Dead Girls Don't Sing

by Casey Wyatt

  He ground us to a stop and spun me to face him. “For fuck’s sake, Cherry! We don’t have time for this. She’ll find you and everything I’ve worked for will be for nothing.”

  “Then you better start explaining. Because the monster wearing my mother’s face already found me.” I limped into the study and slammed the door.

  INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING me, Jonathan walked away. The SOB. I refused to chase after him. I stamped my sore foot, then howled in pain. Stupid me. I lay down on the sofa, cradling my wrist.

  What was I doing? I’d been warned about getting caught up in events. It didn’t matter if Jonathan and I hashed out our issues. I needed to focus.

  After a polite knock, the door opened. Ian stepped inside holding a cardboard box filled with books.

  “Did you draw the short straw?” I asked.

  Jay snickered, outside the study. I’m sure Jay had been told to “talk some sense into me” and he’d fobbed it off on an unsuspecting Ian.

  Ian set the box down on a short table and began unloading. To my relief, he set the heavy tome down too. They must have found it after I was kidnapped. The table protested under the weight with a low creak, but otherwise the spindly legs held.

  Task complete, he said, “You have a talent for infuriating the men around you.”

  “Why, thank you. It’s a life goal.”

  “I didn’t mean it as a compliment,” he said. “You are a most perplexing female.”

  “Well, whether you realize it or not it, it was complimentary. I wasn’t put on this earth to make the men around me comfortable.”

  Ian raked his fingers through his hair, leaving it sexily mussed. If I tried that, I’d look like a poodle caught in a windstorm. My reflection in the nearest mirror confirmed it. Yikes.

  “Spoken like a true warrior priestess. My mother would have liked you,” he said, studying the books.

  Warm happiness spread over me. Even though I was dealing with Ian, who was not My Ian, it was nice to hear. He must have sensed my satisfaction, because he rewarded me with a grin.

  “So, have you had a chance to read any of them?” I asked.

  We had work to do and not a lot of time if Jonathan were to be believed. I wasn’t sure being at Belmont was the best idea. If I were Not-Mother, Belmont would be the first place I’d look.

  “Yes. You may have heard. We had a long drive here.” Ian rolled up his sleeves. I looked longingly at the lovely corded muscle running up his forearms. The corners of his mouth lifted in an amused smile. “Pay attention.”

  Oh, I was. Just not at what he wanted me to. With a head shake, I drove the lust away. “And?”

  “And the books don’t seem to have anything to do with each other.”

  A fact I’d already observed. “Is there some secret code or message in them?”

  I lifted a slim volume titled, The History of the Paper Clip. I flipped through the yellowed pages. “Wow, this is riveting.”

  Said no one, ever.

  “They seem to be about inane subjects.” Ian sat crossed legged in front of the table. “Take this one for example, Jackalope Hunting Survival Guide. Who ever heard of such a creature?”

  “It’s a bit of a legend in the American West. It’s kind of funny.” My smile fell flat when I realized Ian didn’t find it humorous. “Right. Not relevant to this problem.”

  “Whatever this problem is,” Ian grumbled.

  I would have loved to join him on the floor. But nothing short of another explosion would move me off the couch.

  “Do you trust your brother?” Ian asked.

  “Yes.” I was never in doubt.

  “He is one of them. And you don’t know what’s happened to him in the intervening years.”

  “Edwin would never betray me. In fact, he rescued me.” I stopped short of saying from the Not-Mother. Names had power and maybe she’d appear if I said it enough times. A regular, freakin’ Bloody Mary.

  Ian opened his mouth, about to say more, but returned his attention to the books. “Jay thought maybe the titles meant something. He tried anagrams, code breaking. Nothing worked.”

  I studied the bindings. Something about them grabbed my attention. I’d nearly had it before in the library, but I forgot due to other events. Like learning my mother—or the thing that looked like my mother—was evil. Not the words, not the numbers.

  “Open them all to the title page.” The answer was right there. I’m surprised it took us so long.

  “Ah, luv. You’re a bloody genius,” he said.

  My toes curled to hear him call me luv. My Ian said it often. He knew I liked it. Hearing it from this Ian was also special.

  And another reason to stay focused. I needed to maintain distance. We’d already interacted in ways we never had in the past. Who knew if I’d altered the future beyond recognition?

  “Don’t fret.” He must have sensed my turmoil. “Deal with the things you can control.”

  What else was I supposed to do? He was correct in that annoying, yet helpful way of his.

  “Right. I know. So, these books. They do have one thing in common.”

  “The publisher is Founders Press,” he said.

  The library door banged open. Edwin, Jay, and Jonathan strode in.

  A fact struck me. The four men who meant the most to me were assembled in the same room. An event that had never happened before. Nor would it in the future because Jonathan would be dead. And Edwin, well, his fate remained unknown.

  I cleared my throat. “The publisher is the same for each book.”

  “And?” Jonathan said, unimpressed.

  “Of course.” Jay tapped each title page one after the other. “There is one difference. The symbol under each title. Do you see it, Cherry?”

  I wiggled to the end of the sofa, moving closer. “I do.”

  He brushed against Enkil’s cuff. “They’re—”

  The metal sizzled and sparked. I yanked my arm away. What the hell?

  Jay robotically walked to the desk and tore open the top drawer, rooting around until he found what he wanted.

  A black marker.

  Uncapping it, he went to the nearest wall and started drawing.

  “Um, Jay?” I lifted off the couch, my right arm hanging heavy by my side. “Put the marker down.”

  Edwin motioned for me to let him be, throwing me a concerned look when he noticed my arm. I shook my head, more concerned with Jay’s sudden rash behavior. Who cared about the wallpaper? It was gross anyway.

  “Is this normal for him?” Ian asked as Jay reproduced life-sized versions of the symbols in each book.

  Sweat poured from Jay’s temples. His hands shook with frustration the faster he drew. He muttered a stream of nonsensical babble to himself, eyes bulging.

  “If by normal, you mean, he’s acting like Gollum, then no,” I answered.

  “You can smell her insanity from here.” Edwin moved closer to Jay, hand outstretched. “But I don’t think we should stop him. Not yet. Look.”

  Jonathan circled around the room, finding a better view. “Fascinating.”

  “No, not really, Mr. Spock.” I wanted to yell at Jonathan for his lack of concern. “What if whatever has a hold of him, kills him?”

  “I’ll stop it before it comes to that.” Jonathan’s clinical response stopped me cold. “Those symbols look like runes. Could this be a spell?”

  “Or a code?” Edwin ventured.

  “No. They’re words.” I turned my back. It was too hard to watch my friend acting like a strung-out junkie. I focused on the books’ title pages. Barely visible, faint brownish stains. Like drops of . . .

  “Blood,” I said aloud though no seemed to hear me. I bit into my wrist and distributed drops over each title page.

  Jay stopped mumbling and drew at a more frantic pace.

  Jonathan’s head whipped around. “What are you doing?”

  Edwin joined me. “It won’t be enough.”

  He slashed his own vein with an elongated
nail then followed me around the table, adding his pale blood to mine. With each drop, the pages hissed. Pinkish vapor rose like the smoke from an extinguished candle.

  “Now what?” Ian handed me a cloth to bind my wound. His nostrils were flared and his eyes glimmered from my blood’s scent, but he kept himself under control.

  “It all makes sense now. Don’t you see it?” Jay, whose sanity had completely jumped ship, raced toward the table.

  “See what, mate?” Ian said.

  “You’ll see. You’ll see!” He danced around the table, knocking us away with wild elbows and crazed purpose. He pointed. “Fire. Vampire blood. Spirit. Revenant essence. Earth . . . Earth . . .”

  He pointed at the wall. Symbol after symbol appeared. He reached the final one and pouted. “No, this won’t do. This won’t do at all. We need flesh. All three elements must be present.”

  Great. The one time we needed a zombie, and there were none to be had.

  The doorbell rang, startling me.

  Jonathan and Ian exchanged a look. Edwin left the room.

  Edwin reappeared with a young man in his wake. “He says he knows you.”

  I was about to ask who Edwin meant, when the answer arrived in the most obvious package.

  “Louis!” I wormed off the couch and gave him a giant hug. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard you needed a zombie. Here I am,” my erstwhile assistant said, with his usual plucky charm. “I’m here to offer my flesh.”

  All righty then.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Fun in Dysfunctional

  “How is this possible?” I couldn’t conceal my excitement.

  Jonathan cleared his throat. “Wife, I believe introductions are in order.”

  If Louis was surprised by Jonathan’s abrupt command, he didn’t show it. “My name is Louis. And I am at your disposal.”

  “Be careful saying that to him. He might accept.” I made a face at Jonathan, before introducing Louis around the room.

  We stopped in front of Jay, who was still muttering to himself like the rest of us didn’t exist.

  “Oh, that’s not good,” Louis observed. Keeping his voice low, he said, “He seems to be caught in some kind of temporal trap.”

  “Really? That’s a relief. I thought maybe he’d gone around the bend. How do we break him out of it?” Edwin said.

  Louis reached into his coat pocket. “With this?”

  “A knife?” A sickening sensation rolled my stomach as I understood what Louis intended to do with the blade.

  “It needs to be done,” Louis confirmed. “Best look the other way for a moment. I’m shy.”

  I took the out Louis offered. I may not have been watching, but my ears worked fine. A knife cutting flesh makes a distinct squishy sound I’d rather not hear again anytime soon.

  “It’s done.”

  When I turned, Louis had a cloth wrapped around his forearm.

  Colored vapor rose from the juicy blobs of added flesh. Swallowing bile, I approached the table, checking for changes.

  Faints hums, like a fluorescent bulb warming up, rang in my ears. Shivers danced along my bare arms making want to put on a coat.

  The oppressive weight of the cuff lifted. I flexed my arm and shoulder, relieving the muscle cramps plaguing me since the tent explosion.

  “What do we do now?” Each moment that passed drove my future further away. Vampires don’t get headaches as a rule, but an ache formed between my eyebrows. Probably from excessive frowning and teeth gnashing.

  “The wall. Read the words,” Jay said, his voice paper thin.

  “How? It looks like gibberish to me,” I said.

  “Are you sure?” asked Louis with a twinkle in his eye.

  I marched up to him, leaving an inch between us. He didn’t flinch or move away.

  “How did you manage to arrive when we needed you?”

  “I think you can find the answer without my help,” he said.

  “How about I beat it out of him?” Ian offered.

  “No. I’ve got this,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I could figure it out. “You aren’t going to make this easy are you?”

  “Of course, I am. You know me. I’m indispensable,” Louis said.

  “Fine.” I breathed in his scent. Even the cleverest illusion couldn’t duplicate a person’s unique odor. Louis smelled of fresh-cut grass and good, warm dirt. “You smell like you.”

  “I don’t want to ask how you know that,” Jonathan quipped.

  “No, you don’t. Now hush. I’m working.” I visually inspected Louis’ lanky frame, looking for clues.

  His hand fidgeted toward his left side pants pocket. Without asking permission, I stuck my hand inside and rummaged.

  Jonathan acted bored, but Ian twitched like he wanted to say something. I guess his alpha-male brain couldn’t handle me being near another man’s package.

  “Maybe you should buy me dinner first,” Louis joked.

  Ian relaxed. Louis excelled at reading the room, making him a damn good assistant.

  My fingertips landed on a smooth piece of paper. I pulled it out. Another Tarot card. I set it on the table next to the open books.

  “Aunt Cass sent you.”

  “Yes,” he said. “She said you had the means to translate the wall. She said you would understand.” He inclined his head toward Jay. “I would do it sooner rather than later. He won’t last much longer.”

  A slow moan escaped Jay’s lips. The feral gaze in his eyes hadn’t diminished, but his skin had grayed. Not a good sign at all.

  I turned my back to them so they couldn’t see my hands. I tapped the cuff, hoping it would work. “Translate.”

  The runes glowed orange, backlit by fire. Like soldiers with marching orders, they peeled away from the wall, darting toward the open books. After much ducking and dodging by everyone, the characters circled the table.

  Moving faster and faster, they spun into a solid circle of light. The faint hum grew louder, reaching painful pitch. The circle collapsed inward with a bang. Smoke roiled from the tabletop.

  Everyone took a collective step backward, watching the smoke evaporate. The books were gone. Only the Tarot card remained.

  “Nice. You blew up the books,” Edwin said.

  “And you blew up the Lost Ship,” I countered. “Why did the Tarot card remain?”

  Nearing the table, I squinted, studying it. My right arm rose, the cuff pointing toward the card. Before I could speak, a bolt of energy streamed from the cuff into the card.

  “Cherry!” Jonathan raced toward me.

  Ian was closer and reached me first. The stream stopped before he could touch me.

  “I’m fine.” I touched the card. The weight I’d felt before made sense. Whatever was in the bracelet had moved to the card.

  The card transformed into a flat plane of glass.

  “A vid-screen,” I said.

  Edwin approached, one of Father’s ornamental swords drawn. He poked the panel with the tip. “What form of magic is this?”

  “Not magic. Technology.” Jay slumped against the wall, eyes closed. The driven, crazed expression was gone too. “I don’t feel so hot.”

  “Rest. I’ve got you.” I went to him and cradled his head in my lap. His brow was warm and feverish. I hoped it would pass, without leaving permanent damage.

  To Louis I said, “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank him yet,” Jonathan said, gazing out the windows. “Something has been summoned. I’m not sure it’s going to be friendly.”

  Ian aimed a dangerous glare at Louis. “What have you done?”

  In another time and place, Ian would come to value Louis’ insight.

  “Hey! Don’t blame him. We started this.” More accurately, I did. Well, if you want to get technical, it was Herne. Mars seemed like a distant dream. Would I ever find my way home?

  “How do you know something was summoned?” Edwin interrupted.

  “The enemy is
moving,” said Jonathan.

  “You can sense each other?” I asked.

  To my surprise, Ian answered. “Those of us of a certain vintage, we can recognize each other’s power. It’s a mechanism to help us protect territory. And to recognize boundaries.”

  “This creature, whatever it is, doesn’t seem to care about borders.” Edwin brandished a sword, primed for action.

  Of course, my brother would race toward the danger. I could see why he’d become a criminal boss. His declaration also upped the man ante. Not that I thought any of them wouldn’t have run foolishly to confront whatever was out there.

  “Well, your ancientness, can your finely attuned sense of direction tell us where she is?” I prayed it wasn’t in our vicinity, sparing the household and innocent mortals in the local town.

  “I think it’s in the proximity of the ship.” Jonathan removed a hunting rifle from above the fireplace. Edwin tossed him a box of ammo.

  Ian tucked his hands under his pits, suggesting he didn’t need a weapon.

  “We need to get inside the ship first.” Sometimes, I can’t believe the words that come out of my mouth.

  “Are you insane?” Edwin asked.

  Come on. He was an expert at breaking and entering. And was it really stealing if the ship came from Mars?

  “Possibly. But we can’t let that thing beat us to it.” The stakes were too high. And I had a hunch that I was the only one who could open the door.

  “Fine. Let me see what’s left at the site. And make sure I have eyes on it.” Edwin picked up the phone and dialed.

  “I think Charity is correct, even if the idea is daft,” Ian said. At least he backed me up. “It’s good to keep the enemy off track.”

  “I don’t care what everyone thinks. I’m going.” I had to.

  “No reason to be testy, lass. I agree with you,” Ian said.

  “Sister, before you run off half-cocked, I have information.” Edwin hung up the phone. “The ship was destroyed. The crater is empty.”

  I motioned to Ian, gently moving Jay’s head so I could stand. “Jay isn’t in any shape to go out there. Help me move him to the couch.”