The Witch's Thirst

by Deborah LeBlanc

  Gavril suddenly drew in a sharp breath and sat bolt upright in his chair. “It’s Ronan, isn’t it? Something’s happened to him?”

  Viv and Gilly looked over at Evee, the same question in their eyes. She didn’t signal a confirmation or a denial. She felt it was up to Lucien to break the news to his cousins first.

  Lucien lifted his head, placed both hands on the table, looked from Gavril to Nikoli. “Yes,” he said, his voice hoarse and hollow.

  Gilly and Viv, both frowning, went over to a second table, grabbed two chairs, then brought them over to the table to sit near the Benders.

  “What happened? Where is he?” Gilly asked.

  “Dead,” Lucien said.

  Evee worked hard at keeping her tears in check. Lucien had to be the one to break the news. If she started crying, her sisters would pounce on her with a hundred questions.

  Everyone around the table stared at Lucien, their expressions ranging from disbelief to confusion, as if they hadn’t heard correctly.

  “Ronan is dead?” Nikoli asked, his voice holding a note of incredulity. “Where is he? What happened?”

  “How’d it happen?” Gavril asked.

  “When did this happen?” Viv asked.

  Seemingly at a loss for words, Lucien looked over at Evee, his eyes begging for help.

  “A Cartesian attack,” Evee said. “About an hour ago. The three of us were waiting until it was time to send the Nosferatu to the North Compound on the ferry when all hell broke loose. Lucien and Ronan were fighting a shitload of Cartesians. Then just when we thought it was over, a rift appeared over my head, literally.”

  “Holy Mother Earth,” Viv said. “What did you do?”

  “I couldn’t do anything,” Evee said. “The moment I spotted it I froze. Like some half-brained ass, I froze. It was as if every muscle in my body tensed up and held me in place. The Cartesian took a swing at me, so close I felt the wind from its movement ruffle my hair. Lucien yelled for me to run, but I couldn’t. It was as if the Cartesian had me mesmerized.”

  Viv frowned. “That so doesn’t sound like you,” she said. “Freezing up, I mean. If anything, you’d usually be the first to react. Go for the jugular.”

  “I can’t explain why I couldn’t move. Maybe it was shock. I truly don’t know. The Cartesian kept swinging for me, and I felt it getting closer to me each time. I actually watched it pull back for another strike and knew I’d be a goner with that one.”

  “You knew that and still didn’t move, run, anything?” Gilly asked.

  “Yeah,” Evee said. “I was actually contemplating what it might feel like to die as the Cartesian started a downward swipe with its horrible claws. Then, out of nowhere, I felt myself being shoved down to the ground by a flying tackle. It was Lucien. He knocked me down and away just in time. For me, but not for Ronan. He must have been only inches behind Lucien, because he caught the downswing from the Cartesian just as Lucien tackled me.”

  Everyone around the table gawked at her, except for Lucien. He was looking in her direction, but Evee knew it wasn’t she he saw. The faraway look in his eye told her he was reliving Ronan’s death.

  “Is that what happened?” Gavril asked Lucien. “Ronan isn’t...wasn’t that stupid to get caught in a Cartesian’s backlash.”

  Evee looked over at Lucien, whose focus seemed to be back, front and center.

  “Yeah, that’s how it happened. Just like Evee said. I knocked Evee down so she was out of harm’s way. I think Ronan was following too close to have it come down any other way. In a matter of seconds, the Cartesian swung out again. It—it skewered Ronan in the head. Its claws went into one temple and out of the other.”

  “Jesus,” Gavril said, and then both he and Nikoli got up from the table and began to pace the dining area.

  Except for the sound of Gavril’s and Nikoli’s footsteps, the only other thing Evee heard was sniffling. Her sisters were crying openly.

  “Wh-where’s his body?” Nikoli asked, breaking the silence.

  “The Cartesian never released him,” Lucien said. “I blasted it with my scabior, hoping to shake Ronan loose from its grip, but it wouldn’t or couldn’t let go. I struck it again and again, mostly missing. I was too shaken up that it had Ronan. Before I had a chance to figure out any other way to get it to release him, the Cartesian disappeared into the rift, taking Ronan with it.”

  Evee felt tears well up in her eyes. “Ronan was doing the same thing Lucien was doing. Trying to save my life. If it hadn’t been for me, none of this would have happened.”

  “Suck up the self-pity, Evee,” Gilly said matter-of-factly. “There’s enough going around this café to last a lifetime. It went down the way it was supposed to go down. There are no coincidences.”

  “Where were you when all this was going on?” Nikoli asked Lucien.

  “Lying on top of Evee on the ground, trying to keep my body over hers to protect her. When I heard Ronan scream—”

  “Jesus, he screamed...” Nikoli said as if trying to envision the incident in his mind’s eye.

  “I rolled over and fought the Cartesian, trying to get it to release Ronan, but it wouldn’t or couldn’t let go. Man, had all those Cartesians showed up while Evee was crossing the Nosferatu, there’d have been a serious bloodbath. They’d have been wide-open targets in the water. Easy pickings for the Cartesians.” Lucien’s eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. “Before I knew it, Ronan...it all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to close the rift in time to help him.”

  With tears still streaming down her face, Evee said, “It’s my fault Ronan got killed.”

  “Why the hell do you keep saying that?” Viv asked.

  “Because Lucien had yelled for me to run for safety, and all I did was freeze in place. If I had done as he asked, Ronan would probably still be alive right now. I’m so, so sorry. I should have listened.”

  “Stop beating yourself up,” Lucien said. “As Benders, we put our lives on the line every time we confront and attempt to destroy a Cartesian.”

  “Yeah,” Evee said, “but if it hadn’t been for me freezing in place like an idiot, Ronan would still be alive.”

  “Stop. It’s not your fault,” Lucien insisted. “Ronan chose to be there to help you, to run after you and knock you out of the way. I was only seconds earlier. There truly is no blame here. Those ugly Cartesian bastards are determined to kill whatever and whomever they please. That Cartesian was already in midswing, aiming for you. Ronan acted quickly, but unfortunately couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. That Cartesian was aiming for you, not Ronan. Pushing you down to safety was both Ronan’s and my choice. I simply reached you first.”

  It broke Evee’s heart to see so much pain in Lucien’s eyes. Nikoli and Gavril seemed to be at a loss for words.

  Despite Lucien claiming it wasn’t Evee’s fault, she couldn’t help feeling a ton of guilt resting on her shoulders.

  She was trying to find the right words to offer her condolences when Gilly suddenly sat bolt upright in her chair.

  “The feeding,” Gilly exclaimed. “What time is it?”

  “We have a couple hours yet,” Evee said.

  Viv nodded after glancing at her watch.

  Gilly pushed himself away from the table. “With all this Cartesian talk, I’m going to look in on my Chenilles. Hang out there until it’s time to get them to the docks.”

  Gavril got to his feet. “I’m going with you.”

  A look of surprise crossed Gilly’s face. “There’s no need for you to come, Gavril. What with Ronan and all. I’m sure you have family to tend to and notify. I’ll be fine on my own.”

  “I said I’m going with you,” Gavril said, and walked over to her.

  Viv rose from the table. “I hate that business has to take precedence at such a horrib
le time, but the Loup Garous need to be set up in the back of the property and kept there until the Nosferatu are done feeding. We’re going to have to do this quickly. If there are as many Cartesians as Evee and Lucien are saying, all the Originals taken out from under those electric domes will be sitting ducks.”

  * * *

  Lucien nodded. “I understand.”

  “We—we’re so sorry for your loss,” Viv said. “And I’m sorry that we were the cause of it. I know you think otherwise, but had it not been for me saying I quit to my Loups in the first place, none of this would be happening.”

  “No need for anyone here to assume any responsibility for Ronan’s death,” Lucien said. “He was a Bender through and through. Sometimes braver than all of us put together. But in reality, as with all things, there’s a time to live and a time to die. I suppose Ronan’s time here was done. If it hadn’t been here, fighting to protect the Triad and the Originals, it probably would have been somewhere else.”

  Nikoli shook his head slowly. “It’s not going to be the same without Ronan. But he would have wanted us to keep fighting. To bring back order and safety to the Originals and Triad.” Nikoli turned to Lucien. “I hate to leave right now, cuz, but duty calls. I need to make sure Viv doesn’t run into any Cartesian problems while she moves her Loups out from under the dome in the North Compound.”

  Although Gavril, Gilly, Viv and Nikoli spoke their piece about having to leave, not one of them moved toward the café’s front door.

  Lucien looked from one to the other. “You need to go and tend to your broods, and, cousins, you need to make sure they don’t run into problems with the Cartesians. Make sure they stay safe. I’ll go back to the hotel and contact Uncle Charles, Ronan’s dad, and let him know what’s happened.”

  “Maybe we should simply pack things up and head to Buffalo Grove and be with the family,” Gavril said, his voice doing an occasional hitch. “They may need our support. This is a big loss. Not just because Ronan was a Bender. We grew up together. We were like brothers.”

  “I know,” Lucien said. “This will not only hurt Uncle Charles, but it’ll affect all of our families. But neither Ronan, Uncles Charles, nor our own fathers would want us to head back. We’re Benders, and we have to stay and complete what we’ve set out to accomplish. That’s been a given oath since we arrived here.”

  Gavril nodded hesitantly. “You’re right, cuz. Neither Ronan nor Benders before us would want us to bail right now.”

  Lucien nodded.

  With nothing left to say, Viv, Gilly, Nikoli and Gavril were about to leave the café to tend to the business at hand when Lucien suddenly said, “Wait!”

  Everyone turned in his direction.

  “I just thought of a way to get the Nosferatu and Chenilles to the compound without having them exposed to the Cartesians.”

  “What?” Gavril asked.

  “How?” Evee asked.

  Lucien stood from his place at the table and tapped a finger to his lips. “Viv, can you and Nikoli chance exposing one of your largest Loups for a project?”

  “What project?” Nikoli asked.

  “Yes,” Evee said, not waiting for Lucien to answer Nikoli’s question. “If it’ll help the rest of the Originals get safely to the feeding grounds, we can make it happen.” She looked at Nikoli. “You’ll be there with your scabior, right?”

  Nikoli nodded, then turned and frowned at Lucien. “What project are you talking about?”

  “If we can build electrical domes over the safe zones for the Originals, nothing says we can’t build one over the ferry, right?”

  “Oh, great call, cuz,” Gavril said. “That narrows the kill zones to a much shorter distance. Their safe place to the ferry, then off the ferry into the compound. Same on the return.”

  “That should work,” Nikoli said.

  “But can it be done in such a short time?” Gilly asked.

  “My Loups can make anything happen,” Viv said proudly. She turned to Lucien. “We’ll get started now. I still have steel pipe from the other domes we created, and we still have plenty bloodstones to anchor to the top ends of the pipes.”

  Gavril nodded. “Mission on,” he said, and he, Nikoli, Viv and Gilly high-stepped out of the café like a troupe on a mission.

  When the café had emptied, save for Lucien and Evee, Evee walked over to Lucien and took his hand. “Great call on the dome for the ferry.”

  Lucien abruptly let go of her hand. “I have to go to the hotel now and make that call to my uncle.”

  His abruptness confused Evee. She stood and went to his side. “I—I’m so sorry for your loss. If I hadn’t defied the curse on the Triad, this probably wouldn’t have happened. I’ve been trying since you arrived to brainwash myself into thinking it was all right to sidestep the curse, because I allowed myself to use semantics, taking the curse verbatim. Since then, so much has escalated, worsened, I can’t afford myself the luxury of thinking I’d found a way to circumvent the curse. I haven’t.” Evee felt tears fill her eyes again. “I can only be responsible for my actions, which means we can’t be together anymore. Ronan’s death is proof of that. If it hadn’t been for me, in more ways than one, Ronan would still be alive.”

  “You don’t know that,” Lucien said.

  Evee glanced down at the floor for a minute, then looked into Lucien’s pure green eyes. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “I care for you more than you’ll ever know. That’s the biggest reason why I can’t allow ‘us’ to happen.”

  Lucien studied her face, and she saw that his eyes had grown flat, expressionless. “Ronan cared for you, too.”

  Without saying another word, Lucien left the café.

  Evee stared at the closing door, and her heart felt like it had split wide open within her chest, leaving sharp edges that stabbed her with each thought.

  He’d left without saying goodbye. Nothing.

  Evee sat down heavily on one of the chairs at the table. There was no holding back tears this time. She sobbed openly for Ronan, for the pain his death had caused so many. And no matter how many times the Benders had said otherwise, she still felt responsible for Ronan’s death.

  Now she was experiencing a death of her own. A life without Lucien. The thought consumed her with so much pain she didn’t think she’d have the wherewithal to leave her chair and stand on her own two feet.

  Much less stand for anything again.

  Chapter 12

  Score!

  Well, almost.

  The target had been the Triad, which his Cartesian missed completely. He still couldn’t believe it. How close his Cartesian had come to grabbing such a choice morsel and wound up missing again and again.

  The only thing that saved the creature from receiving severe punishment at his hand was the kill it did manage. The Bender.

  A Bender wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for, but taking one out of commission had a significant benefit. One less to worry about. One less running around with his little baton-twirling act that somehow managed to shove his Cartesians to other dimensions.

  He wished he knew where the power of the Benders’ batons came from. Oddly enough, for as long as they’d pestered him, it was a wonder he’d never considered that before. Someone or something had to give those little batons power. Did they have a leader with powers who made those batons deadly? If so, that was someone he needed to add to his list. He must find the answer to that. The answer might come from the next Bender.

  If he instructed his Cartesians properly, they’d capture a Bender without killing him. He didn’t know if a human could survive a dimensional change without harm, but it was worth a shot. If a Bender did survive the change, he’d make certain to interrogate him at length. Torture him if necessary to find out who had infused their batons with power.


  Now that all was said and done, he reviewed his initial plan to see where’d he’d gone wrong and how he might get better results next time.

  He’d meant to take out the Triad near the church while she waited to cross her Originals over the river by boat. With her out of the way, the Nosferatu would reach the shore of the compound with no one there to remove them—except him. Permanently. With that in mind, he’d aligned part of his army along rifts that he’d already had them working on for some time. It was to be a rush, surprise attack. The Benders had taught the Triad about the rifts, how they slowly opened. How the Cartesians wormed their way through the rifts. The last thing they’d expect was an immediate opening and Cartesian drop.

  The surprise attack had worked as expected, but, alas, he didn’t wind up with the prize he’d craved.

  Regardless, there had been a kill.

  And it meant at least one lesson had been learned, although it needed refinement, for the underling Cartesian had brought the essence of the Bender to him. Had dropped his lifeless body at his feet, as all Cartesians were expected to do after any kill, and then he’d opened his mouth and sucked the essence from him just as he did with every kill.

  The taste of the Bender initially was too sweet, like sugar melting into rotten tooth. The aftertaste was bitter like lemons, so much so it made his lips pucker.

  He wasn’t sure what the sweet and bitter meant. He’d never eaten anything with such contradicting tastes.

  After pondering it awhile, he’d waited to see if it might make him sick. Or maybe the Benders had been created so that if they were captured and killed by a Cartesian, their very essence might kill him. Had he been the leader of the Benders, that would have been his plan.

  But after a while, when nothing happened and he had only the bad aftertaste left in his mouth, he’d shrugged it off. Maybe all humans tasted that way. Sweet and sour. Maybe it depended on who they’d been in life. What they’d accomplished. What purpose they’d served. Despite the taste, he hadn’t felt any measure of additional power transferred to him. If he felt anything at all, it had been remnants of the man’s brave heart, which did him no good. His heart was already the bravest heart he knew in existence. For whom or what else in existence would have the wherewithal to not only create and grow the most vicious beings in the universe, but lead them?