The Witch's Desire Read Online Free PDF

five-hundred-dollar tip.”
    The man’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll take the tip up front.” He held out his hand.
    Cal shook his head. “Half now, half when you get us to where we’re going.”
    â€œFine.” He waved at the door where Demi and Ursula stood.
    The women left the dry airport for the drenching rain. He loaded Ursula and Demi’s suitcases into the trunk and handed the women into the car. Then he got in and handed the driver two hundred and fifty dollars.
    Ursula sat in the middle between Cal and Demi. Considering they were there to protect her, it was the right thing to do. Still, Cal would rather have Demi beside him so that he could at least tell her how sorry he was at the way things were turning out and maybe hold her hand for the next hour and a half.
    â€œMy dispatcher wasn’t happy about this,” the driver said. “He said the weather there is getting really bad with streets flooding and multicar pileups. I’m not even sure we’ll be able to get in.”
    â€œWe’ll get in,” Cal said. If he had to run barricades, they’d deliver Ursula to the council by morning come hell or high water. And it looked like high water was a distinct possibility. He hoped hell would hold off.
    â€œWhat’s the news on the storm?” Demi asked.
    The driver glanced into the mirror. “It’s headed right for New York City.”
    The hour and a half stretched into two, then three as they encountered heavier than usual traffic, bogged down in the nasty weather. Demi filled Cal in on what Chief Warner had told her, keeping her voice low enough the cabbie couldn’t overhear.
    â€œHello,” Ursula said. “I’m still here in case you didn’t notice.”
    â€œOh, we noticed,” Demi said.
    â€œIs there any truth to the rumor that you’re seeing a demon?” Cal asked.
    Ursula shrugged an elegant shoulder. “Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t.”
    â€œIt would be nice to know what we might be up against in the city.”
    â€œYou know as much as I do.” Ursula sighed. “I just want to get this over with. I have better things to do than condemn a vampire to hell.”
    â€œSo far we haven’t run into any interference other than the weather. Can you give us a clue as to what Alexei might throw in our paths?” Cal persisted.
    Her lips twisted into a sneer. “There’s no end to the destruction he can create.”
    â€œVague.” Demi rolled her eyes. “Were you a politician in another life?”
    Ursula fell silent, that damned half smile playing across her lips for most of the trip.
    Cal didn’t like it. He suspected there was a lot Ursula knew that she wasn’t telling them. Heading into a city teeming with paranorms preparing for the council meeting of the century, he’d rather have had as much information as possible. Instead, he was going in blind.
    A cold feeling swept over him, warning him that it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk.
    When they finally arrived in the outskirts of the city and tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, barricades had been erected, blocking traffic into New York City. A cop car straddled the lanes, lights flashing.
    Cal got out, rain lashing at his face, and spoke with the cop decked out in a rain slicker and waterproof hat, waving an orange light at him. “We have to get in.”
    â€œSorry, I’m under orders to block all traffic coming into the city. With the streets beginning to flood, no one goes in. Only outbound traffic is allowed through here.”
    â€œNo, really. We
have
to get in.”
    The cop stood his ground. “No one goes in. Now get back in your car or I’ll pull my weapon.”

Chapter Three
    Demi rolled the window down enough so she could overhear the conversation outside, but she remained in the taxi with Ursula. Ever since they’d arrived in New York, the woman had been