On the way home, my mind drifted to Sera. I was linked to her mind, but that link should fade after a day or two. Even if she were thinking about me, I should not have been able to feel it from this far away. The link was not that deep, and time and distance should have reduced it to nothing.
Yet the pull was there. Faint, but insistent.
As I neared the lair, I found myself turning instead toward the house where she and Kyle lived. I slowed the car two blocks away and continued on foot.
The air felt thick here, still and heavy. Streetlights hummed, throwing pale yellow circles across the pavement. I slipped through the shadows until I reached their street, every movement measured, controlled.
Through the kitchen window, I saw a figure seated at the table. Her.
I circled the house, silent, searching for anyone else inside. Kyle lay fast asleep in the bedroom. The rest of the house was empty. I came back to the kitchen window. Sera sat unmoving, lost in thought, her expression distant. I could have walked straight past her and she would not have noticed.
It was strange. I could bend the minds of others, twist thought and will until they danced to my rhythm—but now it was I who was caught. Mesmerized.
I slid into the house without a sound. One need not a verbal invitation if the heart gives it freely.
Moving faster than light to the kitchen doorway, I pressed my foot down on a loose board, just enough to draw her attention.
She startled, eyes wide, the breath catching in her throat. For a heartbeat she looked like a child who had just met her nightmare. "You are real!" she whispered, not realizing I heard every word.
"I am," I said, blunt as ever.
"Why—what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I was hoping you could tell me," I answered, hesitation in my tone that even I could hear.
Confusion clouded her face. Fear followed, instinctive. I could see the impulse to run, to call for Kyle, to make sense of what she saw. But she did not move.
Instead, something shifted in her eyes. Curiosity. Pull.
She stood slowly, drawn to me by something neither of us understood. Her hand rose as if to touch my face, then froze midair. She turned away, trembling. Then, against her own judgment, she turned back—and stepped into my chest.
"Take me somewhere," she said. The words came like a plea for release.
"Do you have somewhere in mind, my dear?" I asked, though I already knew her answer.
"Anywhere. I just cannot be here right now."
I drew her close, steadying her. Her heartbeat pressed against me, sharp and erratic. Guiding her steps with mine, I made sure neither of us made a sound.
We made our way to the car, and as we approached, I noticed five kids—probably in their early to mid-20s—trying to break into it. They had no idea what kind of mistake they had just made.
About 25 yards away, I turned to Sera and said, "Please excuse me, my dear. I must take care of something quickly. I will not be long."
She shot me a look of deep concern, but I let go of her arm, and with a gust of wind behind me, I moved like lightning.
The first kid, already inside the car, was about to start working on the radio, or perhaps he planned to hot-wire it. It did not matter. I grabbed his feet and threw him across the street as though he weighed nothing.
Another was digging around in the trunk for no good reason, so I sent him flying to the middle of the street with a single, effortless motion.
Two others, standing next to the passenger door, were tossed over the fence and onto the property of the business next door.
The last one, hunched under the hood, never saw me coming. He was sent soaring between the first two airborne boys.
I took a second to fix my car, returning it to the exact condition I had left it in—well, except for the passenger door. That was still open, ready for Sera.
Now, what can I do with Sera that can take her mind off of her current situation. I honestly thought that after the night we had, she would return to her life that she knew best. I did not think that Kyle or myself would even show up in her mind. For some reason, this situation is very unique. I text Kara to send a familiar to the pier.
There is a waterway that the city has access to on the south-east side of town. The pier that is positioned there still has cargo coming in and out daily. The pier does not see the action it once saw, but there is still plenty of traffic in and out that many businesses have access too.
I own a small Wharf and port warehouse that I have access too. This helps a great deal if I need to get something in or out with little fuss. I have a makeshift getaway built into the top of the pier warehouse. Once you are inside, you do not even know you are in a warehouse at all.
The loft was designed for office space. I moved all the offices that I would need down to the ground level, insulated and sound proofed the loft and it is not intended for long term stays but someone could live there a year or more with little else.
I take her to my pier loft. It is like a giant studio apartment. Everything is what they call "open concept." The door is at the top of the stairs, closest to the middle of that warehouse. The bed is near the door.
The kitchen and bathroom are off to the right. The bathroom is the only room that has walls inside the loft. The dining area is behind the sleeping area, across from the kitchen. The living area takes up the rest of the space, featuring a giant orange slice window looking out over the water.
Sera walks over to the window and looks out over the vast waterway that the scenic view provides. "This is incredible." Her voice is full of breath.
"Very few people know I even have this place," I tell her.
"How long have you had this?" She ponders out loud.
I tell her, "I had this place built a long time ago. Back when I met Jade. She was in trouble, and we were just getting to know one another. Her people knew where I lived, and I was bouncing her from motel to hotel. She never got to stay here. We got her issues taken care of before she needed it, but I did not want to get caught like that again. So…"
The door swings open and one of my men walks through the door. Sera whips her head around as if the place was about to be raided.
I say to her, "Don't stress. It is only one of my men I had sent for. Would you like something to eat?"
"No, I am really not hungry."
I look at the man standing idle in front of the kitchen. "Open a bottle of wine," I say to him.
He gets two glasses down and opens one of the bottles I keep in the freestanding wine fridge. He serves us both and vanishes into the decor.
I meet her at the window and we both look out over the vast darkness of the world. "You can stay here as long as you like."
I set my glass down and prepare to leave.
"You're not leaving me alone." The sound of slight panic is in her voice.
"I am sorry, my dear, I have a club to manage. Nobody knows you are here. In fact, nobody knows that anyone is here," I say in an effort to reassure her.
She puts her arms around me, pressing her stomach into mine. She pulls her head back and looks deep into my eyes. She is like a vampire herself, knowing how to work another's mind and says, "Stay with me! Please." As she drops her head and looks out the top of her eyes at me.
I turn my body away from her and scan the walls looking for the subordinate who has become quite good at being lost. "You can wait downstairs. I will call down if we need you," I say to him.
He removes himself from the loft. Sera takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom.
She steps out of her clothes and I out of mine. I lay her down softly, kissing her neck as she finds the topography of my body. I search her body in kind and find that she is definitely ready.
Very slow and easy, I navigate the innermost physicality of her being. My rhythm grows ever faster, deeper, and stronger. She digs her nails into me over and over. I try to draw her attention as the marks she leaves heal over and over. I can tell she begins to lose her breath.
Bringing the performance to an obvious end, I kiss her deep one last time. I roll over and pretend to sleep until I hear her breathing and heart rate track. With absolute silence, I remove myself and redress.
I have to get back to the club and feel the energy. I am unable to do that with a text or phone call. I leave a quick note for Sera on the bedside stand. It says, "Phone in the living room. Press 9 if you need ANYTHING."
I get in my car and head back to the club.
Back at the club, everything seems to be exactly where it should. There is a raw, unfamiliar energy in the air. One that I know, but it still feels different—colder, sharper. I check with Johnny, the enforcer at the door. I check with Sonya at the bar. Everything seems the way it should.
I head down the stairs and over to the house, over to the vaulted silence of the library where I find Kara, relentless and focused, hard at work. "How is it going? Any luck finding anything useful yet?"
"I may have found something here. I need for you to write down a description of what you could see when the witch began hitting you guys. What was in her hand, what the energy looked like, felt like." She points at the books in front of her. "This could be it."
She looks me up and down, a brief, piercing assessment. "How was Celeste?" Her eyes sharpen to steel as she asks.
"I know that you do not care how she is doing. Just ask me what you want to ask me," I tell her.
"FINE! What the hell are you thinking, fucking around with that woman? You said you were getting in her mind and that would be the end of it."
My eyes close a little, a flash of irritation, as if I am remembering something I had forgotten. "Yes, you are right. There is something more that I just can not seem to put my finger on?" I assure her.
Kara looks at me as if I am misleading her for some reason, her gaze burning with suspicion. "You honestly believe that there is something more to all of... THIS, outside of the hornets nest you insist on kicking? You know I have no interest in my brother or the life I had before you. I had no issue with you sleeping with my sister-in-law for the sake of manipulation. To keep us all safe, but I have a hard time believing that there might be something extra special about her AND she just happens to be engaged to the man that HAPPENS to be my brother?" The steel in her eyes soften a bit as hot tears start to show.
"Kara, I have no intention on dragging this out any longer than I need to. I Have to find out why our connection will not sever. I would hate for something I ignored to come back to hurt you. Or Jade or Sonya or anyone in this family. Once we get this issue all squared away, I assure you that I will not keep an unwanted connection between you and your brother."
With reluctance, her face and body language opens up, the tension slightly easing. Just to put some forceful English on her point she finishes with, "That better be exactly how it ends!"
Thinking that was the energy I may have been feeling, Chad, my subordinate, meets me in the space just before the living area. Urgency is in his eyes. He motions me to follow him as he heads for the steps to the lower bedded area. As he makes his way down the hall, the house's energy signature from her location hits me—an instant, unwelcome shock that confirms her consciousness—before we even reach the dining room.
Chad stops and points to the guest room where we had our witch sleeping off her injury. She is awake and asking for the master of the house.