by Alina Banks
“Yes, I have heard before that my predecessors weren’t always the best people.” Miss Cane sighed. “I’m glad you made the decision to go alone. I wouldn’t have wanted to make things more complicated for Emilia. At some point, I’ll go to the cemetery and leave her an apology because she should have been given one a long time ago. Banishment, being threatened like that…” She shook her head. “Breaking the demon’s curses is something we’ve never tried before, but I don’t think it will be impossible.”
“For now, I’m going to keep my focus on the vampires. Tomorrow, I’m going to talk to Damien about how best to weaken his companions, and then go from there. If he isn’t willing to help with that, then I’ll know not to trust him.”
“That sounds like a good choice.” Her eyes met mine. “The more work we do, the better off we’re going to be when the demon does manage to break through.”
“Are we certain that’s going to happen?”
“While there are only two of us, I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t try again. He believes we won’t be able to stop him.”
“So, we know the vampires were sent here to open a door, which they were planning on doing with one of us. Joseph, I think, is more likely to use you in order to claim the hospital. He can create whatever fake paperwork he likes in order to make it his, and there will be no way to stop him. Not that it matters, because we’re going to stop him before he has a chance to do anything like that.”
“Maybe it would make sense to give up the hospital. I have, in the last months, had letters from Joseph Eason, claiming the hospital as his. That’s something I’ve been ignoring, but I could just take a step away. He’ll think he’s won something if I do that, which might make it so he isn’t as careful as he was, if we’re lucky.”
“Let me talk to Damien. Afterwards, I’ll have a better idea of what our next steps should be, and we can work out what will help us the most when it comes to Joseph Eason. I’m certain that neither Jessie nor Damien is entirely comfortable with him.” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “I have a feeling the reason the demon created more than one vampire was that Joseph didn’t want to be alone. He wanted a family, so the demon created that for him. It may well have been Joseph who called on the demon in the first place, believing it was the only way he was going to be able to claim the hospital, as it truly seems that it’s been his priority since the beginning.”
“If that is the case, it’s also possible Joseph was going to turn on the demon in the end, which would be why he’d want you around at the end. Then you could banish the demon for him, so he could have full control, rather than having to work with another being.”
Chapter Thirty
As I walked, I thought about what we knew and what we thought was possible. The coven had been working on ridding Clermont and Earth of the demon for centuries. I had their journals, so I had no doubt that it was true. I knew for certain that the first of the witches was a Cane, someone who’d come into their power because of their choice to watch over the conduit here, and that Cane was the reason for the creation of the coven. I knew the hospital was built after that, although not exactly how long after, and it seemed like there had at least been a small gathering of people in Clermont since around the 1600s, including the first Easons, who were trappers. It made sense that some of the others who came here would have later become a part of the coven families. Reports on the Easons gave a date for the hospital being built in around the 1830s, but that wasn’t to say there wasn’t something there before. Nibbling my bottom lip, I thought about how it might well have been that they were replacing what had already been there. Miss Cane did say ‘this hospital,’ but until then, I hadn’t thought about what that meant.
The old reports stated that one of the Eason brothers went missing. That Eason brother was named Joseph, if what Alex found could be trusted, and I thought it was a name that could have been passed down from one generation to the next. I knew, from what Damien said, that he hadn’t been changed until the 1830s. I had no reason to think it was the same for Joseph. Yet…I thought about what I’d come to believe about him. How Damien and Jessie talked about the person they pretended was their father around those who didn’t know the truth. Neither of them seemed to trust him. He had his own plans. Plans that Damien said involved the two remaining coven witches. Only, we weren’t the last two. There were others out in the world who might make the decision to return to where they were needed.
Not that it mattered one way or the other if Miss Cane and I were already dead. That was what I needed to make certain didn’t happen, which, in turn, meant working out what I was dealing with. Who I was dealing with. Going back to the library to double-check some details seemed like the best option, unless I could get Damien to talk to me. Turning in the direction of the library, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, sending a text to the only person who might be able to answer some of the questions I had. Learning who Joseph Eason was seemed to be the priority. If I simply assumed anything, that would probably only lead to things working out the way he wanted them to.
Damien was already sitting at one of the tables in the library when I got there. I gestured for him to follow me as I went down to the basement where all the old records for Clermont were kept. The town was proud of the long history it had, fortunately, giving me a chance to learn more about the place I should always have called home. Mom…as I thought of her, of Dad making plans for her funeral, tears welled up in my eyes, and I blinked them away. We were always the ones who were going to have to live with the choices she made. Sighing, I raked a hand through my hair, making my way over to where the oldest records were, knowing I was going to need them.
“Why are we down here?”
“Understanding the enemy is always the priority.” I looked over at Damien. “That, I believe, is Joseph, although I’m also going to keep an eye on Madeline. She seems more likely to go along with what he wants. You and Jessie…in all honesty, I’m not really sure what you want, but if I can find a way to give it to you then I will.”
“All I want is my freedom. Jessie may be the same. We’ve been alive for a long time, Ana, and that’s hard. Harder than I ever thought it could be. The days go by so slowly sometimes, and then I dream of what mortality would have been like.” He stepped closer to me. “You’re down here to learn about Joseph?”
“If I can. I have some ideas I want to look into that may well explain who he is and why he’s making the choices he is. At the same time, I know there’s a chance I might be wrong.” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “I know there were once two trapper brothers who called Clermont home - Edward and Joseph Eason. Joseph went missing. His body, apparently, was found, but it had been mauled by bears, and according to the records, the only identifying thing on his body was a ring that was still on his finger. A wedding ring. I don’t know about you, but I would not call a wedding ring any kind of proof, considering what Clermont is like. I believe the conduit here was already in use by a gathering of healers, who helped the trappers. Had it not been for that conduit and the trapping, there’s a chance Clermont might never have been built. Without the conduit, Clermont might have faded with the trapping.”
“That’s true. I think before the current hospital was built, there was another one there, but there was an issue with some kind of…I don’t remember all the details because it was a long time ago. At the time, I didn’t really care than the hospital was falling apart. It wasn’t important to me. The majority of the residents of Clermont saw things very differently, and a fund was started to be able to rebuild what was there. I know that Edward Eason, Joseph’s father, put a lot of money into that fund, so much so that the hospital got a document signed that said the Easons had no ownership of the building. That’s something I only know due to Joseph.”
“How certain are you that Joseph really was Edward’s son?”
For longer than I expected, Damien remained silent. “Not long before the hospital’s issue, Joseph went missing. H
e was only gone for a couple of nights. He’d gone out on his horse but came back on foot, saying that the horse had fallen, broken its leg, and he’d put the horse out of its misery. The horse was never actually found, so who knows if that was true or not. If you are right, if Joseph is actually the trapper who went missing 200 years earlier, then it’s possible he could have taken the place of the other Joseph. I do remember hearing from others that Joseph had changed since the accident. Instead of being accepting of his father’s choice to help fund the hospital, he was furious about it.”
Hours were spent with the records, but there was nothing I could find that would tell me if I was right or not. If Joseph had been working with the demon for as long as I thought he had, it was possible he was stronger than the other vampires. There was no way I could be certain I’d be able to weaken him enough to do what I had to. All I could do was try and see what happened. Sighing, I raked a hand through my hair, wishing I could talk to someone who’d been around back when the town was still just a trapper community. I knew the witch’s cemetery had been in use for a long time, but I didn’t think it went that far back. Even if it did, there was no certainty I’d be able to find who I needed.
“I could always talk to Joseph.”
Blinking, I looked at Damien. “How would you even bring something like this up?” I shook my head. “The last thing I need is for Joseph to know I’m looking into his past to see who he really is. I think if he knew I suspected him, it would make everything much harder.”
“Maybe it would.” His eyes met mine. “Joseph is expecting me to make certain you’re at the house on a specific day, which I think is the day he plans on opening the door for the demon. If that’s the case, then you need to be ready by that time.”
“When does he want me there?”
“Around the end of the month. I know that’s not a lot of time, but you need to be ready by then, because if you aren’t…I can’t step in. I…as much as I’d want to, there would be nothing I could do to stop him if he did make the decision to use you.”
Nodding, I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “Damien, I’m going to ask you to help me work out the best mix of herbs I can use to start weakening all of you. I want to know how I can kill Joseph, as I have no reason to think a stake will work, so you can do something to make certain I don’t die.” I smiled at him. “If you aren’t willing to help, then all I can do is work it out by trial and error.”
“The whole reason I helped you out the morning after Delilah’s attack is that I don’t want you to die. You’re probably my only chance at regaining my mortality, Ana, and I will do anything I have to in order to help you get through this. Even if it means turning on the people I’ve tried to call family for the last two centuries.” He reached out to take my hand. “I might be able to help you afterwards too. When you take on the demon.”
“How do you know I’m going to take on the demon?”
Laughing, he shook his head. “You’re a Conway witch. That’s what you do.” He squeezed my hand. “I don’t have to stay, but honestly, I’d like to see this to the end, if I can. If you can banish the demon for good.” He looked down for a few seconds. “When I’m mortal again, I won’t be able to do as much as I’d like, but at the very least, I can do something more than I have done. I never had the strength to do something like this before. Had I done more for Violet…I was just too scared. I let my fear of the other vampires get the better of me, and that was the biggest mistake I could possibly have made. I might have been mortal by now. The demon might have been banished for good.”
“Even if Violet was strong enough to help you, she didn’t have the skills needed to be able to banish the demon for good. That’s something very few of us are born with. You just got lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.” I studied him, hoping he wasn’t lying to me. “We have two weeks to prepare for what’s coming next, and that’s not as much time as I had hoped to have, although I had a feeling that things were going to start moving far faster than they had before. Joseph came here with a plan. What he couldn’t have planned for was me, fortunately.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Use more of the garlic. I know it’s something written about in fiction, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work.”
I looked at Damien. “Convincing people to drink this is not going to be easy if it tastes terrible.”
“Do you really think they won’t already have an idea that something’s wrong? They just haven’t made the decision to go to the hospital yet, because they don’t want to believe there really is something wrong when there’s no reason for it. Only, they’re feeling more tired than usual, and it’s much harder for them to get out of bed. Give them this as a tonic and it will help. Even if it’s just a placebo effect.”
“You’ve seen it happen before.”
“There was a time when I was the reason for it.” He shrugged. “Now, I make better choices.”
“What are those better choices, Damien? How do you keep your strength up?”
“Feeding on animals works well enough, even if it is something Joseph would look down his nose at. As far as he’s concerned, vampires should only feed on humans. I do what I have to do in order to be who I am, rather than letting him push me into doing what he thinks I should.”
Nodding, I added more garlic to the mix. There was enough in the bowl for multiple people, which was going to help once I knew who I had to give it to. Sasha and I could work on that together once Damien was gone. “How many humans does a vampire feed from?”
“At least three, but usually more. Draining them too quickly is not what they want to be doing, because that’s what draws attention, so it’s a slow process that can be stopped by medical professionals. That’s what Joseph prefers. He’d much rather have someone go to the hospital to get help, and that’s why Madeline has always worked in hospitals. It’s also why the two of them have been working to remove Rebecca Cane, not that it would really change anything. They don’t want her to be able to do anything to stop them, and they think she might be able to if someone does get help, because they’re assuming that she’s the one doing the majority of the work to deal with them.”
“Of course that’s what they assume.” I sighed. “They think I took today off to grieve, don’t they?”
“I might have helped with that. I didn’t want them to know what you were actually doing was working out the next steps, because you are now the coven leader, and you have always been more of a danger to them than Rebecca Cane. I’m sure they can’t see it, though. They think you’re too young. I know they couldn’t see it when Jessie and I tried to make them understand how things are for us, but then again, there is always just the fact that they probably don’t care at all. We’re just a means to an end. We’re just a way to seem normal to the outside world if someone was ever suspicious of us.”
Damien sighed and shook his head. “At least, I’m pretty sure that’s why there’s four of us. Madeline used to talk about her lost babies in the early years. She wouldn’t exactly yell, but she got more heated about that than anything else. Before she became a vampire, she did lose at least eight miscarriages, so she’d come to the conclusion that she was never going to be able to have a baby, which makes me think that children might have been what the demon promised her if she helped him.”
“You said he used your jealousy against you. What did he offer you to become a vampire?”
“A chance to be stronger than my cousin.” He shrugged. “I was an idiot when I was younger. At times, I don’t think I’ve changed all that much, but at least I’m making marginally better choices.” He looked down. “I lost so much for that ‘gift’. I remember Joseph talking to me about how easy it would be for me to kill my cousin. I didn’t tell him she knew what had happened to me, or that Jessie’s sister knew what had happened to her. We kept that secret, with him assuming there was a mistake made somewhere, probably when he made the decision to kill his family.”
“Killing her would have been easy for a vampire.”
“Had I been able to set aside my humanity, I might have been able to, but that…it was impossible. I tried for so long, and I failed. Now, I’m using it to fix the damage I caused.”
Sasha and I were alone. I told her what I needed from her, and she twitched her tail from one side to the other, assuring me that she knew what I was asking of her. Breathing in deeply, remembering how strange it was, I slipped my consciousness into her body, and she stood there for a moment like she was getting used to having me there. Then, she was off. Even though the sanctuary didn’t have a cat flap, she’d always been able to let herself in and out, which I found out was because she simply walked through the door. Familiars were very strange creatures. She bounded out of the garden and through the town, seeming like she already knew exactly where she was going. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she did. I’d been talking about what we needed to know for so long.
When she reached a house I knew, she jumped onto the window sill. She looked through the window, making it possible for me to see that Madeline had chosen one of Alex’s parents to be one of her victims, which would make things a little simpler. Alex could take the ‘tonic’ to them and tell them he’d noticed how run-down they had been feeling. From there, Sasha showed me who Joseph was feeding from, and then Jessie. Seeing Jessie feeding from a human was more disappointing than I expected it to be, even though she was kinder than her parents. It seemed like she actually minded that she had to feed on a human. Then, she noticed Sasha. Neither of them moved for a moment, but after a little while, Jessie stepped over to the window. Sasha didn’t move. Instead, she just studied the amazingly sad-looking vampire.
