Queen of The Hill (Knight Games)

by Genevieve Jack

  “Maybe the answer is not found in Gary but in another. We could try to find Kace. If we had a trace of blood, saliva, or magic from your father’s attack, we could trace it back to the perpetrator.”

  Straightening, I checked my watch. Only a few hours until sundown. I thought about what Rick said. Would there be blood or saliva on my dad’s clothes? Or magic? “Wait, we can trace magic?”

  “Yes, it leaves a residue.”

  My heart beat faster. “We need to split up. Rick, see what you can find out about Kace. I’ll text Michelle and have her meet you with my dad’s things. Maybe there is something you can use.”

  He nodded but asked, “Where will you be?”

  “I’m going to try to find Anna Bathory.”

  * * * * *

  To be specific, I didn’t plan to search for Anna herself—we’d tried that before—but Anna had a sidekick named Naill, a leprechaun with a bad attitude. Both were fugitives. Both were on the lam. And I was willing to bet my lunch money they were laying low in the same hidey-hole, probably with an imprisoned Julius.

  When Rick said it was possible to trace magic, I remembered that I had some of Naill’s, and I was more than happy to use it against him.

  “Ugh,” Poe said. “You haven’t washed that?”

  I held up the bloody slip I’d worn when Bathory had tortured me and Julius had almost killed me. The fabric was stiff, and I was careful not to distress the dried blood. “I never planned to use it again, but I wanted to keep it as a memento of how far I’ve come as a witch,” I said.

  “Seems unsanitary,” Poe said with disgust.

  “You eat maggots.”

  “The maggots are clean, it’s just the flesh they are feasting on that is questionable.”

  I stuck out my tongue. “Anyway, it’s not the blood I’m after but the wine stain.” I pointed to a small splash of maroon at the neckline. “Naill poisoned my drink the night Bathory kidnapped me. I spilled some on the green sweater dress I was wearing that night. Bathory took the dress, but a little of the spill soaked through to the slip.”

  “You’ll be lucky to get a whiff of magic off that thing after all this time. Not to mention it is undoubtedly polluted by all that blood,” Poe said sourly.

  I shrugged. “Good thing I have a familiar capable of magnifying my power.”

  He followed me up the stairs and through the door to the attic. “Even I have my limitations,” he said.

  “You’re in an exceptionally chipper mood today,” I said sarcastically. “Did something happen to get your feathers in a bunch?” I crossed the attic to The Book of Light and opened it to a random page.

  “Just nervous about becoming Tabetha’s biotch. If she takes your territory and with it the source of your power, what will happen to me? Will I become hers? Go back to Hecate’s garden whence I came?”

  “I’m not going to let that happen. Tabetha will have to kill me first.”

  “Somehow I don’t find that reassuring.”

  Offended, I widened my eyes in his direction. “Poe! Are you saying you don’t believe in my mad magical skills?”

  “I’m saying, Tabetha has been around a long time and doesn’t appear to have a conscience. That’s a dangerous combination.”

  “There’s something I have to tell you Poe.” I sank into the chair behind the desk that held The Book of Light. It was a suspiciously cubicle-like arrangement for an ancient magical artifact, but it worked for me. “The goddess Hecate, my mother, came to me in a dream. She confirmed Tabetha is after my power and forbade me from giving it to her.”

  Poe rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “I don’t suppose she offered a suggestion for stopping her from taking it?”

  Biting the corner of my lip, I admitted, “She suggested I let her have Logan.”

  “Popular opinion.”

  “Not doing it,” I said firmly. “Anyway, she gave me an alternative.”

  He widened his eyes expectantly at me.

  “She gave me permission to kill her.”

  Poe’s beak dropped open. He gawked at me for a moment and then belly laughed.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I stood to dig out my silver bowl from the trunk where I kept my magical paraphernalia. Poe followed me.

  “Don’t take it personally,” he squawked. “Tabetha is—”

  “Older, more powerful, immortal, devious. We’ve covered this. Just shut up and help me gather ingredients.”

  Water, vinegar, lemon, powdered lamb bone (left over from what I’d borrowed from Rick’s stash). “I need a live grub.”

  He nodded his head and exited the window through his pet door. A few minutes later, he was back in the attic, an extra large grub wriggling in his beak. I’d mixed the other ingredients in my silver bowl. Once Poe dropped in the grub, the potion started smoking. “Is this supposed to happen? What’s the spell say?”

  “Hold the slip over the smoke,” Poe said after checking the spell.

  I did, and the results were breathtaking. The steam sifted through the silk, the wine stain, and my blood, and projected a full-color picture of a cavernous region on the wall.

  “Do you know where this is?” I asked Poe.

  “Looks like Pawtuckaway State Park,” he said without hesitation. “Fabulous place to find small, meaty rodents.”

  “I’m looking for a small, meaty leprechaun. Come on. Let’s go.”

  * * * * *

  Hours later, Poe and I entered a less traveled section of Pawtuckaway State Park. Poe was frustrated I couldn’t keep up with him as he soared overhead. He huffed and groaned as I traversed the rocky, forested landscape.

  “Your element is air,” he whined. “Couldn’t you join me up here? The spot is so close.”

  “Keep it down,” I whispered. “As far as I know, I can’t fly. Although, I hovered a few times during my training sessions with Rick.” I groaned and climbed the cliff wall in front of me the hard way, digging my toes and fingers in the nooks and crevices to pull myself up. I thought about the morning in Maison des Étoiles when I floated above the bed, and the times I’d practiced with Rick. I might be able float if I tried, but I couldn’t move once I was in the air. Not yet. Also, sometimes I dropped like a rock when I least expected it. That would be particularly undesirable given the terrain below me.

  “How is the training going, anyway? Do you feel more prepared to face Tabetha?”

  “To be honest, not really,” I said, blushing. I tossed a knee over the edge of the cliff and squirmed on my belly until I was on terra firma. Thankfully, the ground evened out up here. I pushed to my feet and gestured with my chin for Poe to lead the way in silence. Minutes later, I recognized the topography as the one the spell had shown us.

  I drew Nightshade, her blade glowing blue in the shadow of the forest. We were close; Nightshade only glowed when she detected a supernatural nearby. I stepped toward the grouping of trees and cave opening. “Alligo corpus meum impenitribility meorum mucro,” I muttered. A swirl of darkness slithered over my body and sank through my clothing, making my skin feel heavy. I’d used this protection spell once before. Naill was a powerful leprechaun. I hoped it would be enough.

  A green blur raced by us. A shock ran up my body, and the hair on the back of my neck lifted.

  “To your left!” Poe yelled.

  I spun and threw Nightshade like a spear, completely trusting my witchy instincts. My bone sword plunged into the bark of a tree, the hilt reverberating with the impact. I thought I’d missed until Naill’s struggling form blinked against the bark. He’d made himself invisible, but I’d hit him in the shoulder. Nightshade’s magic was draining his power, thus the blinking. The flashing became a flutter, and then Naill appeared fully formed in front of me.

  As I approached, I noticed his red hair was dirty and matted, his gold vest and green pants stained with mud and other things.

  “Ugh. You smell like a sewer,” I said.

  He growled at me, showing his gold teeth. A b
it of lime-colored blood oozed from the place Nightshade pinned him to the tree. “If you are going to judge me, do it.” He squirmed painfully against the bark.

  “First tell me where Bathory is,” I commanded.

  His green eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to prove, Hecate? You caught me. Why play games?” His high-pitched, raspy voice reminded me of a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz. It made it hard to take him seriously, but I’d learned the hard way that deadly things could come in small packages.

  “We can end this if you tell me the location of your mistress.”

  “She’s gone,” he said through his teeth. “She’s been gone for weeks.”

  I rubbed my chin. My gut told me he was telling the truth. “Where did she go?”

  His squat face twisted. “How should I know?” he spat. “I thought you’d caught up with her.”

  Confused, I exchanged a glance with Poe. “What do you know about Julius’s disappearance?”

  Naill met my eyes with a hateful stare. “Haven’t seen or heard anything since the solstice. Anna left me in this hole and never came back.”

  “Do you have any idea where Bathory might have gone?”

  He cackled. “No.” He annunciated the word through his wicked sneer.

  “Fine. You don’t know anything, which means you are no longer useful to me.” I grabbed Nightshade’s hilt.

  “Wait!” he said. “I could work for you. I could help you the way I helped Anna.”

  “I doubt it,” I said. Naill was evil, and I didn’t need the help of evil. “Naill, I sentence you to live out the remainder of your days confined to the hellmouth.”

  He screamed as purple fire blasted from Nightshade’s blade and folded around his body, transporting him to his new prison. The sound of a bubble popping ushered him to hell. I yanked my blade from the tree bark.

  “That was disappointing,” Poe said.

  “You can say that again. Without Julius, I have only one choice.” I sheathed Nightshade on my back and started retracing my steps to the car. “I’m going to have to trust Gary.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Vampire Games

  As expected, Gary arrived on my doorstep at twilight, the winter wind biting into my skin as I joined him on the porch.

  “Please tell me you have a plan,” Gary said nervously.

  “I do. An armor spell, enhanced speed. I think I can even hide a wooden stake inside you.”

  “Then invite me in,” he said. “Let’s get started. We don’t have much time.”

  I needed to know Gary wasn’t lying to me, and there was only one way to do that. I drew Nightshade and pulled a vial of potion from my pocket.

  With super speed, Gary retreated from the blade to the center of the yard. “What gives!” he said.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” I said. “I just want to perform a truth spell to ensure you are being honest about Julius and Kace. Here, drink this.” I held out the truth potion.

  Gary shook his head. “Fuck that.” He flipped me the finger. “I want no part of this. I’m trying to help you, and this is the thanks I get? Forget it. You can live with Kace.” He took off, running for the woods but stopped short when Rick formed in his trajectory. Gary ran right into him.

  “A moment of your time,” Rick said, holding Gary’s elbow in a firm grip. He dragged the vampire back to my stoop.

  “Aww. Come on,” Gary whined. “What the fuck?”

  Rick raised his black eyes to mine, his beast close to the surface. “What Gary says about Kace is true. I saw the vamp myself. He is preparing for the challenge.”

  “Of course it’s true! Why would I lie?” Gary said. “Now let me go. Find some other pawn.”

  “Gary!” I yelled to get his attention. He stopped fighting Rick and stared in my direction. “Stop talking and get inside. We have work to do.” I opened the door to my house.

  My heart was drumming in my chest. This was it. No going back. I was torn in two, knowing it was a bad idea but also that it was the only chance we had.

  “Are you inviting me in?” he asked, standing taller and looking toward the open door. Rick slowly dropped his hand.

  “Yes,” I said.

  Gary was inside before I could finish the word.

  * * * * *

  “This way,” Gary whispered.

  We were deep within the forest behind Carlton City, the full moon directly overhead providing just enough light to navigate through the trees and underbrush. Still, I hung on to Rick’s hand. He could see in the dark, and I wanted the added protection. My intuition was itching with the vibration of supernatural power.

  Above us, Poe soared between the branches. “We’re close,” he said from just above me. “The coven has gathered straight ahead.”

  A clearing came into view, a snow-covered meadow. Rick stopped me at the tree line. The place was lousy with vampires. I stretched on tiptoe but could barely see over the heads of the hundreds crowding the area.

  Poe landed in the tree closest to us. “Up here.”

  Rick pointed to a branch above my head. I nodded and was swept up in his arms. In one lithe jump, he’d pulled himself up onto the branch below Poe and gently sat me down beside him. From here, I could see the challenge zone clearly.

  The vamps had shoveled out an area slightly larger than a boxing ring and arranged the area as Gary had described it: to the north, a post of silver spikes; to the west, a coffin; to the south, a chained werewolf even larger than Silas’s; and to the east, Vladimir’s guillotine. The blades of the last whirred steadily in the moonlight. On a platform behind the ring, the wrinkled face of Padnon smiled from a throne that appeared to be made of human bones. Skulls topped the decorative spikes of the straight back and bottomed the legs. Human skulls. My stomach recoiled at the sight.

  “Relax, Grateful. The throne is more than one thousand years old,” Gary whispered from below my feet. “Nothing recent. Practically a historical artifact.”

  “Did I say anything?”

  “No, but you’re throwing off power like a thousand-watt bulb.”

  I cast him a dark glance. “I’ll relax. Get on with it.”

  He motioned for us to stay where we were and bolted forward to blend into the crowd.

  “Do you think they know we’re here?” I asked Rick, so quietly he might not have heard if not for our metaphysical connection.

  “They can’t smell me, and Nightshade offers you some protection. She makes you harder to sense.” Rick pulled me in close to his side.

  “But Gary can sense me.”

  “Gary came here with us and stayed within close proximity. Plus, you let him in.”

  I’d let Gary into my house, but I sensed that wasn’t what Rick meant. The implication was that I’d let Gary into my inner circle, behind my wall of magic, so to speak. I hadn’t meant to, and the idea disturbed me.

  “They’re starting,” Poe said from above me. I turned my attention back toward the ring.

  Padnon stood from the throne, the moon and candles casting competing shadows across the platform and emphasizing the deep wrinkles in his skin. He raised his stubby arms, revealing the yellow underarm stains on his sleeveless T-shirt. It was February, but demons didn’t mind the cold. “We gather today to call forth the best within our ranks to replace our fallen leader Julius Octavianus.” Padnon’s voice was all gravel like a long-term smoker, a side effect of being a demon. “Any vampire may challenge for the position, but be warned, many may compete but only one will survive to rule.”

  The crowd of vampires whooped and howled their excitement. Padnon bent to retrieve a carved alabaster bowl. I would have assumed it was bone except it was gigantic, larger than any bone in the human body. Perhaps it was a carved elephant skull. I couldn’t tell. He placed it on a stone pedestal near the top of the stairs leading from the crowd to the platform.

  With a snap of his fingers, a blaze erupted inside, the fire tinged with green. I’d seen this type of fire before when Rick had u
sed the circle of bones to try to force Logan’s ghost to the other side. This kind of fire wouldn’t just burn you, but bind you.

  “Whoe’er shall challenge for the privilege to lead, cast thy blood into the sacred fire.” Padnon held up a silver knife and scanned the edge of the crowd of vamps.

  “I so challenge!” a baritone voice said. The largest vampire I’d ever seen shouldered through the crowd. The guy looked like a linebacker with a Mohawk ponytail. A tribal tattoo curled from his face, down the side of his neck, over his shoulder, and disappeared into the waistband of his pants.

  “That must be Kace,” I whispered.

  Rick nodded in the affirmative.

  “No wonder Gary was afraid. That vamp must be three hundred pounds.”

  Kace swaggered up the three stairs to the platform and accepted the silver knife. Positioning himself in front of the bowl, he sliced his forearm and thrust it over the flames. A glob of red fell into the fire, and to my surprise, the tribal symbols from his tattoo erupted from the flames, curled around themselves, and scattered into the cold night air.

  “I give you Kace Bloodgrain as first competitor.” The crowd erupted into cheers. “Do any among you wish to challenge Kace?”

  Silence. The fire flickered. Padnon scanned the crowd. For a moment, I thought Gary flaked on us. Maybe he’d never intended to help us at all, that bastard. Then the crowd parted and his chestnut-colored head emerged. Next to Kace, he looked scrawny and emaciated. Gary had no visible muscle under his wide-striped Henley. Slowly, like he could barely force his legs forward, he climbed the stairs and accepted the knife from Padnon.

  A murmur rose up from the crowd with the occasional snicker. Gary paused next to the bowl, knife in hand. He grimaced as he considered the act required of him.

  “The impenetrability charm,” Poe said with alarm.

  “Oh shit!” I yanked Nightshade from her sheath and muttered the counterspell, concentrating on Gary’s right arm. I’d never done this so specifically before. I focused my intention on the small patch of skin he’d have to cut. Licks of magic coasted down from my perch, traveled quickly across the snow, and wrapped around my target. Gary must have felt his arm grow lighter because he glanced toward our tree before cutting into his forearm. His blood dropped into the bowl. The smoke rose up.