Of Witches and Warlocks: The Complete Series

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I paced the room anxiously as I waited, every second seeming like an hour. He didn't speak to me as he traveled through the hotel, being extra cautious to avoid any kind of magical detection.

I was terrified for both of us.

"I'm on the roof," he finally said in my head. "Give me a minute to secure this rope to a good spot and then I'll be down to get you."

"Okay." Releasing the breath I'd been holding, I checked to make sure we were still undetected.

Long excruciating minutes passed before I saw the rope hit the balcony in front of the glass-windowed doors. Suddenly he slid into view. Releasing the rope, he moved in my direction.

He took my breath away simply standing there in front of me. Clad in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, he was still the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen. I didn't want to blink, afraid he would disappear before my very eyes. Surely there was no way I could possibly love him more than I did in this very moment.

Placing my hands on the square glass panes that separated us, I locked eyes with him.

Raising a finger to his lips he gestured for me to be quiet, and I nodded in understanding. I wouldn't make a sound. He grabbed the knob to the door, and I watched as his hand turned a bright red color. The knob on my side of the door started glowing, and the fixture began to melt until it was molten liquid running down the frame. Then he reached his hand into the latch and melted it also.

Pushing, there was a small popping sound and the door swung easily open. Rushing out, I threw my arms gratefully around his neck as he grabbed me close, kissing me with an urgency I'd never shared with him before. If the situation still hadn't been so desperate, I would've never let go, choosing to lose myself in his arms.

"We need to leave, Portia!" he whispered as he pulled away. "Do you remember our lesson in levitation?"

"Yes." My thoughts bounced back to the night he'd taken me to the high school to demonstrate what we could do.

"We're going to use those powers to climb back up the rope to the roof. You ready?"

"Yes," I answered. He placed the scratchy rope into my hands, and I gripped it tightly.

"You go first this time," Vance said encouragingly. "I'll be right behind you."

In essence, it was as if we were rappelling up the wall, using the rope to guide us as we ran up the exterior of the building.

We'd almost cleared the wall when Damien suddenly burst onto the balcony, leaning back to look up at us.

"Stop!" he yelled a magical burst of power shot through the air toward us.

"Run!" Vance said, pushing me the rest of the way over the ledge. He jumped over right behind me, taking a split second to pull his athame and slice the rope.

The two of us took off in a fast sprint until we reached the edge of the roof, leaping as we levitated across from one tower to another. Hitting the roof lightly with our feet, we ran to the stairwell door that led back inside. Vance grabbed my hand as we tore down the stairs and pushed through a set of double doors into a large hallway.

Two men in dark suits turned to look at us as we entered.

"There they are!" one of them shouted, lowering the handheld radio he held to his ear.

Vance shot a fireball at them and pulled me back through the doors we'd just run through, not waiting to see if he hit his mark .We scrambled down two more flights of stairs before trying another door. This hallway was empty, and we turned left and raced down the carpeted path stretched before us.