Billy rubbed her shoulder and shook his head, looking at her with concern. “I’m not sure it’s safe for you stay there,” he said. “What if they try to turn you?”
“I would have to agree to be turned,” she assured him. “So far no one seems to notice me… If anything seems off, I’ll get out.”
Billy smiled at her like I wasn’t even there. “I noticed you,” he said.
I saw Margaret’s eyes melt looking back at him. Not being able to resist such sweetness, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. I wanted to chime in with “Aww!” but I resisted and just looked away to give them a moment of privacy.
When she pulled away from Billy, she looked at me with a bashful grin. “Sorry,” she said.
I held up my hand. “No apology needed. I like seeing happy people.”
We were all quiet for a moment, and I didn’t want to get back into things, especially to ask what I wanted—needed—to ask. But I didn’t know when I would see Margaret again, or get another chance.
“Margaret, I don’t want to ask anything of you that could endanger you or cost you your job, so don’t hesitate to tell me no if this isn’t plausible.” I watched her face become serious as she listened. “If I give you names of certain people, can you see where their souls ended up? And is there any way you can check the contracts to see if the soul destination has been changed?”
Margaret was quiet, and played with the gold necklace around her neck while she thought. “I think I can manage that without putting myself at risk,” she smiled at me.
“Are you sure?” I asked again.
“Yes, I have to look in the files anyway to know where to file their charts. It wouldn’t be anything for me to see if they’ve been changed near the person’s date of death. Pulling old files might take a little time though,” she said.
I sighed with relief, “Whenever you can get to it is fine. That will be so helpful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Margaret smiled.
I felt a shift from Billy, like he was wanting to talk to Margaret alone. I knew he was much too nice to ask me to leave, so I told them I needed to get back to Grace and let her know we might have a lead.
I thanked the couple again for their help, and glanced back to see them move closer to one another as I walked away.
I prayed this was the break we needed.
Thinking of the sweetness shared between Margaret and Billy made my heart feel happy and heavy at the same time. I thought of going home to Soren and lying in his arms, but then questioned if that was who I was really missing—who I really wanted.
The affection the new couple had for each other was very different than mine and Soren’s relationship. Our baggage could fill up an entire house. Yes, we cared for each other, dare I say even loved each other. Passion wasn’t a problem, and neither was respect. I thought of the way Soren took care of me, and picked me up all the times I had fallen down. It was a relationship built on holding each other together, because I couldn’t be with Raphael, and he couldn’t be with Eira. I wasn’t sure two people could build a life—or afterlife—together on that. But it was better than being on our own.
I stopped into the boutique to relay the new information to Grace. The shop was empty, and I picked up a new top while I was there chatting.
“I hope Boude knows I’m trying,” Grace said from behind the counter.
I looked up at her. “I’m sure he does. I’m going to head back to the fields and see Soren—and, you know, work.”
She gave me a half-hearted smile and a tight hug before I left.
As I started my walk home I noticed the air was feeling warmer than usual, and when I looked down I could see my shadow moving along in front of me. I looked up, and sure enough, the sun was shining. People in town were rushing by to get to the fountain—rushing to get their rare glimpse into the lives of people they had left behind.
The sun had only come out once before since I had been here, and I had rushed to the fountain to see my old cemetery and my Raphael. The visions I had seen of both left me feeling even more sad and desperate than before. I knew what had become of my cemetery, and Raphael was no longer in the world of the living, so I didn’t need to look for him either. I felt sad for the people who rushed past me now; I hoped they knew what they were in for.
Soren was wiping the sweat from his face and neck with his shirt when I saw him working out in the brown fields. There were no trees where we were, so there was no shade to cool off in when the sun was out. I admired the view of his large, fit body that his lifetime of hard labor had blessed him with.
“My my,” I said as I walked toward him, “I could just watch this all day.”
He grinned at me. “I’m glad you’re getting something out of it. I forget how much harder it is working in this kind of heat. Are you joining me to dig?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I think I’ll wait until the sun is back in hiding. I remember what it’s like sweating buckets while digging graves—I’ll pass.”
“You’ve gotten soft,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me.
I shrugged. “I’m dead and I’m trying to solve a huge underworld-takeover plot. I don’t feel too lazy.”
“I was only teasing,” he said.
I winked at him. “Want something cold to drink?”
“Yes, please,” he said.
I motioned for him to follow me to the house. “C’mon, you can take a short break.”
Soren put his shovel over his shoulder and carried his flashlight in his other hand. I couldn’t help but feel a little giggly watching him walk across the field, his muscles glistening in his white tank top and dirty jeans and boots. His blonde hair was even lighter in the sunlight, and his cold gray eyes were deep and stern.
He put his tools just outside my door and slipped his boots off before following me inside. I tossed my new red shirt on my bed and stepped back into the kitchen to get Soren’s water. I handed him the glass.
“Sorry I don’t have any lemonade,” I said.
He drank it down quickly and I poured him another. He made a deep, satisfied, “ahh” sound, and licked his lips.
“Better?” I asked.
“Better,” he said, and stepped towards me. He came at me quickly and I wasn’t anticipating the move. Suddenly I was pinned by his body, with my back to the refrigerator.
I managed to wrap my arms around his neck. He was just cooling off enough to be sticky.
“You’re sweaty,” I said, and tried to make a face.
“I thought you liked it?” he asked, concerned but smiling.
“Well, I like watching you when you’re sweaty, and I like it when you’re sweaty from working hard in bed with me,” I laughed.
“So there are conditions?” He bent his face to my neck and kissed a soft line down to my shoulder. His lips were cold from the water, and his beard was rough against my skin.
“I could overlook it, this time,” I said as I pressed my lower body harder against his.
A slow deep growl trickled out of his lips and against my neck; I shivered.
“Soren,” I breathed, and he raised his head to kiss me.
His mouth was on mine as he picked me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist, still pressed between him and door of the fridge. I moaned against his lips, and then… “Knock, knock, knock,” came from my door.
“Go the fuck away!” I yelled. Soren put me down and laughed at my outburst.
The person on the other side of the door cleared his throat. “So sorry to interrupt your sex-capades, but you need to see this,” Andreas called.
I was absolutely certain whatever was on the other side of that door could have waited fifteen minutes for me to have an orgasm. Begrudgingly, I stepped away from Soren and went to open the door.
“Dammit, Andreas,” I said as I opened it, and the my words hung in my throat. Right there beside Andreas—grinning from ear to ear, fangs showing, long red hair surrounding him like a shroud of flames�
�was Boude.
I had such mixed feelings about Boude, but in that moment I was overwhelmed with relief to see him back, and in one piece. I grabbed the vampire and hugged him, breathing in his spicy, metallic scent.
“Where the hell have you been?” I asked. And before he could answer, I went on, “Does Grace know you’re back?”
Andreas gave his wicked smile and chimed in, “No, it’s a surprise. I just darted in the shop and told her to come meet us here as fast as she could get someone else to cover.”
“I’ll tell you everything,” Boude said, with a calm expression, “let’s just wait for Grace.”
“Come inside,” I said, holding the door for them.
The vampires and Soren eyed each other warily. Soren had never been fond of vampires and they knew it. Although in brief past interactions they could all be civil.
“Gentlemen,” Soren finally said with a single nod.
Boude and Andreas relaxed and said hello back to Soren.
Soren walked over to me and took my hand in his, “Do you want me to stay or go? Can I be of any help?”
“Thank you for offering. I think we are going to have to do this by ourselves—at least for now,” I told him.
He kissed me and headed back out to dig.
“Sorry we interrupted your activities.” This from Andreas, who didn’t look at all sorry.
I stuck my tongue out at him, which he found hilarious. “Did you leave Jeremy enough energy to go home? I hope you didn’t traumatize the poor guy,” I said.
“He’s fine, and made it home intact,” Andreas smiled fondly.
Boude raised an eyebrow. “I have missed a lot.”
It was killing me not knowing how he was back and the details of where he had been. I hoped Grace would hurry.
“I’ll tell you all about it at a more appropriate time,” Andreas assure Boude.
I was almost impressed with Andreas; normally he thought the best time to tell about his conquests was at the most inappropriate moments. Although his tact said just what a serious situation we were in right now.
Soren hadn’t completely closed my door when he left, so the soft knock that came from Grace caused the door to gently swing open.
“Hey, Andreas said to meet him here ASAP. What’s going on?” she asked as she stepped inside.
I stepped aside so she could see Boude standing beside me, looking like something out an Anne Rice dream.
His scarlet hair hung down in loose ringlets to his sides, and the green and gold embroidered waistcoat he wore made his pupil-less emerald eyes dance with light and shadow. The paleness of his skin only accentuated all the color that accented his body.
I heard a choking noise come from Grace as she tried to move, tried to find words. Her hands came up to cover her mouth, but her feet still didn’t budge.
Seeing Grace’s shock, Boude’s eyes saddened, and he immediately closed the distance from himself to her. He took her in his arms and held her while she sobbed against him. “Shhh,” he comforted, “I’m so sorry my love.”
Andreas and I watched, but didn’t move or say I word. Andreas smiled at the couple being reunited, and while I was happy for them, I knew how Grace’s heart felt; even though she was happy, it still hurt.
Once Grace’s shoulders stopped shaking, she pulled away and stared into his face.
Boude stroked the side of her face and kissed her on the forehead. “My beautiful, beautiful, Grace,” he said and kissed a line down the scarred side of her face.
“Where have you been? How did you get away?” Grace sniffed.
“Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you everything,” Boude said, and tugged on Grace’s hand.
I realized once again I needed more furniture in the small house. I motioned for Grace and Boude to sit on my bed where they could be close to each other, while Andreas and I took the kitchen chairs.
Grace stared at Boude’s face as he positioned himself on the bed. “I was looking for you, you know. We all were,” she said.
He gave her a quick kiss. “I know you were. Tell me what all of you know first, then I’ll tell you where I’ve been and fill in any gaps that I can.”
I gave the rundown on everything that we had discovered, including my most recent conversation with Margaret, and that we were waiting for her to get back to us once she had the chance to snoop through files.
Boude nodded soberly. “Yes, it is Rasputin behind it all. We should never have released him from his chains.” His head dropped.
Grace patted his hand. “You were only trying to help him.”
He sighed. “It is his plan to takeover the underworld,” he confirmed, “starting first by regaining a system of power over the vampires.”
“OK, but what’s the lure for them? The vampires do as they like. Why would they want to be ruled?” I asked.
“We like our freedom, but in every culture there is a fear of threat, and fear makes people want to have someone to trust, someone in charge,” Boude replied. “He started with the shop owners and vampires he saw in the streets, telling them too many souls were coming in to stay, and that soon they would be taking over the Quarter to make more room for the humans. He told them that we needed to fight back and defend our area.”
I nodded, the picture was starting to come together. “So, by infiltrating the Assignment Hall with vampires and tampering with files, they could assure no new souls were staying in the underworld.”
“Precisely,” he said.
“But where are they sending them?” I asked.
“That’s where it gets a little complicated, and that’s where my expedition had taken me,” he began. “I suppose, because I saved Rasputin, he felt that I was a trustworthy comrade. He told me these stories of the human’s plan to take over the Quarter a short time before he started his mission to tell the entire Quarter. I listened to him and tried to discourage him, but ultimately I thought they were simply the ravings of a once crazed vampire. He would ask me to go with him on errands, and I obliged. He told everyone his elaborate theories, and at first no one believed him. But slowly, after hearing it time and again, they started to ask questions. Rasputin had an answer for anything they asked, and promised that under his leadership, we could rise against the humans and win. He moved himself into the old king’s mansion and started entertaining some of the employees from the Assignment Hall. A few turned willingly, and a few he drugged. He convinced them to do his bidding and change the destinations of the souls so that none would stay here. They simply change the location to an afterlife at random—so they could end up in front of any god that has ever existed.”
I gasped and felt my heart sink.
“You still haven’t explained where you were and why we couldn’t reach you,” said Andreas.
“It wouldn’t have made sense if I didn’t first explain the backstory,” Boude frowned at Andreas. “Anyway, Rasputin knew once his plan came to light that it would most likely be the start of a war between the humans and vampires. So he began traveling throughout the various levels of the underworld to make bargains. In exchange for sending them souls, he wanted to know he and the vampires would have their support should things get ugly. I was very careful to not let on that I disagreed or disapproved of his plot, just so I could be kept in the loop until I figured out what to do. After he started recruiting help from the gods, and I learned souls were being tormented for being sent to the wrong place, I finally had to take a stand against Rasputin. He left me on the other side of the wall to find my way back home.” Boude’s eyes looked weary.
It was Andreas who looked the most surprised. “You went through the wall?” he asked; his eyes were wide and he was leaned in towards Boude.
Boude nodded.
“How is that even possible?” Andreas asked.
“Rasputin is a man of many mysteries. He never told me how he was able to do it, but he could walk through the wall as easily as any doorway.” Boude looked away, recalling the memory.
I saw Grace tighten her grip on Boude’s arm, and she asked, “How were you able to get back?”
“I happened to see where one of the souls came through in transition, and was in just the right spot to slip through while the gateway was open,” he said. “I got really lucky.”
“Does that mean we could go to that spot and get through when another passes over?” I asked.
Boude shook his head no. “The place changes with each new soul to prevent just that. I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Of course it couldn’t be that simple. “So where do we go from here?” I asked.
Boude looked at us, all hanging on his every word. “We have to kill Rasputin.”
The idea of taking down Rasputin hadn’t even occurred to me thus far. In life, he was as much remembered for being hard to kill as he was for the evil deeds he had done. Killing him as a vampire seemed almost impossible. I chuckled to myself at the irony, recalling how close he had been to death when I had met him. Now here he was, fully restored, and this wouldn’t be an easy task.
“How do you propose we go about such a thing?” Andreas asked.
Grace asked Boude another question before he could answer Andreas’s. “If Rasputin was approaching all the vampires in the Quarter about this human takeover, why didn’t he talk to Andreas or me. We were as clueless as anyone else.”
“He felt that you and Andreas were more a part of the humans than the vampires. Andreas is the only vampire who runs a store outside of the Quarter, and he caters mostly to humans. You work with him and spend a great deal of time with Hel.” Boude inclined his head at me when he mentioned my name.
“So in his mind, we weren’t worth talking to,” Grace said, her voice sounded miffed.
“I’m glad he didn’t try to involve you. And I’m sorry you were dragged into all of this anyway.” Boude put his arm around her and pulled her in close.
I was feeling a little more trusting of Boude after hearing about everything that had been going on. But I had to admit, it was still strange seeing him kiss my best friend on the bed he and I had had sex in on more than one occasion. I tried to refocus. “Plan?” I asked again, mirroring Andreas.
Three Witches in a Small Town Page 8
