After all, most parties here were magically gifted to some extent, and it was pretty darned easy to simply latch onto someone, hold them hostage, and then leave. Especially after things got hairy and someone ‘died.’ The others would immediately catch on that something was wrong. And my problem would be back to haunt me tomorrow, this time without the leverage I held tonight.
But if I won, I had one hell of a gift to offer up the owner of the land. An offer he couldn’t refuse. And giving a gift like that to King Midas was something that would repay me back exponentially over the years.
I just had to win.
So. A gamble with Silver Tongue, the legendary dealmaker of fairy tales.
And no one knew I knew. My smirk was enough to piss off anyone, but it seemed to have an extra-special curl to it tonight, because every bad guy in the clearing grew instantly angrier as they saw it. “Let us begin…”
“What’s he doing here?” Van asked casually, shooting wary glances at the ten-foot tall collection of shadow, sparks, and embers, vaguely depicting a humanoid shape. His look was perfect, but I knew better. These three clowns knew exactly who he was, they just didn’t know I knew. And they wanted the creature to think them aloof. Which played right into my story. Before I could speak, Silver Tongue answered.
“I’m here for an entirely separate purpose.” He managed to display a smile of fiery teeth, sparks gusting out with each breath like wind over a pile of blazing coals. “Loose lips,” The immortals displayed stony faces, attempting to conceal their anxiety. But Silver Tongue and I both recognized it. “Carry on, children,” he cooed, hungrily.
“This is going splendidly. I feel I should have introduced everyone. But maybe I should leave that to the host.” I motioned to Asterion. He shrugged, stepping up, shooting a questioning glance at me. I kept a straight face. Barely.
“Van Helsing, famed witch hunter and failed doctor.” Van frowned, eyes tightening as he opened his mouth to argue, but Asterion continued on. “Baba Yaga, known for leading children to her gingerbread house where she cooked them alive and ate them.” Baba actually sputtered, shooting murderous glances at Van and then myself. “The Huntress…” he turned to look at me, and finally shrugged. “No idea who she is… not important.” I shrugged back in agreement. The Huntress’ eyes hardened to flinty shards. Asterion continued on, announcing each of my friends and myself, exaggerating our stories and making us all sound incredibly important. His eyes finally rested on the shadow, who seemed to be quivering in trepidation, and anger at whatever game was being played.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll take care of this one. It’s why he’s here, anyway.” I turned to study each person in turn. The immortals were twitchy, full of spitfire and venom at the underhanded disrespect. Even though Asterion had said it, they all knew the words belonged to me. “Sucks when someone messes up your name, lies about your purpose, or misstates your deeds, doesn’t it?” They watched me, still furious, but now realizing there had been a purpose to the charade. Fear danced in their eyes as they no doubt considered what any of this had to do with their boss being here, no doubt wondering who had snitched on him. Or if I had been bluffing. I turned to the shadow. “This here is Silver Tongue, a crossroads demon…” The immortals flinched as one, but just barely. The Demon watched me, eyes narrowed, sensing something more coming. “But you may have heard of him by a different name…” I leaned forward, whispering softly. “He’s not very fond of it, though, I must warn you.”
“Stop. Now.” Silver Tongue warned, sparks puffing faster as he took a step towards me.
I grinned directly at him, leaning flamboyantly on my cane, and his body froze. Even the sparks and embers abruptly stopped. “Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin…”
And I said it exactly right. His True Name. Three times. Just as the Ginger had relayed to me in the journal. It must have been spot on, because I heard Van say, “We’re all dead,” before the world turned blindingly insane.
Chapter 54
The shadow collapsed to the earth, a ring of scorched dirt blasting out to form a perfect circle around a writhing figure. The shadow rolled over us like a blanket of fog, dissipating as it advanced. I had a moment of true panic, fearing it was somehow lethal, but it rolled right over us to no ill effect, and was gone as I glanced behind us. I wasn’t sure if it had died on its own or if the ring of torches had somehow dispersed the last of it.
I turned back to find a man kneeling in the dirt, panting, fists squeezing the earth in pain. His hair was a wild tangle, but he wore sharp clothes, if a bit outdated, and his feet were covered in leather slippers of some sort. Okay, I’ll just say it outright. He looked like a character from a Disney movie or a fairy tale.
Because… he was.
The immortals were scanning our surroundings, taking note of every living person in the clearing, planning and plotting the number of bodies they would need to eradicate to make it out alive. But I watched as another thought crossed their faces. One of them was not making it out of here alive. Because one of them had obviously told me Rumpelstiltskin’s True Name.
At least, they thought one of them had. No one knew about the Ginger. I smiled as, one by one, they glanced my way, eyes both terrified, murderous, and… wary.
I was interrupted from my gloating by a dry, raspy, high-pitched laugh. I turned, pointing my cane into the earth to see the man slowly standing to his feet, head down, but a psychotic smirk splitting his face in two, like Heath Ledger’s Joker. He turned to look at me and I instinctively took a quick step back. Madness danced in those eyes. Sheer madness and lust for power. “You shouldn’t have done that here, boy. It was cleverly done. Arranged perfectly. But you never should have tried to say my Name to trap me. Especially in a place as… corporeal as this.”
I hesitated. What did that mean, and how was he standing? I had trapped him with his own Name. No creature could withstand that, not even an Angel. I instantly called out his name three more times, wondering if I had botched it somehow. He shivered theatrically, never dropping his smile.
“Oh, crap.”
“Indeed, boy. This isn’t the real world.” He stretched his arms above his head. He was a gangly man, although short, his arms and legs were disproportionate to his body size, and he had a long, skinny face. Gaunt. Skeletal. “Names don’t hold their true power here. You just managed to dispel my disguise… and upset me by telling everyone my name. Still, I had hoped that the Meddler would be here…” he murmured to himself. “No matter. Everyone here must now die.”
“Listen, er, Rumps, I think you might be skipping a step-” But no one listened.
Indie exploded in a whirlwind of power, blasting bar after bar of blinding white light, so bright it left purple flecks in my vision where the bars had briefly solidified. But none struck true. Rumps suddenly wasn’t there, but I could hear him laughing. “Grimm!” I bellowed, eyes frantically searching for Rumps. Indie’s unicorn galloped into the clearing from beyond the torches, feathered red and black mane flared out, the red eyes on the tips of the peacock-like feathers glowing like vibrant rubies. Fire limned its hooves, and it dipped its head between Indie’s legs, catapulting her onto his back. She didn’t even make a sound, eyes scanning the darkness, flickers of white lightning dancing wildly in her irises. She was in her element.
I called out to her. “Remember who your friends are,” I cautioned. She nodded slowly, a slight frown on her face. “Other than that, have fun.” I winked, slapping Grimm on the flanks. The unicorn roared in surprise, and I wisely jumped back. An arrow sailed right past my face. I spun, cane a blur as I drew on the dark presence inside, and caught two more in quick succession, knocking them away. The Huntress shrieked angrily, but Tory was suddenly there, slamming her fist into the Huntress’ face. The immortal went cartwheeling, caught off guard, and slammed into the bench Asterion had been working on. She climbed to her feet, blood dripping from the side of her face as she grinned hungrily at Tory.
; “My precious, I’ve been waiting my whole life for you…”
Tory frowned. “If I had a nickel…”
“I can give you all the nickels you desire,” the Huntress swayed closer, trying to sound flirtatious, but Tory burst out laughing.
“You must not know what a nickel is,” she chuckled, shaking her head.
“I will find you the world’s most expensive nickel, and offer it as tribute to your beauty,” the Huntress protested, beseeching.
My eyes might have resembled saucers at that comment. The Huntress… had a crush on Tory? After having her ass handed to her in the cemetery? What kind of twisted logic…?
But Tory began to laugh even harder. The Tory I remembered from a year ago. It was nice to see. Maybe we had just gained an ally. Then the Huntress rushed at Tory, unleashing three arrows on the fly before catapulting herself off one of the torches, launching herself into the air to perform a flawless flip over Tory’s head as she readied to toss a dagger directly down on the love of her life.
Tory merely held up a hand, and the arrows stopped in midair. She did it so casually, I blinked in utter astonishment, and even the Huntress forgot about her daggers as she gasped in shock. Tory crouched and jumped, latching onto the woman’s leg. Then she slammed the Huntress down into the earth so hard that I heard the air leave her lungs in a loud puff. The lovesick pancake managed to roll clear, barely missing Tory’s knee as it hammered down into the dirt where the woman had been. She limped away, shaking her head, eyes terrified.
But I was suddenly distracted, diving for cover as the sound of automatic gunfire hammered into the clearing. Even the Huntress dove for safety, scrabbling for the opposite side of the clearing. Tory stayed kneeling and held up her hand again. Several stray bullets froze before her, falling harmlessly to the earth. I didn’t even have time to register the green flash in her eyes as I searched for the source of the shooting. I heard Grimm galloping around the clearing, questing out the source of the continued laughter still emitting from Rumps’ hateful mouth.
Chapter 55
I saw Ashley, naked and in human form, calmly unloading a full clip of ammunition at Van Helsing, who was standing there, mouth open, as the bullets hammered into him, shredding his clothes. The gun ran empty, and Van let out a laugh, plucking several flattened bullets from his chest, and even one from his forearm. I blinked. He really was bulletproof. Ashley scowled at him, and began to reload the rifle as her Alpha handed her another clip in silence.
“Can’t you see, little girl, it won’t do you any, Ah-” and she began pouring another cascade of bullets at him. I saw his face darken with impatience as the clip finally rang dry. He took an angry step closer, his clothes barely hanging on now, but physically he remained unharmed. “Listen up, you crazy-” but I lost track of his words as I glanced back at the werewolf with the assault rifle.
If I had been a teenaged boy at that moment, and she had been a commercial for the military… let’s just say that I wouldn’t be a wizard right now. Gunnar calmly handed her another clip, werewolf face smiling, and then he folded his arms as she clicked it into place and took aim.
“I’m talking to y-” and she was off again. This time, her aim tore into his shoes, his weapons, his belt, and I let out a laugh of understanding. She wasn’t trying to hurt him. She was trying to ruin his outfit and his weapons. She ran dry, and calmly handed the rifle back to Gunnar, who calmly slung it over his shoulder.
“Feel better, babe?” Gunnar asked in a tender voice, which was creepy since he had a wolf’s head at the moment.
“Much,” she grinned, arching up onto tiptoes to grab his snout for a light kiss.
Van was a tattered mess, and he was holding his pants up with one hand, while staring in horror down at his gun. His crossbow was a shattered ruin, and one of his knives – the only usable one – was bent into the shape of a boomerang. His eyes shone pure fury at Ashley as he realized what she had done. She blew him a kiss and then shifted into full wolf form, rolling onto her back playfully, pawing at the air.
Van’s face purpled, but it was kind of difficult to take his rage seriously while he was holding his pants up. His eyes danced to the torches, as if searching for an escape. Gunnar calmly stepped in his view, grinning a wolfish smile. And then the two tore off after him.
I spun, with a sickening feeling, realizing there was one more immortal I had forgotten about. I spotted Alucard lying on the ground, unmoving, and Baba attempting to flee into the ring of darkness, the Familiar at her back watching out for dangers. I smiled, wishing her the best of luck as I rushed to Alucard’s side. He wasn’t breathing, so I slapped his face.
His eyes shot open, and he tried to get up, but groaned. His eyes fixed on me. “Did you just slap me?”
“You weren’t breathing,” I muttered, checking that we were still relatively safe, but everyone seemed otherwise occupied. I turned back to him, checking for wounds.
“I’m a vampire, Nate. I don’t have to breathe…” he growled.
“I know,” I nodded, grinning.
“Bastard.”
“What happened?” I asked.
He let out a pained sigh. “I tried to take on the witch, but I’m weak. All this blood is bad stuff has caught up to me. I’m spent. No reserves.” I growled in understanding. This was my fault. It was ironic that I had been the one to preach ‘don’t drink living blood,’ and now I needed him at full strength. I should have thought of it sooner. Or encouraged him to stay home.
“Would it help if I gave you a bit of mine?” I asked, eyes scanning the battle. Van had abandoned the humility of holding up his pants, and was now running about stark naked, a blur of hair as the wolves pursued him. I shook my head, turning back to Alucard.
“No way, man. No idea what would happen with your freaky blood,” he smiled. “I’ll just sit back and let you guys handle it.” He noticed the naked Van Helsing and chuckled. “Looks like you’ve got things under control.” His eyes began to close with exhaustion.
“Okay, I’m going to-”
And a blanket of power abruptly smothered me. Thick, ropy vines of yellow energy, like tree sap stuck to my skin, latching me to the ground. The more I struggled, the harder it stuck, coming in contact with other parts of my body to trap me even further, like quick sand, or a spider’s web. I spotted Baba approaching on cautious feet, her Familiar plodding behind her menacingly, beady black eyes hungry.
“You,” I managed.
“I,” she replied drily. Her eyes darted about, then down at the vampire, which she summarily dismissed as no threat. Especially when the Familiar lurched to stand beside him, just in case. “Listen, Temple. I don’t know what crazy plan you had coming into this, but I think you can agree with me that it didn’t work. It didn’t work so well that you could call it a blazing failure.” Her eyes flicked to me as I continued to struggle. “But we don’t have to die here. Show me the way out and I will let you go to make your own decision on your next move.”
I opened my mouth to point her in the direction past the torches, but out of nowhere, a body suddenly slammed into her, knocking her right into her Familiar, and sending them both skidding to slam into another set of benches Asterion had been tinkering with.
What the hell was he building out here?
I glanced down to see that the projectile had been Tory. She groaned, eyes closed, and then she slumped down again. Right next to Alucard.
I began struggling with the sap, a horrifying idea suddenly beginning to grow in my gut. Then I watched as it became true. Alucard, eyes closed, sniffed the air as if smelling an enticing donut. With warm frosting, and fresh sprinkles.
And that donut was Tory.
He began to crawl over to her outstretched arm, and Tory began to stir, but not quickly enough. I frantically tugged at the sap, noticing Baba was also slowly climbing to her feet, clutching her head. The Familiar was stirring, looking to have cracked his beak, which just sucked for him.
I heard a soft s
nick, and flinched back to see Alucard’s fangs had snapped out, and he was leaning over Tory’s wrist, holding it down in a firm grip as she let out another soft moan. I shouted desperately, “No!”
But he didn’t hear me. Like a striking snake, he darted in to meet the tender flesh of her wrist with his fangs, and the sharp smell of copper filled the air, mixed with a woodland smell, equally as potent. For all of two seconds, I struggled, finally freeing an arm. Alucard drank. My free hand latched onto my cane, and before I could throw it at him there was a sudden explosion of green and yellow, and Alucard went flying.
Straight into the Familiar, knocking his stupid beak completely around at an unnatural angle and snapping off a good foot of its length. The Familiar crashed to the ground, and began to howl in agony. Baba stumbled over to his side, murmuring softly, soothingly to her pet, but the monster’s howls only grew louder, his chicken feet frantically kicking in the air as a vortex of purple light erupted from the damaged beak and up into the night. The monsters beyond the torches erupted in frightening screeches and howls of delight.
The sounds of battle temporarily halted as everyone realized we weren’t alone. Then the purple vortex flashed once, and a bar of sparkling black light bloomed straight up into the sky in the center of the vortex, fading to nothing a moment later.
And Baba’s shriek shattered my eardrums. The Familiar was now a rumpled mass of fabric, gone. I wondered what happened to a creature like that if it died here. I didn’t know if it was truly alive or just a construct. But she would find out in the morning. Talk about surprises. But I didn’t want to get her hopes up just in case different rules applied to creatures like that.
She collapsed, weeping. And then I noticed the figure standing a few feet away from her.
He was glowing. Sparkling even.
Alucard. And he looked completely unharmed, despite his vampire cannonball attempt.
Silver Tongue: A Novel in The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 4) Page 29
