Grave Stones

by Calinda B

  Thunderous footsteps powered toward her as Cillian raced from the sea’s edge. He reached her side and yanked her by her arm toward him.

  She fell back as whatever magic Cillian wielded tugged her free of the vampire’s magic.

  “You!” the vampire roared, speaking in English, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “You’re the one who traps me!”

  “Everyone, stop! This is the Garda!”

  All three heads whipped toward the voice.

  “It’s fecking Galbraith,” Lassi cried.

  “Galbraith, stay back,” Cillian bellowed. “Don’t go past the path of rocks. She’ll have you, then.”

  “I can handle myself,” he shot back.

  “Not this time,” Lassi called.

  The Dearg-Due, wild with bloodlust, directed her hands toward him, rolling them over and over one another. She muttered and mumbled in Gaelic.

  He flew into her grip like a bird hell-bent for a window.

  “No!” screamed Lassi.

  With inhuman strength, the red-blood sucker threw the chubby man to the ground as if he weighed nothing. She straddled him with lightning speed. “You lie. You pretend. You make nice.”

  He let out a horrified cry. She plunged her claws into his throat. His cry turned into a gurgle. She fell upon him like a crazed beast and began to feed.

  Lassi began to pant. She fell to her knees.

  “Get up! I’ve got to go retrieve rocks from the ocean floor. You can do this, Lassi.” He whirled and powered toward the sea.

  “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,” she cried. She lurched to standing. Her head began to buzz. Sparks flew from her fingers. “I’m going to lose it,” she said, her voice sounding hysterical. She spun in circles. “I’m about to faint. Cillian! Help!” She whirled toward the Dearg-Due and shook her hands, trying to get the damn buzzing to stop. “I’m going to electrocute myself.”

  Lightning bolts shot from her fingers. They flew toward the vampire and sent her sailing into the air.

  With one last, horrible scream, the Dearg-Due fell backward into her grave, sucking the ghastly screeches from Lassi’s ears.

  A huge wave washed the shore, drawing grit and dirt free from the hole under the vampire’s body. When it surged back to sea, it drew sand over her like a wet, watery blanket.

  From the shadowy sea, giant boulders flew, landing on top of the vampire and her grave.

  Her cries became muffled as rock after rock landed with thuds and cracking noises. And then, she screamed no more.

  Lassi cupped her hands around her mouth. “Cillian,” she yelled. “Cillian!”

  The wind and waves were her only answers. She rushed toward Galbraith’s body. Falling to her knees, she pressed her hands on his chest, as if she might do CPR.

  His head bent at an odd angle. His eyes stared at nothing.

  Pull yourself together, girl. He’s dead as dead can be.

  Another wave surged toward him, dragging his nearly severed head to face the other direction.

  Cillian, in ripped and ragged clothes, stumbled back into view, staggering from the sea. He sank beside her, dripping with sea water. “Are you okay?”

  His Leviathan gaze scanned her face.

  Lassi shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay, from this point forward. Nothing in the emergency room prepared me for what I witnessed tonight.”

  Cillian wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. “You did good, Lassi. You responded to the call and worked your magic.”

  “So, why do I feel so weak? I can barely lift my arm.” She gasped for breath.

  “The thing about magic,” Cillian said, struggling to speak, “is this. The more powerfully you use it, the more it takes from you in return.” He inhaled one, long shuddering breath, as if to make his point.

  “Shouldn’t someone have mentioned that to me?” She leaned into him, trying to draw strength from his warm body.

  “I know, love.” He kissed her cheek. “This is all new to you. But you’re a quick learner. You’ll master your skills in no time.”

  “Well, that’s all right, then. If you say so. You can teach me to pull a rabbit out of a hat later. But, as soon as I’ve had a wee rest, let’s go back. We have to call someone for Galbraith.”

  A click, followed by a beam of light falling on their faces, startled her. She shielded her eyes with her hand and lifted her gaze.

  Penny stood over them, dressed in her butcher’s apron, like this was another night at the pub. “Well, well, well. There you are. The little love birds.”

  “Penny?” Cillian said.

  “That’s me.” A manic smile formed on her face.

  “What are you doing here?” Lassi said. She blinked and pushed away from Cillian.

  “Oh, I thought to ask the Father here to give you last rights. Before I shoot you.” She whipped a gun from behind her back and pointed it straight at Lassi’s head.

  Chapter 23

  Having a gun pressed to Lassi’s temple made it kind of hard to think But at least the shrieking in my head is gone. Still exhausted from her use of magic, Lassi sat stiffly next to Cillian, looking askance at him.

  “Do something,” she hissed.

  “Can’t,” he wheezed. He sat with his knees up, his forearms rigidly propped on his kneecaps. With obvious effort, he took, slow, ragged breaths. He clutched his hands together, like he might want to do the same to Penny’s neck. His eyes trained on the pistol and then on the woman holding it. The expression on his face was nothing short of fury. But his arms hung limply, as if he was incapable of doing anything.

  Lassi hoped he might work some voodoo Leviathan mojo magic on her. Do it, do it, do it, she silently pleaded, hoping her eyes could convey her wishes.

  His lips parted as if to say something, but Penny interrupted.

  Penny held the gun in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. “I wouldn’t speak right now, my love. That can earn you penalty points. And, you might not want to watch. Death can be messy.” She glanced down at the prone body of Garda Galbraith, pointed the light at it, and let out a maniacal laugh. “Like, wow! Isn’t that something?”

  The surging waves had washed his head into a right angle to his body. The sight of the eerily positioned head, being rocked back and forth by flows of rushing salt water, gave Lassi the full-on willies. She maneuvered her body so she didn’t have to see it. Once more she glanced at Cillian, her forehead crumpled in puzzlement. “My love?” she mouthed.

  His eyebrows lifted and one of his shoulders rose and fell.

  The butt of the gun whacked the side of her head, powered by Penny’s strong swing.

  “Ouch! You fecking bitch, what was that for?” Lassi gingerly rubbed her throbbing temple.

  “There will be no more secret looks exchanged between the two of you—ever. This is my time, now. Me. Cillian and I will get married and live in bliss from this day forward.” Penny swished the pistol back and forth between Lassi and Cillian while pointing the flashlight in Lassi’s eyes.

  Lassi squinted in the bright light, turning her head away. “Doesn’t he get a say in all this?”

  She hoped her eyes sparked rage. She wished she had more command of her magic so she could fry Penny’s ass.

  Penny hauled her arm back to swing again.

  Lassi lifted her hand in front of her temple. “Not again, stop!” she yelled. “I’ll go quietly, I promise.”

  Cillian let out a small snort.

  She gave him a quick side-eye.

  He regarded her with a stern look, and he subtly shook his head.

  She put out her palms. “I won’t put up a fuss. Just let me ask you a couple of questions so I can take understanding to my grave.” Her body began to shiver—from cold, from fear, maybe both. “Please, Penny?” she added in a show of submission.

  “You can ask but I might not answer.” Penny puffed out her chest.

  Lassi’s belly heated with rage. She leaned forward from her seated positio
n. “Come on. It would suck to die with burning curiosity,” she snapped, any hints of fake submission erased. “I’ll come back and haunt you. I’ll be your enemy in death, I guarantee it.”

  Cillian’s head fell back and he let out a quick, short breath. He cast his gaze skyward, perhaps begging his God to make her shut up.

  Penny flinched. Her eyes flicked back and forth, as if considering what it might be like to be haunted. She sighed, spreading her arms so the flashlight pointed in one direction, the gun in the other. “What do you want to know?”

  “Are you the killer? The Dearg-Due told me she only killed Dylan. Did you murder the rest of them?” Lassi’s butt ached from sitting so long on the damp sand. She shifted side to side.

  “Maybe.” Penny ducked her chin and giggled like a school girl.

  Lassi’s eyes widened. She’s fecking insane. Why didn’t I see it before? “Maybe doesn’t answer the question, Penny. Grant me answers before Father Ward gives me last rites. Please,” she added, since that word seemed to help before.

  Penny’s expression transformed from schoolgirl charm into an ugly sneer. “Galbraith was supposed to do the job. He was supposed to kill you both. But if I’m to do the job, I will. What’s a couple more bodies?”

  “Wait. I thought you wanted Cillian all to yourself. If he’s dead you can’t have him.” Lassi’s forehead bunched in puzzlement.

  Blank confusion fell over Penny’s face, evident in her unfocused eyes. Then, the sneer returned. “Of course, he wouldn’t be killed. Galbraith wouldn’t have had the heart. He’s a priest, after all. But we all know that’s not the truth, don’t we?”

  “I sure hope we all don’t know the truth, Penny,” Cillian said in a low, soothing voice. “Think how that would affect our community.”

  She began to pace back and forth in front of them, gesticulating wildly with the pistol and the flashlight, letting loose rambling thoughts. “I’m a distant Finn cousin. Me. I’m the one that’s supposed to care for poor Cillian. Me. Not you.” She aimed the beam at Lassi’s face again.

  Warding off the light with her hand, Lassi groaned, inwardly. Feck me hard, now I’m related to her, too?

  “I hated that old hag Roberta for being the one to take care of Cillian. I love Cillian. Me. Why else was I always volunteering in the parish? Why else would I be so ‘helpful’ with Roberta in the final weeks of her illness?” Her footfalls made soft crunches in the sand, barely audible over the wind.

  Lassi inched closer to Cillian, drawing from his warmth. She let out a sigh.

  He leaned into her.

  “I didn’t know at first what I was going to find when I went snooping through Roberta’s things.”

  “You snooped through the cottage?” Cillian asked, his mouth falling open in a bewildered expression. “Through Roberta’s home?”

  Penny glanced at him and swirled the gun barrel in a circle. “It’s a habit. She was often gone, tending to your needs. But, when I found the letters from Mairead and the diaries of the other Finn women, I realized I might have found the way to actually be with you.” She smiled down at him, reaching out to stroke his cheek with her knuckles.

  He jerked away, violently.

  Penny’s hand stayed poised, mid-stroke, like she didn’t know what to do with it.

  “So, that’s why none of that stuff was dusty,” Lassi exclaimed. “Only, I had to use a broomstick as a lever to access the notes in the floor. How did you do it?”

  Penny flexed her arm. “I put some muscle into it,” she said, smirking. She stared at Lassi’s and Cillian’s shoulders, resting against one another. Her mouth dropped open. She waggled the gun between them. “You’re too close. Move apart. Now.”

  She touched the cold metal gun to Lassi’s temple.

  Lassi scooted away, yanking her head away from the bloody pistol.

  “Stay there.” She waved the gun at Lassi’s face. “You move closer to him, I won’t hesitate to shoot.”

  Lassi shivered. “Got it.”

  Penny resumed her pacing. “At first, I tried to work magic to find out more, but it’s too diluted in me. But I think with some diligent practice I can get it back. Anyway.” She made circles with the gun. “I resorted to my tried-and-true technique of digging through other people’s things, mainly, your things in the church office and the rectory.” She pointed the pistol at Cillian.

  He put his hand up and pushed the gun away from his head. His hand shook. “It’s a crime to break and enter, Penny.”

  Lassi stared at his trembling limb.

  Penny let out a short, mad laugh and stopped in front of him. “Oh, we’ll get to the issues of crime in a moment, Father Ward. You, of all people, have no room to talk.” She pressed her lips together and waggled her forefinger at him. “Sinning against the cloth and all, Father, with this raggedy thing.” She tipped her head at Lassi. Her frenetic walk resumed. “I found Father Quinn’s notes and realized I had a wonderful opportunity with the red-blood sucker. All the connections in my head came together.” She tapped the side of her head with the pistol and flashed a sly look in Lassi’s direction. “You’re not the only one who’s smart. Finn intelligence is as revered as Finn magic.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Lassi said, wishing she could stand. She slowly stretched out her legs.

  “You do now. You can take that knowledge to your grave.” Penny barked out another laugh. “After helping hurry Roberta up a bit—the old woman was taking absolutely forever to die—I began to track down the vampire’s grave.”

  “Wait,” Lassi said. “What does ‘helping her along’ mean?”

  “Oh, you know the old saying. When death is calling, arsenic and tea can hurry things along.”

  “It’s not a saying I’m familiar with, no.” Lassi searched for something, anything she could use to throw at Penny. Several large stones seemed especially appealing. Surreptitiously, she inched in the direction of the stones.

  Cillian glanced at her.

  She directed her eyes toward the rocks.

  He nodded. His eyes scanned around him, perhaps searching for a nearby rock of his own.

  Penny kept up her ramblings. “You found the grave first, Lassi girl, with your efforts at clean up and all. You made it easy. So, I dug it up after your good Samaritan efforts, setting the path of ocean rocks back to my barn. That first night, I let the Dearg-Due out to do whatever she wanted.” Again, she flashed her sly look at Lassi. “Then, I lured her back with the promise of ‘an Ailis’ tomorrow. I knew about her vengeance against the woman who lured her husband away. That got her excited.” She chuckled. “But, when she got out, instead, I tricked her and locked her in the barn. She’s too unstable to do the thing right, and if there’s anything I pride myself on, it’s attention to detail and doing a job correctly the first time.”

  “How in the world could you contain a vampire in a barn?” She scooted closer to the large rocks.

  Cillian inched toward a stone, too.

  “Well. I circled the barn with the rocks and took care of Ailis myself. Oh, I’ve got a clever mind, don’t you think?”

  “I think you’re unhinged, is what I think,” Lassi blurted.

  “Did you like what I did with the lips? Brilliant! Ripped them right off, I did.”

  A shudder shot up Lassi’s spine as she pictured poor Ailis’s mutilated face. “You’re horrible!”

  She glanced at Penny’s big, booted feet. Her mind flashed on the footstep imprints she’d trampled, thinking to protect Cillian. She had the urge to slap herself silly. The Garda could have done some forensics to determine those weren’t Cillian’s footsteps—they were Penny’s. Lassi, you’re such an idiot.

  Penny paused and stroked Lassi’s cheek with the barrel of the gun. “I wouldn’t be getting all righteous, now, Lassi girl, if I were you.”

  The cold metal sent shivering shakes through Lassi’s body. She stayed stock still, afraid to make a move.

  “Why Ailis?” Cillian asked.

&nb
sp; Lassi tensed when the bitch turned toward Cillian.

  “Ailis was in love with you, too, and I was afraid you might fall in love with the trampy real estate agent. I had to save you from that mistake.”

  Cillian let out a short, hard laugh. “Oh, I assure you there was no danger of me falling for Ailis.” His gaze slid to Lassi.

  Penny paused, her attention ping-ponging between Lassi and Cillian. Then, she stepped toward Cillian and crouched before him. “We’re going to take care of that mistake, too.”

  She inclined her head toward Lassi.

  His Adam’s apple clearly moved up and down, lit by Penny’s flashlight.

  Good, Christ, Levia-man, do something! Work your magic. You can hurl stones. Why aren’t you doing something to thwart her? Lassi tossed an annoyed gesture his way.

  His attention stayed focused on Penny.

  “We could show her. We could show the poor girl what kind of activity we’ll be doing on the regular once she’s out of the way.” Her lips parted and she moved closer to Cillian like she might kiss him.

  He sneered and pulled away from her, pushing away her face.

  “What? You think you won’t like the way I kiss?” She arched her arm back as if to strike him.

  He leaned forward and grappled for her wrist.

  She bolted to her feet and scrambled away from him, backing toward Lassi.

  Lassi leaned to the right as far as she could, reaching for one of the rocks.

  Penny whirled and aimed the gun at her. “Don’t even think about it, girl. Move away from those stones. The only one whose head will get bashed is you.”

  Lassi stilled. “I was only stretching my arm.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” She lifted her leg and kicked hard, landing a solid blow on Lassi’s breast.

  Lassi grabbed at her chest. Sharp bolts of pain radiated through her boob.

  Cillian placed his hands in the sand, starting to rise.

  Penny whipped around and trained the gun on him.

  With a grunt, he fell back on his rump.

  “Don’t move. Both of you. Sit closer.”