by Cheree Alsop
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He peered through the trees. “Something doesn’t feel right,” he said. “You don’t get to be my age without listening to instincts, and my instincts say that something isn’t right.” He turned and glared at the werewolves who followed behind us. “There’s too many of you. You should be off guarding the Lair, not following me. Are you an honor guard, or were you sent to stop me?” He shook his head and said more to himself than to us, “I’ll go to Brickwell. The town smelled simply delicious. I’m sure Alioran won’t mind if I sample one or two. I just need time to settle in.”
“Now,” I heard Mitch whisper into the walkie talkie he held.
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.
Chapter Seventeen
“You didn’t mention there would be a wraith,” the vampire said with shock in his voice.
Scents of fear, despair, and pain washed through the forest in a rush of wind that shook the leaves from trees and made every creature it touched scurry for safety.
The felguls lapped eagerly at the air and Elioran’s smile returned. “Just wait, my beauties. We will be there soon.”
The wail sounded again and he hurried forward.
“I haven’t heard anything so beautiful in centuries,” he said breathlessly as he rushed along the path. ”I didn’t know they were still in existence. Alioran knows how to give a good welcome. I should have brought him something of my own.” He glanced at me. “I don’t suppose he would take an offering of one of his own werewolves in good stead?”
I shook my head and tried to ignore the brick in my stomach.
“I don’t think he’d take that in the right light. We’re his guardians and all, and there’s an agreement about not using werewolves for sustenance.” I fought to keep the bitterness out of my tone at my Master’s betrayal on that front.
The vampire nodded. “Right, right. Point taken. Well, hurry up, boy. There’s a wraith waiting.”
I shot Mitch a glance. The werewolf looked at me with wide eyes. We were both toying with death and we knew it. I only hoped it caught up to the vampire before it found us.
“Nice atmosphere,” the vampire said when we stepped from the forest into the clearing that fronted the collapsed castle. The wailing of the wraith came from deeper inside. Relief filled me at the fact that it had followed the trail to the Lair perfectly.
The vampire nodded in appreciation. “He’s really got the ambiance down. No human’s going to go in there if they can help it, unless— Hey! There’s one!”
I jerked my head up in time to see Alia step into the gap between the walls. My heart slowed. They were supposed to be as far away from the Lair as possible. No human could withstand the shriek of the wraith. It was like a siren’s song to them, whereas to werewolves it was ear-splitting. Even drawing closer to the Lair was painful at best and agonizing at the worst.
“She must have followed the wraith,” the vampire said, his voice eager. “Two for one. Not a bad deal.”
He hurried toward the opening with the felguls close behind. His charcoal and licorice scent combined with the wraith’s to create an odor so bad I wanted to puke. The sounds of retching behind me told that several werewolves had given in to the need. I couldn’t blame them.
I followed the vampire to the wall. At my motion, the werewolves fell back. I didn’t need more of them killed at a whim from Elioran. With Alia wandering around and who knew who else captivated by the wraith’s scream, I didn’t want more lives to worry about. The thought of Alia in trouble pulled my muscles so tight I was about to snap.
“Wait here and signal them if I howl,” I whispered to Mitch on my way into the castle.
“But if he turns on you—” the werewolf began.
“Then I’m already dead,” I replied, using the vampire’s words. “If that happens, do what you can to get Alia out of here and run.”
It was obvious he didn’t like my change of plans, but there wasn’t room to argue. Already, the vampire was nearing the entrance to the Lair. The sound of the wraith was drawing him on as I knew it would. But how had Alia gotten there? James was supposed to take them home after ensuring that the vampire followed me. What went wrong?
There wasn’t time to run through the possibilities. The vampire was already making his way down. The faint smell of ginger root touched my nose. At least I was certain the part with the wraith had gone according to plan. Wraiths loved ginger. It was something about the way ginger made a person more susceptible to their wiles. Fortunately, Mrs. Stein grew enough ginger in her garden to guide a hundred wraiths. I only hoped the vampire didn’t pick up on the scent.
The felguls sneezed as they followed their Master inside, but he didn’t appear to notice.
“Remind me to compliment Alioran on what he’s done to the place,” the vampire noted.
I couldn’t tell if he was being honest or sarcastic. I didn’t know if vampires understood sarcasm. I hurried down the steps behind him.
“I’ve told him we’re on our way down,” I said to the vampire. “He says the wraith is fresh and waiting.”
The vampire’s long fingers scratched along the wall in anticipation. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a truly decent meal. I’ll enjoy every breath of that wailing—”
He stepped into the cavern and his words cut off. I paused behind him and could only stare.
The demon and the wraith took up either end of the cave. Alia stood between them, her eyes blank and face expressionless at the onslaught of the wraith’s screams. Virgo and Mrs. Stein lay motionless against the far wall. James was nowhere to be seen, but a shoe lay on the ground beneath the wraith. Fear ran through me at the thought that it might be the human’s.
The demon’s gaze locked on me at the taste of my fear.
“You weren’t supposed to bring me Aspen’s sister,” Borig said in a hissing voice that rushed around the cavern.
“Is that a demon?” the vampire demanded. He took a step backward.
The wraith screamed loud enough that I had to cover my ears. Alia walked slowly toward the writhing ball of energy. It sparked and spat lighting, drawing Alia forward the way it would lure children and unsuspecting adults into swamps and caves, never to be heard from again.
“No!” I shouted.
“What is going on here?” Elioran asked. His claws shot to my throat before I could move. He pulled me closer. “Did you set me up?”
“Let the boy go,” the hissing voice said.
The vampire’s claws tightened in a spasm as tendrils wrapped around his arms. They pulled and he turned. I hung suspended in his claws, forgotten at the sight of the thing he feared most.
“Hello, Elioran,” Borig said amiably. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
The vampire tried to struggle when the demon pulled him forward, but Borig was too strong.
“You see, I missed out on Alioran, which made me sad,” the demon said with a gesture toward the body in the corner.
The vampire’s eyes darted in that direction and then widened. He tried to yell, but the tendrils wrapped around his throat.
Borig pulled him closer. His face loomed from the shadows, his toothy smile bright. “I’m not about to miss out on another such meal.” As he swam around the vampire, his forked tongue flicked out and licked the shadows. “Yes, a lifetime of feeding on terror leaves such a residue of delicious filth.”
Stars danced in my vision. I tried to struggle, but the vampire’s hand choked off my air.
“Felguls, attack!” the vampire ordered in desperation.
The cat creatures leaped as one onto the demon. The demon released the vampire from his hold and fell back as the sounds of slicing claws and yowls split the air.
The vampire gathered himself and rose in one smooth motion. He smiled his malicious smile at the chaos and drew closer to the wraith, all while keeping me suspended in the air.
Alia stood beneath the wraith, her blank eyes staring up at it. Elior
an hurried forward, his greed clear in his glowing gaze. I knew if he reached the wraith and could drain it of its energy, he might be strong enough to stop the demon. I struggled, but couldn’t break the vampire’s grip around my throat. The thought that I would soon be joining my Master filled me with regret.
Then the yowling stopped.
The vampire turned and I saw the lifeless bodies of each of the felguls spread out at Borig’s feet. He gave the vampire a wink.
“What did you think, toothy? That creatures who thrive on creating fear would be a match for the one who devours it?” He made a show of licking his lips. “Thanks for the appetizer.”
Elioran dropped me and ran toward the wraith, but even the vampire’s speed couldn’t match the demon’s. I hit the ground and rose to my knees in time to see Borig appear in the space between the vampire and the wraith. The ball of energy spat and spun, its dark void of a mouth visible between the swirls of screaming lightning. Elioran reached for it, but Borig’s tendrils snaked around his hand.
Desperation filled the vampire’s gaze. He reached around the demon. Before I knew what he was doing, he had grabbed Alia and lifted her in his merciless hands.
“No!” I said at the same time that another voice shouted it from the door. I glanced back.
Mitch stood there with several of the other werewolves. The wraith’s static light reflected in his eyes along with the sight of Alia’s throat held in the vampire’s long fingers.
“I will suck her dry of her life breath,” the vampire said.
He opened his wings and shot into the air. I leaped forward and grabbed the vampire’s clawed foot. My sudden weight slowed him down, but he gave another surge of his wings that sent us to the ceiling of the cavern.
“You think you can stop me?” he hissed. “Nobody can stop me!”
Away from the wraith, Alia blinked and the life returned to her eyes. The sight of the vampire’s face inches from hers brought a scream from her throat.
“Alia, hold on!” I shouted.
I pulled myself up and grabbed onto one of the vampire’s wings. He listed heavily to the right as he attempted to keep us up with only one wing. The vampire brought his other hand to Alia’s throat, ready to slit it and suck the breath from her lungs.
The cavern floor was a very long way down. Stalagmites I had hidden behind as a child glimmered wetly in the wraith’s light. They would skewer us if we fell.
Alia struggled and I knew I had no choice.
I grabbed both sides of the jointed bone that ran along the top of vampire’s right wing and forced it together. A crack rang out as the joint shattered. The vampire yelled so loud my eardrums felt like they would explode. He struggled to keep flying.
Elioran pulled Alia close and I could see the calculation in his eyes. Death lay below. If he took her breath, it might make him strong enough to escape the demon. It was his only chance. If he fled the cavern, he could make it to Brickwell and feed in the town until he was strong enough to destroy Borig altogether.
I reached for the other wing with the knowledge that my actions might mean all of our deaths.
“What are you doing?” the vampire demanded.
“Ending you,” I growled in his pointed ear.
I snapped his other wing.
We plummeted from the high ceiling to the sound of a scream. I shoved the vampire away from me and managed to grab Alia. I turned us so that my back would be the one that hit the stalagmites reaching upward with their deadly, pointed tips. I closed my eyes, held Alia close, and prepared for the blow that would end my life.
Before we could be impaled, we were hit from the side by a force so strong it smashed us into the far wall. I fell to the floor and Alia rolled from my arms with a whimper of pain. Dazed, it was a moment before my senses returned. When they did, I made out the fuzzy image of Mitch crouching over her.
“Finish this, Zev,” he said. His words became clearer as the ringing in my head lessened. “We’ve got to finish this.”
I pushed up to a sitting position to see Borig hovering over the Elioran’s broken form. A massive stalagmite stuck out of the vampire’s chest and dark blood trickled from his mouth. His glowing eyes rolled and his teeth gnashed at the air.
“I’m really going to enjoy this,” the demon said.
He reached for the vampire. The dark creature’s scream was cutoff as the darkness enveloped the body.
Another earsplitting shriek echoed around the room. I locked eyes on the wraith. It was bigger than before. When we first entered the cavern, the sparking entity had been about the size of a basketball. Now, it was the size of a car tire. James’ unconscious body lay below it, the source of its feeding.
“Zev, you have to stop it!”
I followed the shout to where Mrs. Stein and Virgo huddled against the far wall. They had earplugs in, but it was obvious they couldn’t shut out the loudest of the wraith’s luring voice.
“How?” I shouted. I had never stopped a wraith before. I had no idea what sort of power it would take to end such a volatile creature.
“Use your voice!” Mrs. Stein called back.
Virgo’s expression faded and a blank stare took over his eyes. He rose to go to the wraith, but Mrs. Stein pulled him back.
“Hurry!” she pleaded.
I pushed to my feet. A glance at Mitch showed him busy tending to Alia. That was fine. I had others I could call upon.
I put my hands to my mouth and howled as long and low as I could. The wraith backed up toward the wall and screamed again. I was afraid the werewolves wouldn’t be able to hear me through all the screaming. There was no way I could face the wraith alone. But I had to try.
I stumbled toward the glowing ball. The sight of James’ still form drove me forward. The wraith shrieked and I fought back the urge to cover my ears. Instead, I cupped my hands around my mouth and howled again. The wraith shivered and backed up further. I howled and followed it to the wall. The wraith shook and screamed. I forced another howl past my bruised throat.
There was no telling how long I could keep it up. Each howl hurt it, but it kept up its static energy, popping and writhing and screaming to draw the humans over. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mrs. Stein fighting to keep her son from succumbing to the wraith’s call. My howl cracked as my voice began to fail. I wasn’t strong enough.
Another howl sounded behind me, and then another. Soon, an entire chorus of howls filled the cavern. The sound was beautiful and haunting. It drowned out the shrieks of the wraith in a melodious wave of low notes that reverberated from the chests of the werewolves.
The wraith shrieked, turned in on itself, spun around, crackled, and then, when the howls didn’t cease, it began to shudder and shake. The werewolves stepped forward, their shoulders brushing mine as their voices rose. The wraith shrieked so loud I swore my ears bled, but the werewolves continued to sing their deadly song with mine. The creature grew brighter and brighter until a massive pop sounded. The wraith vanished altogether, leaving only a bright spot where its brilliance had burned my retinas.
The howls lowered and then stopped. The absence of sound felt so loud it hurt.
“Thank goodness,” Mrs. Stein said.
I turned to see Virgo shake his head. When he blinked, his eyes cleared and the life returned to them.
“I have a massive headache,” James moaned from the floor.
I knelt and helped him to his feet.
“What happened?” he asked.
“We did it,” I said. The reality hit me along with the words. We had finished it. We had killed the vampire and ended the wraith. The felguls were no more. Brickwell was safe.
“That was exciting,” a voice hissed.
I turned to see Borig standing over the remains of the vampire. A lazy smile surfaced in the dark mist. I put myself between the demon and the others.
“So what now?” I asked the demon.
“Sleep,” he said in a voice filled with contentment. “Tell Asp
en I’m proud of her.”
“I will,” I promised. “Sleep well.”
“Oh, I will,” he replied. He looked around meaningfully. “With the energy spilled here, I doubt another vampire will come to this place in a very, very long time. But if they do, keep me in mind.”
That brought an answering smile to my face. “Will do. Thanks, Mr. Borig.”
His grin broadened. “We’re friends now, Zev. Just call me Borig.”
He faded away until only a slight mist remained over the body of the skewered vampire.
“Can we leave?” a familiar voice asked.
I spun to find Mitch helping Alia to her feet. Blood trickled from a cut on the side of her forehead. The werewolf pressed a wad of cloth he had torn from his shirt to it.
“Yes, we can leave,” he said. “Let’s get you home.”
She nodded and let him help her from the cavern.
“Mitch?” I called out before they went up the stairs.
He turned.
“Thank you,” I told the werewolf.
If he hadn’t shoved us out of the way, I would have been impaled next to Elioran. It wasn’t a death I would have enjoyed in the least bit.
He nodded. “And thank you,” he said with a meaningful tip of his head toward Alia.
I smiled in return and watched them make their way up the stairs.
“Well, that was quite the adventure,” Mrs. Stein said, joining me near the vampire.
“What do we do with their bodies?” I asked.
“We’ll entomb them in here,” she decided. “Like Mr. Borig said, their death energies will be a warning for other vampires to stay away. It’ll be safer for Brickwell like this.”
The idea of repelling other vampires definitely appealed to me. I’d had enough of them to last several lifetimes.
We walked slowly up the stairs after the others. To my surprise, the werewolves waited just beyond the opening in the castle wall. They each looked exhausted but pleased with what they had done, and I was proud of them.
“What do we do now?” Sixteen, now Edmund, asked at our appearance.