Hellfire

by Lisa Manifold

  “There’s never full disclosure with Deana,” Dee said. “She’s so stubborn, so determined to do it on her own, not asking for help—”

  We all started to laugh, and after a moment, even Dee joined in.

  “Yes, I can see where she gets it,” Dee said. “But can you really help her?”

  “I think the idea of vampire spray is awesome. We seriously could make a mint,” Daniella said.

  I nodded. “I wasn’t kidding. We’d just have to be super low key. And we could never let anyone know we made it for Deana.”

  “Then can we get started?” Dee asked. “The sooner we get this to her, the better I’ll feel.”

  “Liar,” DeAnna said, but she patted Dee’s back affectionately. Dee leaned her head onto her mother’s shoulder.

  Moments like these made me miss Meema so badly it was a physical pain.

  I inhaled deeply. “All right. Let’s get started. I have to go into Deadwood Gulch tomorrow, so I’d like to get a start on this.” I went toward the basement stairs.

  “Hold up a moment,” Doc said. “You want to tell us what happened tonight?”

  I stopped, turning slowly. “With what?” I remembered that I hadn’t told them about the zombie. OK—

  “With what?” Doc had his hands on his hips as he looked between my sisters. “With what, she asks. With Zane, the handsome necromancer from down the street?”

  Heat raced up my neck and into my face. Damn it all to hell. Just what I didn’t want to talk about. How the hell did they know anything had happened?

  But no one spoke, obviously waiting on me to say something.

  “Well?” DeAnna asked.

  “We’re having dinner tomorrow night,” I said.

  Everyone in the room whooped. Like, cowboy, rodeo style whooping.

  My face got warmer.

  Deirdre hugged me. “I’m so glad. It’s about damn time!”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I glared at her.

  “You’ve liked him since he walked in the door. I think he’s liked you, too. We’ve all been wondering when one of you would finally get it together and do something about it. You have to be the slowest couple to happen on the planet.”

  “Really? Everyone?” I found that I was whispering, something I didn’t care for.

  Daniella came to stand next to us. “Yes, everyone. But you’re so damn stubborn, and scare off people. I wasn’t sure he’d get past all the Des defenses.”

  I started to laugh. “Is there a pool?”

  For a moment, neither of my sisters said anything, then Daniella nodded.

  “Who won?”

  “I did!” Dee came over, laughing. “I said the shared zombie adventures would be the thing that did it.”

  “What? Why would you think that?” I asked. I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t.

  “Because you’re a Nightingale. And we like men for impractical reasons. Most of whom don’t stay around. But I think Zane is different.”

  “How?” I threw up my hands. “I’m a Desdemona, remember? Either I die, or the one I love dies.”

  “We don’t know that,” Dee said.

  “We know that something happens,” I shot back. As I said it, I realized that this was part of the problem for me, in addition to my normal reticence to romance.

  “We didn’t know that until now,” Deirdre said. “And this time, this could be with someone you don’t have to hide from.”

  “Well, that’s true,” I said. “But I think you’re getting ahead of yourselves.” I wanted to put this discussion to bed. “It’s just dinner.”

  Dee laughed. “Yes, honey, that’s what we all say.” She patted my shoulder and walked away.

  I watched her, wondering why she made me feel like the younger of the two of us.

  “It’s not a bad thing, Des,” Deirdre said. “All I’m saying is you should give him a chance.”

  “He’s a good guy,” Daniella said.

  “I know that!” I snapped. “There’s more to it than just being a nice guy!”

  “There always is,” Doc drifted over.

  “You’re not going to offer advice,” I said, giving Doc the stink eye.

  “I may not have been lucky myself, but that wasn’t because I didn’t recognize good women,” Doc said.

  “Just not enough to stay with them,” Deirdre rolled her eyes.

  As Doc opened up his mouth to retort, Deirdre held up her hands. “Peace, peace! I’m not trying to fight—”

  “You sure she’s a Nightingale?” Daniella said to me quietly.

  “I heard that. Yes, I’m sure. I’m maturing,” Deirdre said. “Too bad I’m the only one.”

  All three of us glared until Deirdre stuck out her tongue, and we all burst into more laughter. That was one of the best things about my family. We fought hard, held our positions, and didn’t give up. But we were always ready to let things go to laughter.

  You couldn’t make it for a long life without it. We’d have killed one another years ago otherwise.

  “Can we drop the subject of my barely there love life? If I promise to give you a postdate recap?” I asked the room at large. “And no harassing Zane, either!”

  “Where is the fun in that?” Doc asked. He smiled. “Of course, Desdemona. We will be discreet.”

  The entire room started laughing, even me. “Since that’s our strong point,” I said, rolling my eyes. I was relieved that no one had any real objection, even if I wouldn’t admit that to anyone else.

  “All right, now that we’ve had our fun, let’s get down to business. What’s up with the zombies?” DeAnna asked.

  “Has anyone gotten the note from that zombie that’s been there a while?” I asked, thinking about the four we still had at the shop.

  Daniella glared at me. “You couldn’t just get the damn thing?”

  So much for the peace and love.

  I shook my head. “Every time I’ve tried, he’s been snappy. Like it’s the only time all day he gets lively now.”

  “Do you think it’s important?” Dee asked.

  Granny drifted in, looking a little lost. “Sorry, girls, I got caught upstairs.”

  “Granny, you need to get better at ghost,” Daniella said. “Doc, can’t you help her?”

  Doc shook his head. “I have offered advice, Daniella. It’s an individual thing for each spirit. We are not all the same.”

  Granny shrugged. “I’ll get used to it. What did I miss?”

  “I have a date, Dee won the betting pool, there’s a note on one of the zombies that yes,” I said to Dee, “I think might be important, but I don’t know. And Zane and I—” I stopped to let the comments happen. They needed to get it out of their systems. “Zane and I let a zombie go and it went straight to Deadwood Gulch.”

  That stopped all the teasing.

  “Shit, you were right,” said Dee.

  “You won the pool? Dang it,” said Granny in an undertone to Dee. “I was way off. Good job, girlie,” Granny nodded.

  I ignored Granny. My love life, or whatever there was to it, was five minutes ago as far as discussion went. “Yes. I wanted to go in tonight, but Zane was concerned we’d be headed into the gulch as it was getting dark.”

  “That’s sweet,” DeAnna said, her face deadpan.

  “Nope, nope, nope!” I said as I saw the others react to her words. “We’re not going there. This is about us, and our job. We protect Deadwood. And that’s what we’re going to do. Tomorrow, we’re going in to see who the hell it is thinks it’s all right to come into our house and send zombies out willy nilly.” I found that I was angry, and it had nothing to do with all the teasing. Whoever it was that was here had a shit ton of nerve.

  My words stopped the laughter. Thank Goddess.

  “You’re right,” Deirdre said. “So you saw the zombie go to the gulch? Like you thought,” she added, giving me the credit of my earlier observations.

  I appreciated it for what it was and nodded. “I remembered
that zombie with the note was actually hesitating about following the chicken. It kept looking toward the gulch. Zane and I let this one today go down the CanAm, and it went straight to the gulch. Like it was going home.” I left it be that I’d been trying to tell them this before my date became the topic of conversation.

  Despite my embarrassment at being the subject of such conversation, I got it. Once we were told that not only were we witches, but that once we reached our twenties, we really weren’t going to age—the whole romance gig became a thing of worry.

  And no one wanted to bring any more kids into this. In that sense, I got what Deana had left, and stayed gone. Even if it was due to Granny that she left—if I left, and had a chance to be someone else, to have a child—would I?

  I didn’t want the choice. I loved my life. But it did mean that chances for love were limited, even without Mariah Connors and whatever the hell her curse was hanging over me and any other Desdemona.

  “All right, what do we need?” Daniella said.

  “I don’t think we all need to go in there,” I said. “I’ll go and check it out. I’ll be discreet,” I added, seeing Deirdre roll her eyes. “Just looking. No magic, no anything. I want to get an idea of what we’re up against. Because frankly, I’m tired of surprises.”

  “That’s true,” DeAnna said. “This is your—well, our, town,” she stumbled a little, “And the rest of the magic world should respect that.”

  “It’s not like there’s not places without the Nightingales,” Dee said.

  My heart swelled. This, from DeAnna, the most reluctant of our family, warmed me in a way I hadn’t expected. “Well, let’s eat, and then go see about some anti-vampire spray.”

  Dee looked worried. “I should be concerned about my kid, and here I am all happy that I won the pool.”

  I hugged her. “Don’t beat yourself up. We all have to laugh, or we’d go insane and knife each other. Deana would be laughing with you.” That made her smile.

  And we all split up to get a meal together.

  Thankfully, my date was no longer the topic of discussion as we debated what might work to help Deana neutralize a vampire. The argument continued into the basement and our mixing table.

  It was the best night I’d had in ages. Zane had some competition for tomorrow. I was smiling when I went to bed.

  Chapter Seven

  The next morning, I got up and the feeling of teamwork was still strong here on Pearl Street. We got breakfast together, fed Beeval, which was a job within itself, and Daniella and Dee decided they’d work on the anti-vampire spray. DeAnna and Deirdre were heading to the shop, and that left me on zombie hide-n-seek.

  Which suited me fine. Although it meant that our search for Mariah Connors and her family line was postponed again. Part of me felt like it was no big deal. The other part of me felt like I had to find out something, get some kind of resolution because I had a date.

  The thought struck me that I’d clawed my way out of Hell to find myself in a different sort of Hell. It wasn’t just me, either. It was Deirdre and Daniella, and now Dee and DeAnna. Even Deana, who was sort of safely away.

  If I died, if DeAnna was slated to die, or if those we loved were cursed to die—we’d be living in Hell on Earth.

  Clever. My mind whirled with all the possibilities.

  Eventually, I did what I did best. I put the worry about the curse to the side. I focused on finding out where the zombies were going. And I’d worry about what to wear around five tonight.

  Mariah Connors and my potential return to Hell would need to wait.

  “Done,” I muttered. I looked over to see Beeval happily eating two pieces of chicken with bacon between them. “Beeval, be careful today.”

  He always ate our bait chicken, but hadn’t seemed to have made the connection to Evil. I left it alone.

  His big eyes turned to me. “Trouble? Demons?”

  “No, zombies.”

  Beeval’s nose wrinkled. “Smell. Waste of person.”

  “I could not agree more,” I said. “But be careful. There’s someone who is sending zombies out all over the place, and we don’t know who he is.”

  “Grave robber,” Beeval commented. “Scared men.”

  It amazed me how Beeval got to the heart of the matter. “You’re right,” I said. “And a scared man would be really happy to find you.”

  Beeval’s eyes narrowed. “No one come here. I stop. Keep Evil safe.” One hand reached up and patted Evil, who was sleeping on his head between his ears. While he ate chicken.

  But then, we ate chicken as well. So maybe I was worrying over this too much.

  “Thank you,” I said, kneeling down to hug him. I got a one-armed hug in return, and I was careful to avoid bumping the chicken and bacon sandwich. “Tell Doc or Granny if someone comes snooping around.”

  “I blast,” Beeval said. His eyes were hard.

  Beeval was the cutest demon I’d ever met, but he went from cute to bad ass faster than you could speak the words. And I loved that. “Well, try not to kill him. Be low key.”

  Beeval looked up at me. “You want me to hold? Keep in place?”

  I nodded. “If you can keep them out of the public eye.”

  Now it was Beeval’s turn to nod. “I don’t kill. Hold. Let you talk. Then kill.”

  “Perfect,” I said. I hugged him again. “Be careful, OK?”

  “I careful. I protect.”

  “I know you will.” I stood up.

  He patted my leg and went back to his sandwich. I watched him drift to the window, Evil still sleeping on his head. Inviting him here was one of the best things I’d ever done. I felt better, keeping him in the loop. He’d showed us that when we’d fought Ashlar. He was one of us.

  Everyone went to get going on their tasks, and I drove to the shop with DeAnna and Deirdre. They’d agreed to man the shop, and I wanted to check on our basement houseguests.

  I went directly to the basement. Note zombie was slumped against the bars, looking like whatever it was that kept him going had gotten up and left. I got chicken from the fridge, and tossed it into the cage. Three of them went for it.

  Note zombie didn’t move. This was so strange. I’d never seen a zombie just fall out like this. Although to be fair, we’d never kept them around this long. Normally, it was off with their head, and into a grave and an end to their suffering when they should be at peace. So maybe there wasn’t anything nefarious about his losing steam.

  I walked carefully around the cage. The other three zombies paid no attention to me, and I saw that the note was close to the bar.

  I knelt down and moved slowly. My hand went in-between two bars. I got the piece of paper with my thumb and index finger and gently tugged.

  It was pinned. Damn it all. It was pinned. I leaned down, twisting my head to see what kind of pin.

  “A fucking straight pin,” I whispered. “Are you kidding me?” Letting go of the note, I reached for the pin. When my fingers touched the metal of the pin, I got a zing that indicated magic. “Gotcha,” I said, feeling victorious. Whatever this was, it had been put here deliberately. Ignoring the increasing pain from the pin, I slid it out. The note stayed in place, which was totally gross to think about.

  Letting the pin fall, I gently tugged at the note. The zombie didn’t move, and I wondered if the magic I’d felt in the pin had kept him all snappy about this.

  The note pulled away from his suit coat, and I finally got a look at it. The ink was written in a black marker which had faded, but was still legible. The paper itself was spelled. I could feel it through my fingers. Carefully, I picked up the pin, and holding the note with only two fingers, I went up to share my discovery.

  DeAnna and Deirdre were at the counter.

  “I got the note,” I said.

  “What note?” Deirdre asked. “Oh, the zombie note! Is there anything to it?”

  I explained the magic I’d felt in the pin and paper.

  “What does it say?” DeAnn
a asked. “The magic thing is weird.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. It’s just a series of numbers. And the magic means this is all deliberate, all planned.” I showed them the note. The three of us looked at it, sitting on the counter. The numbers made no sense.

  44 103

  361 734

  282 160

  “That’s not a spell, not that I know of,” Deirdre frowned at the ragged piece of paper.

  “We don’t know that. People use all sorts of things for spell work,” I objected.

  “Thanks for the encouragement,” Deirdre made a face. “Just what we need. An individualist.”

  “Well, who is most known for that?” DeAnna asked.

  “Necromancers,” I said.

  “Mages,” Deirdre said at the same time.

  “Magic users who prefer to work alone,” I said. “Witches tend to work together. We know the strength of working with many for one purpose. Mages and necromancers don’t think that way.”

  Thinking about necromancers made me think of Zane, who hurried out of the car last night. Who was thinking about something other than our date last night—which was fine. We all had things to do. But it was more focused, like something had happened. Something that was pulling at his attention. I didn’t want to think about what that could be. You know, just as we had a plague of zombies around the place. A thread of worry ran through me, and I just couldn’t put it aside.

  Zane wasn’t telling me something he knew.

  And that was a bad thing. I sighed. Was I trying to torpedo our date before it happened? I could see that. I would ask him. And see what he said. And do my best not to assume the worst.

  Even as assuming the worst had kept me and my sisters alive for a long time. I sighed.

  “I know,” DeAnna said. “It’s never ending, this protecting Deadwood business.”

  “This is busier than usual,” Deirdre said.

  “It is. You want to take a crack at this?” I asked Deirdre, gesturing at the note. “I want to get over to the gulch before tons of hikers are all over the place.”

  She nodded. “Abso-fuckin-lutely.”