Free Love's a Witch by Roxy Mews Page B

“I took the soil from the garden. I forgot about the compost I had mixed in earlier in the week.”
    It smelled like more than a few decomposing eggshells. I had a feeling Kari was attracting wildlife that were using her garden as a litter box, but she was still worried, and I didn’t see the need to bring it up.
    “They thought by trashing my house I would just roll over and go with them. Either that or I’d get hungry enough to weaken and be an easier catch. I would have done a lot better had it not been for the rain the other day. It flooded the banks and my usual escape route. I was working my way back to the house to see if they had gone, but someone hit me with a car.”
    There was something dark just outside my comprehension. The look of confusion must have shown on my face.
    “She’s saying she was meant for the blood market. They will continue looking for her. If they don’t find her, they won’t mind taking a substitute.” The anger radiated off Craig. He threw down the wet paper towels he had used to clean my wounds, smacking them loudly against the garbage can.
    “And now I’m wondering how fast we can get out of here. They won’t find your body and they will come back, Kari. You know that, right?” Craig dug out some dish cloths from one of the drawers below my ankle.
    “I am aware of this, but my center is here. We need to spend some time here to help Mary on her path. Sure, this isn’t ideal,” Craig snorted at that. Kari cleared her throat and it sounded like she was about to shush him. “But I think we have time. There are things she needs to find to make it to where you need her to be.”
    Craig looked at Kari, and I wondered at the meaning of her words. Was she prepping me for what the Clan needed from me, or Craig? Who the hell really needed me around anyway?
    “Why would they come back? Isn’t it easier to grab someone else?” I wanted to be included in all this. I just wish I understood the backstory better.
    “Witch blood has a wide variety of uses in the vampire world. From delicacy to power boost, we are captured, for what they call a harvest. It used to be just a few individual vampire Families who could capture someone they come across and keep them for their own use. With the advancement of the internet, and skilled money launderers, there is a large black market developing. Many other supernatural creatures seem to be taking advantage of it, including werewolves.” Kari dug around in a drawer and got out some antibiotic cream. Guess even magical women needed a bit of Neosporin. And bonus…it was the one with the added pain relief.
    “Well if this was such a big thing, why didn’t they snatch me up? I was walking around completely oblivious.”
    My breath hissed through my teeth as Craig wrapped my hand. Strips of a dish cloth were ripped off during pauses in the conversation. They turned pink with my blood between the green and white stripes.
    “You hadn’t come into your full power yet, and you were hanging around with Amber. If anyone sensed your underdeveloped skills, they would have stood down against Amber’s strength.” Craig looked up. “Not many vampires would take her on.”
    Made sense. “Is this harvesting thing why you were always rushing into my room? Did you think someone would grab me?”
    “It was a possibility. You suffering from second degree burns was also a concern.” Craig mumbled the last part. Was he trying to take my mind off of this? Pointing out how vulnerable I happened to be was not the best way to do it.
    Needing to think about anything other than ways I could hurt myself, I found I was staring at him again. The more I looked, the more that beautiful red billowing color began to trickle into the air around him.
    “Like I said, we have time. We can start your training tomorrow. Tonight…let’s get some rest. Here…” Kari ducked down to the side of the island I was sitting on. “Ah, there it is. This book has had me obsessed