by Amy Boyles
The crowd gasped as sparklers sprayed from my fingertips into the sky and exploded. They backed away, terror scribbled over their faces.
“I was trying to help you,” Terry said. “But I see you don't need any.”
The crowd started to murmur, and I cut them off. “We are here to help you. We are not your enemies, and that man died by his own hand. Not one of us supernaturals hurt him.”
The crowd continued to back away. I shot the Spanish priest a grateful smile before hopping into my vehicle. I waved to the rubberneckers in their cars and gunned down the road to the preschool. After putting in my five hours, I left without a word to anyone.
I was afraid of what my car would look like when I reached the parking lot, but luckily it was fine. No one had touched it. I unlocked it and slid inside, unsure of exactly where I was going. No one had called or texted.
Not even Dex.
I cranked her up and headed back to the house. When I got inside, Gabby was sitting on the kitchen counter with Dot beside her. Kate was there, too. She had taken the day off from school, which I didn't blame her for.
“How's Maggie?” I said, dropping my purse on the counter with a thud.
Kate rubbed her arms and shook out her cloud of black hair. “Not good. She's beginning to freak out and wondering if we should call the FBI.”
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t know how they can help anything.”
Dot wiggled her fingers in front of Gabby's nose. “In my experience, the FBI's never done any good for anyone. All they do is come in, stir up trouble, and leave us witches to clean up the mess.”
I opened the fridge, grabbed the chocolate syrup, uncapped it and squirted some in my mouth. I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. “Right. I'm sure the FBI has never helped anything. Dot, I seriously doubt that's true.”
“It is true. Isn't that right, Gabby?” she said, rubbing noses with my two-year-old.
Gabby snatched a piece of paper sitting on the counter and lifted it in front of her face. “Mommy, see what I can do.”
I watched as Gabby held the sheet to her face. It started to become fuzzy like television static. Vibrations wafted off it. A few seconds later, the paper broke into a thousand pieces and fluttered to the ground.
My eyes widened in what some would call fear. I called it concern. My child could make paper shred itself into a gazillion pieces. Not normal.
“That's wonderful, Gabby,” I said. “Please don’t do that anymore.”
Kate laughed. “Maybe with her static ability and my finding ability, the two of us will be able to work some serious magic.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “I think you already found something. After all, Ron showed up.”
Kate stifled a smile.
Vordrid sailed into the room. “Andie, what Gabby's doing is more than just destroying something.”
I quirked a brow. “What do you mean?”
“She vibrated the object to a high frequency, and it in essence destroyed itself.”
Dot fluffed her pink hair. “Vordrid is correct. The paper couldn’t remain intact at the frequency she had put it on.”
Okay, destruction by frequency? What the heck were they talking about?
I squirted more chocolate into my mouth and suddenly wished I had an ocean of it to swallow. “Who taught her to do that? That could be seriously disruptive.”
Dot threw up her hands and blinked at me innocently. “Don't blame me, Andie. She's your daughter.”
I exhaled a shot of air, trying to lower my skyrocketing blood pressure. “Dot, you are her teacher. If my daughter learned how to use wavelength and frequency, I'm pretty sure she learned it from you.”
Dot tweaked Gabby’s nose. “Actually, Andie, all I suggested was that she make the paper disappear. How she did it is completely surprising.”
I studied Gabby, watched her innocent little cherubic face smile and giggle while Dot twisted her expression to make my daughter laugh.
Kate’s phone chirped. She picked it up from the table and glanced at it. “Ron wants to meet here tonight.”
“Okay, good,” I said.
I made myself a mocha from leftover coffee and took a long slurp. “You know, something's not right. There’s something funny about the whole demon thing.”
Kate tapped her phone on the counter. “What do you mean?”
I cocked my head. “If the lord vampire sent Weatherby here, how would the lord know when to show up?”
Kate shrugged. “I suppose the demon would collect all the children and let him know.”
I tapped my foot on the floor. “But how would he know?”
“You mean, how would the demon relay the information?” Vordrid said.
“Exactly,” I said. “Do you think this demon is going to Pied Piper all the way to the lord vampire?”
The room went silent. Vordrid pivoted from side to side, bobbing back and forth as if thinking. “You know, I think Andie’s on to something. It makes no sense that this demon would go and find the lord vampire with a bunch of children dragging behind him. He would need a way to signal the lord when his task was completed.”
Dot thumbed her nose. “Yes. But how? It's not as if he has a demon beacon like Batman does in that Gothem City place.”
I threaded my fingers through my hair and twisted the ends. “But what if he did? What if he did have a beacon and we’ve overlooked it this entire time?”
Kate drummed her fingers on the phone. “But the only thing he could use would be the ring. I mean, we found it on Weatherby, and we know the lord vampire owns it.”
We stared at each other. I set my coffee down. We rushed from the kitchen, galloping down the hall. “Where's the ring? Where did I put that thing?”
Dot shuffled behind me. “Andie, you've got to find that ring. We need that.”
Vordrid sailed through the house. “I'm pretty sure I saw it on your dresser.”
We reached my bedroom. Dot, Vordrid, Kate and myself all tried to get through the doorframe at the same time. We got stuck.
“Can one of you please move back?” I huffed. “I mean, I’ve got the ring. Let me be the one to do this.”
Dot and Kate backed away. “Thank you,” I said.
I stepped into my bedroom and found it on my dresser. I scooped the gold and onyx into my hand and thrust it toward Vordrid. “Okay, master wizard, how do we call the lord vampire?”
Vordrid hovered over the ring. “I can’t just make that decision so quickly. I have to analyze, consider, think about it. This isn’t something to take lightly.”
I scoffed. “I know it isn’t something to take lightly, but if we knew the lord was coming, we could keep an eye out. We’d have an idea of what to do—the timeline, so to speak.”
Kate quirked a brow. “How long do you think it would take the lord to get here once he’s summoned?”
I shrugged. “A day.”
“Andie, aren’t you forgetting that Dex is out looking for him?” Dot said. “If you call the lord now, that could ruin your husband’s plans and cause a huge snafu.”
I cracked my knuckles absentmindedly. Then I bent my toes, cracking them too. “But this could save Dex. He’s out looking for a confrontation that could kill him. This way, the lord vampire comes here, and we deal with him on our own turf because we know he’s coming. This is the best plan.”
Dot glanced at Vordrid. “The girl’s got a point. But Andie, don’t you think this is even worse?”
I shook my head. “No. We can search high and low for the demon, but unless we have the person controlling him, what good will it do? We need to cut this off at the head.”
Vordrid sniffed. “You may be right. Even if we do trap the demon, we’ll still be facing a second threat. If we can funnel the two of them together, we may have a chance. A better chance.”
“I think we should ask Ron,” Kate said.
I shook my head. “Are you saying that because he’s your new boyfriend?”
; She smirked. “The fact that he’s my almost-boyfriend has nothing to do with it. He has experience when it comes to demons. He’s the expert, after all.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to massage out a tension knot at the base of my head. “We can ask him to help us now, or we can tell him what we did and have him help us concoct a plan.”
Luckily Ron showed up later and listened to the craziness I had to tell him.
“So we think we can use the ring and call the person who enslaved the demon to do his bidding,” I said. “What do you think?” I was wearing a pair of Keds, an oversize sweatshirt and leggings. I figured if I looked as harmless as possible, Ron would be more likely to go with the plan.
You know, ’cause he wouldn’t be suspecting that I’d be ready to kill the lord vampire in a split second or anything.
Ron glanced around the room. Stone had come over, too. When I told him the idea, he nodded, though he didn’t say anything.
I’m sure he thought I was loony, too.
“That’s an idea, albeit a risky one. You’re talking about the possibility of having two dangerous creatures nearby. That would mean we have twice the likelihood of being attacked.”
I tapped my foot impatiently. “There’s a child missing. We’ve got to do what we can to flush out the demon. And before anyone suggests it, I’m not going to use my own child or anyone else’s as bait, either. That’s not going to happen.”
Ron rubbed his hand over his bald head and scratched a spot above his ear. “You realize this puts more people in danger than having just the demon here.”
Stone spoke. “We have a demon who wants children on the loose. We don't know which child he's going to attack next. Yes, I've got pieces of a relic in those homes, but there's not a one hundred percent guarantee that will stop the creature. With Andie’s plan, this way at least we know they're both here. We set up scouts around the town. We see the lord and we pounce.”
Ron pursed his lips. “And all of you think this is best?”
I slowly nodded my head. “That way we’ll know what we’re dealing with. Right now the children are sitting ducks waiting to be picked off. I've got a little girl in her bedroom. I’ve got an angel here, so I know she's safe. But the other children don’t have Stone and one of them will be next.”
Kate placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. “We want everyone to be in agreement on this. If one of us isn’t, we won’t go through with this plan.”
“Ron,” Dot said. “You have the most experience with demons. You, out of all of us, know everything there is to know. We want the honest-to-goodness truth, and we won't stop until we're done. And if that truth means that we won’t be able to use the ring, call the lord vampire, and kill two birds with one stone, then by God, so be it.”
I gave Ron a hopeful smile.
Vordrid made a sound like clearing his throat. “Ron, this is your call. We want you to do what you think is best for these children.”
Ron rose. “The best thing for these children is to get rid of that demon. If the only way to get rid of it is to call the lord vampire, then I say do it.”
My bones popped and fizzled with terror and excitement. I took the ring from its place on the coffee table and said, “So we’re all in agreement?”
All heads bobbed yes. I paused, worried that Dex wasn't here. But if he was tailing the lord, that would mean he was on his way back to help us. Right? He would return, help us defeat the lord vampire, and become human again. That's what would happen.
Did I just say he would become human again? Yes, yes, I did, because that's what I wanted. I wanted Dex to become human and for us to become a family. If only I had told him that before he left.
Well, I’d tell him when he returned.
Which meant I would be revealing to Stone that we couldn’t be together.
A wave of sadness tightened my stomach, but what could I do?
I was meant to be with Dex. Now I just needed to tell him.
I held the ring up into the air. “Vordrid, will a little magic do the trick?”
Vordrid lifted up in the air and wiggled. “Yes, I think that'll do it.”
I pulled the energy from the air and shot it out of my fingers straight into the ring. The ring lifted up and circled around, sending rainbows of power piercing the air. It twirled round and round, rolling and buzzing, buzzing and whirling until it exploded into a thousand pieces.
Well, probably not a thousand, more like about ten. But it could have been a thousand.
If you didn't know how to count.
I gazed around the room of staring faces. “You think that did it?”
Stone picked up one of the pieces and turned it from side to side before dropping it back to the floor. “That did it. I felt a wave of power trickle through me. Did anyone else feel it?”
Vordrid rattled from side to side. “I felt it. But I'm also a spirit living in a Magic 8 Ball.”
I flashed a look at Dot. “Did you feel anything?”
Dot fluffed her pink hair. “Andie, the mysteries of the mysterious are not for me to talk about.”
I smirked. “So what you're saying is you didn't feel anything. Same as me.”
Dot sniffed. “No, I didn't feel a thing.”
Ron retrieved a piece of the ring and palmed it. “It makes sense that an angel and an old wizard in an 8 Ball would be the only ones to feel it. They’re the oldest beings in the room and the closest thing we’ve got to raw power.”
I fisted my hands together and placed them to my heart. I lifted up a silent prayer that the lord would come, and that Dex would follow. Unharmed.
I slapped my hands on my thighs. “So, what do we do next?”
I heard what sounded like Gabby's crib falling over. I shot up, and without looking behind me, rushed into her room.
My two-year-old stood on the floor. An eerie halo surrounded her. The crib had more than been knocked over. It was right-side down on the floor as if someone had picked it up and turned it over. I ran to her, throwing my arms around her fragile little body.
“Honey, are you okay?”
Gabby lifted a finger and pointed toward the darkness. “See the monster? The monster wants me.”
I stared into the darkness. In a black corner glowed a set of red eyes. “Stone!”
The light flipped on, and Stone shot a burst of what I can only describe as angel power into the corner. I heard what sounded like a flutter of wings, and then the thing was gone.
The halo surrounding Gabby lessened. I picked over my daughter from head to foot to make sure she was okay. She looked fine, though a little dazed.
Stone helped me right the crib. I pulled it into my bedroom.
No one spoke, and Ron and Kate headed back to their prospective houses. Stone was settled on the couch when I found him.
“That was too close a call for comfort. What do you think we should do?”
Stone brushed his knuckles over his lips. He wrapped me in a hug. I melted into him, the comfort of him making me feel only a teensy bit better after what we had witnessed.
“I think,” he said, “it's time to go to Sheriff Terry Terry. This town needs to be evacuated.”
THIRTEEN
I didn't sleep well that night. I tossed and turned, fisting my pillow repeatedly to try to fluff it enough where I was comfortable. When I finally did fall asleep, I dreamed of a tall man with light blond hair and pale eyes. I’d seen this man only once—right before he and Dex had fallen off a cliff together.
The man was handsome. And when he extended his hand for me to draw near, long black fingernails sprouted on the tips of his fingers. I recoiled but, at his nudging, approached more out of curiosity than fear.
His touch chilled me. My skin pricked up my arms and to my cheeks. The blast felt like a knife trying to cut.
You can't stop me, Andie. I will get what I want.
The lord vampire had spoken.
I woke up shivering. It was the middle of the night. Slashes of
moonlight pierced the blinds, spilling into my bedroom. I listened quietly for sounds of Gabby breathing. When they came, it was only then that I relaxed back into a deep sleep.
The next day I texted Dex first thing.
We called the lord vampire here. Don't be mad at me. But please come home; we're going to need you.
He didn't respond. I wasn't sure if he was mad at me, which was likely, or if he hadn't gotten the message.
He probably hadn't received my text. Worry knotted my stomach, and my thoughts swirled with what was at hand. I couldn’t focus on teaching, so I took a sick day from school and went with Stone to Sheriff Terry Terry's office.
We found him in his office, a cigarette burning in a black plastic ashtray that had probably been sitting on his desk since 1965. He ran a hand down his leathery face. “So what can I do for y'all?”
I flashed Stone a look. It was his idea, so he got to pitch it.
The angel brushed his shock of bangs from his face and said, “We’ve got a demon situation on our hands. You need to evacuate. Move out everyone who doesn't need to be here, because something bad is coming.”
Terry leaned back, threaded his fingers together and tucked them behind his head. His chair squeaked and groaned in protest. Terry was wiry, scrawny, so it wasn’t the weight of him that the chair protested, probably just the request to move.
Terry cocked his chin. “You're telling me that some kind of supernatural war thingamajig is going to happen in my town and you want me to ask folks to leave the city, and go where?”
I cracked the knuckles of my right hand with my thumb. “It's for their own safety. We don't know what's gonna happen. There may be casualties.”
Terry smirked. “After what they just tried to do to you the other day, you now want them all to leave?”
“It's for their own well-being,” Stone said. “We’re not trying to get anybody to evacuate so that we can have the run of the town. We’re expecting something huge to happen. Something that could hurt them.”
