Words of Power (Alice Gray Book 3)

40

"The vampire shouldn't have been able to see her," Brad said, pacing his tiny wooden cabin.  "We can't send her back if she's defective. He can't know she's onto him."

"But this is the only way. She has to go back," Ralph argued.

Their words were going on somewhere far above my head. I didn't even know how or when we'd arrived back in Brad's cabin. My brain had transformed into a reel of pornographic film that could only replay Thomas's face twisted in pleasure as he made love to somebody else.

Over and over again I saw it. Their bodies rocking together in that special rhythm only captured when two people fit together so perfectly. Bile rose in my throat drawing a spluttering cough out of my cold, clammy lips.

Everything felt numb now, and when I brought my fingers up to my mouth, the cold rubbery sensation of my own skin felt wrong. Just like the sight of the two of them felt wrong in some cosmic way, like the very fabric of reality had torn just a little to make that sight possible.

Ok, so I was getting a little melodramatic now. I had to stop myself rolling my eyes at my own mental theatrics.

But to say I was unhappy with this development would have been an understatement. Yes, I'd pushed him away countless times, the last while accusing him of torturing my father. And yes, I'd been slow to accept his protestations of devotion.

Fine, I scolded myself. I'd also continued to harbour feelings for two other men while allowing myself to admit that I loved Thomas. But my confusing attraction to Lucas wasn't my fault; it was down to all that pack bullshit. And Stephen, well, I'd loved him for years before I even met Thomas, or knew about any of this world. Love didn't just disappear, even when its object did.

I'd never flaunted my feelings for Lucas or Stephen in front of Thomas, I respected him too much. But Thomas had carried on with that woman when his eyes met mine. He didn't even have the grace to look embarrassed that I'd caught him. He just carried on as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

To be loving somebody else.

A huge gaping pit of misery opened up inside me as I tried to process what I'd seen. I was such an idiot. All those times that I'd pushed him away. I never even considered that he'd look for solace elsewhere.

I might have my doubts about our destiny, but if there was one thing I thought I could rely on, it was that Thomas believed.

He'd seemed so certain that the original Alice Gray, the powerful Pendle Witch, had foretold my existence and seen that we would be together. That we were made for each other.

A huge snort erupted out of my nose drawing both the angels' alarmed eyes my way.

So much for fate and providence.

I'd believed Thomas would wait for me. I thought he understood that to devote myself to a destiny mapped out centuries before I was born was beyond me. I'd thought myself human only a few short weeks earlier. He'd had hundreds of years to get used to the idea that I was the one for him.

Bloody hell, I was so stupid to think he'd abstain from sex, from love, until I was ready. So much for the cosmic force of our predestined love. He couldn't keep it in his pants for long enough to give me a chance.

I knew the angels were watching me, but I couldn't help the self-berating snorts of disbelief that repeatedly exploded from my face.

I'd asked for time, and he'd thrown it in my face, along with a beautiful creamy skinned woman who I had no hope of ever competing with.

Just as I turned to pace to the other side of the cabin, Brad stepped in front of me. I skidded to a halt, ready to unleash the full extent of my fury on the nearest target.

"He's not worth it. You're better than this. Better than him," Brad said, spearing me with a blazing look that stopped my bluster before it had chance to explode out of me.

The last thing that I'd expected was support. From Brad, the haughty, superior, incredibly sexy witch hating angel.

"But..."

"No buts. We don't have time for this. The plan has changed. We can't send you back now. The risk is too great. Instead, Ralph and I will accompany you to the trial and try to draw him out," he said, all the heat having vanished from his eyes in an instant, making me doubt it had been there at all.

"What makes you think that he'll put in an appearance?"

"He can't let you be executed. You're no good to him dead," Brad said, no hint of emotion troubling his voice.

"I might be found not guilty."

Brad studied me for a moment unsure if I was kidding myself or just plain stupid.

It was actually a bit of both, mixed together with a healthy dash of denial.

"Fine," I said, realising that nobody was going to engage with the idea of me being acquitted. "But surely that will achieve the very opposite of keeping me safe. He's not the only one who needs me to open the Eye. And, you're forgetting one thing. I am, actually, innocent."

"It's of no consequence. Right now your fate has already been decided by those in charge down there. We've been keeping watch over their petty squabbles and paranoid ramblings. They don't like you," Brad said with a sniff, indicating that he could see their point.

"No need to rub it in," I grumbled under my breath.

In truth I already knew all that. I'd never been able to banish the nasty perversions that Roger Bingham, head of the Southern Coven, had projected into my mind. He was just one among many dignitaries that were threatened by my silver magic. If they couldn't use it, they wanted to destroy it.

"They don't like you now," Brad continued. "Once you're revealed as the Eye's conduit, the established order will be scrambling for your favour. You could be a serial-killing rapist and they'd still court you."

"We just have to get to him before he gets to you," Ralph finished.

"How comforting," I said, closing my eyes to clear my mind of all the unpleasant thoughts that lingered there, or at least make a bit of room, because there was one little piece of information that I still needed for this plan to work.

"Ok, I think it's time you told me. Who exactly are we trying to get? Jennet Device's father. My ancestor. What's the bastard's name?"

"Azazel."

The trial is going ahead! Good luck Alice...