The 13th Witch

by Beyond Blonde

    

   

    Joseph and Mikey had tried to tell him what Drake was like, but it wasn't until he walked into his office that The Boss truly understood just how powerful and dangerous a creature he was.  Drake's cobalt blue orbs were the coldest and most intelligent pair of eyes he had ever seen.  They were eyes that knew all the secrets of the person they gazed upon.  And for a fleeting moment, he had the strangest feeling he had gazed into those eyes once before, and given up all his secrets to them.  The Boss felt his blood run cold for a moment as Drake grinned, and his head tilted ever so slightly in the briefest of nods.  He was so taken aback by that arrogant grin and barely perceptible nod, it took him a moment before he took the pale cold hand offered to him.  Though he could feel the incredible strength in the pale hand that closed around his, Drake's grip had a restrained quality to it that truly made him feel the power of the creature who was shaking his hand, and grinning at him.  Drake let go of his hand, and as The Boss lowered himself back in his chair, Drake and Kassie sat down on the couch in front of his desk.  

    Kassie looked more beautiful than ever as she sat smiling at him.  But there was a quality to that smile, and the look in her eyes, that was a strong reflection of the creature sitting beside her.  He could tell Kassie was not yet a vampyre, but could also tell she was no longer merely mortal.  He sensed the powers she had always held had been strengthened a hundredfold.  He also sensed many new powers now coursed through her.

As Drake casually draped his arm over Kassie's shoulders The Boss looked at him said, "I want to thank you for your assistance, on this case, as well as that other case that involved one of your kind, and for the computer programs you so graciously sent us."

    Drake smiled and nodded his head briefly then said, "You are more than welcome for my assistance, and for the computer programs.  Kassie made me see what your bunch do in a different light than I had previously.  I am now more than glad to offer any assistance, that I can on certain cases."  Drake paused for a few seconds, and as the smile left his face said,  "If Waldo's latest victim was one who Kassie could have awakened the powers of a true witch in, then rest assured Doug, you will be getting my full assistance on this case."

    The Boss took one look at the expression on Drake's face and understood exactly what Drake was telling him.  Oddly enough it did not rankle him as much as he would have thought it might to have Drake so subtly, but firmly tell him that if he thought it necessary, jurisdiction in this case would go to him.  If it would stop the trail of bodies Waldo was leaving behind, The Boss was more than willing to concede jurisdiction to Drake.   He nodded his head in return and replied, "If you feel it necessary, I would be more than glad to you have your full assistance on this case."  He paused for a second, then grinned and said, "Though I have a feeling requesting you bring me Waldo's head on a platter would be useless."

    Drake gave a dark chuckle and replied, "If my full assistance is required on this case then I'm afraid Waldo's head, and heart, are mine for the taking.  I will be more than glad to hand over the rest of his body to you though."

    The Boss gave a good natured dark grin and replied, "That's good enough for me.  What is most important to me is that Waldo is stopped."

    Drake gave another brief nod and said, "One way or the other, Waldo will be stopped.  Even if his latest victim is not someone Kassie could have awakened the powers of a true witch in, what Waldo is up to is bad for the Magick.  And anything that is bad for the Magick, is also bad for Kassie, as well my species and many others.  Though many of my kind have ceased to honor that Magick, I am currently doing all I can to see to it that Magick is rightfully honored once again among my species, as well as others who have forgotten they are an end product of that Magick."

    Before The Boss could reply, the phone on his desk rang.  He picked up the receiver, listened, then said, "We are on our way to the morgue."  He then hung the phone up and as he once more pushed his chair away from the desk and rose from it said to Drake, "The body of Waldo's latest victim has just arrived. I know you are anxious to examine her, so let's head to the morgue."

    Drake nodded as he removed his arm from around Kassie's shoulder.  They both stood up and followed The Boss to the private elevator located at the back of his office.  The elevator quickly descended to the basement where the morgue was located.  As they entered the morgue a large black man looked up from the tray he was carefully arranging surgical tools on.  

    Drake was glad to see the body of Waldo's latest victim was still enclosed in the body bag she had arrived in. He gave the man who had been arranging the surgical tools what passed for a pleasant polite smile for him as Kassie introduced them.  After the introductions had been made Drake turned his attention back to the body on the table.  He positioned himself in front of Kassie as he gently unzipped the body bag to reveal the face of Waldo's latest victim.  He studied the face within the black bag for a moment, then gently laid his hand on the cold forehead of Waldo's latest victim.  Though his touch upon that cold forehead was gentle, the expression that crossed his cold pale features was terrible to behold.  

    Although Waldo's vicious method of necromancy left his victims seemingly empty of information for any other necromancer, Drake was not any other necromancer.  Waldo's skills in that art were nothing compared to the Dark Lord of the undead.  And now that Kassie's Magick had touched him, finding out what he needed to from the body of Waldo's latest victim was easier than he had thought it would be.  What he gleaned from that body though would make it go very hard on Waldo.  During her final pain racked moments, her powers as a true witch had tried to stir from their slumber.  Waldo had sensed those powers and tried to strip them from her.  But the powers that could not protect the dying woman, would not allow themselves to be stripped from her.  They had slipped through his grasp and buried themselves deep within her soul.  Waldo could take certain things from the dead and dying, but he could not take their soul.  Because she would have been a true witch had Kassie been allowed to gently awaken those powers, they now resided safely within a soul waiting to be reborn.  It might be a long time before the soul healed enough to reincarnate into someone who those powers could be awakened, but time was on their side, as much Drake's and Kassie's now.  If Kassie herself did not one day fully awaken those powers, one of her future followers would.

    Waldo would pay dearly though for causing this painful death to one of Kassie's kind.  Because he had sensed those powers within his victim as he killed her, and would now be hunting more like his latest victim, Drake would see to it that debt was paid in full as quickly as possible.  Having discovered what he needed from Waldo's latest victim Drake gently stroked the forehead of the dead woman and in a soft soothing voice spoke aloud to her wounded soul.  "Your soul will heal in time.  Once that healing has taken place you will be reborn and allowed to fulfill your destiny as a true witch.  Rest now sweet Magickal one, so that healing can take place.  Know that I will avenge your death, and insure that the one who did this to you will meet a fate far worse than the cruel death he caused you."  

    Drake removed his hand from the forehead of Waldo's latest victim then turned to The Boss and said, "Doug, how long before that blood sample is ready?"

    The Boss replied, "It should be ready by now."

    "Then let's go get it.  The sooner I can apply it to the special bloodstone, the quicker I will be able to find Waldo.  I would like to keep my promise to his latest victim, as quickly as possible."  He gently turned Kassie away from the body, put his arm around her waist and began walking away from the body that lay on the table.  

    The Boss was as anxious as Drake was when it came to finding Waldo and after nodding his head briefly in goodbye to Earnest, he turned and headed towards the door they had entered through. Kassie resisted for a brief moment.  Drake had obviously found out all he needed to know concerning Waldo's latest victim, and was now concentrating only on finding him.  But because the special bloodstone he had was their best hope of finding Waldo as quickly as possible, she relaxed and walked with him towards the door.  

    The lab was only a couple of doors down from the morgue and they were all pleased to find the blood sample ready when they arrived.  Tabitha, the lab tech who had prepared the blood sample, informed them she had prepared nearly all of the sample they had for Kassie.  She went to hand Kassie the small vial that was roughly one third filled and was rather taken aback when Drake reached out and intercepted the vial.  As he took the vial from her hand Drake thanked her and gave Tabitha a cold charming smile that made her panties damp, even as it chilled her blood.  Then he reached into his breast pocket and removed a white handkerchief from it.  He carefully wrapped the vial before putting the vial in the pocket he had pulled the handkerchief from.  Drake gave Tabitha another cold charming smile and said, "Thank you again for your excellent work in rehydrating the blood so quickly.  With the help of a special trinket I have, that blood will allow us to track Waldo. I know you would love to visit with Kassie, but the quicker we apply the blood to the stone, the quicker we can see to it that Waldo causes no more harm to anyone.  Please convey my thanks and appreciation to Earnest for allowing me to examine the body of Waldo's latest unfortunate victim, and my apologies for our abrupt departure."  Drake paused for a few seconds and something vaguely resembling the slightest touch of warmth softened his icy cold smile as he said, "I would also like to wish you and Ernest much happiness and joy.  He is a good man."

    Tabitha was completely taken aback for a moment by Drake's words.  Nobody knew that she and Ernest had been seeing each other at more than just their workplace.  They had fallen in love during the time they spent together away from Headquarters.  Ernest had proposed to her three nights ago, and she had joyfully accepted.  She immediately understood that Drake had picked up her thoughts concerning wanting to tell Kassie the good news.  Though she had felt slightly invaded for a moment, she also understood it was thinking about Kassie that had caused Drake to pick those thoughts up.  She studied Drake for a moment, and in that moment of thoughtful study also understood that a great love and sense of protectiveness towards Kassie caused him to pick up any thoughts others in close proximity to him had concerning her.  When she remembered the way Drake's handsome face had softened slightly when he had glanced at Kassie as he had spoken her name, and recalled how Kassie had smiled at him, she could not become angry at Drake for doing what she sensed came very naturally to him. She smiled at Drake then said, "You and Kassie are both very welcome concerning the blood sample.  I hope that it works and allows your little, trinket, to find Waldo and put a stop to his murderous ways.  It is obvious you care for Kassie a great deal, and just as obvious from the way her smile now reaches to her eyes, that you bring her much happiness.  I thank you, and know that Ernest will too concerning your best wishes for us.  Ernest and I both wish you and Kassie much happiness as well."

    Drake nodded his head then smiled and said, "Kassie brings me more happiness than you can ever imagine.  I do all that I can to insure I bring her just as much.  Perhaps after Waldo has been taken care of, we can all have dinner together.  I know Kassie would enjoy that." Drake's cool charming smile turned to a mischievous grin as he said,  "It would give you two girls a chance to catch up on what has been going on in each other's lives, and discuss Ernest and I."

    Though she had heard the rumors running rampant about Drake, and upon meeting him had concluded there was much dark truth in those rumors, she could not help but like his style.  She returned his grin and replied, "Kassie and I would both enjoy that.  I'm sure we can find something for you and Ernest to do while we discuss your attributes."

    

    Drake laughed and replied, "As long as it isn't the dinner dishes."  He paused for a moment and looked down at Kassie then said, "Now bid your friend Tabitha a fond farewell dear, and let's get going so we can take care of Waldo as quickly as possible."

    Kassie returned Drake's smile then walked over to Tabitha and hugged her, then said, "I am going to hold Drake to that dinner idea.  I am very happy for you and Ernest.  Please tell him that for me."

    Tabitha hugged her friend back then replied, "I will hold you and him to that dinner date.  Thank you both for your kind wishes, and you know Ernest and I wish only the best for you."

    Kassie gave her friend another quick hug, then walked back over to Drake. He smiled as he slipped his arm around the back of her waist and turned them both towards the door.  He turned his head as they neared the door and gave Tabitha another cool charming smile, then as he turned back towards the door leaned down for a moment and kissed the top of Kassie's head.

    The Boss bid Tabatha goodbye as well, then walked out into the hall behind them.  Drake strode towards the elevator and pushed the button on the wall next to it.  As they waited for the elevator Drake turned to The Boss and said, "Kassie and I will be taking our leave now so that we can get this sample to the bloodstone as fast as possible.  Kassie or I will be getting in touch with you as soon as I have taken care of Waldo."

    The Boss blinked in surprise then replied, "I guess that will have to work."

    Drake nodded his head once as the elevator doors opened.  The Boss stepped in and waited for them to join him, but Drake simply grinned at him and said, "We don't need the elevator to get where we are going."  Before he could reply Drake stepped back a little, and as the elevator doors closed he and Kassie vanished.  The Boss had been told of Drake's habit of vanishing, and was not that surprised to see Kassie had developed the same habit.  Though seeing them simply vanish as the doors has closed, had caused him to blink before he pushed the button that would send the elevator to where he was headed.

    Their destination was Drake's main castle.  Once there Drake took Kassie to a carefully concealed room that lay beneath the dungeon.  Within that secret room were several large tables.  Maps of various countries, states and provinces hung upon the walls of the room.  Large filing cabinets beneath the tables and scattered through out the room held still more maps that contained cities and towns.   Drake went to the back of the room and removed one a world map from the wall.  He laid the world map on one of the tables, then walked over to open a safe that had been concealed within the wall behind the world map.  From the safe he took out a metal box.  He opened metal box and withdrew a small black velvet bag from it. After loosening the white ribbon that held the bag shut, he carefully shook out the bloodstone into the palm of his left hand.  He laid the velvet bag on the table that had the world map on it.  

    The Bloodstone was cut in the shape of a small narrow scepter.  It was three inches long, one end was pointed, the other end flat.  At top of the stone near the flat head, was a narrow band of gold.  Attached to the band was a gold chain.  In the center of the scepter shaped stone was a small indentation that formed a tiny bowl.  Drake carefully placed the carved scepter on the velvet bag so that the tiny bowl indentation was on top.  He arranged the velvet bag carefully around the stone so that it would stay in place, then reached into his pocket and took out the small vial that contained Waldo's blood.  Kassie watched as Drake removed the lid from the vial, and carefully poured a drop of the blood from the vial into the bowl shaped indentation.  As he carefully replaced the lid on the vial Kassie asked, "You are only going to use one drop of the blood?"

    Drake looked at her and replied, "For now my dear.  It will take the stone about an hour to absorb that one drop.  By putting the blood in one drop at a time we can reduce the amount of evaporation that will occur, as well as test the stone after this drop has been applied to it."

    Kassie studied the stone for a moment then looked at Drake and replied, "Excellent thinking on your part my love."  Then she smiled that smile of hers that always melted her immortal lover's heart of stone and said, "But then again, you are a most excellent thinker."

    Drake slipped his arm around the back of her waist as he smiled at her and replied, "As are you my beloved little Queen.  That is one of the many things about you that I adore.  And speaking of excellent thinking, I know that even with all that is on your mind concerning Waldo, you have also been thinking of that latest chapter in your current story.  Let's retire to the library and you can work on that while the stone absorbs that drop of blood."

    Kassie smiled at Drake and replied, "You have been reading my mind again. And yes that's a very good idea.  I would like to at least make a few notes concerning some ideas I have for that chapter, and a new character I am thinking of introducing."

    Kassie and Drake vanished from the hidden room where the Bloodstone and maps were, and reappeared in the library.  After they were both comfortably settled on the couch with their laptops resting on their knees, Kassie retrieved the latest copy of the chapter from her iDisk and began working on it.  Drake was busy taking care of some business via a secure messenger program, email, cell phone, as well as working on the latest program he was developing.  Kassie added the name of the new character to the database in the writer's program she used and began working on a description of the character as well as margin notes in the body of her work concerning that character's role in the story.  While they worked on their separate projects, the Bloodstone in the hidden room gradually absorbed the drop of blood.  Originally the Bloodstone had been a solid dark green, so dark in color it almost appeared black.  As it slowly absorbed the drop of blood, the stone began to change to a slightly lighter shade of green, and four tiny flecks of red began to appear in it.

    Kassie was putting the finishing touches on the paragraph that introduced her latest character when the stone absorbed the last of the drop of blood that had been put on it.  The tiny flecks of red seemed to shimmer and move for a moment, then become dull and still.  Kassie and Drake both sensed that the stone had fully absorbed the drop of blood placed on it.  They glanced at each other, exchanged thoughts briefly, then leaned over and placed their laptops on the table in front of the couch.  They vanished in unision, then reappeared the same way in front of the table the Bloodstone was on.  He looked at the Bloodstone then turned to Kassie and said, "You will need to wear the stone for 24 hours before we test it on the first map.  Do you wish to test it as it is now, or add another drop of blood?"

    Kassie thought for a moment then said, "I want to test it after it has two more drops of blood in it."

    Drake nodded his head, pleased with her decision then added another drop of blood to the stone.  Once the blood was added and the vial safely resealed they returned to the private library.  They did not pick their laptops up immediately, but instead relaxed with each other on the couch.  Drake snapped his fingers once and the fire blazed to life in the fireplace.  Kassie smiled as the fire sprang to life, then leaned over and took a scented oil candle and a book of matches from a drawer under the front of the coffee table. She lit the candle, put the book of matches back in the drawer and closed it.   Kassie could have snapped her fingers and had the candle appear and the light itself, but she enjoyed putting the scented oil candle out and striking the match to it.  Drake understood the act of putting the candle in the holder and lighting it the old fashioned way was as much an act of Magick to her as snapping her fingers was.  As she leaned back and snuggled under his arm, he smiled and kissed the top of her head.  Oh how he loved this woman who given all the powers she now had, still found real Magick in simple acts like setting a candle out and striking a match to it.  The nights and days he had spent with her over the past few weeks had done nothing but strengthen his resolve to spend the rest of eternity with her.

    As he felt her relax against him and inhale the aroma of the vanilla and rose scented candle he stroked her arm softly and said, "Ernest and Tabitha are going to make a fine couple.  His skills at extracting the secrets of the dead will steadily increase.  She will be able to help him cope with what extracting some of those secrets will do to his mind and soul.  And dinner with them occasionally will do us all good."

    Kassie snuggled closer to her immortal lover and said, "Just so long as you don't have them for your dinner.  I must say Tabitha getting together with Ernest surprised me given the fact she is usually drawn to geeks."

    Drake laughed and replied, "I already had them for dessert one evening. And despite his linebacker appearance, Ernest is smarter than any geek she could find."  Drake shifted a little and tucked Kassie more comfortably under his arm then said softly, "He is also an incurable romantic and loves her with every breath he takes."

    Kassie looked up at Drake and exclaimed, "You fed on them?"

    Drake kissed the tip of Kassie's nose and said, "Of course I took a few sips from them. Stop looking so aghast at that thought.  You know I like interesting people, and I'll have to say, The Team does have some interesting people on it.  It's not like I did them any harm."

    Kassie thought about it for a moment then replied, "I guess you are right.  It just creeps me out a little still to have you dining on my friends."

    Drake laughed and pulled her closer to him.  He understood how she felt, but also knew that feeling would soon pass.  She knew he fed from them because they were interesting people, and because it was a way to better get to know her through those interesting friends of hers. They spent some time discussing Ernest and Tabitha, as well as some of the unions taking place between some of his bloodthirsty children.  Drake was very pleased with some of those unions, but had reservations about a couple of others.  Kassie knew that he kept a much closer eye on any unions between his bloodthirsty children now because he felt certain unions were either bad for the ones involved, or were unions that would feed the rebellious streak in one or both of the parties concerned.

*      *       *

    As they sat discussing those unions, the stone in the hidden room below them slowly absorbed the second drop of blood.  The four tiny flecks of red once more shimmered and shook as the last of that drop of blood was absorbed into the stone.  And in a place far away from where the stone rested, Waldo felt a momentary quiver of unease go through him.  He had sensed earlier that a very powerful being had touched the body of the woman he had recently killed and tried to strip of all her powers.  He knew damn well it was not the hand of God that had touched that bitch.   Anger had washed over him as he felt that being touch and lay to rest the soul of that dead bitch who had refused to give up all her powers to him.  Powers he had not dreamed existed in her.  As he asked himself and the cosmos what had touched her, a small voice of reason whispered, "You don't want to know."

    Drake added the third drop of blood to the stone, and Waldo scowled as he felt a slight unexplained chill run down his spine.  He stopped what he was doing, and tried to focus on the cause of that sudden chill.  None of the ones looking for him had any viable means of tracking him down.  They could tell where he had been from the corpses of his victims.  But they could never know where he currently was.  Then he thought of the being he had felt earlier.  If a being that powerful was now hunting him, then it must have to do with the powers he felt but could not take from that last bitch he had killed.  Had Suzanne actually been some kind of pet to that being?  Surely something as dark and powerful as the creature he had felt, could not have been that fond of that pathetic little bitch?  Waldo felt it must have something to do with the powers he had sensed but could not steal from Suzanne.  And he wanted those powers.  He had failed to take them from Suzanne, but if she had them buried deep within her, then there must be others who did as well.  He knew sensing and getting as close to those powers as he had this time, would make it easier for him to detect them next time. Waldo shook off the slight uneasy feeling he still had, and went back to planning that next time.  Instinct told him what he was planning would anger that being he had sensed earlier, and cause it to try harder to zero in on him.  But he still felt safe despite the chills and lingering sense of unease.  He knew that being had not been able to glean enough from the carcass of that bitch to track him with.  He would be very careful to make sure his next victim could not lead that being to him.

*      *       *

    Waldo was making plans to find another person the powers of a true witch were dormant within, as Kassie and Drake were greeting a group of tourists at Drake's main castle.  Within that group was a young woman whom Kassie had been strangely drawn to. Drake has noticed that Kassie seemed to feel an instant kinship with the young woman, and suspected she might have the powers of a true witch within her.  His careful screening methods of tourists allowed in the castle had told him Kathleen Maddigan was a vibrant 27 year old librarian, who was also a fairly talented writer.  She shared Kassie's great love of words and books, and was a big fan of Kassie's work.  Katy was also interested in all things paranormal, and was a solitary practitioner of The Craft.  Though her job as a librarian didn't pay a great deal, she had a small trust fund set up by her parents which allowed her to live a quiet comfortable lifestyle.  Once a year she treated herself to a trip to a place that she thought might inspire her writing, and/or increase her understanding of The Craft.  Drake was glad that he had remembered her from screening some months ago, and recently arranged to have Katy seated near Kassie at tonight's dinner.

    After the guests had been seated, Drake poured the ambrosia that would help enchant those at his table, and gave Katy a charming smile that took her breath away, and made her blush. Katy was already half under his spell when she raised the glass of ambrosia to her lips and sipped from it.  As she sipped from the glass, she became enchanted along with the rest of the guests that sat enjoying their drinks and listening to their handsome host's soft seductive voice.  When the ambrosia had worked its spell of enchantment on his dinner guests, Drake walked over and stood behind Katy's chair.  He placed his hands upon her shoulders, then bent his head down and drank from her.  As her blood began to travel through his fangs he knew why Kassie had been drawn to this young woman.  Deep within her were the powers of a true witch. Those powers lay dormant and undiscovered right now, but he knew that Kassie could help her to fully awaken them.  He took a larger drink from Katy than he normally took from his dinner guests.  He did not drink enough of her blood to do her the slightest bit of harm, but wanted to drink deeply enough from her so that he would know her well.  The sumptuous dinner Katy would eat while at his table would help her recover from the small amount of blood she had lost to her host so Drake felt no guilt in taking that little bit extra from her.  He had not really needed to feed at all right then, but went ahead and sipped from a couple more of the more interesting diners at his table before returning to Kassie's side.  As he sat back down beside Kassie he looked at her and said quietly, "You sensed something within Katy that drew you to her.  I know now what that something is."

    Kassie looked deep into the eyes of her immortal lover and replied, "She has the powers of a true witch deep within her, doesn't she?"

    Drake smiled at his little Queen and said, "Yes she does my love.  And it will not be hard to cultivate her friendship and help her awaken those powers because she already has a bad case of heroine worship for you.  Make a point to be extra nice to her, exchange email addresses with her so you can connect with her that way.  I believe she is going to be the first of your coven my dear." Kassie nodded her head, and as a servant quietly slipped in and replaced the guests glasses with ones containing normal wine. As the spell of enchantment wore off their dinner guests, Kassie smiled at her immortal lover before turning her attention to one dinner guest in particular.

    Even if she was just part of a tour group, Katy was beside herself with happiness to be dining with Kassie and her handsome lover. She admired Kassie a great deal, and dreamed of one day being as good a writer as she was.  That Kassie was actually taking time to talk to her and treat her with the gentle kindness she was, left her feeling as if she was walking on air.  Drake also treated her with extreme charm and grace.  She knew she would always remember this night as one of the most wonderful evenings of her life.  When she had shyly admitted that Drake's hunch about her longing to be a writer was correct, Kassie had told her she would like to see some of her work sometime, and even exchanged email addresses with her.   As she began to eat the delicious dinner that was being served to her, Katy found herself slightly giddy from the wine, and the happiness she was experiencing.  

    Drake was very proud of his little Queen as she graciously interacted with the guests as his table.  Despite his habit of dining on them, Drake still thought of those seated at his table as honored guests.  He was constantly amazed at the way Kassie could charm those guests without the use of Magick.  He had come to realize that even though she was not consciously using Magick to charm them, it was the Magick within her that held people around her spellbound.  He knew that some of the scholars who had recently sat at his table had first looked upon Kassie as nothing more than erotic eye candy.  But he had smiled several times when some of those highly educated men had found themselves just as spellbound by her wit, grace and intelligence, as they were by her beauty and sexuality.  Drake could control the mind of any human he crossed paths with nothing more than a glance into their eyes.  Kassie could have now as well.  Yet, she still chose to use the same methods she always had to seduce the minds of those around her.  What never ceased to amaze him was how effective those methods were.  When Kassie flashed that thousand kilowatt beaming smile of hers, the majority of people's lips could not help but curve in return.  Seeing how people did or did not react to that smile, was a glimpse into their souls.  

    When dinner was over and they bid their guests goodbye, Drake made a point of kissing Katy's hand and telling her how honored he was to have had her as one of his dinner guests.  Katy had been both excited and chilled by the touch of his cool lips upon the back of her hand.  When he had raised his handsome head and spoke to her, she had been mesmerized by his cobalt blue eyes and soft seductive voice.  What she saw in those icy orbs of his would be something she would spend many hours contemplating.  She had caught a brief glimpse of so many things.  She couldn't wait to sit down and write about her experiences here, and of the things she had seen in the eyes of the handsome man who had kissed her hand.  She also wanted to try and find a way to capture the essence of what he and Kassie were as a couple.  Either of them alone would have been fascinating subjects to write of.  Together though, they were everything fairy tales and myths were made of.  Darkness and light blending together into a warm passionate glow.  

    After bidding their dinner guest goodbye Drake and Kassie returned the hidden room the Bloodstone was in.  Drake studied the stone carefully for a moment then picked it up and put the chain it hung from around Kassie's neck.  He gently kissed the back of Kassie's neck then said, "We shall let the stone grace your lovely neck for the next 24 hours, then use it to find Waldo."  

    Kassie turned and wrapped her arms around her immortal lover.  As Drake's arms went around her, she rested her head against his chest for a moment, then looked up at him and said, "I hope it leads us to him.  I have a bad feeling suddenly that it is very important that we find him as quickly as possible."

    Drake wrapped his arms tighter around her and said, "I am sure it will my love."  He kissed the top of her forehead then pulled her even closer.  He knew that though the stone was going to help them find Waldo, it was in some ways a dark albatross around her neck.  He suspected her sense of foreboding came from the fact that Waldo was no doubt already plotting how to find another person with the powers of a true witch dormant within. Kassie was sensing Waldo's dark lust for those powers.  Having once lusted for the gift of immortality much the same way Waldo now lusted for the powers he had sensed in Suzanne, Drake understood that dark lust on a very profound level.  But things change, and the only thing he truly lusted for now was Kassie.  And his lust for her was in some ways, as dark as his lust for power had once been.  She was his only true obsession now.  He knew losing her would make everything else, including the survival of his species, meaningless to him.  He sometimes wondered if Kassie knew what the dark side of his love really meant.

    Kassie caught that last thought and looked up him.  She smiled at him and in a soft loving voice said, "Yes my dear, I do know what the dark side of that love is.  But, I also know that no matter how dark it might be at times, the light of reason will prevail."

    Drake smiled at his beloved little witch and said, "You are quite right my love.  The light of reason always will prevail.  I know what it is that I want. Understand how it must be between us, for me, and you, to be truly happy."  Drake leaned down and kissed her lips then whispered, "Now I want you to return to Mystic Acres my love.  I think it would be a better place for you to be right now.  The powers within you that will allow you to use the stone to track him, can be best strengthened there.  I have a couple of errands to tend to, then I'll be there with you."

    Kassie returned the cold kiss of her immortal lover then said, "That's a wonderful idea."

    Drake held her close and said, "You know your safety and happiness is what is truly important to me now."  Then he stepped back from her and vanished.  Kassie vanished a second later.  As she was relaxing in the lavender loft, Drake was putting Katy under his full protection.