Sweep - Stakes

by Sara Bourgeois

  “You’re going to walk into a prison community of vampires and break into a house?” Brody asked. “Ridiculous. I’m going in to work at the archives. I’m assuming you’re taking another day off?” His question was aimed at Remy.

  “Thank you for covering for me,” was Remy’s only reply.

  Brody left the room with nothing more than a grunt, and no one stopped him. The air instantly felt lighter when he was gone. It was troubling, but I had to focus. Neither Annika nor Remy said anything further about it.

  In truth, I had an idea of what was going on with my brother. His behavior was nothing new to me. The only difference was it was him instead of my mother or grandmother. Somewhere deep inside, I knew that he could turn out just like them. It made sense after all. They’d treated him far better than me, and at the same time, they’d turned him against me. I’d thought after his fiancée was murdered, we’d have another chance. It was becoming clear that we might not.

  “We’re going to need a good protection spell.” Annika was the first to break the silence. “I wouldn’t be afraid of Kyle, but who knows about the rest of them.”

  “I’ll begin getting the circle ready,” Remy said.

  “I’ll get the supplies,” I said.

  Ten minutes later, we had a circle set up in the living room. Meri had even come down to join us again. My familiar joined us inside the circle of salt and white candles.

  For protection against vampires, we invoked the Goddess. It was a more complicated spell, but not as difficult as drawing down the moon. Once the ritual was complete, I swept up the salt and put away the candles.

  The drive over to Kyle’s village was solemn. Even Meri was quiet. It seemed there was something on his mind, but I didn’t even know if Meri could have things on his mind. Sure, he could talk and all, but he was still a cat. As if he could read my mind, he looked up at me through narrowed eyes. I turned my attention out the window and watched the trees go by instead.

  Just to be safe, we parked the car a mile away from the village. Remy pulled it in behind an area of trees and dense bushes.

  We thought it was safe to park the car a mile from the village and walk through the forest. No one thought about the fact that we could have been walking through vampire hunting ground. Or if we did think about it, we dismissed it. Kyle had said the vampires didn’t hunt humans, and I believed him. It made sense too. They were in a sort of prison. For one thing, they had to avoid drawing attention to themselves, and for another, it could have served as a type of punishment.

  The walk to the village took less time than I’d expected. Every crunch of leaves or stick broken by our feet made me flinch. I had to remind myself that those sounds were muffled by our protection spell. Remy had combined it with a cloaking invocation. We weren’t invisible, but no one would see us unless they were looking specifically for us.

  Kyle’s house was on the edge of town. We’d parked on the same side as his home to avoid having to walk all the way around or through the village. I’d originally planned on trying to investigate inside of town, but my nerves got the better of me as we approached. I hoped that we’d find what we needed in Kyle’s house so we could leave.

  His door was locked, but that wasn’t an issue for us. Meri insisted on going in first to make sure there weren’t any traps. I didn’t know what kind of traps he meant, but I could imagine. Not that I believe Kyle would be trapping victims in his house, but Meri wanted to be absolutely certain before we went inside. We also needed to make sure he lived alone. Our protection spell probably wouldn’t work if we ended up face to face with a roommate or spouse that we hadn’t known existed.

  The house was empty, so we slipped inside. It had looked like a cabin from the outside, and not surprisingly, it looked like one from the inside too. Perhaps the vampires had taken over an old village. While the house had some upgrades, it was obvious it had been built a long time ago.

  There were only three rooms. We’d walked into a living room area, and behind that was a kitchen. Off to one side was a bedroom. The kitchen had a fireplace and no modern appliances. When I walked to the window and looked out, I could see a water pump in the yard. Vampires didn’t eat food, so the kitchen had never been remodeled or upgraded. There was no bathroom either, but I supposed that made sense as well.

  There was electricity, but we didn’t turn on any of the lights. There was plenty of daylight for us to at least be able to see our way around.

  One wall of the living room area was taken up entirely by a massive bookshelf. There was also an eReader on the coffee table. While I doubted there was Wi-Fi, it wouldn’t have been that hard for Kyle to go somewhere to occasionally download books.

  Right by the door where we came in were two pairs of hiking boots. One lighter pair and another that was heavily lined for winter. Did vampire’s feet get cold? I reasoned that it was for the extra grip on the soles.

  “There’s nothing here,” Annika said. “He lived like a monk.”

  “What about closets?” I asked. “Drawers?”

  Remy emerged from the bedroom area. “His closet has three pairs of black pants, three black shirts, and a black jacket. There’s also a tuxedo in a bag, but that didn’t look like it had been opened in a very long time. Two pairs of shoes on the floor. That’s it. There are no shelves and no boxes. His nightstand drawers are empty, and there’s nothing under the bed.”

  “What about trap doors?” I asked. “Did we look under all of the rugs?”

  “There are no rugs, Brighton,” Annika said.

  I looked around and she was right. Then, I remembered the library in the attic at Hangman’s House. “There could be something in the books,” I said.

  “Hang on,” Meri said.

  We all watched as he paced back and forth in front of the shelves a few times. He stopped in the center for a second, and then went back to pacing.

  “All right,” Meri said once he’d stopped near where the living room met the kitchen wall. “There’s something in the third book from the left, second shelf down. That’s it. None of the other books have anything.”

  I pulled the book down, and sure enough, there was a hollowed-out section inside of it that contained an old key. As soon as my fingers touched the key, I knew it was important. What I didn’t know was why.

  “Does it go to anything in the house?” Remy asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” I said. “Annika, did you see anything that might fit this key?”

  “Nope.”

  “I wonder if it’s considered stealing if we keep it?” I asked.

  “If you’re not comfortable doing it, I will,” Remy said.

  He held out his hand and gave me a reassuring smile. I loved him because he would do what needed to be done, and he would do it for me if I wasn’t ready.

  “Thank you,” I said. “But I’ve got it.”

  I slid the key into my pocket. I could feel its weight against my leg, and I knew it was more than just the weight of the metal. Whether the key had anything to do with the case or not, at least we were keeping such an important item safe for Kyle while he was in jail.

  “Any more ideas?” Remy asked.

  As soon as the question was out of his mouth, the front door to the cabin flew open. Villagers stepped through, and one of them grabbed Annika.

  They surrounded us and we found ourselves being dragged to the center of town. I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew we could use magic against them, but they had Annika. One of the vampire’s long, pale fingers was wrapped around the back of her neck.

  Remy and I were allowed to walk on our own, but I could only guess that was because they knew that we knew they could end Annika so fast we wouldn’t be able to utter the first word of a spell.

  “Let her go.” I heard Meri practically hiss.

  “Oh, isn’t that cute? The witches have a talking cat,” one of them said.

  “Meri, stay calm,” I said. “I don’t know if we can hurt them without hurting her.” />
  “You can’t,” that same vampire said.

  “Oh, but I think I can,” Meri said.

  “It’s okay, Meri,” Annika said soothingly. “Remember, you’re not even my familiar, so you’re not responsible for me.”

  “I’m responsible for who I say.”

  “It’s okay,” Annika said again.

  By that time, we’d reached the center of the tiny hamlet. We were still surrounded, but they shoved Annika into the center of the circle.

  “We can’t kill them,” a soft, female voice came from the edge of the circle. “We’re forbidden. We’ll never get out of here.”

  “You don’t need to kill us,” I said. “We’re here to help Kyle. We were trying to find information to solve the murder that occurred in Coventry so we can secure his release.”

  “If you’re here looking for information, it’s to implicate him,” another voice said. “Don’t try to play us.”

  “Or, we were trying to exonerate him,” Annika said. “That’s what we want.”

  “It’s what your council wants too., I added. “I was asked by the council to secure his release. I’m here at their behest.”

  “The vampire council wanted you to come into our village and poke around in Kyle’s house?” a pale face with long black hair asked.

  It was weird how we couldn’t focus on one of them for long. They seemed to morph and shift. Their voices always sounded disembodied.

  “I find that very hard to believe,” another voice chimed in.

  “They didn’t ask us to come to your village,” I said. “But I was tasked with solving the murder. I assumed that meant they wanted me to do whatever it took.”

  “Well, let’s find out,” the one with the pale face and black hair said. “One of you ride with him.” He extended a long finger in Remy’s direction. “We’ll escort the women home ourselves.”

  “No,” Remy said. “I will not leave them alone with any of you.”

  “They won’t be alone,” one of them said. “We’ll keep the women with the cat. Little kitty thinks he can kill us, so they’ll be fine.”

  Before Remy could speak again, the world went blurry and I felt like I was falling off the face of the earth. When it stopped, Annika, Meri, and I were in a black Cadillac with two vampires.

  “Your friend will be fine,” the one in the passenger seat said. “Try to stay calm, please. Your panic makes your blood smell that much more enticing.”

  “If you even try to hurt them,” Meri hissed.

  “It’s okay, Meri,” I said and pulled him onto my lap. “It’s all right.”

  When the Cadillac and Remy’s car pulled up into a parking space at the Coventry town square, all of the regular humans hurried away as if spelled. Skeenbauer witches began to emerge from different buildings. I turned and saw Marius strolling down the street from the direction of the inn.

  By the time we got out of the cars and were marched into the town square, Amelda and Marius were squared off. I could feel the ley line under us pulsing with energy and magic, and I wondered if the vampires knew what they had gotten themselves into.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Amelda demanded. “How dare you come into my town and presume to treat my grandchildren this way. Do you know who I am?”

  “They were trespassing in our home,” one of the vampires said.

  “Shut up,” Marius hissed at the lesser vampire. “No one asked you to speak. No one asked any of you to speak.”

  “It seems that you need to get your subjects under control,” Amelda said. “I would appreciate if they would all take a very large step back from my family.”

  Marius looked around and every one of the vampires stepped back. They had no idea the power that ran under us or that the witches could tap into it. I could tell by the look in his eyes that Marius knew, though.

  “It would have been better if they had come to me before going to the village,” Marius said diplomatically.

  “Do you want them to free your friend from the human jail or not?” Amelda asked. “Because we won’t hurt the humans to do it, and we certainly won’t allow you to do it either.”

  “I understand,” Marius said.

  When the entire council was present, they had made it sound like they would go to war with the witches if necessary to get Kyle back. Marius alone was not so bold.

  “You should go home,” Marius said. “You were not authorized to leave your village. Do it again, and I will bring the rest of the council here for a trial.”

  Most of their shoulders slumped in defeat, but as they turned to leave, something unexpected happened. Sheriff Black rolled up in his cruiser.

  “What is he doing here?” I whispered to Remy. “The rest of the humans dispersed.”

  “Maybe he just hasn’t been here long enough for the magic to work on him,” Remy offered. “Perhaps not enough of it has seeped into him.”

  “Or, he’s just that stubborn,” Annika said. “Some humans are more resistant that others. Thorn was.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t bring him up.”

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  “Yeah, totally fine, cuz,” Remy added.

  “Figures the humans would somehow manage to find another human resistant to magic to work as sheriff.”

  “What’s going on here?” Gunner cut off our conversation. “Is there a problem?”

  “No problem, officer,” Marius said.

  “I don’t know you, and I wasn’t talking to you.” Gunner turned his attention to Amelda. “Ma’am, is there a problem here?”

  “Not at all,” Amelda said. “Just a bunch of good friends having a little get-together.”

  “It doesn’t look like a bunch of friends having a party,” Gunner said and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen a lot things, and it looks to me like something bad was about to go down here.”

  “Not at all,” Marius said.

  “He’s right,” Amelda added before Gunner could snipe at Marius again. “But our friends were just leaving. Weren’t you?”

  “Indeed,” Marius said. “I’m going back to my room at the inn to read, and the rest of my fellow… The rest of my friends were going home. Please, friends, let’s disperse.”

  Marius waved his hands, and the vampires began to file back to their cars. Amelda looked around at the witches that had gathered, and they began to retreat to what they were doing as well.

  Amelda stayed put and watched as the vampires and Marius left. That left five of us and Meri. Everyone just stood there staring at each other for a moment, but then Gunner spoke first. Because, of course he did.

  “Did you folks need anything else?” he asked as if we were supposed to leave too.

  “Sheriff Black, do you need anything else?” Amelda held her ground.

  She would not be cowed by a human even if he was huge, intimidating, and from what I could gather, a retired Marine. Coventry was her town, and he was a guest.

  “You folks call me if you need anything.”

  If looks could kill, the look Gunner gave us as he walked away would have put holes in our heads. It was obvious he thought he was onto us, but since he had no way to prove anything, he must have decided to let it go for the time being. We were definitely on his poop list, though.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning, I woke up in the old cemetery. Meri was bumping my head with his and repeating my name.

  “Brighton, wake up,” he said and smacked my nose with his paw. “Wake up, woman.”

  I tried to sit up, but the world spun and I fell back into the grass. “I’m awake. Stop hitting me.”

  “I’m going to go get Remy,” he said.

  “You can’t just leave me here like this,” I said. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I woke up this morning and you weren’t in bed. I did stay here with you until I could get you awake, but now we need help.”

  My stomach growled loudly. “You should go. Before I
eat you.” I clamped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t believe I’d said that.

  “What?” Meri asked, but he did back away from me a bit.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m so hungry.”

  And my neck hurt. I reached up and winced when pain shot into my head and down my spine.

  “What’s wrong?” Meri asked.

  “There’s something on my neck. Can you look?”

  I moved my hair out of the way, and Meri came around to investigate. “Oh,” he said. “You’d better take a look.”

  “How am I going to do that?”

  “Your phone is in your other hand, genius.”

  “You should be nice to me. I’m obviously in a pickle here.”

  “Just look at your neck.”

  “Fine,” I said.

  “Whatever,” he said.

  I turned on the front facing camera on my phone and took a picture. When I lowered the phone to look, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

  “That looks like a vampire bite,” I said.

  “Sure does.”

  “How would a vampire have gotten me? I wasn’t drunk last night, and the house has so much protection magic on it, I’m surprised we can get in and out.”

  “Maybe you were sleepwalking and let one in? Perhaps you saw something outside and wandered over here again?” Meri offered.

  “I don’t sleepwalk,” I said.

  “You didn’t sleepwalk before, but now you’re half-zombie with vampire blood keeping you alive. Things change.”

  “I did have vampire blood keeping me alive, but I think that’s going to be an issue now,” I said. “Also, I need fried chicken like my life depends on it.”

  “Oh, no,” Meri said. “So you really did mean the thing about eating me.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I’m going to get Remy.”

  “I think I’m just going to stay here. It’s nice in the grass under this tree. I don’t really feel like moving just yet.”

  “Okay…” Meri said.

  “Bring fried chicken when you guys come back.”

  I must have drifted off again, because the next thing I knew, Remy was next to me shaking me awake.