A Little Bit Vampy

by A. A. Albright

  ‘Yeah, yeah,’ said Dylan. ‘That’s all very interesting. But let’s talk about this rubbing against each other’s legs thing–’

  ‘Mam, you don’t have a familiar,’ I said, subtly interrupting my boyfriend mid-rant. ‘You don’t either, Grace. And I know neither of you are as evil as the Berry coven. So what gives?’

  My mother swallowed. ‘My dad cut the bond with my familiar when I was a kid. He was jealous of our connection. She was such a lovely little thing. A brown spaniel with a pink nose. I called her Cara because it means friend in Irish. Pathetic, right? I have no idea where she is now. I keep thinking of tracking her down, because she ought to be alive if I am, right? But so much time has passed. She might have moved on.’

  I wished the floor would just reach up and suck me in, right there and then. I hadn’t meant to send my mother to Miseryville. I’d just wanted to distract Dylan from the thought of me being bonded with Jared. Yes, I’d be bonded with Melissa too, but I doubted that was what was going to worry him.

  I looked apologetically at my mother. ‘That sounds horrible, Mam. Tell you what, we’ll go and find Cara together when all this is over with. Okay?’

  Grace brought her in for a hug. ‘I’ll help too. And at least we can go and track Cara down if you still want to. I’m cursed to be apart from my familiar until the day I die.’

  I should have known that my ever-enigmatic editor would have an interesting story to tell. Not that she ever would tell her full and unabridged tale to me. I was just about to extend some sympathy her way, when Cassandra clapped her hands.

  ‘We can all trade sob stories after we’ve lost the war against Vlad’s Boys,’ she said. ‘For now, let’s get on with the spell. Aisling, you need to give the locket to Felim, and he’ll channel it into the three of you. Okay? Oh, and you might feel a little bit jealous and protective of the locket about halfway through the spell. If you feel the urge to snap it back from Felim, fight it. It’ll be all yours again as soon as we’ve lost the day.’

  ‘Ooh.’ I rubbed my hands together. ‘I’ve always wanted to see things from Gollum’s point of view. Do you think I’ll start calling the locket “my precious”?’

  ‘Who’s Gollum?’ Cassandra frowned. ‘Never mind. Let’s just get on with it. Aisling, hand your locket to Felim and repeat after me …’

  23. The Sundown Showdown

  The Invisible Thread spell went exactly as it should. I didn’t quite feel the urge to rub myself against Melissa’s or Jared’s legs, but I definitely felt closer to them. When Melissa drank some tea before it had properly cooled, I could feel the sensation in my own mouth. When Jared took a swig of brandy before we left my grandmother’s house, I felt the heat of it through my gullet.

  It was … interesting. Okay, it was horrible, and I’d be incredibly glad when it was over. I’d been given “my precious” to wear again as soon as the spell was done, though, so at least the jealous palpitations had come to an end.

  A while before sundown, we took our places for the oncoming battle. The fact that we were having this showdown at sundown made me feel like I was in a Western movie. I was wearing a pair of Pru’s cowgirl boots with my jeans (yes, I wore them to feel closer to her and yes, I’m aware that makes me a soppy so-and-so), so I wouldn’t have been completely out of place.

  Many of the sióga stayed on their own side of the tree, but we had plenty of them with us on the Wandering Wood side – and my grandmother was included in that number. I was happy to have her fighting by my side but, if we did get through this, I would be having some serious words with her. I mean, for an all-knowing, all-seeing being to have her entire world contingent on one little old tree … well, that was just silly.

  Dylan hadn’t been able to get many of the Wayfarers to see sense, seeing as most were still compelled, but he had managed to gather about a hundred allies, all placed on the outskirts of the clearing, riding wizard brooms with the cloak-mode enabled, ready to set disempowerment devices to work when – if – we managed to accomplish our part of the plan.

  Nollaig and Cassandra were in Dylan’s group too. Just before Nollaig became cloaked, I could see the determination shining in her eyes. For her, this wasn’t just about stopping Vlad’s Boys. I wouldn’t like to be Ron when she got hold of him, that was for sure.

  Cassandra had looked pretty determined, too, but all of her determination had been focused on Melissa. I was in no doubt that, if it came down to it, Cassandra would give up her life for her granddaughter.

  Jared, Melissa and I stood hunched close together, with Fuzz wrapping himself around my ankles. I’d tried to get the little guy to head somewhere safer, but he’d insisted on staying by my side, promising me that the witch-familiar bond would mean that if I couldn’t die, then neither could he. Worried though I was, I was glad for his purring.

  Grace, Brent, Felim and my father were working to channel extra power into my mother, while she stood at the base of the hawthorn tree, her hand on its trunk, and said,

  ‘Me in you,

  Just for a while

  When I’m done I shall leave

  I promise no guile.’

  She turned to smile at me. ‘That’s it,’ she said breathily. ‘It’s accepting me. I’m going to be a part of this tree now. And em … that means it’s time to say goodbye until all of this is over.’

  With a gasp, I watched her become a column of white and gold light, before her body disappeared from my sight. I stared at my dad. ‘This was a bad idea,’ I said, panicking.

  ‘No, it wasn’t,’ he assured me. ‘It was a bloody brilliant idea. This isn’t the broom. She’s gone in there of her own will, not because Arnold tricked her. She’ll be able to leave as soon as she’s done – and believe me, this tree will kick her behind straight out if she tries to stay for longer than it wants.’

  I stared up at the hawthorn tree. Its branches rustled, even though there was no breeze. Touching its trunk I said, ‘I’ll see you soon, Mam.’

  I felt Jared’s eyes on me. ‘Come on,’ he said softly. ‘The sun’s about to set.’

  ‘Grab a paw.’ Melissa sent a grin my way, holding her hand out. ‘It’s our time to shine.’

  I took her hand and Jared’s, and we quickly performed the same joining spell we’d used at Cassandra’s house. I felt that same surge I’d felt then – as though bolts of power were hitting me in the chest from either side. The energy from Jared and Melissa made its way all through me, until I was buzzing with it, alive with it and – thanks to Jared – feeling just a little bit undead with it, too.

  But something was different, this time. It was as though, now that Jared had been told the truth about himself, he finally believed in himself. I could feel his confidence course through me along with his power, and it was a rather heady mix. He was so much stronger than he had been the first time, and the contrast between what I drew from him and what I drew from Melissa was stark.

  I was just getting used to my newfound potency (and grappling somewhat with my sudden attraction to everyone’s neck), when my dad tapped me on my back. ‘Dylan’s just come through on my earpiece,’ he said. ‘Vlad’s Boys are in the forest. They’ll be here in under a minute.’

  I took a shaky breath, looked up at the big, full moon and said, ‘Okay then. Keep the throat lozenges at the ready, will you? I think I’ll need them when I’m done.’

  ≈

  Bravado was all well and good, but no amount of it could disguise the shivering of my limbs. I’d like to think it was all down to the vampire power running through my body but, let’s be honest, some of it was because I was scared to bejaysus that this would be the day that my friends and family died.

  Just like Dylan had told my dad, Vlad’s Boys were most definitely on their way. I could hear movement in the trees, hear twigs breaking on the forest floor. It sounded like a herd of monsters was approaching. Considering these were vampires and witches hell-bent on murdering every single one of the sióga, I guess monsters were exactly
what were coming our way.

  Before they got there, though, something even more terrifying arrived. There was a large concentration of magic beginning to swirl and coalesce, just a few feet in front of us. As it grew stronger, I could see that the magic was forming into a dome, with thick little disc-shaped cells of magic, stacking themselves swiftly, one over the other.

  This was their boundary, just like they’d used at the Fisherman’s Friend during Nollaig’s and Ron’s wedding. At the time, I’d had no idea what the magic was. But then again, a staff created by channelling the murder-spree of Ronaldo the Righteous wouldn’t be many people’s first guess, would it?

  There was a wizard right in the centre of it all, someone I vaguely recognised from Riddler’s Cove. His name was Rob, or Rod, or maybe … Bob? All I knew for sure was that there wasn’t much to know about him. And if tonight didn’t go our way, I doubted Vlad’s Boys would be holding a memorial in his honour.

  In his hands he clutched the Staff of Wrath, and it looked nothing like the wizened old bit of wood Cassandra had first shown to me. It looked more like the second image she’d implanted in my mind – a tower of blood-red flame, filled with the terrified screams of Ronaldo’s many victims. Despite the flames, however, this staff gave off no heat. If anything, I began to shiver.

  ‘You’re cold because this magic is made up of death,’ said Jared. ‘I remember feeling cold at the wedding of doom, but it feels even worse now that the staff is so close to us.’ He stopped talking, his palm tightening in mine as the screams in the flames grew louder still.

  It was disturbing, but I forced my ears to block out the sound while I concentrated on breaking the magic. I could see the wizard’s own power as he struggled to channel the staff – a rather weak shade of gold – and I doubted he could last much longer.

  He was an unwilling pawn in all of this, just like the other wizards who had been forced to wield that staff. I wanted to break the magic before it broke him forever.

  I’d had some honey and lemon in hot water before coming here, and sucked down at least three packs of lozenges, but nothing could soothe the rough edges from my terrible voice as I sang at the magic. I was a few seconds into my dreadful ditty when more people appeared in the protective dome.

  Roger was first, with Jack Burns following behind. Next came Bella, Ron and Darina. Alvis was with Bella, but the second he appeared, the owl began to circle in the air above us all. After that … after that my stomach leapt, because Greg materialized, his hand in Pru’s, his eyes cool and cruel as he regarded us all.

  I could see now how the magic was directed to them all. It shot out of the staff and into each of them, filling them to the brim with a constant stream of power.

  They attacked us instantly, Bella and Darina pointing their wands at Melissa and shouting, ‘Marbh!’ while Roger hurled a sharpened stake through the air, aiming it at Jared’s heart.

  The stake stopped an inch from Jared’s chest, dropping to the ground, while the death spells bounced off Melissa and fizzled away.

  I wanted to jump up and down – possibly even giggle with glee – but now wasn’t the time to celebrate the success of the Invisible Thread. This battle was only beginning, and with so much sacrificial magic protecting Vlad’s Boys, there wasn’t anything we could do to strike back. Our only hope was for me to keep right on singing.

  For a moment they didn’t say anything to us. Darina and Bella were far too busy hissing at Ron. I picked up the odd word or two – it seemed like they were accusing him of being a snitch. I really didn’t care how long they argued about it, because it was giving me all the time in the world to work on the staff.

  ‘We’ve got company,’ Jared said, his eyes going to the trees. ‘Well … more company. Their minions are here. Actually, did I say minions? I meant to say army.’

  I kept on singing, my voice faltering slightly as I saw them all. It really was an army, and it was a much larger one than ours.

  The monsters I’d heard thundering through the forest had finally arrived in the clearing. There were a hundred or so witches, but most of them were vampires. Some of them were lurking in the trees in bat form, others were moving as vapour all around. Even though I could only see a couple of hundred bats, the creaking of the tree limbs made me sure there were far, far more.

  On the ground there were at least two thousand more vampires in their human forms, all racing around us, forming an inescapable circle before we could even blink.

  ‘The staff must be giving them extra power,’ Jared whispered. ‘Because these vamps are moving almost as fast as me.’

  He was right about the staff. I could see its red magic everywhere now, shooting out of the dome and towards the army. But … that was interesting. Although they were being lent some magic by the dome, they weren’t being surrounded by any protective spells. I wondered if they knew that.

  I couldn’t afford to stop singing, so I looked at my dad and winked. He nodded instantly, knowing exactly what I meant: it was my mother’s turn to play her part. My dad touched the tree and whispered. I watched its leaves rustle again, and I could have sworn I saw a determined grin begin to form in the pattern of the bark.

  Finally, it was time to even the odds. I opened my mouth wider, singing louder and louder than ever, drawing every bit of energy I could from Jared and Melissa as I concentrated on the staff. I could see the wizard weakening, his body drooping slightly as he desperately tried to channel more power from the staff. As he sagged, the magic protecting everyone in the dome began to sag along with him, the little disc-shaped cells pulling too tight together, just as they had at Cassandra’s house. And the tighter those cells clustered, the quicker they shattered apart.

  My grandmother and the rest of her people were doing their part, too. Their magic came out of them as a low, tuneful hum as they stared down the witches in the clearing, destroying the many spells they tried to send our way. Those witches were easy pickings for my granny and her crew, though, because just like the vamps outside of the dome, they didn’t have any boundary spells protecting them.

  I couldn’t let up with my own warbling, not for a minute, because the wizard certainly wouldn’t, even though he looked like he was at death’s door. The magic of that staff was weakening, it was true. But it needed to be broken completely, and I had to focus on that, not on whether my mother was able to carry out the most important part of our plan.

  All the same, my eyes couldn’t help but drift to the hawthorn tree, as it bristled and tensed, just before it sent a volley of its thorns out towards Vlad’s Boys.

  The tree’s thorns darted through the air, heading straight for the vampires in the crowd. One by one, they vampires began to drop from the trees, clutching their chests and groaning.

  And, as I weakened the dome some more with my voice, those same thorns began to penetrate its thinning border, zipping their way towards the hearts of the vampires inside. I felt a strange pang at that. Pru would be hit with one of those thorns, along with Greg. But she’d understand. She’d always preferred wine over blood, anyway.

  24. You Can’t Get the Staff These Days

  As Roger and Jack clutched their chests, Roger screamed out, ‘What’s going on? Why does my whole body feel like it’s being flooded with crud?’

  ‘It’s not crud, Roger,’ Grace said with a smile. ‘It’s the sweet, sweet taste of sióga blood coursing through your system.’

  He glared at her. ‘My name is Konstantin!’ he bellowed. ‘Konstantin!’

  ‘Looks like it’s going to be Boring Old Human fairly soon,’ Grace quipped, tossing her golden curls.

  Behind me, the hawthorn tree was beginning to shine with bright white light and, as it lurched and creaked, my mother reappeared on the ground next to it.

  ‘What in Hecate’s name is going on?’ Darina cried. ‘Why are all of our vampires running for the trees?’

  They weren’t so much running as they were hobbling. It wasn’t taking the vampires long to realis
e that they weren’t vampires anymore. They couldn’t shift into bats, they couldn’t move quickly, and they definitely couldn’t vaporize. One by one, they were struggling to their feet and limping and staggering as far from the battle as they could.

  As my dad helped my mother up, she looked at Darina with a cold smile and said, ‘You’ll have to count on doing this without your vampire friends, Darina.’

  I was beginning to wonder if they might soon be without most of their witches, too. Some had already scarpered along with the vampires, and the others were looking like they were soon to follow.

  The Queen stared at Bella and Darina, her arms crossed at her chest. ‘Do you know why this tree is so powerful, ladies? It’s because the blood of my people is in its soil, in its roots.’ She clutched my shoulder. ‘And my rather clever granddaughter thought that if we could draw that blood into its thorns and somehow get it into your minions, we might just stand a chance.’

  She smiled at my mother. ‘And genius runs in the family, it seems, because her mother – my daughter-in-law – is an inanimage so talented that she can become part of any object, living or inanimate, of her choosing. It was Abby who convinced the tree to draw the sióga blood into its thorns and send them your way. Quite the pair, aren’t they?’

  I resisted the urge to send an ‘Aw shucks,’ my grandmother’s way. Apart from the fact that I wasn’t a glory hog, I didn’t want to stop singing. Not just yet. Bella and Darina might not have their vampire friends by their side anymore, but the staff wasn’t destroyed, only weakened. And as long as it existed, I doubted they were going to give up.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Darina. ‘We still have the staff, and we have plenty of witches on our side. We’ll get into your world.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ The Queen shrugged her shoulders. ‘Your witch buddies aren’t looking too enthusiastic right now. And as for the Staff of Wrath, well I can see magic. And this magic is looking extremely weak.’