by Cate Farren
Lovisa started to cry as she relived that hellish night all over again. The pain and the shock and the shame, for herself and for the rapist she’d murdered; the feeling of helplessness as Zelda cursed her and the depression and multiple attempted suicides afterwards. It all came back, and it hurt like Hell.
Lovisa shook her head. “You cursed me...”
“He’d been doing it for years and getting away with it because he’d use magic on them to wipe their memories.” Zelda continued to weep. Lovisa continued to try and not feel empathy for her. “My son...my son...”
“You...you cursed me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You cursed me!”
Lovisa stepped forward and put her arms around the witch. Zelda cried into her shoulder, all past animosity between them, for the moment at least, forgotten.
THE LION PINNED DARIN to the floor, swiping its giant, powerful claws at the stunned vampire's head. Sutton and Jared ran to his aid, punching the cat in the ribs again and again to force it to stop its attack. It roared at them and continued to try and bite Darin's throat.
"Get the fuck off him!" Sutton screamed.
Darin yelled out loud as he let loose his cadou, his personal vampire power. He brought his hands up and the lion was flung away from him like it weighed nothing. The big cat careened across the room and crashed straight through the wall into the gender neutral bathroom, roaring and screeching loudly in pain and humiliation.
"Why is after him?" Sutton demanded.
Darin stomped after the lion, ignoring them, intent on ending his attacker. When the vampire used his power, a cadou of immense strength, everything else fell by the wayside. He became vicious and cold. Jared had learned that the hard way the first time he'd met him when he tried to kill him and Clover.
Darin punched the lion in the back of the head and yanked on its mane. It roared and swept its claws around, trying to bat him away. When that didn’t work the cat slammed itself against the bathroom wall, knocking Darin away. It lunged at him, sinking its huge mouth over his right leg.
“Darin!” Sutton screamed.
The sheriff’s son grinned and grabbed the lion by the wide, prizing its jaw open with his bare hands. The big cat tried to clamp down but Darin was too powerful. A claw swiped at him, knocking him back. The lion pounced again. Darin slid under it and grabbed the beast by its tail
“Incoming!” Darin warned.
The lion flew out of the bathroom and landed by Jared's feet. He growled and grabbed it by its mane, swung it over his head, and slammed it so hard against the floor it changed back into the dazed Goth it had been before.
"What do we do with him?" Sutton asked, kicking the unconscious shapeshifter. "Or her. Or they. I’m not sure what gender shapeshifter is, if it’s any at all."
“They can be any gender they want,” said Jared.
Darin stepped out of the hole in the wall, stretching his neck. He took in the scene and was about to attack the shapeshifter again before Jared gave him a look. He backed off.
Jared kicked the shapeshifter as its eyes opened. “What do you want?”
The Goth opened its eyes and smirked. “I think it’s obvious. There's no need to torture me. Loki wants the son of the Prime Demon dead.”
"Why?" Sutton demanded.
"I don't ask my master why. I only obey."
The shapeshifter arched its back in pain and began dissolving into dust. Jared screamed, trying to stop it. He had simple telekinesis powers now. He was sure he could keep the creature from falling away into nothing. Discovering Loki’s plans was too important.
Sutton stepped back, staring at him as if he were a stranger. "What are you doing?"
He was doing it. The telekinesis was working! He was stopping the shapeshifter from killing itself! His brain was about to implode from the strain, but it was the only way.
What now?
"I've inherited all of Grandfather's abilities, albeit not in such powerful forms," Jared admitted. He ignored the brief hurt look that passed over Sutton’s face. He needed to concentrate. "I need to hold him together. He's connected to Loki. He might know Loki’s plans. He can be of use to us."
Sutton sulked. "Why didn't I inherit anything? It's not fair."
"Stop pouting! You’re the daughter of Dracula and you need to act like it!” He waited for Sutton to nod before he carried on. “You need to phone that witch friend of your fathers, the one who put the spell on you. We have to stop him from dissolving before it's too late. Can you do that?”
Sutton nodded and pulled out her cell phone. It exploded in her hands from a gunshot.
“Hey!” she complained. “That phone was made of gold.”
The bar staff of The Naked Bloodsucker were surrounding them. The rest of the patrons had already left, fleeing for their lives. Jared hoped at least one of them had the common sense to notify the local supernatural authorities. He knew there was one, hidden inside the local police force. Whitby was a big city, and it had one of the largest vampire populations outside of Romania. It needed a supernatural presence within the police.
“Dracula’s daughter’s favorite bar,” said one of the staff, a leggy blonde woman with breasts the size of melons. “We were waiting for you to turn up.”
The entire staff were shapeshifters.
LOVISA HANDED ZELDA a tissue. She wiped her puffy eyes. Black mascara trailed down the witch’s face like scars. She looked a mess, though her natural beauty and strength still shone through.
"Perhaps I was too involved in the local coven," Zelda mused, her tone wretched. "Or maybe he was just born bad. I wish I'd known what he was." She looked Lovisa in the eye and said, "I would have killed him myself."
Lovisa believed her. She didn't forgive her, but she believed her. The woman was repentant. But how could she make up for the years of misery she'd caused her? How could Zelda make up for the missed opportunities and the attempted suicides and the feelings of utter hopelessness?
Or had it been years of misery? If Zelda hadn't cursed me I never would've met Adrian.
A life without Adrian...
She shuddered. A life without Adrian was no life at all.
Was the curse actually a blessing in the end? What had exactly changed in her life for the worse? She lived in a small, beautiful town in Maine. She ran her own newspaper. She had Adrian, the love of her life, the most wonderful man she'd ever met. What did she have to complain about? She'd grown so used to dressing as a woman on days she was a man it didn't bother her half as much as it used to. She still hated to shave, but it was a small price to pay. Even her attempted suicides had forced her to re-examine her life in the aftermath. In the end she’d chosen life. The entire curse was a small price to pay for finding and loving Adrian.
"You can't blame yourself," said Lovisa. "This was all him."
"How can I not blame myself?" Zelda demanded. "The parents are always to blame."
She didn't know how to answer this. The truth was there was no answer. Nature or nurture? Both affected people in varied different ways.
Lovisa took a deep breath. She needed to say this for own sake, not for Zelda's. The past was the past and nothing could be done to change it now. She needed to concentrate on her future with Adrian.
"I forgive you," said Lovisa.
Zelda smiled. "I forgive you too."
"The truth is...the truth is the curse brought more wonderful things to my life than bad ones. It was hard at first, yes, but..."
She stopped, thinking about Adrian again. She really did love him with all her heart. She couldn't imagine a life without him. He was her life.
Zelda wiped her eyes again, trying to regain confidence. "All that is in the past now. My son is dead and I'm glad of it. I have a future with Dracula to look forward to." She clasped Lovisa's hands. "But right now I have to do one more thing."
Lovisa was about ask what when she felt a warm energy suffuse her body. She gasped and fell back as her body started to change.
Today she'd woken up a man, but she was turning back into a woman. Zelda had ended the curse.
THE FOUR NAKED, GOTH shapeshifters didn't move. The one that was holding a gun grinned and held it out, the barrel still pointing at Sutton. Jared knew he, Sutton and Darin could take them all on, but things could get out of hand. The shifters could turn into anything, from a fly to a rhino. The tide of battle could turn rapidly. A witch would be handy right about now.
We don't need a witch.
Darin growled, baring his teeth. He was raring to go, his cadou strength desperate to fight and break more bones. The female shapeshifter grinned and waved him.
"What do you want?" Jared demanded.
"To kill you," said the the blonde. "What else?"
Jared's hold on the disintegrating shapeshifter failed. It fell into a pile of dust on the floor. He sighed with regret, but it didn’t matter. He could never have held onto it while the enemy attacked. He wasn’t nearly as powerful as he could be, not yet.
"He had no need to kill himself," said Jared. He glared at the shapeshifters, biding his time. "We only want to talk."
"I want to kill you all," Darin growled.
"You don't have to kill us," Jared reasoned, putting a hand out to stop Darin from charging forward. They couldn't handle a full on confrontation right now. "You can let us go before this escalates. A war would be bad for all of us."
"The son of the Prime Demon has to die," said another shapeshifter. "The spawn of Dracula will wait, though we can kill you too."
The blonde stepped forward. "We newborns do as Loki commands."
It was no use. These creatures were bred purely to serve Loki. They would never listen to reason. Maybe if they were older, more experienced, he could talk properly to them, but these were newborns. Children rarely listened.
Newborns. He's sending out newborn shapeshifters already.
I have to tell Dracula this news.
"How many newborns have been sent out?" Jared asked. Darin looked like he was about to charge forward. He glared at him and Darin looked away, cowed. “How many?
He could practically feel Darin's anger boiling over. The vampire wanted violence. Jared’s newfound power to intimidate the young one would only go so far.
"Hundreds," said the blonde. "Or maybe dozens. I don't know."
"But you can feel them in your consciousness," said Jared. "I know you can. You're all connected."
The blonde looked worried. "You know too much about us. Why is that?"
"Tell me where Clover is."
They ignored him, and Jared chastised himself for asking for too much. They had to know where Clover was, but they'd never tell him, no matter what kind of torture they used. He had to end this now. They had to escape and warn Dracula. For all they knew Whitby was swarming with shapeshifter and nobody had any clue.
Jared used his telekinesis to fling the currently dissolving shapeshifter at them, creating a cloud of dust. They made a run for it as more gunshots rang out. When they trampled through the doorway back into the fish and chip shop they collided with the Greek owner, Tele.
"Close the door!" Jared shouted.
Tele looked at them in shock. "What happened?"
"Shapeshifter!" Sutton cried.
Tele nodded and performed a spell. The door vanished.
"Is there another way out of there?" Jared asked.
"There is," said Tele, simultaneously frying cod while talking to them. "It leads out to a Chinese buffet three streets away."
"Your people there are in danger."
Jared waited while Tele phoned his witch friends at the Chinese buffet. He was only talking for a minute before he dropped his phone in shock.
"They killed everyone," said Tele. "Mei Shu escaped, but..."
Jared didn't hear the rest. Tele's words were drowned out by the sound of people screaming and police car sirens.
Chapter 24
Jared stared hard at the trio of witches, waiting for them to speak. Since he'd been brought here all they'd done was read their books and give him disapproving looks. Every time he tried to open his mouth to speak one of them would clear her throat to shut him up. His patience was wearing thin.
Fed up of waiting, Jared asked, "How can you send me back?"
The witch triplets looked up at him with contempt. One of them, the blue haired one, smiled sweetly. He didn’t trust that smile one bit. It hid something wicked and cunning.
"Time travel," said Blue.
They had to be messing with him. Time travel?
Jared was skeptical. "Isn't time travel impossible?"
"It's never been done, for fear of altering things too much," said Blue. Her eyes watched him, gauging his reaction. "But it is possible. The spell is similar to the one for opening doors to other dimensions, though it is more complicated. Hideously complex, in fact."
"This time we want to alter things," said Pink. “We want you to alter history.”
White nodded. "We want you to stop Loki and Clover."
The sentence hit him like a large rock. He had to have misheard her.
"Stop Clover?" he asked, trying to hush his anger.
The witches conferred with each for a moment as Jared grew agitated. He felt like tearing the place down and demanding answers.
My mother and the others never told me everything.
Blue sighed. "Clover joined Loki in his schemes."
"She helped him to achieve his goals," said Pink.
White nodded. "She betrayed the world for Loki."
Jared couldn't believe this. They had to be lying. Clover would never go with Loki or betray her friends. It was impossible.
"You're lying," he stated.
Pink shook her head. "Your death, and killing her own mother, and feeling insecure and betrayed at all sides, I suppose Clover felt she had no choice. I'm sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth. You know it's the truth. You've seen her dark side first hand.”
He knew they were telling the truth, no matter how much it devastated him to admit it. Clover had a dark side, a chaotic side. It was always niggling away at her, threatening to overwhelm her. She'd finally let it. She'd become what she hated.
My poor Clover. The chaos finally consumed her.
Pink went on. "Our theory says that Loki would fail if he didn't have Clover by his side. We think the only way to bring her back to the path of the light is you."
"That's why we want to send you back in time," said Blue.
White said, "And while you're there you can save Clover and the world."
Jared didn't time to think. He said, "I'll do it."
The witches nodded. He ignored their smugness.
"The energy required to send you so far back in time will be great," said Pink gravely. "You can't fail this mission."
"The magical energy required will be immense," said Blue.
Jared didn't care what was needed. He'd give it, even if it meant he had to give up his vampirism or part of his own life. It was worth the risk to save Clover and the world.
It’s worth the risk just to save Clover.
"What do I have to sacrifice?" he asked.
The three witches talked among themselves once again, ignoring him. He paced for a while, waiting, thinking about what he'd have to give up to go back to the past. He'd lose his adult son, his granddaughter, the new family he’d made here. It was a loss he tried not think about too much. Then again he’d gain a whole lifetime of raising JJ from birth. He wouldn't really lose a thing. He'd gain more than he'd ever lose. This mission was his only way of getting his life back.
But what about Clove? What if JJ doesn’t meet Marina? What if Clove is never born?
A world without Clove is not a world he wants to think about. JJ and Clove are his life now. Can he really give that up?
Do I have a choice?
He shakes his head. He doesn’t have a choice, does he? He has to do this, even if it means he has to engineer Clove’s birth himself by
hunting down Marina and introducing him to his son. He will have his family again, but this time it will be complete. This time it will have Clover in it.
The witches turned back to him, glaring into his soul. He dreaded what the answer would be, but for some reason he knew it wouldn't affect him. If sending him back in time killed him or debilitated him in any way, what would be the point?
"You will have to sacrifice nothing," Pink revealed. "Sending you back in time will not affect you in any way, though you may present some side effects from the process such as fatigue and bleeding."
"Maybe some temporary memory loss and sickness," Blue added.
White said, "Sending you back in time will require the death of every living being in this dimension."
Jared didn't know how to respond. He hadn't expected this. For a moment he'd been sure the witches were going to reveal that they'd have to sacrifice themselves, but not something this severe. He couldn't have the deaths of so many innocents on his conscience, not even to save Clover.
"You're quiet," said Pink.
"How many people live on this world?" Jared asked.
"Over two million," said Pink.
"Compared to the trillions that Loki had killed it's a mere grain of sand," said White. "Is it not worth it to sacrifice a few for the sake of the many?"
"Two million people isn't just a few! It's a lot, and it includes my family!”
The witches stared at him like he was raving mad. He stormed up to the them, slamming his fists down on their table. Some of their stacked books toppled over. White gave him a particularly vile look, like she wanted to turn him into a frog.
"Don't do that again," White warned him.
"There has to be another way!" Jared shouted.