by Cate Farren
“Go home and learn from your aunt,” Rose pleaded. “Please.”
“I’m stuck here, and I might as well learn from the best.”
“She is not the best. She is the worst of us. She’s a monster, just like Loki.”
Saskia turned away and stormed out of the room. She gave her mother one last look of longing before she slammed the door.
ROSE WOKE UP TO FIND her mother at her bedside. She didn't think for a moment she was there to comfort her or see how she was doing. Romily wasn't the motherly type. Even as a young child Rose had seen the lack of love in the woman’s eyes and had accepted it because there wasn’t a thing she could do to change it.
I tried so hard with Saskia and Frankie, but in the end I turned out just like the mother I despised.
Romily had her magic crystal in her hand. It wasn’t glowing nearly as much as it used to.
“You’re not bringing me another innocent victim today?” Rose demanded. “Either way I will refuse their energy.”
“I’ve given up on that. You can wither and die.”
Rose was glad. Every time her mother brought an innocent human here to sacrifice their life force for her it made her want to vomit. The last couple of times Rose had actively blocked the energy transfer. She wanted no part of it.
"Saskia is as powerful as I imagined," said Romily. The side of her mouth quirked up in a smirk. "You should be proud of her."
"I am proud of her," Rose admitted. "Hopefully one day she can usurp you."
"I'm waiting for that day."
Rose was surprised. "You want her to kill you?"
"Of course. It means I've done all I can. It will be my proudest moment."
Her mother meant every word. Rose felt sickened. She had to get her daughter away from the claws of this vicious, cold woman. She hadn't been able to save Frankie but she could save Saskia. What mother wouldn’t make the ultimate sacrifice for their children?
I owe her. I was never a warm mother, but I do love her.
"I will not let you turn her into your weapon against the church," Rose spat.
Romily smirked. "You're a useless bag of bones. What can you do?"
"I can protect my daughter from a creature like you. I only hope she has the common sense to pull herself away from Loki."
"You brought Loki back!"
"And I will die wishing I'd left him to rot."
The truth was Rose had been refusing to heal herself because she'd been saving all her magic for one final spell. She knew this day would come. She just wished she'd had the courage to end her mother all those years ago, to spare Saskia the pain to come. Still, Rose could save her daughter now. She didn't have to suffer under the influence of Romily ever again.
Romily stepped back. "Something is happening. What are you doing?"
"I'm saving my daughter," Rose spat. She reached out and grabbed her mother's arm. Her grip was like a vice. "And I'm ending you for all the pain you've brought this family."
Rose brought the spell she'd been brewing to fruition. The energy swirled inside her, infusing her very DNA, coalescing into a spell that would light her room on fire. It would be glorious.
“Suffer in Hell, Mother!” Rose screamed.
She couldn’t hold it in any longer. The magic exploded. It broke her, killed her instantly, as the huge amount of power erupted from her body.
ROMILY'S LAST THOUGHTS, as the magical energy consumed her, were pride. Rose had been a daughter worth having after all.
Chapter 27
She pulled the curtains closed, blocking out the light. She lit a small candle that smelled of lavender and placed it on the coffee table. It made the room smell nice and blocked the stench of werewolf that permeated the place.
"Are you sure nobody is here?" asked Wynn.
"He's gone with his girlfriend on a trip to England," said Toren. "Don't worry. We'll have no werewolves bursting in on us."
Toren and Wynn has dismounted in Chapel Green just an hour ago. The streets had been almost empty, which was good for them. It meant they could sneak into the village and the local unoccupied bed and breakfast without being seen. Still, it worried her. It meant the threat of Loki was scaring people out of continuing with their normal routine.
The blood magic ritual hadn't gone according to plan. It had pointed her to Chapel Green, but not to a specific person. She figured the amount of magic that saturated the place had obscured her spell. It would make things a lot more difficult, but it was something she could handle. The Black Fey could handle anything.
"This village has a nice feel to it," Wynn admitted.
Toren shrugged. "I suppose it does. I liked my time here."
"Does that mean you won't hurt anyone?"
"Only if they get in my way or are found to be harboring the shapeshifter." She thought about the mailman. She might kill him while she was here. He always gawped at her while delivering the mail. He deserved to die. "Or I might kill someone just because I feel like it."
She ignored Wynn and his disappointed looks. She cared what he thought, but she still had a job to do. The blood magic had brought her here. There was going to be a massacre.
"SO THE CURSE HAS BEEN lifted?” Gable couldn’t help but smile. He hoped nobody saw him. “I'm glad."
They were speaking to each other via Skype. The sheriff was a little embarrassed when his own daughter had to show him how to use it, but he was glad she did. Adrian had been gone for five days now. The town felt abandoned without him. Quite why the wolf and his succubus girlfriend wanted to stay with Dracula for a few days was a mystery. England was a miserable place. It was miserable a million years ago and and it was miserable now.
"You scare me when you're happy," said Adrian. "You've been different ever since you came back from the hell dimension."
"You've been there. It changes you."
"Only if you let it. I felt the pull of that place, but I refused to let that world control me. Plus, Rihanna’s spell worked a treat too."
Gable faked a smile. The truth was he had enjoyed ruling over his small kingdom in the hell dimension. It had been like the old days when he'd been able to do what he wanted. It had felt glorious. That's not what he missed, though. He missed the quiet. Over there he wasn't expecting a war to break out any minute. He could relax. He'd missed his children, of course, but having nothing to worry about is something everyone should experience once in a while.
He missed the people too. They were good people, innocent. Ninety per-cent of the people of this world sickened him with their consumerism and vanity. Maybe Loki was on to something.
No. Loki needs to pay.
"It's really attractive, getting to reign free of your basic instincts like that," said Gable. He thought back and said, “Letting go feels wonderful.” Adrian gave him a look on the laptop as if to say he didn't believe him. "Fine. You see right through me. I miss the place, okay? I miss the city that Loki destroyed. It was...it was my own little slice of Heaven."
He looked outside, watching Celia playing with a ginger cat. They didn't have a cat. The neighbors must have adopted one. He didn’t trust cats. Once upon a time Gable had been in the body of a sabre tooth cat. He’d enjoyed being a predator, but the mind of a feline was devious.
Where's Gabrielle? She's supposed to be watching her.
"So anyway, Lovisa and I are going to stay awhile longer," Adrian explained. "Dracula wants us to debrief some of the others on what we know about shapeshifters."
"What others?" Gable demanded.
"You don't know about the vampire summit?" Adrian asked.
Gable's look could melt marble. "Of course I know. I’ve had the displeasure of attending several times in the past. Some of those vampire princes make even my blood boil."
If there was one thing Gable Trent despised more than Loki it was vampire royalty. At least Loki had legitimate reasons for wanting to commit genocide, even if they were a little skewed. The vampire royal family traced their lineage back to the f
irst vampire, whose name even Gable had forgotten. They thought they were better than everyone else. They made the Kardashians look like working class newbies. Basically, they did fuck all. He secretly hoped Loki would wipe them off the face of the planet.
"Those people think the world is coming to end when they break a nail," Gable complained. "Why would they care? They haven't been involved so far."
The Groza family had their own reality show, set where they lived in Chicago. The world knew them as a rich, entitled, narcissistic bunch of assholes. Quite what the humans would think if they knew they were a vampire royal family he had no idea. Most people would probably think it was wonderful.
Adrian said, "Prince Costel was murdered by his girlfriend. I thought you'd know."
"She was a shapeshifter?" Adrian asked.
"Yes," said Adrian. "I liked Costel. Not that I actually met him, but I used to watch the show with Chanda. He seemed like the nice one."
"He was the only member of that insipid family I'd piss on if they were on fire."
Gable needed to vent. First Sutton, and then her brothers, and now the royal family. Even Adrian had been targeted. If he’d turned into a wolf and killed everyone on that plane...
Damn it. I need to be at the summit.
The thought of interacting with the royals made him feel homicidal.
“I’m heading over there,” said Gable. “I’ll be there in a few days.”
“There’s no need,” Adrian insisted. “I can handle our end of things. We...”
Gable slammed his laptop closed, ending the conversation.
TOREN PULLED HERSELF into the alley, keeping out of sight. She'd been watching various hotspots in town for days. There had been little to zero activity. The paranoid part of her imagined it was because they knew she was here. It was probably due to the magical bubble put up around the town by the Fey. It had caused a lot of trouble at the time. The regular townsfolk, who knew nothing about magic and the supernatural, had been told the Fey were from the CDC. They probably thought some disease carrying simpleton was still wandering around town, waiting to infect them. Humans believed anything told them.
"It's too quiet," said Toren. She watched as an elderly woman went into the tea rooms. “It was never like this before. This town was full of life. It reminds me when I visited London during World War 2, the way people would creep around at night, afraid of bombings and Nazi spies.”
"I went in the local bar," said Wynn quietly. "I listened to a few conversations."
"Did they say anything about the shapeshifter?" Toren asked.
"Of course they didn't. They were humans. They were talking about Costel Groza being murdered by his girlfriend during a live recording of his reality show."
Toren had heard about that, though she didn't realize the television show was so popular. How many people had actually witnessed the prince being murdered? Loki was stupid. He had no idea what problems he was causing by behaving so badly in public. Did he want the humans to find out about the supernatural world?
“What else?” she asked.
“They’re still talking about the CDC incident,” said Wynn, confirming Toren’s suspicions. “Nobody knows exactly what went on and they’re angry and scared. There’s even talk of writing to the local government to force Sheriff Trent to resign. The people don’t believe he has their best interests.”
This little bit of information made her smile. Loki couldn’t defeat Trent, but a group of idiot humans signing a petition could. It was priceless.
She heard something rattle in the bins and pulled out her knife. It was a rat. She used her magic to kill it anyway.
"Costel was an idiot," said Toren. The remains of the rat steamed on the filthy ground. "He should've been more careful."
"You knew him?" Wynn asked.
Toren felt her ire rise as she said, "I knew his father, back during the last vampire war over the human whose blood could make vampires fertile. He was an evil man. He was the reason the war was so bloody and violent. Of course a genocidal maniac like that and his family get their own reality show."
During the vampire war the Groza family captured the human and fed off her. That's how many of the later Groza siblings were able to be conceived in the first place (Costel and his brother were actually adopted). It was rumored the human died during a rescue attempt but Toren had always her suspicions. She suspected Dracula had spirited her away somewhere.
If I were Dracula, I would've just wiped that vile family from the face of the planet. It's because of them vampires were almost made extinct.
"Anything else?" Toren asked.
He shook his head. "The humans don’t know anything about shapeshifters. Sorry"
"Maybe the humans know nothing, but the supernaturals do not."
The council would know more. They always know more than they let on for fear of having their authority questioned. She had to find one of their members and interrogate them. This shapeshifter had to be found, no matter who she had to hurt.
CELIA WATCHED THE CAT play with a delighted Gabrielle as she worried about her big brother. She was always concerned about him. Darin was forever getting himself into trouble. Sometimes she thought she was the older sibling the way she fretted.
Gabrielle laughed. "I had a cat back home. She was called Lupe."
"What happened to her?" Celia asked.
"She ran away. I don't blame her really. We couldn't afford to feed her most of the time."
Celia got up and went to the open back door. She could see her father sitting by the kitchen table, staring into space. He was like that now a lot. He'd been through some horrible things in the hell dimension, though he didn't like to talk about them. He probably thought she was too young to understand such things. She disagreed. She'd had to grow up pretty quickly. She did nearly destroy the entire town after all.
"Dad?" Celia called, walking up to him.
"I might have to take a trip," he announced.
Celia sighed. "Again?"
"It's important. I have to go to England for a while."
Celia didn't want to be away from her father ever again. She was sick of being parted from her family. It was time to put her foot down.
"I want to come too," Celia demanded. "I want to see England."
"I'm not going on vacation," said Gable. "I'm going to a boring meeting with boring vampires."
"Then I'm not going to be in any danger. Please, Dad. I'm fed up of being on my own. I love Gabrielle, but I miss you and Darin when you're away. Please."
She pulled him in for a hug, hoping to appeal to his sensitive side. He may be a huge demon on the inside, but he was still her father, and she knew he loved her more than anything. He would destroy the world for her.
Gable smiled and kissed her on her forehead. "Fine. You win."
"I don't have a passport," Celia complained, suddenly realizing. She'd never needed one before. "I'm going to be arrested!"
Her father laughed. "Don't worry about that. Dracula has a private plane."
Celia grinned, excited. Only presidents and posh people had private planes. Did this mean they were posh? She didn't think so. They didn't even have a 4K television yet. Maybe this meant they were going to get better things and go on vacations? They never went on vacations. She'd always wanted to go to Disney World.
"Can we go to Disney World?" Celia asked.
"Later," said her dad. "When...this is all over."
"You mean the war?"
Her father looked shocked. "How do you know about that?"
Celia decided she had to be honest with her father. She knew how worried he got over her. Besides, she wasn't a competent liar. He'd be able to see through her straightaway. He was the sheriff after all.
"I listen to things you say with people," she said. "I'm not deaf. I know there's a war coming."
"And you're not scared?" he asked.
"I am a little, but you're the strongest person in the universe. I know you'll keep me safe." She
smiled as she created a fireball with her hand. It hovered there, steady. “Besides, look at me! I’m a Xaphan demon. I feel sorry for the shapeshifter who tries to come after me.”
AS CELIA WENT TO PACK her bags Gable couldn't keep the smile off his face. His daughter grew more confident day by day. He knew that, even if this war claimed his life, she would be fine. She might even become more powerful than him one day. Not that he had any intention of dying. He literally couldn’t die.
He phoned Dracula’s Whitby residence and arranged the private plane. They weren’t too keen on lending it out until he revealed who he was and what he’d do to them if they didn’t do what he ordered.
“Thank you,” he said, hanging up.
He laughed. It always felt good to intimidate people, especially people who worked for Dracula.
AMELIA DARKHOLD LEANED back against her swivel chair, a book in her hands. The library was quiet today. There was a human in the biography section, looking suspicious. She had an awful suspicion that he was planning on meeting somebody for a booty call. She wouldn't say anything to him. Someone might as well be having sex in this library.
She closed her romance book, feeling lonely. She hadn't had a date in so long it wasn't funny any more. All the good men in town were taken. She'd had her eye on Adrian for a long time, but he’d just gone on vacation with the gender swapping succubus. There'd been a brief flirtation with the new Fey council member, Callan, but he hadn't seemed interested. Some Fey were quite asexual.
Amelia pulled her out her cell phone, checking her dating app "Hook Up." She hadn't received any replies.
"I'm not exactly ugly," she whispered. "Some would say I'm a catch."
Come and get your middle aged witch with a son in his twenties whose entire family is pure evil!
She couldn't help but laugh. No wonder she was single.
"I should just hire a male escort and be done with it," she muttered.