Of Witches and Warlocks: The Complete Series

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was before dawn when I was awakened very abruptly—due to the fact. Vance had nudged me hard in my ribs with his elbow.

"Portia, I need you to leave now," he said through gritted teeth, his eyes glowing brightly. He was shaking violently against me, and the cords in his neck were straining as he fought for control. My heart went out to him immediately. I wanted to gather him to me and help him through this, but I resisted the urge, knowing it would only make things worse.

"Portia . . . please go—now," he pleaded.

"I love you," I said, throwing the covers back. "I'll get help."

He didn't answer, and I quietly slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind me. I hurried into the living room, finding Dad and Grandma sitting there on the sectional visiting together quietly and studying some papers. They both looked up as I approached.

"Is it time?" my dad asked, his gaze washing over me with a disapproving glance as he took in my t-shirted appearance.

"Yes. He's shaking pretty badly this morning. He had to wake me up and ask me to leave the room," I replied, concerned. Self-consciously, I combed my fingers through my wayward hair, trying to straighten it so I wouldn't look quite so bedraggled.

"Go get yourself ready, so you can leave when it's time," Grandma said, nodding toward my room. "I'll take care of him."

"Don't you need everyone from the coven?" I asked her, wanting to help Vance somehow.

"No. I want to try something different today, and if he asked you to leave then I don't want to make it harder for him by having you in there."

The two of them gathered up several magical items and headed into the bedroom. I sighed, feeling a bit dejected, and turned to go into my room, trying to be quiet so I wouldn't wake Shelly. I only made it two steps inside before I heard her speak.

"How's Vance this morning?" her sleepy voice said, full of concern.

"Sorry to wake you," I apologized. "He's bad, not doing well at all."

"So what happened between the two of you last night?" she asked, as she sat up.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you sleep together?" she asked bluntly.

"Yes," I replied, suddenly knowing right where she was heading. "Emphasis on the sleep."

"So the two of you have never . . . ?" She let her sentence trail off as she watched me curiously.

"No. Not that it's any of your business," I said with a laugh as I bent to pull some clothing from the bureau drawer.

"How come?" she asked, continuing to press the issue.

"Really?" I replied, as I turned to face her again with a bit of an incredulous stare. "Not feeling any boundaries here with this line of discussion, are you?"

"Sorry," she replied, though she didn't even try to look apologetic. "I don't mean to be nosy. It's just that Brad and I decided to wait a long time ago. From my experience of listening to others at school, most kids don't do that. We're different. I wanted to know why you were waiting. I mean, you're engaged and everything, so why not take it to the next level?"

"Well, part of the reason is Vance wants to wait until we're married, and the other reason is his current condition. He's afraid he might want to hurt or even kill me if we try. This whole demon bloodlust thing is pretty mixed up with his hormones right now," I explained, finding myself interested in the fact she and Brad had chosen to wait also.