The Queen of Witches Read online

  Jamison knelt next to me. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “Pretty freaking bad.”

  “I can help, but it will hurt.”

  He took my injured arm in his hands and closed his eyes. His long eyelashes cast a shadow over his perfect cheeks as he concentrated. Unbearable pain radiated from me as I felt my tendons knitting back together and the bone snapping back into place. Sweat beaded my upper lip, and I felt like I was going to faint. My head dropped to his shoulder as tears trailed down my face. The pain started to fade into a dull ache. After a few minutes, there was no pain at all.

  “The key! You have to go get it. If you hurry maybe you can—”

  “No, it’s too late. Besides Ariana might have gave me a heads up.”

  My eyes narrowed. “About?”

  “She told me not to leave you. So here I am.”

  I frowned up at him as I flexed my fingers and bent my arm. It was healed. “How did you do that?”

  “I can heal others if I agree to take their pain. Another benefit Ariana bestowed upon me and my brother.”

  “Are you in pain right now?”

  I noticed his right arm hung limply by his side. “I heal so quickly that the pain has already begun to fade.” With his good arm, he tucked my hair behind my ear. “You did really well tonight.”

  “How did you know where to find me? The mark?” Then I thought of what Juan had said earlier. Was this all this a set up to find the key? But why would he have taken the time to heal me instead of letting the demon escape with the key?

  “Yeah, it let me know that you were in trouble. You probably felt it tingling, so I knew that—”

  “Help,” Juan moaned.

  A cloud of emotions passed over Jamison’s face as he stood. He walked over to Juan and jerked him up by his shirt.

  “Hey, Juan, how’s it going?” He poked a finger into a cut on Juan’s arm, making the older man hiss. “Hmm, not so good I see. So, there has been a rumor going around that you were behind the attack on my parents. Is that true?”

  Juan’s brown eyes were frazzled. “No! Of course not. I would have never hurt the queen or king.”

  My gut tightened. “He’s lying,” I said.

  Jamison never took his eyes off of Juan. “Yes, he is.”

  Juan shouted, “Don’t let him kill me. I can tell you about your family, help you to understand your powers, and your—”

  Jamison punched Juan so hard through the chest I heard the rib cage breaking. I averted my eyes when his hand came out with a bloody heart.

  Jamison mumbled, “That was too good of a death for you.” Blood covered his hands, and he took a moment to clean them off on Talon’s frozen form. Apparently, I was the only one who was squeamish. “We need to get out of here.”

  I had one question burning inside of me. But did I want the answer? Gathering my courage, I asked, “Did you use me as bait? So you could have your revenge?”

  His answer was simple. “No.”

  “You didn’t mark me, so you could find your enemy?”

  “No. I marked you so I could find you if you needed me.”

  Truth and truth.

  “You could have ignored Ariana and gone after the key, but you chose to stay.”

  “I’ll always choose you, Charlie.”

  “Even if it means the world will come to an end?” I asked.

  “Without you, I could not care less if the end was now.”

  Then he kissed me tenderly. When he pulled back his eyes shone with something more than just lust. He looked at me as if I was the most priceless object in the world. Most people hope that they can find that one person that just gets them. That makes them smile at the end of a long day or cheers them on when they feel as if they can’t take one more step in this race that we call life. He was looking at me like I was his person. Like I belonged to him.

  A loud sound crashed through the underbrush. What now? A moment later, Tandi appeared, driving an ATV.

  “It took me forever to find the keys to this thing.” She noticed Jamison standing beside me. “Oh, hey, hotness. Hop on, you two lovebirds. I’ve got places to be.” She assessed the damage around her. The sea of witches frozen in the water, the decapitated demons, and the dead Juan before she noticed the frozen statue of Talon. “Y’all have been busy. Sucks that Face had to die but let’s be honest, he would have been a terrible husband.”

  Jamison’s eyebrows rose. “Ah, now I get the wedding dress.” I looked down at the torn, filthy dress. “Nice tennis shoes, though.” He walked over to the ice sculpture known as Talon and with a swift kick to the center of the ice block Talon burst into millions of pieces.

  “Was that necessary?” I asked.

  Jamison stood there with his fist clenched looking like a dangerous angel that was on the verge of losing his temper. “He tried to take something that matters to me.” Then he looked at me. For the first time his cocky arrogant self was replaced with something else. In that moment, he looked vulnerable and something in me broke. “You don’t belong to him.”

  I didn’t know how to handle this Jamison but I knew that I wanted… no, I needed to reassure him. “Of course I don’t.”

  He gave me a nod. His sexy smile returned while he steered us around the ice. “We need to get out of here.”

  And just like that Jamison’s swag returned in full force. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I was trying not to step on any squishy limbs as I headed to the ATV.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As we made our way to our cars, Tandi received a phone call. She needed to get home and quick. Her mother had brought her close to tears with her belittling. Tandi’s mother was a horrible woman whose sole reason for having a child was because it was what was expected. A box had been checked at Tandi’s birth, so the next task was to make Tandi’s life miserable with her own expectations. And what was expected of Tandi right now was to come home and put on a show. The mayor was coming over to their house, and her mother needed Tandi to pretend they were a loving family. Tandi wasn’t a people pleaser except for when it came to her parents. She had always wanted what they hadn’t been able to give her. Unconditional love. I gathered her up in my arms and gave her a hug so fierce I was scared I would crush her. She groaned about her ribs before I let her go. She gave us a wave as she jumped into my car. She was going to drive my car, and I would ride back with Jamison.

  The drive back to my house started out as a quiet one. I was so disappointed we lost the key. I wanted to help Jamison save the world, and we were so close just to come up empty-handed. Juan had opened the door for maybe twenty seconds, and ten demons had escaped. Now that I had seen what an open portal could do, I was more determined to find that key again.

  We were an hour into our trip back home when I broke the silence. “What’s the plan now?” I asked.

  “I find the demon with the key.”

  “No. We find the key. I feel connected to it now. I know I could help.”

  His grip tightened on the steering wheel as he looked over at me. “Demons are a tougher crowd than witches.”

  “I’m not an average witch.”

  “That’s true. If you’re sure you want to hunt down the key, then we will head out tonight. Oh and Charlie?”

  “Hmm?”

  He gave me a once over that made my mouth dry. “I like the crown.”

  I had a smile on my face for the next hour as I contemplated calling my brother. We would be home soon and I really should call him, but what I needed to say to him couldn’t be done over the phone. Maybe I could ask him to come home early. My brother might become angry with me for not telling him sooner, but one thing was for certain, he would never stop loving me. Then again, why did I need to drag him into all of this? My head hit the back of the headrest a couple of times in frustration. I really shouldn’t go traipsing after a demon without talking to him first. What if something happened to me?

  “Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind, or are you just goi
ng to keep banging your head while dramatically sighing?”

  “Would you mind if we left in the morning? I need to talk to my brother.”

  Jamison shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, as he parked the car into our oyster-shell driveway. “What can he possibly do for you other than worry? And we really do need to be going. Grab some clothes and maybe a snack bag and we’ll head out.”

  My gut tightened. Red flag. He was hiding something. We both got out of the car and headed inside. My mind was working overtime. “I’m just going to take a quick shower. Wipe the mud off of me.” I ran upstairs and tossed the crown onto my bed. I headed to the bathroom and took the quickest shower of my life. As soon as I was done I left the water running so that Jamison would think that I was still in the shower. I ditched my clothes for jeans and a tank top. I was buttoning my jeans as I dialed my brother.

  “Hey, sis. Everything okay?”

  “No, actually it’s not. Can you come home?”

  “What is—”

  “Hello? Wes?” The line was dead. I was cradling the phone with dread when Jamison walked into my room. Did he cut the phone line?

  “Werewolf hearing, remember?” He took the phone out of my hand and put it back on the receiver. “I really wish you wouldn’t have done that.”

  Confusion hit me hard. There was no way I could have been so wrong about him. I knew instinctively that I had nothing to fear from Jamison. He would never hurt me so anger colored my words. “Why do you not want me talking to my brother?” I stood immobile as Jamison went to the window and pulled back the curtain, as if he was looking for someone.

  He tilted his head back and sighed. “And so it begins.”

  “What?”

  There was a crash downstairs that had Jamison speeding out of my bedroom. I trailed after him as he literally jumped down the steps and ran for the living room. Before I could follow, some force knocked me back into my room. The door slowly closed and the lock clicked into place.

  The smell of peat smoke filled my room. It was strong, almost overwhelming and comforting all at the same time. A swirl of thick smoke appeared in my bedroom carrying a man dressed in all black. He was tall and wiry with a face many girls had fallen for. Jamison had a face of an angel, just as this boy had the face of something of equal magnitude but darker. I was staring into the face of the Undertaker, and he didn’t look happy at all.

  “Tell me that you’re not the infamous Undertaker?”

  My brother’s amber eyes looked contrite. “What gave it away, the scythe or the all-black attire? All kidding aside, I’m sorry you had to find out like this.” He held up a finger, silencing me. “Tell me quickly… the wolf that is currently coming up the stairs enemy or friend?”

  “Friend.” I thought. “You weren’t off selling paintings, were you?”

  “I actually do have an art gallery in New York, and my paintings have been making me a handsome commission, but that’s not the reason I’ve been away.”

  “What have you been doing?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  Jamison broke down my door with one swift kick. He didn’t stop moving until he was directly in between Wes and me.

  Wes looked at the splintered door frame then at Jamison. “A little on edge, are we?”

  I stepped from behind Jamison. “What is your deal, Jamison? And don’t act like you didn’t know who my brother was. You knew all along, didn’t you? Is that why you didn’t want me calling him?”

  We were completely ignoring Wes as we glared at each other. Or maybe I was doing the glaring.

  “Yes.” Jamison crossed his arms over his chest. “At first I didn’t tell you about your brother because I thought he was the one who had the key. Then when Talon came into the picture I realized I was mistaken. Then I didn’t tell you about your brother because I thought finding out about him being the Undertaker and a Degenerate might be a hard pill to swallow.”

  Wes shrugged. “He has a point. Though I would like to take this time to point out that I’m not a Degenerate. Not that anyone is listening to me, anyways.”

  I drove my index finger into Jamison’s chest. “And after you realized that it was Juan that held the key? Why didn’t you tell me then?”

  Jamison was completely silent for several seconds. “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you about your brother.”

  “I’m the grim reaper, not dying of a disease. Jeez!”

  I was outraged. Both of these boys were a part of my life. And both of them had kept a secret from me. One that was huge. I was pissed and struggling to hide my emotions when, my brother said, “And you, little sister? You smell like power. When were you going to tell me that you came into your powers?”

  “Probably around the same time that you were going to explain to me that I had them.”

  Wes’s smile grew on his handsome face. “Touché little sister. I’ve royally screwed up.”

  Some of the anger left me. I’ve always struggled staying mad at my brother. “I didn’t want to burden you with my problems when you were off trying to sell your paintings.”

  His smile dropped. “I hate that you ever felt like you couldn’t come to me. I’m sorry on many different levels.”

  “When I found out about all of this, I honestly thought that our dad was human and you took after him. I thought all of this would freak you out.” That was the understatement of the year. “How am I a witch, and you’re an Undertaker?”

  “First, you’re Queen of the Warlocks and Witches. And I am the Undertaker because that is what our father was.”

  I needed to sit for this. I found myself walking towards the bed. I picked up the crown and studied the ice-encrusted diamonds at the base of the circle as I tried to picture our sweet, shy, and humble dad as the Undertaker. The one that tucked me into bed every night and kissed every boo-boo. No way. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. The Underworld talks. Apparently, Mom fell in love with the bad boy of the other side. Our dad. Her father, the King of Warlocks, was happy over the union, but right after they were married, our grandfather was murdered by his own brother. Mom ran away when she found out she was pregnant with me. She didn’t want us to be hunted down like her father was, and she was unsure of who to trust. She put a spell over this whole town, so no one could find us. Then some idiot at a gas station decided to rob the place. She got in the way, and a bullet killed her instantly. One of the most powerful witches to ever live and she was killed by a human. Once she died, the spell was lifted.”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks. “And Dad?”

  “Dad was shot, too, but a bullet couldn’t kill him.” He gathered me in his arms. “There is life after this, Charlie. Dad wanted to be with her, and I don’t blame him. He made the decision right then to turn over his soul. To willingly die. The moment he passed was the moment I became the Undertaker. I’ve been trying to learn the ropes ever since.”

  “Is that what you were off doing?”

  “No, that’s the part that’s complicated.”

  “Give me the short version and try your best to un-complicate it.”

  “The man Merek, that killed his own brother, our grandfather, recently died at the hands of the Werewolf King.” He nodded towards Jamison. “The prince’s brother. Merek has a son, Cecil, that is currently on a mission to hunt down the rest of the keys to destroy the Lux. Not to mention, owning the keys is very profitable and powerful. Cecil can’t go against the strongest of the Lux without help, so he found a girl by the name of Tamara, who wears two crowns. She’s rumored to be a very powerful vampire princess, and she’s also a zombie queen. Basically, her mother is the ruler of the undead, leaving her daughter a legacy, and Tamara, thanks to her father, can control the dead. It’s an occupational hazard for me. A conflict of interest, if you will. Cecil plans on marrying her because she comes with her own army, outnumbering the Lux and Degenerates put together.”

  “So Cecil thinks if he marries this girl
, then he can go around collecting all the keys because his wife has an army of vampires backing her, plus she can raise the dead?”

  “As long as there is death, I will live. Once I harvest a soul, their power becomes mine. If Tamara raises the dead, I relinquish that power back to its original owner. This girl could actually be the death of me.”

  Jamison, who had been quiet during all of this, said, “We have to go. A demon that escaped got a good look at your sister. He probably has her scent. We need to get far away from here.”

  There was a knock on our front door. My heart started racing, which was crazy. A demon, even a polite one, wouldn’t just ring the doorbell.

  Jamison and Wes both said at the same time, “Tandi.”

  I ran downstairs to get the door. On my way, I thought about how Tandi was going to flip when she found out who her very first crush was. I was still angry that my brother didn’t sit down at some point and tell me about our parents, himself, and what I should expect, but as a child who had lost her parents suddenly, I decided I wasn’t going to hold a grudge. He was my brother, and the only one I had.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I opened the door to see Tandi in a beautiful, black sequined gown.

  “I thought you were eating dinner with your family and the mayor?”