by Eric Asher
Sam didn’t understand what was happening until the shadow pounced. Long legs propelled the thing 20 feet in the blink of an eye, and another dark-touched vanished into the gaping jaws of the nigh behind.
The dark-touched vampires tried to attack it, but it bent around them, like oil and water. It moved as if it had no bones, but when it leapt, the dark-touched died. Capes and armor and claws disappeared into the nigh behind, and when its belly grew too full and swollen, it vomited up the remnants, leaving steaming piles of carnage.
The nigh behind twitched its ears and flung itself into the woods like a rocket. The trees shook with the impact, and it reappeared moments later, pitching its head back to swallow yet another dark-touched vampire.
Vik took a step closer, right beside Luna and the dark-touched vampire she had decapitated. “Fuck.”
Sam shared the sentiment. Ten dark-touched vampires—a veritable army of the damn things, enough that they all could have died that day—had been swept away by the lanky form of the nigh behind.
When the last disappeared behind those shadowy teeth, the nigh behind’s ears twitched, and it tilted its head as it studied Sam and the vampires. Apparently satisfied they weren’t dark-touched themselves, the nigh behind retreated into the woods, and Sam suspected it was returning to its lair.
“What in the hell just happened?” Vicky asked. “It ate all of them.”
Dominic crossed his arms and looked back to the SUV. “I think you summed it up quite nicely.” He took a step closer to the wreck. “That’s not going to help us get out of here.”
“That was not in the budget,” Vik muttered as he looked over the SUV.
Dominic shrugged. “We’ve had worse.” He walked over to the exposed undercarriage and pulled, gently rocking the wreck back onto its wheels. “If the spare tire’s okay, we might be able to get it home.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “It’s missing a windshield.”
“And a door,” Luna said.
Vicky frowned at the SUV. “And the rest of the windows.”
Dominic yanked on the rear hatch, which immediately got stuck. “Where’s your sense of adventure?” He grunted, flexed, and the metal screeched open.
“Dom,” Sam said. “No. Just, no.”
He poked at the spare tire and sighed. “It’s flat, anyway.”
Luna snorted. “The entire car is flat.”
Vik started typing something on his phone. “We’ll have a ride soon enough. You have been trying to get me to use a share ride for months, and I’d say this is a good time.”
“Ride share.” Sam arched an eyebrow. “Wait, what?”
Vik turned his phone around to show her a map with a blinking dot and a car headed toward them. “It should be no more than ten minutes before they arrive.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Vik scowled at the phone. “Why does he keep driving around in circles? Is it not clear from the instructions exactly where we are?”
Sam stifled a laugh when Vik’s phone rang. She could just make out the other side of the conversation.
“Where are you, dudes?” came a raspy metallic voice.
Vik raised his eyebrows. “We are inside the park, as the map shows.”
“I can’t afford tickets to the park, my dude. You’ll have to walk out here.”
“It is … complimentary.”
“I appreciate a good compliment, but I need to shop for groceries later.”
Vik slapped himself in the face and dragged his hand down his cheek. “It is free to enter the park.”
“No, it’s not,” Sam said. “It’s like twenty bucks. We just drove around the gate.”
Vik grimaced. “Well, that was rude of us. Make a note to donate to the park service later. Sir, I’ll reimburse you double the park admission. Just come retrieve us.”
“On my way! Beats getting stiffed on pizza deliveries.”
Vik looked down at his phone as he hung up. “This is going to be a long ride.”
Vicky crawled back into the wreckage of the SUV and came out with two backpacks. She hefted one and handed it to Sam, and threw the other over her shoulder. Vicky handed a reusable grocery bag to Sam.
When she glanced into the bag, she found the other books and artifacts Vicky had pulled out of Vassili’s lair. Her most important find she kept stashed safely away, tucked into that weird pocket in her jeans Damian always swore was for a pocket watch.
Heavy bass boomed around them, and Sam choked back a laugh when she saw the blacked-out windows of the panel van pull around the corner, a little disco ball spinning from the rearview mirror. It’d be enough to blind somebody, and she figured it was only a matter of time before the driver got a nice ticket for that one.
The van slowed as it reached the parking lot, the window rolling down to reveal a young man behind the wheel. “Hey, dudes.” The driver brushed long hair out of his eyes and frowned at the SUV wreckage. “Was there a Civil War reenactment today?”
Sam stared at the kid and slowly turned to Vik.
Vik looked back at his phone and frowned. “This says your van is blue.”
“Funny story about that. I was super stoned when I filled out my profile. I’m Matthew. It got that part right, right? You can call me Matthew.” He gave a stuttering giggle, and Luna covered her mouth as she snorted a laugh. “Where to?” The driver glanced down as his app refreshed. “Boonville? Whoa, four hours is a long drive. No can do, bro.”
“I will pay you five hundred dollars in cash,” Vik said.
Matthew acted like he was raising sunglasses he wasn’t actually wearing. “Can do, comrades. Hop in!”
“After you,” the vampire lord said, turning to Sam.
Apparently, it was about then the driver realized how many riders he was about to take on. “Whoa, you have a lot of people. What kind of dog is that? Oh man, I took the back seat out to haul some, uh, some stuff. You know what I mean?” He raised an eyebrow. “Little back-door operation in Columbia.”
“This is a joke, right?” Dominic muttered. “We’re not actually getting in this thing?”
“Undead in the cargo hold,” Vicky said. “You don’t need seatbelts.”
Vik arched an eyebrow. “If I am paying for this transport, I am not sitting on the floor.”
“You can sit up front with me,” Matthew said. “I did just have fresh shag carpet put in the back, though. It shouldn’t be too bad.”
Sam froze as she started to follow Dominic into the back of the van. It wasn’t just the floors covered in shag carpeting. The plush bluish gray monstrosity crept over every square inch of the walls and ceiling, as if the driver had skinned some great beast and mounted it inside his van like a trophy.
“My God.” Sam shuffled past the two chairs of the second row, and the one in the third, and settled in against the wall beside Dominic. Cizin took the seat in front of them, while Vicky and Luna took the seats in the second row.
Vik cast a mournful glance back to Sam before he opened the front door, brushed off the seat, and took his place by the driver. Jasper chittered from Vicky’s lap before she hushed him, a huge grin plastered on her face.
“Right then. Hold on, dudes. I’ll get you to Booneville in no time.”
“Preferably alive,” Vik said.
“For sure!” Matthew spun the wheel, then bounced across the median as he headed back onto the one-way road. “We’ll get there in much better shape than that wreck from the reenactment.”
Vicky and Luna exchanged a glance.
“Did you see a lot of SUVs in the Civil War, Vik?” Vicky asked. “They were kind of like the world’s first tanks, right?”
Vik muttered something unintelligible from the front seat and Sam could see the flesh on his forehead crinkling where he was squeezing it too tight.
She exchanged a smile with Dominic, and held onto the shag carpet as the driver made a violent turn that should have told her how well their drive was going to go.
* * *
Dominic grumbled something after their driver’s latest violent lane change. His arm shot out and grabbed the back of Cizin’s seat so he didn’t roll over onto Sam. “I’ve been on smoother rides at theme parks.”
“When did you go to a theme park?” Sam leaned over and narrowed her eyes at Dominic. “Did you go to Six Flags without me?”
Dominic sat up a little straighter. “It was before we knew you. Mary dragged us all out there one weekend. The whole Pit, and the dead middle of summer. The old vampires were miserable enough just being in the sun. I was just miserable finding out my motion sickness hadn’t gone away after becoming a vampire.”
Sam chuckled, sliding the coin out of her pocket to study it once more. “If we live through this, we’re going to celebrate at Six Flags.”
“You can,” Vik said from the front seat. “You can find me at home with a great deal of alcohol.”
Sam looked up from the coin. “Did Vik go with you?” She didn’t hide the edge of awe in her voice. “Did you get Vik on a roller coaster?”
“Mary did. She wasn’t always as irritating as she became after falling in with Vassili.”
“What you mean by falling in?” Sam grimaced. “Don’t tell me Vassili dated Mary.”
Dominic didn’t respond.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Because I prefer not to lie to you.”
“Ugh, gross.” She flipped the coin and ran her thumb over the smooth surface, feeling the perfectly struck bumps and ridges. A smile etched its way across her face. “Although, now I can tell Damian he dated the same vampire as Vassili.”
Vicky barked out a laugh. “Okay, that’s gross and hilarious.”
“Yeah.” Sam’s thoughts trailed off. First, they had to pull Damian back from the Abyss. Had to grant him Gaia’s powers, and hope it would be enough to sever him from the mantle, or from whatever corruption Nudd had triggered.
The tires squealed, and Matthew looked up in the rearview mirror. “Dudes, I’m starting to think you aren’t Civil War reenactors.”
“What gave you that idea?” Luna asked.
“Well, I don’t think you’re wearing a mask, for one. And that dog in your friend’s lap, it’s looking at me funny.”
Sam leaned forward and snorted when she saw Jasper’s face. The dragon had stretched out and reshaped his snout to look something like one of the cu siths’. But Jasper had failed rather spectacularly. Instead of resembling a dog, it looked like the dragon’s face had been run over by a semi.
Through the front window, she saw the sign for Booneville. “Next exit.”
Matthew nodded and turned his attention back to the road. He took the exit ramp at an unsurprisingly death-defying speed. Sam slid the cale back into her pocket just before she crashed into Dominic for what felt like the hundredth time that trip.
“Almost there, bro.”
Vik started counting out a roll of cash he pulled from his pocket. Sam was fairly sure he’d gone well over the promised five hundred dollars.
“There is extra here, for your silence. Tell no one where you’ve taken us.”
Matthew gave a knowing nod. “You’re on the run from the fuzz, aren’t you?”
“Do people still say fuzz?” Luna asked.
“Jasper, no,” Vicky hissed. But by the time she reached for the dragon, Jasper had already changed form and rolled up onto their driver’s shoulder.
Sam’s eyes widened as brilliant silver teeth appeared in Jasper’s mouth. A long wet tongue reached out and slobbered across the side of the driver’s face. At first he looked mortified, but then, much to Sam’s shock, he laughed.
“Bro, that’s not a dog.”
“He doesn’t usually like people that much.” Vicky frowned at the furball.
“Animals like me. Well, it’s usually just lizards and stuff. Sometimes cats? And, oh man, there’s this raccoon by my house. Loves pizza.”
Vicky nodded. “I guess that makes sense why the dragon likes you.”
Matthew sat up straight like he’d been slapped. “Dragon? You were serious about that vampire talk, weren’t you? You’re them.” He waggled his fingers in the air. “You’re like, magic people.”
Vik cradled his forehead in his hands.
“If you ever come to Saint Louis,” Sam said, “please do come by our Pit. I am certain Vik would be interested in hiring you as one of our drivers.”
Vik almost growled. “Samantha.”
The van erupted in laughter as the driver pulled onto the road that would take them to Rivercene.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sam could see Zola on the front porch, rocking gently as she spoke to someone. It took a moment before Sam realized the tree at the edge of the porch was Whip, hunched down until she looked like a tall shrub.
Whip tilted her head to the side, a perfect mimic of Zola, when the van pulled into the driveway. Zola’s mouth opened a bit and then snapped closed when Vik hopped out of the front seat.
“Thanks for the tip, bro! Sorry about the seats.”
Vik closed the door and turned away from the van, his shoulders sagging a hair as the others piled out behind him.
Zola raised an eyebrow, but she only got a scowl in return from Vik.
“Come on, Jasper,” Vicky said.
The furball clucked from the driver’s shoulder, enjoying one last scratch before racing over to Vicky.
Sam watched the van pull away, shaking her head as the engine roared and the tires sent a small spray of gravel across the paving stones.
“Oh, Ah think this is going to be a good story.” Zola stood and headed Sam off at the top of the stairs.
Sam held out the cale, but Zola didn’t take it. Instead, the old Cajun wrapped Sam up in a hug that she thought might break a rib.
“Well done, Sam. Well done.”
Sam tried to talk, but she choked on the words. There was too much going on, and the world felt overwhelming.
“Vassili is dead.” Dominic stepped up beside the two and patted Sam on the shoulder.
“Good riddance,” Zola said, pulling away from Sam and smiling. “The innkeeper is in the cellar. Take the coin to her. Let her know the time is almost here.”
Sam nodded. “I think I need a snack first.”
“Come on, then. All of you, into the kitchen.”
“I must report back to Camazotz,” Cizin said. “He will be satisfied with the death of Vassili, but we also must be prepared to protect the death bats. Are you coming with me, Luna?”
“No. I’m staying with my friends.”
Cizin ruffled the fur between her ears. “You’ve grown. Camazotz will be proud. Perhaps as proud as I am.”
Luna blinked at the man as he turned and walked away, heading back toward the road. Between one step and the next, Cizin blended into the shadows, until there was no trace of him in the light.
Sam followed Zola into the house and down the hall to the kitchen. The fire in the enormous hearth was out, the hardwood floors reaching the far back of it now that no flames filled the void.
Zola set a tray of brownies on the table as Sam and Vicky and Luna settled in. Dominic and Vik trailed behind, the enforcer leaning up against some of the cabinets while Vik dragged a chair over.
Sam was surprised when she grabbed one of the brownies and it was still warm. The chocolate stretched out a bit when she took a bite, dripping onto her chin and the paper plate below it.
She wiped the chocolate off when Vicky handed her a napkin. And that motion, like an old ritual with the brownie and the napkin and someone she thought of very much like a sister, threw her mind back to a memory. She remembered her mother baking on Christmas morning, while she and Damian snuck in to steal chocolate chip cookies and brownies and whatever other decadent treat their mom was making for that year.
The rich chocolate soured on Sam’s tongue. She set the last two bites down on her plate, food suddenly the last thing on her mind.
“Samantha?” Vik asked, pick
ing up a brownie of his own.
She shook her head. “I’m fine. I need to go talk to the innkeeper.”
Vik nodded. “Do as you must.”
Zola backhanded the vampire on the shoulder and Vik looked up at her in confusion. Sam would’ve laughed, but her thoughts were tied up with Damian and her parents and the thought they might never have another holiday together. They had lost so many years when Sam had become a vampire. But those were days that would never return.
Sam made her way outside through the back door, waving to Stump as she passed the green man at the edge of the field. A short turn took her to the entrance of the cellar. Sam took a deep breath and pulled the doors open.
A dim glow cast light that faded to black beneath the mansion. Sam wondered why there was a tarp on the ground before she realized it was Gaia’s body. Near the head, seated with her legs crossed and eyes closed, waited the innkeeper.
“Join me, girl. I can feel the power you carry.”
She stepped closer, studying the vines that rose from the earth and wrapped the still body in a protective embrace. “We have everything we need to save my brother.”
“Unless you have a great deal of luck in your pocket, that remains to be seen.”
Sam fished the cale out and held it up to the innkeeper.
She cracked one eye open and took a deep breath, holding her hand palm up.
Sam gently placed the coin in the innkeeper’s palm and sat down next to her.
“The world is not ready for a return to the age of Titans, Samantha. We risk a great many lives.”
“Do you have a better alternative?” Sam tried to temper the edge to her words. “Let my brother rot away in the Abyss?”
The innkeeper shook her head. “If that would protect the world, I would advise it.”
Sam’s heart sank at that.
“But to free him or kill him requires the same effort. He would be found one day in the Abyss, and Nudd would have the power he seeks once more. So our paths are joined, and perhaps our fates cannot be separated.”
“I can’t leave him there.”