Deceptions (Evie Cortez Book 1)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Michael locked eyes with mine as Caleb and I stepped on to the deck. He pulled me aside. “I thought you weren’t working tonight.” He said.

“I changed my mind and plus these things scare Rosie. Caleb was the last to arrive, I’ll let you get to your gathering.” I turned around and left back downstairs. The rest of the night ran smoothly, the restaurant was packed and there was no shortage of things that needed to be done and for that I was grateful. If I stopped working I’d think and wonder about what was happening on the roof.

I didn’t stay until closing time because my normal shift would be starting not too long after that.  It was well past midnight when I stepped into my small little cottage house. I undressed on my way to the bedroom. It was dark with not a single light on in any of the rooms but I could see perfectly. Vampirism enhanced my already perfect sight.

I changed into some pajamas. It didn’t take long for the lack of sleep over the last two days to catch up with me.

In minutes I was out cold.

Three hours later I jumped up in bed panting and sweating all over the place. Not a single thought entered my mind, following blind instinct I bolted from the house and down the street. I followed the surge of power that pierced through me right to Caleb’s house.

The front door was unlocked, I stepped inside and saw the stranger aiming a knife at a knocked out Caleb. Jamie was also knocked out along the staircase. From my spot in the doorway I used a burst of power to knocked the knife clear across the room, the stranger as well with a swing of my hand. He slammed into a table before regaining his composure.

The stranger chuckled as he stood with cold eyes now on me. “A witch?” he smiled and sniffed the air. “The runaway witch? This is going to be fun. You’ve been wanted dead for years for disgracing our name.”

I shut the front door. “But killing people is ok now? Who are you?”

“Better.” He swung his hands forward, bending the air between us into a powerful blow.

I jumped out of the way. “There’s just some things you don’t forget.” Using my mind I grabbed objects closest to him and began throwing them. It felt weird to use magic after so many years but also very gratifying, I missed it.

We soon got close to each other and the battle got physical. My fist connected directly to his nose breaking it with a crunching sound. He pushed me using his power across the room into the china cabinet, the glass shattered and rained down to the floor. “I’m not going to let you hurt them.” I breathed.

“It’s part of the job, don’t take it personal.”

“Job?” There was no time for answers when he came at me again from across the room. Energy crackled through my hand looking like very thin strikes of thunder as I dodged his mental blows. The familiar tinge of pain made its way through my body letting me know my eyes had changed. They were a solid black, my hands were both visibly releasing power. I levitated off the floor and aimed every ounce of power I had at him.

The warlock went flying back, breaking the front door and landing somewhere outside. I ran after him and when I reached the porch he was gone. “Damn it!” I had wanted to kill him. Fury boiled inside of me with no more targets to aim it at.

I stepped back inside where both Caleb and Jamie were looking at me. “Whoa!” the girl exclaimed. “That was some tricky freaky abnormal stuff. I didn’t know witches could do that.”

“Not all can.” I turned my eyes to the door; using more magic it flew back into it’s right position without a screw out of place. I chuckled and touched my hand to the door. “Dad would be proud.”

“Evie?” Jamie stepped off the steps. “Do you know your eyes are completely black?”

“Yeah, that happens when you tap into too much of your power.” I closed them and took a deep breath before opening them. “How about now?”

“Better, but not normal, instead of your usual color its red.”

“It’ll fade later.” I was mad, after using a great amount of power your eyes tended to take on the color of your mood. I jumped a step back when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I met Caleb’s eyes. “You should be happy, you know my secret now.”

“No, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve never seen a witch levitate off the floor with powers coming through their hands. You threw that guy clear across the street before he ran.”  Caleb recapped with a mixture of confusion, anger, and something like awe. “Jamie, why don’t you go upstairs.”

“But Dad—”

“Go.” Jamie turned on her heel and marched upstairs mumbling how unfair it was she was treated like a child. It seemed to escape her mind that her father could hear a pin drop in a crowed room.

I spoke. “It’s a story that can wait until later. Why don’t you tell me what the hell happened here tonight?” I sat on the sofa as my body began to shake from the inside. Magic was like a drug, coming down was never easy.

Caleb sat on the loveseat. “He wanted to kill me and take Jamie.”

I looked at him. “What? Kill you I can understand seeing as you piss a lot of people off but to take Jamie and not to use her against you as leverage, why? And to hire a warlock from the coven, since when…” I grew very confused.

“I don’t know yet. The only idea coming to me is our residential vampire lover boy got restless.”

“That could be true, Ray could want to run away with Jamie but killing you and using a powerful witch from a secret society coven—no that doesn’t make sense. Whoever is behind this has a much bigger idea than love.”

“He doesn’t love her, he only wants to use her.” Caleb said tightly.

I held up my hands. “I’m not arguing with you but you’re wrong about who wants to kill you this time. Someone was willing to take a lot of risk to insure you wouldn’t be able to fight back.” I looked up from my crossed hands and met his dark eyes. “He’ll be back.”

He stared at me with hard eyes. “I smell blood.”

So did I, very close. I reached behind my back and my hand came back red. “That explains it.”