Yvette's Haven

“Let it be, vampire. Nothing good will come of it.”

At the kitchen door, he held her back with a hand on her shoulder. “Tell me now.” He tightened his grip and lowered his face to her neck. “Or I’m going to take a bite out of you.”

Francine jabbed her elbow back, landing it in his ribs, but his body was so hard, it barely registered.

“You don’t want to be at the receiving end of my witchcraft,” she warned.

“I can bite faster than you can cast a spell.” Zane wasn’t a hundred percent sure his claim was accurate, but hell, he could bluff. He’d never seen Francine exercise her powers on any of his colleagues, so he didn’t know what she was capable of. “And I bet you wouldn’t want me to tell Gabriel that you’re withholding information. Once his trust in someone is shattered, he can be quite ruthless.”

Francine pulled her shoulder free of his grip, and he allowed it, realizing from her silence that she was ready to comply. She didn’t look at him; instead, she simply stared into the kitchen.

“Haven’s father didn’t want Katie to be born.”

“What?” He couldn’t have heard right. “He wanted his wife to abort?”

“When he found out about the prophecy and realized it would be fulfilled, he implored Jennifer to terminate the pregnancy. But she refused.”

“Hold it: what prophecy?” Zane never liked the sound of things like prophecies, fate, and other such nonsense.

Francine turned to face him. “The three children of a simple witch will become the most powerful witches of our era and will upset the power balance of the underworld. When Whit, Jennifer’s husband, found out about it, he felt betrayed by her. All she wanted from him was those three children, so they would become the Power of Three. So they would rule the underworld.”

“Ah, shit!” What the fuck had they gotten into now? If Haven was so powerful, how could they ever rescue Yvette? “If that’s true Yvette’s as good as dead.”

Francine shook her head. “Haven’s not a bad man.”

Zane let out a bitter laugh. “And what makes him not evil? You said you haven’t even seen him in twenty years. The boy you knew doesn’t exist anymore. He’s a powerful witch, and he’ll kill Yvette. If she isn’t already dead.”

“No, he can’t. The prophecy was never fulfilled.”

“What?”

“Without Katie, there is no Power of Three. And Katie is gone; I searched for her myself. Jennifer was my friend, and as misguided as she was about wanting to harness her children’s power, her children deserved better. I could never find where Katie had been taken. And I wasn’t the only one looking for her. For all I know the vampire who took her killed her.”

“Why?”

“To make certain that the three siblings would never join to become the Power of Three. Separating them forever is the only way to stop the prophecy.”

Was that the light at the end of the tunnel, or just an approaching train? “Does that mean Haven is not as powerful as we think?”

Francine glanced around the kitchen. “From what I can see here, it seems he doesn’t even practice witchcraft.” She opened a drawer, then a few cabinets. “Nothing in here tells me that he makes potions.”

“But Yvette was overpowered with a potion. Some pink smoke or something.” Zane stroked his palm over his bald head trying to release the stiffness in his neck and shoulders.

“There’s nothing here that would make that kind of potion. There’s no residue anywhere.” She pointed toward the pots that were stacked next to the stove. “Those pots have never seen a witch’s potion. If they had, I would be able to sense it. You can trust me on that, vampire.”

Could he? What choice did he have? But one questions still hung in the air.

“Why are you helping us find him?”

“Because I need to know what happened to him, and if he’s truly turned bad, then maybe I can help him turn his life around. I feel responsible for not having stopped Jennifer when I still could have. I owe her children.”

Zane nodded. At least the witch had some noble reason. “How do we find him?”

“We need something that has his DNA on it so I can scry for him.”

“Bathroom,” he instantly answered and left the kitchen.

The bathroom was tiny and in dire need of an upgrade. Cracks in the sink and the bathtub revealed that the rental apartment was not in the best shape. Add to that the sketchy neighborhood, and Zane knew that Haven wasn’t here to stay. The faster they found him, the better before he slipped through their fingers.