Witchblood

WitchBlood

By Emma Mills

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 Emma Mills

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.

Witchblood

Copyright © 2010 Emma Mills

www.witchbloodthenovel.com

www.twitter.com/EmmaMwriter

Cover Image : Laura Zalenga

www.laurazalenga.de

For Corrina,

my friend.

A girl who danced with the faeries,

and now rests with angels.

Acknowledgements

A huge thank you to all my friends and family, who gave me a boost when my confidence was flagging. Thanks especially to my fantastic mum, Lynne, who read every new draft and searched tirelessly for my many grammatical errors! Thanks also to my friend Ann Billing for your insightful and enthusiastic comments, which kept me writing. Thanks to the agent, Eunice McMullen, for all her time spent on ‘Witchblood’, and her belief in it. And finally my happiest thanks to my lovely husband, Tom and gorgeous children who have supported me through the whole drama, and for always believing in me.

Thanks also to Holland House who did the final edit, although let it be noted that some UK/US discrepancies may not have been altered to US taste! I am a UK author with UK characters and the language sometimes illustrates that!

Prologue

The party was supposed to be taking place tonight at the cricket club in the village where I’d grown up, and where my dad had lived until this very week. But I say ‘was’ in the literal sense, because here I am looking at the empty building. It should have been bustling with people decorating it and bringing food, yet it was devoid of life; empty but for one rather cute guy, looking slightly taller than average with broad, toned shoulders. He was sitting on a wooden bench overlooking the green, tears silently tracing patterns through his unshaved stubble, his piercing blue eyes glazed with grief.

He’d been there for at least twenty minutes, not moving. I knew this because I’d sat through every one of those minutes, watching him - the boy I loved. The boy I’d had impossible dreams about for weeks. The boy I couldn’t let go.

It was ironic that I'd been the one who'd been watched, secretly and completely unbeknown to me ever since puberty. For five years they watched and waited, expecting my unusual genetic code to kick in, hoping to help me choose the right path but I suffered no prophetic visions. Not once did the electrics blow up on me, and so the code lay, dormant, unused and unneeded, whilst I fell in love with the boy next door.

But now it was my turn to be the watcher, and with my genetic code awakened and running riot in my body, I found it difficult to stay still, stay hidden. I watched his tears and imagined he was waiting for a sign and wishing things were different. Wishing he hadn’t gone away to Dublin, wishing I hadn’t gone clubbing in Manchester with my girlfriends, wishing he’d never left my side and wishing my best friend hadn’t gotten so drunk she’d left the club without me.

Was he questioning life and death, wondering if there was a heaven, and if so did he think I was there? Could I see him sitting there, wishing things were different? Yet I am here, standing in the shadows watching him, unable to come out of my hiding place. I cry silent tears for his pain. I want to run to him, but my feet remain welded to the ground, unable to move a step closer for fear of what may happen. Still, I’m equally powerless to leave him alone, unable to take my eyes from his face. A face of which I know every contour, a face I grew up with, a face I want to hold in both my hands and feel his tears against my cheek.

I know exactly how his dark blonde, unruly hair would feel if I could clench it between my fingers. I know how his lips would feel: dry, a little bit cracked in the winter sunshine, but warm, always warm. And this is the reason I stay away; this is my secret, because only half of me wants to hold him, kiss him, curl into his arms and cry with him.

The other half I struggle to control. The other half wants to leap the short distance to his feet, hold his head in my hands, breathe in all his scent, and bite. Bite down hard and feel his warm thick blood rush into my mouth and throat and heat up my body, setting it alight like he’s never done before, and suck until there’s nothing left of him.

So for now I stay in the shadows. Watching and waiting.

Chapter One

‘Don’t you just love town Jess? I’m so glad you decided to stay in Manchester and not bugger off to Brighton or wherever it was,’ Alex yelled in my ear.

‘I didn’t have much choice in the matter did I? What with dad going downhill, and then Luke…kissing me.’

‘I know, I know, but it’s nice isn’t it, knowing your way around, knowing where to go,’ she answered.

It was true; I did love Manchester, and since starting university we’d quickly found the best bars and clubs, with the best happy hours, and already knew the safest back streets to take short cuts down. We felt free and safe. We were foolish and naïve.

While my friends all jumped around, Alex and I fought our way through the crowds to the bar.

‘Yey! It’s still happy hour. If we get two each now, we won’t have to queue for a while,’ Alex shouted in my ear.

‘Quit doing that will you! You nearly perforated my ear drum!’ I said flinching, as the awful tickling subsided in my ear.

‘I’m spending the last of my weekly budget on champagne cocktails. I can’t resist.’

By midnight we’d staggered from the bars in The Quay to a new trendy club, Exodus, and that’s where I spotted him some thirty minutes later. He was sitting in a dark corner of the club, talking earnestly to a stunning girl. Unlike me, this girl had definite supermodel qualities, with shiny, dark hair cut very blunt and modern, to just above her shoulders. Her long, slim legs were clad in a tight, shiny black catsuit with killer red heels. Interestingly though, neither of them seemed to be flirting with the other. In fact she almost looked aggrieved with him, which worryingly, I was glad about. He glanced up and his eyes seemed to shimmer a deep, dark chocolate colour. They were mesmerising.

‘Check out his eyes, Jess, and the rest of him come to think of it,’ Alex shouted in my ear over the booming music, nodding in the direction of my gaze.

I wondered if he was a football player, Man United, City or maybe a visiting club. He looked chic and slightly dangerous, and his dark shoulder-length hair was tied back in a low ponytail. He wore a trendy expensive-looking suit with a t-shirt underneath, covering what appeared to be a slim, athletic body. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

‘Jess? Hello, earth to Jess?’

I was dragged out of my trance and suddenly plunged into the present, the surging music pounding in my head. I felt my cheeks flush as I realised he’d noticed me staring at him, and I swivelled round to face Alex.

‘Yes fine. I just need a bit of air. It’s hot in here,’ I replied.

‘OK, let’s go to the upstairs bar. It’s cooler there and we can sit down.’

As I walked towards the stairs, I could feel his gaze on me. Maybe it was my vanity, but I felt prickles on my neck and wondered if he was talking about me to the girl.

Another drink later and Alex had gone off to dance with Lucy, Gemma and some guys I recognised from Alex’s course. I was guarding drinks for the four of us and flicking through a text message from Luke, who was currently in Dublin for a friend's stag party.

‘Babe am havg gr8 time. Dont worry no strippers! LUXXX’

I smiled, and wondering what to reply, glanced straight up into the dark eyes of the mystery man. Close up, he was even more gorgeous than he appeared in the dark corner, and I smiled nervously.

‘I see your friends have deserted you and made you resort to your mobile phone for company. I’m Daniel,’ he added, stepping up to my table and offering his hand, which I ignored.

He was tall, over six feet I thought, and far too good-looking to be talking to me. He was well spoken, with a slightly old school English accent. I wanted to tell him I was in love, that it was my boyfriend I was texting, but my mouth was suddenly dry. I opened my mouth and closed it again, nodding weakly. God! What was wrong with me? My thoughts were all jumbled up. His gaze pierced mine and he had me transfixed.

‘Would you like another drink? What are you drinking? Rum and coke?’ he asked.

I nodded, somewhat taken aback by his ability to guess my drink, but then I guess there aren’t that many spirits which are mixed with coke. It was probably just a lucky guess, I mused, as I watched him walk towards the bar. As soon as his gaze broke away from mine, everything became clear again. I watched him and remembered Luke. Re-reading my text I quickly replied,

‘Miss u. Lets watch a movie 2moro night. LUxxxx’

As soon as politely possible, I would get away and find the girls.

‘Here you go,’ he said, sitting down opposite and passing me the drink.

‘Thanks, ehm, I think the heat’s getting to me. I shouldn’t have accepted a drink from you. I have a boyfriend.’ The word still felt strange and new on my tongue and I could feel my cheeks burning. ‘He’s in Dublin and I’m missing him like crazy. I wasn’t leading you on and I’ll pay for my drink,’ I rambled on, looking at his beautifully chiselled cheek to avoid eye contact, as I fumbled in my bag for my wallet.

‘No need to pay for the drink. I just thought I’d keep you company, while you wait for your friends. I’m with a friend too. She’s just gone for a bite to eat.’ He paused momentarily and a flicker of a smile passed over his face. ‘She’ll be back shortly, but as I was on my way to the bar I saw you alone, and I thought we could entertain each other,’ he replied, smiling again.

‘Oh right, well thanks, but I’m not a charity case. I’m fine on my own.’

‘Of course but...’

Alex stumbled over, picked up my drink and took a big glug.

‘Hey, Lucy and Gem have gone off with those guys. Apparently they live near Gem’s Hall in Fallowfield and they’re going to share a taxi home, or more likely to ONE of their homes.’ She giggled, then she looked at who she was sitting next to for the first time and did a very comical double take.

‘Oh hi, ehm, sorry Jess, didn’t realise…hmm... Hi, I’m Alex.’

I was glad he had the same effect on Alex as he did on me; at least it proved I wasn’t too crazy. She was staring into his eyes, her cheeks flushed. He stared back, his eyes connecting with her on some deeper level. It was mesmerising. I looked away, planning my escape.

I definitely didn’t want a huge hangover, as I was seeing Luke in the afternoon, and he totally disapproved of my under-age drinking. Consequently, it seemed a good idea that as Alex was single, maybe she could have some fun with this guy, and I was just figuring out what to say when she jumped up and spoke.

‘Jess, sorry, I’ve got to go to the loo. You stay here. Chat!’ She nodded in his direction, and before I could get out of my chair she was gone. Damn!

I stared after her in horror and then looked at him. His eyes were still shining. I had the biggest urge to reach over and touch him. His skin was luminescent in the dim light. He looked up, smiled at me and I melted. All resolve left me as the alcohol buzzed around my body.

‘So, where were we?’ He reached over and touched my hand, briefly sending small electric pulses whizzing around my body, straight to my groin.

‘You were telling me all about your boyfriend, but I’d be much more interested to hear about you,’ he said, managing to sound completely genuine.

I somehow got it together, suddenly feeling very reluctant to talk about Luke, but even more so about myself. The word ‘boyfriend’ hit me and I wondered fleetingly if Alex had reappeared and chucked a glass of ice cubes down my dress, to bring me to my senses. I was not the type of girl who slept around. Gorgeous he may be, but I wasn’t interested in anyone other than Luke. Instead, I forced myself to remember how dazzled I’d been by Luke’s beauty, as we lay together that first night on his narrow single bed, a mere few weeks ago. His smooth, pale chest was lit up by the moonlight that filtered through the curtains. I was so lucky to have him. It was what I’d yearned for every day for each of the four years I’d known him. I was NOT going to mess it up.

‘I think I should go check if Alex is alright,’ I stated quickly and rose to my feet, dragging my gaze away from his. ‘Thanks for the drink.’ I headed off, but couldn’t help momentarily wondering what I was missing, as I walked away from him.

I found Alex leaning against the wall outside the women’s toilets, looking into space.

‘Alex, are you OK? Why did you rush off like that?

‘Oh, hi! It’s the strangest thing. I was looking into that guy’s totally gorgeous eyes, wondering if he liked me or you, and I suddenly needed the toilet really badly. Actually, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it in time, before I wet myself. It must have been all those cocktails earlier on,’ she slurred. It was time to get her home.

‘Oh, Alex! I’m just going to the loo myself, and then we’ll go get a cab home.’

Luckily, there wasn’t much of a queue in the ladies, and five minutes later I was back in the same spot. Alex was gone. I popped back into the ladies to check she hadn’t followed me in. I had a little wander nearby and up to the nearest bar, but no luck. I tried her phone endlessly, but it rang unanswered. Ten minutes later and I’d searched the ground floor and wondered whether to go upstairs or head outside. It wasn’t unusual for Alex to disappear when drunk and then turn up in our flat after sometimes walking, sometimes sharing a cab home. After telling her off time and time again, there was no way I could get it through to her. So I decided to go find a cab and see if I could see her outside.

Naturally, there was a huge taxi queue; no taxis and no Alex. I decided to walk round the corner and try my luck on Oxford Road. As I turned the corner onto the only stretch of unlit backstreet, I heard a noise behind me. It was a fairly long, narrow street, but it was straight and I could see the lights and bustle of the main road ahead, so I picked up my pace, careful to walk right in the middle. I heard footsteps getting faster and closer, and suddenly a girl’s voice shouted out,

‘Hey girl, you got any cash on ya?’

Ignoring them I walked on, hoping they’d leave me alone.

‘Hey, you! Are you ignoring us? Bitch!’

Their footfalls were quiet, not hampered by four inch heels like I was, and before I realised, they’d run the few steps and caught me up. They circled me, and I cursed Alex for running off on me, and cursed my own stupidity for walking down an unlit backstreet on my own.

My eyes skimmed over them, four hard-faced girls, all younger than me, probably under sixteen, possibly under fifteen. Two of them were definitely high on drugs, their eyes too wide, their posture aggressive, twitching and fidgeting, unable to stand still. I knew I wouldn’t have a chance running in my heels, but with bare feet I might just make it, especially if they were all on drugs. Seconds had passed and they were impatient for a response.

‘No, No! I wasn’t ignoring you. I didn’t think you were calling me.’ I tried to back off, slipping out of my shoes as I did.

‘Hey, the bitch is gonna try and run for it,’ said the mean-faced girl. She was skinny, with muddy blonde hair tied to one side in a ponytail, and her eyes were flicking from side to side. Definitely drugs then.

The girls circled me like a lion circles its prey. A dark-haired girl faced me. Her eyes looked dead, and yet crazy at the same time. I guessed she'd never been loved, and never loved anyone herself.

‘Haven’t you heard that the back streets are dangerous places for girls like you? We own the streets now and you need to pay us some respect.’

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of silver as the blonde drew her hand out of her pocket. The dark-haired girl did the same, and I saw she carried what looked like a small, sharp kitchen knife. The third girl reached forward and grabbed my bag, and because I wasn’t a hundred percent sober, okay, nowhere near sober, and because the girl behind me took me by surprise, I didn’t think before I reacted. Instead I held tightly onto my bag, swung my elbow and made a run for it, dodging between the two front girls. I didn’t get more than a couple of feet before they were onto me.

‘Stupid bitch!’ one of them shouted, as three of the girls charged into me. I felt a sharp, hot pain flare up in my back before they knocked me over, the kicks raining down hard and fast. I curled up into a fetal position, trying to protect my head and stomach, but I had a bad feeling about the now dulling, wet pain that wrapped around my left side and back. I tried to shout for help, but realised I was struggling to breathe, let alone shout, and all I could manage was a weak yelp, as my breath made a strange gargling sound in my throat.

‘Silly cow! Sarah get her bag. I’m just gonna make sure she remembers who to respect.’ The dark-haired skinny one was kneeling next to me.

‘Let’s hope someone finds you soon bitch, and you can afford a good plastic,’ she spat.

For a split second I wondered what she meant by ‘plastic’, and then it became clear as she leaned over and ran her knife smoothly across my right cheek, before standing up and running off with her gang of mates. I tried to move, roll over, but I couldn’t uncurl my legs. I couldn’t even feel my legs. I moved my upper body slightly and felt pain sear through my torso, taking my breath away. My hand twitched and I wondered vaguely how I was lying in a puddle when it hadn’t rained in days.

I wondered how long it would take for someone to come down this alley, someone as stupid as me. I wondered if I could last till morning. My consciousness was slipping. I thought I’d close my eyes and try to sleep, but the girl’s words rang in my head. Respect! It was all these gangs ever talked about, and yet I wondered if they even knew the true meaning of the word.

That was my last coherent thought, as I realised it was too late for anyone to find me now. My pulse, which had been pounding in my head had now slowed to a virtual stop, my breath lighter, shorter. I wondered if it was morning, as everything seemed to be getting brighter, even though the outline of everything was rapidly blurring out of sight. I thought I could see Luke, his outline glowing slightly, as if sunshine was radiating from deep inside his body, his soul even. His eyes softened and his lips curled upwards slightly as he came closer, holding out his hands to me.

Then I saw it, no, them. The wings shimmered slightly as they unfurled behind his body, taking shape. I must be dreaming, surely, hallucinating definitely. After all Luke was in Dublin, so he couldn’t be here with me. How I wished he was. I coughed, and felt something wet and thick spatter back onto my face. I tried to smile back at the vision of Luke, but he was slowly vanishing, his face changing, distorting. A fiery fury and confusion flickered across his fading features in quick succession, as voices interrupted the