Night's Kiss

It was while he was sweeping up the broken glass that he found a single unbroken vial of the vampire's blood.



Smiling, he tucked the glass tube in his coat pocket. All was not lost.



Brenna sat on the sofa in front of the fire with Morgana curled up at her side. It was early morning, but Brenna couldn't sleep. She had taken a long hot bath, hoping it would relax her, and then gone to bed, but sleep wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Anthony Loken standing over her, a maniacal gleam in his eyes as he jabbed a needle into a vein in her arm, a needle filled with Roshan's blood and the blood of a dead man. The thought sent a shiver of revulsion down her spine.



Where was Loken now? Had he returned home and found her gone? Would he come after her again?



Earlier, she had gone through Roshan's house, making sure all the doors and windows were closed and locked. She had drawn all the curtains, shutting out the night.



And now she sat here, clad in her gown and robe, staring into the flames, listening to the soft sound of the rain on the roof. Had it not been for Loken, she would have been outside, enjoying the storm, perhaps dancing under the clouds. She jumped as thunder rumbled overhead.



Morgana lifted her head, her yellow eyes glowing in the light of the fire.



Brenna sighed, wishing that Roshan were there beside her. She wouldn't be afraid if he were here, though she doubted he would be capable of protecting himself against Loken, let alone the two of them. Roshan had said there was nothing to worry about, that he would heal in a couple of days.



Did they have a couple of days? Would she ever feel safe anywhere again?



What if Anthony Loken was searching for the two of them, even now? If he was as powerful a warlock as he appeared to be, he would have no trouble finding them. All he needed was something that had belonged to one of them: an item of clothing, a strand of hair, a drop of blood. A simple spell would lead him straight to this place. Her only hope was that the wards Roshan had set around the house and the grounds were strong enough to repel whatever spell the warlock conjured.



She glanced at her arm, at the tiny pinprick left by the needle. What effect, if any, would the blood Loken had injected into her vein have on her? Would she live forever? Would any injuries she might sustain in the future heal with the same preternatural rapidity as did Roshan's?



Overcome with a sense of morbid curiosity, she went into the kitchen and pulled a sharp knife from the drawer. She stared at the blade a moment, then, biting down on her lower lip, she made a shallow gash in the palm of her left hand.



Blood welled from the cut and she wiped it away with a dish towel, stared in disbelief as the edges of the cut drew together until nothing remained but a thin red line, and then that, too, disappeared.



Merciful heavens, what did it mean? She made a second cut in her hand. Again, the wound healed within moments. Was it possible? Had Loken actually found the elixir he was looking for? Feeling suddenly nauseous, she wrapped her arms around her stomach. Merciful heavens, what if she was turning into a vampire?



Brenna glanced at the window. Dawn lurked beyond the curtains. If she went outside, would she burst into flame?



Fear was a hard, cold lump in her stomach, the taste of bile in the back of her throat. Morgana hissed softly and jumped off the sofa, her back arched, her tail at attention.



Heart pounding, Brenna stood and walked toward the back door. Her hand was shaking as she reached for the knob.



Roshan, hear me. Help me.



But only silence answered her plea.



Unable to restrain herself, she opened the back door and stepped out into the pale sunlight of a new day.



CHAPTER 25



Gathering his power around him like a warm cloak, Anthony Loken focused his attention on the oval, silver-backed looking glass sitting on the table in front of him. Murmuring a divination incantation, he gazed into the mirror which slowly grew cloudy and then cleared, revealing a large two-story house located behind a high block wall. Leaning forward, he read the address on the curb—1366 Black Meadow Lane.



"You can run, Brenna Flanagan DeLongpre," he murmured as he passed his hand across the mirror to clear it, "but you can't hide, my little witch, not now, not from me."



He had not been surprised to find her gone when he returned home. Angry, but not surprised. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the vampire had found her and freed her, though how Roshan had crossed the threshold remained a mystery. But it was daylight now and the vampire would be trapped in the Dark Sleep, helpless to interfere.



It took less than twenty minutes for Loken to reach the vampire's lair on Black Meadow Lane. Parking his car out of sight down the street, he walked up to the driveway. He held out one hand, felt the shimmer of power that surrounded the gates. So, the vampire had placed wards around his home, but that was to be expected.



Pulling his wand from inside his jacket, Loken tried several spells, his agitation growing as each of them failed.



He was a warlock. Save for Myra, he was the most powerful witch in the coven! How could a vampire, a creature who wasn't even human, thwart him?



Fuming inwardly, he conjured another spell, felt it grow within him. With a wave of his wand, he threw his will at the gates. Power sizzled through the air, but to no avail. The gates remained closed against him; the wards prevented him from reaching the other side.



Furious now, he paced along the length of the wall, searching for a way to get past the wards set by the vampire. When none could be found, he reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone. It was time to call for backup.



Brenna stepped out the back door, her whole body taut as the sun's light touched her face. There was no pain, though the brightness made her squint.



She stood there for several minutes, weak with relief. She was about to return to the house when a whisper of power danced over her skin. She recognized it immediately for what it was. She had, from time to time, experienced the same sensation when Granny O'Connell practiced her magick in Brenna's presence. It meant there was a witch nearby.



Loken!



Every instinct she possessed told her that the warlock was there, trying to get past the wards set on the front gate.



Whirling around, she ran back into the house. Snatching up her wand, she went into the bedroom, pulled back the curtains, and peered out the window. From her vantage point on the second floor, she could see the driveway and the front of the house, and even as she watched, she saw Anthony Loken approach the front gate. He wasn't alone this time. Myra and Serafina were with him.



She stared down at the three witches, her heart pounding as she watched Myra sweep an area of the sidewalk. Though Brenna couldn't hear what was being said, she knew the witch was cleansing the area, sweeping away any negative energy that lingered there so it wouldn't interfere with whatever spell they planned to conjure. When the area was clean, Myra walked in a circle three times. The first time, she carried a bottle of water, the second time a handful of salt, the third time she swung a smoking censer filled with incense. Next, she pulled a piece of white chalk out of her skirt pocket and drew a large circle on the sidewalk that encompassed the three of them. She touched her wand to the circle to close it, and then the three of them stood facing each other, their arms linked, forming another circle.



Brenna drew away from the window, a shiver of unease running down her spine.



What would she do if they breached the gates? The thought of being at Loken's mercy a second time filled her with dread. The man was insane, driven by his need to find a way to live forever, something mankind had been searching for since Adam and Eve brought death into the world. She wondered if Myra knew what Loken was trying to do. She wondered if he had injected Roshan's blood into himself. If so, then he knew it worked, at least in part, so why was he here? And if he hadn't, the question remained. Why was he here? Had he come to drag her back to his house for more tests?



Either way, she wanted nothing more to do with him.



Letting the curtain fall back into place, she ran downstairs to check the locks on all the doors and windows again.



Anthony Loken felt his power merge with that of the other two witches as they joined arms. Alone, he had lacked the strength needed to break the wards set by the vampire, but with Myra and Serafina adding their magick to his, there was little chance of failure. Myra 's voice rose as their power coalesced. Magick rippled through the air, raising the hairs along the back of his neck, causing the air within the circle to crackle with otherworldly energy as Myra gathered their combined power and directed it at the gates.



There was a pop, like a cork being pulled from a bottle, and the gates swung open.



They'd done it!



Reaching into his pocket, Loken pulled out several strands of Brenna Flanagan's hair, as well as a vial of her blood that he had taken for his research. Bending, he placed both of the items on the sidewalk inside the circle Myra had drawn, and then once again linked his arms with the other two witches.



"Brenna Flanagan DeLongpre," he intoned with a wave of his wand, "come to me. As I command, so mote it be."



Brenna had just checked the lock on the side door and was about to go back upstairs when something drew her toward the front door. She was reaching for the handle when Morgana leaped into the air and scratched her cheek.



With a jerk of her head, Brenna reeled backward. Morgana let out a long low warning hiss, her yellow eyes glowing, her tail twitching furiously.



Brenna stared at the cat, then at the door, surprised to find herself in the foyer.



Yet even as she tried to turn and go back to the staircase, she found herself opening the door, stepping out onto the porch, descending the steps.



Morgana trailed at her heels, meowing loudly.



Moving woodenly, Brenna walked down the driveway toward the gates, unable to resist. She knew, in the back of her mind, that she was under a spell, but try as she might, she couldn't shake it off.



She tried to call for Morgana, hoping her familiar could help her counter the spell, but words failed her.



And then she was at the gates, walking through them toward the three witches who waited for her on the sidewalk. She stared at Anthony Loken, wishing she could slap the smug smile from his face.