Blood Magic (Blood Magic Series Book 1) Read online

  Some of the powers might be cool, but they belonged to her, not me. This stranger was stripping away everything that made me, me. And all I could do was stand back and watch. But it was just something I would have to live with, because the one thing you cannot run from is yourself, no matter how much you might want to.

  “I’m part vampire,” I said woodenly.

  “Yes, Allie,” he replied, “you are.”

  Chapter Eight

  Friends and Enemies

  Much to my consternation the events of last night and earlier today had not been a dream. Mason and I had talked for a while after his mom left, and then gone downstairs to scavenge for something to eat. I was delighted to find that breakfast had already been prepared for us. His mom had fixed gravy and biscuits, scrambled eggs, tator tots, and ham and bacon, and left it on the stove warming for us.

  After breakfast, I said goodbye to Mason, promised to see him tomorrow, and drove Charlie home. As soon as I walked in the door, I went straight to bed, not even bothering to change into my pajamas. After everything I’d found out, my brain seriously needed some down time, and I was practically asleep before my head hit the pillow.

  After I woke up, I texted Cassie, Matt, and Eric, and asked them to come over after school. I really cared a lot about Mason, but I needed my crazy friends around me right now. We had a pizza party by the pool, but I had very little interest in getting wet after what had happened at the lake. It was crazy how much the weather had changed since then.

  We had gone from winter coats, to bikinis and swimming trunks in seemingly the blink of an eye. I wore my hot pink bikini from Victoria’s Secret, and Cassie wore the same one, only in aqua, blue. While Cassie and I lay in the sun, the guys tried to drown each other in the pool. I had told them everything, and I was pretty sure they all thought I was a nut, but they still had lots of questions.

  “So, vampires can have kids?” Cassie asked me.

  “According to Mason, yes, but it’s hard for them to conceive, and miscarriages are very common,” I replied.

  “But aren’t they like dead or something?” Matt yelled from the pool.

  “He says no. The body goes through a transition, but it doesn’t die.”

  “Freaky,” Eric said.

  “And he’s telling you that you’re part vampire? How? You eat food, not blood,” she said shuddering.

  “Do you remember a couple times when I was younger, I had to be hospitalized for my severe anemia?” I asked her.

  “Yeah,” she answered.

  “The iron in my blood was really low, so I had to have a transfusion of red blood cells. He says that I’m not anemic; the vampire part of me needed blood, and since I’m only part vampire, I could probably go years between feedings.”

  “So you don’t have to drink it?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Do you have a pen and paper?” she asked suddenly.

  “Why?” I asked, wrinkling my brow in confusion.

  “Because I really should get all this down on paper and write a book,” she said laughing.

  “Not funny, Cass. This is my life!”

  “No, it isn’t, sweetheart. All of his puppies definitely don’t bark. He’s a frickin’ psycho,” Eric said.

  “What about the stitches disappearing and the rabbits and the worms? What about the killer dogs and the hag? What about my dreams? That could be another one of my powers. Do you all think I imagined it or something?” I demanded.

  Cassie neatly avoided the question by asking another one. “What about the kitsune? Do you honestly believe that you turned into a fox?”

  I thought about my answer very carefully before I replied. “No, at first I thought he was crazy too, and I laughed it off. But since the stitches have completely disappeared and a roomful of bunnies appeared before me, yeah, I guess I do,” I replied.

  “Can you turn into a bat?” Matt asked, grinning at me.

  “You know what,” I said, glaring at him, “I really hope I am a vampire, because you will be the first person I bite,” I snapped.

  “Come on, Al. Don’t be that way—”

  But Cassie interrupted, “What about your mom and dad?” she wanted to know.

  “He’s probably still my dad,” I sighed, “I wouldn’t get that lucky, but I’m pretty sure the human part is all I got from him, and the rest comes from my mom. And I have never wanted her quite as much as I do now,” I said sadly.

  “I’m really sorry, Allie,” Cassie said, taking my hand in hers.

  “Did Mason know anything about her?” Eric asked me.

  “No, nothing.”

  “Then how does he know about you?” Matt wanted to know.

  I smiled, “That’s one of his talents; he can sense the powers of others. He told his mom about me after that night at the lake. And she told him that there was a prophecy about a girl with the same powers as me.”

  “If you really believe that; why won’t you let him tell you about the third bloodline?” Eric asked me.

  “Because I don’t care about prophecies and powers and bloodlines! I only care about being me.”

  “But what does the prophecy say?” Cassie asked.

  “He doesn’t know; she didn’t tell him.”

  “Aren’t there other girls with magic blood that these monsters could go after?” Eric asked.

  “Sure,” I said, “But for some reason, I am the only one whose powers can be absorbed and used by another.”

  “We really want to believe you, honey, but it’s a lot to take in,” Cassie said.

  “It’s okay,” I said, smiling at her, “I wish I didn’t believe it either.”

  “Maybe if you could give us a little demonstration of your powers it would—” Matt began.

  “Matthew Turner! Do not encourage her to buy into this guy’s stories!” Cassie chastised him.

  “He’s got a point, Cass. If she—” Eric started to say.

  “Eric Black! That is enough!” Cassie said, exasperated.

  I was trying very hard to conceal the smile that wanted to crawl onto my lips. She sounded just like a prissy schoolteacher or somebody’s mama. This was exactly what I had needed. The sounds of our little group laughing and arguing were as familiar to me as my own heartbeat.

  “Guys I’m in serious denial right now,” I said, “And the point of today was just to be normal, not be like bippity-boppity-boo-look-what-I-can-do.”

  “I don’t think it’s because you don’t want to. I think it’s because you can’t!” Matt taunted.

  My eyes narrowed into slits as I looked at him. He was the closest thing I’d ever had to a brother, and he never passed up a chance to torment me.

  “Allie, don’t let him get to you! Can you two please not act like you’re five years old today?”

  “He started it,” I said.

  “Wow, what a witty comeback,” Matt said with a laugh, “Is that the best you can do?”

  “I’ll show you exactly what I can do, Mattie,” I told him.

  The water in the pool began to bubble and ripple, and the wind picked up, whipping my hair around my face. And three sets of eyes turned toward me. I closed my eyes and stretched my arms out to my sides, feeling the rush of the wind over my body. I let my imagination construct the reality I wanted them to see.

  I don’t know how long I stood there like that. I used all of my senses to explore and create, and control and shape each minute detail of my illusion. And when I heard gasps all around me, I opened my eyes to see what I had done.

  I was standing on a white sand beach, and I wiggled my toes in the warm, gritty sand. When I looked down there were several brightly colored seashells next to my feet, and I bent down and scooped them up. The sun was beaming down bright and hot, and there were palm trees, swaying gently in the breeze, all around me.

  The pool had been magically transformed into a miniature blue ocean, and the white, foamy waves rushed towards the shore. The warm, tropical water encircled my ankles br
iefly, before swiftly being carried away again. As I took a deep breath, the warm, salty air filled my lungs. And the whooshing sound of the waves made me feel lazy and content. Leave it to Matt to break the spell.

  “Holy crap,” Matt said from the water, “look at all the fish. And I can actually taste the salt, and the water is stinging my eyes,” he said in amazement.

  Cassie, Eric, and I walked to the water’s edge and peered down into my shallow ocean. I could see the sandy bottom and lots of colorful fish darting all around the waving seaweed. I saw several gold and silver angelfish. There were dozens of little tetras with blue and red neon stripes. A variety of neon rainbow fish in dazzling colors of red, yellow, and turquoise, had also made my temporary ocean their home.

  A couple of peacock fish were so bright that it actually hurt my eyes to look at them. There was a fire fish peacock that was such a vivid color of orange it seemed to glow, but the strawberry peacock was not to be outdone; it was an outstanding shade of neon pink.

  I sat down and put my feet in the water and closed my eyes. What good was creating a paradise if you didn’t enjoy it? And even though I know they don’t belong in the ocean, I imagined several fat goldfish. When I opened my eyes they were swimming towards the surface to nibble on my toes. And I threw my head back and laughed.

  “Well this power doesn’t suck!” Cassie said, smiling and bumping her shoulder against mine.

  “So you guys believe me now? What changed your minds?” I asked laughing.

  “Allie, you’re amazing,” Eric said in awe.

  “This stuff is cool,” I conceded, “But I’m so afraid of losing the old me completely, that I can’t fully embrace the new me. Besides, I know all of my powers are not this innocent. Why else would every demon and their brother be after me so hot and heavy?” I asked to no one in particular.

  “Just because some of your powers might be bad, doesn’t mean you are,” Matt surprised me by saying. “You had no control over any of this. It wasn’t something you chose; it chose you.”

  “Thank you, Mattie,” I replied.

  “He’s right,” Cassie said, “Which is something I thought I would never say! Just because someone owns a gun or knife, doesn’t make them a serial killer. It’s your choices that define you, Allie. Just because you have certain abilities, doesn’t mean that you have to use them. And that’s who you truly are,” Cassie told me.

  “Tears had been welling in my eyes the whole time she’d been talking. Those were exactly the words I’d needed to hear. Maybe I didn’t have to lose the old Allie to the new one; maybe there was room for both of us.

  “You’re still the same girl, Allie, powers or no,” Eric said with a lopsided grin.

  And then the tears finally spilled over. “Thank you guys so much for this. It was exactly what I needed to hear,” I said.

  A beautiful blue and green parakeet called out from a mango tree, drawing our attention, and Cassie asked, “So how long will this last?”

  “Until I let it go,” I told her.

  “How ‘bout we upgrade it with a couple of beach babes with big hooters?” Matt asked, only halfway kidding.

  I smiled and closed my eyes.

  “You’re actually gonna do it?” he asked, perplexed.

  “No,” I said, smiling even bigger.” And I expanded my mind allowing my temporary ocean to grow twice as large.

  “Then what are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m imagining a great white shark,” I said as seriously as I could.

  Then I heard a frantic splashing sound and opened my eyes to see Matt crawling out of the “ocean” as quickly as he could—almost losing his swim trunks in the process.

  I fell over laughing and Cassie and Eric joined in.

  “I hate every single one of you,” he said irritably.

  But none of us were able to say anything back for quite some time. I laughed until my stomach hurt and tears were streaming down my face. And after the hilarity had subsided, I assured Matt that it was safe to go back in the water, but I occasionally hummed the music of Jaws just to freak him out.

  We stayed at the fake beach until darkness fell, and everyone reluctantly left for home. I hated to let it go, but I would have had a really hard time explaining the paradise in the backyard to my dad when he got back.

  As I showered and got ready for bed, I felt more at ease than I had for the past couple of days. Maybe they were right, just because some of my powers might be evil did not mean that I was. But, somehow, I knew that Mason was going to insist that I learn to master every single one of them. But I would just have to use my other talents to distract him from prophecies and powers and bloodlines. I smiled as I snuggled deep into the covers and drifted off to sleep. My mind was filled with visions of his green eyes and silky, black hair, so it was really no surprise, that in my slumber, I was swept back to Salem and to Joshua.

  “Prudence, you need to get out of here now!” I said as I struggled to keep Joshua from throttling her. He could have pushed me aside, easily, if he had wanted to, but he would never risk harming me just to get at her.

  Her eyes were wide and frightened as she beheld the anger etched upon his face. His hard body was coiled as tightly as a snake, and I was the only thing keeping him from striking out at her. And it certainly did not help matters when Marmalade jumped down from the tree she had been standing under, arched his back, and hissed at her.

  She screamed and stumbled backwards, landing on her backside, in the dirt. She then pointed a shaking finger at Marmalade and said, “This is just more proof of your true nature, witch! You have summoned your familiar to do your bidding!” she screamed, as she crawled backwards to get away from him.

  “Yes,” I replied with a wicked smile, “And he is not the only animal under my control. If you do not leave right now, I will summon the others, and there will be nothing left of you but a pile of bones.”

  “You … you … you are lying!” she stuttered.

  “Believe what you wish,” I told her as I started to dance around and murmur words of nonsense. “They really do not like having to chase their food, anyway.”

  Her skin paled so much that it was almost translucent. She stumbled to her feet as quickly as possible and took off through the darkness. I only wished that I did have the power to send a pack of bloodthirsty animals after her.

  Marmalade came up to me and began to wind around my legs, purring very loudly. I reached down and scooped him up into my arms, kissing his little head and telling him what a good kitty he was.

  Joshua sighed and closed his eyes, and when he finally looked at me, they held nothing but exasperation. “Why did you do that?” he asked me.

  “Because I could not stand the sight of her for a moment longer! If she had stayed, I might have been tempted to murder her, myself!” I told him.

  “You know she was telling the truth! She is not of sound mind, Annabelle! She really will tell everyone that you are a witch! And you have just given her a wonderful tale to tell as proof of her accusations!”

  “It does not matter, Joshua! Had I not done so, she would have only made something up. She has wanted you for months, and she will stop at nothing to have you!” I said, as I set my cat down on the ground.

  “I did not endure months of torture only to lose you now, and I will not!” he said fiercely.

  “How can we stop her, Joshua?” I asked dejectedly.

  “By giving her what she wants.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, not liking the sound of that one little bit.

  “Anna, I must speak with her father and ask his permission to court her,” he said, looking as if he had swallowed something vile.

  “No!” I yelled, “You will not marry her; you will not sacrifice yourself for me! There has to be another way. You must—”

  “Anna, calm down,” he said, pressing a finger against my lips. “Courtships usually take months. I must make her believe that ours will end in marriage, but that is not my inte
nt.”

  “I do not understand,” I told him.

  “I will agree to a courtship and promise to marry her, but only for the purpose of keeping you safe. During those months, you and I will save all of the money that we can, and before any banns are read or any ceremonies are performed, we will be gone,” he said reassuringly.

  “What if she tries to shorten the courtship and hasten the marriage?” I asked nervously.

  “Then I will have no choice but to marry her,” he said sadly.

  “You cannot mean that!” I said, aghast.

  “Anna—”

  “No, just let her tell them,” I pleaded, “Because if you marry her, I’ll be just as dead as if they had hanged me!”

  “Even if we are wed, I will never be her husband. She will never have my heart; it’s been yours from the first moment I laid eyes on you, and it will remain yours until my eyes are closed in death—perhaps even longer. It will be a marriage in name only, and as soon as I can, I will still get us both out of here, married or not.” he said intensely.

  “Why does everything always have to be so difficult? How can you stand all of this?” I asked, closing my eyes.

  “Because I am doing it for you, for us. That is the only thing that makes it, even remotely, bearable,” he replied as he placed his palm against my cheek.

  “Could you bear it if I were the one being forced to wed another?” I asked stubbornly.

  He was quiet for a long time before he finally answered. “I am not certain that I could,” he replied honestly.

  “Then how can you ask it of me, Joshua?” I demanded.

  “How far would you be willing to go to protect me?” he countered.

  “As far as I had to,” I grudgingly admitted.

  “And I can do no less for you, Anna.”

  “What if I refuse to allow this to happen?”

  “I will do it anyway.”