Volume 1.28: Smells Like A Witch

Type: Series

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: M

Characters:  Ava, April, Cadence, Luca, Willow
Word Count: 1853

Glossary: 

Warning: coarse language

And as we lie beneath the stars

We realize how small we are

If they could love like you and me

Imagine what the world could be

If Everyone Cared-Nickelback

The next day after her classes, Cadence decided to head to the Delacroix manor. On her way there she ran into Ava.

Their meeting wasn’t a coincidence though. If she didn’t have a lot on her mind she would have noticed the hunter had been following her for days now, tracking her movements.

Cadence thought Ava looked a little jumpy as they walked towards the bayou, the wild, crazy look in her eyes made her uneasy. But, she ignored it, thinking she was being paranoid.

She asked after Samuel and the rest of the hunters. Ava happily confirmed everyone was fine; all was well again in Twinbrook now that they’d destroyed the Star.

“He won’t win Cadence, he’s wasting his time. And if I were you, I’d stay away from him. When we go after the Vampires you may just find yourself on the wrong side. And we all know accidents happen.” Ava’s smile didn’t reach her eyes as she slowly nodded her head.

“Are you threatening me?” Cadence demanded. She knew a threat when she heard one, but she had no idea why Ava or anyone for that matter, would want to hurt her.

“No. I’m just giving you fair warning that’s all,” Ava replied hotly.

Cadence could only stare at her as she weighed her words. It was so unlike the hunter to be so…angry.  She used to be a nice person, and they’d always gotten along well in the past.

Without saying anything else Cadence spun on her heel and walked away. Just as she reached Luca’s house something made her look back. She frowned when she found Ava watching her.

“Creep,” she mumbled to herself as she ran up the concrete steps.

Her knocks went unanswered for a few minutes and just when she was about to give up and head home the imposing door slowly creaked open.

 “Is Luca home?” She asked the blond girl. She looked like an angel as she smiled at her from the doorway, the fading sunlight playing with the gold in her hair, her large green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Cadence wasn’t sure what to make of her though. A small part of her, the insecure, confused, vulnerable part wondered if she was Luca’s girlfriend.

“He is,” the blond moved aside to let her in. Cadence caught a whiff of Mystic Dust as she brushed past her.

“I’m Willow by the way,” the girl introduced herself as she closed the door behind her.

“You’re a witch,” Cadence blurted out.

Willow laughed and nodded, “what gave me away?”

“Mystic Dust,” Cadence replied.

“And I’m Cadence,” she added as an afterthought as she took in her surroundings.

It was the second time she’d stepped foot inside the manor and she was enthralled. The paintings and furniture were gorgeous and expensive, a direct contrast to the crumbling walls and floors. The little she’d seen of the room so far was beautiful and unapologetic in its chaos. Like Luca. It suited him.

“It’s good to finally meet you Cadence, I’ve heard so much about you,” Willow gave her a knowing smile.

Before Cadence could ask her about it, April waltzed down the grand staircase.

“It smells like a Witch in here!” She sniffed the air.

Cadence tensed up when she began circling her at a dizzying speed; she mentally prepared herself to be ripped limb to limb.

But just when she thought April would pounce on her, the vampire bared her fangs in a hearty laugh. “Relax; I won’t bite you just yet. Luca’s in his room upstairs, second door on the left.”

Cadence’s legs couldn’t carry her upstairs fast enough. April scared her. She looked ruthless, unforgiving. So unlike Willow.

She found Luca levitating above the altar bed with his hands crossed perfectly over his shirtless chest. 

Like a moth drawn to a flame, she approached him.

She gulped as she stared at his ripped torso. He was perfect in every way, and she was dying to explore his body, itching to run her hands all over his chest.

“Boo!” Luca suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, shocking Cadence out of her head. She half laughed and half cried as she jumped away from the bed.

But with his quick reflexes she soon found herself in his arms, her head resting on his chest.

“You scared me,” she yelled at him, but she couldn’t keep the smile from her voice.

“You shouldn’t stare. Didn’t Sonja tell you it’s rude?” Luca laughed as he tucked her closer to him.

The electricity between them reached a feverish pitch when he moved over her to retrieve his t-shirt from the floor, reminding Cadence of their time at Smuggler’s Cove.

Luca stared at her lips with an unreadable look in his eyes, his gaze lingering on the throbbing vein on her neck.

Unexpectedly he lowered his head, fascinated she watched as his mouth made its slow descent, she parted hers slightly and closed her eyes, anticipating, waiting, hoping, her desire mounting to an uncontrollable inferno.

“Someone needs a haircut,” Luca brushed the hair from her face, suddenly breaking the spell between them. He swiftly rolled away from her, leaving her feeling deflated and lost.

“Yeah, I do,” she agreed, trying to sound casual and unfazed by his rejection. But it hurt. Like a bitch.

“You didn’t come here just to stare at me, did you?” A small frown played in his eyes as he threw on his top.

Cadence wished he wouldn’t. She loved the shirtless view.

“So?” Luca enquired again, putting an end to her naughty thoughts.

“I wanted to thank you for the music box. I love it,” she told him.

“I’m glad,” he gave her a small smile.

“But you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I wanted to.” Luca replied as he sat in front of the window.

Neither felt the need to talk after this. Luca stared at her, one hand gently kneading the part where his neck and shoulder met. Cadence was drawn to his long fingers, mesmerized by their rhythmic movements; she closed her eyes, reliving the feel of his hands on her body, his caresses…

“Why are you here, Cadence?” His question caught her by surprise, and she turned a bright pink, convinced he was on to her and the direction of her thoughts.

“You said whenever I’m ready to know the truth, I should come to you. So here I am,” she replied truthfully.

Luca nodded, but didn’t say anything for some time. She was starting to get restless when he finally addressed her.

“About a century ago my parents, James and Hannah, started the tradition of hosting monthly Courts. In their formal sense the meetings were used as means of introducing fledglings and elders to the community, make announcements, hear cases and punish transgressions. But there was also a social aspect, poetry and literature were read over buffets of thralls and the evenings would typically end with music and dancing.

For years, mom and dad held successful Courts, making Twinbrook one of the most sought after Houses for Vampires to belong to. Much of their success was due to their leadership, they ran the clan with an iron fist, but they were also fair and reasonable.

Several months before Julian’s fateful court Lord Anthony Mackenzie, one of the oldest Court nobles, was accused of molesting a human girl. She was your age at that time, a pretty little thing. She didn’t deserve it.

The pact we’d made with your coven dictated his crime be punishable by death. But dad, who very close to Mackenzie at that time, banished him from Twinbrook instead. It was a bad decision, one we all came to regret a few weeks later when Mackenzie secretly returned to town and brutally murdered mom in her altar bed in this very room. Julian and I were out with friends, and dad was locked away in his study, going over the family’s finances. Richard, our butler, made the gruesome discovery.

Dad was devastated to a point that he couldn’t function and it was up to Julian and me to avenge mom’s death. One morning Mackenzie was found hanging from a tree in the middle of the bayou, a stake still stuck to his heart. Our message was well received by his clan. By nightfall of the same day they’d promptly left town, but not before Ethan, Mackenzie’s son, vowed he’d pay us back.

Revenge brought dad little comfort and all he wanted was to be reunited with mom.  We were against the idea of his suicide, but in the end it wasn’t up to us.

It took three long days for him to perish in the sun, it almost killed us to sit back and watch him die. But nothing could have prepared us for the pain of fulfilling his last request, scattering his ashes over mom’s grave.

Soon after dad died, Julian took over the running of our clan.” Luca paused after this.

From the emotion in his voice, and the anguish in his eyes, Cadence guessed he hardly shared this part of his life with anyone, and it made her sad. She wanted to reach out to him, hold him, and comfort him. But instead, she found herself mumbling a weak, “I’m sorry”. It was absurd, ridiculous, inadequate, but it was the only thing her stunned brain could manage.

“Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault,” Luca joined her on the bed. Their hands brushed lightly, and every nerve ending on her body was instantly on alert. From his sudden sharp intake of breath and the stormy look in his eyes when he looked at her, Cadence guessed he was as aware of her as she was of him. Knowing this though brought her little comfort. She’d drawn a line at the beach and pushed him away. She wondered now if she’d made a mistake. Maybe she should have taken the month he’d offered. Maybe she could have prolonged it, stretched it to forever somehow.

“The night Julian held court, Ethan finally got his revenge when he unleashed his fledglings on the town. Because their arrival coincided with the gathering, everybody took it for granted they were part of our clan. Your coven, driven by fear, wasted no time in banishing Julian and the others. They should have waited, should have given them a chance to explain instead of locking them away like animals.”

The sudden  anger in his voice scared her.  She jumped from the bed, putting as much distance between them as the small room would allow.

She couldn’t look at him for some time, afraid of the accusations, the anger, the blame she’d see in his eyes.

“You knew my father,” she murmured, it was an attempt to fill the deafening silence and to satisfy her curiosity about the man she wished she’d known.

“He’s a good man,” Luca replied.

“Please tell me about him,” she begged him with tears shimmering in her eyes.

“I’ll do better than that; I’ll let you meet him…” 

______

And this is what Cadence thinks of Luca's bed: 

 I laughed at the last one since she's never met Julian! 

Anyway, thanks for reading, the next update is done, but I'm not sure when I'll post it since I'm starting a new job on Friday and I don't know how demanding it will be. Hopefully I can still update weekly and keep up with all your updates. But in case you don't hear from me, then you'll know why.