Kaitlin's Tale

by Christine Amsden

  “For stealing her magic and selling her,” Devon said.

  “You sold your own daughter?” Evan asked, tensing.

  “No! It’s a frame.” Devon paced back and forth across the worn hardwood floor. Matthew saw the image of the old white man hovering over the young woman – Janelle – again. Then flickering images of Devon looking for someone who knew someone who could help him. Finally, he stumbled upon the Magical Underground in New York City.

  “They sent me to a sort of compound in Pennsylvania for help getting her back,” Devon said. Matthew could clearly see the lush green Pennsylvania countryside and the white-walled interior of a windowless underground structure. “They said sure. Were very friendly. Said they’d do it if I’d help their cause. I say sure, anything for her, even if I’d have to leave my job. I like my job, I like teaching. The kids, they respond to me, part of the magic I suppose. Always have. Except my own daughter, of course, cuz she’s resistant to mind magic. Not as resistant as I am, but she’s never had trouble throwing me off.”

  Matthew showed no outward sign of alarm at that revelation, but inwardly he knew he would have to be more careful than usual around this man. There would be no going back and modifying memories if what the man claimed was true – and Devon, at least, felt certain of it.

  “They say an influential talent like mine – that’s what they called it – would be useful to them. So they ‘inducted’ me, which meant I had to learn a few things, swear some kind of oath they claimed was unbreakable, but I don’t think it was on account of mind magic doesn’t work well on me, and then they strapped me down to take my blood.”

  “What?” Matthew and Evan said at the exact same time.

  “Yeah, exactly. I didn’t go quiet, but they overpowered me. Told me it didn’t matter, I wouldn’t remember a thing.” And he hadn’t, at least for a day or so. His resistance was strong, though, and a few things hadn’t added up. He’d felt the hole in his memory almost immediately, at which point it had been a matter of time before he’d figured out what was missing.

  “It took me a few hours,” was all Devon said, “but I remembered.”

  Wow. Matthew hadn’t suspected anything like this. Why would Alexander take blood from this man? Devon didn’t seem to know. The man didn’t even know all the things that blood could be used for. He mostly feared some kind of voodoo magic, thaumaturgy, and that could happen. But it was only the tip of the iceberg. Blood could be used to find a person anywhere, and to control him so completely that few could resist. The fact that Devon could resist even blood-laced mind magic said a lot about him.

  “Yeah, I remembered. I left and went back home but I had to run for it. I’m hiding out with one of my students here. Then some friends of mine told me maybe you could help.”

  “We’ll get you safely out of the city,” Evan promised. “We can hide you.”

  But Matthew didn’t say anything. He detected something akin to resignation in Devon. He had accepted his fate; he wasn’t here to bargain for his own life, only for his daughter’s. Yet Devon’s information was useless without Devon himself.

  No... Matthew finally understood some of the rapidly flickering images in Devon’s head. Devon was a wanted man now. Alexander had convinced everyone that he had stolen his own daughter’s magic and sold her. No one would believe Devon now.

  Matthew closed his eyes and tried to focus on his own thoughts. He wanted to help Devon, and not just because he could use the man. There was a good reason he had chosen to leave the world of mundane politics in order to challenge Alexander DuPris in the arena of magical politics: Alexander had done much worse than take a man’s blood. Rumors linked him to murders, torture, and brainwashing, among other things.

  Matthew himself had first run into Alexander’s evil doings when the man had come to Eagle Rock, Missouri to push his brand of politics on the locals. Around the same time a group of ordinary citizens had been stirred into a frenzy of witch hunting, ultimately killing one woman and attempting to kill others. Matthew and his family had always managed to have a calming effect on the locals, but they had been blocked by a powerful force – Alexander. Again, Matthew had no proof, but he knew it. He was absolutely certain.

  “I won’t leave you to Alexander,” Matthew said. “We’ll take you with us.”

  It won’t work, Devon thought. Alexander’s men had him convinced they could find him anywhere. And if they had his blood, Matthew realized, they could. They could be here any minute. Devon started thinking of all the places he had been in the past two days. Of running from one place to the next, never stopping for long. I’ve stopped here too long, he thought. But I had to do it for Janelle.

  “Let’s go,” Matthew said.

  But it was too late. The door slammed open so hard it cracked against the living room wall and bounced off, reverberating angrily. Two men entered wearing NYPD uniforms, guns drawn.

  “Damn,” said the younger uniform, a light-skinned black man barely out of school. “He ain’t alone.”

  They’d come for the sonofabitch who’d sold his own daughter. Which made them Alexander’s security, not NYPD.

  Drop your weapons. Matthew sent the mental command, along with a surge of magic, at the two men, but the move backfired. One of them, apparently resistant to mind magic, tightened his finger around the trigger.

  “Shooter!” Matthew called to Evan.

  At that point, everything happened at once. Evan flung up an arm. Several gunshots rang out. The two men flew backwards into the hallway, crashing through the wall on the opposite side.

  Who’s been hit? Matthew looked from Devon, wondering the same thing, to Evan, who held the two pistols. They seemed okay. The wall – less so. A scream from downstairs told him the shots had been noticed; he’d usually stay behind to erase memories, but today he’d have to leave them to draw their own conclusions.

  “Let’s go!” Matthew called.

  Evan grabbed Devon’s arm and together they passed the prone police officers, ran down the stairs, and the three of them lost themselves in the crowded New York City streets.

  “They’ll find me anywhere,” Devon said. “You might be strong, but they’re stronger. They’ll find me anywhere.”

  “Hotel first,” Matthew said to Evan, ignoring Devon completely. “We need to try to block their scrying spells before we travel. Then we’ll head for the airport.” Matthew’s own private plane awaited them, fully fueled and ready to go when they were. He had always loved flying, but now he appreciated its practical uses as well.

  Matthew said nothing else as they navigated the city streets back along Central Park, up through Times Square, and down a few more blocks to their hotel. The men with him kept scanning the streets, looking for trouble, but Matthew just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other in an attempt to avoid a splitting headache.

  As soon as they reached the hotel room, Evan made space for casting a spell. New York City hotels weren’t exactly big, and to make enough space, Evan used telekinesis to push both double beds against the wall on their sides. They wobbled for a moment after Evan let go, but he muttered something under his breath that made them stay put. Then he got out his satchel and started drawing a casting circle.

  “What’s he doing?” Devon whispered to Matthew. “Is that a casting circle? I never used one before.”

  Matthew had learned a lot about different approaches to magic over the past year-and-a-half, so he wasn’t surprised by Devon’s ignorance of the casting circle. Urban magic users, in particular, were more likely to focus their magic through a totem than through a circle. But now wasn’t the time to exchange magical recipes.

  “Do you have everything you need?” Matthew asked Evan.

  “I made sure my supplies were well-stocked before I came,” Evan replied. “I just need-” But he stopped talking abruptly, and his face
went blank.

  “Evan?” Matthew asked. “Evan, are you okay?”

  “Oh no,” Devon said, backing up several paces. “Oh no! They’ve found me.”

  Devon’s thoughts were racing again, tumbling over themselves in a mad circular dash. And before Matthew could stop him, Devon had sped from the room, leaving Matthew torn between going after him and staying to find out what was wrong with his ally.

  He hesitated only a moment before sinking down in front of Evan. The man might never be his friend, but Matthew needed him more than he needed Devon, and he had never seen anything affect Evan like this. The man was a fortress.

  “Evan?” Matthew ran his hand up and down in front of Evan’s face. Nothing. He tapped him on the shoulder, bracing himself to be thrown violently away. Again, nothing.

  Matthew stood and crossed to the hotel room door. He looked down the hallway, but Devon had already gone. Maybe Matthew should try to head him off at the lobby. Or maybe... Matthew went back to the window, which overlooked the street two floors below. He saw a police car parked in front, its lights flashing, though it emitted no sounds. It being there didn’t feel right; indeed, the next moment, Matthew saw Devon being pushed into the backseat by the same two men who had attacked them at the apartment.

  Matthew spared one last look at Evan before racing for the stairs, but by the time he reached the lobby it was too late. The car had pulled away, leaving him with nothing but the hollow feeling of regret. Could he have done something else?

  There was something he could do, he realized. He could find Janelle. He would find her. But first...

  Matthew returned to his rented room. Evan was blinking rapidly, staring around in confusion.

  “What happened?” Evan asked.

  “You blanked,” Matthew said. “You were going to cast the spell on Devon, but you blanked.”

  “Devon?” Evan said. “But he wasn’t at the apartment. The whole trip was a waste of time, remember?”

  Matthew stared at his ally, whose mind had just been wiped while Matthew stood uselessly by, unable to help. There was only one way someone could have done that, and the knowledge chilled him to the bone.

  They had Evan’s blood, too.

  Chapter 3

  KAITLIN FELT DIZZY, BUT SHE PUSHED the feeling aside as she clambered upstairs on hands and knees. Jay. Have to get to Jay. When she reached the nursery she managed to get to her feet and snatch a still-upset Jay from Sara, who didn’t resist. He had quieted into little hiccuping gasps, but had not yet fallen asleep.

  Sara gave Kaitlin an odd look, almost like pity, before she turned silently away. The real Sara had never been short on words before. She had changed; it wasn’t as difficult to see those changes in Sara as it had been in Jason. Why? Because Kaitlin wasn’t in thrall? Because she had known Sara better? Or did it just vary?

  Academic questions for another time, she decided. Right now, she needed a plan. She needed to escape.

  Jason loomed large in the doorway to the nursery, but he didn’t look at Kaitlin or his son. Instead, he focused his attention on Sara. “You need to eat. Xavier should have taken you with him.”

  “I’ll manage,” Sara said.

  “Not here you won’t. Come.” He turned and left, clearly expecting Sara to follow. She did so a scant second later without glancing back at mother or child.

  Kaitlin waited, listening. The garage door opened. A car engine sounded. Then a car backed out of the garage and the door whirred closed once again.

  That was it. She was trapped here ten miles from town with no transportation. Xavier had driven away in his car, Jason in his. Kaitlin wasn’t allowed a car.

  But wait, didn’t Sara have one too? Kaitlin clutched Jay to her chest and hurried downstairs as fast as her weakened body would allow, trying to think. She peered out into the nearly black evening, using the porch light as her only source of illumination. There, at the curb, was another car. She couldn’t make out what kind but she didn’t care. All she needed were the keys.

  Had Sara taken her purse with her? Kaitlin couldn’t recall seeing one when the woman had come up to the nursery, so she checked the kitchen first. Sara had often left her purse on the kitchen counter in life and apparently that much of her personality remained in her new form. There was a purse on the counter and inside... come on, come on... there! Her hand closed around a set of keys which included a remote locking device for the car. She hit the button to make sure she had the right set and heard the reassuring chirp from outside.

  Kaitlin’s heart slammed against her chest, and not entirely out of nerves. Her pulse was erratic, thready she thought she’d heard it called. She really had lost a lot of blood. How was she going to drive away, when Jason and Xavier could simply follow? Where could she hide?

  Kaitlin grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator as she considered her options. She thought longingly of her best friend, Cassie, who had not replied to her e-mail. Who had, apparently, not received it at all. There was no phone here, no landline, and Kaitlin had never been allowed a cell phone. All she had was her computer, which had already proven unreliable.

  So where could she go? Who could protect her from two powerful vampires?

  And then it hit her – hunters could protect her. Well, maybe not any one alone. Xavier had dispatched many hunters over the last year, but the vampire hunters were based out of Pennsylvania, in the same compound where Alexander DuPris led his magical unification effort. She could go there.

  Kaitlin didn’t care about politics, magical or otherwise, but she had spent many nights over the past year listening to Xavier and Jason rattle on about DuPris, especially when it came to vampire politics. She could practically hear Xavier’s voice even now.

  The man is going to destroy the world. He’s going against the wrong vampires, thinking he can destabilize us by taking out the most powerful of us. And it’s working. The younger vampires are out of control, making new vampires left and right. There are ten times as many vampires as there were when he started this idiotic campaign. But what I can’t believe is how the hunters have fallen for it so completely. They’ve even moved their headquarters in with his.

  Kaitlin didn’t care who was right and who was wrong; she only knew she needed protection, and so did her son. She also knew her son would be a powerful hunter one day, and that the hunters couldn’t afford to turn him away, especially not to be raised by the most notorious vampire in the United States.

  Leaning heavily against the kitchen counter while she rested her chin atop Jay’s fuzzy head, Kaitlin checked her plan for flaws. There were dozens of them. The second she left this house with Jay, Jason and Xavier would probably know. The vampires could run faster than a car could travel, but not over long distances. If she could get a hundred miles ahead of them, they would have to drive too. But that first hundred miles... and if she stopped or slowed down... What if the police pulled her over for speeding? What if she fell asleep at the wheel, or fainted from blood loss?

  She had no answers to any of those questions, only one last question: What other plan do you have?

  She didn’t stop to pack. She grabbed Jay’s diaper bag, threw in some spare diapers and the toddler formula she’d been giving him since he’d turned one. She also included some little snacks he could feed himself and, almost as an afterthought, grabbed some Oreos and apple juice for herself. Then she buckled him into his car seat, tossed the diaper bag over her shoulder, picked up the again-screaming Jay in his carrier, and headed for the door.

  She didn’t take anything of her own save a purse with a driver’s license and a credit card that might or might not work (if Xavier decided to cancel it). The way she felt, she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to carry anything else out of the house anyway. It was all she could do not to drop her son as she exited the front door and crossed the lawn to the dark se
dan waiting at the curb. Opening the back door, she heaved the infant carrier onto the seat and strapped it in. It was too small for Jay, but it was better than nothing. Her other car seat was in Jason’s car.

  Jay didn’t stop crying. Kaitlin’s nerves were shot. She took several deep, thirsty lungsful of air before ducking behind the steering wheel, inserting a key, and sending a quick prayer to a God she wasn’t entirely on speaking terms with: Just get Jay through this. I don’t care what happens to me, but let him be okay.

  Then she revved up the engine and floored the accelerator.

  * * *

  Jay fell asleep within fifteen minutes, which should have helped but instead made it harder for Kaitlin to stay awake. She turned on the radio, steadily increasing the volume until her eardrums felt like they would bleed. She searched for annoying, grating music – heavy metal but nothing with a techno beat. She didn’t want anything too hypnotic. She had to stay awake. Pennsylvania was over six hours away and she couldn’t stop for anything. Luckily, the gas tank was full – the only thing that had gone her way tonight. She’d take it.

  She looked over her shoulder constantly, expecting to see Jason running up the highway behind her, never mind that she was going ninety miles per hour. That was nothing to a vampire. He could run circles around her at that speed, toy with her, take his time reeling her in. He could make her think she had almost escaped and then pounce.

  Actually, that didn’t sound like Jason, not even now that he’d turned, but it did sound like Xavier. The ancient vampire had a cruel, ruthless streak in him.

  She’d gone twenty miles. Not enough. Forty miles. Still not enough. She pressed the accelerator down even harder, darting in and out of the light, late night traffic on the interstate. The speedometer reached to over a hundred miles per hour. They could catch her easily. One hundred and twenty... She had never gone this fast before in her life.