“Seriously, dude?”
“Well I…” Ed blew out an exasperated breath. “This is still new to me!”
“Me, too. Just went wolf last week, you know. So let me help. I don’t think they’ll go after me. Part demon now, I guess.”
“What could you do?”
“Hunt them down. Corral them. While you hit them with that mini flame thrower. That is what you have planned, right? Or is there another reason why you’re holding a spray can and a lighter?”
Ed nodded, screwing up his courage again. “Okay, then,” he said, hand tensed over the doorknob. “Let’s go!”
Chapter Nine
Jeff doffed his clothes, and when he sprang forward, he was a blond wolf streaking toward the shadowy figures in the mist. I couldn’t see Erasmus, but somehow he was luring the Draugr away from us and into the woods. Nick hesitated in the doorway until I shooed him back inside. There was little he could do. It was up to Ed. I felt naked without my crossbow and cold down to my toenails. I hadn’t grabbed a coat, but neither had Ed.
I hugged myself as we moved carefully through my backyard, past the glider swing and through the gate. I looked back at my house—its lights blazing warmly, the muffled sounds of people talking, the clink of forks on plates. Like nothing was happening. As if there wasn’t a Viking zombie apocalypse going on in the woods nearby. How I longed to go back inside.
“This is what you’ve been doing for the past two weeks?” asked Ed, never looking away from the end of his…spray can. He held the lighter at the ready in his other hand.
“Pretty much. Only I usually have my crossbow.” I ran my itchy palm down my pant leg. I knew—with an irritating shiver—that if I opened my hand even a little, it would soar through the house and out to me. Should I risk it? It was upstairs. It might go out the window. But then I reminded myself that the bolts had no effect on the Draugr. They would only be helpful if the ghoul or Andras were around, too, to take advantage of the distraction.
The Booke’s pull was strong, so strong that I had to raise my hand. When the sash to my window snapped upward, I looked back and saw the crossbow coming toward me. I was seized with a hot, churning anticipation, the way one feels when waiting at the airport for a loved one to arrive and you finally see them. That kind of feeling. No matter how wrong that was, I still welcomed the sensation of utter satisfaction when the cold metal and warm wood slapped into my hand.
The crossbow was from Erasmus’ world. And the more I welcomed it, the closer I felt to that mysterious place. I could almost sense its denizens through the wood, like the echo of a vibration.
“Kylie!” Ed hissed.
Had I zoned out in chthonic crossbow bliss? Embarrassed, I hurried to catch up to him.
“I thought you weren’t going to get that?” His gaze ran curiously over the alien weapon.
“I…couldn’t help it. There might be other things out here.” I glanced to the skies. It was a cloudy night, so there weren’t any stars. In a way, that was probably better for spotting the odd winged being stalking me from the heavens. The crossbow had armed itself with an unfamiliar bolt. Like Ed, I was ready, with the crossbow butt against my shoulder and its arrow pointing toward the gloom ahead.
We made it into the woods, where the air seemed still, and the mist was waist high. The smell of death and decay lingered. I could just make out movement when I peered into the darkness. And I definitely heard growls and snapping jaws. Jeff!
What strange bedfellows I’d made. Jeff, Erasmus, Ed…If I thought about it too much, I’d sink into the surrealness of it all. But we had Draugr to hunt, so I needed to focus. If I could.
A twig snapped. Ed and I both swung our weapons in that direction. Nothing. But I could sure smell them.
“It stinks like a dead body,” said Ed.
“That’s them, all right.”
“When we see them, I want you to get behind me.”
I hefted the crossbow. “Really?”
He cursed under his breath and nodded. “Sorry. Old habits.”
I heard a series of sounds—a thump, the clang of steel, a wild rustling in the leaves, growls and snarls—to our left. I ran.
“Goddammit!” said Ed, hurrying to catch up to me.
Jeff had a Viking on the ground, jaws clamped to its neck. I’ve never been so proud of my ex in my life. I wasn’t too worried about him, because like Erasmus, they wouldn’t try to attack him. I think. But Ed and I were fresh meat, and as soon as the wind changed…
I saw them turn toward us from every place in the forest. All the ghostly figures in the distance stopped, raised their undead faces to the wind, and smelled the humans.
“Here we go,” I said under my breath. The crossbow was obligingly armed though I knew it wouldn’t stop them for good. I raised it as they started marching toward us, swords and axes in hand.
Ed shook the can and held it up, lighter ready.
“Any time, Ed,” I urged.
“They have to be close enough. This thing won’t go far.”
“How far?” Because they were trudging ever closer. Their smell was pretty strong now. Looking at their dead eyes and through their cheeks to the backs of their throats was making me a little queasy.
One warrior raised an axe above his head, flesh hanging off his arm. He wore a dented helmet and a ragged cloak over his boney shoulders. He dragged one foot that seemed twisted, like his ankle had been broken off. And then he opened his mouth—more like released his jaw that fell to his chest—and let out an unholy scream, like the yowl of a cat caught in a trash can.
I took a step back. A ghoul or a succubus I could take, but not this undead thing. I’d never be able to sleep again.
He was getting within axe distance.
I took another step back, glancing at Ed. “Is he close enough now?”
“Let’s find out.” He flipped open his Zippo, flicked the flint wheel, and got a flame. Holding the spray can at arm’s length, he depressed the nozzle and lit it up. It sputtered a flame only about a foot long—spectacularly unimpressive. But it did manage to catch the Draugr’s cloak on fire.
The creature noticed right away and began flapping his scrawny hands at it. Then it spread. He kept slapping himself, trying to douse the flames, but soon was screaming in earnest. The others stopped to watch him.
He dropped his axe, raised his face to the sky, and went up like a Roman candle. I didn’t think it was possible, but he smelled even worse, especially the burning hair on his head and the pelt on the shoulders of his cloak.
Ed tossed the can at him and grabbed me. With his body sheltering mine, he pulled me down behind a log. The can exploded, fire hitting the two nearest Draugr. Now three were on fire. The others drew back with worried looks on their faces. They tightened their skeletal hands on their weapons and withdrew, leaving their companions behind. Soon the three left were just piles of melted flesh, burning down to charred bones.
WereJeff padded forward and watched them reduce to blackened stumps, his eyes lit with the last of the flames. There was dark blood on his snout.
I disentangled myself from Ed and stood, looking at the smoking remains. “Go home, Jeff. Get yourself cleaned up…and dressed.”
He looked at me like an obedient dog, growled once at Ed, but did as told, trotting back toward the house. The Draugr retreating into the woods took their smell with them. I didn’t think they’d return tonight.
“Why’d you throw the can away? It was working.”
Ed ran his hand through his hair. “It had a distance of one foot. That is not an effective weapon.”
“Then you’ve got to get the flamethrower from the station.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “We don’t have a flamethrower. What kind of police force do you think we are? No station has a flamethrower.”
“Well…around here they should!”
We both watched the pile of smoldering bones to make sure they didn’t get up again. Ed ensured they wouldn’t by poun
ding on them with his boot, cracking the fragile bones into small pieces. He was getting soot all over his trousers, but I wasn’t about to complain.
When he glanced at me again, it looked like he wanted to say something. That’s when Erasmus blundered through the brush.
“Forgive the interruption,” he sneered, “but I think there is a house back here that experienced the Draugr’s visitation.”
“Oh, no.”
Ed firmed his jaw and followed Erasmus. I gave one half-hearted look back at my house and its dinner party going on without me, before I trailed after them. The crossbow had unarmed itself, and I held it down by my thigh as I trotted forward.
A small house—some old clapboard thing from the thirties—sat on a ridge some ways away. It wasn’t more than a badly shingled roof, a shed out back, a doghouse, and a rusty umbrella clothes line. All was quiet, despite it being maybe nine o’clock. The lights were off…and something else was off too. The roof of the doghouse was smashed in the middle. And I didn’t see Rover anywhere. Just a chain that looked to be…cut.
A tricycle lay on its side in the front by the concrete walkway. And the door was wide open. No. Not open. Axed open, the remains in splinters in the front entrance.
Ed got out his gun and straight-armed it with two hands, just like cops on TV. “Kylie, stay back,” he said. I looked down at my crossbow, but it hadn’t armed. I hung back anyway.
He stepped into the darkened doorway. “Police! It’s Sheriff Bradbury! Mr. Warren? Mrs. Warren?”
The utter silence unnerved me. I was waiting for the jump scare I knew was coming. I should have stayed outside with Erasmus, but I couldn’t make myself do it, so instead I crept in after Ed, holding the crossbow in my hands like a club.
“Kylie,” he said quietly. “Be careful. I think…” He leaned over near a lamp and switched it on. Oh, how I wished he hadn’t.
The family had been about to sit down to dinner. There was a stone-cold casserole congealing in a glass dish. A half-filled glass of juice rested on the table. The jug beside it was overturned, leaving a purple-stained tablecloth. Someone must have been pouring a drink when chaos arrived. Chairs were overturned, including one with a booster seat strapped to it. Pictures that had hung on the wall lay shattered on the floor. The wall was smeared with blood.
And there were Mr. and Mrs. Warren lying on the floor. Their bodies had been crushed. There was no way I was looking for the kid. Or the dog.
Ed holstered his gun. It was obvious we were alone.
He bent down over the bodies and frowned. “Looks like their ring fingers were…bitten off? Anyway, they’re gone.” He looked at the remains of the woman and pointed to her neck. I didn’t come close. “I think she had a necklace. I see a mark like they yanked it off.”
“Gold,” said Erasmus, suddenly beside me. “They were looking for gold. They think it is their treasure.”
I looked around for anything that might have been gold, not that I knew these people or their belongings. I hadn’t even known that this house was all that close to mine, hidden by thick woods. There was a bare spot in the middle of the fireplace mantle. Maybe some sort of award had been there, plated with gold. Gone now.
Ed moved away from the couple and began looking under tables and down the hallway. “Dammit,” was his brief exclamation when he must have found the child. When he came out, he looked grim. “I have to call this in.”
“With all of these deaths, won’t George get suspicious? I mean, do you have to call in the state troopers for this?”
“I guess I’ll just tell George I already talked to them. Jeezum, I hate lying to him.” He got out his cell and hit the call button.
Erasmus rested his hand gently on the small of my back. “Hadn’t we best leave this place?”
“I guess you’re right.”
We walked outside to the porch where I inhaled the night. I did not smell death, though it was near. “Why, Erasmus? Why all this? Why the ghoul? Why you? What’s the purpose of all this?”
“Need there be a purpose?”
“Yes! It would help to make sense of these deaths, these poor, innocent people who didn’t have to die.” His eyes glittered in the darkness. Softly, I asked, “Is it my fault they’re dead? If I hadn’t opened the Booke…”
“This is not your doing.”
“Directly, maybe. If I hadn’t opened the Booke, then Doug and his stupid gang wouldn’t have all this power. They wouldn’t have Shabiri. Those people wouldn’t be dead from a succubus and a kelpie. Jeff wouldn’t be a werewolf—”
Arms enclosed me—warm, sheltering. His dark voice in my ear made me shiver. “And you wouldn’t have me.”
I wanted to stay in his arms, but it was suddenly colder there. I gently pushed him back. “I don’t have you.” I poked his chest. “This tattoo here says I don’t.”
“I made my vow to you.”
“And it’s only as good as the Powers That Be says it is.”
He trembled with fury. His coat smoldered, but his mouth stayed tightly shut. Because he knew it was true.
Ed came into the doorway. “George is on his way. I’ll have to stay here to wait for him.” He flicked his eyes toward Erasmus, then into the distance.
I got the message. Without a backward glance, I trudged back through the woods. Erasmus walked silently by my side.
* * *
When I got back inside, the party was breaking up.
“There you are!” said Reverend Howard. “Water heater all right?”
I must have had a blank look on my face, because Nick stepped in with, “I told them that you had to see to it. It makes a helluva noise when it acts up. Oops. Sorry, Reverend.”
“I do know all about Hell, Nick.” He smiled. “It’s getting late and I have work in the morning. Thank you, Kylie for a most enjoyable evening.”
“Yes,” said Ruth belatedly. “It was surprisingly entertaining. And the food was lovely.”
I suppose that was the best I could get out of her. We still hadn’t learned anything, though I was now more certain than ever that Ruth knew more than she let on.
“Thanks for coming. I’m sorry I was AWOL for part of it. But a water heater waits for no man. Or woman.”
“It’s good to be a handy woman,” said Ruth in a shockingly agreeable manner. “It’s not good to have to rely on others. Sometimes what we have to do is best done alone.”
“Uh…yeah. Yes, that’s my philosophy, too. It’s what brought me here to Maine.”
Ruth gave me and my shop another appraisal before stepping into the night. Reverend Howard and Doc walked her to her car to see that she got in all right…despite her speech.
I waved as she and Reverend Howard both drove away. The coven wasted no time ushering me back inside.
“What happened?” cried Jolene from one of the wingbacks, tucking a leg under her.
I sank onto the ottoman. “It was awful. This family up there in the woods. The Draugr got them.”
Seraphina gasped and pressed her hand to her mouth. “Oh no!”
“Erasmus said they were looking for gold. It looks like they took their wedding rings—fingers and all—and any other gold things in the house.”
Doc scooted closer to the edge of the sofa. “The Warrens, you mean? Not…the child…”
I nodded. Everyone fell silent.
Jeff was standing in the doorway, dressed again, though he’d forgotten to put on shoes and socks. It seemed that he never remembered shoes anymore.
“I can hunt them,” he said fiercely. “I can find them wherever they are. But I don’t think I can kill them.”
“The fire did that,” I said. “But we need something better, something more reliable than a spray can and a lighter.”
Jolene grabbed her tablet from her nearby bag. Her hands were shaking. “I think we can devise a spell. Something with fire. Supernatural fire would be even better.”
Nick knelt beside her. “Yeah. I figured that because fire is on
e of the four elements, it would be pure enough to get rid of them. But fire made from a spell could be even more effective.”
“That’s dangerous ground,” said Doc. “We’re surrounded by woods.”
“But that’s why we need a supernatural fire,” said Jolene. “We can control it, direct it. And we can command it so it doesn’t touch the trees.”
“True.” Doc got up and walked toward the fireplace, staring into the flickering flames. Fire could be a comfort, under the right circumstances. I loved a fire in my fireplace. But I was feeling less sentimental about it if it could get rid of these damned Vikings.
“I’m concerned about Ruth’s locket,” Doc went on. “To tell you the truth, I never gave it much thought before. I’ve seen it on her for years, but now I’m worried.”
“So you’re finally suspicious of her, too,” I said without a shred of gloating. Well, maybe a little gloating.
“I’m not afraid to admit that I am…worried.”
Nick sighed. “It would have been nice to get a good look at it.”
“Look all you like,” said Erasmus. He held up his closed hand and when he opened it, the locket and chain dropped, swinging like a pendulum.
I sprang to my feet. “How did you get that? You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
“What do you take me for? I simply…vanished it from her neck.”
“She’s going to notice, and I am damn well not going to be caught with it. She’ll call the cops on me for sure this time.”
“I’m certain your constable will not arrest you.”
Seraphina moved in to snatch it from Erasmus’ grip. He sneered, almost growling at her, but Seraphina only had eyes for the locket. “This is very strange. I’ve made a practice of knowing about historical jewelry from all sorts of periods, but I don’t recognize this style from the early 1700s.”
I came closer and looked it over. It was gold, about the size of a quarter, rectangular, with a filigreed cover. But she was right. It looked old. Far older than three hundred years ago. It wasn’t as delicate as one would expect from something from the eighteenth century, or even the seventeenth century.
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