Chapter Thirteen
Melinda
The others had been asleep when we got to Agatha’s and to keep his urges at bay, Lucien took the room with Ambrose and left me to wake Isadora to room with her.
She had been half asleep when she agreed to it.
So it came as no surprise to me when I woke up to her staring at me in both confusion and surprise.
“Good morning, Isadora,” I greeted with a yawn.
“When did you get in last night? Why did you sleep over? Did you and Lucien, you know—.” She created a circle with one hand and inserted the finger of her opposite hand into it.
Realizing what she was insinuating, I smacked her hand away.
I made sure to lower my voice before I spoke, not sure which vampires had awoken. “No, we did not.”
“Lucien said there was a slight argument. What happened?”
“Oh, you know, regular father daughter things,” I sighed before slipping out of the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me my mom was a witch? How do you know about Shadowhaven? You know, normal stuff.”
Isadora blinked with a shake of her head, processing the information I gave her.
When it finally did register, I was already searching through her collection of pants for something to jog in.
I hadn’t gone for a proper run in a week and I was starting to feel restless despite the excitement in town and the occasional jog.
Her hands were firm, but gentle as she spun me around and hovered over me.
“You’ll have to excuse my language, but what the fuck are you talking about?
Your mom was a witch? Suddenly your dad knows about Shadowhaven?
When did this happen? I thought my biggest issue was being killed in this town, but now mundanes beyond hunters know of our existence?
” She fired off each statement one after the other with increased panic.
I placed my hands on her shoulders just as firmly as she had grabbed mine, hoping to calm her. “Deep breaths, in and out.” I guided her while doing it myself. She mirrored me until the panic wasn’t as prevalent in her features. Once she was calm, I explained all the events of last night.
“Wow. My brother can actually say things like that,” she exhaled in amazement. “I wish you’d go back with us.”
“What do you mean?”
“It may be second to a prison there, but if you were there then I might actually enjoy my life. If you went with us, I might actually go back.” Sadness clouded her eyes as she thought over it.
I wasn’t sure I would go with them to Shadowhaven. If I was being honest, the thought of living there or even visiting had never crossed my mind. The only reason I would move there had only recently stepped into my life.
“I really need to go for a run. Do you have any pants that would be more comfortable than this dress,” I asked, gesturing to the sundress I still wore from last night.
The talk of clothes snapped Isadora out of her thoughts and had her in a much happier mood. She looked through what she had until she produced a pair of black leggings that looked similar to ones I had at home. I changed right there in front of her, eager to get out on the path.
“You have a tattoo,” she commented, touching the small of my back where it was. “Has Lucien seen this?”
“No, why? Does it look bad? I got it to remember my mother. She had the same one on her back,” I explained. The silence became deafening with her lack of response.
When I turned around, she was scrolling through her phone with brows furrowed in concentration.
I could tell she was searching for something so I waited semi-patiently until she finally discovered it.
She pointed the phone screen at me to show me a black brick building with neon words and an image of a black dahlia on it.
The place was named after the flower and something about it seemed familiar but not at the same time.
Sensing my confusion, she explained what she was showing me.
“This is a club in the upper center side of Shadowhaven where most witches and fae congregate. I think your mom might have been part of the coven that resides inside the club. The witches specialize in shadow magic so not many get close enough to learn any secrets. I’m sure you could ask Lucien about it sometime,” she explained this to me while flipping through pictures of the inside and outside.
The people looked normal to me, but as I observed more and more, I started to notice the glimmer of wings attached to some while others were doing tricks with fire without a nearby flame. Fae and witches.
“It seems I’m uncovering more and more as the days pass. I think I might get overloaded,” I spoke while shoving my feet back into my sneakers. Pushing the thought from my mind, I stretched before heading out of the room. “I’m going for my run. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“I’ll tell Lucien if he asks. I think he went out hunting earlier,” she told me.
My footsteps paused at the mention of Lucien hunting.
She must have picked up on my worry because she was quick to explain.
“Animals. He went to find a mountain lion or something big. Erie told him you’d be upset if he fed off one of your humans. ”
I exhaled with relief. “Yeah, I would have been. Tell Erie I said thank you for that.”
I left then, glad that they lived closer to the trail than I did. The run was exactly what I needed with the wind carrying the smell of nature as the air moved past me while cooling my skin. I always enjoyed a good run, but I could never run competitively.
Lost in my thoughts, I was unaware of the man that had begun catching up to me until I was slammed into the dirt ground with the fallen tree branches cutting into my arm.
I tried to scream, but he covered my mouth before I could utter a sound, muffling it.
I tried, instead, to push my entire weight into my attacker.
He stumbled away just enough that it allowed me a moment to get back on my feet.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell who it was by the weird metal mask he wore.
“Who are you?”
His laugh was dark and twisted. “Witches don’t get to ask questions of a hunter. They simply die at our blades,” he spoke before lunging at me.
The moment I dodged out of the way, my elbow collided with his face and I felt the crunch of bone under my arm.
I turned, finding his nose was now bleeding out of the mask from the impact.
It only seemed to anger him as he lunged at me again with more ferocity.
Dodging failed me this time as he produced another blade and managed to sink it into my stomach.
Gasping, I stared at the blade that protruded from my abdomen.
“Shit,” I hissed through clenched teeth. He used that moment to pull out a gun, pointing it at me.
As I stared down the silver barrel, the darkness inside left me as hollow as it appeared.
I would have thought my life would have flashed before my eyes or I would think of every regret I had, but my mind was blank.
A cold fear had gripped me, leaving no part of me had a response for the horrid ending in store for me.
“Night, night, witch,” the man said before the sound of the gun going off echoed around us. I closed my eyes and braced myself for death, but nothing came. Silence clung to the air, but I felt a different presence in front of me that had me opening my eyes.
“Lucien,” I breathed with relief, staring at the leather back of my mate. I was safe. The adrenaline left my body like a deflated balloon, sinking onto the forest floor.
“This town is full of monsters,” the man was saying when I finally focused on what was being said. Lucien dropped the bullet onto the ground with a growl that sounded more animalistic than human, showing his true vampiric nature. “We will meet again. Very soon.”
“No, you don’t,” Lucien snarled as the man threw something at his feet that created a smoke shield. By the time Lucien tried to grab him, he was already gone and the smoke was all that was left. “Bastard!”
“Lucien,” I whimpered from my spot on the ground, the pain starting to grow from the knife. His attention turned to me and then to the blade that was still inside me.
“Melinda.”
He was quick to pick me from the damp ground and rush me back to the house. Without warning, he kicked the front door down. It flew into the entryway, nearly hitting Erie as she held a bowl in hand.
The moment she saw me, the bowl crashed to the ground and sent a red liquid with cereal inside splashing on the ground.
He maneuvered around her to place me on the kitchen table where Ambrose was sitting with the local paper in hand.
The paper was discarded as the young vampire leaped to his feet to avoid me.
“What is going on?” Isadora demanded as she stomped down the stairs. “I was curling my hair and it felt like the whole house just shook. I smelt blood. What the—. Mel?”
“We need to take the blade out,” Ambrose stated before reaching for it. I smacked his hand away. When he failed for a second time, he stomped his foot angrily. “Melinda, we need—.”
“No, I need to go to the hospital! No offense, but I am not doing redneck surgery on Agatha’s dining table. Take me to the hospital, please.”
Lucien reached to pick me up, but I quickly pushed him back as I felt something began to rise in my throat. Rolling on the side that wasn’t injured, I began hurling up an inky black substance that tasted almost disturbingly like blood. The gasps of my audience didn’t help the bad feeling.
“This is not something mundane doctors can handle, Melinda. You’re poisoned with witchbane.
This plant doesn’t exist in your world,” Ambrose explained, grabbing my shoulder and rolling me back over.
“Your witch blood is reacting to the poison just like any witch’s would. We need to find who attacked you.”
“He was wearing a mask. I couldn’t see who it was,” I groaned as I tried to sit up. Ambrose pushed me gently, but firmly back onto the table. “I can’t. It hurts.”
“It’s just the poison changing your blood so it can kill you. You must endure—.”
“It hurts,” I screamed in anger now, glaring at the young vampire. “It hurts and I can’t just endure the pain.”
Lucien, who had been strangely silent despite the situation, wiped the tears that fell down my cheeks. I felt a tremble in his touch as he caught the tears that continued.
What was going on in his head? Why was he being so quiet? Sensing my gaze, he helped me sit up.
I used his body to lean against for support as my body began to burn like a fire was moving in my veins. Lucien’s hand held mine as I cried and Isadora left the room. When she returned, she held a map of the town.
“What good is a map going to do?” asked Erie, finally speaking for the first time.
“Take the blade out, Mel. Listen to me closely and do exactly as I say,” Isa urged calmly despite the panic swirling in her eyes.
I shook my head at her painful demand. “Mel, listen to me. We need to find the cure. This poison takes less than an hour to kill a practiced witch so we have even less time for you. Please.”
“It hurts, Isa,” I whimpered to the adamant blonde before biting on the inside of my cheek as the wound throbbed.
“I know, but you have to be strong. I know you can survive this. On three just pull it out as fast as you can. Okay?” I nodded, squeezing Lucien’s hand tighter while my other hand wrapped around the blade. “Okay. Good. Now, one, two, three.”
I yanked the blade out, screaming in pain as it exited. The blood around it was black, as was the blood exiting the wound. Lucien put my shaking hand to his lips, kissing it gently. I could still feel the slight tremor in his hands as they held mine. He was scared.
“What is the point of doing that?” Erie asked. “She’s going to bleed out.”
“No, she won’t. Stop talking negatively right now. She needs positivity to do what she needs to do,” Isadora snapped at her cousin. Erie shrunk at her tone, but remained quiet. “Okay, Melinda. Hold the blade over the map and concentrate on the blade. Guide it to find its owner. Can you do that?”
“Here, take this off first,” Lucien spoke for the first time. His hands reached to grasp my necklace, taking it off of me. I felt a weird warmth envelop my body when it was removed. My mind instantly believed it was death creeping closer.
Quickly closing my eyes, fearful of my impending demise, I put all my strength into focusing on the blade.
I was willing it to find its owner. The warmth slowly moved through my body until it stopped at my fingers that gripped the hilt of the blade.
My hands began vibrating as if the blade wanted free.
I tried to keep hold of it, but it managed to slam into the table with a thud.
I opened my eyes to find the blade had pierced the location of the only mechanic shop in Burrow Hills.
“You did it,” Lucien praised me while placing a kiss on my head.
“Take her and hurry, Lucien. She used a lot of energy to do that spell. She’s paler than Uncle Titus.” Isadora hurried her brother, but he was already moving.
Lucien pulled me into his arms and within a minute we were at the mechanic shop. One of the workers was outside and appeared to be working on a motorcycle that looked like it had seen better days. As I squinted, I recognized who it was.
Bryon.