by Karen Ranney
The witches’ power was making the air in the room hum.
I concentrated once more on Dan, envisioned a gray woolen cloak covering his body. In my mind I erased it, one section at a time. The cape was the first to disappear. The arms the next part. Around his neck was a drawstring and hood. Like a drawing program, I slowly went over it until it, too, vanished.
He stood before me in my imagination without the cloak, looking as he always had, strong, virile, a man of courage and conviction.
I stood, moving closer to Janet. I didn’t get the chance to tell her that I thought her spell had worked. The air suddenly changed, the power grew, and I was nearly knocked on my keister again when I stood.
I felt the vortex, the sensation of the room spinning, before I saw the clouds of blue and green. At first they looked like ribbons a gymnast twirled before they blended together, forming a bluish green funnel. The air inside the vortex grew darker as the funnel spun faster and faster.
Closing my eyes didn’t seem to help my disorientation so I opened them again, blinking rapidly in order to keep my balance. I could feel the air on my face from the rotation, but it wasn’t making a sound. The silence was eerie and complete, even blocking out the chants from the witches along with Janet’s voice.
The darkness was blacker than anything I’d ever seen, so deep that it was a mirror, reflecting my own image back to me.
I folded my hands at my waist, tucking in my elbows so I wouldn’t touch the funnel swirling around me. Maybe another person would have been courageous standing there, but little ol’ me was scared. I’d never heard of a personal tornado. Nor had I ever expected to experience one, but I knew it was because of the power we’d amassed.
Now what the hell did we do with it?
I closed my eyes again, this time to concentrate. I remembered Dan from the last time I’d seen him, standing at the edge of the roof, turning his head to smile at me, his face relaxed, charm and sex appeal oozing from every pore.
And I saw him.
Not as he had been only a day ago, but now.
He was wearing black trousers and a shirt that had once been snowy white but was now dotted with blood. My heartbeat, normally slow, escalated as I tried to figure out if what I was seeing was real or was only a desperate wish fulfilled. If I was imagining Dan, I sure as hell wouldn’t have him looking so damn white.
Nor would I have envisioned his neck looking bloody and raw.
I nearly fell again.
I can be damn stubborn sometimes. Ask my previous bosses. Hell, ask Dan. Now I refused to cave, surrender, fall down, or do the Victorian thing and succumb to the vapors.
The vampires weren’t going to win this battle. They weren’t going to take Dan. Okay, I was a vampire, but I never felt like one and I’ll be damned if they turned Dan into one.
I hoped like hell that my grandmother was right and Dan was a super powerful wizard. I hoped that being uncloaked was enough to fight off the blood suckers.
If they won, then I’d just have to transfuse him, too. That would royally piss off Maddock, wouldn’t it?
I had remained perfectly still while the vortex had spun around me. Now I decided to try to control it. Not to slow it down but to increase its power. The vortex was a channel, a paranormal coaxial cable that had opened between me and Dan. I wasn’t going to send him a signal. I was going to send him power.
Slowly, I raised my hands, inch by inch, feeling the rotation escalate. I kept my eyes on his image, noting everything around him. He was in a small room with one door. The background was hard to separate from the mist surrounding Dan, but I finally realized it was nearly the same color. A steel counter was behind him, empty except for odd containers that were silver as well.
He was bound at his ankles and wrists to a wooden chair that resembled an electric chair without the components. The arms were wide as was the back. His head was free, but there was a metal band hanging on a hook near the chair that made me wonder if they’d had to restrain him when they bit him the first time.
I hated bullies. I hated people who took advantage of others. Vampires were manipulators. They never played fair. They didn’t know what the word meant. Instead, they were underhanded, grasping, and greedy. There was no need to turn Dan. Or to do what Maddock had done to Mike.
I was going to infuse Dan with strength. All he had to do was hang on until we found him.
My hands were almost at my waist now. I stretched out my arms, made the vortex wider, and heard, for the first time, the whine of the wind. My hair stood out from my head as if I’d been shocked by static electricity. I could feel the tiny hairs on my arms and a charge run over my body as if I were being electrocuted. I spoke to the vortex as if it were sentient, cautioned it not to think itself more powerful than me.
I am wind. I am fire. I am earth. I am spirit and life.
I raised my arms still higher, commanding, still seeing Dan.
He lifted his head, his eyes intent on mine. Could he see me? Did he know I was here, watching him? This time I spoke to him.
I’m here.
Not exactly an impassioned promise to save him, but it seemed to be enough. His smile was soft and sweet. The sparkle in his eyes made my heart stutter.
I’m here!
Stronger this time, prompting a larger smile from him.
I knew he could hear me. He might even be able to see me.
This next part was tricky, since I’d never done it. Nor had I ever heard of it done. But I knew I could. In a far off place I’d never identified as mine, I was aware of a great many things I could do and had never before done. Now was the time to claim some of those abilities, to save the man I loved.
I threw the vortex to him.
I extended my arms as far as I could, catching the vortex with them. In the next instant, before the power could drop, before it could wrap me into the funnel, I tossed it to Dan. I sent it racing through the channel to him.
For a moment, I couldn’t see him, only the blue green mass of air and light and power.
His head was thrown back as the vortex hit him. I heard someone scream, but the sound was female, high pitched, and screeching.
Something hit my face, the pain rocking me back on my heels. My nose hurt, and my lip was bleeding. The next series of blows kept me from understanding. I could only react.
The sudden noise was deafening, the strident sounds ricocheting around the room, magnified by hysteria.
“Stop it!” Janet screamed as she hit me. “Stop it. You’ll kill him!”
I pushed her away, aided in my efforts by Nonnie and a few of the other witches. William finally managed to subdue her, holding her shoulders, pinning her arms to her sides. That still didn’t shut her up. My grandmother managed to do that with a spell she uttered, something that allowed Janet to keep talking. Blessedly, whatever she said was muted.
Of all the spells witches used, I wanted to learn that one.
I pressed one hand to my nose and wondered if Janet had broken it. I’d always liked my nose just as it was, damn it.
“Is she right?” William asked. “Is it dangerous for Dan?”
“If we managed to remove the cloak, no,” Nonnie said. “If he was just plain Dan, I don’t know.”
“We removed it,” I said.
Nonnie was talking to William and wasn’t paying any attention to me. Janet was still yelling, thankfully soundlessly.
If Janet hadn’t interfered, I would have been able to see how the vortex affected him. My vision of Dan had disappeared along with the vortex. I didn’t have any hope of getting it back, but that wasn’t going to stop me.
I was going to find Dan and if that meant going alone, that was fine with me.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Witches, The Goddess And The Dog Go Vampire Hunting
I left the sparring room without saying another word to anyone. My last glimpse of the witches was a strange one. I’ve never seen them milling around with a look of fear on their
faces. Was it because Janet was still being restrained by William? Or because Nonnie was giving them all “the look”?
I’d gotten that look as a child when I’d done something wrong. Not just wrong, but something about which I’d already been warned. It was one thing to be naughty, another to ignore Nonnie’s cautions.
She hated to be ignored.
It was only about nine o’clock although it felt like midnight. I was exhausted to the point my hands were trembling and I didn’t feel all that steady on my feet. But time was of the essence. I knew we’d removed the cloaking, but Dan was still at the mercy of the vampires. As much as I hated to go out into the night, I would hate to lose Dan even more.
I did have one ace up my sleeve, however.
I hit the elevators and punched in the sub-level button. The descent had never felt so slow. I nearly raced through the empty corridor, almost slamming into the corner as my shoes squeaked on the linoleum. I knocked on Kenisha’s door, opened it, and found Charlie curled up on the sofa.
“She’s with Mike,” Opie said before I closed the door.
I opened the door fully again. “Is he really okay?”
“Better than okay,” she said. “How about you? You look like hell.”
“I think my nose is broken,” I said, fingering it gently.
“Your lip doesn’t look good either. Who hit you?”
“Janet.”
“Want me to bite her?”
“I may,” I said. “Later.”
I turned and walked across the hall, surprised when Charlie followed me.
The door was open a little, so I just pushed it in at the sound of laughter.
Kenisha was sitting on the end of Mike’s bed. He was sitting up, holding one of her hands. Both of them looked flushed, healthy, and happy.
Color me stunned, because that’s exactly how I felt. I’d expected Mike to be wan, barely able to hold his head up, but not this manly specimen, with all of his tubes and bags removed. Even the machines and monitors beside his bed had been turned off.
I was immediately suspicious about that. Was it because he was technically dead and didn’t register anything? Was he a vampire? For that matter, was he more than a vampire?
A tray was on the end table beside the hospital bed. I wasn’t sure, but it looked like the remains of turkey and dressing. If that were the case, then Mike was a vampire with Thanksgiving tendencies.
Welcome to the world of gods and goddesses, Mikey boy.
I was really going to have to ask. Later, when there wasn’t a more pressing matter on my mind.
“The vampires have Dan,” I said.
Mike immediately threw one leg over the side of the bed. What is it with guys? Do they think they’re immortal? Okay, maybe he was, but he’d just been saved from the jaws of death. Mike wasn’t in any shape to be a hero. Kenisha felt the same way, because she dragged his leg back onto the bed.
I turned to her.
“Do you know where they might have taken him?”
She shook her head.
“Is there any way you could find out?”
She shook her head again, inciting my irritation.
“I’m not exactly on good terms with the Council,” she said, before I could get really angry.
“Why?”
“Because I’m here. Because I’ve been staying here.”
“Did they tell you not to?”
She looked away. “Maddock did.”
Well, hell.
Mike grabbed her hand again.
“Did you know Dan was a wizard?” I asked.
Kenisha’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, I knew,” he said. “Dan didn’t want anyone else to know, though.”
“That was then,” I said. “This is now. He should be a full fledged wizard again.”
“Should?” Mike asked.
“If everything went according to plan.” Seriously, when had anything gone the way it was supposed to have gone in my life lately?
“What are you going to do?”
“Find Dan.”
I was going to send my aura on a field trip.
“Take Felipe,” Mike said. “And Paul.”
I smiled at him. Smart man, to know that it would have been a waste of time to argue against me trying to find Dan.
“Dan trusts them. They were part of our team.”
I took that to mean they were in the service together. Before I left, I had one more question.
“Did you ever investigate any of Maddock’s labs?” I asked. “When you were looking for Nancy?”
“Yeah, why? Is that where you think he is?”
When I’d seen Dan, there was something in the background that had finally registered. The flat silver dishes on the counter were weighing boats, disposable containers for industrial or laboratory applications. I’d seen them before when one of the labs my company insured had been damaged by a fire.
“Let’s just say we’re going to start there,” I said.
“I’d start with the ones on the north side. The locations on the south side are smaller, used for storage. They only have a security guard on duty.”
I nodded. Before I left, I turned to Kenisha.
“If Maddock gives you any trouble,” I said, “you’re always welcome here.”
Mike smiled at me. Evidently, I’d done something right.
I slipped out of the room, heading back toward the elevators.
I didn’t realize Charlie was beside me until I stepped inside.
“I’m coming with you,” Opie said. “If you don’t let me, let’s just say I’m going to be talking and not just to the labs.”
I eyed her. “You’re kidding.”
“Not kidding,” she said. “I’ll start with David. He might freak out a little at first, though. Jen seems like she’d accept it right away. She has cousins who are shape shifters.”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” I asked.
Opie had always been her own person, if you’ll pardon the word. What the hell did you call a ghost vet possessing a dog anyway?
“I’m coming,” she said.
Who was I to argue?
I realized fifteen minutes later that Opie wasn’t the only stubborn one in the group. I’d wanted to slip away from the castle and start heading east on my own. Instead, I had two SUVs filled with people who were determined to accompany me.
Nonnie refused to stay behind, as did Janet. The former did a healing spell on my nose, for which I was grateful. The latter wouldn’t look at me, which was just as well. I didn’t want to have to punch her in the nose in retaliation.
Paul turned out to be a behemoth of a man I’d met before when he’d stormed into my room the night Maddock played spaghetti against the window. Felipe was less muscular, armed with a charming grin, brown hair longer than most of Dan’s guys, and a look in his eyes that warned me danger could come in small packages.
William had left Sylvia in the care of Gretchen and insisted on driving the second SUV. Since the man was a witch and probably had hidden powers, I was willing to have him tag along. Besides, Nonnie and Janet felt comfortable with William. Right at the moment, they were sitting in the back seat, eyes closed, their lips moving in unison as they recited a spell.
I absolutely refused, however, to allow the Archivist to accompany us. I opened the back door of the SUV Paul was going to drive, and motioned him out.
“I need to be able to record this event for posterity,” the Archivist said. “You should have invited me to the uncloaking.”
“What powers do you have?” I asked, being a little forceful about it. “What powers, as a Fairy, do you have?”
“I can manipulate locks,” he said. “I can be invisible. I can summon the wind.”
“Not good enough.”
He frowned at me. “What do you mean, not good enough? I’m a very old, venerated Fairy.”
“Stay here and talk to some of the witches. They’ll tell you all about the uncloaking. If you don’t
, the details will be lost to posterity.”
He looked torn.
“I promise to disclose everything once we return,” I said.
“Cross your heart?”
“Hope to die,” I said. “Stick a needle in my eye and all that.”
He finally got out of the SUV and Charlie jumped in beside Felipe. I just shook my head and opened the passenger door and sat beside Paul.
“Where to?” he asked.
“Toward San Antonio,” I said.
Beyond that, I didn’t know at the moment. I was hoping to get a signal or a sign from Dan. Barring that, we’d head for the first of Maddock’s labs.
This area of South Texas wasn’t very developed. Other than the castle and a few houses plopped on hills between here and San Antonio, that was about it. The lack of lights meant that the sky looked as if it were only an arm’s length away, the sparkling stars so bright they could almost illuminate the way. On the way east, we passed Fair Oaks Ranch and Camp Bullis, landmarks that meant civilization wasn’t far.
My stomach quivered and I put my hand over it protectively. I closed my eyes and concentrated on feeling Dan. The lemon air freshener kept distracting me. I opened my eyes and looked for it, prepared to tuck it away in the glove compartment. When I couldn’t find it, I realized that it was Paul. His aftershave must be pure lemon extract.
“Why didn’t you want the witches with you?” he asked, glancing at me. “We could have all gotten in one car.”
Smart guy, to figure that out.
“I think they’re casting spells,” I said. “I don’t like to be around witches when they’re casting spells.”
That was the truth, but not the whole truth, so help me God.
It was one thing for them to think Charlie was my familiar, quite another to be cheek to jowl next to him, so to speak. In such close quarters, they’d figure out that Charlie wasn’t just a dog.
Besides, I think I scared Janet. She was looking all bug eyed around me since the vortex incident. I thought Nonnie might calm her down. There was another reason, one I was trying to convince myself I hadn’t seen. Before she got into the SUV, Nonnie had given me the head to toe look, the equivalent of a grandmotherly MRI. I could swear she knew I was pregnant. A little distance would be a good thing.