by Amy Boyles
“Leave willingly?” I said hopefully.
“Nah.” He pointed at me. “What the good folks in this small town are going to do is find you and every other supernatural creature they can. You know what they're going to do next? Well, you don't want to know because it ain’t good.”
I really didn’t want to plead, but what other choice did I have? “Sheriff Terry, you've got to help us here. We’re only trying to keep people safe.”
He released his legs and pitched forward in the chair. Terry folded his hands on the desk and gave me and Stone a stare that chilled my heart.
“If you want to help the good people of this town, you will keep your mouth shut about all things supernatural. Letting them know you're here is one thing. But tell them a supernatural threat is on its way, and you will have a revolt on your hands the size of Texas. What I’m saying is for your own good. Now please leave.”
Stone and I left. I didn't know about him, but I couldn't have felt more dejected.
Stone threaded his fingers through my hands and pulled me to him.
“Come on,” he said. “Let's go get a bite to eat.”
I scoffed. “Where? I was almost attacked by half the town yesterday.”
Stone shot me a secretive grin and said, “My place.”
I quirked a brow. “Your place?”
Stone chuckled. “Yeah. Can you believe I actually have a place? You've never seen it. But it exists.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “And I just figured you lived in the sky.”
He laughed again. “Come on. Let's go.”
He drove the Tahoe to an industrial brick building. Years ago it had been a warehouse, but now renovated condos filled the space.
Shiny chrome surfaces and white tile greeted me when I entered. “Sure looks heavenly.”
Stone shot me an amused look. He entered the kitchen and started riffling through his fridge. “How does ham and cheese sound?”
I slid onto a buttery-smooth stool and wove my hands together atop the counter. “Sounds great.”
Stone worked quickly, masterfully, in a way that sent little shivers down my spine. What he could do with those hands. I shook the thought out of my head as soon as it entered. Now was not the time to be thinking about anything other than the children.
Besides, I’d made my decision, right? I wanted to be with Dex.
Stone slathered mayonnaise on a slice of bread. “We need to leave the demon to Ron while you, me and the rest of the clan deal with the vampire.”
I sat back and wound a piece of hair around my finger. I absentmindedly stuck it in my mouth. “How do you want to do that?”
Stone wiped his hands on a towel and set a plate in front of me. He scooped a handful of chips on top and leaned against the counter. “I say we get all the children together and put them in one place. It's the only chance we've got. If we’re all spread apart, even with the relics, everyone's exposed.”
“I thought the idea wasn't to scare everybody.”
He exhaled a shot of air. “I know I don't talk a lot about being an angel.”
I bit into my ham sandwich. I slipped a few chips under the bread to make it crunchy and salty. Yes, sometimes I eat like a preschooler. Don’t judge. “No, you don't about being an angel, and I don't blame you. I'm sure there's plenty of sensitive information you can't reveal.”
Stone munched on a chip. He paused for a moment as if thinking. “To be honest, I'm really not supposed to. The only reason you know I’m an angel is because of the extenuating circumstances we had a few months ago. Talking about what I am makes me vulnerable. Not a lot of creatures attack angels, and not a lot of things can hurt us, but some things can.”
I nibbled on a bit of cheese. “You mean like demons.”
Stone nodded. “When we fought the vampires after we first met, I lured the demons away. I was able to get them to follow, but under the right circumstances, with the right information, demons could do some damage to an angel. There's a constant struggle for power in heaven, and the darkness is always fighting for the upper hand. Most of the time they don't get it. But if the vampires had traded Star to the demons, they very well could have gained it.”
Star was the angel that the vampires had convinced to come down to earth. Their whole goal was to sell her to a pack of demons. Luckily that never happened.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
Stone grabbed a glass from the cupboard. “Water?”
I nodded.
Stone filled two glasses from the tap. He slid one in front of me and drank a hefty mouthful from the other. “I'm telling you because I want you to understand everything that's going through my head right now. I have my main focus, which is Gabby, but that has shifted with these other children. I'm now trying to guard all of them, and I’ve got to do it the best way that I can. And to do that, we need them together.” He tapped his finger on the counter. “We’re also looking at the possibility of a demon that may or may not be able to be trapped and a vampire that I'm not sure we can defeat. You and an entire crew of hunters went after the lord vampire years ago, and you weren't able to defeat him then. I don't know if we’ll be able to beat him now.”
I brushed crumbs off my fingers onto my jeans. “I get all that. I know it's risky. I know it's dangerous, but this is the life we’re leading.”
“Andie, this is more than risky. This could be cataclysmic. We've got to keep these children safe, and you've got to figure some things out.”
I groaned. “Not this again. What am I supposed to figure out? I’ve got a handbook that I'm trying to take the power from, but in order to do that I’ve gotta destroy it. I have no idea how to make that happen.”
Stone’s jaw clenched. “Yes, you do know how to do that. You just don't want to face it. You don't want to deal with it. All you want is to find a thousand other reasons so that you don't have to face your biggest fears.”
“That is absolutely not true.” I frowned at him. Why the sudden change in mood? When we initially talked about me changing into a vampire, he didn’t seem to buy it, either.
“If you brought me here to tell me that I need to become a bloodsucker and possibly risk my soul, then I'm not going to listen. Because I’m not risking my soul, not for anybody.”
“Not even for your daughter?”
How dare he suggest that I wasn’t doing what I could for her? “Are you saying I’m not acting in Gabby’s best interest? Because I assure you that everything I do is for her.”
Stone gritted his teeth. “Andie, I know what Dot told you about destroying the book terrifies you. But what have you been doing about it?”
I threw up my hands. “I tried, Stone. I threw all the power I had into the book, and it didn’t do anything. Didn’t even singe the cover. But what Dot and Vordrid are saying, the amount of power it would take, I would have to become a vampire. That goes against everything I hold dear.”
Stone quirked an eyebrow. “And what else is happening that has gone against everything you’ve held dear? In the past few months you’ve been outed as a witch and supernaturals have moved into your community—both of which scared you. Have you ever stopped to think that what you want isn’t right? And maybe the things that go against it, are?”
I sank back into the chair. What he said danced in my mind. In fact, everything he said was true. So much of what I had known as my truth had been questioned. It had all been questioned in the past few months. But for some reason the idea of becoming a vampire just seemed plain unsound.
“Stone, if my only choice is to become a vampire in order to save my daughter, you know I‘ll do it.”
Stone rinsed his hands under the sink and wiped them on a cloth. “Sometimes I wonder. I know you love her fiercely, but I don’t think you’d do that.”
I pushed back from the counter, slipped my hands down my pants to clean them and said, “I think maybe I should go home.”
Stone nodded. He drove me to the house in silence. I f
elt that our relationship had broken. For him to question who I was as a mother destroyed the tie that had drawn me to him.
I got out of the car without looking back and shut the door. I strode up the steps and entered the house without speaking to anyone.
“Andie? Are you all right?” Dot said.
I ignored her and went straight to my room. I pulled the book from the closet and stared at it. “For too long you have been a burden, yet also a blessing on my life. All of that needs to end now.”
I grabbed a backpack and shoved the book into it. I left my room, grabbed my keys, and got into the 4Runner.
There was one person in town I knew who could make magical objects. If she could make them, then perhaps she knew of a way to destroy them. Either way, I planned to find out.
FOURTEEN
I reached Edith’s house about fifteen minutes later. Last time I was here, she had a stuffed scarecrow sitting on her front porch. This time she had a giant Elf on the Shelf splayed atop a green and red Christmas present. It was almost New Year’s, so her decorations were still okay to have hanging around. But every good Southern gal knew Christmas had to be taken down before the New Year or else you’d bring bad luck on yourself.
Before I knocked, the door swung wide. “Well, Andie Taylor, it’s a pleasure to see your fine face. Come on inside.”
Edith was a giant of a woman. Not really. But she was big. She had chocolate-colored skin that looked as smooth as cream, a raspy voice, and a stomach that rumbled like jelly when she laughed. I was very fond of her.
Edith smiled, her white teeth glistening in the sunlight that filtered through her windows. “Jack told me you were here.”
“You gave the elf the same name as the scarecrow?”
Edith waved her hand dismissively. “Easier to remember that way. Listen, I just made a batch of my famous coffee cookies with chocolate chips. Want to try one?”
I nodded my head. “I would love a cookie, thank you.” I mean, even if the earth was burning up around me, there was always room for chocolate and coffee, and why not have them together?
Edith retreated to the kitchen while I stepped in the living room and took a seat on her velvet couch. It was smooth, silky and exactly the sort of furniture that made you want to sink into it and nap.
Dishes clattered. “Want some coffee, too?” Edith called out.
“Absolutely. There’s nothing like washing down a coffee cookie with a cup of joe.”
Edith’s laughter rumbled through the house. “You know, I feel the same way.”
She entered a few moments later, carrying a coffee service and delicate plate of cookies. She set the rattling items on the coffee table and fixed me a cup. Along with the plate of cookies, of course.
I bit into a cookie. Dang, but Edith must have a convection oven. It was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The chocolate melted over my tongue while the coffee flavor mingled with it, creating a delicate balance of perfection, if I do say so myself.
Edith poured herself a cup and sat back in her recliner. She studied me for a few seconds before speaking. “When Jack told me you were here, I was so excited to see you.”
Did I mention that Edith is a witch? She is, in fact, a witch, and one who’d lived in Normal a lot longer than I had. Up until a few months ago she was semiretired. Used to make amulets for folks, but stopped as the need for them dried up.
She dusted crumbs from her fingers. “But anyway, when Jack told me that you were here, I have to say I wasn’t surprised. Seems there’s a little bit of talk going on in the community about some children and a demon.”
“There’s a lot of talk going on about that. We’ve got a real situation, but I’m hoping to have it under control soon.” I screwed up my courage and said, “There’s something I’ve come to ask you.”
Edith’s eyebrows shot to peaks. “Oh, really? You need me?” Her raspy voice held a hint of humor in it.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you know I need you. You know that’s why I’m here.”
“Well, well, well, how can I help you today, hunter?”
“I need to be able to trap the demon. But to do that, I need more power than what I have.”
I pulled The Witch’s Handbook from my backpack and let it fall on the coffee table with a thud. “I need to destroy this.”
Edith held out her hand. I passed her the tome. She skimmed her fingers over the cover and ran them up and down the spine. She peeled the book open and thumbed through the pages.
After a few seconds she spoke. “And you think I can destroy this piece of magic?”
I grimaced. That didn’t sound good. “I figured out of all the people I knew, you’d have an idea about how to destroy it.”
Edith shook her head. She handed the book back to me and slumped into her chair. “I know you’re coming to me with this because you’re out of options, but I don’t have a lot of information for you—at least not the kind you want. Magical objects like this one don’t destroy easy. I’m sure you’ve already found that out.”
My face fell. Edith nodded. “Let me guess, you tried to destroy it with your own magic.”
I nodded. “I tried and failed.”
Edith licked a crumb from her finger. “What you need is something I can’t offer you. I can give you guidance, because I’ve seen things like this destroyed in the past, but it takes an awful lot of magic to do that.” She leaned forward and said with a conspiratorial tone, “And it’s not the sort of power you get by simply being a witch.”
I sank into the couch even farther than I was already sunken into it. “That’s what I was afraid of. I know there are ways to do it, but my fear is that the means I have available will put me in jeopardy.”
Edith took a sip of her coffee. “Let me guess, the way you know to destroy this is to become a vampire?”
I cleared my throat. “That’s exactly right. How’d you know that?”
Edith’s broad smile covered nearly half her face. “Because, the last time I ever heard of a book like this being destroyed, it was when someone—a hunter like yourself—became a vampire and used their power to obliterate it.”
“But how? It’s the same story Dot told me but without specifics.”
Edith studied me for a moment. “Do you really want to know?”
I nodded so hard if my head hadn’t been attached, it would’ve fallen off. “Yes.”
Edit wrapped her fingers around her cup. “My dear, the supernatural tribunal is what created the hunter turned vampire. Years ago, at the beginning of the tribunal, there was a hunter who was the best of his class. He became angry with them over some grievance and swore he’d get back at them—which he did. This hunter got another vampire to turn him. He then destroyed his book, pulling all the power from it. That vampire went on to wreak such havoc, as I’m sure you know.” She paused. “Can you guess who I’m talking about?”
My throat went dry. I swallowed, trying to fill it with moisture. “The lord vampire?”
Edith slapped her thigh. “The very same. The lord vampire himself used to be a hunter until he got turned into a vampire and killed the vampire who turned him into one. That creature grabbed every ounce of power he could and became a creature the likes of which neither you nor I have ever seen.”
I scratched my forehead, confused. “But how is that possible? How could the lord have destroyed the vampire that made him without himself turning back mortal?”
Edith shrugged. “Beats me. I don’t have all the answers; I only have a few.”
My head swirled with this information. Suddenly I didn’t know what was right, what was wrong, and what was in between.
My phone buzzed from my pocket. I fished it out, hoping it was a text from Dex. Instead the word HOME flashed on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Andie?” Dot said. “Andie, are you there? I can’t hear you.”
“That’s because you haven’t given me a chance to answer,” I grumbled.
“Oh, you’re there. For a second I thought I was listening to static electricity.”
I pressed my temple, warding off the Dot headache that threatened to bloom. “What’s going on?”
“You’ve got to come home right now.”
Immediately panic started pounding through my veins. “I’ve got to come home right now? What’s going on?”
“It’s Jonas. He’s been found. They’re at Maggie’s house.”
I thanked Edith and left, racing to Maggie Moonglow’s. I arrived to a caravan of cars out front—Stone’s Tahoe, Ron's Audi, and Kate’s little econo Ford. I got out and ran up the front steps. I tried not to pound on the front door, but it didn’t work. I fisted the wood as if my life depended on it.
Kate answered. “Andie, come on in.”
I stepped into an empty living room. “Where is everybody?”
She nodded toward the bedroom. “They’re in there.” I moved to enter the room, but Kate grabbed my arm in a hold that surprised me. “Jonas doesn’t remember anything.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Nothing?” I whispered.
She shook her head. Kate bit her bottom lip, her mouth quivering. “He doesn’t know where he was or anything.”
“Okay, I’ll try not to upset him then.”
I padded into the bedroom and found Ron, Maggie and Stone surrounding the boy. Jonas looked exactly like I’d last seen him, except now he was in his pajamas and tucked in bed. Stone pressed a hand to the teenager’s forehead and said, “He’ll rest for a while.”
Ron looked at me. “It’s good to see you, Andie.”
Maggie lifted her head and gave me a weak smile. “Thank you for coming.”
Stone nodded. Apparently we were still mad at each other. “Let’s go talk.”
We shuffled back into the living room. I itched to speak with Jonas and find out what had happened. But for right now I had to rely on everyone else.
Kate brought in some hot tea.
“What happened?” I said.
Maggie wrapped her thin fingers around a cup but didn’t move to sip it. “He showed up about an hour ago. Just knocked on the door as if he was coming home from school. Had no memory about what had happened.”
