Brad gathered Shelly into his arms, carrying her to their bedroom. Grandma and Hex went after him. I didn’t follow, knowing they would call when they were ready.
“Vance?” I questioned. He was still kneeling with his head hanging down. His eyes seemed to be staring at the floor as if he wanted to burn a hole in it. “Vance?” I asked again, this time into his mind, but I was greeted with that brick wall of his.
“I’m truly sorry,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.
He stood up and walked into our bedroom, procuring the tuxedo coat he’d been wearing when we left Damien. We didn’t have any other clothes except for those Shelly and Brad lent us. He slipped the coat on and brushed past where I was standing in the doorway watching, heading out into the hallway.
I stared, as I watched him leave the hotel room without so much as a word. It was then I became afraid he was truly angry with me, and I popped into the hall after him.
“Vance!” I called when I saw him standing by the elevator. I ran toward him. “Vance. Come back inside. You know we aren’t supposed to leave the room until your dad is gone.”
He didn’t reply, only kept staring at the elevator doors.
“Don’t leave. It’s not safe. Let’s talk this out. I know we can resolve this situation between us if we try. Please, just stay with me.”
“You had your chance, Portia,” he said softly, but when he looked at me his eyes were glowing, belying his anger. “Now go away and leave me alone.”
“Vance! Don’t talk like that! Please!” I begged, grabbing the sleeve of his coat and pulling him closer to me. I pressed my lips against his, clutching his head in my hands as I tried to mold myself against his body.
He pushed me up against the wall, returning my kiss with fervor. His tongue plunged into my mouth before he grabbed my hair and yanked my head to the side, sinking his teeth roughly into my neck to allow my blood to pour into his mouth.
He drank quickly, sucking at my neck, and I felt my strength depleting rapidly.
I suddenly realized what he was doing.
“Stop!” I said, shoving, trying to push him away, but then he froze me with his powers, drinking until he was holding me up with his own strength.
I could hear the little bell on the elevator, dinging as it passed each floor, signaling its approach.
Vance released me and scooped me into his arms, carrying me over to an alcove near the door to our suite. He deposited me there and turned to leave.
“Vance, I love you,” I said weakly, and I saw him pause, stiffening before he moved away.
He stepped into the elevator and vanished from my sight as the doors closed after him, leaving me in such low supply of blood I didn’t even know if I could get back into my room, let alone follow after him.
But then suddenly his mind was open to me once again. “I love you too,” he said softly, and I could feel the heaviness in his heart. “But I need a little space right now, baby, to sort some things out. You just stay put and get some rest. I’ll be back eventually.”
“You’re being a coward,” I said in a desperate attempt to keep him connected to me. “Quit backing out when things get tough and come talk to me. Let’s confront this issue head on.”
His rage rolled over me. “You think I’m a coward? Really, Portia? How many times have I died for you now?” he spat out vehemently, his anger with me spilling into my head with his words. “Maybe I should just be the monster you really think I am. How do you feel about that? Shall I stride out into the night and drink the blood of every witch who crosses my path?”
“Vance. Stop it,” I said with a sigh. “You know that isn’t what I meant. I’ve just been leery about subjecting you to temptation with the rest of the coven around.”
“You thought I’d attacked Shelly!” he countered, growing more upset with me. “What could I have possibly gained from doing such a thing? Why would you even consider it?”
“Vance,” I groaned, actually speaking his name out loud as I tried to adjust my position against the wall. “I’d just been woken up out of a dead sleep by a scream slicing through the air. I jumped out of bed, thinking someone was being attacked. I was half awake, trying to figure out what was going on when I saw you there, holding her unconscious in your arms. Even then I questioned why you would attack her. If the situation were reversed, how would you have handled it?”
“Well, I definitely wouldn’t have thought you attacked her,” he grumbled back to me.
“Obviously,” I replied. “I’m not a demon either, so why would I attack her?”
“Exactly,” he growled. “And Shelly’s not a witch, so regardless of my being a demon—you should have thought the same thing.”
His anger started rising again, and I suddenly felt very aggravated over his ever changing emotions and how quickly he flew off the handle. I was sick of his demon attributes always ruling him so absolutely.
Unfortunately I was too tired to realize I’d just projected all of my opinions over the situation straight into his head, until his heated emotions of both hurt and resentment bounced back into me.
“I’m a demon, Portia. If you can’t accept that, then you can’t accept me.” His voice was even and deadly quite, hidden menace pouring through it. The wall was instantly up between us, and I knew I’d done a very, very, bad thing.
I would’ve cried if I had the strength. For that matter, I’d have run after him and begged for his mercy had I been able to. But he made sure I couldn’t follow. All that was left for me to do was go to bed, try to rest as he’d suggested, and hope he came back. If he wasn’t here by the time my strength returned, I would go looking for him.
Trying to ignore the nausea I felt whenever Vance moved farther away from me physically, I struggled to my hands and knees, moving over to collapse outside the door. I had to knock because I didn’t have the key card, or the strength to pop back inside.
The door opened to reveal Hex staring down at me with a frown on his face. He started to speak, but I weakly lifted my hand, signaling him to stop.
“Don’t even start, Hex. I’m too tired to care at the moment,” I muttered. “Just get me to my bed, please.”
Hex gathered me up in his arms, and I could hear him cursing “that sorry demon” under his breath, letting me know his lack of love for Vance had grown to all new proportions.
He carried me into my room, carefully straightening the covers I’d destroyed earlier back to their proper places and tucking me inside them.
“Why do you tolerate it?” he asked roughly, unable to contain himself anymore.
“Because I love him,” I said softly, looking into his eyes. “I love him.”
Hex stood there for several moments, his hard gaze locked with mine before his features finally relaxed. He gave a slight nod and reached out to pat my quilt before he left the room without saying another word, turning out the light on his way past.
I was glad he didn’t push me any farther. My mind was hammered right now, and my heart was hurting. I could feel my world totally crumbling around me, and I couldn’t seem to catch the pieces and glue them back together quickly enough. They just tumbled faster and faster, threatening to bury me in their rubble. I felt lost—alienated from everyone I loved. I knew something needed to give. Unfortunately, I was beginning to realize it looked like I was going to be the one who broke under the pressure.
I wanted to cry, sob into my pillow, and throw my own little pity party, but Vance had taken care of my ability to do so for the moment. I finally succumbed to the blissful darkness that awaited me, sucking me into an unfeeling void of nothing.
My fear was realized in the form of a dream that tickled at the edges of my consciousness, as I began to come back to reality. I quickly realized my mental defenses were lowered because of the blood loss, and I had a mental connection with Vance. This wasn’t a dream. It was a vision of the witch he was currently attacking in a dark alleyway.
He had her frozen, pressed against
a wall as he sunk his teeth into her, but he only drank a few swallows when he threw her to the side in distaste, wiping her blood from his mouth with the back of his hand as he stared at her in disgust.
“Go on! Get out of here!” he yelled at her as he watched her staring up at him with fearful eyes.
The girl scrambled to her feet and screamed as she moved through the alleyway.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked through our link, when I noticed his rumbled appearance and unshaven face.
“For a whole day this time,” he answered with a sigh as he slouched back against the wall. “You’re wearing down, Portia. I can feel it—despite you having the Awakening.”
“I’m just tired,” I replied softly.
“It’s more than being tired. You’re mentally exhausted,” he said flatly.
“So are you,” I answered, still following the stumbling girl when I noticed another person turn the corner. “Looks like someone heard the screams,” I said, sizing up the man as the girl ran into his arms.
Vance sighed before he chuckled. “And he’s a warlock. Looks like I’ll get something to eat after all.”
“He’s just protecting what’s his, the same as you would. Let him go and come back to me,” I said calmly, trying not to add to the fire within him.
But the warlock attacked with his magic, and I knew there was no hope of stopping the fight now.
“Don’t kill him, Vance. Please don’t go that far,” I said choosing to leave the vision. I could stay and plead with him. I could even try to garner enough strength to pop him, but I didn’t. He wanted me to trust him? Well, now was his chance to prove it.
The door to my room opened a crack, and I could see the outline of Shelly as she poked her head inside.
“Are you awake?”
“Barely,” I replied. “Come in.”
She made her way over to sit on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay?” she asked, concern lacing through her voice. “You’ve been asleep for a long time, and no one has seen or heard from Vance.”
“He’s fine, and I’m feeling better.” I tried to reassure her. After we sat together for several moments I continued. “What’s up?”
“I had a vision of Damien,” she answered. “He’s left the hotel now, and he’s going after another artifact.”
“I’ve expected as much. He’s gathering these things for a specific purpose, but he never told us what for. We didn’t know what was happening until it happened. He said he needed keys and that these artifacts are the keys. I’m assuming he wants to open something, I just not sure what that something is yet. It would help if I knew where he was going next.”
“I know where he’s going.” Shelly smiled at me. “And I know what artifact he’s after. But you’re going to have to let Vance continue to feed from another source—you’re going to need all the strength you can get.”
Chapter 18
I stood in the dense, dark forest, feeling like I’d suddenly found myself sucked into a fairytale of some sort.
“Where’s the gumdrops, suckers and candy canes?” Vance’s voice broke the stillness next to me.
“What?” I said in complete confusion.
“It’s like the witch’s cottage in Hansel and Gretel,” Vance murmured over my shoulder as we stared through the heavy tree line toward the little house that lay in the clearing. “I feel like I’m in the twilight zone.”
I agreed with his description. “It does feel a little other-worldly,” I whispered, lifting my head to examine the towering trees above us, their thick branches intertwining to block out the dying light of the sun as dusk began to set in. I glanced at the ground around us too, almost obscured from sight by the overgrowth of vine maple twisting its way through the ancient forest.
“Did you bring any bread?” he said, and I looked up at him quizzically.
“Why?” I asked, wondering what brought about the change in subject.
“So we can lay the trail to get us out of here,” he replied, and a silly grin snuck over his face.
I had to stifle a giggle. Despite all we’d been through in the last few days, the fact that some of his “old Vance” humor managed to sneak to the forefront was endearing to me.
“Bread won’t help us,” I stated matter-of-factly. “Remember, all the birds came along behind Hansel and Gretel and ate it.”
Vance shrugged. “So, I’ll just kill all the birds,” he replied wryly, “demon Vance” making his appearance right back into the mix.
I sighed. “Hardly seems fair for the birds,” I said, continuing to look at him.
“Better them than us,” Vance replied, his gaze flitting over my form from my head to toe. “I’ll give Hex one thing, he sure does dress you well,” he added, changing the subject completely.
I glanced down at the spandex outfit and the utility belt around my waist.
“It’s more practicality than anything else,” I explained. “Good ease of movement.”
His eyes began to fill with shots of red. “I bet,” he said, stepping closer to me. He reached to stroke my hair, hooking his hand around my neck and pulling me near. “You and I have a lot of things we need to discuss,” he whispered as he focused down on my mouth.
I nodded, staring back and forth between his eyes and his lips which hovered so close to mine, wishing he would just close the gap and kiss me.
Our breath mingled together, and time stood still for a few moments. I could feel the yearning between us. I leaned in slightly, and he stepped away from me. I was unable to mask my hurt. Things hadn’t been good for us since we had been in Washington, D.C.
Shelly’s vision had led us to the west coast—Oregon, in fact. Her revelation had shown her Damien would be taking a flight back to Arkansas before journeying to a dark, old growth forest here, while he searched for a new key.
The area, although untouched by logging and such man-made manufacturing, had been mined for a while, leaving old mining shacks behind in the area. The Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center had actually taken over some of those old buildings, and used them for their headquarters to this date.
I stepped away from Vance, distancing myself. “Do you think this is an old mining shack?”
“Probably,” he replied, glancing back toward the cottage. “But with the protection wards I can feel around this place, I doubt anyone who isn’t of magical influence knows it’s here.”
“You’re probably right,” I said with a sigh. “Where do you think they’ll hide the key?”
The key we were looking for this time was an actual key, though it apparently was of the ancient variety. Shelly had drawn a picture of it so we could see what we were looking for. This had sent Hex and my grandmother combing through the internet and any ancient texts they could get their hands on to try and find out what Damien could possibly be after.
We left Washington, D.C. and relocated in Oregon. Vance and I had not traveled on the plane with the rest of the coven, since they were worried Damien may have the airport staked out. We used my jinn powers to evaporate to the next state over and caught a flight from there, meeting up with the others who secured a place for us to stay in Salem, Oregon.
Salem was roughly fifty miles or so away from our destination, but it was the largest city we could stay in and not stick out like a sore thumb, as we would have in some of the smaller rural routes along the way. If Damien were going to be close by we wanted to do everything we could to stay hidden. He might not seem the type to stay in a “no tell motel” but the guy had spent a significant part of his life living on archeological digs so he was definitely no stranger to roughing it. I’d learned my lesson the hard way—never underestimate the lengths he would go to, to get what he wanted.
We chose to settle into a low key three star hotel in Salem, versus one of the more opulent ones, for fear of Damien ending up there as well.
Vance, Hex, and I had suited up with fighting and light camping gear, evaporating our way to a location that was very near
our intended target, but not too close. Hex insisted on joining us to help with any fighting that might occur, much to Vance’s dismay. Vance argued that we could just pop in and out of there quickly and accomplish our deed, but Hex was hearing none of it. He was determined to scope out the structure and lay out a plan. This caused us to delay the attack by a day, because due to Hex’s inability to evaporate that far of a distance, I used my magic to carry both he and Vance along with all of our belongings to the location.
While I assured them I would be fine, they both insisted I have time to recuperate to full strength before we initiated any kind of confrontation.
Vance immediately gave me some of his blood when we arrived to the area, which I gladly took, even though Hex grumbled extensively about it as he set up the camp.
He made it plain and clear he didn’t like Vance, and Vance completely reciprocated those emotions back to him. After about five minutes of us being together, I suggested Vance walk with me to check out the area, just to separate the two from each other. Hex admonished us not to try anything and stayed behind to continue setting up after we reassured him we would do nothing of the kind.
“I have no idea,” Vance answered my question pertaining to the key’s hiding place. “I guess we’ll find out when we get inside and look for it. Too bad Shelly’s visions couldn’t be just a little more forthcoming, huh?”
“Well, I’m thankful we have her new found ability, otherwise we’d be sitting completely in the dark.”
Vance didn’t reply, instead reaching to clasp me by the hand as we continued on our way, making a large circle around the property. He used his magic to feel out the wards so we could stay far enough away and not set them off.
We walked together in silence, watching for any signs of life but seeing nothing. There weren’t even any lights permeating the glass of the windows from the inside.
“I wonder if it’s been abandoned,” I said softly as the night began to set in, making the forest a place of still blackness.