Hex on the Beach by Kelley Armstrong

Chapter Nine

Being born half vampire meant that I’d only been drunk once, after a ghost had tricked me into chugging an entire bottle of uncut moonshine. Not even my half-vampire nature had been enough to make me immune to half a gallon of 180 proof “white lightning,” as it turned out. Still, despite my relative inexperience with being intoxicated, I felt prepared to deal with the wonky side effects of Ashael’s blood.

Oh, what a sweet summer child I was!

The first splash shot past my lips and went right down my throat. If my muscles still worked, I would’ve gagged.

Be a little more gentlemanly when shooting your load, Ashael!

At least I didn’t need to worry about my lack of ability to swallow. With how forcefully his blood came out, it felt like it went straight into my stomach, and…wow, this rug was so thick. And lush. Had it always felt like this? And the colors in this room were so vivid, especially when reflected in the lights from all the broken glass.

“Beautiful,” I sighed, and then squealed in delight.

I was talking again! Sure, I’d dribbled blood to say the words, but who cared? I wasn’t wearing this dress again anyway.

“More,” I said next, and grabbed Ashael’s wrist.

“Uh, if she’s moving now, is that enough?” Denise asked.

“No,” I garbled out before Ashael could answer. Every swallow made the world more beautiful, warm, and glorious.

“Slow down, Cat,” I heard Denise say.

I loved her, but she seriously needed to shut up.

Ashael’s dark curls brushed my face as he bent near my ear. Even that slight touch felt like silk trailing over my skin.

“Last swallow, little vampire,” he murmured, his voice curling around me like warm, dark waters.

“No,” I said, my inhibitions drowned. “Eat you…all night.”

Ashael’s laugh was more decadent than the richest dessert. “If circumstances were different, I’d let you, but alas.”

Then, his wrist was gone, and that addictive flow stopped.

I tried to yank his wrist back and ended up only grasping air. I leapt up to see Ashael on the other side of the room, wagging a finger at me.

“Ah ah ah, my lovely one. You’re cut off.”

I lunged at him, and then staggered in surprise when the floor rose up to trip me.

“Stop it,” I snapped at the floor.

It undulated in response, taunting me. I stomped on it, and it surged up with an abrupt wave that knocked me flat.

Asshole.

Denise rushed over. “Cat! Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I said, brushing her aside. This was between me and the floor, and I was kicking its polished driftwood ass.

I stomped up and down on it with all my strength. Planks cracked and gave way. When I was ankle-deep in the floor’s wreckage, I howled in victory.

Take that, motherfucker!

“Cat…” Denise sounded worried, but she shouldn’t be. I’d beaten the floor, so it couldn’t attack her next.

“Don’t bother trying to reason with her,” Ashael said. “She’s too high. Give her a few minutes to adjust to the effects of my blood. She’ll be better by then.”

“I’m fine,” I told Ashael. “In fact, I’m fabulous.”

His grin was annoying in its smugness. Should teach him a lesson. Make him bleed a little…and then lick it.

“She’s, ah, growling,” Denise said with concern.

Ashael waved. “Pay it no mind. Now, care to tell what happened that caused you two to run afoul of a sea god?”

“A sea god?” Denise repeated.

“You’re both infected with contagious sea god magic, so you must have run afoul of one,” Ashael said.

I was going to answer, but suddenly, the whole room tipped. Fucking floor was at it again! I grabbed the wall to stay upright, confused to see that Ashael and Denise were still standing without help. Why wasn’t the floor attacking them, too?

Denise sighed. “I couldn’t see most of what went down, but from what I know, Cat pissed off a bunch of witches, and they hit her with an immobility spell. They must have hit me with it, too, although mine didn’t take effect until after they left.”

“They didn’t spell you. Cat did,” Ashael said. At Denise’s shocked look, he continued, “Not on purpose. You know I can see magic as easily as you see colors. That’s how I saw that the magic on Cat is contagious. Once she was infected, she infected you. You would’ve infected me, too, if I wasn’t a demon. This type of magic is very rare, so what did Cat do to anger those witches?”

“She stopped them from killing a kid,” Denise said, sounding a bit dazed now.

Ashael whistled. “Ah. That’ll do it. Ancient gods have no sense of humor when it comes to someone interfering with their sacrifices, and that child must have been the god’s sacrifice.”

“That’s what they said,” I filled in, no longer needing to hug the wall to stand. My head felt a little clearer, too, although I still thought the floor was daring me to a fight.

Ashael’s dark gaze fixed on me. “That’s why the sea god gave its acolytes the power to hex you with contagious magic.”

“Goddess,” I corrected him.

“Goddess, then. Did her acolytes tell you about the other spell they sealed onto you?”

“What other spell?” Denise asked, sounding surprised.

That’s right, she didn’t know. All of a sudden, I felt a lot more sober. “The one that makes me the goddess’ new sacrifice on the full moon.” Then, my voice hitched from more than the room-tilting effects of Ashael’s blood as I added, “And anyone I’ve infected with the spell is her sacrifice, too.”

“But you’re a vampire,” Denise sputtered. “Only decapitation or silver through the heart can kill you, and nothing can kill me except demon bone through both my eyes.”

Ashael looked thoughtful. “Under normal circumstances, that’s true, but with ancient gods, all bets are off. You have until the full moon, hmm? That gives you two nights.”

“So, how do we kill this goddess?” Denise demanded.

Ashael snorted. “You don’t. The sea is older than anything on this planet, so the gods it produced are among the most ancient and powerful. You can’t kill her. Neither can I.”

I started to speak, and then burped with such force that it rustled the hair around my face. I clapped a hand over my mouth, aghast. Then, despite our very serious circumstances, all of a sudden, I couldn’t stop laughing.

“I haven’t burped since I was human! Wow. That sounded like years of trapped air ripping out of me, didn’t it?”

“There must be a way to stop this,” Denise said, ignoring my comment.

Ashael gave her a level look. “Most spells die with their caster, so kill the witch that hexed Cat, and that should do it. I warn you, though: a witch powerful enough to channel sea-god magic won’t die easily, and my race has a truce with other gods, so I can’t help you. The sea goddess would consider my killing her acolytes a violation of that truce. But vampires and humans have no such truce, so as long as you offer the sea goddess a substitutional sacrifice, she shouldn’t avenge her acolytes if you kill them to break the spells.”

Really? That was some bullshit.

“Bad goddess,” I said.

Denise didn’t seem to care about the sea goddess’s refusal to avenge her acolytes. “How do we find the witch who hexed Cat in order to kill her?”

I waved my arms. “I know this one! The same way they tracked me, through the magic in their spell. Right?”

Ashael inclined his head. “That, I could do for you, but aside from that, and from leaving you more of my blood to stave off Cat’s immobility spell, I must remain out of this.”

“You’ve already done so much,” Denise said, touching his shoulder. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

Ashael’s smile was half sardonic, half wistful. “You already did when you and your husband claimed me as family last year. You both had reason to hate demons, and Veritas had only demanded you show me respect, yet you called me family while expecting nothing in return.” He touched the hand she’d placed on his shoulder. “You don’t know how rare that is, but I do.”

“I meant it,” Denise said softly.

He gave her hand a light squeeze. “I know. It’s why I came at once when you called.”

“Aww,” I said, coming over to them. “So sweet. Group hug!”

Denise let me hug her, but Ashael teleported away right as I got close enough to snap my fangs at his neck.

“Too slow,” he said, laughing as I cursed him in frustration. “And too obvious. You need to be much stealthier if you’re trying to steal some of my blood.”

Denise gave me a cagey look, and then turned to Ashael. “How long before your blood stops giving her immunity from the immobilization spell?”

He rubbed his jaw. “A few hours, probably. That’s why I’ll leave more blood for you. She’ll need it so you can get her somewhere safe before you go after the witch who hexed her and, by extension, you.”

“Denise isn’t doing that alone,” I protested.

Ashael’s brows rose. “You think you can help her in your condition?”

“Fuck yeah,” I said, incensed at the scorn in his voice.

“Cat.” Denise’s carefully neutral tone made me swing around to stare at her. “Maybe it’s better if you sit this one out.”

She didn’t think I could help either? Doubt frothed up, covering my anger. Were they right?

Was I…useless again?

Fuck that! “Come at me,” I said to Ashael, decision made. “No demon tricks. You’ll play the evil vampire witch, I’ll be me, and if you stop me from skewering you through the heart with silver, I’ll stay behind.”

Ashael sighed. “You can’t fight. You can barely stand—”

“Then this won’t take long.” I waved at him in the universal gesture for ‘bring it on.’

Ashael just stood there and stared at me.

“Lazy demon,” I muttered, and charged him.

He sidestepped with an ease that made me so angry, I didn’t notice the wall until I hit it. Then, a smack on the back of my head gave me another face full of plaster. When I spun around, Ashael was studying his nails as if his swat hadn’t given me a second face plant into the now-dented wall.

“We finished?” he asked in a light tone.

Anger burned like someone had detonated a flare inside me. “Not nearly.”

I charged him again, this time swerving into his sidestep. His overconfidence cost him, and I landed a punch that rocked his head back. When I went for another, he pivoted and swept my legs out from under me. My head cracked against the floor as I fell, hard.

Dammit!I should’ve anticipated the leg sweep. That was Fighting 101, and I’d fallen for it. I was still too sloppy, and he was taking full advantage, as any opponent would.

Ashael’s sigh as he stood over me stung more than my hitting the floor had. “I’m only fighting as if I’m a mere vampire, and you’re still unable to best me. Stop now, Cat. This is getting embarrassing.”

Rage briefly cleared the fog in my head. I’d been trained by the toughest, dirtiest fighter in the vampire world! Drunk and sloppy I might be, but I was not going down this easily.

I got up and lunged at him, not fighting my sloppiness this time. He saw it and went for the leg sweep again. Right before I reached him, I dropped low and slid beneath his kick while punching his other knee with everything I had.

It fractured with an audible crack. At once, I yanked at his still uplifted leg, throwing him off balance. His broken knee crumbled when his weight shifted onto it, and he crashed down on top of me hard enough for me to briefly see stars.

No problem. I didn’t need to see. All I had to do was think. Now, knife! Now!

An instant later, I felt a thud as something hit Ashael’s back. Denise gasped, and Ashael rolled onto his side, showing the knife handle now sticking out of his back. Thank God my fledgling telekinesis wasn’t sloppy drunk like the rest of me.

“Who’s embarrassed now?” I ground out.

Ashael threw back his head and laughed.

“By the gods, even high, you’re as vicious as you are beautiful. Are you certain you love your husband, my feisty little redhead? You and I could have such fun.”

His voice deepened until it felt like an acoustic caress at that last word.

I got up with a snort. “Not a chance, and believe me, I have plenty of fun. Bones isn’t just my husband’s name, it’s practically his life motto.”

“TMI,” Denise muttered, but Ashael laughed again.

“Then I’ll take my defeat with grace, if I must.”

He vanished, leaving the knife to land on the floor now that it no longer had a back to stick into. The blade was still coated with his blood, and I’d snatched it and licked it before it occurred to me how crass I was being. Then, I didn’t care as his blood lit my senses up even more.

Oh, that felt so good!

“Should I be worried about her new…enthusiasm for demon blood?” Denise asked Ashael when he reappeared next to her.

“Only if she seeks it out after you’ve defeated the witches,” Ashael replied. “Otherwise, this is only a temporary craving while she’s under the influence, although I strongly advise that you don’t let her drive.”

Denise gave him a look that said, Do you think I’m stupid?

Ashael grinned before his expression became serious.

“I’ll return later with more blood, and later again once I’ve found your witches. In the meantime, let Cat teach you how to fight. You have powerful abilities, but those witches have powerful magic, so if you’re going to survive, you need more than your shapeshifting skills.”

“I can fight,” Denise sputtered.

“Done!” I said with a jaunty wave at Ashael.

He nodded at me, and then vanished with a swirl of shadows that were much more impressive than the witches’ smoke trick.

Denise sighed and then turned to me. “There’s too many people who could get close enough for us to infect them if we stay here, so we need to leave.”

I nodded, trying to ignore how the simple gesture made the room swim. I’d felt much more focused while fighting with Ashael, but that must have been rage combined with muscle memory from all my years of fighting. Now, however, I felt downright woozy. Had that little amount of blood I’d licked off the knife made me so much worse? Or was I truly feeling how high I was, now that I didn’t have anything left to prove?

Either way, Denise was right. We had to leave before we infected anyone else.

“Yes, and once we’re somewhere safe, I’m going to turn you into a world-class ass-kicker.”