and let them know you’re here. I
don’t think they wanted me to meet you on my own,’ I answered,
taking a step back.

‘
Well it’s a bit late for that
now, isn’t it? You’ve met me already and I’m hardly a threat. It’s
not like you’re a feeble little human, is it Jess? I heard all
about Aaron. We all have.’

I realised this little speech was
entirely conceived in order to big up my ego, but after all, what
could I do? I could hardly leave her standing on the doorstep for
an hour, could I? She was
right
, I thought, after all I am a vampire. I am
strong and fast enough to throw a human twelve feet down a dirty
alleyway, I can self-heal and I’ve levitated a powerful vamp in the
air when he tried to attack me. It would be fine, apart from Daniel
being pissed at me when he found out.

‘
Ok, come on in. I think we’ve got
some coffee somewhere,’ I said, as I led her into the hallway, and
down towards the kitchen.

‘
Great, I’m gasping. I hate the
airline coffee you get. It really sucks. I don’t suppose you’ve got
any real coffee have you?’ she asked.

‘
It’s unlikely, but hell, who
knows? Daniel keeps the kitchen stocked up for appearances mainly.
We had one of the students from next door drop in yesterday. I
think she fancies him,’ I said, rummaging around the kitchen
cupboards until I found one with an unopened pack of fresh coffee
in it. I spent the next five minutes looking for a cafetière, which
was still in its box, and on finding the milk was five days old,
Susannah wisely decided to take it black.

‘
Right. I’ll just go and give
Daniel a ring. They must be wondering where you are,’ I said, as I
placed the mug in front of her and got a delicious whiff of human.
Maybe they didn’t want me to be on my own with her because
I
was the threat, not her. They still
didn’t trust me around humans, even though I’d so far resisted even
a taste of human blood - well, apart from the processed gloop that
came in neat refrigerated packs.

‘
Sure. Can you direct me to the
bathroom? I could do with freshening up after my trip,’ she said,
following me out of the room.

I took her upstairs to the immaculate
bathroom, and returned downstairs to make the call. As I held the
handset I desperately tried to recall Daniel’s mobile number – why
was it I’d completely lost the ability to remember phone numbers
since I’d owned a mobile? Eventually I started tapping it in, and
then I realised something was wrong. I brought the receiver to my
ear but it was silent. No ringtone. I replaced the handset and
checked the power cord. It all seemed to be plugged in fine, so I
picked it up and listened again. Nothing. Damn! I’d been
complaining to Eva only that week about the shaky broadband
connection. It was always timing out on me and now it seemed the
landline had died as well.

As I was wondering what to do, I heard
the shrill peel of the old pay-as-you-go mobile Daniel had given me
a couple of months earlier. Of course! I raced up the stairs,
silent and effortlessly, and came to a sudden halt in the doorway
to my room. Susannah was standing by my dressing table when I
entered the room, and a grim expression flitted across her face, as
she quickly picked up the mobile and switched it off. A second
later she turned around, her surprise at seeing me quickly masked
by a wide smile.

‘
Oooh, hi! You gave me a fright
there,’ she said.

‘
Ehm, sorry. Is that my phone you
just switched off?’ I asked.

‘
Yes, but I knew you were using
the downstairs phone and I guessed you wouldn’t be able to get
through to him, if he was calling you on this. I didn’t want to
answer it, because I thought it best coming from you. I’m sorry.
Have I done the wrong thing?’ she asked, looking
confused.

‘
No, no, that’s fine,’ I said,
walking towards her for the phone.

Before I could take the phone, she
swivelled round to face my dresser again and I froze. I watched her
fingertips gently trace the outline of the pentagram on my book,
Eva’s words filling my head for the second time that afternoon.

‘
if you’re not hunted
down for your half-witch, half-vamp status, you’ll be hunted down
for owning this book.’

Too late, I thought miserably as I saw
wonder and desire glint in her eyes ever so briefly, before she
looked up at me and smiled again.

‘
So, you have the family book
already. That will please the elders. Do the leaves blow in an
imaginary breeze for you? she asked.