by Leah Silver
But then Oscar cleared his throat. At least, I thought it was Oscar. I couldn’t be sure. The spark was making it hard to concentrate.
Light-years before I was ready, Ed pulled away and set me back down on the ground. “Thank you. The implications of this room are astronomical.”
I tried—and failed I was sure—to act like I had my act together, was totally composed, and not at all affected by that kiss. “Okay,” I said, not sure how a bunch of dusty old supplies that were probably spoiled would be helpful. “Ed, isn’t there a shelf life on this stuff?”
“No. Witches and wizards put spells on their provisions. I assume your friend did the same thing. She’s certainly smart enough for it.” He wasn’t really looking at me. He had the book opened on the table, and was already gathering supplies from the room. “This place is amazing, Merry.”
“She was amazing. This place is all I have left of her.”
Ed stopped what he was doing and turned to me, taking both my hands in his. “I will do her legacy proud, Merry. I promise. We will save Sara, with her help.”
I knew she would love that. “I wonder what she would say about all of you?” I mused.
None of them answered, and I hadn’t expected them to. They hadn’t known her, but she had always pushed me to find someone.
“It’s not right for a woman to be alone,” she said.
“You’re alone,” I answered back.
“That’s different. I’m a grouchy old witch. You’re a beautifully fierce vampire. What man wouldn’t want you?”
“What man could handle me?”
She laughed and laughed. “No truer words were ever spoken. But know this, hunter. There will come a day when love enters your life. More love than you ever could’ve imagined. Don’t run from it.”
I’d looked at her strange at the time, brushing it off as one of her oddities. She had a lot of those. But now, centuries upon centuries later, the words made sense, and I smiled.
“What’s funny?” Ike said as he squeezed into the space. It really was small with five people in it, four of them rather large men.
“Just thinking about Agatha. I think she knew about you four.”
Ed looked up at me. “She had the sight?”
“Well, not like Devlin does, no, but she—” How much did I want to tell them? I certainly didn’t want to admit I was falling in love. With all of them. I touched my lips, Ed’s spark lingering, and looked to Oscar and Ike, wondering what their kisses would feel like. The Mother knew Levi had done me in, too. “She told me not to run from you.”
Ike’s eyes danced with mischief. “That would be foolish, anyway. No vampire could outrun a werewolf.”
“Is that so?” I asked, pushing my way through the men to stand chest to chest with him. He was about a head taller and a lot broader, but I didn’t let that stop me from meeting his challenge head-on.
“Name the time and the place, hunter, and the race is on.”
I held up my hand. “You got it.” He took it and pulled me even closer to him. “I sure would like to see you running from behind, but I don’t think I’ll get that pleasure.” His voice was low, seductive, and his eyes had turned hungry again.
“All right, hungry eyes. We’ll just see.” I tipped my head to him and turned to Ed, who was completely ignoring us. He had a heap of ingredients piled on the table, which was clearly too small for what he was trying to do.
“Ed, would it be helpful to move somewhere else?” I suggested.
“Hm?” he asked absently, clearly not wanting to stop what he was doing.
“Ed,” Levi said, tapping the wizard on the shoulder.
“What, for Bael’s sake?” He spun around, his hair had somehow gotten a bit wild, and white wisps of it were going their own directions. But his eyes were focused, flickering with something. Magic?
“Do you want to move somewhere larger?” I pressed.
“No. This is fine. Although, I’d have more space if you all would clear out.” Then, as if he’d heard what he’d said, he turned to me, his expression softening. “Not that I don’t enjoy your company.” He took my hand again.
“And I, yours. But we’ll let you work. Maybe Ike and I will go for a run.”
“How long will this take?” Oscar asked.
“Not long. It’s important to do it quickly, before the seer knows what you’re up to,” Ed explained.
“Maybe we should distract him,” Oscar said.
“How?” I asked.
Levi moved in on me, pulling my hair to one side and bringing his face close to my neck. “I can think of one way.”
I jerked away from him. “Demon’s breath, no way. I’m not giving him some kind of porn show.”
Levi seemed disappointed as his hand fell to his side. A thought occurred to me. “Oscar, can we talk for a moment?” I looked at him, hoping he would get the hint. He seemed confused for a moment, but then nodded.
What if Devlin can already see us? He’ll know what Ed is up to. We need to do something.
Oscar nodded. “But what?” he said aloud.
I don’t know. Maybe fake an epic failure? Ed can die in the process, and we can all get the potion. Oh, I’ve got it. It was coming to me fast.
“Ed, how much longer do you need?”
“It would go a lot faster if you would stop asking me that,” he snapped.
“Just play along with me, guys. That means everyone,” I whispered, hoping Ed heard me.
I went to a shelf of premade potions and powders, and found just what I needed. Agatha was always trying to teach me about her things, but I rarely listened. Except, one time she’d showed me an exploding powder. A handful thrown on the ground created an explosion. Great for a distraction. I’d never used it practically before, but I’d entertained Sara with it plenty of times. Maybe too many times. Her store was running a bit low.
“Ed, in your spare time, I need you to make more of this.” I emptied the bottle into my hand, and held it out in front of me.
“Mmm,” he said, barely acknowledging my request. I shrugged, hoping I’d remember to bring it up again later. Agatha’s creaky old voice came back to me. You never know when you might need a bit of an explosion. This was a case in point if I ever saw one.
The men shifted nervously in the room while we waited for Ed to work. I braced myself, half expecting Devlin or his demons to come storming through the door. He’d be stupid not to be watching us. But did he fully understand what Ed was trying to do? How much had he seen? Seers couldn’t often pick and choose what they saw. And even if they could, they were limited to how long they could watch a certain event. Bits and pieces were typically what they got. But Devlin wasn’t a typical seer. And I wasn’t a typical vampire.
I shifted. Some of the powder slipped through my fingers onto the floor, making a bit of smoke rise from the ground. I hope this works, I thought as I waited for Ed to finish up. Moments passed like hours as the air grew close in the small, windowless room that wasn’t any bigger than a walk-in closet. What would the explosion do to her stock?
“Shit shooters,” I mumbled. Maybe this wasn’t a good plan.
“Done,” Ed said.
Too late for second-guessing. I said a silent prayer to the Mother, and threw the powder at my feet. The explosion was too big for the room, and it launched me against the back wall, bottles falling around my head. I tried to protect myself as I landed flat on my face, but the bottles still hit me hard. Old glass was heavy, and it smarted when one hit me in the knuckles while I tried to cover my head.
I stood up once the dust settled, and went to Ed. Thankfully, the others didn’t stir quite as quickly as I had. They’d been taken more off guard. I leaned down close to Ed. “Don’t move,” I whispered. Then I raised my voice. “Oh, no, Ed. Speak to me,” I cried, doing my best to fake distress. Sara’s life depended on it, so the emotion wasn’t all pretend. I reached up and grabbed one of the five bottles on the table. “Here. This will heal you.”
Ike groaned like he really was hurt. I grew concerned, but couldn’t deal with it at the moment. I needed to follow through.
With Ed’s head in my lap, I tipped it back and poured the liquid into his mouth. It was hard to see the subtle movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, but it was there. I let some of it dribble out the side of his chin when I poured the last of it into his mouth.
“Come on, Ed. Come back to me.” But he stayed quiet and motionless. “It’s not working.”
Oscar made his way to my side, crawling as he went. “Let me see that. I could use some fast healing.” He took a swig and collapsed at my side.
“What’s gone wrong? What did Ed do?” I asked out loud.
“Maybe it just takes some time to work. Or maybe he added a sleeping potion to it, so your body could heal while you sleep?” Levi asked as he walked over, covered in dust and grime. “Let me try it.”
“Wait, Levi, no,” I cried, holding out my hand as he took one of the bottles and downed it in one swig. Dramatically, he fell to the ground in a heap. We were running out of floor space.
Ike was still groaning in the corner. I grabbed a bottle and went to his side, climbing over the men. I swear one of them grabbed my ass as I went. It took all my control not to squeak, and even more to ignore the feelings that shot through my body from the quick squeeze, but I kept going, holding the bottle between my teeth as did.
“Ike?” I asked, genuinely concerned. The back of his head was warm and sticky. A huge glass jar was on the floor, unbroken at his side. It was slick with blood. “Shit shooters.” I pulled the stopper on the bottle as I rolled Ike over. “This has to help you. It will help,” I convinced myself, knowing it would do nothing to heal him, but the faster this charade was over, the faster Ed could give him a hand.
He was only semiconscious. When I poured the liquid into his mouth, I noticed the subtle differences between Ed’s performance and the real distress Ike was in.
He coughed and sputtered as his body fought to keep his airway clear. “Come on, wolf. Work with me here.”
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I got it all down. Ike was still after the exertion, but he was breathing steadily as if he were sleeping. I made my way to the table, climbing over the men again, trying not to put my knee in anything important, and grabbed the last bottle. I held it up to the air. “Bottoms up, Devlin, you twatwaffle.” I winked and drank the entire potion down. It was sweet tasting, and I hoped it was the sweet taste of victory. I felt no different than I had before I swallowed the last of it down, and I started to worry.
“Ed?” I whispered.
“What?” he whispered back.
“Are we in the clear now?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve never used this potion before.”
“How long does the block last?”
“Twelve hours, according to the book,” he answered.
“Okay. Then we have twelve hours to finish this. Ike is hurt.”
“I see that,” Ed said as he worked to stand up at the same time as Levi and Oscar. They ended up banging heads, and a slew of curses filled the room as the men rubbed their foreheads.
“It’s like being with the three stooges. But who’s who?” I crossed my arms over my chest as I analyzed them.
“Oh, pipe down,” Levi said as he playfully gave my shoulder a shove.
“Ike?” Ed asked, but Ike didn’t respond.
“He seems to just have a bad concussion. Just give me a moment.” Ed started mumbling, and the air grew thick. I swallowed instinctively, but I still felt a bit choked.
Levi put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Ed’s got this. He’s a wizard, you know,” he teased.
“Surprisingly, I did know that.”
Ike groaned, which I took to be a good sign, and he started moving a bit beneath Ed’s hands as they probed the back of his head.
“No. Hold still, ya damned beast. I’m not done,” Ed said as he held him down and kept mumbling.
“Hey.” Ike’s voice was muffled, his face smashed into the floor. “You’re supposed to be helping me, not making it worse, ya damned magician.” With that, I knew my wolf was fine.
I knelt down near his face, seeing his nose squished off to one side. “Don’t suppose you’d be up for that race now, would you?”
Ed leaned back with a rather satisfied smile, at least until he looked at his blood-covered hands. Then he frowned and stood up. “I’m going to wash my hands.”
“I’d still beat you,” Ike said as he took my outstretched hand. He slowly stood up, still a bit wobbly on his feet. “What’s with the theatrics?” he asked, rubbing the back of his head. “That hurt.”
“Sorry. I thought Devlin might be watching us. If he thinks the spell went wrong, his plan will not only be derailed, but he won’t see us coming, now that we’ve all had the potion.”
“That’s brilliant,” Levi said.
Oscar beamed at me.
“I’m good to have around,” I said. “Now let’s go. Ed said we only have twelve hours.”
We poured out of my secret room, but didn’t get very far. Ed was standing frozen in the outer room, his bloody hands raised.
“Well, well, well. What have we here? Certainly not five dead supernaturals, like I’d hoped.”
How to properly toast a twatwaffle
“Devlin, how did you get in here?” I asked, instantly irritated at the sight of him.
“I walked through the front door, my dear.”
I approached him rapidly, intending to give him a piece of my mind. “Listen here, you—”
He cut me off. “I grow tired of your uncreative insults, Merry. Twatwaffle? What is that?”
“Would you like me to explain it to you?” My rage made my voice a bit shaky as I balled my hands into fists at my side. How many daggers did I have on me? Quickly, I did a mental check. Two were dirty from our fight with the demons. All were still in place. None were silver. Shit shooters.
“I’m afraid that enlightening conversation will have to wait for another day. Today, you’ve sprung the trap. And done it quite well, I must say. I hadn’t anticipated your friend Agatha playing a role here, but it’s fitting she does.”
“And why’s that, Devlin?” I was growing bored with his monologue, but I somehow knew this was just the beginning.
“Because Dean was my son.”
The revelation hit me like a troll on the charge. “I knew you looked familiar,” I said as the pieces fell into place. This wasn’t about a plague to kill the vampires. This was about me, and taking revenge against the woman who’d killed his son. “Tell me something, Devlin, if you’re such a powerful seer, why did it take you so long to find me?”
He snorted and turned away from me, clearly disgusted, or maybe he didn’t want me to see a weakness. Either way, I had the upper hand.
“I wasn’t looking for you for a long time. Dean was reckless. I knew he’d get himself killed eventually. But when I found out it was you who’d done it, I had to cut you down the same way you’d cut my family down.”
“I see arrogance runs in your family. You act like Dean was some integral part of you, while in the same breath admitting he was reckless. As far as I’m concerned, I did you a favor.”
“And I will return that same favor, threefold,” Devlin said ominously. A hooded man stepped out from behind Devlin and raised his arms. The image of Sara floating midair, her hair cascading down away from her face, her body rigid, her arms at her sides, appeared in front of me like I was watching a movie. And what was she wearing? The green dress from the night Dean tried to kill her floated around her. We’d come full circle. Horror didn’t even begin to describe the emotions parading through my mind.
“It’s here you will watch her die,” Devlin said.
His confidence astounded me. “Right. And I will
just sit here like some sad little schoolgirl and watch it happen?” The men gathered around me, quietly coming out of the room behind me one by one, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.
Devlin eyed the crew behind me. “You think you and what, your harem, are enough to stop me? You underestimate how powerful I am.”
“Ditto,” I said, taking a defensive stance. But he didn’t attack. Instead, he turned and did some kind of parlor trick movement that changed the image. I suspected he had nothing to do with it at all. His wizard friend was controlling it. Devlin just wanted to create the illusion that he was in charge.
“You are exhausting, do you know that?” I asked, and he just gave me a snide smile over his shoulder.
“After I’m done, I doubt you’ll be getting much rest ever again. You’ll be too overwhelmed by grief. Driven mad by it, in fact. The great demon hunter taken down in her prime by a terrible tragedy.”
The image shifted, and Sara began to fall. I didn’t play into the theatrics, even though I wanted to. Her hair flew around her face, her arms went up, as did her legs, and her dress fluttered as her body fell through some kind of black space.
“You can’t revive her if she’s splatted on the pavement, now can you?” Devlin said, and I was all done listening to him.
Ed put a hand on my shoulder, but I ignored him. “This ends now.”
The men took defensive stances around me, ready to fight. But it was Devlin’s wizard who threw the first punch.
Wizard’s fire flew in our direction. A huge ball of it, big enough to engulf us all. “Shit shooters,” I yelled as I stared the flaming ball down.
Ed met it faster than I could’ve imagined, and doused the flames with his own ball of water, leaving nothing but steam behind.
“That wasn’t very creative of you, magician,” I said, stealing an insult I’d noticed Ed got particularly ruffled about.