Watch of the Wicked (Devil's Witch Book 3)

Jackson

“You wanted to see me, uh, Mr. McCaster?”

His beard is clean shaven and he wears a wrinkle-free expensive looking navy blue suit. He gestures for me to sit down in the chair across from his big wooden desk. I hope he knows I can’t stay long. I have finals in an hour over and I’d like to graduate.

“Yes, Jackson. Have a seat and let’s get started!” he says loudly.

When I sit down, he clasps his hands together on top of my half brother’s will. This is the courthouse, but I thought I would have a lawyer in here with me to talk me through this process or something. Mom’s been away in Italy and I just got back halfway through the second semester. I barely missed getting killed along with my pack, but when I arrived in the state I found myself alone to pick up the pieces of my family’s fortune.

To avoid trouble, I stayed with my mom’s parents a town over until things settled down here. I don’t know much about my oldest half brother, but I kind of blame his absence in my life for Darren’s death. None of us had anyone great to look up to for guidance.

He slides the paper over to me and tells me to start reading the fine print. It takes me a few minutes just to process the information on the front page of the thick packet.

Skeptical, I sit back after reading. “This is a deed, not his will.”

“Yeah, the house is unfortunately where all his investments went.”

“Uh, no. I think we owned quite a few acres actually-”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’ve been out of the country so no one must have told you. That land all went to the supreme of this state when your brother made some poor decisions. She actually, I mean, we own the mountain now and the ski resort together.” he explains while tapping his desk.

I scoff, slightly put off by his attitude. “I know what he did. Look, I don’t want to be in this town much longer. I want to move back with my mom and go to university over there as soon as I graduate. So can you just tell me where to sign.”

“Your family’s already wealthy. My coven suffered a lot. We’re still hoping to bring back our members. We’d really appreciate it if you donated your home to us. I don’t know why you’d want to keep it if you are just going to live overseas.”

“Money is money and that house belongs to us,” I reply uneasily. “I don’t understand why you want it anyway if you already have the whole mountain.”

Suddenly, the mayor stands up. His height shrinks a little and his dark hair turns black. His skin turns paler and a few seconds later his eyes turn green as the features on his face soften into that of a woman.

The suit swallows her and she smiles as the door behind her opens. The man, the real mayor who she was disguised as, enters followed by a short brown haired lady with hazel eyes. It’s his sister, Crystal. I thought she was still in Florida with my brother.

“What the hell is going on?” I ask.

“Sorry we’re late,” William McCaster says to the stunning woman dressed in a suit. “My sister flew herself all the way down to Florida with my parents. I just picked her up from the airport an hour ago.”

“No worries,” the lady in the suit says. “I’m Marcella, but you can call me Marcy. I’m the headmistress of our town’s coven. I was filling in for William while he was out of state. Anyway, once you sign the deed we would like to discuss some more things with you regarding the future of this town.”

“Great. I still can’t believe it happened to Darren. Hope I don’t have something like that going on in my brain. I heard about how he treated you, Crystal. I’m really sorry you had to go through that,” I say.

I know they broke up, but I think she was still seeing him while he was comatose despite him completely using her.

Crystal leans against the desk while rifling through the desk drawer. William reaches over her searching hand and gives her the chocolate candy she was probably trying to find. She pops the candy into her mouth watching me.

“Yeah, it’s a real shame Darren had a brain aneurysm. His body is being brought to Wixton’s graveyard as we speak. It’s the only reason I came back. That’s why you’re here too, right? Are you coming to their funeral?” Crystal asks curiously.

Her brother laughs. “Which one? They’re both dead!”

Marcella elbows him sharply. “Will, not now,” she hisses through her teeth.

“Actually, my family just decided to have one funeral for both of them. My family being me. My mother doesn’t know anything about my half-brother’s existence, but she wanted Darren to be buried near our dad. I thought I was going to be the only one attending.”

William picks up the paper and reads it over before giving it back to me. He places the pen on top of it.

It’s uncomfortable being around them and knowing their feelings for my family. I don’t think I’m being tricked though and honestly if they took the house I don’t think my mother would care. I’m just not sure if I really want to move out of the country and having the house to fall back on wouldn’t be bad.

Then again, with the house comes all the memories. I rather not keep those. I also rather not make them mad at me. Well, whatever. It’s already signed...and dated now too.

“Well, are we done here?”

Marcella smiles apologetically. “That was just the first page. You only signed so far that you’re of legal age and give your consent for the contract to be read by other parties. You’re a hybrid and of age now that you have to sign over your agreement to follow our laws.”

“Contract? What laws? Who else is going to be reading this?”

William flips through the rest of the papers beneath the top one I signed. “Our coven of course. Every hybrid, once coming of age, has to sign their allegiance to us. We can’t have strong magic users like you going nuts and for lack of a better example -- turn into your oldest brother.”

“First of all, he was my half brother. Who, might I add, I never met! I am part werewolf, not witch or warlock like you all. I don’t use magic. I am not signing anything. I want a lawyer,” I say while standing up. “I’m going back to school.” I huff while heading for the way out.

My backpack is tugged and I stop short.

“Jackson,” the mayor begins, “I was the one who called your school. Sign the papers and then you can go on your merry way. It should only take an hour. You get your house and then we’ll never have to speak again.” he implores.

“My tests are in an hour.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he says while walking me back over to the chair. “You just sit yourself right back down here and we’ll get through this step by step.”

I sigh and pick up the pen just wanting to get this done so I can get away from his ego. “Alright.”

The two witches behind him aren’t even paying attention to us. Both of them are on their phones. Crystal looks like she’s texting someone and Marcella is talking to someone else on the phone. There’s no harm done if I sign over my so-called “loyalty” to their people. Their laws are pretty much the same as the human laws too I think, but it’s annoying that just because I’m a hybrid I have to accommodate to their wishes.

Screw them. I’m graduating in a few days. After the funeral, I’m flying right back to Italy.

***

Water splashes onto the ground as I mop up a spill of soda. The plastic bottle container is wedged underneath the bottom aisle shelf. Colin looks up from his touch screen and makes an annoyed grunt.

“Children need leashes.”

“Well, they’d probably say the same about you if they knew what you were.” I joke while mopping the last of the dark liquid up.

Colin itches his collar and glances up at the registers in the front of the store.

“Are you sure about working here? I mean, I still get anxiety walking back into the freezer. I remember everything...” he shudders.

“I have to do this. I’m really thankful you’re doing this. You didn’t have to hire me.”

“Let’s be real. If I hadn’t, Stella would have killed me.”

I smile while placing my mop in the bucket. “True.”

Since I’m on break now, I wheel the yellow mop cart into the supply closet next to Colin’s manager office. The vampire babies are staying in there while I work. It is small and smells like sweat and old food. However, there really is nowhere else I can hide them.

I can’t leave them at home all day and right now there are no supernaturals in town I can hire to babysit. No human would want to care for them.

“Hush,” I coo while picking up the baby vamp boy.

The other is a girl and happens to be much quieter only because she’s still napping.

After I finish feeding them both, without getting bit, it’s already time for me to go back to work. With one last glance at their plastic crib, I shut the office door.

“Hey, Valerie.”

“Tommy, you startled me.”

“Sorry, I just want to ask if you still wanted to grab coffee tomorrow?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure if I can get someone to watch...my kids.”

“How about I bring the coffee to your place then? If another time is better that’s fine.”

Stella I think purposely has been going to Colin’s place on the weekends to escape the vamp baby noise in the house. I don’t know if Tom will be put off by it. I just wanted it to be a quick meet up. We’ve only been dating for two weeks.

He got hired here after I went back to the station. He’s a couple years older than me with light brown eyes and auburn hair. Tommy’s a lot like Colin, maybe a little less mature even at times. I think he might just be the breath of fresh air I need though. He’s an assistant manager like me. We’re kind of like glorified employees. Our jobs are fairly the same as before. We just do more paperwork now.

I don’t think a lot of people would want to date someone my age with two kids. Technically, I’m thirty and I suppose I probably appear to most as a single mother. Tom said I remind him of a bird with a broken wing and that was before I told him about the babies. I asked why and he wouldn’t really explain. He did say it was something about my voice or the way I talked. I can’t remember.

Stella encouraged me to talk about the babies being vampires. I guess she’s hoping things will turn serious, but it was really hard for me to share that on our second date. Now this will be our third...

“Valerie?”

“Oh, sorry I just get lost in my head sometimes.”

He makes a dramatic dreamy face while batting his eyelashes. “You and me both.”

Tommy jogs ahead of me. Like a kid, he spins in circles down the freezer aisle.

“I’m dreaming! I’m singing! La-dee-dah-doo. Woohoo!” he sings obnoxiously.

An elderly man glares at him while putting a frozen pizza in his cart.

I laugh while following Tom into the bread aisle where he was unloading boxes and stocking shelves earlier.

He clears his throat while swatting a fly away from his face. Before getting back to work, he rests his hands on his waist and searches my eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asks uneasily.

“Yeah, Tom. I’m just a little tired.”

“Same here,” he says slowly. “So is it cool if I come over tomorrow then, Val?” he adds in afterthought.

“Are you comfortable with, you know, being around little vampires? They do bite.” I laugh, but inside my mind is reeling.

If he does get bitten there’s really no way I would be able to stop them. I’m not a vampire. I’m not their mother. I’m still too much a coward to talk to Ben about their “father”. There’s no way I’m going to unload all of that on him any time soon.

“Yeah! It’s super cool. I love kids and I’ve bitten by worse things.”

He got bitten by a shark when he was twelve surfing down in Florida. On the back of his left calf is a giant bite mark scarred over to prove it.

“I guess it’s settled then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Looking forward to it,” he replies.

I blush a little seeing Tom’s lingering smile. His grin is contagious and I mirror it while turning away from him to return to work.

I really am glad he is going to come over and doesn’t seem bothered by the kids. On Sunday I think I’m going to go to the funeral. Colin and Stella won’t be around to convince me otherwise. I think it will help me get some closure and quit thinking about Nick.

It just doesn’t feel real. I watched him die though. I don’t understand how he could change his mind and give it all up so suddenly.

I suppose I should just be glad my curse is gone now. Maybe the devil got bored and decided to torture someone else.

On night’s like tonight, I usually walk home since Stella takes the car to Colin’s. Tommy lives way out of town and his shifts usually end hours before mine.

I pick up my purse from the break room and then put the babies in their stroller. I smash the folded up crib in my tote hoping it won’t break a hole through the bottom. The light in the ceiling above me hums steadily, flickering every now and then as I head out the back entrance. The back door slams hard behind me as I stroll the babies down onto the employee parking lot.

It’s not so lonely with the babies. However, it doesn’t make me feel any less on edge having to walk the couple blocks ahead to the house with them. Our town is pretty quiet though. A few hours ago, most people would be out partying now. I work until three a.m. so most of the partygoers are asleep.

I push the stroller around the wall of Wally’s coming out onto the sidewalk by the road. I pass a snoozing homeless man on a bench and the bakery up ahead. There are still some red and black flags hanging. Stella and I haven’t seen any vampires at all though since the high council came and cleaned them out.

I’m just two blocks away from the house now. I pass a man under a street light. He drops his cigarette and starts following me. Before working with the police, I probably would have been oblivious, but now I’m always looking over my shoulder.

Especially when he grips my shoulder himself.

His other hand has a switchblade and he holds it up to me while yanking my purse away. It falls to the ground and he immediately dives to it. I can still see auras. He’s human and must think I am too since he boldly decided to mug me.

“Get up,” I grit out.

He looks up and his eyes bug out of his head. I suppose he wasn’t expecting me to stop him. Typical.

“Holy shit! I just need the money!” he squeaks while eyeing the barrel of my gun.

“Drop it.”

When he doesn’t listen, I step toward him. My wallet falls from his hand as he stumbles back putting his hands up.

“You’re crazy!” he adds before running off.

I bend down and scoop up my things. Then I tug my purse over my shoulder and settle my tote in the basket at the bottom of the stroller. I holster my handgun and continue on my way down the street.

If I hadn’t had it, who knows what would have happened. The babies too. They would have died nameless. I’ll...I’ll have to name them. Even though they aren’t mine to raise.

The house is silent when we finally make it home. I lock the door after first trying and failing to use my magic. I keep forgetting it’s gone.

I place the gun in the lockbox and then put the babies to bed.

The door opens downstairs and I hear Stella walk in. When I go downstairs, she’s making green tea on the stove. A giant gift basket sits on the kitchen counter.

“Where did you get that from?”

“Bingo! Colin and I are volunteering at the retirement home, remember?”

“I thought you hated old people?”

“Oh, I do. I only went to be supportive. Colin thinks if he does enough good deeds he’ll be able to get over what he is.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s going to work out well for him. Is he still having trouble with finding blood? Where’s he getting his blood from?”

“Me,” Stella says stiffly while pouring the hot water into a mug. It clinks against the counter when she sets it down. She puts the herb leaves inside the water and lets it steep while opening up the gift basket.

I try not to make things awkward, but I don’t know how she’s taking it. “Everything with that going okay?”

“Yep!” Stella says quickly.

I don’t push for any details remembering my own experiences with getting bitten in different situations. I focus on the gift basket to shift my thoughts away from the most recent time I was used as a blood bag for more than one individual. Most of the items inside the basket are junk food, but her face lightens up when she takes out two shiny gift receipts.

“Hey, we can get a discount if we take a party of four or more to Dana’s BBQ House,” she says while reading the tickets.

It is my favorite restaurant, but I haven’t been there since I died. The last time I went was with my family.

She hums while setting the tickets down on the counter. “You know we could go together. I’ll bring Colin. Call Tom up and we’ll bring the kids along too. It says they can eat for free.”

“Oh, they don’t like human food-”

“They like meat, we’ll order it rare!”

“Don’t you think people will think we’re nuts for feeding babies meat like that? They’ll be calling child services or something on us.” I bite my lip.

Stella shrugs. “Isn’t that good then? You’ll finally be rid of them.”

“I did give birth to them. We can’t just let a human walk off with them. To the kids, they’re like walking snacks. They don’t know any better.”

“Speaking of the ‘kids’ if we do go on this date you better name them.”

The thought has been plaguing my mind, but I know if I name them then I will automatically feel obligated to be their mother. Isn’t that what I really am though? It’s easy to ignore the vampire babies’ opinion when they don’t have the capacity to form one. Someone is going to have to raise them.

I may not be a vampire like them, but I have to try my best to raise them because right now no one else will.

“How about Jax and Willow?”

She sips her tea. “Sounds like you’ve been thinking about this already. I don’t care what you name them. Thing one and thing two would be perfect in my book.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“Of what?” she asks a little icily.

I rub the side of my face nervously. I already know how she feels about the babies, but it would make things easier if she would be just a little more supportive of me keeping them.

I watch her set her mug down and try to keep my voice steady, “I know how you feel about them,” I say gently. “This isn’t easy for me. When I look at them I think of him. How do you think that makes me feel? They’re never going to know who their father is. I think about that a lot. The thing is I don’t know the answer myself...”

“It wasn’t him! It was the devil, plain and simple. They are children of satan and that is why as soon as you find a good vampire couple to take care of them we’re wiping our hands clean of their poopy diapers and bloody vampire baby vomit.”

“You know, I’m not so sure about that anymore. I was thinking-”

“I own this house and I want them out of it!” Stella yells.

I hug my arms unprepared for her outburst. Shame plagues my mind. It swirls around like a violent wind exploring the emptiness inside of me as I turn away from her.

“Val, I’m sorry. I’m still getting over this. The babies need constant attention and I’m worried about you doing this all on your own because you shouldn’t have to. You need Tom’s help or someone else besides me you can lean on. Colin wants to move in with me and I want to start our own family too.”

“I know, I just need a little time to find my way. I know I’m burdening you by keeping them here, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Stella crosses her arms while raising an eyebrow. “I mean this in the nicest way and you know it too. You need to move on, staying here I think is hurting you. It’s not just the babies. He lives in Livertown, doesn’t he? That’s about a half hour drive away.”

“I don’t want to move in with anyone else. I need stability right now. I thought you knew that,” I say in a quiet voice.

Then reality hits me. Just seeing me is a reminder of everything they’ve gone through and it’s only natural they blame me for their suffering. How can they ever heal and grow in their relationship if I’m still around as a reminder of their pain?

I know I can’t live here forever, but I guess I never thought much about her future plans. Future plans that I didn’t see coming this fast. This is the first time I’m hearing this though too.

Her voice softens, “Why are you crying? I’m not kicking you out, I just wanted to let you know my plans for the future. I know you barely know Tom and maybe it won’t even be him, but you have to try Valerie. There’s someone out there for you, but you can’t keep running from opportunities that come your way. You told me he was coming for coffee tomorrow.”

“Yeah, he is,” I sniffle.

“We’ll just go tomorrow. Call him up, you need to do this. We’ll have fun.”

Reluctantly, I pick up my phone, “Alright, I will.”

It’s not that I’m just worried about furthering my relationship with Thomas. Everyone I’ve dated and been around either is dead or has almost died. I don’t want Tom to get hurt because of me, but Stella is right. I can’t cling onto the past forever because it will hurt my future. I don’t know if I’ll ever meet someone besides him who will except me and all my baggage. I have to give Tom a chance and accept myself as the mother of my children.

I really do think he is a nice person. I hope he’ll be able to accept the real me. Stella and I are very close, but if she knew all my doubts and the things I’m still struggling with I know she wouldn’t hesitate to kick me out. I’m afraid to share with Tom what I’ve been through, but maybe it’ll be good to talk with him since he won’t have as much bias being a human.