“No one else has to die.” Barb stepped forward, hands spread. “We only wish to retrieve our master.”
“How did your master wind up down here?” I entered the ritual space, the gwyllgi flanking me. “Everyone in this room has trouble with the truth, so you’ll have to forgive me if I take your word with a grain of salt.”
Spotting us, Kylie thrashed and kicked, every movement inching her toward the baby, but we had to take this slowly.
“Lucius is an old vampire.” Benny forced his hands open from their fists. “He slaughtered the townspeople before he was captured, staked, and buried alive. The Oliphants’ ancestors built this maze above him, thinking he was a demon from hell. They thought they were performing a public service, and maybe they were. We should have seen the signs of Lucius’s mental deterioration. We should have put him to rest in our clan’s tomb until he recovered his senses. We failed him.”
The weight of age was evident in their faces now. Gone was any semblance of humanity.
“He’s been punished enough,” one of the other vampires spat. “Starved for three hundred and fifty years.”
“We are not equipped to make a ruling on the fairness of his sentence,” Linus said calmly. “We will contact the Society and the Undead Coalition and have representatives sent to hear your case.” He eyed the wall separating us from a ravening vampire. “Until such time, your master will remain interred for the safety of the people of this town.”
And in this room.
The truth was, as potentates, we could slap down a ruling on the spot. But they wouldn’t like it. We handed down battlefield sentences, and most resulted in the loss of a head or a stake through the heart. There was no pause button on the streets, no time to weigh crime against action when claws were flying at your throat. We were reactive, and our judgments were final.
“That will take another thirty years,” a vampire screeched. “How is that justice?”
“Your master…” Linus studied them. “He’s a Last Seed?”
“Yes,” another spluttered. “That shouldn’t come into account.”
“The spell on his tomb can only be broken tonight,” Barb gritted out, fangs poking her bottom lip. “You must know what the Oliphants have planned for this place. The papers have been signed, the demolition scheduled. We will not leave him to suffer eternally beneath a—a—a strip mall.”
Her tone made it hard to tell which she found more offensive—the eternal suffering or the strip mall.
“Stand aside, and let us do what we must,” Benny pleaded. “He can stand trial after he’s recovered.”
“You precipitated Mrs. Oliphant’s suicide and tortured and murdered her husband,” I reminded them. “The Society will be interested to hear about your master’s plight, but the rules for murdering humans and leaving their bodies to be discovered are crystal.”
“Mrs. Oliphant recognized us for what we are,” Benny argued. “She killed herself before we laid a finger on her. Her death is no fault of ours.”
“Before you laid a finger on her.” I hit him with the flat stare I learned from Linus, and Benny caved first. He glanced away, unable to hold my gaze. “As in, you would have laid on several had she not taken matters into her own hands.”
“Mr. Oliphant knew how to break the spell, and he wouldn’t tell us.” Old anger simmered in his voice. “We were running out of time, and he was glad. I lost my temper, and for that I am sorry, but the Oliphants could have avoided all this if they had only cooperated with us.”
But they had chosen death, an end to it once and for all, to spare Kylie and future Oliphants from their burden.
“We have attempted to free our master for centuries.” Barb’s fangs were on full display. “This is the closest we have ever gotten to him. The Oliphants’ deaths unlocked the wards shielding the lower floors.”
And it was clear from their seething anger that they would have punched the Oliphants’ tickets sooner if they had realized it would put them closer to achieving their goal.
“That’s why you took Kylie.” I saw where this was headed. “You figured her death would do the rest.”
“We were always careful of the humans. They never suspected us.” Benny narrowed his eyes on Kylie. “They are the true monsters here. We should have slayed them long ago.”
The problem with ancient vampires is they tend to get cut a lot of slack. A lot. This master vampire was likely to get a slap on the wrist and have his time declared served. The Society didn’t care much about humans. They didn’t value human life. They cared enough to keep us hidden, to protect us from them, but the reverse wasn’t a priority. But there were laws in place that allowed us to punish crimes in the present, and Benny and Barb were subject to those on two counts.
“Release the girl,” Hood ordered, after trading one skin for another. “The Society will want to talk to her too.”
They would want an explanation for the circle, for the skulls, and for the infant for starters.
Benny glowered at us, but he did as he was asked and sliced through Kylie’s bindings with a knife he borrowed from the wall. He tossed it aside when Hood’s upper lip quivered, then returned to the other vampires in guarding the door leading to their master.
Kylie ripped the gag out of her mouth and flung it across the room.
“Gramps and Grams were right.” Her entire body trembled. “You’re demons. All of you.”
Vampires, but whatever at this point.
Once she got her legs under her, she dove for the wall where Benny had selected his knife and snatched its twin. She backed into the corner, eyes wild, and clutched a wound on the inside of her wrist where they had bled her. She was putting herself between the vampires and the baby, and the cats weren’t happy about it. They hissed and spat, but she weathered their claws to keep the newborn safe.
“Drop it,” I yelled. “Put the knife down.”
“I didn’t believe them,” she cried, desperate for us to understand. “I didn’t want to believe them.”
“You’re safe.” I held up my hands, palms out, and advanced on her. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
“But then my grandparents died.” The blade shook almost free of her hand. “And I found her.”
“Who?” I stopped when it hit me. “The baby.” The lies she told us started to make a lot more sense. “That’s why you were at the inn. That’s what you were searching for.”
Likely, that’s why the shadow cats attacked her on the stairs, to keep her away from their ward.
“My grandparents were good people,” she sobbed. “But the demon…”
The vampires growled low in their throats, but one snarl from the gwyllgi silenced them.
“Explain it to us.” I kept my hands where she could see them. “What happened here?”
“M-m-mom wouldn’t come home. She knew what her parents did, and she didn’t want any part of it.” Her eyes shone. “I didn’t know. I swear. When I came here to get away from her, I didn’t know.” Tears leaked down her cheeks. “I loved Grams and Gramps, but when they explained the importance of the date to me last year…what it meant…what they planned to do…” Thick sobs strangled her. “They killed people.” She glanced at the wriggling fabric. “Babies.”
Her confession was the link we needed between the pits of bone and the Oliphants, but the public would never hear a word of it. The cleaners would interview her, and they would make this all go away. All those families with missing loved ones would never know what happened to them, and I hated that. It was the only way for us to continue surviving in the shadows of humanity, but necessity didn’t make it right.
“I threatened to call the police if they went through with it again.” She gulped down a lungful of air. “That’s why they sold the house. If I hadn’t done that, if I hadn’t pushed them, none of this would have happened. They’re dead because of me.”
“You saved lives by ending this.” I gentled my voice. “You were brave to stand up to them and tel
l them what they were doing was wrong.”
The weight of her burden rounded her shoulders, and tears fell off her dipped chin.
“Why didn’t you tell us the truth?” I had to keep her talking. “We could have helped you.”
“No one can help me.” Her gaze snagged on the tiny skulls. “I’m a monster.” She swallowed hard. “My whole family are monsters.” She tightened her grip on the knife. “They promised me.” She wet her lips. “They promised it was over, but it was a lie. I heard the baby crying the night they killed her parents, and I started looking.”
“They wanted to perform the rite one last time,” I surmised when she ran out of steam. “To reinforce the spells until construction was complete.”
“Yeah.” She sniffled. “That’s what I think, but they refused to talk about it to me.”
“You did everything you could to make this right.”
“I guess.” She wiped her nose on her sleeve. “If I had been home that night—”
“The vampires would have tortured and killed you too.”
Silence from that quarter as good as confirmed it. They might not have done it outright. She might have ended up in the same predicament she faced now—playing sacrifice—but they wouldn’t have let her go. Without knowing how to break the spell, they couldn’t afford to show her mercy.
“Put the knife down,” I said again. “You’re safe now.”
The metal slid from her grip to clang against the stone floor. Slowly I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her, stroking her hair while she sobbed against my shoulder.
“They’re gone,” she wept over and over. “I didn’t want that. I didn’t want this.”
“Shh.” I rubbed her back. “Everything is going to be okay.”
While I held Kylie together, Hood rushed in and gathered the drowsy baby against his chest.
A moment later, he shot me a thumbs-up to let me know she was okay, and Kylie noticed.
“I found her in a crate two floors up,” she rasped. “I couldn’t access that level until…until…”
Her grandparents died.
They must have warded it to keep their tiny victim safe…and quiet. No wonder we hadn’t heard its cries during our visits to the subbasements. The poor thing must have been starving by the time Kylie found her.
A blur smudged the edge of my vision, and a crisp snap filled my ears.
Lethe stood over the body of a vampire, its neck broken, and glared at the rest. “Anyone else?”
The knife Benny had discarded balanced on the dead vampire’s open palm. She must have been making a play for Kylie when Lethe intervened. Vampire versus gwyllgi never ended well. For the vampire.
“I might be able to release your master,” Linus said, eyes on the pentagram. “This is witch work, so it will be resistant to necromancy.”
Benny and Barb sucked in whistling breaths, theirs hands finding one another and clasping.
“I’m willing to try,” Linus continued, “given the timetable, but he will remain contained within a circle of my making until the Elite arrive to carry him to a secure facility. He’ll require blood, a lot of it, and counselling if he’s to reintegrate into the modern world.”
“The clan will see to his dietary needs and his reeducation,” Barb promised. “We are happy to take custody of him as soon as the Society has finished their evaluation.”
“You’ll also be held accountable for the library incident,” I bluffed to watch their reaction. “Your clan will be expected to make an anonymous donation sufficient to fund construction of a new building.”
That, along with my donation, ought to give them the funds to purchase new stock to fill all those lonely shelves.
“About that…” Benny cleared his throat. “We didn’t mean for either of you to get hurt.”
“You wedged a backhoe against the only exit and tried to set the trailer on fire,” I said slowly. “How did you see that ending for us?”
“We only wanted you to take the hint and leave,” Barb added. “We hoped it would scare you away.”
Scary was knowing my mother-in-law would be deciding their fates. She wasn’t big into leniency where her son was concerned. As someone intimately acquainted with her favorite pit in which to throw those she wanted forgotten, I almost pitied them.
A clan’s devotion to their master could reach near fanatical heights. I had seen it before, a time or two. But their master might have been saved—along with countless other lives—had they informed the Society or the Undead Coalition of their plight right from the start.
All I could figure was the Rogoffs worried the punishment for their master’s crimes would be continued entombment below the inn and decided it was too risky bringing in outsiders who might take issue with the reign of terror that landed him there in the first place.
Last Seed or not, survival of our species ranked higher than any one life in the Society’s book.
“I’ll get Kylie upstairs and locked down until the Elite arrive.” Lethe eased the girl away from me and settled her arm around Kylie’s shoulders. “We’ll get a medic inbound too.” The numbing agent must be at work on Kylie. She hadn’t complained once about her wounds, but the blood loss was making her tipsy. That, more than the fog, had thrown her for a loop. “Hood?”
“We’re coming.” He booped the baby on its tiny nose. “Aren’t we, cutie-pie?”
Glancing back at me, Lethe chewed on her bottom lip, but Hood nudged her through the opening.
The Society would evaluate the baby for any lasting effects of its ordeal before turning it over to human social services until any living relatives could be located. I just hoped there were grandparents out there who would step forward and give her a loving home, a second chance at happiness, like Maud had given me.
The shadow cats, every single one, followed in his footsteps and exited the chamber.
Once the gwyllgi cleared out, we still had five vampires with separation anxiety to handle.
“The price of my help is your cooperation,” Linus warned Benny and Barb. “Harm one of us, any of us, and your master will never see the light of the moon again. Be it in his tomb here or in a Society prison.”
“We accept your offer.” Benny took her hand, and they stepped forward. “You have our word.”
“They killed Sandra,” one of others snarled. “You can’t mean to let them get away with—”
“Our master’s life is more important than hers, yours, or mine.” Barb kept her tone level. “You will obey me in this, or you will take the master’s place once he is freed.”
The color washed out of the vampire’s face, and he fell in line with the others.
“Our clan will wait for news in the dining room.” Hope and resolve colored her expression when she locked gazes with her mate. “The Elite can collect us there.”
Hand in hand, Benny and Barb led the others out past the body of their fallen clansman.
“Cletus.” I waited for the wraith to arrive. “Give Lethe a heads-up so she can intercept the vampires.”
A low moan filled the air as he rose through the floorboards overhead to play messenger.
Alone with Linus, I rubbed my forehead. “That was not at all how I pictured this going down.”
Instead of saving a human from vampire predation, we were saving a master vampire from entombment by humans. Well, not humans. “Do you think Kylie knows she’s descended from witches?”
“It’s hard to say, given her belief in demons and ignorance of vampires.” He studied the door causing all the fuss. “Her grandmother must have been the Oliphant by birth. She killed herself to keep them from using her blood to break the spell holding the master vampire captive.” He mapped it with his fingertips. “Her grandmother might have relied on rituals she was taught as a child without questioning their roots.” He stood back. “Given the religious paraphernalia, it’s possible the family believed themselves chosen by God to do his work.”
“How do t
hey figure trapping one demon is worth all those lives?” Chills rose down my arms. “Kylie never said how the parents died, but it’s clear babies and small children were the sacrifice of choice.”
“Chandler Oliphant must have been the coven leader at the time of Lucius’s killing spree. Assuming he was the one who cast the original containment spell, he gave his descendants a loophole to cut down on how many sacrifices were required to maintain it by allowing them to tie the ritual to the anniversary of his death.”
The sickness churning in my gut only grew worse. “Did they have to use a freaking baby?”
“We lose our innocence quickly,” Linus said softly, abandoning his work to come hold me. “A newborn is a miracle, a wonder.” He exhaled, his breath cool along my cheek. “That’s why they’re targeted for spells such as these. They’re wholly good and wholly innocent and full of unlimited potential.”
“There’s not much time left.” I pushed him back gently, ready to get out of here. “Let me help?”
“I was hoping you’d offer.” A smile pulled at his lips. “You break the spell, and I’ll set the containment circle.”
“Oh sure.” I snorted. “Give me the easy job.”
As it turned out, Kylie was right about the line of succession being broken. The few drops of her blood I scraped off the floor proved it. The vampires could have killed her, drained every drop onto that pentagram, and it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. Mrs. Oliphant had been the key, and she had made certain they couldn’t wield her to unlock their master’s cage.
Between the two of us, we managed to free the master vampire and contain him before he ripped out either (or both) our throats. Cletus hovered like a fly, buzzing around my head the entire time. He was all too eager to escort me up and out of the basement when the time came.
Standing in the empty kitchen, I dialed the cleaners’ hotline while I waited on Linus to join me. I gave the operator a quick rundown of the situation, my name, and the addresses of the cottage and the inn.
How to Survive an Undead Honeymoon (The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy Book 8) Page 12