WitchWar 05 Read online

  WitchWar

  Emma Mills

  Copyright © 2015 Emma Mills

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.

  WitchWar

  Copyright © 2015 Emma Mills

  www.witchbloodthenovel.com

  www.twitter.com/EmmaMwriter

  Acknowledgments

  Dear Reader,

  This is the final book in the Witchblood Series and I really hope you enjoy it. Witchblood has been my first foray into writing and it is something I have wanted to do since I was a teenager. Writing the series has been a roller-coaster of emotions as the characters become so real. They really have become a part of my soul, and I found myself writing furiously with a tear in my eye and a lump wedged in my throat as I wrote the final chapters… you’ll soon see why! It has been tough, tiring, even draining but overall so very satisfying. Witchblood will not be the end. I have already started another manuscript.

  I would like to thank all of you, my friends, who chat to me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You don’t know how very important those little messages are to new writers. It is those messages, along with the Amazon reviews, that give me the boost I need sometimes to switch on the laptop and write another ten thousand words. I really wouldn’t have written a six book series if it wasn’t for all of you, so thank you so much!

  Special thanks go to my brilliant Beta reading team, Claire, Kim and Marley. Before this series I didn’t know you, but without your input these books wouldn’t be as clean as they are today. Thank you, lovely girls.

  My amazing mum, you say you are proud of me, but none of this would have happened without you. You are my Grammar Queen, my proofreader, my friend and most importantly the best mummy a girl could want. I love you.

  Lastly, my darling hubs and brilliant children, you are my life. The best parts of my best characters are always you. You inspire me.

  Now forget about me, open the book and read!

  Emma xxx

  Prologue

  Two men dressed in dark jeans and long coats picked their way down the dirty alleyway. They skirted around a couple of human forms bundled up against the frozen December night and made their way towards a solitary form, towards the farthest end of the alley. The boy was curled up in a foetal position and unlike the other homeless they had passed, he didn’t have a blanket or a coat. The uncontrollable shivers had died down hours ago and now the boy drifted in and out of unconsciousness, his heart already slowing as hypothermia took over.

  ‘He’ll do. He’s half dead anyway, so I doubt he’d survive the night,’ the taller man said with a slight French accent.

  ‘This way he’ll get to live a little longer and become an overnight media sensation!’ the other smirked. ‘Shall we take him to the van, or do it here?’

  ‘The van! We’re taking him anyway, so what’s the point in risking being seen by any of these strays… not that anyone would believe their stories. Here, hold him under his arms, and that way it will look like he’s just inebriated.’

  They pulled the boy from the floor and hitched him up between them, letting his toes drag slightly on the floor, as they made their way back down the alley towards the van.

  ‘He barely feels human. If I didn’t know better I’d say he’d already been turned. I can’t feel his pulse.’

  ‘We must hurry. He is alive, but barely.’

  They reached the van and, after a quick scout around, the younger man pulled open the rear doors and climbed in with the teenager.

  ‘Who gets the honours then?’ the young man asked, looking at his boss.

  ‘You may feed, I’m not particularly hungry and his deathly pallor and unwashed stench isn’t doing much for me.’

  The younger man grinned as his fangs shot out, fully extended. He shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘You’re too fussy!’

  ‘With age comes experience, and with experience comes taste,’ the other replied.

  The boy moaned slightly and his arms trembled as the vampire’s fangs broke his skin, but he soon stilled and lay limp, his head cradled as the vampire leant over and fed from him. Watching the proceedings excited the elder and he too felt his fangs extending. He lazily picked up the boy’s arm and bit down into his wrist. This time the boy was too far gone to notice.

  ‘It’s time,’ the first vampire said a couple of minutes later.

  The second vampire retracted his fangs from the boy’s wrist and nodded. Retrieving a sharp pocket knife from his back pocket he swiftly sliced it across his own wrist and pressed it against the boy’s mouth. Nothing happened.

  ‘Damn! He’s not swallowing,’ the first said, holding the boy’s mouth open, his voice sounding slightly panicked.

  ‘Wait, he will. We just need this first drop to work its way down.’

  Sure enough a minute later the boy gulped and stirred. The vampire massaged his wrist, pumping more of his blood into the boy’s mouth. The boy moved again and opened his eyes, which widened as terror and confusion took over. He bucked under the vampire’s hands, struggling slightly.

  ‘Drink,’ the older vampire ordered, leaning over the boy and willing him to submit.

  The boy’s eyes glazed over slightly and as the burning hunger consumed him he bit hard into the vampire’s wrist and began to drink. The vampire glanced up at the other and smiled.

  ‘You see? Nothing to it!’

  ‘And now what do we do? Leave him to be found and buried?’ The other asked.

  The older vampire shook his head incredulously. ‘Do you have cotton wool for brains? This boy is important, instrumental even. This boy is a runaway, an unknown, maybe even an orphan. If we left him here, the likelihood is he would be cremated and then our entire schedule would be ruined and you would find your pathetic excuse for a body burning slowly in the middle of some African desert. Personally that is not somewhere I recommend you spending your New Year.’

  The other vampire hung his head and mumbled something unintelligible.

  ‘I don’t know why I picked you. Next time I’m going to pick someone with a modicum of intellect,’ the older vampire said, as he pulled his wrist away from the now unconscious boy and licked the wound clean, watching as it healed. He opened the van doors and climbed out, gesturing for the other vampire to follow him. Closing the doors on their victim they went around the front and climbed into the cab.

  ‘So we’re burying him then?’ the younger, slightly gangly vampire asked.

  The other nodded.

  ‘It’s council rules, not that it will matter much longer, but more importantly it’s part of the show. In a week’s time his hunger and drive to feed will wake him from his death sleep and then the fun will begin.’

  Chapter One

  ‘Brit, I’m bored!’ I exclaimed as I slumped back into the sofa. ‘I’m fed up with Council rules and paperwork. For every job they send me on there’s a mountain of paperwork to carry out, saying in minute detail what I did, why I did it and how I did it. Ugh! I almost think I would have been better working for Sebastian after all.’

  Brittany grinned.

  ‘Now you’ve proven yourself to be a tame little Super Vitch maybe they’d let you go solo or join Saffy and me,’ she said.

  ‘Vitch?’ I asked, hitching my eyebrow.

  ‘Ha! Yes, I came up with it on the spur of the moment. Of course we could always go with Wimpire, but that doesn’t sound quite as hardcore,’ Brittany said, laughing out loud.

  ‘You think you’re so funny. It’s not easy being me, y
ou know, having super stuck-in-their-ways vampires to answer to on one side and little pain-in-the-ass witches to keep under control on the other.’

  ‘Oh, I’m a pain in the ass, am I?’

  ‘Always and forever… the little sister I never had,’ I said, with a wink and a smile.

  ‘Little sister? Ha! I don’t think so, I’m twenty-five, whereas little old you is still not quite eighteen… Seriously though, Jess, it’s been ten years; they couldn’t stop you if you sacked them off and said you were joining us. We’d love to have you, and we’re getting really busy.’

  ‘I know, but then I’d have to deal with Sebastian whinging at me, telling me how I was degrading the vampire’s reputation by choosing witches over vampires.’

  ‘Go solo then, like Brooke did last year.’

  ‘Brooke hasn’t gone solo, she’s gone completely off-grid. Apparently she’s gone back to living in the middle of the Scottish highlands in her old mentor’s cottage. She refuses to do any magic at all. The council are at the end of their tether as she’s the only elemental time-jumper left in Europe and the US… possibly the world, but they can’t make her phase and she’s not doing anything illegal so their hands are tied,’ I said, shrugging.

  ‘Okay, so I guess they might be a little wary if you say you’re going solo, but that’s all the more reason to partner up with Saffy and me.’

  ‘Hmm, I’ll think about it. I’m not in the office now till after New Year anyway so I’ve got a couple of days to decide on a plan of action.’

  ‘What does Daniel think?’ Brittany asked. ‘And where is he anyway? I haven’t seen him for days.’

  I frowned a little. No matter how busy Daniel was, or where he was, he always kept in contact, emailing, IMing or calling me, but I hadn’t heard from him all morning and I was starting to worry.

  ‘He’s fine. Sebastian is always sending him all over the country. Since the changeover in the south, when Sebastian sent Eva down to London to be Connor’s right hand woman, Daniel’s been promoted to being Sebastian’s top lackey. He didn’t say much about it, but Eva thinks something strange is going on in London again and so Sebastian has sent him to help investigate.’

  ‘I thought The Council said that having a single vampire territory and leader would stop the old issues?’

  ‘Yes, but I guess the southern vamps still feel put out, especially the older ones who would have been in the running to rule. Weirdly though I don’t think this new issue has anything to do with the older vamps; Connor doesn’t seem to think so anyway.’

  ‘I could ask Saffy what she thinks? We might be able to investigate a little… especially if you joined us?’ Brittany said, nudging me in the ribs.

  I smirked. ‘I’ll think about it, okay, but even if I join you Sebastian is never going to want us investigating his cases, especially after I turn his offer of employment down.’

  ‘I’ve got it! How about you say you don’t want to be on his payroll and contracted for the next millennium, and that you’re going solo, but due to The Council being antsy you’ve decided to join IIWA? Tell him that you’re enabling the company to take on vampire-related cases. We could even change the name and make it International Investigation of Witchcraft and Vampire Affairs!’

  ‘Yeah, I can see The Council being really happy about that name. You nutter, they might let you two get away with an internet company advertising witchcraft investigation, because so many humans practice witchcraft or think they do, but there is no way they are going to let us add in vampires!’ I said. ‘Sebastian wouldn’t be too happy either. You know what a stickler he is for secrecy.’

  ‘Okay, well in that case you are just going to have to take his wrath and tell him to stick it up his ar..’

  ‘Ha! I can really see that going down well,’ I laughed, picturing Sebastian’s face, and Brittany joined in. I sighed.

  ‘So do you need lunch or shall we start party planning?’ I asked.

  ‘Is there any point, if Eva and Daniel can’t make it?’ Brittany asked.

  ‘Oh, they’ll be here, they promised. Eva’s New Year’s Eve party is legendary and twenty of her friends have already confirmed, so there’s no backing out, and apparently this year’s theme is Armageddon!’

  ‘Great! She buggers off and leaves us to do the dirty work as per usual. We could just make a real mess in the house and not clear it up, because I’m pretty sure that’s what the house would look like if there was a real apocalypse.’

  ‘To be fair she is pretty stressed. I think she’s missing Manchester and she’s also sent me an extremely detailed email with a page full of ideas and directions, so we’ve got no excuse. Pass me my tablet and I’ll have a read.’

  Brittany grabbed my tablet from the coffee table and I flipped it open. After a quick retinal scan it opened and I touched the message icon. I opened a new message and scanned through.

  ‘She’s unbelievable. Apparently she had no faith in us sourcing the stuff she wanted so she has already ordered a whole truck load of kit and wants us to pick it up. There should be 30 gas masks and a set backdrop waiting for us as in Eva’s creepy friend’s garage.’

  ‘The one that works in theatre design?’

  ‘Yep, him.’

  ‘Ugh, he’s slimy. Do we have to?’ Brittany grimaced.

  I nodded. ‘He won’t try anything, he wouldn’t dare. He just likes to pretend he’s something. She’s also got a load of wooden planks being delivered tomorrow morning. Apparently she wants us to ruin the house by banging nails through them and attaching them to various doors and walls!’ I laughed.

  ‘I can only imagine what Daniel said to that,’ Brittany said. ‘I don’t know how she persuaded him.’

  ‘She probably didn’t! But that’s not my concern. She can do the grovelling and pay the decorators to come in afterwards. I’ve got the email proving my innocence.’

  ‘Okay, let’s get it done. I’ll go grab my shoes,’ Brittany said.

  ‘I’ll meet you out front. I’m going to take the Range Rover. Then we can put the back seats down and shove everything in.’

  The sun was already getting low by the time we drove into the city centre, and after ten years of vampire blood running through my veins I could now say what I thought I’d never say… that winter was my favourite season. The meagre six hours of daylight were one of the reasons.

  Paulo lived in a converted warehouse near the theatre where he worked. He was a vampire, but a pretty pathetic one. He was fairly short and unusually the vampire transformation hadn’t had much of an effect on either his unfortunate appearance or strength. Of course in a fight against humans he could still tear them limb from limb, but against other vampires… well, I wouldn’t want to be him! Consequently he had been swiftly dispatched from Sebastian’s employment and given a human identity, rumour had it even before his fifty years contract was done. Why Eva befriended him I had no idea, but knowing Eva it was probably nothing more than gaining access to his theatre supplies, because she loved throwing extravagant parties.

  We pulled up in the alley outside one of the lower storage rooms/garages and rang the bell.

  ‘Beautiful Jessica and her equally lovely friend! Eva told me to expect you. Come in.’ Paulo had obviously dressed to impress, or rather undressed to impress, as he wore nothing other than a pair of designer track pants. His chest was bare and hairy, as were his feet. I averted my eyes and did my best not to show my distaste as I darted swiftly past him into the vast room, thankful for my vampiric agility. Brittany was not so lucky and I grimaced as I watched her squeeze past him, scowling as he purposefully inched closer to her, so that she bumped into his chest.

  ‘Watch it, Bozo,’ she said. I bit my lip to hide the grin.

  ‘Ooh! A feisty little witch, aren’t you?’ he drawled. ‘They always taste the best.’

  ‘Like you’ve ever tried one,’ she answered, shaking her head as she reached my side.

  ‘You need to respect your elders, girlie,’ he said, hi
s voice hardening.

  ‘You earn respect from your actions not your age, and frankly this little display earns no respect from me,’ she swiftly replied. I shot her a warning glance.

  ‘So Paulo, Eva said you have some gas masks for us?’ I asked, hoping to distract the pair from getting into a fight that would never end well.

  At my mention of the word Eva his eyes softened slightly and he turned his head to look at me.

  ‘Is Eva still in London?’ he asked.

  ‘At the moment, but she’s coming home for New Year.’

  He nodded thoughtfully.

  ‘I’m glad. London can be a dangerous place… Come this way.’

  I sighed and turned to Brittany. London was renowned for having had a series of slightly psycho vampire leaders and unfortunately I’d gotten myself entangled with both of them. Paulo had obviously heard of both ordeals from someone. He was seriously weird.

  ‘I’ll stay here. I’m not going back there. Give me a shout if you need me, okay?’ Brittany said quietly, as he walked away towards the back of the warehouse.

  ‘He’s not going to do anything, Brit. It’s just attitude.’

  ‘I know, but it’s better we don’t rush in together. You know that.’

  ‘I know!’ Over the last ten years none of the scrapes we found ourselves in were worse than that first couple of years, but we’d come out of it with a healthy sense of caution. I smiled at my friend and followed Paulo to the back of the room.

  ‘She’s not very trusting, is she?’ he said, as I reached him.

  Of course he may not have been a perfect specimen of a vampire, but he still had the general attributes, and of course he had heard every word of our conversation.

  I shrugged.

  ‘She’s been through a lot… and met a lot of sadistic people. We have that in common.’

  ‘Hmm!’

  He sounded as if he were turned on by the thought, and not ruminating on my words, so I shot him a quick glance, but he simply raised his eyebrows. We needed to get out of there.