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When I watched Joanna clean the rooms, make the beds, and hoover with a flick of her wrist, I suddenly understood how she managed to do all of it on her own with the twins in tow. Simply put, she didn’t do anything other than flick her wrist in each room. I was stunned and also rather excited that I might be able to do something similar myself one day. It felt like a whole new world had been opened up to me and I couldn’t wait to delve in and enjoy it.
She told me to meet her at the Whalebone Arch at midnight. For the rest of the afternoon, I became nothing but a jittery bag of nerves. I ate tea with Dad and settled next to him on the bed for more episodes of Midsummer Murders. I wanted to ask him so bad what he thought about the paranormal and such, see if it provoked any conversation, but my better judgement won through and I decided to wait and see what this Elder had to say.
Dad fell asleep around eight thirty, giving me three hours to kill in the meantime. I carefully extricated myself from the bed, taking pleasure in hearing his snores. I could easily be back by the time he woke up.
I headed to my apartment to find Marcus sat on the sofa watching a Discovery Channel documentary about some underground caves.
“Hey,” he said, pausing it and coming to greet me. “Had a good day?”
I nodded. “I think I can guess how your day has gone.”
He bent down and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Entirely better now you’re here.”
I smiled at him but for some reason it felt forced, not real. I couldn’t stop thinking about the connection between us and if it was as fake as Joanna said. Was this real love or was it just lust, an intense desire to live forever through my immortal boyfriend?
“Are you ok?” he asked.
I nodded. “Of course. I’ve had a chat with Joanna today. I’m guessing you know she’s a witch.”
“Yes, I do.”
“She’s got some things to explain to me, but she wants me to meet her coven. Tonight.”
He nodded. “Ok, that sounds like a good idea.”
I had to chew on that for a minute. I expected him to kick up a fuss about not letting me out of his sight or anywhere near a coven of witches. “Really?”
“You need to learn about the world you’re now a part of, Caitlyn. I’m a vampire. What can I teach you about being a witch?”
“Ok...I just expected more of a fight, that’s all.”
“Obviously I will escort you to wherever you need to be and bring you back.”
I grinned. “There it is. The overprotective boyfriend. I can walk down a street you know.”
“And at what time do you need to meet her?”
“Midnight.”
He smirked. “No woman of mine is going to walk down any street on her own in the dark, much less at the height of the night.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. If that’s all the argument I’m going to get, I’ll take it.”
“Good,” he replied, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. “Now give me a kiss.”
“Hold on a minute,” I said, placing my hand on his chest. “When you said ‘woman of mine’, you know I’m not something you own, right?”
He locked his startling sapphire eyes onto mine for several seconds, uncertainty running through them. “I would never—”
I burst out laughing. “I’m joking, Marcus.”
His entire face lightened and before I knew it, he grabbed me by the waist and pinned me up against the wall. He pressed his mouth on mine, fervent hunger clearly taking hold of him. His kiss was rough, urgent, demanding, and I couldn’t help but respond to his evident need for me.
Even as I enjoyed his kisses and his hands wandering down the curve of my waist, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was only enjoying this because I needed to feel like I could live forever. Was this my heart and soul talking or was it just a primal need based on my witch DNA?
Marcus pulled back, looking at me with worry filling his eyes. “Are you ok?”
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He frowned. “You seem distracted, hesitant. Are you sure you’re ok?”
I froze for a moment. “What makes you say that?”
“You, your body, you just seem like you’re holding back, uncertain.”
Oh my. Had my thoughts really affected me so much? Or was this his vampire senses picking up on the slightest little thing?
“I’m ok. Just a lot on my mind,” I said, looking away. Technically, I wasn’t lying.
He sighed and stepped back, smiling at me. “Still feel guilty about enjoying yourself when your dad is next door?”
I forced my lips into a smile and nodded. If that was what he thought, I wasn’t going to tell him otherwise.
“Come on,” he said, reaching out and taking my hand in his. “Let’s watch some more Vampire Diaries before you go for your midnight adventure.”
That caught my attention. “Really?”
“Seeing as it’s you,” he replied, giving me a cheeky wink.
We settled down on the sofa and put Netflix on. As I laid my head on his chest, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d chosen the sofa instead of the bed for a reason. If our kiss had ended differently, would we currently be on the bed?
“Stop thinking so much,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “It’s not good for you.”
I nodded and fixed my eyes on the TV. As soon as the episode started, all worries of my current predicament disappeared. Halfway through the second episode of the night, my eyelids started drooping. The more I tried to fight it, the sleepier I became. After several minutes of fighting, I decided to close my stinging eyes just for a moment, just to ease their pain.
“Caitlyn,” Marcus whispered, shaking my shoulder gently.
“Just one more minute. My eyes hurt.”
A low chuckle sounded from his chest. “It’s five to midnight. We need to go.”
I jumped up. “What? How long have I been asleep?”
“Two hours, give or take.”
“Oh crap,” I said, scrabbling off the sofa. “I’m going to be late.” I ran around the apartment, totally confused, then stopped and looked at Marcus. “What was I doing?”
He laughed. “Shoes.”
“Right.” I frantically looked for my shoes, becoming more and more desperate as the seconds ticked by but I couldn’t find them. “Where are they?” I whined, looking at him for help.
He stood with his hand covering his mouth but the amusement in his eyes gave him away. He pointed at my feet and then burst out laughing.
I scowled at him. “I swear to God the instant I learn how to turn you into a toad, you’re getting it.”
“At least I could fit in the bath with you then,” he said with a mischievous grin.
I narrowed my eyes. “Shut up and get me where I need to be.”
“As the lady requests.”
Before I knew what was happening, he picked me up and flung me over his shoulder. He moved so fast I couldn’t even draw a breath to scream. Everything became a blur until the only thing I could make sense of was the wind whistling in my ears.
Seconds later, he set me down on the floor, in front of the whalebones, the view of the harbour twinkling behind it. I stumbled as I tried to find my feet and my head spun like I’d just been on a playground roundabout at top speed.
“You ok?” he asked, putting his hands on my shoulders and steadying me.
“Define ‘ok’,” I replied, trying to ignore the nausea swirling in my stomach. “If you mean am I alive, then yes, I’m ok. If you mean did you treat me like a sack of potatoes, then no, I’m not ok.”
I could tell he wanted to laugh. He pressed his lips together so tight, I couldn’t actually see them.
“It’s the easiest way for me to carry someone and run fast. Next time I’ll make sure you’re in my arms and we’re skipping through a meadow of daisies,” he said, smirking.
I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m sorry, ‘next time’?”
He grinned. “You’ve got to get back home yet.”
“That will be with my own feet on the ground, thank you very much. Every step of the way, just to clarify.”
Before he could respond, Joanna appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, standing in front of the whalebone arch. “Have you two quite finished?” she asked, her brown eyes dancing with amusement.
“I’ll wait here for you,” Marcus said, gesturing towards one of the benches edging the cliff top. “Have fun.”
Nerves exploded inside me in an instant. How was this happening to me? A day ago, I knew nothing of this and now I was about to meet an entire coven of witches. I shivered as Joanna held her hand out.
“Take my hand,” she said. “The first time is always disorientating.”
I looked around me, curious. “Are we going flying or something?”
She laughed. “No, nothing of the sort. We leave that to their kind,” she said, nodding towards Marcus.
“Flying?”
“Didn’t he tell you anything?” she said, sighing. “They can turn into bats, just like the old legends. And dogs, but that’s specific to only some.”
I gasped. “No. So the whole Dracula scene where the black dog ran up the steps...?”
“Yep,” she said, smiling. “He actually saw it. Not just fiction.”
I gazed over the other side of the harbour. Under the full moon, I could just make out the famous steps, shadowed and ancient, and wondered what Bram Stoker must have thought when he saw that. Was he scared or just intrigued? Probably both based on the book that came as a result of it.
Placing my hand in Joanna’s, I took a deep breath. “Ok, now what?”
She nodded towards the arch, only a few feet in front of us. “Now we walk through the doorway.”