Three Little Words

by Tina Glasneck

  “What were they planning on doing to you?”

  “To be honest, I was scared. All I know is that they claim to be a cult of rogues. The vampire that took me talked about looking forward to draining my blood and then wrapping me like a mummy. I don’t think he was joking, either.”

  “Is the mummification done according to the Egyptian method?” Killian asked.

  Chuck shrugged. “You know, I really wasn’t interested in those details. All I can say is the blood is supposedly harvested and then infused with what the vampire called bad energy, which will awaken the feral nature of the supernatural creature that drinks it. It is supposed to help spark the apocalypse so that the world can attack some dragon and his harlot.”

  “Well, you are safe here tonight, Chuck, and of course, under the Order’s protection. Killian, if you will see to our guest’s needs, as well as speak to Beau to update him?”

  “Of course.”

  Alistair stuck out his hand to take Leslie’s. “My dear,” he began. Even to his own ears his voice sounded hoarse. He tried to bite back a smile. “If you will come with me, as well. I have much to discuss with you.”

  Chapter 22

  Leslie

  I wasn’t quite sure how I was feeling. But I was too shaken to think correctly. I needed to think, but still I took his hand. Alistair hadn’t given me a reason to mistrust him.

  I followed him as he walked me back to my room. “What was it that you wished to discuss?”

  “You put yourself in a high-risk situation to help him tonight, and the way these things work, I’m unsure if that was wise.”

  “I know him. He’s a good guy, wendigo, or not, and there’s another element missing.”

  “You know, they didn’t just let him go. That his being allowed to leave might mean they are using him to find our base.”

  I’d considered that, but the risk of something really happening to Chuck was too high. “I know, but I also know we’re capable of defending this place.” I squeezed his hand. “Let me go freshen up and then you can tell me all about the club, and even where my sister and Drac might be.”

  “Oh, brother,” he muttered. “Then, I will give you some privacy. When you’re finished, please come to my chambers to talk. As tonight, we must finally clear the air between us.”

  I smiled and opened my bedroom door to find Gran sitting in the dark, staring at something glowing green.

  “Gran?” I found her usual incorporeal body solid. I shook her shoulder, and still, she stared unblinking at what appeared to be a shard of metal. The metal casing was ornately carved and held a greenish emerald gem in it.

  A warm breeze moved down my back, and I felt the fire start to prickle through my skin. Pivoting to my right, just as someone moved from the shadows, I flipped her over onto the floor before me, knocking the blade further away.

  “Gene?” I stared at the woman who was my friend; at least I thought her to be my friend.

  “This looks very bad, but I promise you it isn’t what you think. Please release me. You and this entire house are in danger.”

  I lifted my foot off of her. “Whatever do you mean?”

  “I know your people tried to wipe my mind and make it so I didn’t remember your party, but I remember it all quite well. I also know that your attack at the dance studio is linked.”

  I’d assumed the same, but something was missing.

  “It comes down to this shiny thing.” She pointed to the knife. “That glowy thing seems to have some effect on supernatural beings, but it doesn’t work on you like it does your Gran.”

  “My gran?” For as long as I could remember, Imogen had never remarked on being able to see Gran.

  “My abuela always told me not to tell people that I could see into the other world, but that was also why we’ve been such good friends. I mean, come on now, Leslie, you’d have talks with your Gran all the time with people around. Others might think you’re just talking to yourself, but I could always hear her answers.”

  “If that’s the case, why are you crawling around my room?”

  “Your Gran found a way to call my abuela. Abuela told me to get over here and help as much as I could. Manny wouldn’t believe me when I told him I had a hunch something was off. So, here I am, and this is how I found your Gran. But before I came, I made sure to grab what I remembered falling off that floating staff. That.”

  I tried to piece it all together. My party had been going well until wraiths had attacked us. I moved over to the glowing metal shard. This was outside of what I knew or understood.

  “Alistair, if you can hear me, please come to my room. I have a not-so-good surprise. And bring Killian, too.”

  “It’s good to know our link is back. Whew.” I felt his relief. Like Drac had told me, the connection I had to Alistair was to remain.

  In no time, my bedroom door swung open and Alistair and Killian entered. But I only had eyes for the big lug with shorts hanging on his hips, a tight T-shirt that was stretched over his bulging muscles. His hair was wet.

  “Did I interrupt your nightly routine?” I bit back my oh, baby, hubba-hubba thoughts, mentally giving myself a shake. This was serious, and, come on, there was so much more to life than sex. No matter how tempting Alistair looked. I flicked my tongue.

  “What do we have here?” Alistair asked.

  “This is my friend, Imogen, and she’s been playing detective. Long story short, her abuela is friends with Gran, and Gran requested that Imogen get here to help.”

  “Help us with what?”

  “That.” I pointed to the green-glowing shard. “What is it? What does it do, and better, if you get rid of it, will it unfreeze Gran?”

  “Where did you find this?” Killian asked.

  “It fell off of the staff at Leslie’s apartment,” Imogen explained. “I brought it with me to show to Leslie and maybe get some answers, but when I was showing it to Gran here, things got weird. Her ghostly form became solid.”

  Alistair nodded his head as if understanding. “This was from Zola’s staff?”

  “I knew the mind-washing didn’t work with you,” Killian said, moving the shard with his pencil. Nothing happened. He picked it up. “Zola hasn’t been very supportive of the changes and has remarked on the inadequacy of the monarchy to protect its people. Maybe this magic was to coerce a change in the Order?”

  Suddenly, a portal formed, and I saw trapped souls, including that of my gran.

  I gulped down air and went to reach in and pull her out. I saw that Gran also held Saga. Her lips moved.

  I then turned back to Alistair. “How do we get her out of there?”

  “The same way we got her in. Killian, summon Zola here. I dare say, nothing is as it seems. The tokoloshe is playing us.”

  I took the time to put the firearm back in my waistband and the knives in my boots, as Killian had reminded me to always do.

  “We never want trouble, but we always plan for it.”

  It wasn’t long before Zola arrived with two of Beau’s guards leading her. She moved into the room, her traditional shwe-shwe indigo print dress rustling with her movements.

  “What is the meaning of this?” she accused. “To drag me from the warmth of my bed is not a thing of friendship, my Lord.”

  “Zola, I apologize for having to wake you up at this time of night, but this is of Order importance. You know so much of the tokoloshe, and we need to know more of what we are dealing with.”

  She crinkled her brow. “What does a tokoloshe have to do with me?”

  “This.” Killian picked up the shard Imogen had brought to the apartment.

  “Why are you asking me? That staff was given to me by you. How do I know what sort of hex you’ve placed in the emerald and metal?” She took a seat on the large executive leather chair and crossed her ankles.

  “You must be mistaken.”

  “No, not at all. It was gifted to me on the night of Leslie’s birthday, a great gift to celebrate our continued
friendship. I even thanked you for it at the party.”

  We all looked at each other. The birthday party’s guests only included those who we trusted. “Do you remember who delivered it to you?”

  “It was one of the pups. I remember her eyes, as they were two different colors. Witch’s eyes for sure.”

  My hand flew to my chest as if protecting my heart. There was only one person at the compound with such discordant colors: Delphine.

  “But the spell to break this is simple enough, as it is a trapping spell. You will need to return the spell to the caster. Those trapped will be set free, and the tokoloshe, who has a large sexual appetite, will return to whence he came. It is truly no surprise that of all the mischief-makers, he would show up. The wolves are in heat; sex and sensuality weighed heavy in the air and energy. Yet, he was only there to cause mischief.”

  “A diversion?”

  She nodded, and I understood. “We were so focused on what was happening that we didn’t pay attention to the evil all around, or that of those missing from our community.

  “Rooted in jealousy, envy even, the spellcaster will bring them here to derail something or someone. But part of the fun for the tokoloshe is simply to scare, but it can, when it wishes, also cause death.”

  She took the piece from Killian. “Bring me some of the sacred waters for his footprints. We must then follow.”

  Zola lit a candle, placed the shard into the bowl, and received the gathered holy water from Killian. We all watched her with bated breath, wondering what she might do next.

  She then opened her bag and removed a thick smudge stick of sage, lighting it, allowing the smoke to waft over us. She stared at me and gave me a comforting smile. “I am a Sangoma and will make this right.” She closed her eyes. “Blessed ancestors who watch over us, give us your ear.” She set a black chicken’s feather into the bowl and placed droplets of resin on it. “I don’t use blood in my rituals and the ancestors have never disavowed my way of things.” She turned her attention back to the bowl. “Tokoloshe, it is time for you to set those free in the shard, releasing them back to this place. Ancestors of magic and might, we beseech you to free those in your grasp and return to the one who has intended harm.”

  Zola placed the bowl onto the floor, took the water, and from the height of the table, she slowly poured the blessed water over the bowl’s contents. The room lit up with gold light.

  “Goddess of light, we thank you.”

  I blinked to clear my eyes and stared down at the floor, for out of the water, I saw the footprints. I tugged on Alistair’s hand and pointed at them.

  The emerald broke, a loud shrill resounded in the room, and the light dimmed.

  “To find out where your traitor is, you must only follow those footsteps, and if I were you, I’d not go it alone.”

  Quickly, Gran zipped to my side with Saga in her hands. “You will need our help more than you realize,” Gran warned, and Saga scurried up my arm to curl around my neck. She, too, was getting into battle mode.

  Nope. This wasn’t a good sign at all.

  Chapter 23

  Leslie

  I snatched up the shard out of the water and raced after the tokoloshe. Alistair and the others were right behind me. We followed the tokoloshe’s footsteps through the compound and outside.

  I wouldn’t tear my gaze away from the trail. Enough light shone from the cloudless sky and full moon, and the invisible creature continued to scurry, and it chuckled as if we were playing a game of chase.

  Then a serenade of howling erupted. Before the chuckle could escape, I heard a loud howling coming in the other direction. The tokoloshe suddenly stopped and fully appeared. Hairy, short, and all goblin, it stuck out its tongue.

  I pulled out the shard.

  “That can’t do anything without the other pieces.” He cackled, and everyone with me, including him, disappeared.

  Turning, panting, I then raced forward toward the sound in a large clearing, where I found the pack downed, and all my allies behind gilded and magically sealed cages in a weird slumber.

  Before them stood a mage staring directly at me, accompanied by a group of red-eyed hellhounds that were as large as horses.

  “Looks like we meet again, Leslie” said the mage, and I recognized that voice. The same one from the power plant. He then removed his cape. It was Tauris. While we were licking our wounds, he was powering up for our defeat. Out from his side stepped Dolph and Delphine, evil grins painted on their youthful faces.

  This was my trial by fire.

  Tauris backed up, allowing Delphine and Dolph to approach.

  “You have helped to ruin the Order, your kind,” Dolph spat. “It is weaker when it is not ruled correctly.”

  In his human form he didn’t look too formidable, but who knew what might happen if he shifted.

  “We are here to make you choose the life you wish to have. You could walk away now and give all of this up. No one would be the wiser,” Tauris whispered. “Imagine how life could be if you were able to return to who you once were: no more magical pressures, no more being chased by bad men, you could be free.”

  His words stirred something within me. I recalled what life was like before Alistair’s blood raced through my arteries, before Drac’s bite. I recalled the pain of not having a tribe, not being understood. Working for no pay besides a smile, no hope for a better tomorrow. I recalled the pain and suffering.

  My skin started to crack. Saga, situated as a choker around my neck, purred in my ear, amping up my magical ability.

  Magic was all around me, and I was pure magic.

  It was me against what felt like five hundred; what a pack of wolves couldn’t take down, yet here I stood alone on this battlefield.

  “Don’t make me do this.” Delphine tried to reach me on a human level, but she’d attacked the animal in me.

  Mine. This was all mine. My family. My friends. My tribe.

  A hot, searing rage bubbled in my stomach.

  Doubt tingled in the back of my head. I’d not won a fight in days. I’d been stabbed, beaten, lied to, but here I was, still showing up to give this bully of a mage the freaking middle-finger salute.

  “What else do you want me to say?”

  First, he released the hounds, and I tossed the wooden coin up in the air, catching it. The wind blew, the trees sprang to life, and the dryads appeared.

  “You thought I came alone, but I am one of many.”

  There was no need to hurt the hounds. Rose joined me, playing a flute, which produced magically calming music, putting them all to sleep.

  “Nice of you to show up.”

  “I followed the sounds. Blame your sister and Drac. I think we need a new couple’s alert.” She gave my hand a squeeze.

  And Claudine and Drac appeared. I didn’t know what they did, or how they did it, but Claudine looked more than pissed to have her night with the irresistible vampire interrupted. Drac was on fire, literally like he had found a way to be combustible.

  “This is some bullshit,” Claudine swore.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Backing your ass.” She then removed a melee weapon—two three-pronged sais, twirling one in each hand.

  “Um, I thought you only knew how to street fight.”

  She threw back her head and laughed. “Time with Poseidon was quite different, Leslie. The darkness called and I fucking answered.”

  With the hellhounds put to sleep, the mage sent in his next wave, vampires, but out of the corner of my eye, I watched him remove Alistair from the cage.

  “Get to Alistair, Leslie. Tauris plans on draining him to create a bigger and better army, and for that, he needs dragons’ blood. I will give you a direct path.” Drac hit the ground, and it splintered, causing the throng of nearby vampires coming my way to stumble and fall. “Embrace your destiny.”

  The words floated over and through me. I was Leslie, the key, and it was time for me to become it.

  Wit
h a loud grunt, I moved around the vampires, removed my gun from my waistband, and took aim. This time, my hand didn’t shake, and I pulled the trigger, hitting my target. The nameless-to-me vampire fell back, smoking. Now I got it—they were filled with capsules of ultraviolet light, deadly to most vampires.

  Finally, stepping over the dead vampire’s body, I moved on. Rinse and repeat, one after the other, until I pulled the trigger, and nothing responded.

  Kneeling, with my daggers in my hand, I readied for the next onslaught.

  “It’s my lucky day,” a rogue vampire gushed. “I will win the reward earned with your head.”

  “Crap on a stick.”

  He moved forward and I watched him, just like I’d done with Drac, to learn his pattern, see his weaknesses. Instead of having a weapon, this vampire put up his fist to box me, and stood solidly on his feet, therefore unable to easily pivot.

  “What’s the quickest way between point A and point B?” I asked.

  He tilted his head to the side. “Straight through.”

  “Exactly.” With a Claudine-style throat punch, and my dagger’s sharp point, he collapsed backward, holding his throat. By the time I reached where the mage had been, he’d disappeared—he and Alistair were gone.

  I turned around to stare at everyone fighting each other and called out, “Enough!”

  It was like a battle horn blowing, loud, and the fighting stopped, those on Tauris’ team looking around in a mixture of apprehension and angst.

  “We do nothing but give humans a reason to fear us when we fight against one another,” I declared. “You must choose right now on which side you will be, for when things clear, those who are against the Order will pay its highest consequence for treason against the queen, his Lordship and the Order.”

  Some of those present dropped to their knees, while others loyal to Tauris simply disappeared back into the forest.

  Drac quickly unlocked the cage where Killian and the others laid. With the cage opened, those inside also moved again.