Wake Up, Witch

Chapter 24

My mother once told me I had the tendency to exaggerate. I'd use flowery words to describe anything, most particularly myself. She may be right, but believe me when I say that the dream with Cedric Corey and the two Bishops was by far the bloodiest I'd ever been. It was also the most thrilling.

Corey's dream was the same: rain outside the window, bed in the middle of the room. He never had the chance to do anything. The dream version of me was there in his dream. At my will, it lunged for him, wrapping her arms and legs around him from behind and they both fell into the bed. With a snap of my finger, its limbs twisted and transformed into a long, tight sheet, keeping him still as I straddled his hips.

When he tried to speak, I covered his mouth with my hand. "I'm done, Cedric Corey," I whispered above him, bending lower as the powerful throbbing of his pulse pulled me toward his neck. "I tried to be a good witch, but you make it very insufferable."

His words were mere vibrations in my hand. I could hear nothing but his heartbeat. And as I took in the smell of him, my mouth opened. A stretching pain pulled at my teeth. A soft hiss escaped my throat before my teeth locked onto his skin, piercing it just deep enough before retracting to give way to the thick, hot liquid.

That was my first feeding, and I barely remembered it. I didn't know how much I sucked off him. All I could remember was the feeling of elation. It was almost orgasmic, if I should be honest. My limbs quivered at the first draw and swallow. And that's all I could recall. It could have been minutes or hours. It could have been seconds. The next I knew, I was staring down at him, wide-eyed, as my head cleared and I realized he could be dead. He continued to bleed, and I didn't know how to stop it. His blood was soaking the mattress and all I could think of was it was all such a colossal waste.

Then I heard his faint beating inside his chest, and I swallowed. I took a deep breath, looked down at my bloody white dress, and sighed. Climbing off Corey, I fell to the ground, my body adjusting to the rush. The high. It had just gotten a taste of what it had been craving for and was wanting more.

With a groan, I pushed off the floor, locks of blood-soaked hair swaying at the sides of my face. "Bloody tarnation," I mumbled when I stumbled on my feet. My head had lost connection to my body. I felt like a child learning how to walk. Then, as if in a snap, everything went right. Locked in place again. Fully under my control once more.

I let out a shaky breath and walked to the blue door. Wiped the side of my mouth with a fingertip. Licking the side of my mouth, I puff of disbelief escaped my lips. I did it and it wasn't so bad.

Two more to feed, I thought with anticipation, blood already throbbing fast and strong and eager for more.

***

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in Corey's room. I should have been worried, but I wasn't. For the first time in a long time, I felt utterly wonderful. Like my body was mine again. Like I could do anything.

I stared at the three witches. It wasn't hard rolling their body in the dream and throwing them out a white door, which meant two things: they would manifest the physical things from the dream and remember everything in the dream. The latter was the reason I did it, the former just a consequence. For now, they were too weak to wake up.

I'd deal with them in a moment. First, Bellatrix.

I checked all rooms and cursed when I couldn't find her. Corey must have his own repertory somewhere. Brenna said they didn't have closets anymore, but they still have hidden compartments for their witchcraft. Taking a hold of my crux, I closed my eyes. "Come on, Bella. Where are you?"

There was nothing but darkness. "Tarnation!" I growled, whirling around and rushing back to Corey. I couldn't kill him. Not when he was the only one who could tell me where Bellatrix was.