His gaze bore hard into mine for a moment before he lifted my face to meet his and his lips crushed to mine. He moved one hand to slide around to my neck and then down my back pressing my body harder up against his before moving the other hand to match so he was embracing me tightly.
His teeth tugged at my lower lip and I opened my mouth to his, letting him invade with his tongue while I wrapped my arms lovingly around his neck.
Oh, how I wanted this man! I knew there would never be anyone else for me, only him, and I wished I could somehow fix this tangled universe we were living in where true happiness always seemed to be just outside of our grasp.
He pulled back from me then, his hands sliding back up to cradle my face.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I could stay here with you right now, but I need to go. I don’t want to give the members of my coven another reason to come hunting you.”
I nodded in understanding.
“Mayla has promised me nothing will happen to you if I go. I want you to know you have my blessing to evaporate away from here if you feel the need. Just do whatever you have to do to stay safe, okay?” He searched my eyes carefully.
“Thank you,” I replied, knowing it cost him a lot to give me permission to leave.
“Be careful, baby,” he said, leaning in to kiss me on the forehead before he released me and headed for the door.
“Vance?” I called after him and he paused to look at me.
“Yes?”
“I know things are difficult right now, but I love you too. More than you will ever know.”
He came back to me and grabbed me up into his arms, once again, to kiss me swiftly on the lips. “I know you do. That's something I’ve never doubted even when I was in my deepest, darkest places.” He squeezed me tightly once more, before stepping over to pick up the jar of blood off the dresser and then he was gone.
I tossed restlessly in the bed, tangling myself into the sheets even farther waiting for Vance to come home again. Trying to go back to sleep had proven to be an unreachable idea. My mind imagined every creak and moan in the old house was some intruder bent on assaulting me.
I was also worried about Vance and what he might be dealing with right now. Images of him fighting with an angry coven by himself danced in my head making me nervous. Not that I was worried about his strength at all. I knew he was plenty capable of fighting a whole coven if necessary, but I still worried about all of the things which could possibly go wrong.
Throwing the covers back with a huff, I untangled myself from the clingy material and climbed out of bed. I wandered into the bathroom deciding to take a shower to calm my nerves a bit.
I let the water work its magic, cooling my feverish skin. When I was done, I dressed in shorts and a tank top before I combed and braided my wet hair.
Vance still wasn’t home.
Wandering restlessly, I made my way down to the kitchen and opened the fridge. I sighed in frustration over the obvious lack of real food in this house while I rummaged through the drawer trying to find a spoon for some peanut butter.
I moved to sit at the recently reassembled table and began to eat my midnight snack. I tapped my fingers restlessly on the surface while I sat in the dark, staring out of the windows to the moonlit grounds beyond.
“How are things going?” a voice permeated the air from behind me, and I jumped up from my seat before I realized it was Hex.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I asked, as I placed a hand over my chest trying to still the rapid beating inside.
He chuckled softly. “No. I’m just checking to see if you’re letting your guard down.”
“Well, I guess I failed that test miserably,” I said with a laugh, gesturing over to one of the chairs across the table from me, inviting him to sit. “Would you like a spoonful of peanut butter?” I asked.
“No, thanks,” he said raising his hands slightly. “So where's your demon warlock this evening? Is he asleep?”
I shook my head. “He's at a ritual with his coven.”
“What kind of ritual?”
“Beats me.”
We both sat in silence, contemplating things for a moment.
“What brings you here tonight?” I asked.
“Your father is about to die from worry. I promised to check on you tonight to help calm him down.”
“He’s that bad, huh?”
“Worse,” Hex said wryly. “So has everything been going okay?”
“For the most part. Vance is determined to turn me though. He feels it's the only way to keep me safe.”
“Safe from what?”
“His coven, himself, and death to name a few,” I replied with a shrug. I got up to place my spoon in the sink. “Have you been able to come up with some sort of a plan?”
“Nothing yet,” Hex replied. “Your grandma has been diligent in her research though. She’s drowning herself in books from my library.”
I laughed a little. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
“Are you sure you won’t come back with me, Portia?” he asked throwing me off a bit by the sudden change in topic. “It's the one sure way to keep this thing from happening to you.”
I shook my head, not even having to think about it. “I gave him my word, Hex.”
He stared hard at me.
“Please try to understand. I love him, and I don’t want to leave him,” I said, wishing I could make him see somehow.
“He isn’t the same person you married. No one would hold it against you if you left him. Technically, he did die. Doesn’t that dissolve your marriage to him?”
I felt like he’d slammed me with an arrow straight into my chest, and I let out a little gasp. “How can you even say something like that to me?” I began to tremble, tears filling my eyes. “These things that happened to him aren’t his fault. In fact, these things happened to him because he was trying to protect me. He gave his life trying to stop an evil that was threatening all of us. But he's alive now and our marriage vows are something we both consider to be binding even beyond this life. We married with the intention of spending eternity with one another. So no, I won’t leave him in his darkest hour when he needs me the most.”
Hex stood and crossed the space to stand beside me. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to hurt you more. I was just trying to help you see a way out of this. I'm concerned for you and your well-being, as are your family and loved ones. The fact of the matter is, Vance is evil, cunning, and he's still a threat to all of us—but most especially to you. We don’t want to lose you as well.”
“You should go now, Hex,” I said, suddenly tired of this conversation and feeling very drained. “Tell my dad I'm okay.” I turned away from him and left the room not even waiting to see if he disappeared.
Numbly, I made my way through the dark back up the stairs and into the bedroom. I went to the window and stared out into the night, my heart overflowing with emotion. Hex’s words weighed heavily on me.
Vance was evil? He still seemed to have a lot of redeeming qualities. However, he drank the blood of others without regard. He had lured me into traps and threatened others in the process. He’d had opportunities to kill other people and even though that hadn’t happened yet it certainly didn’t mean it couldn’t. In fact, it was probably only a matter of time.
Vance was cunning? Most definitely. He had not been above threatening me with the deaths of my own family and coven to get me to bend to his will. He wouldn’t let anything stop him from getting what he wanted.
Vance wasn’t my husband? The thought ate at me like a worm wriggling through a rotten apple. It couldn’t be possible. In my heart our marriage vows had never been broken even though he died. But laws and customs would certainly dictate otherwise. The state would definitely recognize his death as the dissolution of our marriage. Of course there was no law or clause which took into account the deceased coming back to life after said death. Surely that counted for something. Were we still married or not? Was it even
possible to remarry him since he was considered legally dead?
I heard his motorcycle coming down the driveway and I sighed in relief at the sound, turning to make my way down the stairs to meet him.
I surprised him, flinging myself into his arms as soon as he walked inside, knocking him off balance a bit. He caught me, kicking the door closed behind him.
“Portia?” he questioned when I started weeping in his arms. “What's the matter, baby? Are you okay? Did someone try to hurt you?” He glanced around the room cautiously while he held me.
Lifting my tear streaked face, I stared at his face. “Are we still married?” I asked bluntly and his eyes widened in complete surprise.
“What are you talking about? Of course we're still married!” he exclaimed looking totally perplexed.
“Hex was here while you were gone …,” I began and I instantly felt the change in his demeanor.
“What did he want?” he said roughly.
“He said my dad was worried, and so he came to check on me. He asked me to go back with him again. He told me it would be okay for me to leave you since your death had probably dissolved our marriage vows.”
“He said what?” Vance bellowed and his eyes flamed red with the intensity of his voice.
“I asked him to leave after that. But now I'm worried he might be right and we're no longer married.”
Vance was fuming. I felt the anger seething off of him in waves. He held me firmly in his grasp and looked deeply at me, several emotions running across his face, love and concern along with deadly intent running side by side with each other.
“You listen to me, Portia, and you listen well. You’re my wife in every sense of the word. When I said my vows to you I meant for them to last forever. That will never change. And as far as my death goes I want you to consider this … something, no matter how small, had to be alive somewhere inside of me for the Awakening to have kept on working. In my mind that means I was never completely dead, so yes, we're still married.”
“But in the eyes of the law you’re dead, which legally means the dissolution of our marriage. And I can’t remarry you because you're dead,” I said sadly.
“It’s a piece of paper, Portia. Do you really need it that badly?” he asked searching my eyes. “Because if you do we can try to get the death certificate reversed, or I can take a different identity. My body was never officially examined you said. I can prove I’m alive. I'll do whatever you want me to do.”
“I don’t want you to take a different identity. You're my Vance. I couldn’t bear to call you by another name. And I'm Mrs. Mangum. I don’t want a new name,” I said searching his face.
“Then is it enough for you to know that in the eyes of God our vows still stand?” he asked.
I was completely shocked by the question. “Do you still believe in God?”
He looked away, his jaw flexing as he clenched his teeth together. He refused to look at me. I watched with amazement at the incredible amount of emotions that sped across his face.
I waited patiently for him to answer. After a very long pause he finally turned back to me. “Yes,” he said tersely. “But I’m not ready to discuss it on any level,” he added. I realized he might still believe in God, but he was very, very angry with him.
“Are you okay?” I asked, sympathetically reaching up to touch his chiseled face.
“Just drop it, Portia.” He stepped away from me, turning toward the staircase.
I watched him move away, his perfect form racing up the steps two at a time until he moved out of sight.
Choosing not to follow after him, I turned, instead, to walk into the parlor wanting to give him some time. I went over to the window to stare outside once more. For the briefest moment I thought I saw Mayla standing out there watching me with her blank stare, but when I blinked again, she was gone.
I need some sleep, I thought to myself. I’m starting to see things.
I was surprised when I heard the front door open suddenly. I watched as Vance strode out of the house toward his motorcycle which was parked out front. He went to the saddle bag and reached in to remove a couple jars of blood.
My stomach lurched at the possibility of that becoming my preferred diet. I couldn’t fathom ever getting used to such a thing.
Vance opened the lid on one of the jars and devoured the contents with relish. Sickened, I turned away from the window to make my way back to the bedroom, but as I did so I noticed movement out near the shrubs once again. I paused, scrutinizing them much closer. My eyes had not been playing tricks on me, Mayla was watching Vance out in the yard.
Turning, I stormed out of the front door, down the porch, and across the driveway past Vance. I’d had it with this lady. I was determined to give her a piece of my mind.
“Where are you going?” Vance said lifting his head in puzzlement at my approach.
“To take care of your little friend,” I mumbled under my breath. “Hey! Mayla!” I shouted out as I approached the place I’d seen her standing. “I know you're out there, you psycho witch, so you may as well come talk to me.”
I waited for a moment and when she didn’t appear I turned to look at Vance who was now leaning against the seat of his motorcycle with his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching me with something that could've possibly resembled amusement on his face.
“I’m waiting,” I called out, turning to look at the shrubs again.
Mayla stepped out from the bushes, walking slowly towards me.
“How dare you speak to me in such a tone,” she said in a low voice, her white eyes drilling into me with her unnerving stare. “Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t give a crap who you think you are,” I replied taking a step closer to her. “But let me tell you who I am. I’m the witch who is going to make your life a living hell if you don’t stay away from Vance. I’m sick of you following him around like a lovesick puppy and filling his head with a bunch of things that are absolutely untrue. I swear, if I hear one more lie come out of your sorry mouth I may just rip your tongue out of your throat and feed it back to you!”
“Portia,” I heard Vance’s voice speak a warning into my mind, but he didn’t move at all.
“Vance is no longer your concern,” Mayla said assuredly. “You can cease with all of your petty threats because he belongs to me now.”
“The heck he does!” I yelled back at her, letting my anger at her words crawl heavily to the surface. “He's my husband. Mine! Stay away from him.”
She had the gall to laugh at me. “He won’t be your husband for long,” she smiled wickedly. “I have foreseen it.”
This was the final straw. I moved menacingly toward her, thrusting my hand out at her with a burst of energy that flung her back into the bushes she had been hiding in. I felt my powers racing through me with satisfaction at my assault when she suddenly jumped back onto her feet in front of me.
She didn’t move a muscle, but I heard a loud cracking sound. A large branch broke off the tree behind her, shooting through the air towards me.
I popped away from my current location, and the tree branch stabbed firmly into the ground where I'd been standing. Turning toward her, I shot a hand full of ice shards back at her, but she deflected them back toward me.
Evaporating again I reappeared directly behind her, this time grabbing her by the throat and slamming her body to the ground before moving to straddle her.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” I said, squeezing my hand roughly around her neck, cutting off her air supply. “I wasn’t asking for your opinion. Vance is mine and while he may currently be a member of your coven that's the only claim you have on him. If I have my way, that’ll be changing real soon too. Stay away from him!”
Mayla’s hands grasped at mine as she sought to release it from her throat. I squeezed harder to prove my point. Suddenly her fingers began to wriggle awkwardly twisting to resemble small snakes, lengthening and moving quickly up my arm until they were wrappe
d around my neck.
“That’s enough!” Vance’s firm voice called into the air. I felt his arm grab around my waist and he ripped me away from Mayla.
I kicked and clawed, yelling for him to put me down, but he continued walking toward the house with me as though I weighed less than a sack of potatoes.
“Go home, Mayla,” he called over his shoulder. “And take your cronies with you,” he added. That was when I noticed the other demons running through the shadows to her side. He was rescuing me from another attack.
He carried me inside of the door and set me firmly down. “Did you have fun out there?” he asked with a frown. “Because you've certainly stirred up a little hornet’s nest.”
“I can’t take her lies anymore!” I replied hotly. “She’s constantly trying to twist your opinion of me.”
He took a step closer to me, grabbing me by my upper arms. “You'll let me take care of this,” he said roughly. “I let you have your moment of revenge, but it's time for you to take things seriously.”
“I am taking things seriously, and I promise you I'm not backing down!” I argued back.
“Oh yes you will.” he growled. “And you'll do it right this second. Now I’m going to go out there and smooth things over before they all storm this house. But you're going to march yourself upstairs to the bedroom while I do it and I don’t want to see hide nor hair of you until I join you there. Do you understand me?”
“I’m not leaving you,” I said, stubbornly jutting my chin out.
“Oh yes you are,” he replied, his red eyes flaming. “Or I will freeze your sorry behind and carry you up there myself.”
I stared hotly back at him, and I weighed my options—though I knew I didn’t really have any. “Fine,” I said, dissolving out of his grasp to reappear in the bedroom. I waited only a few seconds before I popped over to one of the windows in the front of the house, determined to see what was going on.