Of Witches and Warlocks: The Complete Series

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was dark. Something was wrong—really wrong—I just couldn't quite place what that something was. I tried to rouse myself, but everything in my head seemed so foggy. It was then the crushing physical pain of separation filled my being, signaling that Vance was no longer near me.

Has he left me again? Panic began rising as my mind sought desperately to fill in the blanks. Why would he leave me? Hadn't we worked everything out?

No, I thought, a sinking feeling washed through me as I remembered. I left him, or more accurately, I had been taken from him. The images of my capture on the beach now danced vividly inside my head.

"Is our little girl coming around finally?" A strong voice I never wanted to hear again permeated the air around me, sending a jolt of fear into my cloudy mind. "Open your eyes, Portia. It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining, everything is going as it should, and you're missing it."

My eyes opened immediately in response to the request, even though I did not intend to do so. This was instantly irritating, but being able to see what was going on around me could have its advantages. I fought to focus on the fuzzy images that floated in my sight, blinking several times to get through the haziness before my vision finally cleared.

I was restrained in a very comfortable chair. Damien Cummings was sitting across from me holding a champagne glass, which appeared to be partially filled with blood, watching me with great interest.

We were on an airplane, I soon realized, recognizing the whirring sounds of the engines.

"It's a great day for a flight, don't you agree?" Damien asked and gave a quick glance out the window at his left, as if to survey the world zipping by below us.

I resisted the urge to follow his glance toward the outside world, wondering whether or not it would yield any clues to my location, choosing instead to keep my attention on my untrustworthy opponent.

A smartly uniformed woman came down the aisle holding a crystal decanter, which carried some of the same red liquid and offered to refill Damien's glass. He let her do so, then returned his gaze to me when she turned and walked back in the direction she'd come.

"So I'm guessing you have a lot of questions right now. Feel free to ask me anything," he said as he swirled the macabre drink around in his cup before inhaling the aroma of the contents with a deep sniff.

I didn't say a word, preferring to just sit and glare at him, wishing I could burn a hole right through his perfectly coiffed head.

"Not too talkative this morning, are you? No worries. I don't mind doing all the talking." He smiled and gave me a wink, taking another swallow of the disgusting looking liquid in the glass. He closed his eyes for a moment, rolling the fluid around in his mouth as if savoring the taste of a fine wine, his face completely enraptured in the second of time before he opened his eyes and began speaking again. "Do you want to know how I found you?" he asked. "It's a great story. You'd probably really enjoy it."

I just stared at him, trying to have a disinterested expression, but unsure if I was really pulling it off or not.

"I'm hurt at your rudeness this morning, Portia," he said, feigning a sad expression. "I was under the general impression you've never had any problem whatsoever conversing with my son."

"You leave him out of this," I spat, my anger coming swiftly to the surface at his casual reference to Vance. "After all you've done to him, you aren't even worthy to speak his name!"