by Amy Boyles
I crossed my arms. “I wonder why Vordrid didn’t see it the other night.”
Stone scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I think it’s grown. I didn’t see it either.”
I gritted my teeth. “Let’s get home so we can figure out a plan.”
Stone drove at a steady pace, probably because I held my stomach a couple times when he made a few sharp turns.
We reached my house, and I very nearly sprinted inside. Stone followed right on my heels. I threw the front door open and found Dot and Vordrid on the couch. They both turned toward us. Dot had a look of shock on her face, and Vordrid jumped a couple inches in the air.
“You could’ve warned us you were on the warpath,” Dot said. “I would’ve put on a cauldron of toad’s eyes. You never know when you’re going to need some toad’s eyes. They’re so useful in many situations.”
Vordrid sailed toward me. “What is it, Andie?”
I heaved. Boy, I really needed to start running again. Now that I had Dot here, maybe I could. You know, since I had a full-time sitter.
“When the angel fell, she ripped a hole in the veil.”
“That’s bad,” Vordrid said.
“And it’s still torn,” Stone finished for me.
“All kinds of spirits are leaking out. They’re going into town.”
Dot gripped the tips of her pink hair. “I’ve seen something like this before. When there’s a hole in the veil, the surrounding area tends to become a beacon for other paranormal creatures.”
“What?” I said.
Dot clutched the pearls at her throat. “Other creatures will be drawn to the town. They will come here—werewolves, fairies, sprites—you name it, they will come. Andie—”
I raised my hand, gesturing for her to stop. “I know what you’re going to say. It’s time for The Witch’s Handbook.”
Dot shook her head. “That’s wasn’t what I was going to say at all.”
I narrowed my gaze until I felt a tight crease between my eyes. “You weren’t? All this time that’s all any of you have wanted. ‘Andie, go get the handbook. Andie, it’s time for the handbook. Andie, aren’t you ready to risk your life by opening up the handbook?’ I mean, it’s getting annoying.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “But that isn’t what you were going to say?”
Dot shook her head and pointed to the window. “No. I was going to tell you that we have visitors.”
I pivoted on my heel and peeked outside. Standing on my lawn were three men. They were staring straight into my house. One of them opened his mouth, revealing sharp, pointed fangs. Vampires. A second one walked over to my mums. He reached down and yanked one out of its plastic container. He stomped on the plant, crushing the orange petals; then he tossed the mass on my front porch.
It landed with a smack, spraying dirt across the floorboards.
Those were the mums Justin had given me and that I hadn’t been responsible enough to plant yet. I was mad at myself, mostly, for not getting my crap together and planting them.
I ground my teeth, flared my nostrils and focused. A spark of magic ignited in my stomach. I focused on the natural electrical energy in the room and sucked it into me. The buzz of power hummed in my body. It had been so long since I used my magic that the surge felt good. It made me powerful, confident. I opened up my mind and poked around until I felt the presence of the book.
I could feel its longing, its desire to come out. The Witch’s Handbook didn’t have a consciousness, but that didn’t stop the inanimate object from wanting things.
“Come to me,” I said.
From its hiding place in my closet, the book came, zipping through the house on its own, flying with the power of magic.
It landed in my open palm. I gripped the edge and prepared to peel back the cover.
FOURTEEN
“The power can be quite a ride.”
—The Witch’s Handbook
* * *
“Where’s Gabby?” I said.
“Asleep,” Dot said. “In her bed. I’ll cast a spell to keep her that way until this is over.”
“Good idea.” I glanced down. The book wasn’t very big, about the size of a large journal. Tan leather stretched over the surface, its cover faded from years of wear. Etched into the face were the words The Witch’s Handbook.
I palmed the cover and took a deep breath.
Stone placed a hand on my shoulder. Warmth spread over my body, leaking into me. “You don’t have to open it. I can fight them.”
I shook my head. “No. They’re about to get a big nasty taste of me.”
“You know, Andie, you might want to keep one of them alive,” Vordrid said. “For interrogation purposes.”
I shook my head. “Vordrid, the whole purpose of a hunter is to send the spirit of the vampire back to hell, or wherever it’s supposed to go.”
“Maybe you should try,” Vordrid said.
I raised my hands. “Okay, I’ll try to be nice to the mean vampires. Will that work?”
“I say get rid of them all,” Dot said. “That’s a hunter’s job.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Now, if everyone’s ready, it’s time for me and the book to get reacquainted.”
Stone took a step back. “Take all the time you need.”
I steeled my core and peeled back the cover. A burst of energy shot out from the frayed vellum. It rose to the ceiling, splintering out and then pulling back together. It rocketed down and jetted straight into my chest with a force that pushed the air from my lungs.
I stumbled back, catching myself before I fell on my tush. Energy like fire wove through my arteries. It tethered me to the book, and the book, to me. An indescribable hum flowed through my body. It was pure, unadulterated energy, yearning to be used.
The instant power wouldn’t last forever; it would burn out quickly, so I needed to move fast.
I narrowed my eyes and focused on the front door. The knob turned, and the wood swayed open with a groan. I stepped onto the porch, Stone sidled up beside me.
I glared at the three vampires on my lawn. “Is it Halloween already? Wow. You boys sure have some awesome costumes.”
“These aren’t masks, Hunter,” said the one who killed my flower.
“Then you are really ugly,” I said.
I wasn’t kidding. Vampires could be gorgeous, almost angelic in their beauty. But when they wanted to scare someone, they twisted their features, making the skin horned and thick, giving them larger foreheads, cheekbones that protruded at sickening angles and wrinkled noses.
Ugh. Grosser than gross.
“We’ll see who’s ugly,” the leader sneered.
Okay. I had no idea what that meant. I mean, they were already ugly. They couldn’t get any uglier.
“Your leader send you here?” Stone said. “Letting you take care of his dirty work?”
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “What makes you think it’s a man? Their leader could be a woman.”
Stone shrugged. “I like to think that women have kinder hearts, that they’re not intent on destroying people.”
I smiled. “That’s just so nice of you.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
Meanwhile the vamps gazed at us like we were crazy. “Come out and fight,” one of them said.
“Yeah,” cawed another. “What are you, chicken?”
I smiled at the power flowing through me. “No. I’m not chicken at all. Did your leader or master or whatever bother to tell you what hunters can do?”
The main vamp glanced at the other two. They both shrugged. “No, I guess he didn’t.”
I reached the edge of my porch. The floorboards creaked. I eased down a step with Stone right beside me.
“Hunters don’t need stakes, we don’t need crosses and we don’t need garlic, though all those things are useful. A witch hunter can simply use her magic to separate you from damnation, which is what happens when you become a vampire and you lose all the humanity from your soul.”
“Huh?” the
vampire said.
I glanced at Stone. “Right. Over their heads. Vampires always like to make more dumb vampires. Why can’t they send the smartest of the group so that I only have to explain myself once?”
Stone rubbed his neck. “Beats me. Angels are all smart. You don’t have to worry about us.”
I clicked my tongue. “That’s good to know.”
I eased down another step. “To explain this plainly,” I said to the vampires. “I can end your existence in less time that it would take you to reach the steps.”
The leader threw a look to the other vampires. “Let’s get ’em!”
All three exploded toward the house. This was it. The power of the book raged inside me. I lifted my hands, and bolts of magic shot from them, hitting the first two vampires square in the chest. They dissolved in a puff of dust.
Stone took the third vampire, hitting him in the solar plexus with a punch that sent me wobbling back from the shock wave. The vampire teetered, giving me the chance to unleash a rod of magic into him.
He poofed out of existence half a second later.
Stone grazed his knuckles under his lip. “What happened to keeping one alive so we could discover their secrets?”
I shrugged. “Sorry. The magic got the best of me.”
The Energizer Bunny of power the book had given me started to wear off. I tripped forward, landing squarely in Stone’s arms.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
I shook my head. “It’s the aftereffects. Help me inside.”
Stone hooked an arm under my legs and hoisted me into the house. The phone started ringing immediately.
“Andie?” Dot said, covering the speaker. “It’s the police.”
I forced my lids open as she handed me the receiver. “Hello?”
“Yeah, this is Sheriff Terry Terry,” growled the voice. “We got a call about a disturbance at your house. Someone said you were shooting fireworks.”
“Oh, Sheriff Terry, I’m so glad you called. There were a bunch of teenage boys hanging around. They had some fireworks, and they vandalized my mums. I told them I’d call their moms if they didn’t leave. They got out of here pretty quick.”
“Well who were they?” he said. From his tone I could tell Sheriff Terry didn’t feel like doing any police work after hours.
“Not sure. I just threatened them. That was enough to get them to leave.”
“Okay,” he mumbled. “But keep it down. We get any more calls and we’re coming out.”
“Understood, sir.”
I hung up the phone.
“Get some water,” Dot said to Stone. “Warm water. I’ll get some rags.”
“Why?”
Dot shooed him into the kitchen. “She’ll need those things so she doesn’t get sick. That’s what happens when it takes her life force. Until she learns how to stop it, the book leaves a nasty hangover.”
Vordrid sailed over a cup of water. “Drink this, Andie. It’ll help.”
My sour stomach did not want to take the water, but I knew it was for the best. I drank some liquid and sank onto the couch.
“How’d those vamps know about me?” I said to Vordrid.
“Probably the same way the coroner did. They found that old flyer and tracked you.”
I rolled my head from side to side. “Do you think there will be more?”
Dot took a bowl of water from Stone. She wrung a washcloth in it and pressed the warm fabric to my forehead. “Yes. There will be more. There are always more.”
I bolted up. “But the veil. I may have enough power to get an answer.” I pushed everyone away.
“You need to rest,” Dot said.
I brushed her hand back. “No. Let me try. Let me see what we need to know.” I snapped my fingers, and the handbook zipped into my lap. It was like an old friend—a cursed, annoying friend that brought as much grief as it did pleasure.
I cracked it open. “How do we repair the tear in the veil?”
Flashes, images assaulted my brain in a wave of information. After I’d seen all I needed to, I shut it and sank back onto the couch. I reached for Stone.
He gave me his hand. It was warm. The blood flowing through him was as hot as it would be in any mammal.
“The angel. We need her to repair the veil. She has to go back. It’s the only way.”
Stone frowned. “It’s not so easy to put a fallen angel back in heaven.”
I gripped the arm of the couch and pushed myself up. “You don’t understand; it’s the only choice.”
Dot took my free hand. “What do you mean, dear? How is it the only choice?”
I glanced around the room at the three beings all looking at me. Well, except for Vordrid. He could see, but he didn’t have eyes. The thought occurred to me that if I gave him a different vehicle to live in, like perhaps a stuffed doll or something, he’d have eyes.
Of course, that would be creepy, having a living doll around the house.
Yeah, that was a bit too Poltergeist for me.
I’d settle for a Magic 8 Ball.
“What, Andie?” Vordrid said, bringing me back to the now.
“We have to get her back to heaven,” I said. “It’s the only way to repair the veil because what the vampires have in store for her is much, much worse.”
Stone clenched his jaw. Confusion flared in his silver eyes. “What do mean?”
I licked my dry lips. The taste of metal hit my tongue. One of the aftereffects of using the power. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I needed to tell them. Had to before I slipped away.
“The vampires have made a pact with some demons. If we don’t find Star in time, they’re going to hand her over to them. They’re going to give the demons an angel and with that—”
Stone stepped back. He finished my sentence for me. “With Star, the demons will have the key they need to walk straight into heaven.”
Dot gasped. “That will tip the balance between good and evil toward the demons.”
I nodded. “All hell will be unleashed.”
FIFTEEN
“Being a hunter means you must keep many secrets. Just make sure you’re keeping the right ones.”
—The Witch’s Handbook
* * *
“What do you mean, Andie?” Vordrid said.
“Just that. The demons want to cause enough chaos to tip the balance of scales between good and evil. I imagine the vampires want to take over earth. By creating havoc in heaven, the vampires can do whatever they want down here. That’s what they’re using the angel for.”
Dot’s eyes widened. “We need to come up with a plan. One that doesn’t include ice cream, though that would be a nice addition.”
“Ice cream?” I said, quirking a brow.
She shrugged. “All this talk is making me hungry.” She gave my shoulder a motherly pat. “But you rest, dear.”
Stone rubbed the scowl from his face. “I’ll go check around the rest of the house, make sure there aren’t any more vampires looking to pick a fight.”
I settled back on the couch and drifted off. The next morning when I woke up, it was late, nearly eight o’clock. Luckily Fall Break lasted the rest of the week, so I didn’t have to be anywhere.
I had been put in bed. I supposed I had Stone to thank for that, even though Dot could have used magic to put me there.
I think I just wanted to imagine his hunky angelic arms around me. Is that so wrong? Yes, it is because I didn’t have time for romance. The only thing I had time for was no-mance.
I stretched and rolled off the mattress, throwing on a robe before I slipped down the stairs. I found Dot pouring coffee. She smiled when she saw me and slid over a cup.
“Rest well?”
I blew off the blanket of steam that hovered on the surface. For a moment I debated adding chocolate and decided to only add the whip. The canister hissed as I foamed up a cup of delicious. I was tempted to open the nozzle straight into my mouth, but I decided against it.
&nbs
p; “Yes, I did. Where’s Gabby?”
“Mommy’s awake,” came her shout from the living room. Little feet padded on the floor into the kitchen. “Mommy!”
“Hey, hon,” I said. I pulled her into a quick hug and kiss.
“Gabby go play with Vordrid” she said, toddling back off.
“What?” I followed her into the living room and found Vordrid on the floor covered in doll clothes. Gabby had apparently been trying to dress him. I covered my mouth as I started to laugh.
“It’s not funny, Andie.”
“It is. It’s very funny.”
“I’m doing something for all of humanity by playing with its next generation.”
“Oh, you are,” I said. “Thank you. By the way, did you put The Witch’s Handbook away?”
“Yes. It’s safe and sound.”
“Thank you.” I drifted back into the kitchen. “Stone go home?”
Dot cracked open a copy of the Normal Inquisitor, the local newspaper. “Oh yes. Left last night after he put you in bed.”
See? I wasn’t wrong. Big, hunky angel arms had held me. Crap. If only I had been awake so that I could remember them.
“Any other disturbances?”
Dot skimmed the page. “No. Nothing else.”
A quick rap came from the back door. Kate waved through the window. I smiled and let her in.
“Oh my gosh,” she said, entering, her cloud of hair tied back with a brown scarf. “Dot, this is the best ever,” she announced, placing the witchcraft book on the table with a thump. “I was working one of the spells, the levitation spell, and I’m almost one hundred percent sure I watched a piece of lint move.”
I gave her an encouraging nod. “Wow, Kate. That’s something. Lint.”
She flipped the tail of the scarf over one shoulder. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I did it. I swear.”
Dot clapped her hands together. “Can you do it again?”
Kate rubbed her forehead. “I bet I could. Do you have any lint around?”
I pointed to the laundry room. “You know it, girl. Go get yourself some lint.”
Kate went off to find the perfect speck of lint.