Caged Queen (Blood and Magic 1)

Chapter Three

Aspen

“Mum.” Like a child, I called for her before my feet had even passed the threshold. There was always comfort to be found in my mum. Not because she was overly motherly, in fact she was the complete opposite to what people would call nurturing. She just had this air about her. It was no nonsense. She was a woman who got things done. Even whilst she collected crystals and saged her house on a weekly basis.

She turned in shock, her slim frame engulfed in a much to big dressing gown. But it wasn’t the state of me that caused her eyes to widen in shock. I hadn’t shut the front door behind me, and George had followed in after me.

I hadn’t felt uncomfortable in the back of his car, but I did now with him breathing down my neck.

“George, what are you doing here?” My mums’ eyes darted between he both of us, her face becoming more and more troubled by the second. “Has something happened?” rushing forward, she tilted my chin up. Her eye skimming over me in search for any injury.

“Yeah, some things happened. You best sit down Chelle.”

I frowned at him I hadn’t realised they were on first name terms. But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. It wasn’t unheard of that coven socialised and my mum was still a beautiful woman.

“George.” Clutching me to her side, she slid into one of the stools. “What happened?”

“Vampire.” There was venom in his voice when he said it. and my mum paled even more.

“You got bitten? Goddess, Aspen are you…” She turned my face every which way, her eyes searching for the tell-tale marks on my skin. She wouldn’t find any, the vampire hadn’t bit me.

“He didn’t touch her, she led him outside and well I will let Aspen tell you the rest.”

I threw him a disgusted look. Why had he come in here? This was something I needed to speak to my mum about alone. He ignored me.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen mum.”

My tone said so much more than my words could. She recoiled like I had slapped her. shaking her head furiously. “No Aspen, please tell me it’s not what I think it is”

I ducked my head down, so it was George who spoke up again. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to do it, Chelle but there were witnesses. Witnesses that will state she was staring at him all night.”

I threw him a startle glance. How the hell would he knew what I had been doing all night. “I wasn’t staring at anyone; I didn’t mean to do it. I was trying to shake him off all night.” I paused but was that entirely true? I had been staring at him, by accident sure. But I had known he might take it as an invitation.

“I did not mean to,”

“It doesn’t really matter whether you meant to or not right now aspen.” George carried on, drawing himself up to his full heigh and puffing out his chest. Like some kind of uniformed peacock, he stopped there and preened in front o my mother. “What matters is what you do now. You killed a vampire.”

“I know what I did, and that’s why I need to leave.” I huffed angrily

“No, there is no where you can go now that they won’t follow. Not now they know what you are. If you run, they will kill everyone you know. Is that what you want for your mum, Aspen?”

I glared at him before turning to her. ducking my head until it rested on her shoulder. When I was younger, I used to all asleep like this. with my cheek resting on her shoulder and her scent filling my lungs. It used to comfort me.

It didn’t comfort me anymore.

“Of course, she has to run, it doesn’t matter what happens to us.” My mother was outraged. Hr voice becoming shriller by the second.

“Maybe I can help there.” George’s voice dropped to a barely there whisper. “I have some connections in the court thanks to my station. Maybe I can ask for leniency.”

“Station?” My eyebrows dropped down. Creasing my forehead into a frown.

“George is the witch’s liaison to the vampire court.”

The icy calmness was back, settling over my shoulders. Of course, he was. I had known it was too much of a coincenance when he just happened to turn up. It was because he was working with them. Working with the blood suckers.

Traitor.

My mother wasn’t looking at him like a traitor though, she was looking at him like he had jut thrown us a life raft. “George, thank you. That’s so kind of you and I know Aspen, would thank you herself if she wasn’t in so much shock.”

She was apologising for me when she shouldn’t be. George wasn’t going to talk to the masters out of the goodness of his heart but to save his own skin. And even if he did talk to them, there was nothing he could say that would make my fate any different.

I was a dead necromancer.

“Isn’t that right Aspen?”

Sliding out from under her arms, I nodded but my voice sounded hollow. “Yeah, yeah of course. Thank George. I’m going to go and lay down for a second mum. If that’s ok?”

“Of course, magic takes it out of you. I totally understand?” she kissed my cheek dutifully, but it was like I could already feel her pulling away from me.

She didn’t understand, none of my coven could. They didn’t have a power between them if they had, they would have known the truth. They would have been able to feel the power still curling around me. And they would have known that power didn’t make you tired. It made you wired.

The best drug in the world.

I stalked away, leaving them in the kitchen to make their plans. They could make all the plan they wanted it wouldn’t make any difference. Even if I hadn’t of lured that vampire out into the morning sunlight, I was a necromancer and that meant I was a dead girl walking.

Running was my only option. It would buy me a little time.

Flopping down onto my bed I groaned. How had it all gone so wrong? It was meant to be nothing but a fun night out with my work colleagues. I groaned again. Jesus my work colleagues. What must they be thinking? The last they had seen was the man grabbing me and bursting into flames. I hadn’t stuck around to see if they were ok, I ha just run.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid Aspen.” I should have stayed, played the part of confused and frightened human. The scared part wouldn’t have even been a lie. I had been scared. I was still.

If I had learnt to control my powers properly it would have never of happened. If I stayed home, like my mum wanted it would never have happened.

No. I flopped onto my back. Staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. This was always going to happen. Maybe not in that way but it was inevitable that the Vampires would find out what I was. The moment my powers had manifested, I had been on borrowed time. That couldn’t be changed now.

But I did need to leave. It was the only chance my mum had. I owed her a chance. Atter my dad had left there had only been me and her. she had sacrifice everything to keep me safe and happy. I owed her the same.

Quietly, so I wouldn’t be heard I rolled from the bed and padded bare foot towards my dresser. The murmur of voice from the kitchen had lowered and I couldn’t work out what they were saying or even if George was still here.

I hoped he wasn’t, he hadn’t done anything to make me not trust him but there was something sketchy about him. something I didn’t’ trust but I couldn’t put my finger on. Yanking open the drawers I gathered up the first sweaters that my fingers touched. It didn’t matter what I took really, as long as I had some clothes. It wasn’t like I needed to be fashionable. Throwing them on the bed, I was already pulling open the second drawer when I heard the floorboard outside my door creak.

Freezing I turned to my closed door a second too late. The sharp scrape of the key turning in the lock made me cry out.

“Mum?” I couldn’t move. Half of me didn’t want to. I didn’t want to walk towards that door and see for myself that I had been locked in.

“This is for your own good Aspen. Trist me and your mum, we have to do this.”

It wasn’t my mum who spoke from the other side of that door, it was George.

No good son of a b***h. I crumbled to the floor in a heap. I knew he wasn’t to be trusted.