Night Tide

by Kory M. Shrum

  Her fingers tightened on his chin.

  She threw him against the tree. She shoved his aching body against the rough bark.

  “It’s nothing personal,” the woman said, scraping her free hand down the front of his chest. She shredded his clothes with one swipe, exposing his skin to the cool breeze. “I hope you know that. But I need the Witching Blade. And the crone won’t give me the blade without a sacrifice.”

  First the soft, almost tender brush of fingers. Then Grayson’s chest exploded with black fire. That ear-splitting sound was him screaming. That thump in his chest was his own wounded heart resisting the probing fingers trying to grab ahold of it.

  Or perhaps it was the tree’s heartbeat.

  It certainly felt like the branches were twining around him, pulling his body into its trunk. The woman was smiling. The bird song swelled to an overbearing cacophony that ricocheted in his brain.

  Darkness pressed in on the corners of his vision until only the pain remained.

  And something that smelled of ancient magic and old earth.

  Then there was only the pain, a world blacker than black, and bird song that would never end.

  Create a new story

  Remake last choice

  Reese: Help Liam

  Reese was instructed to meet Liam at Two Doves Cemetery. Reese navigated her rumbling red pickup through the Castle Cove streets, considering the task ahead. The idea of traipsing around a cemetery with a vampire after dark was not all that appealing.

  It wasn’t that she was afraid of the vampire, of the dark, or all those dead people under the ground. She only hoped there would be no labor involved. She was tired. And when tired, gravedigging wasn’t even in her top fifty choices for how she’d like to spend an evening.

  When she pulled into the cemetery parking lot, she found Liam leaning against the trunk of his BMW, his ankles crossed and hands in his pockets. Reese thought he looked a little like Zac Efron with his hair swooped up and back and that burgundy silk scarf wrapped around his neck.

  She parked beside him and climbed out. “You late for your Esquire photoshoot or something?”

  She hoped his outfit meant that no digging would be involved—or he expected her to do it.

  He spared her a wry half-smile. “This shouldn’t take too long. Hopefully.”

  He began crossing the parking lot to the wood-chipped footpath ahead.

  She fell into step beside him. “What are we doing here?”

  “Someone reported grave vandalism.”

  Reese frowned. “Isn’t that something the police should handle?”

  Liam snorted, continuing his long, easy stride even as the path steepened. “It is. Until they call Ethan.”

  “So what does that make you?” she asked. “The deputy?”

  His smile deepened. “I see why Kristine likes you so much.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  As the path ended, the vampire’s eyes swept the cemetery. “Over here.”

  She followed him in silence. Twilight purpled around them, the shadows thickening beneath the trees that bordered the cemetery. They seemed to elongate like fingers stretching toward them.

  Don’t, she warned. You’ll whip yourself into hysterics with thoughts like that.

  But then she saw the ghosts, rising like mist from the graves. She stiffened, her stride faltering.

  Liam turned back, frowning at her. “What?”

  “Are you seeing this?” Reese pointed at the mist materializing in front of the grave two rows over.

  Liam followed her finger. “The ghosts? They’re fine. They won’t bother us. I don’t think they can even see us.”

  He resumed his walk. As she watched the phantoms rise from their graves and then float in whichever direction suited them—Reese counted eight—she saw he was right. They were neither coming this way nor showing signs that they knew they were here.

  Relief softened the rock in her stomach—until she turned and saw Liam had gotten away from her. She took off at a run to catch up. It was hard to keep her balance over the uneven ground. Some graves seemed to be rising, others sinking. The scent of fresh earth pressed in on her.

  She almost yipped with joy when she found him, crouching down in front of a crooked stone.

  “Come here,” he commanded pointing at the ground. “This is what I needed you for.”

  “What?” But as soon as the word was out of her mouth, Reese saw what he was pointing at. There was a hole where the grave should be. Someone had crudely exhumed the body. The dirt was gone, piled behind the tombstone itself. It wasn’t crooked, she realized. It was half buried. In the grave was the unopened casket.

  “What do you need me to do exactly?” Reese asked, relieved that the vandal had done the labor himself—or herself. But also terrified that he was going to ask her to climb into the grave.

  “Can you feel any magic?” he asked. “I need to know if magic was used here.”

  “Why are you asking me?”

  “I can’t feel it,” he said. “An undead vampire could. But living vampires can’t. I can’t.”

  Reese sniffed the air. “No. I don’t feel anything.”

  Liam sighed. “Damn. I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

  A cold hand clamped onto Reese’s shoulder and she shrieked.

  “Hell’s Bells,” Violet hissed. The leather clad demon took a step back. “Shut up, would you?”

  Liam stood, brushing dirt from his knees. “You scared her.”

  “You think, bloodsucker? And she busted both my ear drums.” Violet stuck a finger in her ear and twisted it. “Remind me never to take you to a haunted house. Or a scary movie for that matter.”

  “What are you doing here?” Reese demanded. She had one hand over her chest as if trying to hold her heart in.

  Violet crossed her arms. “I was going to ask if it was true that you were dumb enough to help Ethan investigate what’s going on in this town, but now that I see his cabana boy in tow, I have my answer.”

  “Hello, Violet,” Liam said. He didn’t look at her. He continued frowning at the open grave. “You couldn’t tell me why this grave is unearthed, could you?”

  “Sure,” Violet said with a smirk. “I could. But why would I?”

  “Because if we don’t figure this out, Ethan is going to drink your girlfriend here dry and use her magic to put Vendetta in some kind of stasis cocoon to protect her.”

  “What?” Reese turned toward Liam, trying to tell if the vampire was joking. She didn’t think he was.

  Violet’s smirk disappeared. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Fuck,” Violet said and then to Reese as if this was all her fault. “This is why you stay away from them. Did you even realize they were setting you up to be dinner? Hell, he’s probably going to drain you the second you report back!”

  “To be fair, that was only Ethan’s Plan B. I’m against it. I think it will make Kristine sad.”

  Reese pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. “Could you not talk about me like I’m already dead.” Then to Liam. “He was really going to—whatever the hell you just said?”

  Liam shrugged, moonlight dancing on his shoulders. “It wouldn’t have killed you. But it would’ve turned you into a shark, permanently. You wouldn’t be able to return to shore anymore.” Then to Violet, “So what do you know?”

  Violet groaned. “You play dirty, bloodsucker. I’ll remember that.”

  Liam nodded as if he understood.

  “Hope dug up this guy because the corpse had some ancient coin that Ydril wanted. She gave Ydril the coin as payment in order to find out where the Witching Blade was.”

  “Who the hell is Hope?” Reese asked.

  “A chaos demon. Used to be pretty close to Ethan and Vendetta. I hear she’s one of the original chevalier.”

  “Is that all?” Liam asked.

  “No. She also wanted to know where Ethan was keeping Vendetta. She seems to b
e under the impression that he’s keeping her in stasis against her will.”

  “And since this grave is clearly excavated, the transaction has already happened.”

  “You’re so smart,” Violet said, clapping her hands. “You must be his favorite good boy.”

  Liam’s head snapped up.

  The look in his eyes made both Reese and Violet step back.

  “Hey man, I was just kidding. Take a—”

  “Shut up,” Liam said. He craned his head as if listening to something. He met Reese’s gaze. “We have to go. Now.”

  “Why?” Reese’s heart had finally started to quiet in her chest only to now rev up again.

  Liam was already running through the graves, cutting the shortest path to his car. “Hope’s at the house.”

  “I’m coming too,” Violet said, following them down the sloping hill.

  “You don’t have to,” Reese said, secretly touched.

  “That’s what I thought until I just found out how much trouble you’re in. I’m riding with you.”

  They climbed into the pickup and followed Liam’s BMW out of the parking lot. As she shifted gears, Reese had a chance to realize she’d picked up dirt on her knees. And her hair was starting to stick to the back of her neck.

  “Any chance I can get you to give me your soul?” Violet asked, swaying in the passenger seat as they drove west out of town.

  “What? Why?” Reese asked.

  “Ethan can’t touch your magic if your soul is promised to someone else. Think of it as giving it to me for safe keeping,” Violet gave her a grin worthy of a devil.

  Reese shifted gears, laughing. “I was considering it until you smiled like that.”

  Violet shrugged. “At least you’re smart. But seriously, you need to be on your guard here. Liam, no matter how friendly he is with your buddy Kristine, he’s loyal to Ethan. He will live and die for him. You got that? He would throw you under the bus to save his beau.”

  “And what about you, Violet? Whose side are you on?”

  Violet grinned from the passenger side of the truck. “Tonight? I’m yours.”

  The trees broke open and the two-story Spanish villa sprang into view. The dirt road turned to beautiful paving stones that circled in front of the house. In the center of the roundabout was a fountain bubbling softly with turquoise water.

  Liam parked his BMW in front of the cream-colored steps and Reese pulled up right behind him. They were out of their vehicles and on the steps a moment later. But they hesitated.

  The front door to Ethan’s house had a giant hole blasted out of it. It hung on its hinges.

  “Hope had to make an entrance.” Violet shrugged in her leather jacket. “Not surprising. Chaos demons like to blow shit up.”

  “Come on,” Liam said. “We need to help him.”

  “Do we?” Violet said with arched eyebrows. “I thought Ethan was the baddest boy in town. And what are you going to do anyway, bloodsucker? Hope can incinerate you with a thought.”

  If Liam heard this taunt, he gave no sign. They followed him into the house as he led them through the labyrinth of lavish rooms straight to a study. In this room, the walls were hidden behind floor-to-ceiling bookcases made of dark wood. Red fabric couches and highbacked chairs rounded out the decor.

  Liam approached a fireplace with twin carved panthers of black stone flanking each side. He placed his hand on the right panther and the fireplace shifted. A passageway appeared behind the flames.

  “It won’t burn you,” Liam whispered, presumably so Hope would not hear them. “Just step through.”

  Liam went first, followed by Violet. Reese trailed behind. The flames felt like a cool breeze on her skin as she passed through.

  Ahead a spiral staircase appeared. They followed it down silently. Their feet slipped over the stone without making a sound. The air grew noticeably colder with each step. Reese was certain they’d gone underground.

  When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw several things at once.

  First, the walkway stretching before them led to a stone coffin. The lid of this coffin had been removed and thrown across the room. It lay broken in three large pieces against the far wall.

  It had collided with some of the stone carvings lining the walls. The impact destroyed a section, revealing jagged rock beneath.

  Ethan stood on the left side of the stone coffin. Hope stood on the right. Their gazes were locked on one another. Reese could feel the magic like electricity crackling in the air.

  “Do not mind the mess, my friends,” Ethan said calmly. But he didn’t take his gaze off of the woman. “Hope is a mere chaos demon. She can hardly help herself.”

  “I’m so much more than that!” Hope’s face contorted in a hideous snarl. “I’m her chevalier. Just as well as you! You have no more right to her than any of us!”

  Hope jabbed her finger into the center of the coffin each time she said the word her.

  “You have the Witching Blade and your blood. What do you mean to do now?” Ethan asked.

  “It will work,” Hope hissed. “It will.”

  “All that Ydril told you was untrue,” Ethan said calmly. He placed one hand on the edge of the coffin.

  “He said the blade was in the ocean. That the sirens had it. But I figured out where it really was.” Hope twisted the strange knife in her hand. It looked more like a stake than a blade to Reese.

  “He deceived you,” Ethan said. “So that you would give him the coin he sought. He can’t go on hallowed ground. Did you know that?”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t realize every piece of shit in this town was loyal to you.” Her free hand gripped her edge of the coffin. “They won’t be once they know what a coward you are.”

  “So how did you learn the blade was in the forest?” Ethan asked.

  And with a sudden spark of clarity, Reese understood why he was asking. He wanted to know what mistake he’d made, and how his secret had been uncovered.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Hope said. “I’m her chevalier. She chose me. You have no right to keep her.”

  “My queen does as she pleases,” Ethan said calmly. “Six months ago, Henry made the mistake of thinking he could also take her from this place.”

  Hope’s lower lip began to tremble. “I’ve missed her. I want her back.”

  “This isn’t the way.”

  But Hope had already pulled the long wooden blade above her head. Reese thought the demon meant to plunge it into the coffin, but no. She dragged the tip of the blade down her arm, splitting the skin. Blood welled up instantly, flowing over her flesh.

  Hope extended her hand into the coffin.

  For a moment there was only a dripping sound. Tap, tap, tap. Like a faucet leaking somewhere in this grand house.

  Hope’s pained expression gave over to pleasure. “See? You don’t know her like you think you do. You think you know what she wants but—”

  Hope’s words were swallowed by a sudden intense scream. The volume of it echoed off the walls, colliding and overlapping with itself. Reese, Violet, and Liam all covered their ears.

  Hope was yanked forward, her body slamming into the side of the stone coffin. Then the arm was wrenched entirely from her body and disappeared into the sarcophagus.

  The chaos demon stumbled back, still wailing. She looked at her severed arm, now torn from her shoulder as if she couldn’t believe it was gone. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water.

  Reese wasn’t sure what she expected to crawl out of the coffin. Some creature worthy of a lifetime of nightmares.

  But what she saw instead was a woman. A young woman, slowly rising. To Reese, she didn’t look like the majestic living goddess Reese had always imagined Vendetta to be. Instead, she resembled like a child, no more than sixteen. Her eyes were large liquid pools of moonlight and her face cherubic. The hair flowing down her back, impossibly long, seemed to shine with a life of its own, as black as a moonless night.

 
Blood dribbled down her chin as she released her hold on the severed arm. It fell to the floor with a wet splat.

  This was Vendetta. In the flesh. One moment she was standing in the coffin like a sleeping beauty just wakened. Then she was in front of Hope, wrenching the other woman into her embrace.

  Vendetta tore open her throat with one ruthless bite.

  “Please,” Hope begged, tears streaming down her face. “Please, my queen. I only want to serve you. I only want—”

  Vendetta tore her head off her shoulders the way one rips an annoying tag from the inside of a shirt. Pieces of the demon fell to the marble floor. Blood escaped the body in a red stream.

  Go! A voice cried in Reese’s mind. Violet startled beside her and Reese suspected she’d heard the same cry. Liam had already placed a hand on both of them, pushing them toward the stairs. Go! Before she can—

  But Vendetta was in front of Reese. Her liquid brown eyes sparked with an internal fire. Not the hellfire Reese had come to know in the eyes of the demons around her.

  Magic, she realized. I’m seeing the golden burn of magic inside her. That’s all she is in there...

  “Hello,” Vendetta purred sweetly. She was almost a head shorter than Reese. She gazed lovingly up into Reese’s eyes. “Did I make this one? She smells like mine.”

  “We are all yours,” Ethan said. He was at her back now, one hand on her arm as if to pull her away. But he wasn’t exerting any will over his queen.

  “So beautiful,” Vendetta said. She ran a blood-stained finger down Reese’s cheek.

  “Very beautiful. But look what you’ve done to your room, my lady. I will have to clean it up.”

  Vendetta turned and regarded the pool of blood and Hope’s destroyed body.

  “I called her here. I called her like I called the other ones,” she purred. Her words were in their minds, Reese realized. Her lips weren’t moving at all. “More will come, Ethanu.”

  “I know,” Ethan said. “You are very clever.”

  “I need more. I must be strong when she wakes up.”

  “Who, my treasure?” Ethan asked, mimicking her tone.

  “Mother.” A crystalline laugh like a bell echoed through the room. It was as if the idea delighted Vendetta to no end. “Were you afraid? You never liked Hope.”