by Debra Dunbar
Things got a little fuzzy and dark, but I shook my head and readied my sword. I couldn’t hurt her with the magical force field up, but she couldn’t exactly walk through me to leave either. It would be my physical strength against her magic in a sort of reverse tug-of-war, and as powerful as she was, I was betting I’d win that contest.
The mage stepped back and ripped the surgical mask and hat from her face and head, gasping in air. It was the doctor I’d seen in the hospital hallway. And on her hands were red, angry welts—burns from having a magical wand break in her hands.
I bent my knees and prepared to hold my position. “We know who you are, Doctor Ellen Hendricks. Your vampire mercenaries are all dead by now. Even if the police manage to get to you first, you murdered a Templar Knight, and you’ll answer to God for that crime before dawn.”
“I did it.” She laughed. “I did it, and no one can stop me now—not the police, not the vampires, not the Templars. I did it.”
I glanced over at Liz, a little worried at the confidence in her voice. Rick’s sister was struggling against the bindings, muttering what I was pretty sure were curse words under her breath.
“You failed. Again,” I told the mage. “No one has successfully done a resurrection spell. You failed the first time and you’ve failed this time as well.”
She stepped forward, testing me. I felt the pressure of her force field scooting me back a few inches until I dug in and leaned forward.
“You’re wrong. John Dimond was successful in resurrecting at least three people. I’ve been in contact with him. He told me how to do it, promised me if I let him live again, that he’d show me where he’d hidden his grimoire, that he’d teach me his spells. And I’ll resurrect other mages too. No one will be able to touch me. No one.”
Lord, please save me from the villain monologue. I heard a faint clink and out of the corner of my vision, I saw the bindings fall away from the upper part of Liz’s body. She leaned forward, the ritual knife in her hand as she worked the clasp on the ones holding her legs to the table.
I turned my attention back to the mage, determined not to let her know Liz was freeing herself. Better to keep her attention on me, than let her decide to use Liz as a hostage.
“You can’t keep this up forever,” I told Hendricks. “You’ll weaken before I do.”
I saw Liz slide off the table and stumble down to one knee.
The mage laughed. “Think again. You’re covered in wounds. Your hands are shaking. You can’t even hold the sword in one hand anymore. There’s blood running down your shoulder.”
To illustrate her point, she pushed forward again, and I slid back, stopping only when I braced my foot against the door jamb.
“You might get past me, but I’m not the only Templar here. And if she doesn’t manage to get you, my boyfriend will.”
She snorted, pushing harder. I breathed evenly through my nose and concentrated, my legs shaking as I tried to keep her from knocking me over and getting past me through the doorway. I had to hang in there. I had to outlast her. Then, once she was dead on the floor, I could lay down and take a nice nap, maybe on one of those surgical tables over there.
I saw Liz struggle to her feet, but needed to immediately shift my attention as the mage pushed even harder. Turning my sword sideways so it locked against the door frame, I hung on for dear life, my feet scrabbling for purchase.
Sorry Trusty, this isn’t the most dignified use of a blessed Templar weapon, I silently told my sword.
She pushed harder, and I struggled to breathe, my grip slipping on the sword. I could hear footsteps in the hallway, and hoped they were my mother’s, or Dario’s.
If it was one of the mercenary vampires, I was done for.
Gritting my teeth, I put every bit of effort into holding on to the sword. Suddenly the tension dropped and I fell forward onto my knees. The mage’s eyes widened. I looked up and saw Liz standing behind the woman, a grim expression on her face. She was holding the ritual knife, its blade coated with blood, and as I watched, she plunged it into the mage’s back again.
And again. And again.
The mage spun and raised her hands, trying to fend off the attack, but Liz was like a fury, stabbing the other woman with a speed and determination that seemed almost otherworldly. Even as the mage fell to the ground, Liz kept stabbing her.
Then she began to sob, the bloody knife falling from her hands.
I stood and went to her, helping her to her feet and holding her tight as she cried.
A pair of strong arms came around me, and I smiled, because this time I’d recognized Dario’s energy signature. I welcomed his cinnamon and spice scent, welcomed the way he fussed over my injuries.
And I really welcomed when he discretely licked the horrible wound on my shoulder, clotting the blood and sending a happy wave of pain relieving euphoria through me—along with some other feelings.
“Later,” I muttered, guessing that he probably had the world’s biggest hard-on right now. Heck knows I would have been ready to do it on one of these surgical beds if I wasn’t consoling a traumatized woman.
I was injured, covered in blood, and exhausted as the adrenaline drained away from me, but it wasn’t just the vampire saliva that made me want to get busy with Dario. Life was short. Anything could happen to either of us. And at this moment, I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in a frenzy of hot sweaty sex with a guy I loved.
“Oh my.” My mother entered the room, took one look at the carnage and went to Liz. “Are you all right, dear?”
Was she all right? She seemed like Liz, but Hendricks had been so insistent that the ritual had worked. Was there the spirit of John Dimond in this woman who clung to me, crying? Was it still Liz?
“I don’t feel well, but I don’t think I’m seriously hurt.” Liz took a step away from me with a sniff and a watery smile.
I took her hands to inspect the needle marks on the inside of her arms and she grimaced.
“They gave me a transfusion or something. It wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t much worse than giving blood, really.”
I frowned. Rick had seemed far more shaken, but from my brief acquaintance with the two, Liz had come across as the stronger and more stoic of the pair.
“Rick is okay and has been staying at the hotel while we searched for you. He’ll be thrilled to see you,” I told her. “He’s been worried sick. And I know you’re probably frantic over where he is.”
For a brief second she seemed confused, then she smiled, her face lighting up. “I’m so glad he’s okay! I was pissed that he’d stayed out all night with that girl and texted me to bring him a shirt after his hookup. Had the same thing happened to him? Things got fuzzy after I left the hotel…”
Oh. She hadn’t realized her brother had been kidnapped and gone through the same ordeal. I patted her on the shoulder, deciding I’d let Rick tell her the story because I was seriously thinking about taking a nap on one of those beds over there.
A siren wailed outside, close enough that I imagined the police car pulling right up in front of the building.
Dario grimaced. “Time for us to leave. Do you two have this?”
Mom waved a hand at him. “Yes, we’ve got this. Thank you for your help by the way. I do appreciate the assistance.”
I blinked at her in surprise, unsuccessfully trying to bite back a grin.
Dario gave me a quick hug. “Should I wait at your house for you?”
The grin turned into a grimace. “I’ll probably be at the hospital getting stitches for a few hours, then off to the police station to give a statement. I’m thinking it will probably be close to dawn before I get home.”
“Tomorrow night then.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ll bring dinner and you can lay on the couch while I feed you and kiss all your boo-boos.”
Hopefully he’d be kissing more than my boo-boos. I watched him leave, then waited while the police made their way through the carnage of dead vampires to where Mom, Liz, and I st
ood over the body of a dead mage. It had been a long night, and I got the feeling I wouldn’t be seeing my bed for quite a few hours.
Worse, I needed to open at work tomorrow. Hopefully I’d have time to shower off the blood before I need to clock in and start making lattes.
Chapter 26
I sat across from Janice, feeling that weirdly energetic hyperness that comes when you’ve had no sleep and spent the last eight hours making caffeinated beverages. Normally I would have asked for a rain check on our meeting, but the reporter was buying me a late lunch, and I did feel like I owed her a story after she’d patiently waited all weekend for her scoop.
“You look like you got run over by a truck,” she commented as she nibbled on a slice of pizza.
I felt like I’d been run over by a truck—or by a dozen or so vampires and a psychotic mage. All total, I had a dozen wounds requiring stitches, and a couple of nasty bruises. Mom had begged me to take the day off work and relax, but I couldn’t call in at the last minute like that. Sean needed me, and I knew he wouldn’t be able to find someone to cover with such short notice. I was totally taking Dario up on his feed-and-kiss-my-boo-boo plan tonight, and hopefully I wouldn’t fall asleep during either activity.
“Vampires are fast, and they like these stabby little knives,” I told Janice. “It could have been worse. I’m happy I walked out of there alive.”
“Why don’t they use guns?” The reporter shook her head. “Idiots. They could kill a heck of a lot more people if they’d stop stabbing and start shooting. Same goes for you and your sword.”
She had a point, although my sword worked a whole lot better against supernatural beings than bullets—unless they were silver bullets, that is. Or magic bullets.
“I’m surprised they didn’t keep you at the police station longer,” Janice said with an incredulous shake of her head. “Two women with swords, and a victim with a knife kill twenty-some vampires and a crazy-ass mage. That should have sent up all sorts of red flags.”
I took a sip of my soda. “It did until Mom made a call. It was all red-carpet treatment after that. Suddenly all they needed was a basic statement and it was yes Knight Ainsworth, ma’am and no Knight Ainsworth, ma’am from then on out. Within half an hour an attorney showed up from the Order, put us in a limo, and took us back to my house.
“So you guys are like the Illuminati?” She wiggled her fingers. “Connections everywhere? All the world’s leaders like puppets on your strings?”
“Hardly, but the Elders know people and they’re not afraid to call in favors.” I pointed heavenward just to show her I was teasing. Maybe.
Janice picked at her pizza, pulling a piece of pepperoni off and popping it into her mouth. “You know what Tremelay found out about Sarah Brunner, the woman who owned the place in Woodberry where Liz was supposed to meet Rick? Turns out she knows Ellen Hendricks. They’re friends. Evidently Sarah had given Ellen the code to her house one time or another, and didn’t think anything about it. She was completely shocked when she heard the news about her friend. I have an interview with her tomorrow morning when she gets back from her vacation.”
I narrowed my eyes as I took a bite of my pizza and chewed.
“Really? I didn’t know that. When did you speak to Tremelay?”
The reporter flushed. “First thing this morning. He actually called me. He said he didn’t want me printing a bunch of rumors and innuendos and that he wanted to let me know the real story.”
“Huh. How about that.” I took another bite of my pizza. Tremelay had called her. I couldn’t wait to see him again and give him a whole raft of shit about this. I wondered if this would go anywhere. Hopefully so. I knew the detective still mourned his wife, but if he was ready to date, then I’d love to see him and my friend get together.
“Do you think Liz is really okay? I mean, do you think that crazy mage doctor actually…did it?”
That was the question of the day. It was probably the question of the year.
“That mage was a hack. Liz is totally okay,” I lied, just as I’d lied to Rick, and Mom, and Tremelay. I didn’t know if she was okay or not, but maybe if I said so, it would be true.
Because I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if it wasn’t true.
Janice and I finished our late lunch and I headed home to find my mother ready to head out, showered and refreshed after a long sleep. She had almost as many stitches as I had, and that seemed to add to the bond that had developed between us the last few days. Things had been strained between us since I’d refused to take my oath, but lately…well, lately I got the idea that she saw me less as an obstinate child and more as an independent woman who deserved respect.
“I expect to hear that you’re scheduled to take your Oath in the next few months, Solaria,” she told me as she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
Well, an independent woman who sometimes deserved respect.
“Not today, Mom. We’ll argue about this at Christmas.”
Strangely that got a laugh from her instead of a scowl. “Okay. You still need to send me your list. And Dario’s, too.”
My eyes widened at that.
“I still don’t like that you’re dating a vampire, but he seems very dedicated to you. Please let him know he’s welcome at family weekends, and any of the holidays.”
Before I could find my voice to reply she’d given me another quick kiss on the cheek and left, bounding down the stairs with far more energy and athleticism than I felt capable of right now.
My mother had accepted Dario. With a few grudging words, she’d given our relationship as much a seal of approval as she was capable of. That was the best early Christmas gift I could imagine.
Rick and Liz were both alive, and hopefully they’d be okay. Dario’s Balaj had secured their territory—for now. A psychotic mage was no longer murdering and kidnapping people. James…well, I hadn’t heard anything about James, but he’d not been among the vampires who’d attacked us at the medical center, and he wasn’t among the dead there either. Hopefully he’d taken Dario’s advice and hidden himself safely away. Hopefully come nightfall, he’d emerge and join his new Balaj.
In the meantime, I was going to take a nap. I had a vampire coming over with dinner in a few hours and I wanted to be somewhat refreshed for the kissing of boo-boos. And the kissing of a whole lot more.
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Also by Debra Dunbar
Accidental Witches Series
Brimstone and Broomsticks
Warmongers and Wands
Death and Divination
Hell and Hexes
Minions and Magic ( July 2019)
Fiends and Familiars (2019)
Devils and the Dead (2019)
* * *
White Lightning Series
Wooden Nickels
Bum’s Rush
Clip Joint
Jake Walk
Trouble Boys (June 2019)
***
The Templar Series
Dead Rising
Last Breath
Bare Bones
Famine’s Feast
Royal Blood
Dark Crossroads (2019)
IMP WORLD NOVELS
The Imp Series
A Demon Bound
Satan’s Sword
Elven Blood
Devil’s Paw
Imp Forsaken
Angel of Chaos
Kingdom of Lies
Exodus
Queen of the Damned
The Morning Star
Half-breed Series
Demons of Desire
Sins of the Flesh
Cornucopia
Unholy Pleasures
City of Lust
Imp World Novels
No Man’s Land
Stolen Souls
Three Wishes
Northern Lights
Far From Center
Penance
Northern Wolves
Juneau to Kenai
Rogue
Winter Fae
Bad Seed
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my copyeditors Kimberly Cannon and Jennifer Cosham whose eagle eyes catch all the typos and keep my comma problem in line, and to Damonza for cover design.
About the Author
Debra lives in a little house in the woods of Maryland with her sons and two slobbery bloodhounds. On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground. Her only known super power is 'Identify Roadkill'.
For more information:
www.debradunbar.com
Debra Dunbar’s Author page