“Do it here. I don’t want Cassie to know,” Gus waved a hand. “Hurry up.”
“I can’t just turn it on and off. It can be…unpredictable. Like when I’m scared.” Lucas sat up, running a hand through his hair.
“Think about the vampires coming after you. Or me dead because my wife killed me for keeping shit from her.”
Lucas chuckled. The fact that he managed it even after all he’d been through astonished him. “That’s not helping.”
“Don’t laugh. You haven’t met that woman yet.”
Lucas sobered quickly and thought about Shawn, dead on the sidewalk. The small amount of blood he had left trickling through the puncture wounds on his neck. He felt the light leave him then and he focused it on Gus. It seemed a lot easier to direct it than before. The light hit Gus and he bowed forward, his chest out.
He relaxed against the seat again and sat there for long minutes. Lucas held his breath.Please be okay.Lucas waited for Gus to say something to let Lucas know he hadn’t hurt him as he had Gary. The light wasn’t that gray color when it had appeared, though. It had been a pure white like the one which had gone into his mother’s plants and Shawn.
Gus grinned. “I’ve never felt better.”
Lucas sighed in relief.
There was a knock on the car window that startled them both. An older lady scowled at Gus. She had the bluest eyes Lucas had ever seen,even bluer than his own. When she turned her gaze onto him, she smiled warmly. He immediately reached for the door handle as if on autopilot. Something about her drew him in. He opened the car door and got out, standing in front of her as if waiting for instructions.
She had on a blue dress made of denim with a white turtleneck underneath. It was old-fashioned by today’s standards but gave her an earthiness which appealed to Lucas. Her clothing reminded him of the neighbor lady across the street from his parents' house. She had been a grandmotherly sort of person to him and had passed away when he was eleven years old. Somehow, the similarity made him feel even more comfortable around the woman.
Gus was out of the car and coming around when the woman took Lucas’ hand in hers. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. “You’re a witch, but how can that be. The last male witch died hundreds of years ago. And you’ve been living close by your whole life. How have I not found you until now?” She focused on something over his shoulder for several seconds before turning her gaze onto him again. “But that is the way fate works. She has her own agenda, I suppose.” She spoke slowly and with purpose.
“He can’t stay, Cassie. The local Coven is after him. You need to do your thing and send him on his way. And we need to ward the property better. They saw my cab.”
“Don’t rush me, Gus. These things take time.”
“We haven’t got time, woman.”
Cassie waved him away and focused on Lucas’ face. “Everyone will be after you, now that you are known. They’ll want to use you for their own gain.”
“Why?”
“Because you can heal, give life back. And take it away with just a snap of your finger. I suspect you haven’t learned all you can do yet.”
Lucas averted his gaze. “I did it to a vampire today. I don’t know how, but I killed him.”
“You learn quickly, because you’re a very smart young man.” Lucas wanted to roll his eyes, but that would be rude, so he restrained himself. He didn’t consider himself smart at anything. He had always been average in every way and his grades had proven that much.
The pupils of Cassie’s eyes turned white. “You’ll leave here tonight.” Cassie nodded as if responding to someone only she could hear. Her eyes went back to normal and her gaze focused on him once again. “Head east. You will find a place where you’ll be protected.”
“How will I know when I get there?”
“You’ll know.” She smiled. A secret lurked in her eyes.
God, his life had gotten so fucking complicated. “Do you know the place I need to go?”
“I have a picture of it in my mind. Like someone is showing me a photograph. It’s surrounded by water and forests for miles. There are many lakes and only one road leading in and out. You’ll find someone like us there. Another witch. And other paranormals. Don’t be scared. They’ll protect you.” There was that smile again right before she said, “One in particular will see to your safety.”
Don’t be scared, because monsters like those chasing me will protect me. Right. That’s not even close to doable.
“Do you have a name for this person?”
She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled something out, instead of answering him. She let go of his hand and made a gesture for him to turn around. Lifting his shirt, she put her hand on the center of his back, chanting something in a language he didn’t understand. He felt it burn his skin and wanted to pull away, but he held still, instinctively knowing he should trust her in that one thing, regardless of the pain it caused him.
“Now you’ll know when the vampires are close. Run when you feel them. We can’t let what happened to the last male witch happen to you.”
“What happened?”
