Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  She laughed humorlessly to herself as she pushed herself back to her feet.

  “What's so funny?” Megan demanded.

  Nicky shook her head, trying not to look like she was shaking off the intermittent ringing. Handling this herself was starting to seem like a worse and worse idea. If she could have trusted anyone else to not just kill Megan, she wouldn't have even been here. She would have been at home with a bottle of painkillers like a moderately intelligent human being. But no. Her only backup was a face-eating vigilante monster, so she had to fight her ex-girlfriend with a fading concussion.

  In this moment, Nicky hated everything.

  Everything.

  “I’ve killed a lot of vampires in my day. A lot.” A decent amount, at least. She wasn't the best in the business or anything, but she was pretty damn good. “And you know what? You’re worse than most of them. Because at least most vampires only kill because they need to to live. You’re just doing it because you want to.”

  Megan shook her head. “Look at you, standing there so self-righteous. But you’d kill me? We both know you can’t. And why would you? Because you want to? Because it’s your job? You call me a monster, but from where I’m standing we’re not so different.”

  “I don’t want to kill you, Megan, but I will if it means no one else dies.”

  Nicky shut off her phone and tucked it into her back pocket. The flashlight was killing her battery. Plus, even though it was harder for Nicky to see Megan, it was also harder for Megan to see Nicky. Megan was so busy being offended, she didn't even seem to notice Nicky moving toward her.

  “Getting the soul eater to do it is exactly the same as killing them yourself.”

  “No, it’s not! I never killed anyone, and I never told the soul eater to kill anyone specific.”

  Well, didn't that make it all okay? Megan’s voice was only a few feet away now. Nicky inhaled deeply through her nose. The blade met only brief resistance before it sank into soft flesh. Megan might have had the soul eater on her side, but Nicky knew how to hunt in the dark.

  “You actually did it.”

  “Sorry,” Nicky said quietly. She took one of Megan’s trembling hands and held it over the spot where the knife was sticking. “It's going to bleed a lot, but well get you to a hospital. You'll be fine. You just won't have the soul eater anymore.”

  With a single grunt, Nicky yanked the knife back. Warm blood washed over her. Megan gasped. The other advantage of the darkness was that Nicky didn't have to see her face.

  “I'm sorry,” Nicky said again. Turning to the scuffle between demon and vampire, she shouted, “Corrine! Corrine, I got i—”

  A solid strike to the back of Nicky’s head cut her off. Nicky stumbled forward, catching herself on a tombstone.

  “What the fucking—”

  “You think I’ll go down that easy?” Megan shrieked. “I put way too much into this to go down like that!”

  Right, well. That was why Nicky had brought the vampire, wasn't it? Before she could call out for Corrine again, she caught the motion of Megan waving. The realization of what was about to happen sank Nicky's stomach, weighing her down too much to move.

  The soul eater rushed through the air and knocked her to the ground. This time, though Nicky managed to keep her hand on the knife. She struggled to wrench her arm from the soul eater’s claws. For something that seemed to be primarily made of air, it was frustratingly heavy.

  Nicky was getting sick of this thing. She swore loudly and kicked her feet, even though there was nothing within striking distance. When that did nothing, she slammed her head into the soul eater’s. Her forehead collided with something that felt suspiciously like a brick wall. White flashes danced across her eyes. The soul eater vanished briefly, only just long enough to give Nicky a chance to get to her feet. A hand on her arm steadied her. The smell of freshly upturned earth surrounded her.

  “Plan B yet?” Corrine asked as Nicky shoved the knife into her hand.

  “Not yet. Give me a—”

  It was Corrine’s turn to shove Nicky to the ground. With a hiss and a rush of wind, she was gone. Nicky was getting really fucking sick of being thrown around like that. The next person to knock her down was going to get their teeth punched out.

  On the plus side, Megan was already injured, pretty seriously if the amount of blood on Nicky’s hands was any indication. She’d done her best to avoid any major organs or blood vessels but in the dark, it was hard to tell.

  “Megan,” she croaked out, “let me get you to a hospital. This doesn't have to end badly for either of us.”

  “Speak for your fucking self. I’ve been nobody my entire life. I'm not going back to that!”

  There was another bright light that Nicky couldn't avoid. Her back slammed into a gravestone. She flipped over it and landed on the back of her skull. Sharp tingles ran through her body. Panic flooded her veins. Had she just broken her neck? Images of paralysis filled her. With an anxious breath, Nicky kicked out a little. Her combat boot felt heavier than usual, but her body still worked enough for her to roll over and get upright again.

  Nicky spun around, trying to figure out which direction she'd come from. The sparks coming from between Megan was the only guide she had.

  Last year, Nicky’s cousin had gotten married, and she remembered her cousin-in-law, a high-strung financial analyst, scrambling to find something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Alison had told her, while their cousin-in-law had sobbed over the fact that her blue scrunchie looked purple in the church lighting — and while Nicky wondered why the hell anyone would wear a scrunchie to her own wedding — the story behind that tradition. Back in the day, most marriages were for alliances. Nobody ever married who they really wanted to, and weddings were interrupted often enough that precautions were taken to prevent that. For human intruders, the best swordsman around would be hired to stand by the groom and the bride would be accompanied by a few women dressed exactly the same to confuse any attackers.

  Of course, not all weddings were interrupted by humans. Demons and witches had been more of a concern when most people actually believed in them. If somebody knew the witch likely to cause problems, a spell could be created to shut them down.

  The old was the dagger Nicky unsheathed from her hip. She'd had it for almost ten years now, and it was the oldest thing she'd owned. She thought Corrine might have counted as something new but that had seemed like a dangerous assumption. Instead, she'd stopped at the only Walmart in town to buy a new pair of socks that were keeping her boots from chafing. She'd needed a pair anyway. A blue moon-shaped pendant hung from her neck, the gift Lauren had gotten her for her birthday last year. The borrowed was the belt Megan had lent her once that Nicky had never returned, and that was now wrapped around her waist to hold up her jeans.

  Aside from the knife, none of the items were dangerous on their own. Together, the combined energies flowed through Nicky’s body like the planets aligning.

  “Don't make me do this,” Nicky pleaded.

  This was the last — second last — thing she wanted to do. Megan ignored her and managed to lunge over the gravestone Nicky had fallen over only moments before.

  With Megan’s blood on her hands, Nicky had the last thing she needed to complete the spell. All Nicky had to do was hold out her dagger, and Megan fell into it.

  “What—?”

  “I'm really fucking sorry.”

  The runes lining the dagger’s handle lit up, illuminating them both. The light swirled around the blade and sank into the spot where it was buried in Megan's stomach. Nicky watched, awestruck, as her blood vessels lit up. They shone through her clothes, spread up her face and across her arms, so bright that by the time Megan’s eyes began to glow, Nicky had to turn her head away.

  “Nicky!”

  Corrine’s voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Nicky stepped back, her arm over her eyes and the dagger still inside Megan. Even when she turn
ed her back to the beacon, it was still the brightest thing she'd ever seen. Strong arms came around her and a hand pushed her head into her shoulder. A moment later, the light burst out around them, brighter than ever before. Her pulse jumped in her throat. If she'd been looking at it, it would have blinded her.

  “Thanks,” Nicky said, shaky as she pulled away from Corrine to turn to Megan.

  “Don't thank me yet.”

  Before Nicky could ask what she was talking about, the soul eater swarmed in on Megan's limp form. It hovered over her in a familiar way. Nicky lurched forward, but Corrine’s arms caught her again.

  “Let me go!” Nicky screamed. “It’s going to kill her! We have to kill it! We have to save her!”

  “She brought this on herself,” Corrine said cooly.

  Nicky scrambled back until her hand found the knife in Corrine’s hand. She dropped her knife to take it and twisted to escape. There was no way she would have gotten away if Corrine hadn’t let her. She fell forward and used the momentum to run at the soul eater. It was so distracted by the glowing white lines it was extracting from Megan, it didn't notice her until the blade was rammed right between its shoulders. It tossed its head back and shrieked. It raised an arm, but Nicky was gone before it could hand a blow. Corrine held her bridal-style, well out of the soul eater’s reach as it thrashed in the air. Dying animal sounds sent the few birds still lingering into the air.

  It was hard to tell in the dark what was happening. All Nicky saw were the white threads leaving the darkness. The shadowy cloaked shrank back, retreated until all that was left was a white mask that landed on the dirt with an unceremonious thump.

  Corrine let her down, and Nicky stepped tentatively toward the the mask. Her hand found her dropped knife. It was hot, but not so hot she couldn't hold it. She used the tip to lift the mask into the air. Before she could get a good look, it was gone.

  “I’ll get rid of this,” Corrine said. “You take care of your friend.”

  And then she was gone. It almost annoyed Nicky more than being thrown around did. Nicky crouched next to Megan, her frantic gasps for air guiding her.

  “We’re going to get you out of here,” Nicky said, fishing her phone from her back pocket.

  A bloody hand grasped hers as Nicky struggled to unlock it. The light of her screen lit up Megan’s pained and furious grimace. Finally, her phone clicked as it unlocked. She wiped her hand on her t-shirt to clean it and shoved her thumb into the screen.

  9-1-1, dial.

  “I'm going to make you wish you'd killed me,” she hissed.

  “Nine-one-one, what's the location of your emergency?” a tired-sounding woman asked.

  “Abundance Falls Cemetery,” Nicky said. “My friend’s been stabbed.”

  16

  Nicky shoved her modest suitcase into the trunk of her car. There wasn't much point taking a whole lot home when the dressers in her old bedroom at her parents’ place were still full of old, well-loved clothes. All she needed to bring were the gifts she'd bought hand hastily wrapped, and a couple nice outfits. The excitement of going home was only marginally outweighed by the aches in every part of her body.

  Nicky hadn't gone to see Megan in the hospital. As much as she wanted to — which, admittedly, wasn't much — she didn't think she would be welcome. Especially not when Officer Bell showed up two days after the incident to inform her Megan had accused Nicky of stabbing her. Nicky denied it, of course, and nothing could prove it. Though they'd found the blade of Nicky’s knife where the soul eater had vanished, the hilt covered in her fingerprints was gone. Corrine had taken the soul eater mask. The fact that Nicky was beaten up and Megan didn't have any corresponding injuries to have made them led some credibility to her story that they'd been visiting Lauren's grave when they'd been jumped. If Officer Bell wondered how Nicky had gotten attacked twice in such a short period of time, he didn't say so. Any possible chance Megan had of being taken seriously was thrown out the window the second she started screaming about witches and demons and vampires. If she'd been able to do any magic, she might have been able to prove it. As it was, Nicky was free to head home for the holidays.

  Part of her felt guilty. Most of her felt guilty, actually. Megan was spending Christmas in the closest psychiatric ward, and she was going to be spending it with her parents. But with the threat of the soul eater no longer hanging over Nicky's head, she'd felt lighter than she had in a long time. Already, she could smell the gingerbread her mom would be making and hear her dad’s off-key singing. The thought of it filled her chest with warmth and brought a smile to her lips.

  Nicky returned to her apartment to face the impossible task of getting Nebula into a carrier for the long drive home. It would have been much, much faster to drive, but she didn't trust anyone with her precious kitty. If Nebula wasn't such an anxious passenger, Nicky would have just strapped her into the passenger's seat with the seatbelt and been done with it. Somehow, Nebula preferred the carrier to being so lose in the car.

  “Come on, Nebs,” she cooed in a high voice, “come on. You want a treat? There's a treat in here, look.”

  Nebula did look, but she didn't seem to think the treat at the back of the carrier was worth it. Even when Nicky set several treats on the floor leading to the carrier, Nebula seemed to know what she was up to. Instead of getting into the carrier, Nebula darted under the couch. Nicky sat back on her heels, sighing. So much for leaving before dark.

  Deciding she was banged up enough without cat scratches all over her arms, Nicky stood and stretched. Her joints cracked. She winced at the click in her shoulder. She was going to have to get that looked at to make sure there was no permanent damage. Did she have a decent excuse for how it happened? The only hunter doctor she knew had retired to Florida two years ago, and Nicky hadn’t seen a regular doctor since.

  Since everything but the cat was packed, Nicky picked her phone up and scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. Alison picked up on the first ring.

  “Hey!” She said brightly. “Mom, its Nicky. Its Nicky! Mom says hi.”

  Nicky couldn't help the short laugh that left her. “I say hi back. Nebulas holed up under the couch, so I'll probably be late getting home.”

  “All right. We’re still at the airport waiting for Jessica. Her flight got delayed because of the snow storm out in London. You do remember snow, don't you?”

  Even though Alison couldn't see it, Nicky rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the phone.

  “I miss it. It rarely snows here. Soon as someone else moves down, I'm heading back up north.”

  “Do they have vampires in Canada?”

  “Why wouldn't they?”

  A loud knock at Nicky's front door covered up Alison's rationale behind why Canada might not have vampires. Something about the cold. She crossed the apartment and looked through the peephole, expecting her landlord or another tenant. The guy upstairs had mistakenly come to her apartment instead of the one below her more than once. Instead, she found herself looking at the back of a blonde head.

  “Hey, I have to go. I'll let you know when I'm on the road. Say hi to dad for me.”

  Alison promised she would, and Nicky hung up without even saying bye. If she thought Alison would take it seriously, she would have felt much worse than she did. She opened the door. Corrine opened her arms to hug her and paused.

  “Can I come in?” She asked.

  Nicky nodded, and Corrine pulled her into a tight hug that made Nicky wince.

  “I'm so glad you're okay! I got you a present.”

  Corrine let Nicky go and bounded into the apartment. She crouched next to the couch, making kissy sounds at Nebula still hiding underneath. Nebula wriggled out to lick her fingers.

  “I didn't forget you, fluffy baby.” A small bell jingled as Corrine pulled a small rainbow bandana from her jacket pocket to fix around her neck. For a moment, Nebula didn't seem to know what to do with herself. She stood still, blinked, then
pushed her tiny face against Corrine’s leg. “Aw, you're welcome.”

  Nicky shifted. This was the third time she'd let Corrine into her apartment. This was going to become a regular occurrence, wasn't it? She couldn't keep denying the relief she felt watching Corrine scoop Nebula into her arms as she stood.

  “You didn't have to get her anything,” Nicky said, even though she had to admit the bandana was cute. And the bell would make it much easier to find Nebula in the dark. “She's spoiled as it is.”

  “She is perfect.”

  Nicky couldn't deny that either. She cleared her throat, feeling very hot and very awkward. “I sort of got you something too.”

  Corrine blinked in surprise. Her mouth fell open a little. Her skin was more pale than usual, making her freckles stand out. She was going to have to feed soon, Nicky realized. And somehow, Nicky didn't care. Monsters were made, that was what her dad was always saying. Corrine was not inherently bad. If all she killed was creeps who had it coming, did that really make her enough of a monster? She hasn't killed anyone in Abundance Falls, which meant she wasn't Nicky's problem, right?

  Right?

  Her heart hammered in her chest. What was she doing? It was too late to take it back. Corrine was already tipping her head in curious anticipation.

  “Really? Well, let me give you your present first.”

  Nicky frowned. “That wasn't my present?”

  “Of course not! I wouldn't get you something and let this precious little baby feeling left out.” Corrine kissed Nebulas head, then coaxed her to let herself drop to the floor with a light thud. She reached into her jacket. Metal reflected the light from the ceiling. “This is your present.”

  Nicky stared and took the offered dagger wrapped in red, snowflake-covered paper.

  “Is this—”

  “I couldn't find the blade, so I had to get someone to make a new one. That's the original handle, though. Should be just as good as the old one.”