Anya Bast - Witch Fury

Theo drew back, book in hand. He hoped she didn’t cry. Oh, Gods . The last thing he needed on his hands was a blubbering female. What the hell did you do with a weeping woman?

After tossing the book into her lap, he eased down into the chair behind him, a safe distance away from her. The dog jumped into his lap immediately. Theo stared down into Grosset’s furry, panting face and tried not to curl his lip.

Sarafina looked down at the red hardcover book in her hands. “What’s this?” “That’s all we know about what we are. Micah, our scholar and the cousin of the head of the Coven, compiled it and had it bound for the members of the Coven. It’s our history, as much as we know.” She picked up the thick volume and turned it over in her hands, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Take it home, read it, and then ask me any questions you have.” Hopefully, that would ensure they have contact after she left this apartment, so he could keep his eye on her.

“Answer one for me right now?”

“Shoot.”

Her face tightened. Theo recognized fear when he saw it. “Do witches have red eyes?” He stilled, a nasty icy jolt going through him. “There’s only one thing I know of that has red eyes and they’re not witches.” “What are they?”

“Where did you see someone like that?” “At the farmhouse. He woke me up in the middle of the night and nearly made me soil the mattress. He didn’t hurt me, but everything about him was threatening.” She paused. “And he was big, almost unnaturally so. When I asked Stefan about the creature, Stefan never told me what he was, only that he was curious about me.” Theo ran his hand over his jaw and looked away from her. Demon. Probably an Atrika demon. What the hell was an Atrika doing Earthside. . again? He sighed, weariness bubbling up from the depths of him. Gods, he did not want to have to deal with Atrika again. “It wasn’t a man.” “Okay.” Pause. “Not a man. So what did I wake up to in the middle of the night, Theo?” “My guess is a demon.” He let her absorb that for a moment. Theo had grown up with this stuff, she hadn’t. He could only guess how shocking it was. “They call themselves daaeman and they come from a place called Eudae. It’s all in the book.” “I just can’t. .” She trailed off, putting a hand to her forehead. “I think I need a drink.” “I’m sorry.” Her body was trembling slightly and her face had gone pale. “There’s a bottle of Scotch in the kitchen, if you’re serious about needing that drink. Look, I’ll give you a minute. I need to make a phone call.” “Sure.”

He got up and went into his bedroom, pulling his cell out of his pocket. He punched the speed dial for Thomas. “Yeah, we got another Atrika .” Silence.

“Did you hear me? The woman I thought was a warlock, but isn’t, says she saw one at the farmhouse.” “Fuck.”

“I just thought you should know right away, man.” “Tell me everything she saw.”

Theo told him what Sarafina had said.

“Okay.” Thomas’s voice was heavy and a little tired sounding. “Somehow, some way Stefan’s allied with the Atrika. That’s the implication. It’s nothing we didn’t already suspect might somehow happen.” “Our worst nightmare.”

“Pretty much.” Thomas exhaled slowly. “Micah and Isabelle have determined Sarafina is no threat, right?” “Yeah, we’re sending her home.”

“Let’s keep an eye on her, though.”

“I’m already on it, boss.”

Theo hung up the phone and returned to the living room where Sarafina still sat on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chin and Grosset by her side.

He sank into the chair near her and pushed a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. “Doing okay with the demon thing?” She looked at him and wrinkled her face. “Are you crazy? How am I supposed to be okay with the demon thing?” “Yeah, that was a dumb question. I know this is a lot for you to absorb.” He looked at the book. “Read that, okay? It will answer a lot of your questions.” She turned her face away. “I just want to be left alone. I want to go back to my life as it was four days ago, even with the death of my foster mother, the debt, and the dumping. Why did the warlocks want me? Why go to all that trouble for me ?” Theo considered her a moment, deciding how best to answer. “The warlocks have been abducting and converting vulnerable witches to their cause since as far back as we know. Lately, though, they’ve been taking more. Almost like they’re building an army.” She shook her head. “I’m not military material.” “Stefan seems to have taken a special interest in you. Or at least, normally he doesn’t meet personally with witches they’ve abducted, let alone go on the initial kidnapping. He doesn’t take risks, you know? He’s got underlings for that. Hell, ever since Isabelle almost nabbed him, he never even goes anywhere without bodyguards. He took a risk for you and he’s given you all kinds of personal attention, but we don’t know why you’re so special.” “I feel like Alice and I just slipped down the rabbit hole.” “So who does that make me?”

A smile flickered across her mouth. “Not the Cheshire cat, that’s for sure. You don’t smile enough for that.” She frowned. “You don’t smile at all.” “Yeah, well, not much to smile about these days.” “God,” she breathed, looking down at her lap and toying with a small hole in the knee of the sweatpants. “ My mom. I always just assumed she was schizophrenic. The human torch thing, well, no one had an explanation for that.” “Now you do.”

“I’ll say.”

“Micah told me that it made all the supernatural unsolved mystery shows.” Suddenly, she looked about ten years older. “Yes.” She sighed. She looked down at the book in her lap again. “So, does this mean I can go home now?” “Isabelle is downstairs in the library. I’ll take you to her. She’ll give you some clothes to wear that fit, something decent to eat, and take you home.” She looked up at him. “Isabelle sounds really nice, but if it’s okay, I’d rather you just took me home now.” She glanced down at her clothes. “I mean, as long as you don’t mind that I’d be taking your clothes with me. I’ll wash them and return them—” “I don’t mind that you’re wearing my clothes.” Actually, she looked damn good in them. He let his gaze wander down her torso. His clothes engulfed her slim body, making him wonder what lay beneath all the bulk. Making him want to undress her and find out. It was intimate to think that the material that had lain against his skin now lay against hers.

Theo ripped his gaze back to her face. Clearly, he needed to get laid sometime soon. It had been too long. He hadn’t taken a lover since Ingrid had died last year.

There had been no great love between him and Ingrid. They’d been in the relationship for the sex and the companionship, to ease a little of their loneliness. But Ingrid had been a good friend and she’d died in a horrific way. It had hit him hard and he was still grieving her loss.

“Will you just take me home, then? I want to get back to my stuff. Familiarity, you know? I have phone calls to make. Friends of mine will be worried, not to mention my boss.” “Okay. I’m ready whenever you are.”

She pushed off the couch. “Then let’s go. It’s not like I have a lot of luggage.” He walked toward the door, stopped, and turned back to her. “Uh, except. . I drive a bike.” “A bike? You mean like a motorcycle?” He twisted his lips. “You think I ride a ten-speed? I drive a Harley.” “That figures. I can’t really see you driving a sedan.” She only waved her hand absently. “As long as we can get Grosset home on the thing, I’m past caring. I just want my own bathtub and bed tonight.”