“Keep your fucking voice down,” Scott says rooted to his spot behind his desk, and it’s then I realize he has one hand down against the surface. You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s going to hit a panic button?
“Why? Worried someone will hear your crazy sister talk about how she has magic and powers. I fight demons too, while we’re at it. And I’m sleeping with a vampire who drinks my blood every single fucking day and I love bleeding into his mouth.”
“That’s enough,” Scott says and reaches for the panic button.
“It is enough.” I hold out my hand, magically pushing him down into his desk chair. “I’ve had enough of you bullying me. Of you pushing me around and treating me like I’m inferior just because I’m different. I never did anything to make you hate me like this.” I keep my hand extended, forcing him to stay in the chair. Suddenly, my anger twists into all the hurt I’ve refused to let myself feel over the years. “You’re my brother, Scott. I looked up to you, loved you…what did I do to make you hate me so much?”
“You were born,” he says slowly, eyes narrowing. “You’re a freak of nature. No one should be able to do the things you do.”
“I’m not the only one.” Tears start to pool in my eyes. “There are lots of us. Lots of freaks. And they’ve never done anything to you either. You wouldn’t even know we existed if I weren’t your sister.”
“Pity it didn’t happen that way.”
Tears roll down my cheeks, and I angrily wipe them away. “I told you I don’t have time for this, and I meant it. Call your buddies at the Health Department and have them take back the fake violations.”
Scott slowly leans forward, gripping the arms of his chair. “No. That monster you’re so enamored with attacked me. It’s time he learns his place.”
I throw out my hands. “You really think you can teach a sixteen-hundred-year-old vampire his place? You are nothing to him…or the Vampire Council, who probably won’t be happy to hear about an up-and-coming politician singling out vampire-owned businesses. That goes against the Treaty.”
“We’re prepared for the VC to retaliate,” he says quickly. Too quickly. Which makes me think that’s what he wants. What better way to get the humans to fear vampires and vote against them?
“They’ll retaliate legally, and you know that. No one has stuck to the rules tighter than the VC.” Even old rules about killing witches. I blink rapidly, forcing the rest of the tears away. Then I remember Lucas’s words about not being ashamed of my feelings. “This ends now, Scott.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Yes.” I push my shoulders back. “Call the Health Department now.”
“The reports have already been filed. And I’m sure you know your ‘boyfriend’ owns quite a bit of real estate in the area.” He makes quotes with his fingers, making sure I know he doesn’t see Lucas as a person at all.
“What did you do?” I ask as dread washes over me.
Scott shrugs. “Time will tell.”
“You’re a piece of shit, you know that, right? Lucas employs people. Messing with his businesses puts their jobs at risk.”
“Their fault for deciding to work for a devil of the night.”
“That insult doesn’t even make sense. Calling a vampire a devil is implying that they are demonic, and trust me, vampires and demons are vastly different.”
“And you’d know.” He rolls his eyes, going back to pretending that I’m insane and magic is just something I’ve made up in my head.
The lights flicker again, and the anger is back, making me want to scream and throw everything off Scott’s desk. I ball my fists but lose the battle over my powers. His coffee cup spills, and the framed diplomas on the wall behind him fall, glass shattering.
“Your issue is with me, and me alone. Leave my friends out of the family drama.”
“I would…if you were part of the family.”
“I’m your sister whether you like it or not.”
Scott’s eyes meet mine. “No, you’re not.” He flashes a smug grin again. “Now you better get out of here and enjoy that big house on North Orchard Street while you can.”
“Going after Lucas’s businesses is one thing, but trying to take away his house…really, Scott?”
“I’m not alone in wanting to regulate where vampires are allowed to take up residence. And I’m well aware how old that vampire is even without you reminding me. We both know how you like to make everything be about you, but this time it’s not. And enforcing the law by starting with removing one of the oldest vampires in the area…it would be a great example.” He smiles, thoroughly pleased by the thought of driving all vampires out of the city.
“You do that, and you’ll realize just how much you’ve messed with the wrong vampire.” Magic burns at my fingertips, and the lights start flickering like crazy. I. Am. Fucking. Done. With. Scott.
“And more importantly, you’ve messed with the wrong witch.” I throw out my hand, and red energy flows around him. My emotions pour out along with the magic.
All the hurt.
The lies.
The betrayal.
Not just from Scott but from my father, who left me to die. From my mother, who carried and birthed me but chose her asshole husband over her own child.
All the fear and all the pain leave me, and I want Scott to know exactly how it felt to be small and helpless, shoved around by doctors and researchers who looked at me like an animal rather than a human.
I close my eyes and get a flash of that stuffed cat, heart aching at the thought of my lost childhood, finally allowing myself to mourn the loss of not only my youth but of my innocence. How anyone can be okay with seeing a child cry, having only a stuffed animal to bring her comfort, is beyond me.
Scott says vampires are evil, but he’s the real monster.
Suddenly, the rage leaves me, and I feel depleted. I drop my hand to the side, and the swirling magic fades away. But Scott isn’t sitting in his desk chair anymore.
A fluffy orange cat is.
What. The. Fuck.
I turned my brother into a cat. The cat meows, looking around the office with wide eyes. My jaw falls open, and something crashes to the floor behind me. I jump, turning to see Ella, my brother’s girlfriend, standing in the doorway. Her mouth is open in horror, and the plate of food she was holding is on the floor in front of her.
Oh, shit.
Chapter 12
“Hey,” I say, fully knowing the look of terror on my face is giving everything away. Ella stares at me, jaw still hanging open. Fuck. “So, I, ummm.” I look back at the cat—at my brother—and then back at Ella. I let out a nervous laugh. Should I try and grab Ella?
?s wrist, hoping to feel her heart beating before she can scream? I’m so shaken I don’t know if I’ll be able to get into her mind anyway.
“And for my next act,” I start, and rush forward, grabbing Scott-Cat by the scruff. He yowls and tries to get out of my arms, scratching me in the process.
“Keep that up and I’ll head straight to the vet for a neuter,” I say through gritted teeth. He goes limp in my arms but continues to growl. “Nice seeing you again,” I say to Ella and dash past her, down the hall and into the elevator. The doors close right as she screams.
“See?” I say, looking down at Scott. “This is what happens when you cross me.” I’m trying to sound tough, but I know the shock in my eyes is anything but menacing. I have no idea what I did. I had no idea I could even do that.
Transfiguration is complicated magic. I spent some time studying it during my university years, but my main focus was on conjuring. The same magic that causes werewolves to shift goes into the basics of transfiguration, and a spell gone wrong can result in serious disfiguration or death.
Scott got lucky.
The elevator stops on the main floor, and I dash out, keeping a tight grip on Scott. This is so messed up I don’t even know what to think. Sharon gives me a weird look, wondering where the hell this fat orange cat come from. I don’t give her a chance to ask me. I’m out the door and racing to the car as fast as I bloody can.
I make it to the car without anyone stopping me. But even if they did, what would they say? Give my brother-cat back?
Holy shit. Ella saw me doing magic. I’ve been exposed, and while the Grand Coven has laid the hammer down on laws on exposure. The vampires coming out put us all at risk. Before vampires made their existence known, the world didn’t believe in them. They were myths, legends even, made up for entertainment purposes only. People didn’t believe in vampires, let alone magic.
But now that they know vampires are real…
It wouldn’t take much to put all of us witches at stake. And I mean that literally. We were burned at the stake once. I know we can easily be persecuted again. And exposing witches…that’s an offense punishable by death.