Kade's Dark Embrace

Chapter Twenty

Luca shot Kade a look of desperation as he entered the safe room in the basement. The girl was crying again. Shit, no man liked crying. Kade felt a pang of guilt for essentially saving the girl from Simone, only to imprison her, yet again, in his home. Granted, the room was a large, comfortable guest room with its own private bathroom. It didn’t scream 'prison cell.' No, if anything, it looked like a posh, luxurious room at the Four Seasons. Regardless, the girl was scared and confused. He needed to get control over the situation, but fast. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself for the interrogation.

Samantha sat crouched on the bed with her knees pulled up against her chest, glaring at Kade as he sat in an overstuffed guest chair. “Samantha, I’m Kade. Now listen, we are not here to hurt you. I am sorry that we needed to keep you here with us, but we need to make sure it is safe to let you return home. The people who took you were an evil pair of criminals who apparently used you to further their exploits. You may not be aware, but you attacked a very good friend of mine a few nights ago at Sangre Dulce. Do you have any recollection of this activity?”

The girl sniffled, “No. I...I don’t know what you’re talking about. Where is Sydney? She said she’d come for me.”

Kade glanced at Luca. “Sydney is recovering. I need to ask you some questions, Samantha. The faster we do this, the faster you get out of here.” Luca passed Kade a snapshot of Rhea standing naked serving drinks at the club. Kade flipped over the photo, not yet wanting to shock the girl.

“Samantha, do you remember being at Sangre Dulce?”

“Yes, I told Sydney. I’m so stupid. It was my first time. I went there with friends. I don’t even live here in New Orleans. I was at a computer conference. My friends and I went there, you know, just to have fun...see what it was like. There was this guy...James...he seemed so nice. I remember having a drink with him. Then...all I remember after that is being in that cell...he beat me...I couldn’t get out. I told Sydney,” she sobbed, tears spilled down her face.

Not detecting deception in her words, Kade needed her to understand what happened, and unfortunately what was about to happen. She wasn’t going home. “Okay, listen Samantha. Here’s the thing. James, the man you mentioned, was a powerful mage, a warlock. His real name was Asgear, and he practiced dark magic. I am very sorry to tell you that you were bespelled by him. I have someone who can help you, but I’ve got to be honest with you. You need to know what happened. I have a photo here.” He held it up to her, “It is a photo of you in Sangre Dulce serving drinks and engaging in other various duties,” he coughed not knowing how to tell her. “Miguel, the owner, introduced you to us as a submissive. You know what that is, right?”

Nodding her head, Samantha whimpered. “Yes. Oh dear God. No, no, I would never do that. I just went there with friends for fun. Oh my God. How did this happen to me? What did I do?”

“That night, you took one of my friends. You silvered her to a table. Now, before you get too upset, it’s entirely possible Asgear did most of the silvering. You see, my friend was blindfolded. At any rate, you helped this man. So, we need to make sure whatever he did to you is lifted and cleansed...so you don’t do it again.”

“What do you mean? I promise I won’t ever do anything like that again. Am I going home now? I need to get home. My family, my job.” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

Now came the hard part. “I would love to send you home, Samantha, but like I said, we need to make sure you are free of the dark magic. A friend of mine,” he hesitated, “a friend of mine and Sydney’s, she is a witch, a good witch. Her name is Ilsbeth. She is coming here and taking you to her coven. Now, I am not sure how long it will take, but I promise you that you will return to your home...soon enough.”

Samantha put her face into her hands, crying softly. Lifting her chin, she wiped her tears. “Okay then, I’m ready. I want you to know that I am normally a very, strong person, but this past week...I feel quite shattered right now. But, I will be fine. I just need to get home.”

Luca glided across the room, put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a tissue. This frail human stirred something in his cold, dark heart. What was it? Over the centuries, he’d seen many a human cry. It was the hard reality of life. But this fragile woman with long, fiery red hair ignited a small, caring flame inside of him. He ran a hand over her soft hair and patted her shoulder attempting to provide comfort. “Samantha, it will be okay. Ilsbeth is a strong and kind witch. If you have been given magic, she will cleanse you. All will be well again.”

What the hell? Kade raised an eyebrow at Luca wondering what was going on with his old friend. Luca just didn’t do comfort, or sympathy, or humans. There was a long list of all kinds of things Luca did not do. Kade wondered if some kind of magic was rubbing off on his second. Where the fuck was Ilsbeth?

A loud knock at the door jolted Luca away from Samantha. Kade shook his head in confusion at his friend’s actions. “Enter,” ordered Kade.

A blinding glow shone through the doorway as Ilsbeth opened the door. Thank you God. “Please come in Ilsbeth.” Kade gestured for her to sit in a guest chair, but Ilsbeth wandered over to sit next to Samantha on the bed. “Ilsbeth, this is Samantha. She has no recollection of her actions in the club the night she silvered Dominique. I sense no deception, but we need to be sure she is safe to be around others...and herself.”

Ilsbeth ran her lithe, pale fingers across Samantha’s cheek. “Samantha, I am Ilsbeth. You understand you have been in contact with a great evil, yes?”

Samantha nodded silently.

“This evil, it made you do things, things against your will, things you do not recollect?”

She nodded again.

“Do I have your permission to read you...your aura? Do you come to me willingly?” Ilsbeth asked in a soft, lilting voice.

“Yes, I am so sorry. Please help me,” she begged.

The air thickened as Ilsbeth closed her eyes and raised her hands, palms up above the crown of Samantha’s head. She hummed a cyclical melody as she lowered her hands around the girl. Opening her eyes, she blew out a breath. A somber look crossed her face as she locked her vision on Kade. “This young woman, dark magic tints the edges of her aura. She must come with me to the coven where my sisters and I can purge the darkness and cleanse her soul.” She was holding back.

Kade knew there was something else. What was it? He promised this girl she could return home. “Ilsbeth, thank you for your reading. As always, I am appreciative of your magical insight. Yet, I sense there is something else.”

“It is the magic.” In disgust, she shook her head. “It has been infused.”

“Meaning?” he questioned.

“The magic has been infused. We can cleanse her aura and remove the darkness, but the magic, it will stay. In short, Samantha is now a witch. She will need to stay with the coven, learn the craft, grow into the light.” She regarded Samantha. “Do you understand, Samantha? You are now a witch.”

Shedding a single tear, Samantha sucked in a breath. “I am a witch?” She asked, saying the words back to Ilsbeth as if it would get easier if she spoke them aloud. “I have to be honest with you. I’m not sure what that really means, but I will try. I want this evil out of my body now. I promise to do whatever you say...just please help me get on with my life.”

Ilsbeth hugged the girl knowing this would be an uphill battle. It was not an easy life being a witch, let alone being turned into a witch so late in life. Being thrown into the supernatural world after spending your entire life as human was difficult to comprehend. “It will be okay, Samantha. I will help you,” Ilsbeth reassured her.

Samantha pulled away, looking over to Kade. “Sir, one thing before I leave. Please...I want to see Sydney. I owe her my life. I just want to thank her.”

Kade motioned to Luca. “Go get Sydney. I know she will want to see the girl before she leaves.” Luca nodded and left the room.

“Thank you again, Ilsbeth. We do seem to make good allies, don’t we?” Kade needed to lighten the mood before Sydney arrived. She had been through enough this past week, and didn’t need to come into a room of full of crying women and serious faces.

“Ah yes, Kade, that we do. The coven is in your debt for eradicating Simone and Asgear. If we hear of any other activity related to Asgear, I’ll make sure to contact you immediately.”

Luca returned to the room sans Sydney. Glancing to Kade and back to Ilsbeth, he silently sent Kade a message that he needed to speak with him. “I am sorry, Samantha, but Sydney is not available to come down to see you at this time. She has promised that she will visit you at the coven as soon as possible. Now, if you don’t mind, a vampire situation has arisen that Kade and I need to attend to. Etienne will see you up to the foyer, and then I will escort you both back to the coven.”

Now what? Upon Luca’s words, Kade sent out mental feelers to locate Sydney within the house. Where the hell is she?

“Kade, please, you must understand, no one saw her go, and there has been no evidence of foul play. It appears she just left. The maid saw her jump in a cab about an hour ago. Maybe she went downtown to get beignets again?” Luca sighed.

No, Goddammit. Kade knew that she wasn’t shopping or sightseeing. His woman was running, running from her feelings, running from him. Sydney Willows could run, but she could not hide. He would find her any place on the face of the Earth. What exactly did the woman not get about them being bonded?

“That woman is going to be the death of me. Seriously, Luca. I ask her to stay here and move in with me and she takes off? What the hell? Get Tristan on the damn phone, and then call the airport and gas up the jet. We, my friend, are going to Philadelphia tonight. She is mine, and it is damn well time she starts to understand precisely what that means.”