by Brandon Witt
“I don’t know. That’s all I can come up with. What do you think?”
“I’m not sure. That’s all that really makes sense… not that it actually makes sense.”
“Have you heard of other demons that drown people or something? Maybe I’m a mix between two demons.”
Finn shook his head emphatically. “No, I’ve never heard of a demon with power over water.” He looked up as he had a new idea. “Did you happen to mutter anything strange, or think something?”
“What? You mean like a spell?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Finn, I don’t even know any spells. I didn’t even believe in them until last night.”
“I know. It’s….” He let out a deep breath. “It’s just that, if you didn’t, then it means that the water came from you, like your fire does. That it’s a part of you.”
With all the other crazy things that had happened, that didn’t seem so surprising to me. “Yeah, so?”
“So, I’ve never heard of anyone who has the power of fire and water in them. The two don’t mix.”
“Do you think it’s a bad thing?”
“I don’t know, Brett. I bet Dad would have some ideas, though.”
“Finn, I really don’t want to have to tell that story to your dad. It was bad enough having to tell you.”
Finn gave a look that meant he was having another thought. “So, out there in the water just now, when you shoved me away… you did that because you….”
“Because I didn’t want to hurt you. You even said the water was warmer by me. What if I got carried away and hurt you too?”
His eyes softened, and a smile played at the corner of his mouth. “So, you mean that it really wasn’t because you didn’t want to kiss me?”
“God, no, Finn! I already told you that. What if I wanted it too much? That was the problem.” The turn of our conversation hit me. “I tell you about burning and nearly drowning some hookup, and you want to know about kissing me?”
Finn shrugged, ignored my implication, and paused for another second before continuing. “But, you’ve… kissed… other guys when you weren’t in the water before, right?”
“Sure.”
“And you haven’t burned or drowned any of them, right?”
“Right.”
“Then, I think we’d be okay.” He started to lean forward.
I put my hand on his chest. “Finn, no. I’m sorry. We can’t. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not going to take that chance with you.”
I could see him trying to decide if he should give up or press on anyway. He let out another breath. “Fine. But I think we should talk to my dad.”
WE WERE just finishing up the Taco Bell we’d gotten when we arrived at Old Town. Finn had mentioned eating at Taberna de las Brujas, but the idea of Ricky and Christina making a big deal about us being together sounded exhausting, and I was sure they had talked to Paulette or Wendell, and the last thing I needed was more questions about being part demon. Truth be told, I wanted to stay in Old Town as briefly as possible. If the Vampire Cathedral really was out to get me, I didn’t need to make it any easier to find me.
“Did you park by the restaurant?” Finn popped the last bite of his MexiMelt in his mouth, crumpled the wrapper, and tossed it in the paper bag.
“No, I parked several blocks away, beside a little neighborhood park.”
Finn gave me an inquisitive sideways glance.
“I was in the mood to walk around and think last night, plus I didn’t want to have to fight for a spot in the lot or have to pay for parking somewhere else.”
He chuckled. “Cheap and an impatient driver. Guess it’s good to know that up front.”
“Up front? Were you planning on proposing tonight or something?” Shut up, Brett! Flirting like that is stupid—in every way.
In a way that seemed very uncharacteristic, he gave me a wink. “Ya never know. You come very highly recommended.”
“Uh….” I searched for something clever to say, but nothing came to mind. It was true that I liked the other person to make the move, but this was a little too much.
He smacked my chest. “Breathe, boy, breathe! Gesh! I’m just giving you a hard time. I can’t even get you to kiss me, let alone think about proposing!” He raised his eyebrow. “Besides, what makes you think I’d want little demon babies running around setting everything on fire?”
“Ouch. That’s a little below the belt, don’t ya think?”
He patted my knee. “Lighten up, Brett, lighten up. Where do I turn, anyway?”
I wasn’t sure why his joke about demon babies had hurt my feelings, but it had. “Just take a right up there.” I pointed to the next stop sign. “It’s after that block, at the very end, by the corner.”
Finn rolled through the stop sign, his tires giving a little squeal as he rounded the corner.
I gestured to the right. “Right up there.”
He slowed down as he neared the end of the block. “You mean… that one?”
My breath caught in my throat. I stared stupidly at my car as Finn pulled his truck to a stop in front of it, halfway on the sidewalk and half in the street.
I didn’t say anything as I got out of the truck. I took a couple of steps toward my car and then stopped.
Finn came up behind me and placed a hand on the middle of my back, his voice warm and low. “You okay?”
I didn’t reply. I finished the distance to my car, put my hand out slowly, and barely touched it to make sure it was real.
There were four parallel lines that cut through the sides, making a ring around the car, the metal jagged and ripped on every edge. All six windows had been smashed and lay inside and around the car in clumps and shards. Each tire was flat and had a single gash several inches long that matched the ones on the body of the car. Even from where I was standing, I could see the seats had been shredded as well, yellow foam bursting from the black vinyl.
“Wow, he really did a number on your car. I’m really sorry, Brett.” Finn’s voice by my ear caused me to jump.
“He?”
“Yeah. What else do think could do this?”
I puzzled at his words for several seconds, feeling rather slow when I finally caught on. “The vampire!”
Finn walked closer to the car and leaned down beside the passenger door. He put out his hand and inserted his fingers into the four slits down the side. “I don’t know of anything else that could do this, except maybe a werewolf or a full-blood demon, but that seems rather improbable, given you were attacked by Mr. Fangs last night.”
“You think he did that with his fingers?” I gaped with renewed shock at the torn metal. “It looks like ripped paper.”
“Well, it probably wasn’t much harder than that for him. Vampires are crazy strong. I don’t think you get it. There’s a reason the Royal Family was able to declare themselves the rulers.”
“Oh shit!” I whirled around Finn and ran to the other side.
Finn jumped up as I shouted, his fists up and looking around frantically. “What? Do you see him?”
I threw open the driver’s side door, reached in, and ripped down the visor. My keys fell to the floor. “Oh thank God!” I bent down and scooped them up. Then another thought hit me, and I reached through to the other side and yanked open the glove compartment. I shoved my hand in, tossed papers aside, and pulled out my driver’s license. I let out a long stream of breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“What is it?” Finn asked from behind me.
I turned and showed him the key and ID. “For a second, I thought he’d found out where I live. Sonia….”
“Oh. Yeah.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you telling me you leave your keys and wallet in the car?”
“Just my keys and ID. I carry cash in my pocket. I’ve never worried about it. This car’s too old for anybody to try to steal.”
He took my driver’s license and turned it over, inspecting it. “You’re lucky he was only
wanting to destroy something.” He shrugged. “Not that I can blame him, I guess. If you’d burned my face off, I’d mess up your car too.” He motioned to the ID. “Good picture, by the way. I didn’t realize I was two years older than you. Twenty-three, you’re just a baby.”
I snatched my license back. “Whatever.” Now that I knew Sonia was safe, the car didn’t seem like such a big deal. “I think I might need a ride back to my place, if you don’t mind.”
Finn laughed. “Ya think?” He peered through the broken window into the backseat. “Did you see what he did to the steering wheel?”
I gazed in from behind him. The steering wheel was sitting in the backseat, cords and wires dangling, making it look like a severed head. “Wow.” For the first time, I was beginning to comprehend what a big deal it was that I was able to get away with my life the night before. “When do you think he did this?”
“Dunno. I doubt it was last night. Even though there aren’t a lot of houses around here, it seems like someone would have heard something, and even if they didn’t, surely someone would have called the police when they brought their kids to the park today and saw this chaos.”
The thought of the vampire being here recently gave me a chill. “What do we do? Should we call the police?”
Finn shook his head. “Do you really want to try to explain this? Do you have insurance?”
“Just liability. It wouldn’t cover any damage to my car.”
He grimaced. “Then I think you’re kinda screwed. I know a couple of cops who are in the family, so to speak. I can call one of them.”
“You mean they’re gay?”
Finn laughed. “No, they’re warlocks. I’ll just have to say ‘vampire’ and they’ll get it—no questions asked.”
While Finn stepped away to call, I went through the car and got the few papers and items I needed to keep. Everything else that could be traced back to me I threw into a garbage can in the park.
IT TURNED out the policeman Finn had called was a friend of his dad’s. Officer Torres seemed fairly suspicious of me until Finn told him about the situation with the vampire. Given the circumstances, the cop told us he would have my car towed to the junkyard without filing papers, to avoid unanswerable questions. He wanted us to leave before the tow truck got there. He would pass it off as random vandalism to a stolen car. He wiped off the VIN number with a pass of his finger as he muttered some language I couldn’t understand, and then melted the license plates so they were unrecognizable.
A FEW hours passed between finding the car and pulling into the driveway beside Sonia’s Miata.
“Finn, why did you tell the cop that I was a warlock?”
Finn sighed and turned his body so he was facing me awkwardly in the front seat. “I don’t know if he would have been willing to help if he knew you were part demon.”
“Oh. Demons are kind of the lower class on the totem pole, huh?”
Finn tilted his hand back and forth. “Kinda, but not in the way you think. It’s not so much he would have looked at you like you’re dirty or anything. He just would have been afraid of you. You’ve got to remember, full-blood demons are like wild animals at times. They live to kill, and those that are only removed by a few generations aren’t much better.”
“I’m not sure if that’s any different. I guess you’re saying I shouldn’t put ‘Brett Wright, Demon Extraordinaire’ on my business cards, huh?”
He smiled softly. “Probably not the best idea.” He opened his mouth to say something else, then changed his mind. Before I could say anything, he spoke again. “Do you think you’re gonna be okay tonight?”
“Yeah, I will.” At least until I lie down to sleep and have a chance to start thinking about everything again. “Finn, I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet. You and your family have done so much for me, last night and today. You didn’t even know me.”
“That seems kinda strange to me that I didn’t know you yesterday. It doesn’t feel like that. So much has happened that it feels like we’ve known each other a long time.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that earlier, actually. You and your family are completely amazing… well, except for Caitlin, and I’m sure she’s good too, if you’re not a half-demon.”
“Nah, not really. That’s just Caitlin.” He hesitated once again, his mouth opening and closing, his face growing redder. “I’d like to see you again,” he blurted out suddenly.
“I’d like that too. After all, I bet I’ll have a lot more questions about all this demon, witch, vampire stuff.” Why’d I say that? I knew that wasn’t what he meant. While I like the other person to do the pursuing, I don’t typically play hard to get or get all nervous.
He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant, although that’s good too. I just mean….” He cleared his throat. “I like you, Brett. I’m sure you hear that all the time. You’re gorgeous. Demon gorgeous, for crying out loud! You’re smart, funny. I know you could get any guy, but I’d like us to go out sometime.”
“We’ve been out all day.” Dammit, why was I doing this?
Finn’s face flushed a deeper red, making his typically golden skin look dark brown, and his gaze dropped to his lap. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He reached over to grasp his seat belt, which he’d taken off when we parked. “Let’s just say, I’ll see you when I see you, then. You can always pop into the restaurant and—”
Without thinking, I leaned over, grabbed his chin, pulled it up so he faced me, and covered his lips with mine.
At first, he stiffened in surprise, but after a moment, I felt him relax, slip his hand behind my head, and pull me closer. His lips were soft but firm, and his tongue tentatively touched mine, lightly caressing the tip before sinking the rest of the way in, filling my mouth with a faint taste of cinnamon.
I’m not sure how long the kiss lasted, but I had to suck in breath several times before he finally pulled away, his brown eyes bright and wide.
“Yes.” I took another breath, trying to breathe normally again. “I want to see you too.”
He leaned over and gave me another firm kiss, then pulled his head back slightly, whispering so I could barely hear him. “See, I’m not on fire.”
I grinned. “Yeah, and you’re not drowning either.” He slipped his hand into mine. “Must just be a water thing.”
Another eyebrow arch. “Yeah, maybe, but I’d be willing to try an experiment sometime.”
The thought caused me to shudder. “I don’t think so.” We looked at each other for several moments, both pleased with the turn of events. “Would you like to come inside and say hi to Sonia before you go? She’d love that.”
“Sure, you bet.” He gave my hand a final squeeze before letting go and hopping out of the truck.
As we walked up to the door, I started to feel self-conscious again. It had been so long since I’d had more than a hookup that part of me was a little apprehensive of where this could lead.
Finn, apparently, wasn’t feeling any such thing as he hummed quietly behind me while I fished the key ring from my pocket. “I still can’t believe you leave your keys and driver’s license in your car.”
The key slid into the slot. I turned the handle and swung open the door. “Yeah, I guess now I’ll have to….” My voice trailed off as I stepped through the door.
“Oh no.” Finn murmured behind me.
Furniture was scattered everywhere—chairs overturned and slid out of place, lamps lying on the floor, shattered. There was a hole in the wall where the hallway led out of the living room.
For several moments, all I could do was let my gaze follow the destruction of the room. Everywhere I looked, there was more broken or out of place. The kitchen table that sat on the far end of the living room, right outside the kitchen, was split in half. One of the chairs had been thrown through the sliding glass doors that led to our tiny backyard.
I turned to look at Finn, who started to reach for me. “Come on, Brett, let’s go outside.”
&n
bsp; My brain finally snapped back into place, and I reeled away from him and flung myself into motion. “Sonia!” I tore off through the living room, hopping over debris. “Sonia!”
“Brett, don’t!” I heard Finn’s voice, but it sounded miles away.
As I ran past the kitchen, I glanced in. It seemed to have been spared from whatever had happened. I could see the bread and meat on the counter, and an open mayonnaise bottle with a knife sticking out of the opening. “Sonia! Sonia!”
I didn’t pause by the bathroom. I rushed through the hall, past my bedroom, and came to a stop outside Sonia’s door.
I stood there, staring at the door handle, expecting it to somehow turn on its own and let me into the room.
Finn grabbed my shoulders as he caught up with me. He tugged firmly. “Brett. Brett, come on. Follow me outside. You don’t have to do this. Just come with me.”
I shrugged off his grip, grabbed the door handle, flung open the door, and stepped through without another thought.
As soon as I was in Sonia’s room, my feet stopped moving. I stood there, hands limp at my sides, jaw slack, eyes wide.
The sheets had been ripped off her bed, which sat at an angle in the far corner of the room. Her dresser and chest of drawers were both turned over, the closet’s doors were ripped off, and clothes were scattered all over the room.
Blood covered everything. The bed seemed to be the source—all of it splattered out from there, streaking the walls in such a way that it looked like a child had used red finger paint to smear the rays of the sun. Splatters of blood plastered every surface, dotting the overturned furniture, pooling on the hardwood floor, and soaking into the fallen clothes.
Chapter 15
FINN DE MORISCO
EVERY so often I was certain that Brett recognized me. His eyelids would open, brilliant blue eyes would lock onto mine, and I’d think he was back with me. Each time, though, their gaze was dull—the empty eyes of a zombie. Sometimes they would stare at me, unblinking, for minutes at a time. At others, it was only moments.
