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

Stella agreed to stay home with Crystal until I get back. She wasn’t happy that Nick was coming with me. I know if Will really is working for Patty I’ll probably need backup. Nick and I are almost to Will’s apartment building. I look up at his strong jawline and the reflection of the town lights off of his dark sunglasses. I don’t know why he’s wearing sunglasses at this hour of the night. Maybe he has eye problems.

We pull into the parking garage below Will’s apartment building. Nick follows me over to the elevator and when we get inside I hit the fourth floor. The elevator beeps and the steel doors close.

“We must be careful about mentioning Patty to him. Would you rather do the talking? He may be more willing to confess.” Nick probes while taking off his sunglasses and tucking them in his jacket pocket in one swift motion.

“We broke up,” I confess with gloom and he grimaces.

The elevator doors open and Nick steps out of the elevator without further comment. I quickly follow after him down the dimly lit hallway, “Which number?” He sighs.

“Four twenty-three,” I tell him while getting a bad feeling walking with him down the dark corridor.

He stops at the last room on the right side of the hall and waits for me to catch up before knocking. When I reach his side, he pulls out his gun. I widen my eyes wondering what he’s thinking holding it out toward the door after he pounds on it rather rudely with his knuckles.

“This is the procedure, Ms. Parway,” Nick explains to me after seeing the startled look on my face.

What if Will isn’t here? I knew I should have called him first before showing up here, but Nick said he might try to run away if he’s in on Patty’s awakening. Does he plan on breaking down the door if Will doesn’t answer? He could be asleep at this hour.

Nick starts pounding on the door again, “Wixton Police Department! Open up!” He barks.

His face is calm, but if I were on the other side of the door I would have thought much differently. He sounds like he’s ready to just barge right into Will’s apartment and arrest him without cause. Will still doesn’t answer and one of Will’s neighbors steps out of their apartment wearing only their boxers and smoking a large cigar. He’s an older plump man with a greying beard and carries a newspaper.

“I reckon you don’t feed on duty, eh? That lady by your side looks mighty fine. A shame she’s fell into such a line of work.” The old man says and I look down at my outfit with a scowl.

I’m still in my pajamas which happen to be an old fashioned long white nightgown, but it doesn’t mean I’m some wandering prostitute like this old fart thinks!

Nick ignores the gross man and continues knocking on Will’s door.

“Let me call him-” I begin to say.

However, a grubby hand latches onto my waist and their sweaty sticky touch makes me squirm. Nick turns to face the man with his fangs extended, but the gutsy old man stands his ground even after I swat his arm away. Nick steps forward between the man and I. He holsters his gun in a jerky movement and straightens up looking down his nose at the old man.

The man squints up at Nick’s police vest, “Ah, I knew it. Another no good policeman. Hybrid too, huh?” The man taunts while sharply poking Nick’s arm seeing the VH on his uniform. A smile forms on the old man’s face, “She looks willing. How much are you paying her? Come on, tell me. How I can get some of that?” The old man asks and I glare at him while hugging my arms.

Nick grips the man’s arm and the man winces, “There is a necromancer on the loose. You should stay in your home, sir. It’s too dangerous out here for me to discuss with you her price. Why don’t we negotiate inside?” Nick tells the delusional man and I shiver at the level of sincerity in his tone and how genuine he sounds.

What is he doing?

He goes inside the man’s apartment without looking back at me. When he shuts the door, I tap my foot nervously waiting for him to come back out.

“No! No! Please...” I hear the man’s voice yell weakly like he’s hurt or something.

Then I don’t hear anything at all and the next thing I know, the door opens. Nick walks right by me and didn’t bother to shut the door of the man’s apartment.

“What did you do?”

“I told him not to make such rude comments and let him know the consequences that his actions could lead to.” He tells me right before kicking down Will’s door with ease thanks to his vampire super strength. I jump at the sound of the splintering wood and the door falls with a heavy thud landing on the floor.

Uneasily, I follow Nick inside the dark apartment. He shines his flashlight around and with a sigh, I turn on the lights hoping he stops acting like Will is a criminal. He strides around the kitchen holding his gun out in front of him and I roll my eyes while walking by him and over into the bedroom. Where could Will have gone? Surely, he would have woken up hearing Nick break the door down, but maybe he is still sleeping.

I open the door to his bedroom to see it indeed is occupied.

“Patty,” I mumble angrily while storming up to the bed and seeing her posing as Marcella in Will’s bed.

A thousand thoughts swirl around in my head and I throw the covers off her. She sits up scooting away from me looking terrified like I’m the crazy one. My hair floats around my head wildly and she speaks up, “Who is Patty?”

She scoots further up in bed. She wears a green tee shirt and her wrinkled sweatpants are bunched up at her knees. Her ankle isn’t injured at all and she rushes out of the bed to a standing position by the closet. Her confusion turns to irritation as she huffs while putting on her black cloak that lays on the bed and I narrow my eyes.

I start to yell growing impatient at her silence, “You can’t fool me! Speak now or I’ll kill you!”

Nick enters the room and comes to my side aiming his gun on Patty who still has the nerve to parade around as Marcella.

“Make her take this, I found it in the kitchen,” He tells me.

I take the tiny bottle of truth serum from him and approach Patricia. She remains still and cautiously, I hand her the bottle with my magic on guard. When she willingly drinks the liquid my stomach plummets as I realize my mistake too late.

“Are you Patricia Gild?” Nick demands of her sharply.

“No...” She answers and I stagger back feeling like I’ve been slapped across the face by fate.

If she’s not Patty...then where is Patty?! What is Marcella doing here? Has Will been seeing her all this time? Marcella looks pissed off at the two of us and I try to come up with an explanation, but no words come.

“The old headmistress is posing as you,” Nick states coldly while leaving the headmistress without waiting for her compliance to leave.

Her green eyes watch me with pity and for some reason, it angers me even more, “I’m sorry you had to find out like this. Tomorrow, I’ll hold a meeting and we’ll get to the bottom of this-” She begins to tell me, but I walk out of the room. I take a better look around the small living space and the three pink suitcases in the corner near the couch that I now realize belong to her.

He must have offered her to stay here since she became headmistress.

It would be so easy to throw a fit and let my magic have a go at his tidy apartment. I have to be an adult now though, it’s not worth it to waste my time here and risk getting on Marcella’s bad side now that she’s headmistress...and Will’s latest secret. I already know she wasn’t too pleased about taking the truth serum.

Nick stands by the doorway and I follow him like a ghost as I start to take in the reality of my relationship with Will. He really was using me.

The elevator shuts and I lean against the cool surface of the metal wall letting the chill seep into my bones to maybe give me some feeling other than this constant numb. It doesn’t do any good though and when we reach the ground level I sluggishly lag behind Nick. He’s already across the parking garage and in the car.

“That was unfortunate,” Nick remarks quietly while starting the engine once I get in.

I rest my head back against the headrest and stare blankly out the window. Since no one else is driving out at this hour we make it back to the house in five minutes. When Nick parks the car, I open my door and trudge up the steps feeling like a zombie. The old porchlight does a good enough job of guiding me up the porch. I stop halfway up the steps when I remember something else.

I turn around noticing Nick right behind me, “I told you that...I didn’t want to see you again.”

“Then I suppose you’ll be glad to know I’ve been offered another job as a correction officer for a juvy camp over in Atlanta. The youth there are so troubled -- especially ones like me.” He replies.

“A juvenile detention officer? They don’t mind you being a hybrid?”

“No, ma’am. In fact, it is a special center for vampires only. I think it’s my calling...and escape from this godforsaken town. I rather run from the devil if I get the chance if you know what I mean.” He explains.

I wish I could move from Wixton and maybe go north, but I don’t have the money. I could always just leave and fly off on my broom, but where would I go? I’d just land in another town and get in trouble with another coven.

“Aren’t you...worried about moving? You can’t escape the devil.” I say.

He leans against the railing, “I have no choice in this, but I can’t worry about this curse. I thought you’d think this best too because our current...predicament puts you in a worse position with your people. You have to keep fighting. I told you this about William from the beginning. He no longer is interested in cooperating with me...or you.” Nick replies lightly.

He’s right and he didn’t sugarcoat it either. I did tell him about Will before and he outright told me to leave him. I wish I would have listened to Nick back then. I’m mad Will was the one who ended our relationship and not me. I’ll have to call him soon and suck it all up. Patty is a bigger concern right now than my relationship with him.

Nick starts to turn away as if to leave at that, but my eyebrows scrunch together and I reach out to him. My hand falls before it makes contact with his jacket and I cross my arms unsure of what to say. He catches onto my hesitation and my heart lurches when he transports himself right below the step I’m on. I have to ask him now before he leaves, “What were you...doing in my bed when I woke up? You didn’t ask me if I was okay with you staying in my room let alone my bed.”

My words come out rushed and my cheeks blush knowing I’m calling him out on something inappropriate, but he should know better. Besides, he’s the one who always says how professional we need to keep things.

“I’m your familiar, I couldn’t help it...” He says lamely, but the corner of his lip quirks up.

“W-what?” I stutter overwhelmed by his close proximity. Even standing on this step, I’m still shorter than him. His strange behavior makes me anxiously grip the railing and I accidentally touch his hand that’s already holding onto it.

He covers my hand with his own, “The devil told me some scary things, Ms. Parway. This is why I must leave. I cannot save you -- I can’t even save myself.”

“Why can’t you just tell me what’s really going on? Please...” I whisper, but I turn my face to the side and give up on prying when a small smile forms on his face.

He appears to be amused by my pressing for the full truth, but his smile falls shortly after noticing my frown. My breathing catches when I feel his hand rubbing slow circles on the back of my palm. Hastily, I step back and pull my hand out from under his.

However, the hem of my nightgown catches on a splintered piece of wood sticking out from the railing. My face contorts into pain as the jagged piece of wood drags up my bare calf. I fall onto the top step and look up at him nervously as my nightgown flutters down on the steps around me in a pool that quickly gets stained red as my blood seeps onto it.

His eyes darken as he sniffs the air. In the blink of an eye, he’s knelt by my feet and hovering over my injury. I cover the long cut with my hand in panic while my magic starts to heal it. Nick watches me heal my wound quietly. When I finally get my cut healed, the only thing that remains is the trail of blood that bled through. Before I can stop him, he swipes the blood up in one fluid movement with his hand. Then he starts licking my blood off his hand in slow sweeps making my stomach churn.

I’m still trembling from his touch and witnessing him eating my blood right in front of me. His arms start to shake and he crosses them perhaps to hide his physical reaction to tasting me. I should feel revolted, but I’m still stuck trying to figure out what exactly we are to eachother.

Suddenly, my legs go weak feeling his magic wash over me like a midsummer heat wave. My body fills with bliss and my jaw goes slack as a drunken smile forms on my face. The dull pain in my leg fades away. He offers me a hand and we stand up together. My traitorous heart still beats rapidly, “Why does it seem like you’re saying goodbye?”

“Because I am,” He answers quietly with his dark red eyes focused on the worn wooden railing leading up the steps where we stand, “I leave tomorrow.”

His tone is matter-of-fact and makes me feel childish for trying to get a straight answer. Something about it rubs me the wrong way because I feel I have a right to know the truth. I really don’t like when he acts like this and feeds me little snippets rather than what exactly he is thinking. I want to know what made him give up on our town all of the sudden and leave so quickly like this, but he won’t tell me.

“I hope you didn’t mind, Ms. Parway. I had yet to get my dinner before our...outing. I found it be a divine treat nonetheless.” He says in a husky voice that makes my face flame as his gaze travels down to my chest and drags slowly back up to my lips.

“Oh...” Is all I can manage to respond with after seeing him lick his lips as if savoring the taste of my blood.

He shuts his eyes and then opens them as they return back to their dark natural blue. Then he pats the top of my head, “I’ll still just be a call away. I hope you find someone else, or rather, be well enough on your own. I will still be in contact with my people here as they track down Patricia Gild.” He pauses then continues, “Do you think you can manage?”

“Um,” I mumble unsure of what to say, but end up speaking what I hope will be the case, “Yeah, I’ll be...fine.”

As if to comfort me or persuade me I will be, he plants a soft kiss on the crown of my head while pressing my face against his chest and rubbing my back. His hand travels lower and further down my back though than the times before. It stops just above my bottom where he starts kneading my back. I hate how his touch makes me react and if I was looking in the mirror I know my eyes would be rolling into the back of my head. I don’t want to moan in pleasure, but I do.

He had to have heard the sound, but if he did, he doesn’t say anything. I feel like an emotional wreck and I’m sure more of it has to do with my discovery of Marcella in Will’s apartment. Tears fall down my cheeks and I start caring less about the fact Nick hasn’t quit massaging my back and more on Will. Anger boils within me and I clench my fists feeling my hair raise off my shoulders for what feels like the millionth time tonight.

The devil is probably cheering me on as I envision them all burning in hell, and me, the one who gladly sent them on their way. Something sinister blossoms in my heart as I giggle uncontrollably at the thought of them all burning alive like the devil’s witch the coven believes me to be. Nick’s chest vibrates against the side of my tearstained face as he chuckles like he knows what I’m thinking. It could also very likely be him just finding my random giggling funny.

Am I really going insane?

“It’s okay, this will stay between us.” He whispers near the side of my face, but I really don’t want to think about his words right now.

There is nothing between us, but this conjoinment that fabricates irrational feelings within us and messes with our emotions and minds. I think back to all the things I told him and called him. The things I still worry he is. What he really believes and the extent he’ll go to achieve it and if he really had no choice in conjoining our magic. I don’t see how he could be a follower of the devil if he admits to wanting to escape our town’s dilemma, but I can’t be sure of anything.

Nick mentioned earlier that I may be better off alone and I think he’s probably right. I focus on the nice warm tingling sensation his touch gives my lower back. The heat soaks deep into my skin and I bask in the soothing sensation. Maybe I am evil for giggling along when he describes the ways I could kill Will without getting caught.

Some of his promises he tells me sound nice and make me giggle too, but there is a brutal and dark reality associated with them. None of the things he says would ever get by the coven. So I don’t really think much more about it when I nuzzle my head against his chest closing my eyes as he whispers more promises into the crook of my neck.

The three windchimes hanging on the porch swing back and forth ringing pleasant tinklings around us in the night air. I don’t know how long we’ve been standing like this, but I feel less mad now and more sleepy.

I finally have stopped giggling too.

I look up at him speaking soft, but firm, “There is nothing between us. I don’t see how there could be with everything you’ve been, and continue, to keep from me.”

“You know that isn’t true, Valerie.” He chides with a serious expression.

I feel like thorns are piercing through my chest and I suppose it’s simply my disappointment, “I don’t know what’s true anymore and you not sharing doesn’t help any. I’m tired of being walked out on and mistreated. Goodbye and...goodnight.”

Nick pulls away from me looking just as stoic and with a curt nod he speaks up, “Some things we are better off not knowing. In time, I will disclose more with you. There is still hope. Patricia and the other guilty ones will pay. If not now, in the near future. Goodnight, Ms. Parway and please avoid trouble the best you can.”

Then he uses his inhuman speed to reach his police vehicle. He opens the car door without looking back at me and gets inside. It’s not long before Nick drives off leaving me alone to mull over every word and strange choice of behavior of his.

I thought he really did want to stay here and even if he hated the coven, he seemed like he truly did want to change the town. So many times Nick would tell me about William and them not getting along. Maybe this is him getting fed up and reaching his breaking point.

Our town kind of is a lost cause, hopeless. I know I am too, this is proof of it. I was dumb for thinking he also may have been invested in helping my situation too, but I guess all this time he really didn’t want to get that involved with helping me with my issues.

For all I know, he could just be a follower of the devil so in a way, I’m kind of relieved he’s leaving. He could have exposed me to the coven after finding out my secrets, but he didn’t. I should just be glad he’s taking my secrets with him and also, for the good he did do while he was here despite my doubts about his true intentions.

Besides, I’m more angry with another man right now. Even that will have to wait though because Patricia is still prowling about. Despite my feelings, I pull out my phone and start dialing Will’s number while walking inside the house.