Double Magick in the Falls

Chapter 17

“Later, I’ll enjoy the show in reverse,” Victor rumbles his promise, as desire drips from each word he speaks.

“Yeah, umm, shall we go and rescue my grandmother now?” I tentatively ask. Blimey, I shouldn’t have said anything, but I didn’t think my little teasing would cause such a reaction.

Slowly Victor peels himself off me. His hands release my hands, which he had restrained above my head, making my breasts thrust against his rock hard chest. He leans backward, his chest rising off mine, which pushes his hips further into me, making me gasp and my eyes dilate.

He steps backward, releasing me altogether. By this time, my breathing has hitched, and I have to physically shake myself, before I’m able to step away from the wall. It is the only thing supporting me. I stumble on shaky legs to the bed and grab up my jacket, making a quick exit out the bedroom door, without looking back.

****

Jasmine is waiting for me in the kitchen. When she spies my flushed face, she looks like she’s about to ask me something. Until she sees Victor coming out of the bedroom after me, then her jaw drops open in surprise... I give my head the barest of shakes, to say nothing had happened.

“Okay, Candi, I’ve got your stuff.” She tries to hide her smile and distract me by indicating my knives, phone, gun with silencer and extra ammunition (silver), and finally plasters. It’s never good to leave your blood behind. Too many spells require blood, and when your blood is different like mine is, it’s even more dangerous. I can heal myself, but it’s not always practical to think I will be able to.

I strap on my belt which fits snugly around my hips, put my bowie knives into their sheathes and my gun into its holster at the back of my belt. I have two extra knives in a pouch inside each of my boots and everything else except my phone gets distributed between my pockets. I put my phone in my jacket pocket with my keys and wallet.

Once again I catch Victor staring as I load my weapons. This time, I just shake my head at him, in a silent denial, of what I have no idea. To which I get a dirty smile back and he mouths “chicken” at me.

I give a snort, and remember something really obvious.

“Does anyone know where he lives?” as I realize I have no idea of where we’re going.

“Yes, I printed off a map of his lands, and the surrounding land as well. I also noted who lives where,” replies Jasmine with her usual efficiency as she puts the map out on the counter so we can all study it.

“Huh, he lives near the college campus,” I murmur. Something is niggling at the back of my head, I just can’t work out what the importance is.

After studying the layout a bit longer, I fold up the map and put it in my jacket pocket. Finally, we leave to rescue my grandmother.

***

The moon rises high into the sky, and in an otherwise pitch-black night, it is our only illumination. Silently we move out of the college campus and cross into the border area of George Seabast the Fourth’s land.

Jasmine had transformed back into her dog form at the warehouse, Victor and I move with silent stealth beside her. We move as one through the night and hunt my grandmother’s kidnapper, and the man who’d sent someone to kidnap me. As we near the house, we silently separate to surround it.

“Where are they?” a shrill voice hollers from inside the house.

I can’t tell if it’s a male or female speaking, so I flatten myself against the wall and peer into the window. To my surprise, it’s the old woman from my grandmother’s shop. What has she got to do with all this? There are other people in the room, but I don’t recognize any of them, which isn’t surprising, as I hardly know anyone in town. I do notice George is missing. I duck down and slide under the window, so no one can see me. I carry on around the house.

I don’t see anyone else until I bump into Jasmine, who has finished her search, and Victor who silently drops from the roof, scaring the shit out of me.

Quickly he clamps a large hand over my mouth to stop me screaming. I yank his hand off my face, and signal toward the room that I had noticed everyone in. In a blink, Victor is at the window and then back to us. Damn, he’s fast.

The three of us head away from the house and farther into the gardens. I tell Jasmine what I’d seen, finishing with the fact George is missing from the group.

“If we find him, we’ll probably find my grandmother,” I finish, my voice so quiet it barely travels to Jasmine and Victor.

“Salasen was in the room,” Victor adds. When he sees our blank expressions, he adds, “He’s a vampire high lord. I’ve never trusted him, and if I’m correct, this means he could be one of The Protectors.” Victor finishes on a grim note.

“Are you saying they’re all a part of The Protectors? We could get them in one go...”

“No. Look, they are definitely not the ones in charge, but what we can do is document who is here and put names to their faces. There has to be a chain and to be honest I’d say they are at the bottom of it.” Victor shakes his head in obvious frustration.

Silently I head back toward the house, retrieving my phone from my jacket pocket I turn off the flash, zoom in on the window, and take a picture of everyone inside, then hurry back to a grinning Victor.

“Clever woman,” Victor murmurs in appreciation, “I knew I liked you for more than your beauty.”

Jasmine and I share a quick glance at his comment, and I quietly move off to find the shed as I suppress a smile. Once again, we carefully split up to search the area, this time keeping each other in viewing distance.

Our search of the outhouses and stables turn up nothing. We broaden our search farther into the land heading toward the woods and the property adjoining George Seabast’s. A scream of anger helps us find the shed hidden amongst the forest on the far outskirts of the property. As one, we head toward the shed, and slowly search for a window.

“Where is Benny?” Someone screeches in anger from inside. A different voice murmurs a reply that is too quiet to hear.

“Ahhh, do I have to do everything myself? Why do I hire you imbeciles? Find them and bring them here,” the first voice demands.

We retreat into the woods to wait and see who comes out. With quick hand signals, and a nod of silent agreement, we decide to take care of each person who comes out if, and only if, we can do so quietly.

A minute later, two big burly men walk out of the shed. We share surprised glances; they’re werewolves.