Cloud City
By Jeanne C. Stein
Chapter One
Witches come in two flavors: good and bad. A while ago, I would have pegged the witch sitting across from me squarely in the
good
category. But that was before I killed her sister, the black witch Belinda Burke.
Sophie Deveraux hasn’t said two words since appearing unexpectedly at my office door. It happens I’m alone since my bounty hunting business partners, David and Tracey, are in Arizona tracking a skip. I elected to stay behind and handle office duties. The last few months I’ve had more than my share of excitement.
My name is Anna Strong. I’m a vampire. Not just any vampire, but the Chosen One. Which means besides the usual problems vampires face, finding safe food sources, hiding my identity from my human family, avoiding the pitfalls that would “out” me to an unsuspecting mortal world, I have other uber-vamps to contend with. Not all of whom wish me well.
But that’s another story.
Right now, I’m alone with a witch whose intentions I can’t read. Sophie looks twenty-something. Her perfect face is framed by shoulder-length dark hair. Her skin stretches smooth over high cheekbones, her thick-lashed eyes are clear and blue as a summer sky. Her mouth is pursed a little, an indication that she’s not overjoyed at being here. She’s dressed in tailored slacks and a form fitting jersey top that emphasizes her full figure.
I have a feeling it’s not a top that Sophie picked out herself.
Of course not.
A familiar masculine voice intrudes on my thoughts.
I’m trying to update her wardrobe and it’s no easy task. She has the taste of a puritan.
Sophie’s lips grow thinner.
I smile.
Hello Jonathan. Wondered when you’d speak up.
At that, Sophie decides to speak up, too. “Being here is his idea. Not mine.”
And it’s a damned good one.
Jonathan’s voice fairly crackles with anger.
Anna can help us. And if you’d like to continue breathing, and just for the record, I would very much like you to continue breathing, you’ll let her.
The very first time I heard a male voice projecting from that petite, feminine body, I thought Sophie had been possessed. By what, I had no idea. But it creeped me out. Turns out, what happened to her was Sophie’s doing. She didn’t intend to share her body with a vampire but after Jonathan was immolated by his wife at a birthday party, Sophie mixed his ashes in with a face cream. She thought it might reverse the ageing process. It did, but the side effect was that she absorbed his essence. Now she’s a hybrid vampire-witch with the physical perfection of a twenty year old and the abilities of an eighty-year-old very powerful witch.
And since their two personalities are polar opposites, it’s not exactly a smooth cohabitation.
The vampire side, Jonathan, can speak to me telepathically. Sophie, though, while she can hear our head talk if Jonathan allows her access, can only speak to either of us in the mortal way. Her emotions are felt by Jonathan and vice versa.
Personally, I don’t know how she keeps from going insane.
I shift in my chair, waiting for one of them to tell me the reason they’re here. When neither takes the initiative, I do.
“I take it this isn’t a social call.”
Sophie releases a deep sigh, not a wistful sigh, but a frustrated, angry one. “Jonathan has gotten us in a mess. Another mess, I might add. Because of his vanity he’s put my life in danger.”
Mine, too, don’t forget. If you die, I die.
She sniffs. “You should have thought of that sooner.”
How could I have known of all the editors at all the publishing houses, we would have ended up with one with a grudge?
Sophie opens her mouth to bark a retort, but I hold up a hand. “What are you talking about? What editor? What’s going on?”
Sophie’s mouth clamps shut as if waiting for Jonathan to reply. Jonathan is not jumping to the bait.
“One of you better tell me why you’re here. I do have other things
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