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Witch Problems
Bloome
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As I sat in a coven meeting, my mind should have been on the business at hand. The vampires were threatening war over a few dead bloodsuckers, but the only vampire I couldn’t stop thinking about was the one I couldn’t have. For the past week, I continually chastised myself for sleeping with Craig so soon.
Of course he didn’t want to see me again. He got what he wanted. It was just the way he left... so abrupt. Like he wanted nothing to do with me after. I kept replaying the conversation over and over in my mind, trying to remember if I had said or done anything to drive him away so fast. I could only recall my stupid comment about calling him crazy for talking about mates and relationships, which I said in a teasing manner, but he obviously took it another way. Maybe he wanted a relationship, but he honestly seemed more like a terminal bachelor to me. That was why I’d slept with him. I thought it would be fun—plus it had been way too long. But in the end, we had just made it too awkward, and I hoped I hadn’t made him hate me.
“What about you, Bloome?”
I looked up to see Iliana, our coven leader, asking me a question. All eyes in the room were on me.
Crap.
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”
She huffed, and stray strands of long gray hair that had escaped her bun moved out of her face. “I was asking for volunteers to go talk to the vampires.”
“We already did that,” I replied. “Remember? It got us nowhere. They think witches are killing vamps, Nora told us, so maybe just find the witch who’s doing it. Problem solved.”
A collective gasp could be heard around the room as they all stared at me, appalled.
“What?” I asked.
“I said they told us witches were killing vampires. We don’t actually believe that, do we?” Iliana asked me.
I shrugged. “How the hell should I know?”
Iliana stared at me for a hard minute, then continued to drone on about how to protect ourselves from vampires by drinking hemlock tea and all the other shit I’d heard all my life.
Brantley leaned over and whispered, “You were fucking one of them the other night.”
I looked at him horror. “Excuse me?” Oh, my God... had he heard us?
“Don’t try to deny it, sister. We all heard it.”
Shit.
“How do you know it was a vampire? Maybe I picked up a human at a bar.”
“Doubtful. I know you had your eye on that tall drink of water we met with at the Cobalt Room. I saw how y’all were lookin’ at each other. Don’t try to deny it.” Then he looked angry. “Wait. He’s the one who pinned me to the wall. Ya know what? I don’t like him.”
“Stop it. We’ll talk later. We’re in a meeting!” I pointed to Iliana, who was still blathering on about who knew what.
“Whatever. It’s almost over, then you’re gonna give me all the deets,” he drawled.
“What deets? Sounds like you heard all you needed to. And then some.” I covered my eyes with my hand and looked down into my lap with a head shake.
“If there are no questions, meeting adjourned,” Iliana said.
“Well, thank fuck,” Brantley said under his breath.
I slapped his arm with a laugh. “Stop it.”
He looped his arm through mine as we left the yoga studio, the one Iliana owned. Sure, she held a few classes a couple of times a week, but it was mostly a front for her witchy stuff and secret shop in the back.
Our house was only a four-block walk. Our other roommates had decided to take the car and go do something else, so Brantley and I walked slowly back home. The weather was still warm, but it was nighttime, and a slight, cool breeze blew, as fall had just been ushered in. All Hallow’s Eve was approaching quickly.
“So, give me the details,” he said.
I laughed. “Nothing to tell, like I said. We had a good time, and then he left.”
“Just like that?” Brantley asked.
“Yep, just like that. Poof, disappeared into thin air. Gone.”
He threw his head back and laughed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’m sure it must have seemed like that if he left so quick.”
I chuckled. “Oh, no, it didn’t just seem like that. The guy can literally disappear into thin air.”
He stopped walking, causing me to stop. “Get out!”
I shrugged. “Not joking. It’s freakin’ weird, I tell you.”
“Holy shit...” We kept walking and talking. “Have you asked him how he does it?”
“No, I keep meaning to. We just keep getting... busy.”
He giggled. “I bet you do.”
I slapped his thin arm. “Not like that. Like we’ve been talking or, ah, doing other stuff, and I don’t get a chance to ask him.”
“Even witches can’t do that. Right?” he asked. Brantley was still new to the supernatural world.
We turned the corner to the tree-lined street that took us to our big home. “I suppose they can with the right spell. But this seems to come natural to Craig.”
“Vampire Craig. Cute,” he replied.
“Shadow is what he prefers. His road name or whatever those bikers call it,” I corrected.
“I like Craig better,” he replied.
I laughed. “Of course you do. Anyway, sometimes when vampires are turned, they get a special gift. We haven’t figured out how it happens, but it does. I know one of the other vamps in their biker club can create and manipulate fire without burning himself. I’m not sure about the rest.”
“Well, that’s just an unfair advantage,” Brantley pouted.
“You’re not lying.” I nodded in agreement.
“So are you gonna see him again, or what?”
I stepped over a branch lying in the middle of the sidewalk. “Not sure if he wants that. Besides, it’s just lust, anyway. Vampires and witches aren’t mates.”
“Because you want kids someday, right?” he asked.
We reached the front of the house, and I was first to walk up the path and onto the porch. The old wood creaked under our footfalls. After opening the door with my key, I wandered inside.
“Well, do you?” Brantley asked, following me into the kitchen.
“I don’t know. I think so but not right now, I’m only twenty-six. I have time.”
Brantley clapped me on the shoulder and said, “You definitely do. I want kids someday, I think. Raise them up right, not like that nightmare upbringing I had.” He shuddered.
I knew he was raised in foster care, but I hadn’t asked about his past. He’d tell me in time, I supposed. So instead, I pulled him into a side hug. “You’d make a great dad.”
“Thanks,” he said, gently pulling away to go to the fridge. “What do you want for dinner? It’s my night to cook.”
“Shrimp etouffee,” I replied with a smirk as I started loading coffee grounds into the filter.
He turned around and looked at me “You would.”
Brantley had taught himself to cook, and not just mac and cheese and hot dogs. He was an absolute master. I was gonna get fat if he cooked every night.
“Yours is the best,” I said, encouraging him. “Plus they’ll be leftovers for tomorrow.”
“Not with the way you eat, sis!” he said, biting back a smile while he unloaded food from the fridge and piled it onto the massive granite and wood island in our kitchen.
“Hey!” I replied, pouring water into the machine and then flipping the button. “If the food was gross, I wouldn’t be eating so much of it!”
He snorted. “Nice excuse.”
“What’s going on in here?”
I had been staring at the coffee, willing it to brew, when I heard the voice. I looked up to see Nora, one of my roommates, standing at the kitchen doorway, her hip propped up against it.
“Dinner,” Brantley answered, turning on the gas burner under the pot of water he’d just set there.
“I see that. I also heard you two talking. Was it about that guy you were fucking last week? We all heard that.” She smirked at me.
“I think she’s talking to you, Brant,” I said teasingly.
“I wish,” he murmured.
I looked at her. “What about him?”
“You gonna spill the beans or what?” she asked, lifting the lid and peeking into the steaming skillet.
Brantley slapped her hand. “Don’t touch.”
“Why do you want to know? He was just a fuck. You should try it sometime.”
Out of my five roommates, Nora was my least favorite. She dressed like a gothic witch, rarely smiled, and had shaved off her eyebrows like Marilyn Manson. It made her look creepy, and she always had negative vibes coming off of her in waves.
“I don’t need sex with a man to make me feel better about myself,” she replied dryly, retrieving a coffee mug from the cupboard.
Did she think she was gonna get some of my coffee after talking to me like that? To my relief, she went to the Keurig and brewed some hot water.
“I don’t need it either. I was just bored and horny.” I shrugged as I lied. Well, about the bored part.
I watched as Nora removed a small vial of purple powder from the pocket of her black dress and dumped it into the hot water. She replaced the cork on the empty vial, put it back into her pocket, then plunked two teabags from a box into the water. She added lemon and honey and stirred it pretty quickly.
“What is that?” I asked, bringing the hot coffee to my lips. I pointed to her dress pocket.
“Hemlock.”
“Why do you take that? Do you think a vampire is gonna bite you?” I teased.
“Yes,” she deadpanned, staring at me with her dark-brown eyes while stirring the tea.
“Why do you think that?” I asked, curious.
She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “It’s happened before, and it won’t fucking happen again.”
Brantley turned around. “Ew, that’s nasty. What happened?” I just now noticed he wore an apron with the Hocus Pocus characters’ faces on it. I bit back a smile.
“Yeah, what happened?” I asked, blowing on my hot coffee.
Nora looked between the two of us. “I was careless, locking up the shop after dark, wasn’t paying attention. He pounced. Thankfully, I had sleeping powder in my pocket and was able to dump the whole vial on him right as he bit into my neck. I got away, but that will never happen again.” Her face was stormy—angry.
“I’m sorry, that had to be very frightening,” I said sincerely.
She pulled the two teabags out and set them on a pre-prepared paper towel, along with the stir spoon. “It was, and it won’t happen again.”
“But the hemlock will only hurt the vamp once he bites, so it could happen again,” I pointed out.
“They smell it on your blood, they won’t bite. And if they’re young and stupid and still bite, then they’ll get very sick and could die,” she stated matter-of-factly before sipping her tea and staring at me.
“I see,” I replied. I knew hemlock root hurt vampires, I didn’t think it killed them. In fact, I was sure it wouldn’t. I remember reading in the library a couple of weeks ago. Destroy the brain or heart. It probably just burned the shit out of their mouth and insides—to which they would heal.
“Is that true?” Brantley asked as he dug rummaged through the spice shelves.
“It is,” Nora responded. She pulled out another vial from her pocket and held it out to me. “You should be taking some yourself. Dump it in your coffee, it’s tasteless.”
For whatever reason, the first thought that came to my mind was... if I slept with Shadow again, he might think I smelled bad since Nora said they can scent it on our blood. And if he wanted to bite me during sex—which I’d heard was mind-blowing—then the hemlock would hurt him.
God, I was so pathetic. However, I did take the vial from her. “Thanks.” I held it up and put it in my pocket.
“You should take it now. Takes a while to build up in your system.”
“Coffee’s almost gone,” I replied truthfully. “I’ll get some pop or something and take it later. Where can I get more?”
“The greenhouse has hemlock root growing. It’s marked.” She pointed out the window to the backyard. Then, she turned around and went to leave the kitchen but stopped as she reached the doorway. “Those filthy biker vamps pulled me into a meeting with them the other day. Said witches are killing vamps, just like Iliana was talking about. So the more protected you are, the better.” She inclined her head at the vial in my hand. “I gotta go to work. Be home late.” Then she walked out.
She managed a wiccan store down in the Quarter that stayed open late.
“Damn, she’s intense. Sucks the life right outta the room,” Brantley said, waving his hand flamboyantly before pulling the lid off the large pot and stirring its contents.
Yes, she was. But little did she know that Shadow wouldn’t hurt me. I got the feeling he would rather get hurt himself than hurt me.
My cell rang from my pocket and I looked at the screen: Cobalt Repairs. The vampires’ bike shop. Shit, what did they want?