The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

by Ophelia Preston

  ‘How long was I gone?’

  ‘Two days before I felt you on the beach. The day you were taken, the vampires attacked as soon as the sun went down. They were greater in numbers because we didn’t have time to bring in our back-up. We held them back. Your Gran thinks it was a ploy to keep us busy enough that we weren’t looking for you. We spent most of the next day with our back-up, searching for you. Nothing. It was like you had simply vanished!’ He gritted his teeth. I stroked his jaw until he relaxed enough to go on, his stubble like sandpaper on my hand. ‘Then I felt you reach out to me. It was so faint, so fragile but I knew we’d be able to follow it. Claude was able to get us near the vampires without raising alarms. I think Edvard must have suspected he was helping because he’d been shut out of any plans, any talks about you or the tablet. For a vampire, he’s ok,’ Chris said grudgingly. ‘I owe him for helping us get to you.’

  ‘We owe him then. I can’t believe I did what Edvard wanted! He threatened May! Then the rest of my family! I had to raise the tablet.’ I felt like such a failure. Chris kissed me quickly.

  ‘Hardly. You did what you had to do to keep those you love safe. No one could ask for more, baby.’ We held each other for a few minutes before the call of the bathroom got the better of us and we finally got out of bed.

  The pack moved between apartments all day, mostly spending time in Chris’s. Most of the people who had fought alongside them were there too, still healing and wondering what would happen next.

  Chris informed me that his pack, our pack, had suffered no fatalities, thankfully, but that two other packs had lost a brother each. Two were-cats had also died as a result of the fight. There were many weres of all varieties who were still injured but the healers were confident that they would all make a full recovery soon. I was relieved to hear that.

  I made contact with Graciela to make sure everything was fine at work and learned that I had another appointment the following day, with TitanCorp.

  My Gran, Saskia and May returned that afternoon, bearing gifts of food and coffee. They had enough to feed an army, which was just as well.

  May hugged me when she came in, surprising me. I hugged her back, glad she was ok.

  ‘It takes near death experiences to bring you two back together? If I’d known that I’d have half drowned the pair of you years ago,’ Gran snorted. She looked very pleased though. May’s cheeks turned a pretty pink and I felt my own cheeks glowing unpleasantly.

  We all ate and drank the delicious coffee and chatted about the events surrounding the tablet.

  ‘So who was the guy last night?’ May asked finally.

  ‘I know him as Bradley Morgan, an Executive Officer over at TitanCorp. As far as I knew, until a few days ago, he was just a regular human. Now he’s talking as though he’s over a thousand years old and immortal but he’s clearly not a vampire. He took a sword in the stomach and just pulled it out and carried on with his business!’ I said. Even Gran wasn’t sure what that made him. At least he was on our side, or so he claimed.

  Conversation moved on to other subjects. Saskia was quiet for most of the afternoon and I asked her before she, May and Gran left, whether everything was alright.

  ‘I think so. I know that what’s happened was a part of the reason I came here but it was only a part. I feel that the urgency has gone but the threat is still hovering, further off. I’m going to go back home, finish up my book and come back, just to be safe. I know I haven’t played my role yet. It’s almost as though whatever was meant to happen couldn’t happen because something was missing from the ‘mix’,’ she shrugged, not fully able to articulate her thoughts.

  ‘Then I hope it doesn’t happen for some time to come. You’re welcome here anytime sweetie. I’ll miss you.’ I hugged her and kissed her head. ‘Look after yourself.’

  ‘You too. I think you have your hands full here’ she smiled, glancing at the pack and its guests. I snorted and waved her goodbye.

  Chris and I spent the night over at mine. He cooked this time and I found myself watching his every move as he worked in the kitchen.

  ‘You’re doing it again,’ he said, his back to me.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Staring.’

  ‘I can’t take my eyes off you.’ I blushed as I said it but it was true. He was beautiful to watch.

  Chris lay the spoon down and turned the cooker down, before turning to face me. His eyes glowed in need. Before I knew what was happening, he was pressing me up against the counter, his lips claiming mine in the most hungry kiss I’d ever known. His tongue lashed out, relentless in its need. I groaned deep in my throat, causing Chris to press me against him. We didn’t bother moving to the bedroom, simply enjoying one another where we were.

  The following morning I received a phone call I did not expect.

  ‘Hello, Emilia?’ A male voice asked.

  ‘Yes, who’s this?’

  ‘It’s me!’ He sounded surprised I didn’t recognise his voice straight away.

  ‘Me who?’

  ‘Me, Lewis, your brother!’ He laughed. I squealed, bringing Chris through at a run. He relaxed when he saw the grin on my face.

  ‘Lewis! Where the heck are you? How are you? Are you ok?’

  ‘I’m fine, just fine, big sis. I’m in Hong Kong. I had a feeling something happened to you and it took me a few hours to get an up to date number for you. Are you ok?’ He sounded genuinely concerned.

  ‘I’m fine now. We hit a major speed bump here but everything is fine, I think. Damn, Lewis, it’s so good to hear your voice!’

  ‘You too. I should be in New York next month. I’ll text you when I land. Can you let the folks know I’m ok and where I am? I can’t really call them right now but that feeling about you just wouldn’t go away.’ He sounded tired.

  ‘I will do sweetie. You take care. Love you.’

  ‘Love you too, Em,’ and he hung up. Chris was smiling when I turned to him. I’d told him that our brother had just vanished off the face of the earth for a few years now. We knew he was alive, we all had a connection, but that was all we knew, until now.

  I made a quick call to my mum and let her know, asking her to pass the news on to Gran, May and Saskia.

  Bradley Morgan met us in the conference room two hours later. He smiled warmly when he saw us. He was alone, so I assumed that this meeting was not a corporate matter and was more about what had happened on the beach.

  ‘I just wanted to thank you for your work the other day, and to apologise for not thinking to move the tablet before Edvard had a chance to get it. It is now somewhere safe and I shall not tell a single soul in the hope that no one else comes looking.’

  ‘Is it still in New York?’ Chris asked. Bradley seemed to know that it wasn’t out of personal curiosity so much as the Alpha of New York needing to know if anything like this was ever going to happen in his city again.

  ‘No, I can assure you it is not. The tablet is very, very well hidden.’

  ‘You are the caretaker of the tablet?’ I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

  ‘In a sense. I was travelling through Egypt some time ago and was asked to keep them safe. I feel that this is a small penitence for a lifetime of mistakes.’

  ‘Are...are you one of the damned?’ The question left my mouth before I could stop it.

  ‘Yes.’ That single word was weighed with more sorrow than I had heard uttered from anyone. His eyes held so much sadness that it caught my breath. ‘I sired Edvard Maastrich. Not intentionally, of course. He and a small band of bandits caught me and all drank from me while I travelled through what is now called the Netherlands. I believe he was actually a Frieslander. This was at the time of the emerging Reformation in Europe, when Spain was building its empire.

  There were five of them in total and they were the only ones who ever managed to catch me unaware. Including Edvard, that is three of them dead now. One of the two remaining bandits is a rather decent fellow. He did not try to build himself a
vampiric army. He has lived his life quietly and I hope, without cruelty. The other has gone to ground. I have not heard of him in a hundred years.

  I must stress that these are not the only old ones, ones who have drunk the blood of a damned man. They are merely the only ones to have tasted my blood. I know of at least one other damned man who still walks the earth and he has, unfortunately, sired vampires. It is fortunate that this knowledge has become lost with time, I think.’

  ‘Are you the one called Ahasureus?’ Chris asked, curious now himself.

  ‘I was once known by that name, and I was an ignorant fool.’

  The weight of that statement silenced us both for a moment. We were in the presence of a man who had been alive when Jesus had lived, when the Romans had been in power, a man who had seen empires rise and fall like leaves from a tree. I had so many questions that my mind simply shut down. Chris sensed my shock and asked another question.

  ‘So you brought the tablet here?’

  ‘Indeed. I knew of the portal here in New York and thought it was a perfect hiding location for something so precious and dangerous. As you now know, this portal only appears every hundred years, and so the chances of someone being present when it appeared this Beltain should have been infinitesimally minute.’

  ‘How did you know about the portal,’ Chris wondered aloud. Bradley smiled. He might be in a sharing mood but he clearly liked to keep some things to himself. The Alpha smiled his understanding.

  ‘Do you have Gustav?’ I wondered aloud.

  ‘Not now, no. I made sure that he was still sane, made him promise a few things and let him go home, wherever that may be,’ he smiled. I was surprised at that.

  ‘Won’t he try to take over the world?’

  ‘I doubt it. The tablet is about truths. It teaches many truths. When you have been awakened to those truths it is not likely that you will try to alter the world into your own image.’ Something about the way he said it made me wonder whether he was speaking from experience. Given that he wasn’t offering how he knew this, I thought it better not to ask. Chris seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

  ‘Ok. Did he mention any loose ends needing tied up?’ The question was light, almost flippant.

  ‘Actually, he did. He mentioned two witches he and a member of his clan had employed. One, I believe, harmed your friend Shaya Duvall, and members of your pack. The other was instrumental in keeping Mr Hunter here out of the picture for so long.

  Gustav told me that the man, Shaya’s attacker, had gone to ground, his words. His name was Kelso. I do not know whether this is a first name or surname. The other, I was told, would be returning to San Francisco and went by the name of Madam Christa. That is all he said on the matter. I hope that helps.’

  ‘It helps a great deal.’ Chris’s jaw was working again. He wanted both of them to pay for their actions. At least now we had names to work with. I thought a subject segue was in order.

  ‘My sister seems to think that something bad, a bigger bad than this, is coming.’

  ‘Your sister has very good instincts. I fear that is true.’

  ‘Worse than a vampire wanting to become a god?’ Chris sounded disbelieving.

  ‘There are things far worse than that, Mr Hunter, believe me. But with any luck it will pass us all by and some other poor schmucks will be left to deal with it, yes?’ Bradley stood with a sad smile and we stood to face him. He thanked us again for our help and said he’d be in touch in a few months with work for me.

  Chris and I returned to the warehouse. Our guests had returned to their respective homes and we found his apartment empty. It was the first time in quite a while that his apartment hadn’t had a single visitor.

  Gran had left a message on voicemail stating that she and May were heading back to San Francisco to finish their trip there, before making their way east, and that they would see us again in a few weeks. I found myself looking forward to that.

  Chris and I wondered how long it would be before our increased powers settled back down but no one could definitively answer that one!

  We sat by the window, looking out across the river with some wine mulling over the events of the past few weeks and wondered what we would face in the near future. Whatever life threw at us we knew that we would face it together.

  Exlude

  Alex Hunter paced the hall, waiting. He had travelled thousands of miles, all the way to Damascus for this. He would not go home without it. Sweat permeated his shirt. It was so hot here! He had never known heat like it!

  A moment later a small, reedy man appeared, nodded and admitted him into the chamber. The man sitting behind the desk before him was tall, thin, dark and cold; age seemed to drip off him.

  ‘So, you want the map?’ he asked, his voice as rough as cracking bones.

  ‘I need the map. I need this more than anything,’ Alex breathed. He knew it was a mistake to show any kind of weakness in front of such a man when the person opposite him cracked a smile.

  ‘Indeed. And what would you be willing to give in return?’

  Knowing that anything less than the truth would get him killed, he answered as honestly as he could.

  ‘Anything. I would give anything for it.’

  The End

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Prelude

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Exlude