by Ilana Waters
“I . . . ah . . .” Captain Norris’s gaze clouded over.
“You know, Don, maybe we should just head to the pub or something.” Charlie tugged his earlobe. “I don’t even remember what business we had on this dock, anyhow.” He scratched his head and looked around.
“Me neither, to be honest,” said Captain Norris. “But yeah, I’ve got me a mighty powerful thirst. What you say we head to the Seven Swans and figure it out over a pint?” He slapped Charlie on the back.
“Sounds good!” Charlie replied with a smile. They left the dock whistling happily.
Brandy mournfully watched them go. “Eh, you shoulda let us have ’em.”
“Yeah,” said Carver. “I’m starving.”
Cunningham clucked her tongue at him. “You should’ve thought of that before you came here.” She turned to Sybil. “Why didn’t you just kill them?”
Sybil shrugged. “Not everything has to be so messy. Mortals are simpleminded; bribery is quicker and easier. Besides,” she smiled, “the money only has to look real.”
Cunningham waved her hand. “Suit yourself. You two.” She pointed to Carver and Brandy. “Drive this thing back a bit to the warehouse.” Cunningham walked around to the front of the truck. “Sybil and I will join you in a moment. Maybe, now, this night can finally get back on—”
A flash of lightning lit up clouds in the distance, and a roll of thunder murmured in response. A stiff breeze blew Abigail’s hair off her shoulders. She heard footsteps behind her. Only a last-minute sidestep prevented someone from colliding with her and Titus’s invisible bodies.
“Sorry we’re late, Eleanor,” said Arthur, out of breath. “Trouble with that blasted car again, even after I tinkered with it. Had to walk the last little ways.”
Richard wiped perspiration from his forehead. “Maybe you should have the whole engine checked out, Arthur.”
Sweet Jesus, not again! groaned Abigail. What are they doing here?
I don’t know, thought Titus, but I have a feeling Ms. Cunningham is involved.
Arthur and Richard went straight to Cunningham. Sybil and the vampires looked at each other in disbelief, and quickly joined her at the front of the truck.
Crap, thought Abigail. They brought crossbows. But I thought Richard said those can’t kill a vampire.
No, Titus frowned, but they do sting.
Arthur sighed. “She used to be such a lovely machine. Ran fine when she was new. But I swear, one of these days, I’m going to—”
“Bows up, Arthur!” Richard cried. “They’ve got Ms. Cunningham. It’s those same evil bastards as before.”
“Blimey, you’re right!” Arthur gasped. In an instant, he and Richard had their crossbows aimed at Sybil and the vampires.
Abigail tensed. Titus put one hand on her shoulder.
Steady, now, he thought to her. Cunningham laughed mirthlessly.
“Eleanor?” Arthur crinkled his brow. “What on earth are you doing?”
“Yeah,” said Richard. “Why are you acting all giggly?” He inhaled sharply. “Blighters have you under some sort of mind spell, don’t they?”
“Bloody hell!” Arthur rasped. “Don’t listen to a word they say, Eleanor. They’re using magic to control you.”
Lord, thought Abigail to Titus. They really have it ass-backward, don’t they?
“Control her?” echoed Sybil. “I have no desire to get inside that woman’s head, thank you.” She shuddered.
Cunningham threw Sybil a glare, then laughed again. “Oh, Arthur,” she said. “You really are a daft twit, you know that? You and that feebleminded boy, both.”
A grave look came over Arthur’s face. “You don’t mean that, El.” He leaned toward Richard. “It’s all part of their hypnosis, you see.” Richard nodded, tightening his grip on the bow.
Sybil looked at Cunningham in disbelief. “I thought you were sure your clock tower act had thrown them off the scent!”
“Act?” Arthur and Richard said.
“Unless you were lying about that, too,” Sybil said.
“Yeah.” Brandy narrowed her eyes at Cunningham. “How’d they even know to be here right now?”
Richard’s mouth went slack. “Because she told us to.”
Abigail shook her head, eyes fixed on Cunningham. That scheming piece of—
“Is that true?” Sybil folded her arms at Cunningham.
Cunningham shrugged. “I thought it would be practical to have some way of disposing of that other witch—Abigail—and the vampire Aurelius, if they decided to show up. Of course, I don’t know why I imagined these two other gits would be on time. Honestly, Arthur.” She rolled her eyes. “You and that jalopy.” She turned back to Sybil and the vampires. “You notice I had them come armed.”
That’s why they have crossbows, Titus thought to Abigail.
“Yeah, we did notice.” Carver took a step toward Arthur and Richard. They instantly leveled their crossbows at him, eyes darting from the vampires to Cunningham and back again. “But you really think two mortals stand a chance against a bloody powerful witch and an ancient vampire?” Carver asked.
Brandy wrinkled her nose. “One of them looks put out to pasture, and the other’s barely out of short pants.”
“Oy!” Arthur and Richard responded in unison.
“You said there was no chance Abigail or Aurelius would be here,” Sybil said to Cunningham, face tense with anger.
“No, Sybil,” Cunningham replied. “My exact words were, ‘I have everything under control.’ Which I do.” She glanced behind her at Arthur and Richard. “It seems your services won’t be required after all, gentlemen.” She turned to Carver and Brandy. “Kill them.”
“What?” Arthur and Richard gasped.
What? thought Abigail.
“Now, steady on there, Eleanor—” started Arthur.
“I’m beginning to see how your mind operates, Cunningham,” Sybil said. “You muck everything up, then expect someone else to tidy the mess.”
Titus, Abigail thought urgently, we’ve got to do something!
I’m thinking, I’m thinking . . . Titus tapped his fingers rapidly against one another.
We don’t have time for you to think!
Cunningham sighed. “Really, Sybil, you could take a hint from our American counterparts. Be a bit more enterprising. Where you see inconvenience, I see opportunity. We have two spare mortals—” She pointed to Arthur and Richard.
“We are not spare anything, you bleeding loon!” shouted Richard.
“—and two peckish vampires.” She raised her eyebrows to Carver and Brandy. “Am I right?”
“Well, we did mention it before,” Carver said. He looked at Brandy, and they eyed Arthur and Richard with renewed interest.
“You’re really not mind-controlling her?” Arthur asked Sybil. He pointed his crossbow at Cunningham. “You’re doing it all on your own? I can’t believe you’d turn on us like this.”
Richard swallowed hard, keeping his crossbow on Carver as the vampire stared at his jugular. “I think, in order to turn on us, Arthur, she’d have to have been on our side from the beginning. It looks like that was never the case.”
“You know, Richard,” said Cunningham, “I think that’s the cleverest thing you’ve said since I’ve known you.”
“Then it was a lie. All of it.” Arthur searched Cunningham’s face, but found only cold satisfaction there. “You made us think Abigail was responsible the whole time. Abigail—my God.” He stood up straighter and blinked several times. “What did you do to her?”
“Who says I did anything to her, Arthur? Really, you give me too much credit.” Her voice hardened. “I suppose that makes up for the decades you didn’t give me enough credit.” Arthur’s face was a crumple of pained confusion.
“But why, Eleanor?” he begged. “We’ve known each other for so long. Why would you—”
“Oy, can we get on with this?” bark
ed Carver. “If any other mortals come ’round, I don’t fancy explaining what these two blokes are doing pointing arrows at us.”
“Bolts,” corrected Richard. Carver curled his upper lip, exposing his fangs. Richard clutched his bow, white-knuckled.
“Fine.” Sybil gave a disgusted wave to Carver and Brandy. “Do whatever you like with them. Just do it quickly, and dump the bodies in the Thames. We’ve got a long night of work ahead.”
“We’re not going down without a fight!” Arthur directed his bow at Brandy with such alacrity, she actually paused.
TITUS. Abigail’s thoughts were nothing but anguish.
All right, here’s what we’ll do, thought Titus. We stay invisible. We’ll have an easier time if they can’t see us coming. I’ll take Brandy, then Carver. You go for Sybil, then Cunningham.
Shit. Abigail smacked her forehead. I almost forgot about whatever—or whoever’s—in the shipping container. What if they’re not alive for long?
Titus gave a quick shake of his head. We can’t worry about them now. We must eliminate the threats first. Not to mention we have make ourselves reappear and explain everything to Arthur and Richard afterward. Hopefully, they’ll find our story more believable than before, since Cunningham just admitted to betraying them, not to mention ordering their deaths. So, we each take out two. Got it?
Abigail took a deep breath and gave a sharp nod. Titus nodded back.
Then, he stepped out from behind the crates and lunged at Brandy.
Chapter 19
To everyone else, it seemed like Brandy’s body was suddenly jolted sideways in the air, as if blown by a stiff wind. There was a sickening snap when her neck broke. Everyone’s eyes widened in horror when her head appeared to spontaneously detach from her shoulders.
A nauseated feeling washed over Abigail as well. Of course, she was the only one who knew Titus was responsible. Still, it’s scary how good he is at doing this. How easily it comes to him.
But there was no time for such fainthearted thoughts now. Carver’s reaction was as swift as Brandy’s death. “What the—BRANDY!” he cried, eyes bulging.
That’s my cue, thought Abigail. She tore a carnelian stone off her bracelet, focused her energy, and hurled it at Sybil.
A burst of fire magic hit the ground at Sybil’s feet, and she shrieked. The fire exploded upward, encasing the witch in flames.
Yes! Abigail’s heart leaped in triumph. Normally, she didn’t rejoice at killing people. But it was them or her—and Titus, Arthur, and Richard, plus whatever was in the container. She caught Titus’s eye; he grinned and put one fist in the air. Abigail tore another stone off her bracelet as she advanced on Cunningham, and Titus advanced on Carver.
“Sybil?” Carver gasped. “What the fuck is going—”
Abigail ran at Cunningham, full speed. One foot sent water shooting out of a puddle as she passed. Abigail saw Cunningham’s face twisted in confusion before her gaze locked on the puddle.
If only I can reach her before—
Too late. Cunningham had realized an invisible someone was coming for her. She turned and yanked one of the nets off the side of the ship, then threw it in front of Abigail.
“Goddammit to hell!” Abigail swore. She was instantly ensnared, her body visible in the shape of the net. She tripped over one of its countless loops and hit the ground. Frantically, she struggled to get to her feet, and out of the net.
“Abigail?” Cunningham said. “I recognize that voice! You interfering tart. I knew you’d find some way to—”
“Leave her alone!” Arthur cried. He aimed his bow at Cunningham. “Abigail, where are you? I can’t see you!”
“Give me that, you idiot!” Gnashing her teeth, Cunningham wrestled Arthur for the crossbow. It fired; Abigail heard a whizzing sound, then a cry of pain from Titus.
Oh, no, thought Abigail. Titus must have been shot. Worse, his yell revealed his location.
“Who’s there?” Carver shouted. He bared his fangs and put up his fists. “Show yourself, you sodding coward!” Richard pointed his own crossbow at Cunningham.
“Let Arthur go, or I’ll shoot!” he yelled.
A few feet away, the vertical fire that had been Sybil died down. Sybil emerged from behind it, red hair and blouse hem slightly frayed, but otherwise unharmed. Her lips were parted, shoulders shaking as she heaved angry breaths in and out. The amulet around her neck glowed brilliantly.
Her amulet protects her, Abigail realized. She swore again and tried to gather enough magic to burn through the net without igniting herself. She watched helplessly as Sybil balled magic in her hands, then shot them out to the sides. Abigail was almost on her feet when magic struck her in the stomach. She cried out in pain, hearing Titus do the same for a second time. She hit the ground again, still in the net, suddenly aware that she was well and truly visible. She lifted her head. Titus was visible, too, the crossbow bolt in his thigh, and the front of his shirt awash in Brandy’s blood.
We’ve lost our advantage, Abigail thought. Sybil had removed their spell. Damn that witch!
Arthur stared at the newly resurrected Sybil, slack-jawed. “Holy Christ!” he breathed. Cunningham took advantage of the distraction, tightening her grip on Arthur’s crossbow and bashing him in the face with it. Arthur gave a yell, grabbed his face, and fell backward. Richard glanced, dazed, at Sybil. By the time he turned his bow back to Cunningham, she’d dropped Arthur’s bow and drawn a gun from the pocket of her blazer. She kicked the bow a few feet away and aimed her gun at Richard.
Shit, Abigail thought. “Don’t shoot!” she shouted. She didn’t have time to figure out which magic stone to use. I have to get out of this net, now. This can’t be that hard. The net’s made of rope. Rope comes from the earth. I’m an earth witch, so . . . She squeezed her eyes shut and imagined the rope untangling, untwining, unraveling itself. A hole in the net formed in front of her. It grew larger and larger, until finally, Abigail was able to pull apart the edges and escape.
Arthur scrambled to pick up his bow. In a matter of seconds, he’d reloaded. He and Richard pointed their bows at Cunningham, her gun swinging back and forth between them.
Arthur squinted at Abigail as she approached. “Abig—my God, you’re all right!” He winced at the bluish-purple bruise forming under his cheekbone.
“Ms. Silver!” exclaimed Richard. “We thought you’d—”
“I know, I know,” she said to them. “I’ll explain later.” She called to Titus over her shoulder. “I got this.” She turned, steely-eyed, to Cunningham. “Drop. That. Gun. Then release whatever’s in the container.” Abigail’s stomach still ached where Sybil hit her with the spell. But she ignored the pain and formed a ball of magic in her hand. “I said, drop and release. Do it now!” she commanded Cunningham.
Cunningham was about to reply when there was a loud metallic bam from the other end of the dock. Everyone turned to see Carver, gnashing his teeth, one fist lodged in the side of the ship. Titus was ducked beneath him; even injured, he was too fast for the punch Carver threw.
“Not so tough now that you’s visible, is you?” Carver screamed. With a loud grunt, Titus wrenched Arthur’s bolt out of his thigh and threw it to one side. He ran to the back of the truck.
“Oy!” Carver was still struggling to pry his hand out of the split metal of the hull. “Get back here and fight like a man!”
“Stop him!” Cunningham cried to Sybil and Carver. “He’s here for the girls; they both are!”
“Girls?” Abigail echoed. Cunningham’s reply was to fire the gun at her.
Abigail saw Cunningham about to pull the trigger. Her eyes widened. Her heart seemed to explode in surprise, like a bullet in her chest. Without thinking, she threw the ball of magic out, forming a shield in front of her. Cunningham’s bullet ricocheted off it in a burst of light. Arthur and Richard ducked the winging bullet.
Shit! Abigail thought. “Sorry, guys!” she said. “You all ri
ght?”
“Forget us,” Richard said, pointing to Cunningham. “She’s getting away!” Sure enough, Cunningham was running to where Titus and Sybil had just disappeared around the back of the truck. Carver gave one last, angry cry, tore his fist out of the ship, and shot off after them. Abigail, Arthur, and Richard weren’t far behind.
“Titus, look out! She has a gun!” Abigail panted. It won’t kill him, but what if he loses too much blood to fight? Titus spotted Cunningham rounding the bend of the truck. He narrowed his eyes at her weapon. Abigail knew he was about to fling the gun out of her grasp when Sybil waved her hand at it. There was a burst of light, like the one that deflected Cunningham’s bullet. Then, all Abigail saw around the gun was a thin, filmy bubble. Something only a person with magical ability could see.
A shield. Dammit, Abigail swore.
“What are you waiting for, Abigail?” Arthur urged. “Can’t you . . . I don’t know . . . make her drop that thing?” He raised his eyebrows at the gun.
“No.” She shook her head. “Sybil put a protection spell around it.”
Carver turned to Sybil. “Oy, where’s my protection, then?”
“Don’t be daft.” Sybil held a flaming ball of magic in each hand, gaze shifting from Titus to Abigail, then to Arthur and Richard. “I’ve barely got enough for myself and the gun. Not even sure there’s enough to stop those crossbows from ending Cunningham.” Cunningham looked nervously at Arthur and Richard.
“Such thoughtfulness toward your colleagues,” she snapped at Sybil.
“Colleague, my arse,” Sybil shot back. “I’m only offering you a bit of protection because it’s in my interests. Which you seemed to have fouled up again.” Abigail stared at Sybil’s amulet. She could tell it definitely held more magic than it had at the clock tower.
