Detective Witch (Devil's Witch Book 2)
Chapter 9-Sinister Signs

“Get out,” I whisper in a shaky voice.

My magic pushes Will towards the steps and he catches the railing looking wounded by me.

“Valerie...” Will whispers and I avoid his hurt gaze.

My heart splinters, “Out!”

How could he ever want to be associated with someone who wants me murdered? How can he still want to be part of the coven? How did he expect me to feel? A moment passes and silently, he goes down the steps of the porch and onto the sidewalk with his head lowered. I watch with my arms crossed as he walks up to his truck and proceeds to drive away.

What kind of supreme witch sends people to kill for her? How could he keep quiet about murdering someone for so long? I feel like I’m dreaming, any moment I’ll wake up from this awful nightmare.

“What happened to you?” I ask in a broken voice.

Tears on my face dry up thanks to the bitter wind blowing around out here. With a downcast gaze, Nick passes by me and into the house.

“He caught me off guard and attempted to stake me in the heart. He was not expecting me to be faster than my father, I managed to dodge his attack enough for it not to be fatal. I did end up in a ditch though. My unit found me and brought me back to my senses before I lost too much blood,” Nick says weakly.

He slumps down on the couch and throws his head back.

The lighting in the house is much better than out on the porch. All the color is gone from his face, making his eyes look hollow. His skin looks ghostly pale, giving his lips an almost blue tint.

“Why didn’t you tell me the Silvets were family to you?” I ask him gently and he chuckles.

“Family? None of those half-breeds are of blood relation to me. My real mother died long ago. The vampire Will killed was never my father to me, I left home at an early age. He threw me out, wanting nothing to do with me because my mother died during my birth. He made a living off of spreading false hope, he was a crook.”

I sit down beside him, offering him a rag to clean the dirt from his face.

He gets most of it off and shuts his eyes, leaning back on the couch again. I take the dirty rag and throw it in the washer, wondering how Will managed to stake him. I can’t believe he left Nick lying somewhere in a ditch out in the cold to bleed to death.

“Do you need anything?” I ask him with worry.

“My wounds should heal shortly, Valerie. I just need a moment to sit here, thank you,” he says heavily using my real name for once.

I turn back to the kitchen.

I suppose I may as well clean the kitchen while his body recuperates from his healing injury. I toss Will’s entire plate into the trash and clear off the table. My thoughts circle around Will and I just can’t stop thinking about the riots.

The hatred, and the burden, he and I carry in different ways. Maybe the supreme is right, my existence does endanger everyone. How can I ever tell Will about my meeting the devil?

Tears stream down my face and blend in with the soap and sprinkles of water splashing onto my face as I wash the dishes in a haze.

“Don’t waste your tears on Will, let me tell you something,” Nick says sounding serious as I wipe my face with a paper towel. He stands up and transports himself closer to me.

Nick told me before his family was already dead to him, but now without his father he truly is alone. His dark eyes look so hopeless, but there’s a new level of understanding between us.

I’m not sure what to make of it.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I remind him softly. With him being my boss and all now he really shouldn’t be in my house and see me like this.

I shouldn’t have made Will leave without listening first. He already called me once just a minute ago and I ignored his call. When Nick goes home, I’ll have to call him back. I shouldn’t keep Will waiting.

Nick steps into my personal space, cutting off my thoughts of Will as he reaches an arm behind me to turn off the running faucet of the sink. After he turns it off, he flattens his hand on the counter right beside me and rests his other hand in his black police vest pocket.

It’s like each word he says is carefully crafted to me, even when he’s unhappy with me, “You can’t keep letting him hurt you, Ms. Parway. Consider this, if he was not in a relationship with you, do you think he would have hesitated to kill you if the supreme told him?” Nick asks in his gentle voice.

“No, he doesn’t believe in the legend.”

Not after Will’s quick disposal of Mr. Silvet. No wonder the witches are still going at it with the riots, Will was supposed to have killed me and I’m willing to bet they all knew what the supreme told him to do.

So no wonder they have been taking it upon themselves to do his job for him! How could have I have been so blind all this time? All of them knew about it, but me. I guess Will had thought I’d catch on eventually. Who knows when that would have been if Nick never came here and told me. To think he tried to kill Nick too, to keep the truth from me at that!

How can Will say he loves me while working for someone who wants me dead? He can’t.

“He is weak, bending to her will. He felt obligated to obey the supreme. By law, his position is in submission to hers. I will get her removed by myself. Not for him, for you. So stop crying,” he states stiffly while patting my shoulder.

His voice lowers to a whisper. I lean in to hear him better.

How will getting the supreme of Florida to step down do any good? The other supremes adore her!

There’s forty nine more of them out there across the states ready to kill me if they suspect me the white witch too. Including the one in our state, who I don’t even know the name of. All I know is she doesn’t live in Wixton and Patty hated her. But really, who didn’t Patricia hate?

His hand feels heavy on my shoulder like he’s transferring the weight of his job onto me. “I can’t, please leave me alone. You should go home,” I croak.

This is probably as bad as things could possibly get. I wanted my problem to stay in Wixton and now thanks to technology the supreme, and I’m sure at least a few others out there, know of my existence. One of them already wants me dead, it won’t be long before the rest of them do too.

Who else will they hurt to get to me?

***

STELLA

“I can’t, please leave me alone. You should go home,” I hear Val whimper downstairs.

I glare at the vampire’s back, watching them from behind the shadows of the upstairs railing. He’s come here to hurt her after probably replaceing neither she or I can help him anymore with his curse.

I knew it would come to this. He’s going to kill her here. I should gauge his aura first, out of respect for my friend I never did before. I wanted to trust him, but not anymore. Vampires are all a bunch of lying scum.

“Holy goddess in heaven...” I whisper in terror watching them talk in voices too quiet for me to hear.

His magic is as crimson as blood, fitting for a vampire hybrid. It moves slowly in strange patterns. Twisting through her hair and dangerously close to her skin. Magic like this isn’t normal, a witch’s magic naturally repels the craft of others when someone else’s magic gets that close to them. So why isn’t her magic repelling his? I can only see a few traces of her magic, as weak as it is, down by her feet -- barely visible.

His magic is consuming her magic like a leech. How can she not feel it? He’s stealing her power, using her like his own personal battery. It glows around him lighting him up like a Christmas tree.

Yet, she hasn’t fainted or anything.

She still looks alert and I can only think of one reason that would be. It’s quite revolting to even consider such a dirty deed he could have done to her. Finally, their conversation ends and he turns away from Val. They walk over to the staircase I stand above and my blood boils, as well as my magic seeping down the staircase ready to kill him.

When Val walks over to the doorway, he lingers behind her. Those deceitful eyes shoot up right at me to my hiding position before my magic can reach him. Impossible! Hybrids may be able use magic, but only a pure witch can use the sight. So how did he know I was hiding up here? His serious expression cracks as the corner of his lip quirks up at having seen me, I scramble back into my room.

My heart races a mile a minute, then pain explodes into my head and I collapse onto my bed.

“Gah!” I choke quietly, silently screaming.

My mouth is open, but no words come. My throat feels raw as I begin to feel dozens of slimy things squirming in it, pushing and piling over each other to reach my mouth. The feeling makes me gag and retch, dozens of baby snakes spew out of my mouth. Gooey and very alive, their nasty light yellow birth goop smears across my face. Leaving me foaming and gagging in misery. Over and over again, I violently cough up the little snakes all over my bed.

My body convulses, feeling the horrific amount of snakes still squirming in my throat and the awful sensation too much for my mind to handle.

My eyes roll into the back of my head and the world goes dark.