No Rest for the Wicca

by Toni LoTempio

  I gasped as the meaning of the strange phrase she’d uttered came clear.

  “You put a spell on someone to turn them into a zombie on command, didn’t you?”

  She yawned. “Let’s just say the call’s gone out. As you said, it won’t be long now. So relax, and enjoy the last few minutes of your life, Morgan Hawkes.”

  ***

  Cole pealed into Morgan’s driveway and braked his car to a screeching stop. When the hospital had called him to say Dru was awake, he’d left a message on Morgan’s pnone to meet him there, and had been mildly alarmed when she hadn’t responded. His visit with Dru had been very brief, as she was barely lucid, but she’d managed to tell him all he needed to hear, and then some. He leapt from the car, dashed up the steps of the cottage, and pressed the doorbell, once, twice.

  No answer.

  He frowned, raised his fists, pounded them against the door.

  “Xia. It’s Cole. Open up. Xia.”

  Still nothing. He cocked his head, his Inheritor senses acute.

  From within the house, he could hear a small cry, like a wounded sparrow.

  Cole went to the side of the house, ran his fingers across the side. He closed his eyes, concentrated all his energy. A moment later, his body began to quiver, to expand as if it were jelly. Another moment’s concentration, and he was inside the house, in the middle of the living room. He lifted his head, every sense acute.

  Agent St. John. Help me.

  He crossed the room to the closet, flung the door wide. Xia hunkered there, her hair disheveled, her eyes wide. Behind her crouched the form of Patrolman Leo Petrie. With a small cry Cole reached out, grasped Petrie’s collar, and pulled him out of the closet, raised him up above his head.

  “Petrie, what are you doing here? What’s happened to Morgan?”

  The patrolman didn’t answer, just stared straight ahead, his eyes wide and unblinking, his jaw slack. With a moan of disgust, Cole flung him against the far wall. Petrie hit it with a resounding thwack!, and crumpled down in a heap.

  Cole reached into the closet, pulled Xia up. He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Are you alright?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I—I think so. He just—he frightened me.”

  “What happened?”

  She took a deep breath. “I was getting ready to go upstairs, when I heard a knock at the door. I looked out, saw Patrolman Petrie. He flashed his badge at me, said Morgan’s sent him, but it didn’t seem right.” She let her lips curve upward. “Morgan’s told me enough stories about him. I knew he’d be the last person she’d send for me. And I remembered what you told me. I shouted out to him to go away, or I’d call his superior. Then his face just—it just went slack, as if he’d had a stroke or something. He pulled out his gun, shot the lock off, and came in. My God, his grip—almost superhuman. He grabbed my hair, dragged me into Morgan’s den. He took this.” She held out Darla’s book. “He dropped it when you shouted through the door. I grabbed it, but he dragged me into the closet. Thank God you came when you did,” she gasped. “What’s wrong with him? Morgan always said he was a little odd, but—“

  “It appears someone put a zombie spell on him,” Cole remarked. He walked over to the inert form, jerked the patrolman’s head up. He slapped his cheeks, and the man’s eyes fluttered open. Cole fixed him with a burning stare. “Petrie. Who did this to you?”

  Petrie’s eyes were fixed on Cole’s. He slowly shook his head. “Don’t…know.” He said at last. “Just felt…funny. Like all the fight, my will drained out of me. They told me I had to come here, get the woman and the book.”

  “They? They who?”

  Petrie’s head drooped. “Don’t know. Just heard the voice in my head. I had to get her and take her to the University.”

  Cole dragged the patrolman to his feet. “Can you walk?”

  He wobbled a little, leaned against Cole. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” He turned his head so he could stare directly into his eyes. “Hear me, Leo. You’re under my control now. You’re going to show us where they’ve got Morgan. You’re going to take us to her now.”

  Petrie’s eyes seemed to regain some focus. “Yes. Yes, Master.”

  “Good. Come on, Xia,” Cole twisted Petrie’s arm behind his back. “We have to make one stop first.”

  Chapter 24

  Stone paced the chamber, her face a mask of thinly disguised rage.

  “Damn,” she muttered, “they should have been here by now. I’m surrounded by incompetents.” She glanced at her watch. “Five more minutes, and then I’m going to have to go and get her and the book myself. Never have someone do anything you can do yourself,” she spat over her shoulder. She crossed to the other side of the room, returned in a few minutes. In one hand she held a dripping needle.

  I stared at it. “What is that?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not entirely heartless. And, I confess, I don’t trust you, Morgan. You’ll scream and try to bolt. This tranquilizer will ensure your full cooperation in the festivities.”

  I squirmed and tried to twist away as she pressed forward with the needle. Ah, it’s coming. I only need a few more seconds…

  “For pity’s sakes, sit still. You cannot escape your fate, Morgan, so I suggest you surrender. It will be far less painful for you if you do.”

  “You know, I’ve never been fond of that word…surrender.”

  With a vicious pull I snapped the bonds imprisoning my hands and shot my fist full into her leering face. She staggered backward, clutching at her nose.

  “You bitch! You broke my nose!”

  I was now jabbing frantically at my ankles with the sharp edge of my lucky keychain. “I always knew Simbi would change my luck one day,” I gasped, as the last strap broke in half. I rolled away just as Stone lunged for me, and she crashed into the wall. I rolled to the other side of the chamber, scrambled to my feet. My legs and arms were still pretty numb from being tied up so tightly, but I rubbed them vigorously and a moment later the tingling stopped. I raised my head and saw Stone charging for me, blood dripping like a river from her nose and jaw. She held the gleaming athame in one upraised arm.

  “I’ll kill you, you bitch,” she snarled. “Ritual be damned. I can’t wait for one minute before midnight, I’ll tear your liver out RIGHT FUCKING NOW.”

  I spun into a half-pivot, leg kicking out, and ended up nicking her shoulder. The knife wavered as she spun around and it caught me just above my collarbone, leaving a jagged cut that stung. I blocked her next jab with my elbow, grazing her jaw and spoiling her aim. The blade flew out, its point slicing my wrist this time.

  I ignored the flow of blood and lashed out with a well-placed kick. This time she went down, air bursting through her lips, and I went with her. The knife flew out of her hand as she landed on top of me, and before I could roll away her fingers tore into my wound, her teeth snapped as they sought flesh to sink into. Stars exploded in my head as she twined her hands round my neck and pumped my head against the floor again, and again…

  I thought for a moment delirium had set in. He roared in like a black tornado, pulled her off me, sent her spinning into the far wall. He leapt upon her like a mad dog, and the two of them rolled over and over on the floor, barely missing the tripods. Stone’s hand shot out and she grabbed the knife, and Cole’s hand grabbed hers, but she was fast, even in her weakened condition. She scrambled up, held the gleaming blade out in front of her.

  Cole backed up a step. “Commander. Think of what you’re doing.”

  “I am,” she snarled. “I’m not going to let a lifetime of planning and desire fall by the wayside because of an interfering Inheritor and a half-breed.” She waved the knife in front of her. “This is pure silver, Cole. Silver is the one thing Inheritors aren’t invulnerable to. I could plunge this into your heart, and it would kill you instantly. Come one step closer and I will do it.”

  He held up his hands, backed up another step. “All right, Commander. I’m moving away.”
/>   She whirled suddenly, grabbed me by my hair, jerked me in front of her. She held the blade of the athame right at my jugular. “It’s almost midnight. Ogau commands his sacrifice.”

  Cole took a cautious step forward. “It’s incomplete, Delia. Even if you kill Morgan, you’ll only have the blood of six.”

  “Ah, but if I kill you right after, I’ll have the blood of an Inheritor Vampire. Surely that will be worth something.” She looked wildly about. “It has to be.”

  Cole licked at his lips, reached into his pants pocket. “Commander, I’ll give you one last chance. Surrender now.”

  She let out a maniacal laugh. “Surrender? Never! I’ve worked too hard and too long for this. You wouldn’t understand.” With her free hand, she swiped at her mouth. “You come from privilege, Cole. You don’t understand what it’s like for someone to work themselves up in the ranks—me, a lowly Adelphi, and a woman to boot. It took many hours of ass-kissing and politicking to get where I am today. And once the power of Ogau flows through me, I’ll make them pay. I’ll make them all pay.”

  She angled the blade. It nicked my throat, and I felt warm blood trickle from the wound.

  She threw back her head and laughed. “Appetizing, isn’t it, Cole? You could join me, you know. You could feast on her—we could kill her together, bask in Ogau’s power together. We could be invincible, you and I.”

  “No thanks,” he inclined his head toward Robbins’ lifeless form. “I’ve seen what you do to your partners.”

  She shook her head. “A pity. Time’s running out.”

  “It certainly is.” He moved, and I saw his pocket bulge.

  Stone saw it too. “What have you got there?” she cried, and for a split second she moved her hand, and the blade came away from my throat.

  “MORGAN GET DOWN,” Cole shouted. I didn’t need further direction. I dropped, and in that instant Cole hurled the contents of his pocket full at the Commander. It hit her square in the center, the contents splattering all over. I twisted my neck for a look.

  Stone stared at her hands and legs. “I’m covered in blood. What the—“ Suddenly she started to writhe and scream. She dropped to the floor, her skin hissing and crackling in the spots where the blood had hit.

  Cole reached out, grabbed me, pulled me close to him. “Troll blood,” he said. “Deadly to Adelphi’s.” He looked me in the eye. “Dru came to. She could only talk a few minutes, but she identified Commander Stone as the one who shot Graft and then attacked her.” He smiled. “Your friend Zandor was only too happy to provide me with a vial of his blood, when I explained it would save you. He said he owed you.”

  My wobbling legs gave out, and I leaned full into Cole. He put his arm around my waist.

  “Steady, now. Are you hurt?” His eyes swept over me. “You look a mess. Xia’s in the car outside. I’ll notify the authorities, clean up here, and have her take you to the ER.”

  I brushed his hand away. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look it.”

  “As someone once said, looks can be deceiving.”

  He touched my wrist. “You’re hurt.”

  I launched myself at him, buried my head in his shoulder. “Only my pride,” I mumbled into his jacket. Imagine, owing a troll your life. Zeus, I’ll never live it down.”

  I lay on the sofa in my living room, my bandaged hand resting lightly on my forehead. The paper lay spread across my coffee table, the headline screaming up at me.

  COMMANDER ARRESTED IN SERIAL MURDERS; STUDENT EXONERATED.

  The phone, which Xia had placed on the floor next to the sofa before she’d gone grocery shopping, rang. I scooped up the receiver with my good hand.

  “Hello.”

  Cole’s voice filled my head. “Hello yourself. Feeling better?”

  I twisted myself into a sitting position. “Hell, yeah.”

  “I understand you’ve acquired a craving for cranberry muffins.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah. Almost being made a human sacrifice always increases my appetite.”

  “You should enjoy these.”

  A shadow fell across the sofa. I looked up. Cole stood over me, grinning from ear to ear, a bakery box held in one hand, his cell phone in the other.

  “Geez, what are you? A comedian?”

  He set the bakery box on the table on top of the paper and knelt down next to me. He tenderly stroked the hair off my forehead. “No. Merely someone interested in your welfare.”

  “Gee. How nice.”

  He inclined his head toward the paper. “It’s all in there. The whole, sordid story of Stone’s association, of their fascination with the daemon, how they framed Dru.”

  “I’m glad she’s cleared. She didn’t deserve the raw deal they tried to foist on her.”

  “She didn’t indeed. And her testimony will be key at the Commander’s trial.”

  I sighed. “It says she’s leaving the University.”

  Cole lifted his shoulders. “Can you blame her? Her father is sending her abroad, to Italy, for a year. She’ll resume her studies when she returns, and hopefully, all this will become just an unpleasant memory.”

  I burrowed deeper into the pillow. “Memories stick with us, pleasant and unpleasant. It’s all in how we deal with them.” I took a deep breath. “If I learned anything from all this, it’s not to let the ghosts of my past consume me. It—it’s time I started blaming myself for what happened to April, time I accepted who—and what I am, what I can be.”

  Cole smiled. “Xia would say it’s well past time.”

  I let the corners of my mouth turn upward. “Oh, please don’t start on her. I’m surprised she hasn’t harangued me with ‘I told you so’s’ but I imagine they’ll be coming.” I stretched my arms out in front of me. “Gilley told me to take the rest of the week off. He said Monday he had something very important to talk to me about.”

  Cole looked blank. “Really?”

  My eyes narrowed, and my hand shot out, punched him lightly in the arm. “I know that look. You know what it is, don’t you? Don’t you?”

  “We-e-ll…”

  I shook my fist in his face. “Come on, fess up, or I won’t share my muffins with you.”

  His eyes twinkled. “You’re going to withhold muffins? Is that legal?”

  “Cole—“

  He laughed. “All right, all right. It’s not official yet, but…I’m to be named Special Forces Director, to succeed Stone.”

  I gasped, then I burrowed my head in his chest. “Oh, Cole. How wonderful. It’s what you want…right?”

  He nodded. “I wouldn’t mind it. And I intend to be a very hands-on Director, although my motives won’t be the same as Stone’s.”

  “I should hope not.” I frowned. “But what has that to do with Gilley…or me?”

  “Well.” He took both my hands in his. “I put in a request to Gilley. I’d like you to leave PSI and transfer to Special Forces as an agent…take my place.” He ran his finger down the bridge of my nose. “I think you’ve earned it.”

  “Ya think?” I scooped my hair out of my eyes. “Wow—Special Forces, huh?” I gave him a sidelong glance. “Would that mean I’d be working closely with you?”

  He twisted his body so his torso was on top of mine. His hand went round my neck, tipped my face to his. “Oh, yes. Very close.”

  “Really? There’s an interesting wrinkle.”

  “You always said you’d never go back to Homicide,” he said, “But I think you could make a real contribution to Special Forces, Morgan. You’re a bright, intelligent woman.”

  “Beautiful. You forgot beautiful.”

  He bent to nuzzle at my neck. “Did I? I meant to include it.” He leaned back, looked deeply into my eyes. “So, what do you say? Think you can work for me?”

  I arched one brow. “For you?”

  He grinned. “All right. Think you can work with me?”

  I put my finger up to my lips. “You really think we’ll make a good team, don’t you?”<
br />
  “Absolutely.”

  “You really think we can make something out of this partnership?”

  His finger trailed down the side of my face to my throat. “I imagine it’s something we’ll have to find out. I know I would enjoy doing so.”

  Funny. So would I. “Aw, gee, how could I refuse such a generous offer.” Impulsively, I pressed a kiss to Cole’s throat.

  He raised one eyebrow. “Don’t tell me—you’re one quarter Inheritor, too?”

  “No,” I chuckled. “I’m glad the case is over, but I’m glad—glad we got to know each other. I’m glad we’re going to work together.”

  “I assume your answer is yes.”

  I wagged my finger in his face. “You really shouldn’t assume anything, Cole, because you know it makes an—“

  He silenced me with a long, deep kiss, full of promise. When I came up for air, I gasped, “Not fair.”

  His lips curved up. “Life often isn’t.”

  “Damn straight. If it were, I wouldn’t have to work under you.”

  “Under me, huh? Now there’s a provocative thought.”

  “Perverted, aren’t you? Is that what a promotion will do to someone?”

  I snuggled closer to him, reveling in his scent, let out a large yawn.

  “Oh, my,” he said. “Am I so boring?”

  I shook my head. My eyes felt suddenly very heavy. “Damn painkillers,” I mumbled. “One thing I have learned—you can’t go back. It’ll kill you. You have to go forward, you have to make a difference. I want to take the next step, make a difference, and I want to do it with you.”

  He lifted me into his arms. “Better rest up, then. I demand a lot from my subordinates.”

  “I’ll bet you do. And, you know, I haven’t said yes yet.”

  He brushed a kiss on top of my head. “You will.”

  I yawned again. “I always knew you were a cocky bastard, Cole. Guess I better rest up. Wake me in a week.”

  A smile on my face, my hand in Cole’s, I slid into sleep.