Chapter Thirty-Five

“Let’s find out.” Fitz turned back to me, and he nearly did a double take. “Your eyes. Why are they silver?”

I blinked. “What?” I moved to the car and peeked into the side mirror. I’d never seen what I looked like after I fed, but it was shocking to say the least. I was so used to my dark blue eyes that the sharp contrast actually made me gasp.

“How is that happening?” Phin asked. “I thought they only turn silver after a vampire drinks blood.”

I stood and turned back. “I bit him. I tasted blood.”

Juliet shook her head. “It takes more than a taste. But it’s not the only time it happens. When you’re using a lot of power it happens too. Same with the heartbeat. Kicks in when things get to level eleven crazy.”

Again, I didn’t know why it was happening, but I knew we couldn’t stand here with a dead body. “We can worry about it later. What do we do with Ivan?”

Fitz’s eyebrows pressed together. “Did you name the body, Sugar?”

“No. It’s his name.”

He still looked confused. “And how do you know that?”

I opened my mouth before I realized I didn’t know. “Um… I’m not sure. But I know it’s his name.” I felt it. Now and before. Ivan Dexy.

Fitz stared at me for about five seconds before he went over to the body. He dug into his pockets, and pulled out car keys and a wallet. When he opened the wallet, his eyebrow went up. “Ivan Dexy.” He looked up at me. “Are you positive you don’t know him?”

“Yeah. I’ve been holed up in hotels for weeks. I haven’t met anyone. And no one’s tried to kill me. Jesus, I just said that out loud.” I stared up at the sky. “I miss the days when I sat around without pants on, just reading ‘til I passed out.”

Fitz laughed. “Worry not, love. You’ll have those days back.”

Phin groaned. “Goddammit, Fitz, I’m already sick! Don’t make me puke all over the corpse.”

“If I wanted to make you puke, I’d describe to you what your sister sounds like when my tongue is in her mouth.”

I yanked a boot off of my foot, and threw it at Fitz. He hardly noticed. “I hate you.”

Phin dry heaved. “Uhhh. My sister is pure and untouched. She will be ‘til her last breath.”

Fitz clicked his tongue. “What’s your definition of pure? For example, if I had my hand up her dress, is she still pure?”

I walked over to him, picked up my boot, and smacked his head. “Knock it off or I’ll stab you in the heart.”

“Mmm.” He smiled. “I like when you get violent.” He stood up and examined the keys in his hand. “Let’s go find us a car.”

At this point, it was almost silly to argue with him. He’d just do whatever he wanted, so we followed him around the parking lot.

“Ya know there’s a dead body next to our car.” Juliet jabbed her thumb behind us.

“Yup,” Fitz said as he tried to match the key to the kinds of cars we were near. “We’ll be fine.” He started hitting the button until he heard a beeping. It was past the parking lot, and left on the side of the road. It wasn’t a very nice car, but it was good enough for transporting murderers I guess.

Fitz opened the trunk when he peeked into the cab to find nothing of importance. We didn’t have the same issue with the trunk. There was one box, and Fitz wasted no time flipping it open. In it was a stack of files. Within three seconds of reading the first one, he started cursing.

“What?” I asked, taking the file. It was only two seconds for me. “Oh, fuck me…”

There were four sets of raised eyebrows behind us, but Ferris was the one to say, “Care to share with the rest of the Justice League?”

I sighed and closed the file. “Remember how I told you guys about how we were kidnapped by a bunch of people that sold demons with interesting specialties?”

“Yeah,” the four of them said in one way or another.

“Good. Cuz they’re after Fitz and me. Still…” I almost groaned. The file I held had Fitz’s name in it. There was no doubt in my mind that I had a file in there too.

“Lemme see that.” Juliet went for the file, but I held it away from her. It had the information from the facility in it, and I didn’t want her knowing what it said. It was too private for her. And since Fitz wouldn’t talk about it, I didn’t know how it made him feel. I handed it to Fitz, and he nodded gratefully.

I flat out ignored Juliet, and started digging through for more files. I started handing them off for the group to go through. It was mostly nothing important. Phin was the one to find my file. Nothing new. Each had a stamp on the front if that demon was in their custody.

“Will?” Pepper said tentatively. “Where’s that tracker demon from?”

I looked at her, hoping the conclusion I jumped to was wrong. “Louisiana.”

“Dammit.” She thrust the file into my hands. “Read it.”

I skimmed it, taking in the information. “Dawnie Queen. Age eighty-six. Demon. Specialty… tracking. She’s from the bayou in Louisiana.” There was a picture of a young looking girl with short orange hair. It stopped at her chin, and flared out wildly. Her face was covered in freckles. “Captured.”

“They have her?” Juliet asked as she crossed her arms. “So we’re kinda screwed then. Does it say when they got her? Maybe your parents already found her.”

I checked it over, and there was no date. I said as much and followed it with, “What are we supposed to do about this? She was the only hope we had of Mom and Dad finding us.”

“Not our only problem,” Fitz sighed. “They want us. And if they find out about Itty Bitty’s powers, they’ll sure as hell want her. I’ve never heard of anyone with something like her.”

“Thank you.” Pepper smiled and bowed.

I shrugged. “So we find them, then we get rid of the threat.” Since apparently that place we were locked in wasn’t all of them. I guess the facility really can’t do a thing right. “Then we get Dawnie, and have her lead us to my parents.”

Fitz didn’t seem to like that. “That’s a bit of a risk, don’t you think? If your parents are worth their salt, then they can find you without us risking our lives.”

“But it’s not just about that, and you know it. These people want us. Do we need two groups of crazy people trying to get us?”

“Point taken. Dammit.” He started digging through the box. “We need to know where to go.” He got to the bottom, and pulled out a thick piece of paper. “Ah.” He smiled. “This is a start.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“An invite to a party. Looks fancy.”

I took the paper and read it. It was invite only, and it was to a gala. It didn’t give many specifics, but it said where and when it was being held. That was good enough. “If this was found in the box, then I think it’s safe to say some of these people will be there.”

“Cool.” Ferris rocked up on his heels. “Who gets to go?”

“It says you can have a plus one. So two of us.”

Fitz took the invite and stuck it in the box. “Then it’ll be you and I, Sugar.” He closed the box and the trunk before he started walking.

“No, we’re talking about it,” I said. “If this has those kinds of people there, then we can get more information on where their base is.”

We got to the car, and the body was still on the ground. I tried not to look at it as Fitz was putting the file box in the trunk. He got into the driver’s seat, and I got into the passenger’s as everyone else climbed in. He started driving. Guess we were leaving the body.

“Why wouldn’t it be the two of us?” Fitz asked.

“Because you and I are arguably the strongest people in this group. If both of us were separated from the rest, then it can put them in danger. Especially since Juliet is the only fighter of the four of them. I should take one, and you stay with the others. We can get some kind of communication thingy, and keep in contact with it.”

Still, he didn’t seem to be okay with it. “Who goes with you?”

I smiled, and looked behind me. “Wanna be my date, Ferris?”

His eyes widened. “Can I wear a tux?”

“I’ll be in a dress, so I think you should.”

“I’m in.”

“There ya go.” I looked back at Fitz.

“We can talk more later,” he decided. “For now, we’re going straight to a hotel near that gala. I want to be close.”

***

Hours later, we got to a place that Fitz decided was good enough. We were ten miles from the venue. We found three rooms next to each other, and broke them up like we did before. Again, my room seemed to be base. Room service was ordered, and I sat on my bed with Ferris while Fitz sat on his bed. Everyone else was on the couch.

Pepper had Twix on her knee, and she was breaking up a fry for him. He ate the pieces gladly.

“Sugar?” Fitz said.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to you after that guy dropped you? You looked like you were a million miles away, and it had nothing to do with fear.”

“I don’t know what happened. The guy had me, and I bit him until he let go. Then I landed on the ground, and everything got all fuzzy. I was seeing you guys from a different point of view. Like you were standing over me as opposed to behind me. And I kept seeing pictures of people I didn’t know. And feelings I didn’t have. It was like I was having double vision.”

Fitz considered it for a moment. “How hard did you bite him?”

“Hard enough to taste blood. Why does it matter?”

“Since your eyes were silver, it was either from blood or power. Since it wasn’t nearly enough for blood, it would make me think you were using a great deal of power.”

Ferris narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that every demon has a specialty. And Willow is a demon.”

“Hardly half,” I corrected.

His head whipped around to me. “No such thing. Your blood is made up of half of each, but that doesn’t really make you half. You can’t be half a vampire or half a demon. You’re all of both. And I think you just found your specialty.”

I shook my head. “And that would be what? Double vision?”

“You were in his head. You knew his name, and you saw what he was seeing.”

“Why do you think this has anything to do with my demon-ness?”

He looked at me like I was dumb. “Sugar, what else could it be?”

“I don’t know. I’ve had blood before, and this hasn’t happened. It was only a tiny amount anyway.”

“Maybe that was all you needed. And I’m not what he was. Maybe it doesn’t work like that with shifters.”

Pepper cut in. “What was he?”

Fitz shrugged. “Maybe he was a demon. That or vampire. I’m not either of those things.”

My tone got snippy. “You have vampire DNA. Enough for a Blood Link.”

“Still something different than I am.”

“Okay,” Pepper stepped up. “Then she should test more blood. See if it happens again.”

She started walking to me, and Fitz held his hands up. “No way. You’re not tasting all these people.”

“Why?” I asked. “If we want to know, then I need to.”

His eyes were almost hostile. “Because I don’t want you to.”

I laughed. “Well that confirms my decisions. Line up, kids.”

Phin, Juliet, Pepper, and Ferris all stood in front of me, willing to let me open a vein for this stupid theory. Juliet was first.

“Good luck.” She held her wrist out to me. I brought my fangs out, and grabbed her arm.

“Wait.” Fitz held his hands out. “You should drink from me first.”

I snorted. “You have ulterior motives. And we’ve already been over the fact that your blood did nothing.”

I bit Juliet, and she winced. I drank about an ounce of her blood and let go of her. She stood back, and Pepper handed her a towel for her wrist. “Anything?”

I waited a few seconds. The blood— while not unpleasant —wasn’t anywhere near as amazing as Fitz’s tasted to me. I blamed the Link and the fact that Juliet was a dead vampire. It was the least helpful and nurturing blood that a vampire could drink. It wouldn’t even replace a meal for me.

“Nothing,” I said. “I see everything normal.

Phin came up to me next. “I hope I don’t get you sick.”

I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m sorry that I have to drink your blood. It’s kinda messed up that I’m pretty much having a wine tasting of all my friends.”

“Not all,” Fitz grumbled.

“You’re not my friend,” I snapped back at him.

“True.” He smiled. “Friends don’t normally let friends put their mouth on—” I shoved him off the bed before he could finish talking. He landed with a thud that made me smile.

“I hate you,” I told him and turned back to Phin.

I heard Fitz get back up, and sit on the bed. “Just for that, I’m only going to go down on you once before we finally have sex. I hope you’re happy. Normally my foreplay is much more impressive.”

I blushed and glared at him. “You’re never touching me. If you try, then I’ll hurt you.”

“Please do.”

When I looked back at my friends, both boys were frowning. “Sorry. Can we just get this over with?” Phin gave me his wrist and I drank again. Not a damn thing happened.

Pepper was next, and she had Twix sticking out from her jacket. “Cool it, Twixy. Mama just needs to give Aunt Willow a little blood.” She gave me her wrist. “Enjoy.”

When I tasted her blood, it was almost like a charge of electricity went through me. Still not what Fitz was, but this was good too. I felt the power and strength I was getting from the demon blood.

“Whoa.” Pepper smiled when I dropped her wrist. “Your eyes are shimmering with silver.”

“And that’s all,” I sighed. “Nothing is happening. This is a waste of time.”

Ferris stepped up. “I want my turn. I can be the Key just like in Buffy.”

I smiled. “Dawn was supposed to die because she was the Key.”

He shrugged and pulled his sleeve up. “I’ll risk it.”

I sank my teeth into his skin, and started drinking. I took the same as I took from everyone else and then dropped his wrist.

Again, I waited for something to happen. This was never going to work. I should have never humored Fitz. This is all I get. Annoyance and disappointment.

…waited forever to see that last Batman movie and it sucked. Ruined Talia. She loves Batman…

“That pissed me off too,” I told Ferris. “She calls him Beloved for god’s sake. How do you mess that up?”

Everyone was looking at me, and it was unsettling. “Huh?” Ferris said, somehow with his mouth open.

My forehead crinkled as my vision became blurry. “I agree with you. She should have been like she was in the comics.” I blinked a few times, but my vision wasn’t fixing itself. I was staring down at the carpet to focus it. It looked the same until I saw myself looking down.

“I didn’t say that out loud,” Ferris told me. “Did…did you read my thoughts?”

I stared up at him, and saw us both. “Oh god. Hold on.” I closed my eyes and stood up. I could see everything he was seeing. Me, I was standing and I could see Fitz watching me.

I tried thinking in my head to see how this worked. Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

“Ahh!” I ripped my eyes open. “I heard you!” I sat down on the bed quickly. At the same time, Ferris plopped down on the floor.

“What the hell!” He stared down at himself. “I didn’t do that!”

“Gaa!”

“Gaa indeed!”

I jumped up again, and he did the same. My hands covered my mouth. “Why is this happening!”

“I don’t know!” Ferris shouted.

I felt Fitz’s hand on mine as he pulled me back to the bed. This time, Ferris didn’t move. “Stay calm,” Fitz said.

“How can I stay calm? I can read his thoughts and my body is controlling his!”

“I’m aware. But if you want to learn more about this, calm the fuck down.” He rubbed my arm to make up for the harsh words. It didn’t work. “So, this is working on Ferris. Only him. He’s the only fully living vampire here.”

I shut my eyes when the double vision started giving me a headache. I watched Fitz through Ferris’s eyes. He looked a little worried for me, and it made his eyes appear soft. It made me think about when he decided he wanted to be with me. I wished I could believe he was capable of having those kinds of feelings. To be remorseful. Maybe then I could entertain the thought of wanting him back. But what I told him was true. I couldn’t love a monster.

Oh, Willow. I’m so sorry. Ferris said to me.

Dammit. I didn’t know I was thinking that.

Please. I said back. Don’t tell them. It doesn’t matter anyway, I told him no.

Why?

What do you mean, why? Because he’s a bad person.

He got you out of that place, twice.

He’s done so much more than I told Ferris. I wasn’t about to tell him, but it was enough for me to never forgive the man.

“What do I do now?” I asked Fitz before he noticed I was in a different conversation.

“Experiment, I guess.”

“I don’t want to take more of Ferris’s blood. He’s not food.”

Ferris spoke up. “I don’t mind helping you. This is too important to ignore. Maybe we can practice tomorrow morning. You’ve got the talking down. You just need control over bodies. And one more thing. If you knew all about that guy, you should try digging into my head more. Maybe you can gain info from people.”

The idea of drinking from strangers just for this little talent was a bit unsettling. But if it needed to be done, I’d do it. I wasn’t in a position to turn down something like this.

“Fine,” I decided. “We can try tomorrow.”

Ferris nodded with satisfaction. “Good. I’m glad you get a super power. We’ll put it to good use.”

Everyone left our room after dinner, and I was left alone with Fitz. Again. I grabbed my sleep clothes, and went to the bathroom to change. When I came back out, I put my old clothes away.

I heard Fitz laugh.

“What?” I stopped at the foot of my bed.

He looked me up and down. “You’re in my shirt again.”

I looked down, and sighed. I forgot that I’d been wearing them. “They’re just more comfortable than the paper thin tank tops Juliet got me. This is my only option. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Sure.” He pulled off his shirt, and I instantly looked away. He was doing it on purpose, and I couldn’t let him win. I got into my bed, and laid on my back.

I heard him take his pants off, and get into his own bed. “Goodnight, Sugar.”

“Stay in your own bed tonight. It’s all kinds of creepy of you to sneak up on me like that.” I shut out the lamp on my side of the room.

“It hurts that you reject me like that.” He put his hand on his bare chest. “You keep trying to make me think you don’t want me. And I know you do.”

I snorted. “Do I?”

“You do.”

“How do you figure?”

“Easy.” He laid back and looked up instead of at me. “Remember last night? Of course you do. Well, you didn’t fight me at all when I had you against the wall. Or when I brought you to the bed, and laid you down under me. When I started taking your clothes off.”

“I stopped you,” I corrected him. “So your point is invalid.”

“No it’s not. Yes, you did stop me. But not for a while. You let me get much farther than I thought you were going to. And you kissed me back like your life depended on it. You wanted it as much as I wanted it, and you can’t lie about that.”

He was wrong. I didn’t want him. Just because I kissed him didn’t mean I didn’t hated him. “I already told you that sexual attraction has nothing to do with real feelings. It won’t become anything.”

I saw him smile. “It’s a start. It means that at least part of you wants me. A very good part. Soon the rest will follow, and you’ll figure out that you belong to me.”

“I do not belong to you.” He didn’t even realize that he was driving my point home. If he wanted me to believe any of what he was saying, he’d try and be better. Less commanding and possessive. The fact was that he just wasn’t capable of it.

He shut his light out without a word. There was still a smile on his face like he thought he was winning. Dealing with someone who didn’t know how wrong they were. Our roles were reversed exactly.