Crimson Kiss

27 Decedent

Both Ezra and Marcus were acting weird. Ezra seemed worried about something and Marcus just seemed oddly...not himself. He was being nice. I didn't trust him. I wandered the hall, looking for Amira. My life had changed a lot since things had calmed down with the whole Vampire/Witch senario. I was not part of a Coven, and was to begin training as the High Priestess as soon as they could find someone to train me. I had hoped Delphine would have been able to point me in the right direction but her shop had been closed since that day. I had stopped there everyday after school, sometimes with all of my Vampires in tow, sometimes alone.
Today, though, instead of going to Delphine's shop, I had to go to the Goddesses Coven to exchange some books. Same way as always; hood up, head down, return books, get new ones, and right back to the car! Ezra was forbidden from entering so he had to wait outside. I teased him as my getaway car. So, every friday, we stop at the Goddess's Coven for new books. I had not seen Freya since that day either and when I was at the Coven, I had not had a run in with Tate either. It was odd, considering he had wanted me to join so bad. Both Ezra and Marcus found it odd they had not asked me for anything yet. I had to admit, I agreed with both of them, however, Ezra was under the impression we should wait Tate out, let him come to us. Marcus on the other hand, had suggested I use a defensive spell to point out any negative energies when i am around Tate. And I would have agreed with Marcus, only I never saw Tate and I had not seen him since that night. It had been over a month and Freya had not returned to school either. I had tried to call her for a few days but it was no use. She was ignoring me. That is when I realized that I was done with her so called friendship. The betrayal she had committed was unforgivable. When I reached my locker, Amira was not there where she normally was. Amira was the only one who knew that Ezra was still feeding from me, going against the agreement that had been placed between my Vampire friends and the Witch Delphine.
Only Delphine seemed to have gone missing. Her shop had remained closed and she was never seen in the Coven house. I was beginning to wonder of Tate had gotten to her for helping Marcus and the others. Before I could open my locker slammed it closed and marcus leaned in for a moment, his breath brushing my face.
"We need to talk. Let's go!" he said, never breaking his stride as he walked by and continued down the hall. I sighed and glanced around. No one seemed to notice he had even spoken to me. I locked up my locker again and followed Marcus down the hall, into the part of the school that was no longer used. I followed Marcus around a corner and stopped.
"Stop!" I said, glancing over my shoulder. "This is as far as I go!"
Marcus turned to face me, his face annoyed. "Why?" he asked me. "Afraid I might bite ya?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "You may have saved my life, but fact remains, you still tried to kill me. And I don't trust you, Marcus. So tell me what you wanna tell me. I have to get to class-"
"Dragos has ordered Ezra to go to Staten Island as soon as possible because there have been reportings of Vampire attacks there and they are getting closer and closer to Manhattan everyday!" he told me quickly.
I swallowed hard, looking down at my feet, thinking. "how bad is it?" I asked him.
Marcus raised an eyebrow, the look on his face unsure. "Four," he answered. "All drained of blood."
I held my breath for a moment thinking. "When is he leaving?" I asked him.
Marcus opened his lips to speak but my phone rang in my pocket. It was Ezra.
"Where are you?" I demanded, not bothering with a proper hello. I walked to the window, away from Marcus. I watched his eyes follow me to the window.
There was an annoyed sigh at the other end. "On my way to Staten island. And I can only assume my dear brother told you?" I glanced at Marcus who gave me a sheepish, apologetic smile.
"Ezra, why is he sending you?" I asked him. "Why not one of his other-"
Ezra cut me off quickly. "Dragos sent for me because he is King and he can send whoever he likes for any task he sees fit. However, he asked for me for this particular mission because I am the best Tracker my Coven currently has."
I sighed and nodded. "Marcus said you were just going to investigate?" I asked him, worried about him being safe. "Not to take care of the problem?"
Ezra sighed and I knew there was more to it. "He thinks it's the Witches?" I guessed.
"Yeah," Ezra said reluctantly.
I shook my head and looked back at Marcus who was still looking at me. I had noticed that here of him, the past few days. Marcus had been watching me, when he thought no one else was looking, and now, it seemed, now that Amira and Ezra where no where near here, he did not seemed worried about hiding his interest anymore. His eyes were almost glowing.
"But the bodies are drained of blood!" I reminded him.
Before Ezra could answer, the second bell rang and I was still standing here with Marcus's eyes glued to my face. "I have to go," I told Ezra.
I heard him sigh. "OK," he said. "I love you."
I felt blush kiss my cheeks and Marcus's eyes grew into cold, glowing white orbs. I disconnected the call, never taking my eyes off of Marcus. "What is this?" I demanded and gestured between us. "I never thought to ask you till now, but what is this, Marcus?" i asked him.
I watched his face become confused and shook his head. "I am not sure I understand what you mean," he told me. He did not move, he did not reach for me. He was seriously freaking me out.
"Marcus, I asking why you are acting?" i asked him.
I watched him roll his eyes. "Is this because I tried to kill you?" he asked me. "I did say I was sorry for that, didn't I?" he asked me, his smile doing it's best to charm me.
"Now that I think about it, Marcus, no, you never did apologize for it," I told him.
I watched his face fall for a moment and then he swiftly reached for my hand and he grabbed up my wrist. I winded when his grip made the bite mark from Ezra earlier this morning seared my wrist. Marcus sighed when he flipped my wrist up and looked at it. He sighed.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "I know, I just want to mean it, when I say it... and I am not sure I can control it yet... I crave-"
Marcus tore his eyes away from me abruptly and turned away from me. He took a deep breath. ""If you are looking for an apology, you won't get one from me. Remember, I have the heartless, mean, badass older brother image to keep up!"
I watched him and then shook my head, changing the subject. 'So, since Ezra is in Staten Island, can you take me to The Coven today?" I asked him.
Marcus sighed and turned to face me. "Don't you have a Witchy best friend to do that with?" Marcus asked me. I shook my head.
"Ezra was supposed to take me. And I wanted to check on Delphine-"
"Ok," he said quickly. "I will go with you. I have a bone or two to pick with Delphine myself."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Marcus-'
"I am not going to kill her, if that is what you are worried about," he assured me.
"I have been doing research on the binding spell she could have used-"
"That is just the thing," Marcus told me. "Delphine never used a spell!" He face become thoughtful. "Ivy... if my father finds out that this spell was a hoax, or if the Witches come in to look into the sudden deaths in the area, we could have a big problem!"
I nodded, suddenly all of the possible outcomes of this for both sides. No one would be able to agree that Delphine had tricked the Vampires into agreeing and leaving them vulnerable to attack whenever the Witches so pleased.
"We need to speak to Delphine!" I told him.
Marcus pursed his lips. "You up for a little drive?" he asked me.
I sighed, looking down at my phone. Amira was not here, Ezra and Amira were in Staten Island and I would be stuck here for eight hours, worrying about them. Might as well get a little investigation of my own in while I could. "Sure," I said and hurried back to my locker, to grab my purse and dump my books. I needed to do something so I was not driving myself crazy.
I let marcus drive his car so I could try and find some spells in the book I was returning today. I wanted to make sure I had gotten all I could from them.
"So you are taking the whole priestess thing seriously now?" Marcus asked me.
I glance up at him and shake my head. "Not at all," I told him. "Matter of fact, I have not herd from or seen either Tate or Freya since that day."
Marcus was quite for a moment. "And you don't find that odd?" he asked me. "They make you vow to do or be something and then nothing?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Marcus, I already told you," I reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he sighed and pulled his car to a stop. "However, I could Charm you to tell me," he reminded me and leaned forward, his eyes turning silver again. I swallowed.
"You can't charm me," I reminded him.
Marcus laughed a throaty laugh at me. "Oh, but how I love to try," he sighed and finely leaned away. "No worries, Ivy. I know you are my brothers girl. Always my brothers girl." And with that he got out of the car quickly. I sat there in dumbfounded silence.

When I joined Marcus on the sidewalk, he was waiting for me, facing the dark alley way we were headed. He sighed and held his arm away from his body, offering me his arm so I could slip mine around his. I took his arm and we set off down the alleyway. It was oddly quiet. About halfway down the hallway, Marcus started to slow, his body becoming tense beside me.
"What?" I whispered to him.
Marcus shook his head and continued down the street. "Someone is following us," he hissed at me. I nodded, keeping my head down as we approached the shop. I stopped suddenly, when I saw the broken glass on the floor, the busted in door and the blood on the door frame. I glanced at Marcus and then bolted for the door. I pushed up against it, but something was blocking it. I felt Marcus brush me aside gently and he had the door with one push. We both stepped into the shop, glass crunching under our feet.
I heard a shuffle to my left and U turned, looking around. "Delphine?" I asked, raising my hand and letting a vibrating collection of power collect in my hand. "It's Ivy!"
The door to my right suddenly burst open and a young woman, dressed in the same gypsy clothing as Delphine had been burst though the door. Her hair was a wild red, blazing, with green eyes, with a long hunting dagger in her hand.
"What are you doing here?" the girl demanded.
I felt Marcus yank me to the side, his eyes flaring white as he bared his teeth at the girl. "I would lower that toothpick there, little Witch," he warned.
I waved a hand at Marcus to make him shut up. "I am looking for Delphine," I said. "I have been worried about her, do you know where she is?"
I watched the girl shake her head. "I am Delphine," she said and I raised an eyebrow at her. "But you must mean my grandmother. Delphine, Witch outcast to the Goddesses Coven-"
"Where is she?" I demanded.
Delphine sighed. "Dead," she said and looked right at me. "She died a few weeks ago. Suddenly. I am here to get her personal affairs in order and then I am outta here-"
"What was her cause of death?" Marcus asked suddenly.
Delphine sighed and crossed her arms, "Cardiac arrest," she answered. "However, she never had any heart problems. She was as healthy as a horse."
"And who are you?" I asked her.
"I am Delphine's granddaughter, last descendant of Delphine Monet." And the she smiled. "And I know who the two of you are. My grandmother kept a very detailed journal and I am assuming that is what got her killed. So now I ask you, what was it you two had her roped into?"
I glanced at Marcus, suddenly feeling sick. I turned and hurried from the store with Marcus on my heels. "Ivy-"
"I have to fix this!" I told him. "If the Coven find out that there is no spell bound contract between the Vampires and the Witches, it could not end well-"
Marcus raised an eyebrow at me. "Why is this bothering you so much?" he asked me.
I sighed. "Because," I said. "Tate used magic to kill my mother so what if he used it to kill Delphine?" There was more to it that that but I needed to know all I could about what Tate really had planned. He had to be busy doing something. I had not seen him in weeks.
"So this is about your mother?" Marcus asked me.
I sighed and rolled my eyes at him. "Not that you would understand but this is about more then just me, Marcus!" I reminded him.
Marcus held up his hands in defeat. "Million dollar question though is, if we can trust her?" he said and I sighed, knowing he was right. I did not know this person and I did not know if she was telling me the truth. All I knew was that I would not get answers doing nothing. It was a fine line, walking between light and darkness. Trying to keep the balance.
"You can trust me," Delphine said from the doorway. "I am a skilled Witch, having learned from the best, obvi, and I am willing to help you and your little Vampire pet," she said.
I herd Marcus scoff beside me. "You know, I am getting a little tired of being called that!" he hissed at me. I ignored him. I turned to look at Delphine.
"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked her.
Delphine thought for a moment. "You can't!" she said. "However, I can promise to keep you and your loved ones safe." I nodded and she smiled at me. "No one must know I am here!"
I raised an eyebrow. "You mean at the Coven?" I asked her.
Delphine nodded. "Yes," she said. "They will come for me and I may just go missing or die, just like that-"
"Tate would kill off his people, just like that?" I asked her, looking back at Marcus.
"Just. Like. That," Marcus said, snapping his fingers on the last word. "I know because Dragos would do the same with his people."
Then I really had only one thing left to do. I was going to track down the one behind these odd attacks. I looked at Delphine.
"How well do you know tracking spells? I asked her.
Delphine smiled and closed her eyes, holding out her hands. I waited for a moment and then, suddenly, three books flew from different shelfs from the store and landed in a heap in her arms.
"I know a few that I could teach you," she said. "Who are we tracking?"