A Little Wicked: Wicked Fortunes: Book One Read online

  “Your cousin?” The black-haired witch who stood at the coven leader’s left spoke for the first time, her voice low and naturally harsh to my ears.

  “Actually,” I shoved my black framed glasses up my nose nervously. “My cousin Aveline Levasseur.” I wrung the fabric of my hoodie between my fingers once more, my heavily bitten-nails rubbing against the fabric. “If she’s here, she’s coming home with me.” I hesitated, then added hastily. “Please.”

  “Keeping witches as hostages now, Colette?” Akiva was not afraid to step into the cemetery and did so before the blonde could grab him to jump into the verbal fray. “How lowly Gavin has made you fall-“

  “We’ll let her go,” Colette ignored him, her eyes on mine. “After tonight, she is free to leave us.”

  I looked between the groups. “Okay well, forgive my confusion but what’s happening tonight?”

  When the witches didn’t answer, Cian did. “They’ve thrown down the gauntlet for the vampires in New Orleans,” he explained, gaze locked on Colette’s which she met unflinchingly. “They intend to kill their leader and drive out the Clade of New Orleans.”

  My brows shot upward. “What? That’s really stupid. My cousin would never agree to that-“ It dawned on me, then. “Air has powerful protection properties,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. The puzzle pieces locked together slowly, as nobody wanted to explain what the hell was happening.

  Then it hit me. “Are you channeling her air magic? Is she okay with you doing that? Does she even want to be here?” I had a feeling the answer was a loud, echoing no.

  The coven leader finally turned to look at me once more. “I only need her for tonight,” she said again. “Then you may have your cousin–“

  “No,” I interrupted, voice tight with anger as my heart beat loudly in my throat. I wondered if I was going to throw up. “You can’t just keep my cousin here. If you do, I’ll make you regret it.” I stammered the words nervously, but I meant them.

  All six preternaturals stared at me, none of them looking particularly frightened, and my shoulders fell. “You can’t do that to Aveline. And I meant what I said.”

  “You wouldn’t need to if you’d agree to my proposal,” Cian broke in. “I told you I would get rid of Gavin and those who won’t follow me.”

  Colette was still contemplating me with nothing more than curious scrutiny. “And I ask you, again, why I should do so? What makes you think I care for you ruling more than Gavin?”

  “Because I will not make the quarter run red with the blood of witches. I will not terrorize your witches for merely living their lives, Colette.”

  “But will you swear it?” Colette pressed, still not inviting him into the cemetery. “Words are cheap. Especially from an old vampire like yourself.”

  “I can swear to you that I will not persecute nor show favoritism to anyone, lest they cross me.”

  I had no idea what was going on here. I didn’t think a vampire could just declare themselves king of a city’s clade, but to be quite honest I knew very little about vampires save the common knowledge that everyone, even humans, knew.

  “You know as well as I that declaring yourself their King is not enough. That’s not how it works. But if you think you can convince Gavin and his trusted so easily, be my guest.” Colette’s mouth pressed into a thin line. She was considering it, even though she obviously thought it impossible.

  I kept silent as the witches and vampire slung half-insults and insinuations throughout their conversation. The most important thing here was Aveline, and if this little spat could get me closer to her walking out of this cemetery with me tonight, then so be it. But I doubted I should just let them go about their business without making it known that she’d be leaving with me.

  “I’ll help,” I said without thinking, regrettably drawing their attention to me. “I can help,” I repeated, trying to sound more sure of myself than I actually was.

  “We don’t need a witch,” Akiva sneered, the epitome of dismissiveness.

  “But we’ll take her,” Cian’s voice was firm. He looked to Colette. “We’ll take the witch,” he said at last. “To show our unity with the witches of New Orleans, I will show you that I bear no ill-fated will to your kind.”

  “Yes but–“ I broke off. The fact that I was not a witch of this coven seemed to be a moot point. I didn’t try to correct the mistake. “Okay,” I finished lamely. “But you promise you’ll let my cousin go when we return?” Now I turned my attention to Colette. Belatedly I realized it was the request of a child, but I couldn’t take it back now.

  “Of course,” she inclined her head. “You have my word as leader of the New Orleans Coven that if you return here with Gavin’s head, I will return your cousin immediately.”

  Akiva scoffed and pulled back, already walking out of the cemetery and brushing past Cian and the shifter.

  “Come on, then,” Cian sighed, gesturing to me. “Unless you’re going to reconsider.”

  “Not at all,” I mumbled, hightailing it out of the cemetery and following the three men.

  I felt as if I’d been standing on a bridge with both ends on fire and I’d had to make the decision on which seemed less deadly. Perhaps I’d chosen wrong, but I hadn’t had much of a choice. The coven leader didn’t exactly humor my request just by me saying please. Akiva was obviously pissed at my continued nearness to him, but there was nothing I could do about that.

  I tugged on the hem of my hoodie, trying to pull it down as if I could hide my fear. As if the vampire couldn’t tell already. There were reasons witches didn’t trust vampires, but here I was; following the lion into the proverbial lion’s den.

  Chapter 2

  “I’m not going to bite you,” Cian called over his shoulder, scowling as he saw the distance between the three of them and me. “Indra wouldn’t approve,” he flashed the shifter a quick grin that he returned easily.

  “So Indra is the only thing keeping me unbitten, then?” I mused unable to keep myself from checking over my shoulder. The cemetery was long gone, but the image of the three witches whispering amongst themselves had me uneasy. They were clearly speaking about us, and me in particular. Had they been able to sense my dual nature?

  Probably–hopefully–not. But more than that, where was Aveline? Was she all right? My stomach churned and I found my hands inching towards the hem of my shirt again.

  “Do you think the witches will send a spell after us?” Akiva asked, amused. “So you watch our back like our very own watchdog?”

  “Are you admitting to needing someone to watch your back?”I quipped, lengthening my stride to catch up with their hastened steps. His words had made me drop my hands. I didn’t want them to see how nervous I was.

  “Have you ever fought a vampire?” Cian asked as I caught up to their unnaturally quick pace. I looked over to him, catching the distant look on his face.

  “No.”

  “Have you ever fought anything?” Akiva sneered.

  “Not to death,” I said finally. “My family taught me how to protect myself with my magic.” I did not add that I’d worked with my cards in practice fights since I’d learned to summon the magical Forms and Aspects within them. I’d never killed anyone, but I wasn’t completely helpless either.

  “Then you should stay back,” Indra spoke, his voice lighter and kinder than the other two. He met my gaze and smiled amicably. “We can handle Gavin’s clade.” His voice was softer than both Cian’s and Akiva’s, and he seemed content to let them do most of the talking.

  He also wasn’t a vampire, so I didn’t have to worry about him invading my mind through my eyes. “I’m not defenseless. I won’t stand back and let you do all the work getting my cousin back.”

  “Watch out Indra,” Akiva’s lips spread into a chuckle as he nudged Indra. “The little witch looks like she’s going to growl at you and show you a pair of puppy fangs herself.”

  His words made me falter, and I self-consciously ran my tongue over my tee
th. My fangs weren’t showing, were they? No. All I found against my tongue were my flat, human teeth.

  The fact that my hybrid ass was trying to remain a secret with a vampire, a shifter, and an as-yet-unidentified jerk was not lost on me. It wouldn’t do me any favors to announce to them that I did in fact have fangs as well.

  I doubted they’d believe me without me showing them my partially shifted state that was akin to Indra’s. It was rare for a hybrid to make it to adulthood, so for me to be standing here at all was almost a miracle. Our immune systems were like china shops before puberty, while everything and everyone around us were bulls looking to break shit. But as hybrids matured, they grew stronger and more resilient. It wasn’t a radical change exactly, but I noticed when I stopped needing to go to the emergency room so much after I’d turned fifteen.

  My mom had never wavered in her love for me, even though parents of hybrids weren’t well looked upon. A lot of people accused her of wanting a powerful child, since hybrids were born of two magical heritages and carried the genes of both. But that wasn’t the case. She loved my father, and I’d been a happy accident.

  I threw my first punch at some kid in elementary school who’d told me I was wrong, that she’d lied to me to spare my feelings. He took it back. I got suspended. Mom had taken me for ice cream and a gentle lecture.

  “We’ll stop for you to throw some protections on us before we get there,” Akiva’s voice broke into my thoughts and I pushed my glasses up my nose as I looked at him. “I don’t know what exactly you do, but you can at least do that, yes?” he asked impatiently.

  “He isn’t usually this unfriendly,” Cian spoke before I could cobble together a reply, turning to me with a smile that reached his eyes. My own eyes seemed to find his like a magnet, and for a split second I forgot about my cousin. His eyes were gorgeous. Frankly, all of him was gorgeous. That thought was dashed when I remembered that vampires could invade a person’s mind through eye contact. I had a plethora of secrets I didn’t need him digging for in my head.

  I looked away as quickly as I could, but Cian shook his head.

  “I won’t spin your thoughts or your perception,” he promised. “I have no need to, and if I wanted to, I could’ve done it seven times by now.”

  I could feel my eyes crinkle and my lips pursed together. Oh, I wanted to say. So you mean you’ve thought about invading my mind. That’s cool and all. Not. I schooled my expression into one of pure nonchalance when I noticed Cian watching me, feeling slightly remorseful for the thought. But I didn’t have much practice with vampires. How was one supposed to resist staring in appreciation at a face like Cian’s?

  “I can ward you,” I said finally, then dug into my fake leather thigh bag for a couple of glass vials, my fingers brushing my tarot deck as I did so. “And I have these.” I pulled the three vials free, the red liquid within splashing about.

  Akiva snatched one from my fingers, observing it with wide, yellow-green eyes.

  “They’re–“

  “Not very well made,” Akiva interrupted, handing them back just as quickly and carefully not letting his fingers touch mine. “Useless against vampires.”

  My eyebrows rose. “Well excuse me for not being a dust riddled, undead creature of the night like some people.”

  “Dust riddled I will give you,” Akiva said after a brief contemplation. “And I’ll allow creature of the night, as my schedule is very in sync with Cian’s.” The vampire flashed him a smirk and chuckled under his breath. “However, I am not undead.“

  “Well,” Cian looked back at me. “He might not be technically undead, but I’d still give it to you.”

  My eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Ghoul?”

  Akiva scoffed. “I am not grey or withered.”

  “Particularly well preserved zombie?”

  He didn’t grace me with an answer, only scowled.

  “He’s a lich,” Indra murmured, smiling.

  The lich in question scowled harder.

  “A lich?” My eyes widened in surprise and my voice came out higher than I had intended. “That’s almost as rare as a…“ I swallowed the words hybrid and summoner before speaking again. “Loa,” I said at last, having to cast around for a suitable replacement. We were in New Orleans, after all. This was the only place one could reasonably meet a Loa, but it was still almost unheard of.

  “Do you even know what a lich is?” Akiva asked haughtily.

  I looked at him, eyes wide and innocent. “I believe if I read correctly, you are a particularly well preserved zombie, yes?”

  His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, only for Cian to cut him off with a laugh. “You’re working very hard to irritate him for a hedge witch,” he said. “It’s a pity I won’t even know your name before he slices into you with his khopesh.”

  “Yeah, I have no idea what that is,” I admitted.

  “A lich?” Akiva didn’t sound surprised.

  “A-a khopesh?” I said, hopefully pronouncing it correctly.

  Akiva sniffed at me, but did not deign to answer.

  “I’m George,” I added, remembering that Cian had mentioned my name.

  “George,” Akiva repeated. “That’s a man’s name, is it not?”

  “My name is Georgette,” I explained. “But I really feel like that’s a name for a poodle, not a person. So everyone calls me George. What’s a khopesh?” I asked again.

  “I will show you when I use it to cut a head off of a vampire, George,” Akiva promised. “Then you can tell your cousin all about it when we get her back for you.”

  My steps slowed. “You care about my cousin Aveline?” My voice had gone small and I spoke slowly, not really believing what he said.

  “That’s the reason we let you come along, is it not?”

  “I thought I was here to prove your good will towards the witches or whatever.”

  “You can absolutely believe that, sahira.”

  Cian slowed, causing me to nearly bump into him. I looked around the small parking lot, taking that moment to try to guess which car was his. There weren’t many cars to choose from, but the fact it wasn’t full and the eerie tint cast by the cloudy sky made me more than a little anxious to get the hell out of there.

  A jingle from Cian’s direction thankfully drew my attention from the shadows and keys emerged from his pocket.

  “We have to drive there?” I asked. My own car was…well. I wasn’t sure where, to be honest, and I’d need a minute to activate the tracking spell I had on it just for this reason.

  “This is the twenty-first century. Don’t most people drive from one place to another?” Cian’s words were edged with humor as he threw a smirk over one shoulder and tapped a button on the key fob. I supposed sarcasm ran heavily in their little group.

  A click and the flash of lights in my peripheral vision had me lurching back in surprise. There may have not been many cars in the lot, but for some reason I wasn’t expecting it to be the car closest to the entrance. I was absolutely expecting to have to walk to the back of the lot, into the eerie, reaching shadows and questionable darkness. I had been wrong and that was absolutely okay. Scary walk successfully averted.

  I turned to the car and my eyes rolled. Of course a vampire would be driving this car.

  He drove a Jaguar. I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised, but still my eyes narrowed in a glare behind my glasses as I scrutinized the steel grey sedan. I didn’t know the model, as I did not make a habit of looking at cars I’d never be able to afford, but it was nice.

  As I stared like an idiot, Indra edged past me and opened the back driver’s side door, then looked to me pointedly.

  “Did you think we’d let you sit in the front?” Akiva laughed, going to the passenger side and sliding into the front seat gracefully.

  “It’s not that,” I sighed, wavering as Cian got into the driver’s seat.

  “We won’t hurt you,” Indra pressed. “I know this goes against probably everyt
hing you were taught,” he was right, “But we’re just going to go kill some vampires to get your cousin back.” He met my gaze, black canine ears turned towards me as he waited patiently.

  “I hope I don’t regret this,” I mumbled, bending down and shimmying into the car. I scooted over to the far side, considering how much of an accident it would be if I kneed Akiva’s seat. It wasn’t like I’d ever do it on purpose. At least, that’s what I’d tell him. The overpriced car still had that new car smell, and I tried hard to keep my feet squarely on the floor mat. I wasn’t going to be the one to fuck up the interior.

  Indra slid in beside me, closing the door as Cian started the engine.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, wanting to be in the know and hoping they wouldn’t just name a place I was unfamiliar with.

  “The swamp,” Cian’s voice was calm, but the jolt in my stomach was anything but.

  “I beg your pardon?” This was beginning to seem like a body dump, not a violent meet up.

  Cian pulled away from the curb and I met Akiva’s eyes in the rearview mirror. I hadn’t meant to, but I did a double take anyway. His eyes were so bright that he practically lit the car up all on his own. “Do you know where you are?” he inquired breezily.

  “In a vampire’s car, in a city I’ve never visited, in a state that I guess I can now strike off the unvisited list,” I replied curtly. “My only knowledge of swamps and bayous comes from television shows.”

  “It’s not far,” Indra put in helpfully, his eyes glittering orange in the darkness.

  Was I the only one here with eyes that didn’t glow?

  Or, at least, eyes that weren’t glowing right now.

  I settled back into my seat, running my fingers along the bridge of my nose and dislodged my glasses.

  This was going to be a long night.

  The drive wasn’t long, but the thirty odd minutes had done wonders for soothing my anxiously churning insides. However, the moment Cian pulled up to a gate and cut the engine, my body tensed and my fears came right back.