A Grave Magic: The Shadow Sorceress Book One Read online

  I couldn’t exactly lie to him. Everything he’d said was the truth, and he seemed utterly determined to endanger himself no matter what I said anyway.

  Could I tell him?

  If anything happened to him then it would be my fault, on my head…. Was that something I was willing to risk? Was it something I could live with?

  “Why are you doing all of this, Graham? I think it’s about time you spilled your side of all this. It’s not fair one of us holding all the answers, particularly if we’re going to be partners.”

  It was a cheap shot, especially when I hadn’t even made up my own mind about it yet. But I knew it would have the desired effect, and a small pang of guilt hit me square in the stomach as I watched his face lighten.

  “You’re not just saying that? You’d really work with me, out in the open, no more secrets?”

  Biting down on my cheek, I nodded. As long as I didn’t promise aloud, then I still had options….

  “You remember I said I had a daughter?” He started, and my heart sank. I’d had a feeling that it was personal for him. He was in over his head because of love.

  But wasn’t I in the same boat?

  “Yeah….”

  “Well, she got in with a bad crowd, started hanging around with them last year. Staying out late, not coming home until sunrise, and then there were the marks….” He trailed off and I could tell from the pain in his eyes that whatever he was thinking took him to places he would be better off forgetting.

  “Graham, I’m sorry….”

  He shook his head and smiled, but it was melancholic and it hurt my heart.

  The monsters didn’t care what they did to their victims; their only desire was to fill their own sick needs, whatever they might be. And most people only ever thought of the victim and whatever horror they were forced to suffer.

  Most people didn’t think of the toll on those closest to the victim, the ones left behind to pick up the pieces. The people forced to relive the horror of their loved ones over and over.

  There was no relief for them. Many victims were released by death. The tragedy of their lives cut short a stain on society.

  But the ones left behind…

  There was no release, no oblivion to sink into. They carried their grief, their guilt, and the constant wish that they had done more, intervened sooner, taken a closer look at the situation. Or just told them they cared more.…

  I knew what that was like and it wasn’t something I would wish on anyone.

  “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I was the one who let her down. I should have insisted she cut ties with them, but Jessica was so headstrong, so determined that she knew the path she was meant to take.”

  “Was it vampires?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  “She was obsessed with them, one in particular. Jess was letting him.…” Graham’s voice became choked as though whatever he was thinking was too terrible to even share with me.

  “She was feeding him,” I volunteered, and Graham nodded, burying his face in his hands. “He went too far, didn’t he?”

  Graham shook his head and raised his face to mine.

  “A group of Hunters did a raid on the house where the vamps were nesting, cleaned the whole place out, and Jess got caught in the cross hairs. Or at least that was what they told me.”

  My brain struggled to come to terms with what he was telling me. I’d always known Hunters existed, working outside the law, hunting down the monsters, but I’d always assumed they worked with the Elite for situations that involved carrying out executions.

  “I’m not sure I follow you. You’re telling me Hunters went in and killed civilians, and no one did anything about it?”

  “They burned the place to the ground; one of them dropped by the house that morning and gave me back one of Jess’s hoodies. He said there was no choice, she tried to defend her vamp lover…. I wanted to bring him in, but they’re different to the cops—the minute I tried to grab him, well, let’s just say I couldn’t keep a hold of him,” Graham said, the regret in his voice palpable.

  “So that’s why you joined the Elite?”

  “No, I quit the force because of what happened. What was the point in working for the law when there were people out there working outside it?”

  I knew what he meant. I’d thought the same thing myself after my father’s death. What was the point in following the rules when there were always those willing to work outside them, no matter the cost?

  “How did you end up working for Elite?”

  “I saw Jess. She’s not dead; the Hunter was lying or he was just plain wrong. Jess is alive, but she’s still with the vamp….”

  “They survived?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice.

  How was that possible? It didn’t seem logical that the Hunter could be so wrong; there was a reason they worked outside the law, and they were damn good at their jobs.

  The fact that I’d heard nothing of a nest of vamps getting destroyed was simply testament to how thorough they were.

  So how was it possible that a human and her vamp lover had escaped? Especially if the Hunters knew of their existence?

  “I’m pretty sure that was the exact same expression I had when I saw Jess, when I believed she was dead.”

  “It just doesn’t add up….”

  “Nope, but then, I’ve come to realise since I started in this job that most things don’t add up.”

  “When did you last see her?”

  Graham went silent and I watched him swallow hard. He was just as familiar with the statistics as I was. His reticence to tell me how long it had been since he’d set eyes on Jessica told me his fears.

  “Thirteen months.”

  “And you’ve had no contact with her at all in that time?”

  He shook his head and buried his face in his hands again.

  “You don’t need to remind me. I’m aware of the statistics, Morgan, but I saw her; I saw my baby girl when I thought she was dead. I’d just given up on her, accepted the Hunter’s word as truth, and I let her down. I won’t do that a second time. Until I find her, until I know the truth, I won’t rest.”

  “So you joined the Elite hoping it would give you the inside track on everything monster related?”

  “Isn’t that why you did it?” He swallowed hard again, as though nervous of what I might do to him for knowing the truth.

  “My reasons for joining the Elite are my own, Graham. It’s none of your business….” I tried to soften the edge to my voice.

  “I just want your help to find her, to bring her home—If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

  “You do realise you sound completely insane. How can I bring her home? I know nothing about her, and I’m a rookie. I’m not one of the seasoned veterans who know how to track people…. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  Pushing up onto my feet, Graham mirrored my actions; the fear lurking in his eyes and the tension in his shoulders made me nervous.

  I understood his position more than I cared to admit, but that didn’t mean I could help him. I so wasn’t the right person for the job; that had been proven when the only way I could think to help Joanna Sidwell had been to sink a knife between her ribs and up into her heart.

  Everywhere I went, I brought death and destruction, and if Graham couldn’t accept that, then he would learn the hard way….

  He darted towards me and I blocked his advance, but I’d been wrong about his intentions. He didn’t want to hurt me—well, not in the literal sense.

  Instead, he shoved something small and delicate into my hands. The cold press of metal made me recoil, but it was too late.

  Gasping, the first vision rocked me to my core, my knees buckling beneath me as my reality fizzled away and hers came into focus.

  Chapter 12

  The emotions Jessica had experienced, the sights and smells, washed over me in one overwhelming wave. I didn’t even have the opportunity to brace my barriers for the inv
asion; I’d been so intent on ensuring Graham didn’t physically hurt me that I hadn’t seen it coming.

  The silver chain links slipped through my fingers. The feeling of the metal as it brushed against my fingers gave me the urge to throw it away, to throw it as far from my sizzling flesh as I could.

  My mind hopped from one image to the next, never staying long enough on one in particular for me to get a clear read on the situation.

  Was I searching for something?

  Someone.

  The moment that realisation hit me, his eyes swam into view. I could feel his brown gaze boring into my own, the press of his cold dead fingers against the side of my face as he tilted my head to the side and….

  Pain and pleasure roared in my ears. Two emotions vying for equal control of my body, a war neither side seemed to win.

  Where did I end and he begin?

  Confusion swamped me. These weren’t my emotions. I wasn’t really feeling a mixture of pleasure and pain; all I could truly feel was pain. I wasn’t in love with the creep holding me down, feeding from my neck, and I wanted no part in his twisted games.

  I released my grip on the necklace, the vision’s hold on me broken as soon as the last tiny link slipped through my grip.

  Graham peered down at me, his dark eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hope.

  “Get the hell away from me,” I said, ramming my hands against his chest, sending him sprawling away from me.

  There was no way I was in the mood for his crappy games and sob stories after the stunt he’d just pulled.

  There had been a moment when I’d pitied him, where my resolve to turn him down flat had wavered. The last shred of pity I’d felt had washed away as soon as the chain had hit the floor.

  “You’re bleeding,” he said, gesturing to my face.

  “Shit,” I muttered, lifting my hand and gingerly pressing my fingertips against my nose.

  It wasn’t the first time a vision had left me with a physical calling card of its presence, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.

  My fingers came away dotted in the bright flash of fresh blood and I swore again, this time under my breath. This wasn’t what I needed right now.

  “I want you out of here,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous level.

  “I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know how else I was supposed to get your attention.”

  “You had it; you didn’t need to do this. How am I supposed to trust you when you pull crap like this?”

  “I did it because I was desperate. I have to know if she’s still alive or not….” He studied my face and I knew he was searching for something, anything, that would tell him the fate of his daughter.

  “Get out, Graham,” I said with a sigh. My head was beginning to ache, a tell-tale sign that I had done far too much with my ability to get visions.

  Most of the witches in my family relied on other methods for having visions. They used a medium, water or fire being the normal procedure. I didn’t have to do any of that. For some reason, when it came to souls connected to death, I became the conduit through which their final moment passed.

  They were only ghosts of what had passed; I certainly hadn’t gotten any glimpses into the future. And my ability to have a vision through the medium of water or fire was severely impaired, just another reason my mother was disappointed in her only daughter.

  “Amber, please, just hear me out….”

  “I don’t want to; you have no idea what you’re messing with. All you’ve done today is use me for your own selfish needs, and now you want me to just overlook your latest stunt. If I had any sense, I’d.…” I cut myself off before I gave him any ammunition to use against me.

  I was doing enough to him, removing his chance at finding his daughter. Or, at least, removing what he thought was a chance at finding her.

  “I saved your life earlier, does that count for nothing?”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. I don’t need you or anyone else, thank you very much.” My tone was acerbic and I jerked my arm towards the front door. “Now get the hell out before I make you.”

  Blue sparks danced along the edges of my fingers and Graham’s eyes widened in response.

  I might not have been particularly powerful, but he didn’t know that, and I wasn’t going to enlighten him any time soon. He hesitated for a moment longer before swallowing back whatever words danced on the tip of his tongue.

  Turning away from me, he strode towards the door before pausing with his hand on the door knob.

  “You’ll help me, Morgan. One way or another, you will help me.”

  Dragging open the door, he disappeared out into the hall and let the door slam shut behind him; it didn’t stay closed, but bounced open once more. Crossing the floor, I stared at the remains of the ruined lock and sighed.

  Yeah, I’d been wrong to tempt fate by believing the day couldn’t get any worse.

  Chapter 13

  Pausing outside the pharmacy, I popped the painkillers and swallowed them dry. The disgusting, powdery residue that coated my tongue and the back of throat instantly made me regret my decision to skip a bottle of water, and I winced.

  It was a small price to pay if it meant the crushing migraine descending on my brain cleared before it got its black claws into me. It was the same every time I exerted myself where magic was concerned.

  I was weak, or at least, that was what I’d been told. Weak and incapable. A shame to the coven….

  Heat burned along the edges of my cheekbones and I rammed the thought as forcefully as I could out of my head. Thoughts like that wouldn’t help.

  They definitely wouldn’t help me, considering where I planned on going.

  If Madeline got a hold of the doubts swirling in my head, she’d have a field day with them, and that wasn’t something I could risk. She was trouble enough without her finding a way to burrow beneath my skin.

  Sliding the packet of painkillers back into my pocket, I quickly crossed the street and made my way down the nearest alley. Madeline’s wasn’t an establishment with any set location. It was simply in the nearest out of the way corner one could find, unless Madeline barred you.

  And as far as I was aware, I wasn’t banned.

  Reaching the end of the alley, I stared at the blank wall ahead of me. There was nothing to indicate there was anything of importance beyond the brick; yet, I could feel the magic pulsing along the edges of my skin, shimmering in the corners of my vision, lifting the hairs on the back of my neck.

  Trailing my fingers against the edge of the bricks, I traced the rune Kenaz across the stones. It wasn’t technically accurate, runic study, along with a multitude of other aspects of being a witch, wasn’t my strong point. But it meant knowledge and revelation, and that was exactly what I needed from Madeline.

  The symbol glowed for a second, a deep shimmering red that lit up the bricks and obscured my vision.

  When the light disappeared, the alley was gone and I was standing in the entrance way to Madeline’s club, Sanctuary. The Fae had a twisted sense of humour and Madeline was no different.

  She’d been banished from Faerie thousands of years ago; no one knew the real reason she’d been exiled, but suffice to say it would have to be pretty bad.

  “Name, please?” A female voice dragged me back out of my own thoughts, and without thinking I tightened my grip around the hilt of my athame.

  “I need to see Madeline,” I said, forcing myself to keep my voice level.

  “Name,” the woman repeated, keeping her gaze trained on the enormous book open in front of her.

  “Amber Morgan,” I answered with a sigh. There was no point in trying to hold out. She probably already knew my name before I’d even opened my mouth.

  “Sign here, please…” she said, turning the book to face me. I could feel her gaze on me beneath the heavy fringe of midnight hair that fell across her face.

  Picking up the
pen, something sharp bit into me, my blood welling in the wound and trickling down the shaft instantly. She wanted me to sign my name in blood.

  Shit.

  This was bad. There was power in a name, power in blood, and to combine the two together was something I made a point to avoid.

  “Don’t you have a normal pen, or….” I trailed off, and the woman behind the desk lifted her face to mine. Her eyes were barely discernible through her heavy hair, but I caught glimpses of them and they gave me the shivers.

  Madeline was screwing around with demons now; it was her business but there was no way in Hell I was going to sign my name in blood for a demon.

  “Sign or get out,” she said, her voice menacing as she continued to watch me.

  I suddenly understood how the mouse felt when it realised it was being stalked by a cat.

  “I told you—I need to speak to Madeline, and I’m not leaving until I do.”

  It whipped its hand out, the fingernails extended into talons, the tips edged in black. This wasn’t just a possession; this was a full on blood-born demon. One of its parents had been human, normally the mother but not necessarily. The other half of the relationship had been something straight from Hell.…

  I’d always wondered how it could work. I mean, there was absolutely nothing sexy about the smell of sulphur and dripping tar.

  The hell spawn sank its claws into my hand and I gritted my teeth. If it thought I was going to scream for it then it was messing with the wrong witch.

  “Lowly witches do not make demands; they take them….” Its eyes had darkened, the black of its pupils sweeping outwards to swallow everything surrounding it.

  Whipping my athame from the back of my jeans, I brought the blade down hard, the silver passing easily through the demon’s human shell and pinning its arm by the wrist to the top of the desk.

  It screamed, a long, wordless sound that had the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. It writhed on the end of the blade like a butterfly on a pin. It would get free, there was no question of it; it was just a matter of it working its arm free, and when it did….