WitchLove

WitchLove

By Emma Mills

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 Emma Mills

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold 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.

WitchLove

Copyright © 2012 Emma Mills

www.witchbloodthenovel.com

www.twitter.com/EmmaMwriter

Cover Image : Laura Zalenga

www.laurazalenga.de

Acknowledgments

As with my last two books I would like to give big thanks to my mum who goes against all the writer’s rules of
not having a family member as a proof reader
and proves herself to be fantastic every time. She tirelessly reads my manuscripts after each edit and manages to find new errors each time! It seems I am blessed with an amazing family and would like to thank Tom for supporting me and being the daft, overly proud husband who dreams of movie deals and makes me laugh.

However this time I would also like to give a massive thank you to my Beta Readers who came up with some great queries and suggestions. So thank you to bloggers Kim Deister & Nancy Allen; with a special mention to the fabulous fellow author Aurelia B. Rowl who sent back my manuscript with comments on virtually every page! This final version would not be the same without you, so Thank You!

Dedication

To my children: You are

My world

My life

My love

French & Haitian Translation Notes: Chapter 14

Haitian
/
English

manzel? Miss

Es'ke mwen ka ede'w? Can I help you?

mwen me

Li twaser it’s 3 o’clock

selebrasion celebration

bonne chanse good luck

Gris Gris a Voodoo amulet

nwa majik black magic

konprann understand

vini come

French
/
English

oui yes

desol
ė
sorry

mon amie my friend

Je ne parle pas Français I can’t speak French

Chapter One

I had expected the summons to come sooner, and presumed the high court would be held in London, but they surprised me on both counts. Three months had passed since my escape from London and Alex’s death; since I’d lost my new friend Eva, and with her Daniel, the man who had saved me from death six months previously by turning me into a vampire. He had accepted me for all my quirks, and I’d slowly but surely fallen in love with him.

Those three months had passed in a whirlwind of grief, pain and unexpected friendship. At first I’d simply refused to believe Sebastian – the vampire leader of the Northern district – when he had confirmed that Eva and Daniel hadn’t made it out of Cole’s club when the null bomb went off. The null bomb is an extremely efficient, but deadly way of instantly clearing up any magical or supernatural evidence. After all humans didn’t and mustn’t know of our existence, so if something went wrong the cleaners came in and destroyed the evidence before word leaked out. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to turn anything, or anyone remotely magical or supernatural to dust… We were given a ten second warning but somehow, and I still didn’t get how, Daniel and Eva never made it out. Cole, the depraved southern vampire leader and several of his cronies didn’t get out either, which in my eyes was excellent, but due to Cole’s royal standing decreed that the whole nasty thing be picked over in court.

I’d already given a full and way too lengthy statement, explaining my reasons for going to London, explaining who I’d met, who had kidnapped me and all the nasty little details that had followed, weeks ago. Luke had also given his statement, as had Sebastian and my new friend Brittany, who was now standing in the doorway to my room, hands on hips. Her evidence had been vital as she had witnessed the whole sordid plan come to fruition and was also able to vouch for Daniel’s innocence regarding several human murders in the weeks before.

‘Come on already, we’re going to be late. Luke is waiting downstairs... Jess, are you okay?’ she asked.

I nodded and smiled, levering myself off the bed and taking a glance around the room, before picking up my precious book of shadows and placing it under the loose floorboard beneath my bed. How long would Sebastian let me stay here, in Daniel’s house? What would happen to it… to me? Everybody wanted a piece of me, but Luke and Daniel were the only people I felt I could trust and now Daniel was gone.

‘Hey you, don’t you want to wear something a bit more…’ Luke said, as I made it downstairs.

‘A bit more what, Luke?’ I said.

‘Erm… no it’s fine, you just… Well you look a bit…’

‘What?’

‘Tough? A bit Matrix meets Underworld. It’s not
you
Jess and well, you want the Council to be lenient,’ Luke said, not quite meeting my eyes.

‘Yeah well, I want them to know that I can handle myself, and that I kicked that vampire rapist’s butt and set him ablaze. Well, that was before your mate came in and decapitated him,’ I said, feeling the involuntary pull of my lips as they curled upwards. He looked up, met my gaze and grinned back.

‘Fine, come on then, but I’m calling you Selene, the vampire warrior from now on,’ he said, walking past, intentionally bumping into me and knocking me sideways.

‘Very funny! Actually, that was a really cool film. Remember when we watched it?’ I said, glancing sideways at Luke, memories flicking through my mind. ‘Have you seen it Brit?’

‘Nah, we weren’t allowed to watch anything remotely supernatural at school, and I’d only been with Cole a couple of months before you turned up.’

‘We’ll have to watch it then,’ I said, following Luke through the door, Brittany linking her arm through mine as we walked in the dim moonlight to the back of the long Victorian garden.

‘Who wants a ley line race then?’ I said grinning, trying to mask my growing fear of the ordeal to come.

‘No way! Firstly you know angels can’t keep up with witches… especially witches boosted by vampire speed, and secondly the last time you flew the ley lines you broke your arm
again
and ended up with half a tree in your hair. We want to make a composed entrance… ah, here’s Caoimhe.’

‘Hey you three, I thought we could all go together?’ Caoimhe said, as she landed gracefully before them, her wings quickly slipping in behind her back and disappearing.

‘Sure,’ I said grinning sideways at Luke. She liked him, I knew she did, but I didn’t understand why they hadn’t got together. She had to know that Luke and I were no longer an item. A lot had changed in six months.

‘So, have you memorised the picture I gave you, just in case we spilt up in the lines?’ Luke asked, looking towards Brittany and myself. I removed a neatly folded print out from the back pocket of my black skinny jeans and unfolded it.

This had been the second surprise of the day. High Court wasn’t based in London as I’d expected, so instead we were going to Edinburgh.

‘So is it always based there, or does it move around?’ I asked, looking at the picture of the gorgeous stone manor house set in lush grounds.

‘Yes, the Council have several international bases. They have owned this property for a couple of hundred years now. It has a vast amount of private parkland surrounding it, so it’s ideal for our privacy and serves the whole of northern Europe.’

‘Come on, we’d better go; the sun will be up in thirty minutes,’ Caoimhe said, looking at Luke, but tilting her head towards me. We all knew why… I might be half witch, but I was half vampire too and the late summer sunshine wasn’t great for my complexion.

‘You remember how…?’ Brittany whispered in my ear. I nodded.

‘Ready,’ I said, trying not to gawp as the two angels unfolded their beautiful wings.

‘Sure you don’t want a ride?’ Luke asked, grinning at me.

I shook my head. I remembered only too well the first time he’d carried me into the air, the loss of breath, the g-force, the stomach churning speed. ‘No thanks.’

‘Okay, I’ll see you up there, after the count of 3. 1, 2…’

‘Damn it! I should have known. Come on Brit, let’s get them,’ I said.

I’d practiced a couple of times since my first go, when I was leaving London. I was quicker now, more fluid. I left my body, let my soul soar into the clouds, felt around until I found the magical pulsating ley line, grabbed a hold and pulled my body after me. The only experience I can liken it to is riding the newest, fastest ride at a theme park. The air gushed past me, snatching at my breath, stealing it and making my eyes water as I stared at the bright green and electric blue slivers of phosphorescence stretching ahead of me in every direction. I concentrated on the image of the grand hall and felt it suck me in.

‘Jess… jess… JESS!’ My name being yelled suddenly disrupted my thought and I turned my head slightly against the pull. Brittany was slightly behind me, struggling to keep up. The angels were nowhere in sight.

‘Jess, slow down, pull back,’ she yelled.

Reluctantly I pulled back, keeping the image in my mind as I slowed down, feeling the resistance of the lines around me, like a puppy pulling on his lead.

‘Where are they?’ I asked, as I pulled alongside Brittany.

‘Miles back,’ she said, grinning. ‘You overtook them almost as soon as you connected. You should have seen Luke’s face,’ she added, pulling her eyebrows down in mock indignation.

‘Well it’s not my fault I’m half vampire and they can’t keep up, ’ I said, ‘and anyway, I don’t know how to stop in these things.’

‘Here, take my hand,’ she said, holding her hand out to me. ‘Now, feel me pulling back and do the same.’

I felt her pulling backwards on my hand, our arms becoming stretched between us as she put the brakes on, and I began to be carried away with the tide of lights.

‘Pull back Jess. It’s just like slowing down, hurry,’ she shouted as her fingers started to pull away from my grasp. I strained backwards, tugging away from the hungry torrent, and finally came to an
almost
stop.

‘Excellent! Now, where are they?’ she said, looking behind her.

‘Look… the sun,’ I said a couple of minutes later. ‘We need to move.’

I wasn’t too bothered about the sun’s appearance. I knew I’d be fine as it was still cool and very early. A vampire doesn’t burn up at the first sight of dawn, that’s all fairy tale; but let the sun get too high, too hot and I would burn, slowly and excruciatingly for several hours until I was begging to die. And I knew how that felt, I knew what it felt like to burn, and I wasn’t going to let it happen again! Today the sky was cloudless and I was nervous.

‘Here they are,’ Brittany said, interrupting my thoughts and pulling me out of my nightmares.

‘Jess, remember that quote from
The Lost Boys
, that you kept repeating to me whenever you got in my car?’ Luke said smiling, raising an eyebrow. ‘Well now I can say it back to you.’

‘
Burn rubber does not mean warp speed
,’ we both shouted together.

‘At least Brittany showed me how to stop,’ I added.

‘Come on, you guys,’ Caoimhe said.

We set off together this time, cruising through the ley lines at angel pace. What seemed like ten minutes later, Luke tugged my arm and motioned to the right, before both he and Caoimhe suddenly disappeared, dive bombing through the clouds and out of sight, wings outstretched behind them.

‘This is it then,’ Brittany said. ‘Try and do it slowly this time, hey? Aim feet first, rather than face first,’ she added, grinning.

‘Thanks, I’ll try,’ I grimaced. I wasn’t good at landings. Twice I had broken bones, and the other times I’d ended up covered in bruises and foliage.

Brittany left the ley line and I followed, feeling the uncomfortable flip in my stomach as I soared out of the clouds in a whirlwind of my own making and headed at breakneck speed towards the ground. I wondered if this was what it felt like to sky dive, and if so why the hell did they
choose
to do it… for
fun
! This was
not
fun. As the ground raced up to greet me, I quickly made out the hall and its grounds; no prickly hawthorn bushes to be seen, great!

I stuck my feet out and thought calming thoughts, visualized landing softly, gracefully… just like everyone else had managed, before they turned their faces upwards to watch me. In the split second before I landed I watched as their faces went from smiling, to concerned, to horrified before they split and ran several paces backwards, scattering like marbles.