CHAPTER FOUR
Maddie noticed a dark-skinned man watching her closely. He walked up to the bar and said, "I'll take a double shot of Jack."
"Coming right up," she replied cheerfully. She poured the drink and passed it to him.
He downed the double shot quickly before asking, "Are you Maddie Gallagher?"
"I am," she replied before remembering that Zanna had told her not to trust anyone except for her new bodyguard. It was too late to deny her identity now, however, so she simply smiled at the man.
"I'm Doug," he said, showing her the talisman that matched her own. "The Master of the City has assigned me to protect you."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Maddie cried in relief. "I was worried you were one of the bad guys."
Doug sighed. "You're going to be a lot of work, aren't you?" He asked. "Keep your voice down. Keep your emotions subtle. Don't draw attention to yourself. Those are basic vampire survival rules. Hell, those are basic New Yorker survival rules."
"I'm not originally from New York."
"Yeah, I can tell." He sighed again before shoving his empty shot glass toward her. "Another double."
"Of course." She quickly prepared the drink and watched him down it again. "So, do you work as a bodyguard often?" She asked.
"No," he replied in a tone that left no room for further questions.
Maddie served her other customers. She didn't pay too much attention to any of them until she found one who radiated a strange, powerful energy. The first thing Maddie's eyes landed on was his chest, barely covered by his shirt. The top three buttons were open, revealing a little bit of his impressive physique but leaving some details to the imagination.
Her eyes traveled upward until she was looking at his face. He was incredibly handsome, but that wasn't the main thing she noticed. What truly caught her attention was how full of sorrow his eyes were.
"You look like you could use someone to talk to," she said casually. "I'm Maddie."
He seemed surprised by her words. "Hello, Maddie," he replied softly, almost like he wasn't sure how to speak to her. "I am Damian."
"It's nice to meet you, Damian. So, what can I get you?"
He paused as if he was carefully considering her question. "Just a water, please," he replied.
"Are you sure?" Maddie asked.
"I don't drink alcohol except for religious purposes," Damian replied.
"I can respect that," she said with a kind smile as she poured water into a glass of ice for him. "May I ask what brought you into a bar, alone, if you don't drink?"
"You did," he replied.
Maddie felt a chill shoot down her spine at his words. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"You are in danger, Maddie. I believe I must protect you."
"Get in line, buddy," Doug said as he walked over to them. "She's already got a bodyguard."
"If he's really here to help, the more the merrier, right?" Maddie asked.
"You can't trust this guy, Maddie," Doug insisted. "He's a dark angel. That means he's part demon."
Maddie examined the handsome and seemingly gentle Damian and frowned. "He doesn't seem very evil, Doug," she said.
"You're new to all this, Maddie. How would you know what evil looks like?" Doug demanded.
"Evil harms those who can't protect themselves. Evil is a child abuser, or a person who scams little old ladies out of their life savings, or a rapist, or a serial killer... Evil is in our choices, not our species."
Damian looked at her in awe, as if she were full of wisdom. Doug rolled his eyes. "Evil comes in a lot of forms, Maddie," he insisted. "Some of those forms hide it much better than others."
Maddie didn't have a chance to reply as the bar fell unnaturally silent in an instant. She looked up to see what had caused it and met the gaze of a woman who looked a lot like Zanna, only with darker features.
"Maddie, get down," Doug said as he moved protectively in front of her. Doug and Damian had not been frozen in time by the woman's spell, but nearly everyone else had.
Two others weren't frozen. Maddie knew that because she could hear their hearts beating. Neither one dared to move their bodies, but the woman turned her eyes toward Maddie in obvious concern.
She must be some kind of supernatural being, Maddie realized.
"Madison Gallagher, I presume?" The woman who was obviously a Blackrain asked.
"Stay behind me," Doug said in a quiet but firm tone.
Maddie decided that, for once, she shouldn't assume she could win someone over with her charming personality. She stayed behind Doug and hoped the situation would not end with her untimely demise.
"Madison Gallagher, you are coming with me," the warlock insisted.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I have to finish my shift," Maddie replied honestly.
"You will go to Georgia with me, right now-"
"I would love to take a vacation, but I really can't. I have jury duty on Monday."
The warlock looked at her in disbelief. "Now, you listen here, child-"
Her words were abruptly cut off by her startled scream as the woman who hadn't frozen moved with impossible speed and shifted form into a cheetah. She pounced on the warlock, pinning her to the ground as she growled angrily.
"You let filth like this into your establishment?" The warlock demanded.
"New York City is a sanctuary city for lycanthropes of every species," the man who hadn't frozen said as he carefully walked toward the warlock and the werecheetah. "Here, it's warlocks who are considered filth." He nodded at Doug. "Hey, Doug," he added politely.
"Lucas," Doug replied.
"So... We trust him?" Maddie asked.
"Harmony Hill trusts him. That's good enough for me," Doug replied. "Lucas is the Beta of the wolf pack."
"Oh! Hi, I'm Maddie," she said cheerfully before offering him her hand.
Lucas shook it quickly but firmly. "So, what's the call? Do we let Heather maul this woman, or do we find out why she's here?" He asked.
"She's after my charge. I say we let her die," Doug replied.
"We can't just kill her," Maddie protested. "She's my friend Zanna's relative. I'm sure of it. You're a Blackrain, right?" She asked the warlock.
"Yes," the warlock confirmed. "I am Lady Josephine Blackrain, mother of Amber and Ginger Blackrain, daughter of Helena Blackrain." She was trying to sound very important and sophisticated, but it was hard to see her that way while a werecheetah had her pinned to the floor.
"Can we just talk like civilized people, Josephine, or do you insist on doing this the hard way?" Maddie asked.
"You keep company with abominations. I'm not sure you understand what it means to be civilized."
"As far as I knew, Lucas and Heather were perfectly ordinary people. I only met them tonight, and quite frankly, it's rude to label someone an abomination just because they're different."
"Are you seriously trying to lecture me about manners?" Josephine demanded.
"Well, someone should," a new voice said. Maddie recognized it.
"Oliver?" Josephine asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"At the moment? Putting a stop to whatever you're trying to do, Aunt Josephine," Oliver replied calmly.
"She will be ours, Oliver," Josephine said. "Help me capture her and return home a hero!"
Oliver waved his hands in the air as he whispered a spell. Josephine fell unconscious instantly.
Heather sniffed Josephine, nudged her face with her nose a couple of times, and finally got off of her. After a few moments, she shifted back into her human form. Her long, curly black hair seemed a little wild, but her clothes reappeared on her body and it was hard to believe she'd been a cheetah moments before.
"Hi," she said as she looked at Maddie. "I'm Heather Martinez. It's nice to meet you... Maddie, right?"
"Right," Maddie replied. "Thanks for your help tonight."
"No problem. My inner kitty likes to pounce anyway. It was fun." She grinned mischievously, as only a cat could.
"So, now that your aunt is unconscious, what do we do?" Maddie asked Oliver.
"I'll get her out of here," Oliver replied. "Once I can get her to a secure location, I'll wake her up and try to get some answers out of her."
"What about everyone here? How do we break her spell and unfreeze them?"
"Don't worry, darlin'. I can break the spell. Just give me a minute." Oliver knelt beside his aunt, scooped her up in his arms, and stood up. Then, he began whispering in what sounded like Latin.
The bar came back to life, with conversations picking up exactly where they'd left off. No one seemed to notice that anything unusual had occurred until Brandon Ahmed came running over.
"What's going on here, Maddie?" The owner of the bar asked as he looked at Josephine's unconscious body in Oliver's arms. His dark eyes were filled with concern and suspicion.
"Please pardon my poor Auntie Josephine, Sir," Oliver replied before Maddie could. "This is her first time in New York and I'm afraid she had a little too much to drink."
Brandon looked at Maddie and asked, "Is that what happened?"
Maddie felt awful lying to him, but she realized there was no other choice. "Yes, Brandon," she replied. "He's definitely her nephew. I'm sure he'll take good care of her."
"Alright... Do you want me to call you a cab?" He asked Oliver.
"That won't be necessary," Oliver replied. "My car's just around the block." He smiled before adding, "Thanks for an interesting night, Miss Maddie."
Maddie watched Oliver carry Josephine from the bar before turning back to her patrons. Brandon moved on to focus on a very attractive woman who was desperately trying to get his attention.
Doug looked at Maddie and sighed before saying, "Hit me again."
"Should you really be drinking so heavily if you're here to protect her?" Damian asked as Maddie poured another double for Doug.
"If you were stuck protecting a perky little baby bird who had no clue how to Vampire, you would be drinking, too," Doug replied in an annoyed tone.
"I already offered her my services," Damian pointed out, "and I feel I function far better when not under the influence of alcohol."
"We obviously do things differently then." Doug downed his drink. "Maddie... Another, please."
Vampires had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol. Maddie had figured that out while drinking with friends one night after she was turned. Still, Doug was knocking drinks back pretty quickly.
"Am I going to have to walk my bodyguard home tonight?" Maddie asked with a chuckle.
"I'm fine. Ask me again after I've had ten of these," Doug replied.
Maddie nodded, fairly satisfied that Doug could still handle himself.
+
Zanna was organizing the shop's latest shipment of tarot decks when the door opened. The person that entered was a pleasant surprise. The first thing Zanna noticed about her was that she radiated with magick. Her features were striking and most likely Middle Eastern. Her lips were full and painted a shade of red that worked well with her dark tan skin tone. Her long black hair was pulled into a carefree ponytail and fell almost to her ass. Her figure in general was nothing to sneeze at, and as she had that thought, Zanna realized she'd probably been staring at her a little too long.
"Did you see anything that caught your eye?" Zanna asked.
The woman looked Zanna up and down quickly before smirking and saying, "Oh, I'm pretty sure I'll find something I like."
Zanna raised an eyebrow at that and offered her a slight smile. "I haven't seen you before," she said. "I'm Zanna."
"My name is Zoey," the woman replied. "It's nice to meet you, Zanna. I love your name."
"Thanks. So, what brought you in tonight?"
"I need an athame... One that suits someone who is full of fire."
Zanna studied Zoey's energy. "You're pyrokinetic," she said.
Zoey held her hand out and a flame appeared. It flowed out of her in a spiral, weaving in and out cyclically until she pulled it back into herself.
"Not bad," Zanna said. She moved to a display case holding athames. One seemed to vibrate in excitement. Zanna carefully removed it from the case and handed it to Zoey.
"The detail is incredible," Zoey said as she studied it. The doubled-edged blade was gold. Flames were etched onto both edges in onyx. The hilt was also gold, with a bloodstone cradled securely near the top.
The athame seemed to glow in Zoey's hand. She smiled and said, "This is perfect! I've been looking for a new athame for months, but this is the first one that really felt like it belonged to me."
Zanna nodded. "It definitely wants to go home with you," she said. I wouldn't mind going home with you, either, she added silently.
"So, how much is it?" Zoey asked, still testing the athame out in her hands.
"Eighty dollars, but since this was obviously made for you, I'm willing to sell it to you for sixty," Zanna replied.
Zoey smiled before saying, "How about I pay the sixty and buy you drinks tomorrow night to cover the difference?"
That made Zanna genuinely grin. "That sounds like a great deal," she replied. "Did you have a location in mind?"
"Club Dionysus?" Zoey suggested.
Zanna laughed. "You've got good taste," she replied. She'd been there before. It catered largely to locals in the supernatural community, although if a mortal knew the right people, they could get in.
"It's a date," Zoey said as she paid for the athame. "Ten PM... I'll see you there." She left the store.
Zanna felt a little bit excited for the first time in too long. It took a lot to elicit a reaction other than anger from her, but Zoey was gorgeous, and Zanna definitely felt like this date had the potential to be fun. She needed to do something fun and forget about her stress for a while.
As the door opened again, Zanna looked up. Her smile returned to her usual scowl as she saw who had entered the shop. "Get out, Ollie," she said harshly. "And take the unconscious chick with you."
"This is Aunt Josephine, Zanna," Oliver replied.
"Oh, forgive me," Zanna said dryly. "Get the fuck out, and take Aunt Josephine the fuck with you."
"She froze a bunch of mortals with a spell."
"I'm still unclear as to why you think I would care."
"She did it so she could try to get to Maddie at the bar."
"Fuck," Zanna mumbled. "What's your next move, Ollie? Why bring this bitch here?"
"I thought you might enjoy interrogating her with me... And I know you have a room in the basement that nullifies magick, so she won't be able to do much to us."
"How the fuck do you know about that?"
"I'm clairvoyant, Cuz. I know a lot of things."
"You sound like my mother. The next words out of your mouth better not be about setting me up with some guy."
"Of course not. You've got your eye on that hot little firebug who just walked out of here. That's understandable. She's really something."
"Stay out of my love life... And my hate life... And just my life in general."
"You know, you used to adore me."
"Yeah... When I was four. Then I realized how completely fucked up and evil the entire family is."
"Will you help me or not, Zanna?"
"Not," she replied firmly, "but for some fucking reason, I guess I will help Maddie... Apparently, I have no choice in the matter. So bring the bitch down to the basement and I'll gather the supplies we'll need to keep her in line. Go before I come to my senses and change my fucking mind."
Oliver carried Josephine to the back of the shop and presumably found his way to the basement from there. Zanna focused on gathering what she needed and cursing under her breath.
"This is the right path, Suzy-Beth," her mother said. With no witnesses, the conversation could be held aloud instead of telepathically.
"No one asked you," she replied. "Just keep your thoughts to yourself for once, for fuck's sake!"
Zanna realized she'd just gotten herself stuck in the very situation she'd been actively avoiding for the last twenty years.
With a furious sigh, she mumbled, "Mother fucker..."