Last Vampire Standing

by Nancy Haddock

  “No,” Triton said, suddenly on my right.

  Saber was there, too, on my left. He took my shoulders and shook me.

  “Cesca, stop now. Stop pulling Marco’s energy before you kill him.”

  “But he must die,” Laurel screeched.

  “He’ll be executed legally. Cesca, listen to me. His energy is black. It’s infecting you. Stop.”

  “No,” Triton snapped, jerking me from Saber’s arms. “Marco must die now, or he’ll escape execution. The blackness is the sign of the Void. Marco must die and by your hand, Cesca. It’s the only way.”

  “Let go!”

  I sobbed and wrenched free of Triton, stumbled back. My right butt cheek burned, my throat felt like I’d swallowed oil, and I couldn’t think for the shrieking pain in my skull.

  “Triton, I can’t kill him. I can’t.”

  “Then give me the disk in your pocket. Now, Cesca. I need the medallion now.”

  I expected the disk to burn me. It didn’t, and some instinct made me look at the medallion more closely. Hexagon-shaped, the size and thickness of a jelly jar lid, the clear crystal was shot through with silver and gold lines and framed in copper. A smattering of ancient-looking symbols were etched into the copper rim. I made out part of a musical note, and the Greek letter for Mu as the medallion beat its pulse into me, strong, slow, comforting. My heartbeat fell into synch.

  Just as it did, Triton cupped my hand and jerked me down to where Marco lay on his back. He flipped my hand palm down and pressed the medallion to Marco’s chest, over his heart. With Triton’s hand pushing on mine, he muttered a string of words in a language I didn’t recognize.

  Brilliant, blinding rays of white light burst from every surface of the medallion, and beamed into Marco. One moment he was there on the floor, the next he had vanished. I gaped, started to ask what happened to him, but Laurel lurched forward.

  “Mine,” she screeched, clawing at the medallion.

  At her touch, the light arched into her. She writhed on the stage as if snakes infected her body. Then she, too, dissolved into nothing, and the light collapsed into the disk.

  My fingers curled around the medallion as I stared into Triton’s deep brown eyes.

  “You killed them,” I whispered. “You made me help you murder them.”

  Triton shook his head, and a stray lock of his tobacco brown hair fell across his forehead.

  “We didn’t kill Marco, Cesca. We released his soul, and his body left with it. The female released herself.”

  I glanced at the stage floor where Saber’s handcuffs lay empty, then at the medallion in my hand.

  “What the hell is this thing?”

  “I don’t have time to explain.” He snatched the disk and dropped it in his shirt pocket. “Trust me now as you trusted me before. The dark forces have lost two minions.”

  He kissed my cheek, murmured in Greek, “Until later, dear friend,” and bolted off the stage before I could react.

  I don’t know how long I knelt, stunned and alone, before Saber’s arms closed around me and drew me off the floor. I sobbed and buried my face in his shoulder.

  “Cesca, honey,” he crooned as he stroked my hair. “Stay with me. I need you. Come on, now. The bad guys are gone, but we have a stage to clean up and people who are still enthralled.”

  I blinked at him. “They are?”

  “Every damn one of them. I don’t know why they’re still bound, but you have to release them. You can break down later.”

  I hiccupped. “I suppose this is a bad time to tell you, but I don’t know how to release them.”

  A footstep thudded on the stage.

  “I do.”

  TWENTY-TWO

  We whirled toward the baritone voice—Saber tensed to fire his weapon, me darn near fainting when I saw the carriage driver from Wednesday night.

  Except tonight he looked completely different.

  He wore baggy black pants, a loose white tunic, and a midnight blue, honest-to-gosh full-length cape. His gray hair had seemed thin and dirty on Wednesday, but now it flowed to his shoulders like a white water wave.

  He stood with his hands resting lightly on Jo-Jo’s shoulders. Pandora in full panther size sat on her haunches beside him.

  I looked into Pandora’s eyes. “Your wizard, I presume?”

  Pandora chuffed, but the man laughed.

  “I am Cosmil, at your service. I promise, I offer no harm, only help.”

  “If you know how to break a vampire enthrallment, you’re on,” Saber said and holstered his Glock.

  “I even know why the spell did not break when Marco vanished. It is because, Princess, in taking his energy, you assumed responsibility for what he left behind.”

  A flare of panic burned my gut. “Am I infected with Marco’s dark energy?”

  “No, though I will teach you how to release unwanted energy as well.”

  “Can we get back on track?” Saber said. “It’s ten o’clock, and a few hundred people are missing over an hour of time.”

  “It’s really ten?”

  “Time flies when you’re killing bad guys. Did Jo-Jo say when the show was supposed to end?”

  “Eleven, I think. Is there a program on the tables?”

  As soon as I turned to look, a folded sheet of paper lifted off the nearest table and floated to me. Bemused, I plucked it out of the air.

  “Eleven is right. Jo-Jo was supposed to be on at nine and again at ten thirty. But what are we going to do about the clocks and everyone’s watches?”

  Saber eyed Cosmil. “How long will it take to teach Cesca to undo the enthrallment and get everyone functioning?”

  “Fifteen minutes, perhaps twenty. I will change timepieces, if you like.”

  “That’ll do. Let’s move. Cosmil, help me get Jo-Jo and Donita backstage. Cesca, grab the cuffs and sword, would you?”

  “Nuh-uh. Allergic to silver, remember?”

  Cosmil coughed. “I believe you will find your allergy is less severe if not entirely gone.”

  “Is this a sucking Marco’s energy thing, too?”

  Cosmil spread his hands and smiled. “You have assumed a new power, Princess.”

  “I don’t want anything of Marco’s.”

  “Cesca, if you can touch silver now, you can wear it. Think new options in jewelry, and deal. Cosmil, your help, please?”

  New options in jewelry? Okay, that was a plus. Gold was outrageously expensive.

  Still, I handled the sword and handcuffs gingerly. They gave my fingers only the slightest sting. Not so much a burn as a vibration. Not like the mermaid charm. Softer.

  Pandora and I followed Saber and Cosmil as they led the apparently sleepwalking Donita and Jo-Jo into a dressing room. When they were seated, I frowned at Jo-Jo.

  “Is Jo-Jo hurt or enthralled?”

  “Neither. He was struggling to protect the woman, so I cast a sleep spell to calm him.”

  “Marco didn’t notice?” Saber asked.

  “Marco saw what he chose to see.”

  Saber made a hurry-up gesture. “Time’s ticking. Now what?”

  “First I’ll instruct the princess in waking Donita. She had some immunity to enthrallment, and is more terrorized.”

  I brushed my fingers over Donita’s shoulder.

  “Good. Your instincts are good. Now send your will that she awakens with no unpleasant memories of this night.”

  “And no missing time?”

  “Yes. I will awaken Jo-Jo as you release the woman, but I will not be here when they are conscious again. Meet me in the hall so we may unenthrall the others.”

  Between Marco and the medallion incident, I should have been a wreck. Instead, I felt strong and secure. I could do this. Hell, I’d finally flown when it counted. This should be a relative snap.

  Course, I could be back in denial land, too.

  Cosmil nodded when he was ready, and I put all my focus into willing my intent into Donita. Maybe a half second ticked by, t
hen both she and Jo-Jo awoke.

  I expected Jo-Jo to remember Marco, but Pandora in her house cat form landed in his lap just as he came to.

  “Ooof,” Jo-Jo said, then stiffened. “Who let this cat in?”

  “We did.” I grinned at his horrified expression. Bless her, Pandora did know how to make an entrance.

  “What a gorgeous feline you are,” Donita crooned, and Pandora abandoned Jo-Jo for her.

  Saber cleared his throat. “We just wanted to say hello before you go on again.”

  Jo-Jo frowned, confusion evident in his eyes. Was he remembering?

  When he shrugged, I released a breath I hadn’t known I held.

  “I wish you’d stay for the second show. I’d like to buy you a drink afterward. You know, for all your help.”

  Saber clapped a hand on Jo-Jo’s shoulder. “Sorry, we have a long day tomorrow. But it’s been a hell of a memorable night.”

  I snorted and left to find Cosmil.

  Releasing a whole building of enthralled humans was a huge challenge, even with a wizard on the team. We had to include those people in the bathrooms, the storerooms, the office, even in the crannies where the techies were running the lights and sound show. Nerves fluttering like bat wings, I secluded myself in a shadowed corner. Cosmil stood behind me to provide an energy boost.

  I raised my hands, palms toward the crowd, and broadcast my will with a vengeance. With a pop of electricity, activity in the room instantly resumed, and the noise level swelled. If Marco had hit the Pause button, I had pushed Play.

  Pandora had stayed in the dressing room to distract Jo-Jo and Donita, so Saber and I walked into the humid night with Cosmil. A thousand questions pricked the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t know if I should ask even one.

  “We will meet again,” Cosmil assured me as if he’d read my mind. Which he likely had. “I will send Pandora when I know you are ready.”

  Ready for what? hovered on my tongue, but I knew. Ready to unite my powers with Triton’s. Humph. That’d be a cold day in every level of hell.

  Cosmil chuckled. “No, it won’t.”

  He turned south, away from downtown, and just as Pandora loped up to him, they both disappeared.

  “Damn,” I breathed. “And I thought flying saved gas.”

  The next two weeks passed at vampire speed.

  Saber contacted Candy and Ray to relay that Marco and Laurel were exterminated. Ray heard a more edited version of events, I was sure. And, while I wasn’t present for either conference, I knew the VPA was closing down nests nationwide. The good news was that many vamps had the money and credit ratings to buy their own homes. The housing market boomed in some locations, and Ray reopened Hot Blooded.

  When Maggie got home from Savannah, I caught her up on bits and pieces, but mostly we talked wedding plans. Oh, and I took her to see her dress. She cried happy tears for days.

  I asked Saber about the apparent telepathy I’d experienced with him at the comedy club, but he acted like I’d taken another conk in the head with my surfboard. Since I didn’t hear his thoughts again, I chalked it up to an aberration brought on by stress. Yep, Dr. Phil has nothing on me.

  Saber sold his condo and bought Neil’s house, closing on both the same day. Property deals must have been in the stars, because I filed the papers to claim my land from Triton’s trust and had the deed before the end of the month. I thought for sure Triton would contact me about the transfer, but he didn’t. I didn’t know whether to be ticked or hurt, but I was glad I’d buried the mermaid charm in my jewelry box drawer.

  Jo-Jo called with news that The Court Jester was a go, and that pieces of the film would be shot in St. Augustine in October. He wanted me to be an extra, and I told him I’d think about it. Sure, it could be interesting, but my ghosts were more fun.

  One disturbing event occurred ten days after the showdown at the Riot. I received a DVD in the mail with Kevin Miller’s return address on the package. The note inside read:

  “Don’t need this footage for my project, and have destroyed the original. This is the sole copy to do with what you want.”

  Good thing Saber was with me when I played the disk. Though I hadn’t seen them, Kevin, Leah, and Caro had been in the club the night of Jo-Jo’s show, and Kevin had set up a digital video recorder to run before he was enthralled. The camera had been aimed at the stage, and, though the picture was fuzzy, Kevin had inadvertently caught most of the confrontation between Marco and me. The DVR battery had died before the final scene played out, but seeing the video left me shivering for hours. Saber held me through the night to keep dreams at bay.

  On the last Sunday of August, I decided to rip out the bushes and vines around the beach house. Saber was with Neil, watching the preseason football game he’d recorded on TiVo, but promised he’d join me later.

  I took my surfboard with the idea that I’d reward myself for working, and after an hour, I’d cleared three sides of the bungalow. I also found a partial boardwalk to the beach, one with steps all but obliterated by sand. Since tramping over the dunes is a no-no, the hidden access meant the stretch of beach in front of my little shack was deserted. I had the ocean pretty much to myself, too.

  I didn’t need more invitation than that. I unloaded my board from the car, changed into my new coral flowered bathing suit, and hit the surf.

  After one bitchin’ ride after another, I paddled out farther to rest a few minutes before I caught the last wave of the day.

  A splash on my left, and a dolphin leaped in a graceful arc, submerged, then swam directly at me. I tensed in case it bumped my board, but the dolphin dove under me and surfaced far on the other side. Then it swam lazily back, making clicks and whistles, and gently nudged my thigh with its beak.

  Don’t recognize me anymore?

  I jerked sideways so hard, I nearly fell off my board.

  “Triton?”

  No, Flipper.

  I gave him the evil eye as he bobbed beside me. “Do not crack jokes with me. Not after what you pulled with that medallion thingie.”

  It’s an amulet to be precise, and it had to be done. Marco was on the edge of being consumed by the Void.

  “Then why didn’t you hit Marco with the amulet yourself? Why make me a party to killing—”

  Banishing.

  “Banishing then. You could’ve done it on your own.”

  Triton shook his massive dolphin head. Remember what Pandora told you about uniting our powers?

  “Yes, and I’m sick of hearing it.”

  Francesca, whether you admit it or not, whether we like it or not, whether you want to or not, uniting our powers is part of our destiny.

  “Yeah? Well, destiny can take a hike if you keep being stealthy and secretive. Straight answers, Triton. Straight answers, or you’ll be power tripping all over your flukes to get back in my good graces.”

  Come see me.

  “You mean like this? Vampire to dolphin, or should we stay dry and hook up telepathically?”

  Check your Sunday paper. Then come see me.

  With that, Triton arched and dove under the water. I waited for him to surface again, but when he did, he was twenty feet away. Damn it.

  Double damn when I realized I’d drifted toward the shore, and that Saber stood on the dune waiting for me.

  I threw myself flat on the board and paddled, catching one more wave on the way in, then carried my board up the beach to meet Saber.

  At the top of the steps, he clasped my free hand.

  “Was that Triton?” he asked as we walked toward the shack.

  “Yeah, and he about scared me half to death. How did you know it was him?”

  “Aside from the fact you don’t usually argue with dolphins, it’s the dark of the moon. You told me he only shifts then. Plus, I saw this in the paper today.”

  He unfolded the business section and pointed.

  I saw the headline “New in Town,” then read the few column inches aloud.

  “‘Ocean
Enchantments will specialize in shipwreck treasurers and kitschy maps purportedly drawn by mermaids. Owner Trey Delphinus.’” I met Saber’s gaze. “The mermaid on the treasure map charm.”

  “Yeah.” Saber paused a beat. “You’re going to see him.”

  It wasn’t a question.

  “I have to if I want answers to my long list of questions about the Void and why he’s recruited me to fight the damn thing. I was hoping you’d go with me.”

  “You think there will be sparks?”

  I sighed and leaned my board against the shack.

  “If you mean will I blow up at him, I just did, and, yeah, there’s a darn good chance I will again. If you mean romantic sparks, I can only tell you this: When I faced Marco, I wasn’t thinking about Triton rushing to help me. I was thinking about you.”

  Saber cracked a grin. “Sure you don’t love me just for my big gun?”

  “I love you,” I said as I went on tiptoe to steal a kiss, “because you love me. Fangs and all.”