The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

party earlier in the year: tall, muscular, long blonde hair.  Vincent described his look once as “rock-star meets pro wrestler”, and he wasn't wrong.  Trevor brushed off his tight jeans and Rolling Stones t-shirt, straightened the denim vest he wore with the mystic symbol patch on the back, pasted on a smile, and strode forward to meet us.

                Off to the side, another giant hawk placed a human woman gently on the lawn, hovering until she gracefully stepped down on the well-trimmed grass.  She, too, was dressed as I had seen her before, her leather body-suit hugging her curves, its black color contrasting with her bright blonde hair.

                "Thank you, dearie." she said to the hawk that hovered near her, blowing a kiss as she did.  It nodded its head and joined its compatriot rooting around the edges of the forest.  The third hawk joined them as well, and the woman walked our way as well.

                “And his sister, Evelyn.” I finished as the pair reached us.

                “Guys...” Trevor said with a wide smile.  “How are you doing this fine morning?  Lulu-belle...” he continued, looking at me.

                "Annabelle." his sister said to him instantly.

                “Annabelle!” Trevor continued, as if he hadn't said any other name.  “How's the Sorceress life treating you?”

                “It's good.” I replied, shrugging.

                “Annie, it's lovely to see you.” Evelyn said, smiling warmly.

                “You gonna introduce us to your friends?” Trevor asked, looking at Raina with a leer.

                “That's Raina, my pissed off feminist lesbian best friend.” I told him.

                His face fell, the wind gone out of his libido.  “Ah, well... nice to meet you, mate.” he said with a wave.

                Raina scowled and waved back.  It was all I could do to keep from laughing.

                “And this is...” I said, pointing to Jack.

                “We've met.” Jack said, cutting me off.  He also had a scowl on his face, but this one wasn't funny.

                “Come again?” Trevor asked, confused.

                “We've met.” Jack said again, crossing his arms.  “Earlier this year, at the graduation party?  You cock-blocked me every time I tried to talk to a pretty girl.”

                “Ah, well, it's nothing personal, mate.” Trevor said, slightly embarrassed.  “I just get in the mode to mingle, and other blokes become collateral damage.”  He smiled again and tried to turn on the charm.  “But hey, didn't I spy that redheaded bird for you?  She'd already turned me down flat, so I figured hey, why not let the next shift take their shot?”

                “She was a were-roach.” Jack said, deadpan.  “We started fooling around, and she tried to bite me.  Seems that she was looking for a mate.”

                “Oh!” Trevor tried to look remorseful, but it was obvious that he found the whole thing funny.  “Well, sorry mate.”

                “Don't feel bad, love.” Evelyn said, patting Jack's arm.  “Before I realized that I was not in the penis fan club, Trevor fixed me up with a date for my school's winter formal.”

                “Bloody royalty, he was!” Trevor said proudly.

                “He was also a reanimated corpse.” she continued, glaring at her brother.  “Seems that the idiot had OD'd, and his family was just dysfunctional enough to hire a necromancer to put a spirit in his meat suit.  He tried to sacrifice me to a lost Babylonian fire spirit after the moonlight dance.”

                “It is delightful to meet you, Evelyn.” Raina said, smiling.

                I smiled.  I knew that tone of voice.

                “So what's with the Tolkien express?” Jack asked, glancing at the foraging hawks.

                "Ruffians is what they are." Trevor groused.

                “They are friends, as well as a wonderful form of transportation.” Evelyn said.  “However, I would save the Lord of the Rings jokes for here, out of their earshot.”  She glanced at her brother again.

                “Look, all I said was that I was wondering if they could do a slight detour so I could throw a ring in a volcano.” he replied.  He grinned.  “I said I'd hate to have to walk the entire way.”

                “Always the charmer.” Evelyn said, rolling her eyes.

                “So, where are the Nosferatu twins?” Trevor asked, changing the subject.

                “Angelique's like an electron,” Raina said, “you never know where she is until she shows up.  Vincent's standing right behind you.”

                Trevor spun around, and Vincent was indeed standing right there.

                “Vincent, my boy, how are you?” Trevor said, recovering from his surprise at Vincent's sudden appearance.

                “This morning was perfect.” Vincent deadpanned.  He then smiled at Evelyn.  “Come on, I'll show you where you're staying.”

                The three of them walked away.  The three of us left sitting there waited for a moment, and then broke out into laughter.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                I ate lunch while hanging out in Vincent's artifact room, sitting on one of the glass cases.  He was busy cataloging some recent acquisitions, and worked steadily while I snacked on my pizza rolls.  He paused as I popped another of the greasy treats in my mouth.

                “It amazes me that you still eat that stuff.” he said, grinning and shaking his head.  “We can afford any food in the world, and you're still munching discount calories.”

                “Hey, I like discount calories!” I mockingly protested.  “Besides, I'm eating, like, five times a day since my transformation.  Pizza rolls are not only tasty, they're fast.”

                “I had some fast food the other day.” he replied, picking up an ornate cup and studying it's surface.  “Pedophile.  I let him run for almost a mile before I ended it.”

                I chuckled at his joke.  If you had told me last year that I'd think that the death of any human, even a piece of filth like a child predator, was funny, I would have asked what drug you were on.  However, having seen the memories of my vampire boyfriend, who had been raised in a child brothel, I found any horrible thing that happened to pedophiles to be richly deserved.

                That wasn't on my mind that day, however.  “Do you really hate Trevor?”