Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance

Chapter 204: Chapter 204

Heather

I’d hoped to hear from the witch by the morning, but when that didn’t happen, we had to continue with our original plan. We all crammed into one SUV, and by the afternoon we’d realized what a mistake that was.

There was nothing fun about a group of cranky supernaturals. Even thought our rental had three rows of seats, that still left two people squished in the trunk. Cosette hadn’t returned with Van.

or now, that was okay, because there was no way they could’ve fit, but I was starting to get worried.

It had taken forever to get moving this morning. Everyone wanted a shower, and with only two bathrooms, that took for freaking ever.

Then all the Weres needed food. By the time we hit the road to start looking at churches, it was already past noon. Although we figured that was an advantage if we were going to be up against demons.

Still, with no Cosette and no luck finding the right church, the mood in the car was tense.

"There’s another option two miles away," I said. Brent was driving, and I was sitting shotgun at the moment, but we’d been rotating seats at each stop. Although, it wasn’t a very diplomatic seat rotation. It was more of a mad scramble—people crawling over each other trying to get a good spot. Slowest got the trunk.

And no one was playing fair. I had to warn Xander and Serena more than once to be careful with the witches. But Raphael had been in the same window seat after the past three churches and he looked pretty smug about it, so I was thinking magic was involved.

"If she’s at the last one on our list, I’m going to freak out," Serena said as she leaned between the front seats. She blew a chunk of pink hair out of her face. "Are you getting any helpful feelings yet?"

"If I do, I’ll let you know." I wished I had a better way to get us there, but I’d been so focused on the people in my vision, I hadn’t been paying that much attention to the decorating. I knew the church we wanted was adobe and had stained glass windows, but beyond that, I had no clue. "Why don’t you pick the next one?" I handed the map to her. We’d circled all the possibilities in red marker. Only three circles were left.

So at least this was almost over.

Still, every time we got to a church, our energy level amped up. When it was a bust, we all flagged. It was like a never-ending adrenaline roller coaster.

I just hoped we found Luciana before dark.

Serena picked the next church and we were off. It took about ten minutes driving north of the city. We followed a few winding dirt roads until we ended up at a weed-choked parking lot. The church was run-down and slowly being swallowed up by desert foliage.

The adobe was right, but I didn’t see any windows. It had small bell tower and ornately carved wooden doors. One had an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and other was the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Whoever made them was an amazing artist. They’d made the wood come to life.

But as I took in the building, I knew something was off. "It’s not the one from my vision, but..." There was a funny feel in the air. Almost a compulsion to run away. It reminded me of the wards on the compound, although it wasn’t nearly as strong. "Does anyone else feel that?"

"Yes." Claudia rubbed her arms. "It’s warded."

At least I wasn’t imagining it.

"I don’t want to go in there. Not even a little bit," Shane said.

"It’s just a little magic," Raphael said. "Maybe the local coven uses this spot. If you guys want to stay here, I’ll check it out." He hopped out of the car before anyone could stop him.

I shared a look with Brent. Should we follow him?

Better not let him go alone, Brent said. Claudia was already on his heels anyway.

Guess we’re going too, then. I grabbed my messenger bag of potions and followed after them. I still didn’t feel right about this, but we had to at least check it out.

Raphael was almost to the door when the clouds shifted. For a second, the sun flashed and a blinding beam of light reflected off something on the front stoop.

I squinted at the spot. Faint and barely visible, a silver line arced out from under the doorway, embedded in the floorboards. I would never have noticed it if not for the change in light.

But why would there be a silver arc in the floor?

My chest tightened. He couldn’t touch it.

"Wait!" I raced to Raphael, yanking him back just before his foot stepped over the line. "Wait."

"What?" Raphael pulled free from my grip. "We have to check inside."

"It’s a trap. Look at the silver line. If that’s part of a circle and we cross it, who knows what could happen."

"Where?" Claudia asked.

"Just tilt your head." I pointed to the spot.

"You’re right." Claudia’s eyes widened and she gripped Raphael’s shoulder.

The Weres had caught up to us, but still stood back.

"What does that mean?" Serena asked. "Is this the right church or not?"

"This isn’t where she opens the gate to hell, but there’s something else here." I stared at the door. Doing a spell to make it open wouldn’t have been that hard, but I was worried any magic would set off the wards. "We need to go in. There’s something about this place..." The wind shifted, and I lost my train of thought for a second. "Do you smell that?"

"Sulfur?" Claudia asked.

"That." Xander leaned in a little closer and then shook his head. "And death. There are bodies in there."

"I knew those wards felt familiar. They’re Luciana’s." Claudia tugged on the end of her braid.

"Do you think she’s still here?" Serena asked.

"No," Claudia said. "I don’t think she’d stick around after killing again."

Shit. Now we really needed to go inside. But crossing the wards would signal Luciana we were here, and if we broke the circle, we could release a demon or anything else she might’ve left to surprise us. A total double whammy of a trap, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Luciana at this point. "Any suggestions how to do this?"

Light flashed and a few of us jumped as Cosette and Van appeared. They held hands, but Cosette pulled away as soon as the light was gone. Van didn’t exactly scowl, but he didn’t look happy about it either.

"Good morning, friends." Cosette smiled, too coy for her own good. She wore skinny jeans and a flowy white top that hung off her shoulder. Her hair shone in clean, glossy curls. I wrinkled my nose at her. She actually smelled like jasmine. How unfair was that?

"Where the hell did you come from?" Xander asked.

"I second that," Serena said.

She shrugged. "My magic’s restricted. Van’s isn’t."

Not exactly an explanation, but it was as good as we were getting out of her. She nudged Van, who took a step forward. "I didn’t mean to interrupt you all so rudely last night. You may call me Van. I’ll be your ally as long as Cosette is."

Cosette rolled her eyes. "By that, he means he looks forward to fighting with us."

"That’s great," Xander said, his voice rasping a little, "but I’m still stuck on where the hell did you come from?"

"We were nearby, watching." Cosette gave a vague wave. "We didn’t feel the need to ride on your roof rack."

No one could blame her for that. She’d showed when we needed her and that was all that mattered.

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