Chapter 4

I was surprised. He drove a small sleek black Nissan with dark tinted windows. I was expecting an expensive sports car. But maybe since he didn’t belong to a family anymore he didn’t have that kind of money anymore. Or maybe he chose it for its inconspicuous look if he was hiding from his family. He did say it was a bitter parting.

That musky rose-and-ginger scent filled my senses as soon as I sat inside the car. That scent just drew me right in. I found myself sitting with my eyes closed just enjoying be enveloped in that scent. I didn’t open my eyes even as I heard him get in the driver’s seat.

I opened my eyes after a moment when I realized we hadn’t moved yet. I looked over at him to see him watching me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He began to back up.

We listened to music during the car ride. He seemed to prefer Blues and Reggae, some hip hop. I was more of a dance girl— the type of stuff you might hear in a club.

The car ride wasn’t long— only twenty minutes. I got nervous when fifteen minutes had gone by and we still hadn’t reached a destination. I had wondered if he was going to kidnap me. Vampire and wolf males have been known to do that with their mates.

He had taken me to a quiet little shop village near the water. “I thought you might like some decent Italian, and after that we can do whatever you like— walk around, shop, listen to music, or even go somewhere else if you want,” he told me as we got out of the car. It was a perfect idea for a first date. And having the water nearby was a comfort, not that I needed a large body of water to do water magic. I wondered if he knew what type of witch I was.

All witches could do spells and various divination techniques. We also all had varying psychic abilities, ‘witch senses’ I called them. Beyond that each witch could perform a type of elemental magic: earth, fire, water, air, and shadows. The elemental power wasn’t inherited, it was the stars and the moon that determined what type of elemental magic a witch would have. How powerful a witch was depended entirely on their strength of will.

I was an intuitively inclined witch, which made my psychic abilities a bit of a wild card. I could sometimes feel what others feel, sometimes I just knew things, other times I had some sort of feeling. All witches were mediums on some level, and I could sense the dead and their emotions, but that was the extent of my medium abilities. My preferred form of divination was tarot. And I was a water witch. A damn powerful one too, not that I ever cared to show it.

Beyond magical abilities, witches could also heal quicker than humans. We were, on average, just strong enough to lift a thousand pounds, and we could run twice as fast as the fastest humans. If a fast human could run thirty miles per hour, we could run sixty miles per hour without breaking a sweat.

I wasn’t sure I knew all of a vampires abilities. I knew they were extremely strong— far stronger than a witch— and faster too. I knew they were very difficult to kill, but I wasn’t sure of their healing abilities. And I didn’t know much else beyond that about their abilities.

We walked along to a small Italian bistro. Dax asked the hostess for a table for two, and when she asked whether we wanted indoor or outdoor seating, I immediately blurted ‘outdoor’ before he had a chance to say anything.

She seated us at a little table under a canopy that covered most of the patio area, but we still had a beautiful view of the water and the sunset.

She gave us some menus, and left to go get us some waters. As soon as she walked away, he asked me, “So you like being by the water? I noticed you seemed to relax when we started walking by it.”

“Yes, I have always loved the ocean. Even when I lived back home in New York. And it is my element, but that has nothing to do with it. I just love the smell of the salty air, the way it soothes the senses, the sound of the waves, the vastness of it. It’s just calming to me.”

“A water witch, huh? How did you break that mirror earlier then?”

“You heard that?”

“And I saw it from your bedroom window.”

My bedroom window was 3 stories up. “Isn’t that a little conspicuous to climb the side of a building in broad daylight?”

“Vampires have the ability to ah… ‘camouflage’ we’ll call it.”

“Wait you watched me get dressed?”

He blinked. “No. Well… maybe but that’s not why I was watching you, I swear.”

I raised a brow at him, and just waited for his brilliant excuse that he no doubt had. I was embarrassed and felt slightly violated. I had the blinds closed, but he must have peaked through a gap between the blinds and the window. I would have to fix that; maybe I would get some nice dark curtains to cover the whole wall or something.

He sighed. “I was bored waiting and decided to see what you were doing. I just heard glass cracking and wanted to make sure you were okay, and that you didn’t cut yourself on any. That would have ruined our date.”

“You were bored? That’s your excuse for watching me strip?”

“Well technically you weren’t—” he stopped when he noticed the look on my face. A look I wasn’t even trying to hide. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have respected your privacy,” he apologized.

“I take it this wasn’t the first time either?”

He frowned. “No. But I am sorry. I won’t do it again.”

I decided to move on from the subject and try to forget about it. If I decided to keep seeing him it wouldn’t matter, but still, I didn’t like that he did that, even if it wasn’t his intention. So I picked up the menu and started looking over the options. “So what are you going to have for dinner? I assume nothing with garlic in it?” I gave him a small smirk.

He rolled his eyes. “Vampires can eat garlic. In fact, I love it in my food. But your avoiding the question about the mirror.”

I frowned. Luckily I was saved by the waitress who came back with our waters and took our drink orders. He was having a coke and whiskey, and I ordered a glass of Rosé.

“A wine drinker I see,” he said when she walked away.

“Yes, but only the cheap stuff, and I don’t like red wine.”

He nodded his head. “So, the mirror? What happened?”

I looked away. Can’t he just drop it? “I broke it.”

“Yes, but why?”

“It was an accident,” I muttered, still not looking at him.

“You accidentally used your powers? Can you not control them?”

“I can control my powers just fine!” I snapped.

He put his hands up. “Okay.”

I felt bad for a moment, but then I remembered what a perv he was and quickly got over it.

After looking over the menu, I broke the silence saying, “I think I’ll have the shrimp linguini.”

He only nodded, and I frowned. This wasn’t going well. How is it that I’m the one who ruined it when he was the one who violated me? I hurt his feelings. Big deal. He hurt mine first. Men were such cry babies.

But maybe…. maybe I was rushing to judgement. I just met him, and trust is earned, but don’t I owe it to him to give him a real chance to earn that trust? He wanted me to be his mate. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that. He said his intentions were pure; perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt, trust him until he proves untrustworthy.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just… well…” he looked at me with an open expression on his face as I tried to find the words. I took a breath. “Something happened back in New York. It’s part of the reason that I left. I don’t like to talk about it, and sometimes I have these… moments. Moments when I feel like I’m back there, and I begin to panic. That’s usually when my power slips. That’s how the mirror was broken.”

He offered me a small smile. “It seems we both have things in our pasts’ that is difficult to talk about.”

I nodded.

He moved on, “So you mentioned you’re from New York originally? Is that New York City or the state?”

“The state. My coven lives in a rural wooded area about an hour from the city.”

“I see. So did you go to New York City to be near the ocean? you mentioned you liked going when you lived there?”

I understood his confusion. “We would visit New York City often, but we actually went and stayed in a beach house that the coven kept in Connecticut. That’s where I found my love for the ocean. They used to bring me and other young water witches there a lot to teach us about our powers.

“So do vampires have to go through training to learn about their powers?” I asked.

“Not exactly. Parents teach their children. If you were not born into the family, a mentor is chosen. But they are really there to teach you to control the bloodlust. As far as our abilities go… well, they tell us what some of them are, but it’s up to us to figure out how to activate them. Most vampires don’t even think about it; it’s like breathing for them or a reflex, often discovered during a… hunt. And a natural instinct is difficult to teach.”

“Is it very difficult to control the bloodlust?”

“It is the first few months. Accidents happen, but now as long as there isn’t a gaping wound gushing blood, it’s manageable. I would compare it to dieting. It’s always hard initially, but if you stick with it, after a while it becomes more natural and easy to say no to things you shouldn’t have. You become used to eating a certain way.”

“And what about your powers? You mentioned being able to camouflage. What else can you do?” I had to know.

He merely smiled. “I’ll show you when we are in a less public area.”

Alright. I nodded. The waitress came back then to take our food order. I ordered the shrimp linguini, but he only ordered an appetizer.

“Are you not hungry?” I asked him as the waitress walked away.

“Vampires live off of blood. Eating food is an indulgence, not a necessity.”

I smiled. I decided to indulge a little too in the view. I loved Florida, especially the gulf side. The sunsets were some of the most beautiful I’d ever seen. I looked back at my potential vampire mate, and in that moment, I thought he was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Maybe I was falling for him already as he had predicted.