by Eric Asher
“Talk in the car,” Dominic said. He walked over to the front door and opened it, gesturing for the others to follow.
The small motley crew piled into one of the Pit’s SUVs. Dominic took the driver’s seat, and Vik took the passenger. Vicky and Luna climbed into the third row while Sam took the second with Jasper.
Sam stared out the window as they crossed the bridge and headed through Boonville. She figured Dominic would take 65 south to Springfield, but it didn’t really matter.
Vicky and Luna were arguing about something on Pokémon Go, and the lighthearted bickering reminded Sam of her and Damian when they were younger. Hell, if she was being honest, it reminded her of Damian two weeks ago.
“Hey, Vik,” Luna said, leaning forward over the seat by Sam.
The old vampire shifted in his seat so he could make eye contact with the death bat. “Yes?”
“Were you on Vassili’s ship when Graybeard raided it?”
Vicky’s muffled squeak told Sam that she had likely dared the death bat to ask that question.
Vik narrowed his eyes and sagged back into the seat. “I know you already know the answer to that, child. And I know Graybeard has told you what truly happened.” Vik glanced down before turning back to Luna again. “In some ways, Vassili is like the Fae. He plays games within games, and some of them lasted for centuries. I do not know if he ever had an intended use for those coins, but I doubt it is anything that is happening these days.”
“I don’t think he’s happy,” Luna whispered next to Vicky.
Vik flashed the pair a smile. “He does have excellent hearing, though.”
Dominic and Sam laughed when Luna’s eyes went wide.
“But your ears are so small. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Sam’s smile faded. She wished Damian was with them. She wished she could trade places with him. Most of all, she wished she could hug her brother one more time. She hadn’t expected to be chasing Vassili. The old vampire had taught Vik almost everything he knew, and to call him cunning would be a vast underestimation of what he was capable of.
But now he stood in the way of their only chance to save Damian. They’d find him. And Sam would tear him to pieces.
CHAPTER THREE
Sam perked up when Dominic’s phone rang, rattling in the mount on the dashboard. She squinted at the dim light, the angle not great for reading the screen, but she could just make out Cizin’s name before Dominic picked up.
“This is Dom.”
The volume wasn’t high, but Sam didn’t have trouble picking out Cizin’s side of the conversation. “Meet me at Wilson’s Creek. I’ll tell you all I know about Vassili, and there’s something else here. It’s fast, and sticks to the shadows. Be careful.”
“We’re about a half-hour out from Springfield. We’ll see you soon.”
“I’m at the parking lot by the springhouse. Stay away from the woods if you can.” Cizin hung up without saying more.
“Do you know where that is?” Vik asked.
Dominic nodded.
Sam scratched Jasper between the eyes. “What do you think that was all about?”
Dominic frowned in the rearview mirror. “I don’t know, Sam. But after seeing those Eldritch things at Rivercene, I think I’m going to take his advice to be careful.”
“There have been no reports of the Eldritch in this area.” Vik glanced out the window and then focused on Dominic. “I highly doubt one would be stealthy enough to be stalking a single death bat.”
“Cizin knows how to fight.” Luna hopped over the seat and plopped down next to Sam. “You don’t have to worry about him.”
“It’s not him I’m worried about, kid,” Dominic said. “It’s us.”
Vicky leaned up on the seat between Luna and Sam. “I’ll protect you, Dominic.”
“Wonderful,” Dominic grumbled.
“Besides, we have a dragon.”
Jasper rolled off Sam’s lap, wobbled up the seat back, and took up a new post nestled against Sam’s neck.
It wasn’t long before the light pollution of Springfield lit the horizon. A short time later they reached Highway 44 and headed west. Springfield had become a small city. It didn’t have much of the college town feel anymore, but it wasn’t near the size of the larger cities like Saint Louis and Kansas City.
“I think we’re close to Waffle House,” Sam said.
“I’m glad you have your priorities in order.” Vik cast her a smile over his shoulder.
Dominic took the exit for the N West Bypass. It took them from what looked like suburbia onto a sparsely populated road, flanked by fields and the occasional construction company.
They stopped at one of the few traffic lights on the road, only to continue on until they reached W. Republic Road.
“Almost there,” Dominic said, steering the SUV onto Wilson’s Creek Boulevard.
Sam didn’t catch the name of the road Dominic turned on after that. But the fence surrounding the battlefield was recognizable enough. Most of the old Civil War sites Sam had visited had the same kind of zigzag around them. It had another name, one Damian would know, but it escaped her.
The first thing to greet them past the entrance to the battlefield park was a long parking lot. It was empty at this hour, and Sam cringed when Dominic swerved up and onto the grass to bypass a small gate.
To call the road narrow didn’t quite encompass it. It was paved asphalt, but only ran one way. Sam doubted you could squeeze two cars on the road if you tried.
“Avoid the trees he says,” Dominic muttered to himself as Sam realized what the vampire was saying.
They were surrounded by trees. The forest crept in from every angle, the shadows hiding whatever lurked within. At times, the tree line would break open, and a field would be visible, only to be swallowed up by the looming branches a moment later.
They crossed a bridge, and through the tinted windows of the SUV, Sam couldn’t make out the creek below them.
“Not much water down there,” Luna said. Apparently, the death bat could better see what was below them than Sam could.
Dominic nodded. “That’s not the creek the battlefield’s named for. We’ll cross over that in a moment. Wilson’s Creek is not vast by any means, but certainly larger than what you just saw.”
The rails of the second bridge, short and steel, rose up the sides of the SUV, and Sam could see down into the water there. The reflections of the starlight above showed enough detail beneath the light pollution. But it would all be gone soon when the sun rose to overpower everything else.
The tree line receded from the road on the other side of the bridge. The fields felt more open, and more of the sky was visible around them. But the woods had been dense behind them, and Sam had little doubt that more waited ahead.
They crossed another short bridge, passing it before Sam even realized they were on it. Another minute and Dominic slowed down.
Up ahead, to the left just off the road, was a parking lot. One small tree grew in the median between the road they were on and the narrow lot. A concrete staircase ran the length of the short incline beyond, and disappeared at the top of what Sam imagined was likely a field.
At the base of the stairs stood a shadow. His arms were crossed, but he raised a hand in greeting as Dominic guided the SUV into a parking spot next to him.
Luna was out of the car before Dominic had so much as turned it off. She leapt over the hood and pounced on Cizin, squeezing him tight enough that Sam thought the shapeshifting death bat might snap in half.
The others followed Luna in a slightly less enthusiastic manner.
“It is good to see you, Luna. I think Camazotz expected you back sooner.”
Luna pulled away from Cizin. “I can’t leave my friends. That’s not our way.”
Cizin smiled at Luna. “No, it is not. He may never say it, but I believe Camazotz is proud of you, striking out on your own with Vicky. Although, I thought he might have a heart attack when he found ou
t you went to the Burning Lands.”
“That might’ve been my fault,” Vicky said under her breath.
Luna grinned at Cizin. “What did you find out about Vassili?”
“Some of it I must show you.” Cizin reached out and exchanged grips with Vik and Dominic in turn. He clasped Sam on the shoulder and nodded to her before saying anything more. He turned his attention to Vicky.
“And you, you who would be the Destroyer. You have left a most interesting trail in your wake.”
Vicky’s hands flexed into fists and then relaxed. “Yeah, I think my mom’s pretty proud of me.”
Whatever Cizin had been expecting her to say, that wasn’t it. The vampire blinked at Vicky and then turned to Luna as if hoping for some further explanation.
Vik steered the conversation back to Vassili. “What of that white-haired devil?”
Cizin glanced at Vicky and turned his focus to Vik. “It is easier if I show you.”
With that, Cizin led them away from the staircase and the SUV, traipsing through the median before crossing the road and starting down a path Sam hadn’t seen in the shadows.
“What’s been following you in the woods?” Luna asked.
“I don’t know. But it is large. I’ve only seen it twice, and both times it vanished behind a tree. I tried chasing it, but by the time I reached its location, it was gone. And I do mean without a trace. There is a subtle hint of death about it, but I could not tell you what it is.”
The hair on the back of Sam’s neck stood up. The death bats were no slouches, though they didn’t move quite as quickly as the vampires of Sam’s Pit. But for something to be fast enough to escape Cizin’s pursuits said something of its speed.
The path looked as though someone had run a lawnmower through an overgrown field of weeds and knee-high grass. They passed one tree on the right, and Sam didn’t miss Cizin’s suspicious eyeballing of every branch.
But what bothered Sam the most was the fact that single tree was barely an omen of what was to come. In the distance, before a gentle hill, stood a nearly unbroken line of forest.
“We’re going into that?” Sam asked.
Cizin nodded. “That is where the springhouse is. And that is where we must go.”
Luna crouched, then launched herself into the air, her wings carrying her higher, as she spiraled out farther and farther. Sam almost lost track of the death bat as she sailed over the forest canopy, and a tiny weight lifted from her chest when Luna returned from over the hill.
“I don’t see anything.” Luna landed in almost total silence beside Vicky.
“I do not know that your sight would make a difference,” Cizin said. “Do not lower your guard.”
Cizin led the way, followed by Dominic and Vik. The trio of vampires curved around a bend in the path as they came closer and closer to the edge of the forest. It was then that Sam could see what they were walking toward.
A white stone arch, built from irregular-sized rock and uneven mortar, stood before them with a slatted wood door. Clearly built into the side of a hill, it reminded Sam of the storm cellars she’d seen in the country.
“What is that?” Vicky asked.
“It’s an old springhouse.” Cizin covered the last few steps and pulled the wooden door open. It squealed on its hinges.
Luna wrinkled her nose.
“How in the hell did you find this place?” Sam asked.
Cizin raised an eyebrow. “You can’t smell it? I noticed it from almost a quarter mile away.”
“I noticed it,” Luna muttered.
“Dead vampires have a … scent.”
Vik and Dominic exchanged a look.
“I mean no offense.” Cizin gestured to the springhouse. “But should either of you reach Vassili’s age, there will be a distinctness about your presence.”
“That’s an understatement.” Luna’s ears twitched back and forth and she gave Vik an awkward smile.
“I am aware of small differences,” Vik said. “But I did not know it was so easily detectable by other vampires.”
Cizin nodded. “We are different than most vampires. As you know.”
Sam stepped closer to the springhouse until she could see inside. It was small, the white stones continuing around the square chamber. And the ceiling was low enough she doubted Dominic would be able to stand upright inside. As she ducked past the doorway, she was positive.
“It’s empty.”
“It’s beneath you,” Cizin said.
But the only thing Sam saw beneath her feet was the stone in the well that led down into darkness. She turned her phone’s flashlight on. The reflection of water greeted the light, casting an eerie rippling glow around the small springhouse.
Sam glanced up at Cizin as he leaned into the doorway.
The death bat looked down into the well. “I hope you don’t mind tight spaces.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Frank had his head under the counter beneath the register at Death’s Door. It was the second time he’d dropped his pen that day, and both times the damn thing had rolled away underneath the tiny gap between the bottom shelf and the floor. And it wasn’t even daylight yet.
He could just feel it with the tips of his fingers when Bubbles released a bark that could have been mistaken for an earthquake. Frank cursed, jumped, and cracked his head on the countertop with enough force that he didn’t have the presence of mind to curse again for almost a minute.
Frank blew out a long breath and rubbed the back of his head. The bell jingled, explaining Bubbles’s sudden desire to bark the building down. A shock of red hair walked through the door, tucked under a baseball cap, putting the pale face in shadow.
But Frank recognized the vintage patches on the jean jacket. “Hey, Casper.”
“Frank.”
Bubbles charged Casper, her braided tail whipping back and forth, knocking around mortar and pestles and clanging them together like out of tune music chimes.
“Hey, girl,” Casper said, a large grin edging its way across her face. She crouched to pet the cu sith. “I figured if anyone was up at five in the morning, it’d be you.”
Frank didn’t miss the bulge in the back of Casper’s jacket. She might have been on leave, or whatever brief break counted as leave these days, but Casper was always armed.
“What brings you by?”
“Nothing, really, unless you have some of that jerky?”
Frank scoffed. “Do I have jerky? Is that even a question?” A few of the troops had grown to like the jerky almost as much as Zola. They’d drop in every now and then, and occasionally even Park would take a bag back to the base for them. Frank thought it was good. Give them more positive memories to associate with Death’s Door and the people who worked there.
Peanut sauntered up, ducking below the saloon-style doors, sniffing the air twice, and then flopping down onto the floor like a lumpy welcome mat.
Frank couldn’t be sure, but he suspected the cu siths missed the fairies and Damian. They’d been sleeping more than normal, and while he wouldn’t have called their behavior restrained, per se, they certainly hadn’t been tearing the place up as much as usual. They spent more time watching the doors and windows now than anything.
Casper made her way over to the counter, Bubbles trying to weave between her legs, but the sheer girth of the cu sith basically just knocked Casper back and forth. Frank tossed her a gallon Ziploc bag and smiled at Casper’s wide eyes.
“You have to let me pay you for this. This is too much, Frank.”
Frank shook his head. Casper was one of the few who always stood up for Sam, and always knocked down anyone bad-mouthing Damian. The last thing he was going to do was charge her for jerky. If he should be charging anyone, it should be Zola. That woman could eat a cow’s worth of jerky in one sitting.
“How are Park and the others since the, uh, Unseelie issue?”
Casper opened a water bottle and took a sip. She shrugged. “It was bad. It’s still bad. But with Edg
ar’s help, we were able to track all of them down.”
“I just can’t believe it was Ward’s apprentice.”
Casper nodded. “It’s weird when it’s someone you know.”
“Oh, I didn’t know her. I just thought she was dead. For years now.”
Casper pursed her lips. “I guess that would also make it a little weird.”
The bell on the front door rang again. This time Bubbles barked like a maniac as she charged. Frank leaned back, so he had a clear view down the aisle when Bubbles hit Alexandra at full speed like a cannon.
The water witch squeaked as she fell over, and the half-rotted parrot on her shoulder squawked as he awkwardly bounced through the air to a nearby shelf. That was exciting enough to wake Peanut up. The lumpy rug sped up into a trot as he joined Bubbles in trying to drown the water witch in slobber.
“Alexandra?” Frank asked, hopping off the stool and heading toward the front door. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay? I thought you’d be with Nixie.”
Every time she tried to speak, one of the cu siths would drag their tongue across her face. “Stop!” was about the longest sentence she could get out.
Graybeard cackled from the shelf next to Frank. “It is fine as it can be. Euphemia is with Nixie. Samantha is off chasing some vampire. The last coin they be needing, you know?”
Alexandra turned translucent and flowed across the ground, escaping the cu siths before reforming behind Casper. The very perplexed cu siths spun in a circle before they realized where their prey had gone.
Alexandra looked down at her hands and grimaced. “I’ve made a terrible mistake. I think their slobber is in me.”
Graybeard burst into a stuttering, cackling laugh.
“I just need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
Graybeard hopped down the shelving until he reached the edge, and then launched himself over to the countertop. “Reckon we’re heading here in case Nudd has more plans for you and Frank.”
