~
Nathaniel sat back against the chimney stack with a sigh. He held up the bottle of Scotch in front of him and eyed the remaining liquid left in the bottom.
“Well that’s not going to see me till morning.”
The moment that he rested the back of his head against the cold brickwork; he heard the soft touch of feet against the tile, and felt the brush of the supernatural in the air against his skin.
Somehow he didn’t think it was the one he was waiting for or the tooth fairy.
“I thought I’d find you here…” Julian said the words like it was an accusation, and for Julian, it probably was.
“It’s called bait.”
“It’s called caring about someone, and you know how wrong that is.” Again; the man’s words sounded accusing.
“Don’t mistake an opportunity for caring.” Nathaniel offered back.
“Don’t make the mistake of caring.” Julian rallied.
“Well this conversation became boring fast. Tell me why you’re here before I liven things up and push you off the roof?”
The moment that Julian sat down beside him; he snatched the bottle out from Nathaniel’s hand, and the man sighed.
“I did your bidding and looked into the dark magic thing that you asked me about. I came up empty…”
“Then I ask my question again. Why are you here?”
Julian raised the bottle to his lips, but before he could drink; Nathaniel had snatched it away. It annoyed him that Julian thought he knew what was going on.
Even if he did then that annoyed him even more. It meant that he was becoming predictable and that could be dangerous.
“I had a bet with myself…”
“Good luck getting the money. I’m still waiting after twenty two years for what you owe me.” Nathaniel sneered.
“I thought I’d paid you that.” Julian offered back without an ounce of emotion within his voice.
“How convenient … For you.”
“Don’t you want to know what the bet was?” Julian asked with an air of superiority that left Nathaniel with little to no doubt that he was walking into a trap.
“No.”
“So, I’m going to tell you anyway…”
“I thought you might.”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes away from the man to scan the streets below. Then up to the opposite rooftop, making a thorough sweep of the area around them.
“As soon as you told me what the witch said about you being her downfall, I knew that I’d find you guarding her like she was your damn problem.”
Nathaniel didn’t want to look, but it was like a car crash, and he couldn’t help himself. When he turned his attention towards Julian; there it was, a smug expression that made Nathaniel want to plant his fist in the man’s face – repeatedly, and without remorse.
The man was nothing if not predictable when he was turning the screw and they had something of a hate – respect – hate relationship going on between them over the years that made him want to turn that screw.
“What part of bait don’t you understand?” Nathaniel offered back.
He knew that he should have given up then. He guessed he was protesting too hard. He also knew that Julian wasn’t buying it, and yet, it was so hard to let go of his persona.
“Maybe the part where you have a soft spot for the witch.”
“She does have a name…”
“Funny, I thought they were interchangeable, but obviously that’s where your problem is.” Julian offered back.
“My problem would be if I miss the opportunity to catch the one I’m looking for.” Nathaniel said, making sure to keep his voice as void of emotion as his blank expression.
“You have nothing but time. If he kills the witch then you’ll catch him the next time, or the time after that.” Julian said, unimpressed by Nathaniel’s obvious attachment to his newest witch.
“What can I say? She’s a very good witch.” Nathaniel offered back with a glibness about him that Julian wasn’t buying.
“And you are a very bad liar.”
“I thought I was a very good liar. You seem to change your tune as the mood and years suit you.”
“Now you’re deflecting…”
“Of course I am; you’re annoying me,” Nathaniel said on a sigh.
“And the witch doesn’t annoy you?”
“No.”
“There’s something wrong with you. You are developing feelings…” Julian sneered.
“Feelings? Don’t be absurd.”
“And yet here you are – guarding her house – guarding her…”
“Perhaps that’s a by-product of being this old. I can see the big picture.” He shrugged.
“Well, perhaps someone should stake you before you give all vampires a bad name.”
“Go home, Julian.” Nathaniel begged.
He couldn’t deal with Julian’s particular brand of honesty – not when Morgana could be in danger. Maxi was a seer, and he doubted that she’d steer a fellow Fae wrong…
“I will. So should you … You can’t protect her Nathaniel. She is not immortal, and when her time is up … she’ll die.” Julian said as he pushed up to his feet and started to turn away.
“Oh, there are one million possibilities before I let that happen.” Nathaniel muttered, but Julian heard it anyway, and he stopped in place to look back over his shoulder.
They were vampires. They didn’t get to live in the real world and put down roots. Not real roots that endured. Not ones that mattered, and that was the problem, they shouldn’t matter.
Julian had noted in his dealings with Nathaniel that the man seemed to be changing and that wasn’t a good thing. That kind of change could bring attention that the man didn’t need right to his doorstep, and the doorstep of the little witch that he seemed to have taken a liking too.
The thing that Julian didn’t like in that whole scenario was that innocent vampires tended to get caught up in the sweeping punishments that followed. The elders wouldn’t stand for anything that shone a light on their existence, and if Nathaniel kept going then he might just be drawing that kind of attention.
“Why this witch?” Julian asked, unsure what had gotten into such a normally uncaring, unfeeling man that he knew Nathaniel to be, and turned him into the kind of sap that would put a witch in front of his own safety.
“When I figure that one out I’ll get back to you.”
~
~
~
Reed Collins sat in the front seat of his pickup truck and eyed his prey. The man had never been backwards about coming forwards and snatching the life from anyone that was harming him or his pack, but this was different – he’d been told that the witch had a vampire protector.
That wasn’t good news in his book. The woman would have been easy pickings normally, but he’d been watching her for a few days, and the source was right – the dark witch was indeed being protected by a vampire.
It might have made it harder to get to her, but it was still doable.
It had to be for the sake of his pack.
He just needed to bide his time. That in itself was a problem for him. Patience had never been high on his list of priorities to get a grip on – he didn’t have the right kind of a personality for it.
Being a wolf shifter gave him a lot of strokes to his personality chart. Aggression – short tempered – protective – possessive – all a big fat check on that list … add to that the fact that he was an alpha and they all went through the roof.
But it was that protection gene that was flaring at the very moment in time. The witch was out to harm his pack and that made her a dead Fae walking in his book.
The sooner the better.
His eyes took in the sight of her as she opened the front door to her nondescript little house and stepped out into the light of day. His wolf growled within him, and that deep sound rumbled within the closed space of the truck.
He could practically taste her on his fangs. She was his – sooner would be good, but as long as that vampire was hanging around on the rooftops and shadowing her every step – he knew that he’d have to wait for the chance to snatch her away.
Morgana – he grunted at the absurdity of her name. Talk about putting a giant damn neon billboard above her head to point the way to the witch inside her.
“Dead witch walking…” he growled as she started off down the street.
His eyes flicked upwards to the roof of the house opposite. There was her protector, skulking in the background, and following along behind her like a lost puppy.
Reed knew that the time would come when that vampire wasn’t looking – was otherwise occupied, and that would be the time that he’d have her at the end of his claws.
His beast growled within him again…
He could hardly wait.