by Amy Cissell
“Marie Laveau is the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.”
“That’s the Queen? She’s not a vampire?”
“She might be; no one knows what she is. She drinks blood like one of us, but she has powers no other vampire I’ve met possesses. She is purportedly only a couple hundred years old, but when I met her in the early nineteenth century, she was a woman grown and already powerful beyond measure. She didn’t feel young then; certainly not the ten or so years old she should’ve been according to her Wikipedia page.”
“Have you memorized Wikipedia?” I asked.
“Only the parts about people I know. I don’t sleep much.”
“Okay, we all have hobbies.”
“Vlad took Ellen to the Queen and asked her to give Ellen back to him. Did the whole song and dance, you know, the ‘I’ll do anything, blah, blah, blah…’ I don’t know what she asked of him, but I know what he asked of me. I gave him my sword, which he used for his part of the ceremony. I was not present, so I don’t know exactly what happened.
“It was a mistake, of course. Marie raised Ellen as a ghoul. Ellen was not particularly grateful to anyone for this turn of events. She remembered being kidnapped and killed by Vlad, did not want to be a flesh-eating ghoul, and immediately attempted to commit suicide. Unfortunately, ghouls are almost as hard to kill as vampires, and she failed. Several times, in fact. Vlad was devastated. He grabbed Ellen and fled with her. Our association ended at that point, and I didn’t see him again. He was obviously wandering around Europe in the late nineteenth century. I do not know if he was posing as someone named Ármin Vámbéry or if he just met Mr. Vámbéry during his travels, but he undoubtedly influenced Mr. Stoker either directly or indirectly.
“I never saw my sword again, and this loss haunts me for two reasons. In my studies of the prophecies, I determined that it was vital that I and my sword be present at the breaking of the world if vampires are to survive. The jewels on it contain the blood of my ancestors, and over the years I added more rubies containing my blood and the blood of my children and grandchildren. I would do anything to have it back and ensure that the blood is not used for a foul purpose and that I can play my part to protect us all at the end.”
“Anything, huh?”
Raj nodded.
“And Marie probably has this sword?”
“I didn’t know she was aware of its significance. I had assumed she had the sword, although she’s never mentioned it. I’d hoped to trade Savannah and Rasputin’s head for my sword. I suspect now that it will not be so easy.”
“You’re going to have to trade me.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Do I have a choice?”
I retreated to my room and requested that Salem send hot water for a bath. She did so as graciously as she’d done everything else during my stay. I wondered aloud what service she was providing to Raj to be counted among his most valued servants.
“Everything you’re not,” she sneered.
I rolled my eyes. “I already know he’s not fucking you. I honestly don’t know why you hate me.”
“You took me prisoner.”
“Only to prevent you from doing the same to me. And I let you go.”
“Like you would’ve been able to stop Raj from rescuing me.”
“But the point is that I didn’t even try. I didn’t try to keep you. I’ve done nothing to cause you permanent harm, and the only negative interaction we’ve ever had was instigated by you. Can’t we be friends?”
“No.”
“Well, okay then. If we’re not going to be friends, then I need you to leave, because only my friends get to see me naked.”
She hesitated for a brief moment before stalking out of the room and slamming the door. I wondered if she genuinely wanted to be friends or was just tempted by the thought of seeing my boobs. I looked down at my completely hidden cleavage. Her loss; they were magnificent.
Chapter Eight
IT WAS SHORTLY after midnight when Raj knocked on my door. “Jeffries has finished. I have everything here.” He held up a notebook. “Are you ready to go back?”
“Why doesn’t Jeffries talk?”
“No tongue.”
I gasped, “That’s horrible! Why?”
“That’s his story.”
“Did you do it?”
Raj looked at me, and for the first time since we’d met, the hardness that I’d seen periodically was directed at me. “Do you think so little of me, then?”
Heat and shame washed over me. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t. I guess I’m just…tired, confused, and concerned about how you’re going to be asked to betray me. I’m scared. I’m scared that I don’t trust you enough and that it will change everything.”
Raj pulled me into his arms, and I let him. He whispered against my hair, “I’m scared that I will do something that neither of us will forgive me for.”
I closed my eyes against the tears welling up. “Don’t you mean, ‘for which neither of us will forgive?’”
He laughed, as I’d meant him to. “Please don’t correct my grammar. It’s pretentious, and you were wrong.”
I stood on tiptoe and kissed him. He kissed me back, and things quickly escalated. I was on my back on the bed before I registered how quickly we were moving. “Raj, stop. Please, stop.”
He was across the room in the blink of an eye.
“Can we do that weird dating thing where we make out without having sex between now and New Orleans?”
“Are we dating?”
“I think we are.”
“And humans do this?”
“Date? Of course.”
“Not date. Refrain from sexual relations, even after leaving high school?”
“Some of them. Some even wait until marriage to consummate their relationships.”
“I have heard of such things, but have thought they were myths put forth by the religious leaders.”
“It’s all true. I dated a born-again Christian once. He cried and prayed for my immortal soul every time we went further than first base.”
“Only your soul?”
“Well, I was the evil temptress. He was the unwitting victim.”
“Ahhh, of course. Makes sense.”
I smiled. “Do you think we can date without jumping in bed?”
“Until New Orleans?”
“As soon as I wake up after New Orleans, we can talk about jumping into bed.”
“Just talk?”
“There’s that whole betrayal thing standing between us. I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep.”
He walked towards me and kissed me again, lightly this time. “We can do this. Are you ready to go back?”
“Are you going to tell me what Jeffries found out?”
“Not until we get back to Alpha.”
We were back at my motel ten minutes later, and I realized that Raj had been going slow for me on the journey to New York. This time, when I’d been paying attention, I noticed each time we jumped.
“I didn’t ask about what gifts you got from my blood this time. Was there anything besides the jumping?” I asked before we opened the door to walk into the room. I knocked so no one would be surprised—hey! you never know!—while waiting for Raj to answer.
“I’ll tell you and the others once we discuss the curse Finn inscribed on the rocks.”
Florence opened the door. She was not happy. I could tell by the scowl, and the crossed arms, and by the way the first words out of her mouth were, “Where the hell have you two been? I am not happy.”
“Missed you, too, Flo.”
“Flo?”
“I was just trying it out.”
“Well, untry it out. You are not calling me Flo. I will not be known as some car insurance person.”
“We were in Brooklyn. Learning important things. Did you know that Raj is Dracula’s grandfather?”
That shut her up long enough for Raj and me to get past her into the room. I was freezing after our flight, even if i
t had been short, and needed to warm up. Fortunately, Emma was there to help me out.
“How was your sex vacation?”
“Not quite nunnish, but not far off. And yours?”
“Whatever.”
“Florence, I had another dream.”
That shut everyone up. I related the dream then showed Emma and Florence the drawing I’d made. Emma looked at it curiously, but obviously, nothing was ringing a bell. Not shocking, considering she was a werewolf and not a Norse mage. Florence looked serious, though.
“I don’t know what this all means, but I know this is dark, dark magic.”
Raj flipped the notebook page and showed her something else. I stood up and tried to look, but Raj angled it away from me.
“How sure are you?”
“Very.”
“What do we do?”
Raj flipped the page one more time. I didn’t think it was possible for someone of American Indian descent to turn that color, but Florence was giving Goth Salem a run for her complexion money.
“I can’t do that and hold the weir.”
“Hey guys,” I said. “You may have forgotten I was here, and that not only am I not a fragile werewolf Barbie who needs protecting,” there was a snarl from my left, and I warmed up a couple degrees, “but I’m the fucking heir apparent to a Dark Throne and maybe you should give me a little fucking credit here.”
They ignored me. “Can the one who translated this help me?”
“He is a scribe only. No power of his own.”
“Do you have anyone else?”
“Not close enough to travel here in a month.”
“Even if you use your fancy new powers?” I asked.
Everyone stared at me. I smiled brightly. “As we suspected, Raj picked up a few new things when he drank from me. One of them is the ability to fold space while he flies. We made it from Brooklyn to here in less than a half hour.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, it was weird. I didn’t notice on the way there because he wasn’t getting as crazy, probably because he’d never done it with another person before.”
“Raj was a virgin?” Emma asked with exaggerated, big-eyed innocence.
We all rolled our eyes, and she snickered. Props to her, because that was funny.
“But on the way back, I was paying attention and noticed each skip. It was like a smooth stone skipping over a pond. Instead of plowing through the surface of the water, meeting all that resistance, we just…bounced. Each bounce carried us further. It was a popping feeling as we went in and out of this plane.”
“How long would it take you to get a mage who could do this?” Florence asked.
“I’d be gone for at least two nights. One there and one back. But I’m not sure I’d trust this one with your lives.”
I looked at Raj then and realized I did trust Raj with my life. He spun and I saw the most open expression on his face I’d ever seen. It was pure joy. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of me, kissing me exuberantly. I had a moment of hesitation before kissing him back. I pulled away too soon for either of us, but probably not soon enough for our audience. “Just dating, remember?”
“Also, you have an audience,” Florence said. “And I still haven’t recovered from the Eleanor and Isaac show, I can’t take Eleanor sexcapades the sequel.”
My spine curled in on itself, and I hunched to ward away the pain. Isaac. Arggghhhh. Guilt.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Florence said. She put her arms around me, gently shoving Raj out of the way.
“No, no. It’s okay. We need to talk. You and Raj need to tell me what the fuck is up with the runes I saw and transcribed and will have to stand on. Raj needs to tell us if he got anything besides his new fancy space skipping ability from my blood, then we need to talk about both the service we’re performing for the local pack and what to expect in New Orleans.”
“We should make an agenda,” Florence said.
“Okay. I’m Team Leader because I’m the Queen.”
“I want to be team leader,” Raj said. “I’m the oldest.”
“I’m the prettiest,” Emma said.
“Looks are not the quality we look for in a leader,” I said. “You may want to work on your stump speech.”
For a second, I thought she was going to launch herself at me. I was almost hoping she would. A fight would warm me up and help me forget about Isaac.
“Don’t forget him, my sweet. We’ll find him. I promise.”
Then she smiled and said so sweetly I got three cavities, “Leadership qualities are something I could develop, but looks aren’t anything any of you have a prayer of being recognized for. I’m the obvious choice.”
“Hey!” Raj said, sounding genuinely injured. “I’ve been mistaken for a Bollywood star.”
“By me,” I said.
“Your taste is questionable,” Emma agreed.
I looked at her, and we both laughed, and for a brief second, we were friends. Then she ruined it. “You’re still a whore.”
“And you’re still annoying werewolf Barbie,” I sniped back.
“Children,” Florence interrupted. “Enough bickering. Raj, do you have anything to report besides the new travel efficiencies?””
He looked at me, “I can create fire.”
“Is Vlad at your Brooklyn apartment?” I asked.
“What?” Raj and Florence said at the same time.
“You wouldn’t let me wander. Every room but my bedroom and the living room were frigid. If Vlad has become reliant on his pyrokinetic powers to keep his blood flowing, that amount of cold could send him into a state of torpor.”
“Yes,” Raj said.
“Did you go find him on your three-day walkabout?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to ask him for his autograph.”
I started laughing. “Raj, darling, he sounds absolutely batshit crazy. I am not seeking out a sociopath who enjoyed impaling people when he was human just because he’s famous.”
“People have done weirder things based solely on the rumors of his presence.”
“I am not ‘people.’ I’m mated to a werewolf, my BFF is a witch, I’m a fucking dragon, and I’m dating Dracula’s grandpa. I don’t need to squee over the Prince of Darkness. I’m more interested in why you fetched Dracula.”
“I needed to know for sure what he’d done with my sword.”
“He confirmed he’d given it to Marie?”
“He confirmed Marie had it but said he’d merely left it there to chase after Helen, not given it to her in exchange for remaking Helen into a ghoul.”
“What price did he pay, then?” I asked.
Raj stared at me. “That’s a very good question. I can’t believe I didn’t ask it.”
“You’ve been operating under the assumption that your sword was the price. It’s not surprising you didn’t think to ask.”
“So, pyrokinesis. Interesting,” Florence said, bringing us back on subject. I wasn’t ready to be done with this line of thought, but she was right. It was time to move on.
“Handy,” I agreed. “You can keep me warm at night.”
“Gross,” Emma said.
“We have a lot of firepower now,” I said.
Florence and Raj both groaned. “That was terrible,” Florence said.
I smiled. I was punny.
“Anything else?” Florence asked.
“Not that I’ve discovered.”
“Okay,” I said. “The runes.”
“It’s a death curse,” Florence said.
“I’d begun to guess as much. Anything I should specifically be aware of?”
“There’s a piece in there that is a love charm as well.”
“So, what are we thinking?”
“That a death curse will be triggered when you step onto the stone, but it will wait for a word or rune to invoke it. Finn will likely offer you a choice. You can di
e, your job unfinished, your friends threatened, or you can leave with him and subsume your will to his, agreeing to love him and know nothing but love for him until you die.”
“Holy shit. That’s all kinds of terrible.”
“Your choices are either dying or becoming a brain-dead sex slave?” Emma asked. “That’s monstrous.”
“We’re all monsters, aren’t we?” Raj asked, shoving some fang.
I ignored him and kept my attention on Florence. “There’s a way to counter this?”
“Raj’s associate has provided enough information for any strong practitioner to counter it, but if it were me, I would be unable to hold the weir, and the gate magic would rush out over the land, destroying even more than usual.”
“So, we need a wi-mage.”
“A powerful one,” Florence said.
“And Raj, you don’t trust the one you have access to?”
“No. He’s a member of the Portland coven.”
“Ah, you mean the coven that threatened me with death?”
“That’s the one.”
“What do we do?”
“Savannah,” I said.
“No,” Florence said at the same time Emma and Raj asked, “You want to go back there?”
“C’mon, Florence. She’s powerful. She saved me before, and you trust her.”
“She also led the coven against me when I helped you.”
“She asked you to choose her over me, and you didn’t!”
“She wouldn’t commit to me. She wouldn’t say that she wanted me to stay with her, and she’s the one who broke up with me in the first place!” Ice crystals danced around Florence’s head. Her one-night-stand in Nashville aside, she still wasn’t over her ex-girlfriend.
“You’re a lesbian?” Emma asked.
“Duh,” everyone said.
I cleared my throat. “Next order of business.”
“I thought I was team leader,” Raj said.
I rolled my eyes. “We’re tabling my imminent death-slash-sex slavery for the next topic. Clearing the preserve of undesirables. Raj, Florence agreed to clear the pack’s local hunting ground of two dozen vampires and a full coven. In return, they’ll be our muscle until the gate is open and help Emma through her first full moon shift in a while. Also, we get lots of steak dinners.”
