Safe Hex With a Vampire Read online

Safe Hex With

  A Vampire

  Cassandra Lawson

  Copyright ©2013 Cassandra Lawson

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and events are creations of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by federal law enforcement agencies and is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Also by Cassandra Lawson

  Love Without Batteries

  Dirty at 30 (Book 1)

  Naughty at 30 (Book 2)

  Moon Virus Series

  Raven’s Blood (Book 1)

  Embrace the Heat (Book 2)

  Seducing Death (Book 3)

  Shattered Restraint (Book 4)

  Impulsive Destiny (Book 5)

  Untamed Winter (Book 6)

  Psy-Vamp Series

  Vampires and Vixens (Book 1)

  Vampires Prefer Blondes (Book 3)

  The Vampire Will See You Now (Book 4)

  Wanton with a Vampire (Book 5)

  Vampire in Geek’s Clothing (Book 6)

  Wicked Crazy Vampire Love (Book 7)

  Spells That Bind Series

  Sinfully Spellbound (Book 1)

  Shameless Spellbound (Book 2)

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you Jennifer, Jessica, Carla, Kara, Trista, Levenia, and Melissa for all your insights. You ladies are fantastic! I am also grateful to my mom and dad for always encouraging me to follow my dreams.

  Chapter One

  Many younger members in the Draksel family look at the painting and see my late wife, Lenore. Those who are older, or simply have a good eye, know this girl is not Lenore. She was never the wife of the man sitting here now. She was the wife of the boy who still believed he was, at least somewhat, human.

  Excerpt from Roman Draksel’s blog

  Aiden Draksel was nervous. Actually, terrified was a better word. His Uncle Roman hadn’t spoken one word to him since the unfortunate incident. That’s what Aiden chose to call it. The rest of the Draksel family called it the attempted kidnapping of his cousin’s fiancée. The memory made him cringe. He still couldn’t believe his own actions and was glad his mother wasn’t alive to hear about it. Facing her would have scared him much more than facing his uncle.

  The woman had truly been a force to be reckoned with. She’d been a little woman with a big temper. Both he and his father had feared her temper. It was amusing to outsiders since they’d both been nearly a foot taller than her.

  It had been nearly two years since his parents’ deaths, and he still missed them. The pain had lessened but not the loneliness. Loneliness was what had driven him to move to the San Francisco Bay Area to be closer to his cousins. Unfortunately, having lived most of his life away from the Draksel family hierarchy, he didn’t fit in.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, again regretting his decision to cut it short. His hair was normally at least to his collar and often longer. It was one of the few things that had made him stand out in a family of men who looked far too much alike. They all had dark brown hair and light blue eyes. They were all in the neighborhood of six feet tall with relatively similar builds. Worse than that, they all looked around the same age. He wasn’t saying they looked like clones, but the similarities were disconcerting.

  Aiden shifted uncomfortably in his seat. A servant had led him to the family room as soon as he’d arrived at his uncle’s Carmel home. He’d been there more than twenty minutes ago, and his uncle had yet to acknowledge his presence. Aiden grew more anxious as his uncle continued to ignore him.

  Roman Draksel was a frightening man. He was cold and reserved, with a reputation for cruelty. He always dressed in designer clothing and was always meticulously groomed. His uncle wore black trousers paired with a jade green dress shirt. Aiden was tempted to point out the small pink stain on his uncle’s pants, but he decided against it. The small flaw in his uncle’s appearance helped relieve some of Aiden’s tension.

  “She was lovely, wasn’t she?” Roman finally spoke without taking his eyes off the painting of his late wife, Lenore. He’d been staring at it since Aiden’s arrival.

  “Yes,” Aiden agreed. She’d had silky black hair, skin like porcelain, and naturally red lips. He’d been a young man the one time he’d met Lenore, and he’d been more than a little infatuated with her. It had been a long time since her death, but he still remembered the kindness in her blue eyes.

  Aiden frowned as he took note of the eyes in the painting. “Lenore had blue eyes,” he remarked. His infatuation was probably the only reason he remembered that detail.

  His uncle thought for a moment before he nodded. “Yes, I believe she did.”

  “Why does she have brown eyes in the painting?” Aiden asked.

  “The woman in the painting isn’t Lenore,” Roman replied, finally looking at Aiden. “She is, however, the reason I called you here. You have a talent for locating people.”

  Aiden was surprised his uncle knew of his skill. It was true, but it wasn’t something Aiden had shared with anyone other than his parents. Everyone’s life force felt different. All around, he sensed billions of tiny threads representing the life force of every living person, human or vampire. If he’d met someone, especially if he’d touched them, he could reach out with his mind to find the thread belonging to the person and follow it to its source. He hadn’t met the woman in the painting, so his talent would be useless in locating her. “Who is she?” he asked.

  “Her name is Claudia. At one time, more than four centuries ago, she was my wife. Up until recently, I thought she was dead.” There was a hint of emotion in his uncle’s voice.

  “She isn’t dead?”

  Roman shook his head. “It would seem she’s very much alive. When I first saw her, I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. You see, I loved Claudia so much, a part of me died when I lost her.”

  Aiden couldn’t mask his surprise.

  The smile Roman gave him, made his uncle look like a different man. “Yes, I was once a young man full of passion.”

  “Lenore looked a lot like Claudia,” Aiden pointed out. “There could be other women with similar features.”

  “Yes, and that’s why I followed her the next time I saw her. Everything was the same, including the crescent shaped birthmark on her shoulder.” Roman paused as he stared at the painting with a distant look in his eyes. “It has to be her.”

  “Why didn’t you approach her?” It didn’t make any sense for his uncle to ask him to track down a woman when he’d already seen her.

  Roman shrugged. “Initially, I had no intention of contacting her. Too much time has passed to get back what we had. Recently, things have changed.”

  Aiden waited for an explanation, but apparently, his uncle wasn’t in the mood to share too many details. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I want you to find Claudia, speak to her, and see if there’s anything I can do for her.” He hesitated. “I don’t want her to see the man I’ve become or hear about the things I’ve done. I also don’t want to interfere with the life she’s built for herself.”

  Aiden didn’t understand his uncle’s reasoning, but he nodded, anyway. “So, I find Claudia and ask if she needs anything? What’s the catch?”

  Roman looked toward the staircase. There was a strange expression of longing on his face. “It’s time to put my past behind me, once and for all. Do you understand?”

  His uncle was being intentionally cryptic, so he figured there was no point in pushing the issue. At best, he’d get more vague answers. He was happy they weren’t goin
g to discuss the unfortunate incident. Aiden studied the portrait more closely. “How has she changed?”

  “Her appearance hasn’t changed much. Naturally, her clothing was more modern when I saw her.” There was a moment of silence as Roman struggled to define some quality. “She had the look of a predator.”

  That bit of information didn’t surprise Aiden. He felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. The only way she could still be alive was if she’d had his uncle’s child, which meant she’d been transformed into something only vaguely resembling a human being and cast out into the world alone. With no one to protect her or the child, she would have been forced to become a true predator or die. She would have needed blood to survive, but females didn’t have fangs. He didn’t want to know how she’d managed to get blood without fangs.

  Roman handed him a slip of paper. “This is the part of San Francisco where I’ve seen her. I’ve followed her more than once in this area.” He rose from his seat and walked toward the stairs. “You can stay the night in the guest room downstairs. Do not go upstairs under any circumstances.”

  Roman left without another word.

  Aiden’s talent for finding people wouldn’t be of any use, but his uncle’s information might help. He snapped several pictures of the portrait with his phone, not that he could ever miss a woman who looked like Claudia. For a long time, he stared at the painting. There was much more to this story. He’d seen enough of his father’s work to know he’d painted the portrait. On the rare occasion his father had done portraits, they’d been of important people in his life, which left Aiden wondering why his father had never mentioned Claudia.