“Overconfidence is dangerous in battle, Tamara.”
“So is an iron arrow between the eyes.” As we walked toward the house, I said, “I don’t want Zach to come with us. That amulet of his gives me a headache.”
“Is that what you told him?”
“No, why?”
“I don’t know. He seems subdued.”
“Oh, that. I think I hurt his feelings when I told him you were the shoes.”
“I’m the shoes?” he asked, glancing at my bare feet.
I opened my mouth to explain, but I didn’t have time because Zach walked out the back door with the file.
“Lyons, take a look at this photograph.”
“Bryn, did you bring Mercutio?” I asked.
“He’s asleep in the car.”
“Good, let’s go.”
“Hang on,” Bryn said, taking the picture from Zach.
“Does there seem to be a pattern to the way the gardenias are laid out around Edie’s body?”
Bryn stared at the picture for a moment and then said, “Yes, it’s Taurus. The Pleiades, the seven sisters. They’re sapphire blue stars, which are fairly near the earth.”
“The constellation Taurus?” Zach asked.
Bryn nodded. “Yeah, I’m surprised you saw that.”
Zach shrugged. “If he performed a killing ritual, it stands to reason that nothing would be random about the arrangement of the body.”
“These flowers can be used in sex magic,” Bryn said.
“Gardenias,” I put in with a nod.
“He may be using carnal energy to boost his power enough to perform the transformative killing spell. A ritual to suck the life force from a dying body and to absorb it into one’s self requires a massive amount of energy and concentration. It’s probably why he’s doing things in stages. The winter solstice is a good night to draw power from Taurus.”
“The solstice, that’s tonight?” Zach asked.
“That’s tonight,” Bryn confirmed.
I patted the air next to Zach’s arm. “Thanks for the help. We’ll take it from here,” I said, snatching the file from him.
“I don’t think so,” Zach said. He grabbed the edge of the file and held on so I couldn’t pull it away.
“Vangie’s my friend. Edie’s my aunt. Black splotchy poison’s my disease. That makes Skeleton Guy mine, too. He wants to come to Duvall on safari? I’m just the one to show him the big game around here are armed.”
Zach and Bryn both looked at me like they didn’t recognize me. I gave them a sweet smile. “If you want to look at this file, Bryn, go ahead. I’ll wait for you in the car. Remember what I said about that necklace not driving with us.” I let go of the file and snagged the keys from Bryn’s pocket.
“How long until Tammy Jo’s back to normal?” Zach asked.
“Hard to say,” Bryn said.
“How can you stand her like that?”
I glanced over my shoulder and raised my brows in question. Bryn exhaled, half-sighing, half-smiling.
“When she’s at her best, so am I. When she’s Bonnie, I’m Clyde.”
Penetrating the emotional numbness, warmth spread through my chest, and I smiled at Bryn and winked.
Zach shook his head. “There’s only one version of me. And there’s only one version of her that I like.”
“Maybe that’s why he’s the shoes and you’re not,” I called over my shoulder as I walked out the front door.
Mercutio woke when I climbed into Bryn’s car. He yowled a complaint and hopped into the empty driver’s seat.
“Sorry I woke you,” I said.
Mercutio licked my arm and made a face. Like all the guys in my life, Merc didn’t like me to turn fae. I couldn’t see why. I gave his head a pat and updated him on the Freddie-Jackson connection.
Mercutio listened and meowed his understanding. It didn’t take Bryn long to join us in the car. I rolled down the window and leaned back against the headrest. With the sun streaming through the windshield and the smell of the woods wafting in, I relaxed. It seemed like a good time to get a few minutes’ sleep on our way to Dyson.
I spotted Zach’s truck in the rearview mirror. “He’s following us.”
“I know.”
Zach was far enough away that the amulet didn’t bother me. And he might be a help later. “Okay,” I said.
I closed my eyes and floated between consciousness and sleep. I felt Merc’s soft fur against my arm, but I smelled rain, moist ground, and horses. I heard the clomp, clomp of horseshoes against a winding road. I sat in an open carriage, bouncing softly with craggy rocks and a smattering of grass on either side of me. Drizzle matted the heavy braid of my hair against my neck. I glanced at my hands on my lap. I didn’t recognize them. My fingers were longer, the fingernails more rectangular than normal.
I jerked awake, startled.
Bryn glanced over with a questioning look.
Words popped into my mind and a sense of déjà vu. The winding road had been familiar, but wide awake now, I knew I’d never been there in my life.
“Where’s the Gap of Dunloe?” I asked.
“The Gap of Dunloe is in County Kerry in Ireland. Killarney. Why?” Bryn asked.
I cocked my head and couldn’t keep from yawning. Fatigue, heavy as molasses, weighed on me. “I dreamed about it. Could be that I’m going to visit there. My double-great-grandma was a seer. I’ve maybe got her gift. It seems like it’s kicking in.”
“Am I with you in the premonition?”
“Not that I’ve seen, but you must be somewhere nearby.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if I were leaving the country, you’re the first thing I’d pack.”
He smiled. “I’d be happy to show you Ireland, sweetheart. But I’m not sure we’d agree on the places to visit.”
“You mean you wouldn’t want to walk any faery trails?”
“Exactly.”
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t thinking it through earlier when I suggested we follow that Seelie path. It just felt so . . . familiar, like coming home. But that’s crazy. Some sort of faery enchantment probably, to trick me into going there, which would be dangerous. And if I went, I wouldn’t want you with me. I definitely don’t want them to see you.”
“Why not?”
“Edie and Aunt Mel are right. Faeries are possessive. If they figured out you’re a little bit fae, they might use it as an excuse to try to keep you. That would be a problem.”
“It would be,” he agreed.
“Yes, because you’re mine.”
He laughed. “Tamara, they wouldn’t want me for romantic reasons. They’d likely torture me for information on the World Association of Magic and then kill me.”
I glanced over at him. “She wouldn’t want to kill you.”
“She who?”
“The woman who runs the place.”
“The Seelie queen?”
I nodded. “Yeah, Ghislaine. I think you’re just her type.”
His brows shot up. “How do you know her name?”
That was a very good question. I tried to remember if I’d heard it sometime. Not that I recalled. “I guess I’m not sure that is her name, but I think it is.”
Bryn frowned. “Has she entered your dreams? Has she spoken to you?”
“I don’t think so, but I know what faeries are like. I think one day soon she’s going to send guys to chase me halfway around the world. Crux might already be here for that exact reason. I don’t trust him.”
Bryn blew out a slow breath as he turned off the car. “We can’t let the fae distract us. We have to concentrate on the problem at hand. We’ll deal with the faery threat afterward.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Just like that, huh? You can put them out of your mind?”
“Sure,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I’ve been mostly ignoring them for days.”
I got my bow and arrows from the trunk and followed Bryn to the ho
tel room.
Bryn used a spell to open the door. A blast of something spewed out. It didn’t hurt, but Bryn grabbed me and yanked me out of the doorway, and Mercutio hissed and darted away. I smelled sulfur, rotting flowers, and musty feathers. I coughed.
“More poison?”
I peeked into the empty room before Bryn dragged me back. Zach jogged up the stairs, covering his mouth and nose with his T-shirt. He went inside and came back out a few seconds later.
“Nothing useful left behind,” Zach said, then made a gagging sound and spit on the ground.
“I’ll have to try a scrying spell,” Bryn said.
“No need. I think Mercutio knows the way,” I said, nodding. Mercutio had returned to the car and was standing with his paws on the dash. Mercutio can track magic better than a bloodhound can track fallen game. And he’s cuter.
“I’m starving. I’d give anything for some biscuits and honey right now. Or a chocolate cupcake.” I put my bow in the trunk and added, “Or a box of chocolate truffles.” I closed the trunk. “Or a stack of pecan pancakes drowning in maple syrup.”
“I get the idea. If we pass the market, I’ll buy you something sweet.”
“I have a lot of good stuff at my house.”
“Tamara, we don’t have time. Remember that we’re still going to try to save Vangie’s life?”
“Sure, but when Vangie wakes up, I bet she’ll be really hungry,” I said, finding it hard to concentrate when I was desperate for a treat. I was still a bit off. No more tripping through the dandelions after getting a poison kiss from Zach’s amulet. “Every time I wake from a coma, as soon as I’m over the nausea, the first thing I want is some cake.”
Bryn shook his head, climbing into the driver’s seat. I whispered to Mercutio that if he could see his way to navigating us past a bakery, I’d be forever grateful.
Mercutio meowed, but then the first thing he did was lead us to the highway out of town. When the exit for Duvall popped up, I licked my lips, but Mercutio didn’t want us to get off. Instead he directed us onto the expressway.
“Where in the world are we going?” I demanded.
Mercutio didn’t answer.
“Well, wherever it is,” I said crossly, “I hope they have pastries.”
• • •
BRYN’S MAGIC AND I guess my own witch magic seeped back into me on the drive because I felt more emotional and a little feverish by the time we stopped for gas. I bought a packaged brownie. It was full of disgusting preservatives that made me frown, but the rush of sugar did perk me up.
I leaned against the car, and Zach and I exchanged glances.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, yourself,” he said, swiping his credit card.
“Bryn thinks we might be headed to Evangeline’s apartment in Dallas. Since Edie’s body was left in her apartment, maybe he finishes them off at home where there’s a concentration of their magic.”
Zach tipped his cowboy hat back an inch and nodded. “Makes sense.” I caught him looking at my legs. I’d gotten rid of the torn sweatpants, so my dress covered my thighs but my calves were bare. The red wounds had scabbed over, but the dark circles had grown again to the size of silver dollars.
“These teeth marks might scar,” I said, glancing down. Normally I healed so well my skin wasn’t left with evidence of my misadventures.
“Something to remember the gator by. He’s luckier than most,” Zach said, filling his tank.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning there’s a part of you that’s obviously Teflon-coated. Maybe you were just killing time with me until you could afford a shinier pair of shoes.”
I sighed. “You can’t listen to her.”
“To who?”
“To the faery girl. I think there’s something kind of wrong with her. Hate to say it, but she’s maybe a little bit of a sociopath.” I chewed on my lip.
“She’s a part of you,” he pointed out.
“Yeah,” I said with a huff of breath. “It’s worrisome.” I walked around the pumps to his truck and leaned against it. “The regular part of me loved you and always will. The faery girl part of me doesn’t seem to know what love is.”
“She likes Lyons well enough.”
“Well, she likes pretty shiny things. He fits the bill. Plus, he doesn’t wear an amulet that repels her.”
“That amulet may have saved your life.”
“It did. Thank you for that,” I said softly.
“You’re welcome.”
“Bryn’s okay, you know. I think he’d be your friend if you’d let him.”
“Oh, darlin’, that friendship’s about as likely as the devil getting invited to a prayer revival.”
“If you guys both tried—”
“Not going to happen. Lyons is too smart to forget we’re rivals. He’s okay with me coming along today for two reasons. First, because I’m wearing an amulet that worked against the undead wizard’s magic. And second, because you chose him, and he wants to rub my nose in it so I don’t forget.”
I sighed, knowing Zach might be right. I rested my hand on Zach’s forearm and kissed him on the cheek. “One day you’re going to fall in love with someone else, and I’m going to hate her guts.”
“Promise?” Zach asked with a smile.
“Yep.” I walked around the pump to Bryn’s sports car and climbed in.
Mercutio licked my hands and made a noise of satisfaction. “Yeah, Merc, it’s me,” I said, bending my head and touching my nose to his fur. “And I think we’d better get a move on. My leg’s starting to ache again something fierce.”
Bryn returned to the car with a cup of coffee for each of us. Mine was a mocha, and I licked the whipped cream off the top.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Everything all right between you and Sutton?” he asked.
“Nope,” I said, taking a swig. “That was a consolation kiss.”
“So where’s my real one?” he asked.
“The car has tinted windows. If I kiss you, he won’t even know.”
“I don’t care if he knows or not.”
I rolled my eyes but leaned toward him and brushed my lips over his.
“You call that a kiss?” he demanded.
“We’re on a timetable, Bryn. I promise if we survive, I’ll kiss you a whole bunch.”
Bryn’s hand slid behind my head and held me in place while he gave me a deep kiss that made our magic twist all through me. Afterward, I had to gasp to catch my breath.
“If we don’t survive, I want the last real kiss you ever gave me to have been memorable.”
“And longer than the one I gave Zach?”
“And longer than the one you gave Zach,” he agreed.
I smiled. Bryn started the car, revved the engine, and zoomed us out of the parking lot. I rolled my eyes, swigged my mocha, and watched Zach and the gas station disappear from the rearview mirror.
Bryn’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “That’s probably Zach, wanting to know what’s up,” I said, reaching into Bryn’s pocket.
But the text wasn’t from Zach. It was from Rollie.
SOB undead wizard in Dallas commands the dead. Call so strong am leaving home without tweezing brows. Help! RIGHT THIS MINUTE!
“Holy smokes,” I said.
“What?”
“Rollie’s in trouble.”
“Rollie?”
“How many vampires are there in Dallas, Bryn?”
“I don’t know. I’d guess forty or fifty.”
“Oh, boy,” I said.
“What?”
“We’ve got a new problem. I think the lych wants protection. He’s drafted a vampire army.”
35
AS WE APPROACHED the exit for Vangie’s building, my jangled nerves had me squirming in my seat. Bryn pulled off the road so I could take over driving and he could check in with witches and wizards in Dallas. Most of them weren’t friends with Vangie, but they did respect Bryn and pledged their help.<
br />
Bryn texted Vangie’s address to Zach and included a warning about the text from Rollie, but when we reached the turnoff to Vangie’s place, Mercutio put a paw on the wheel to keep me from turning. He batted the dash.
“Wait, where are we going?” I asked him, not leaving the expressway.
“Farther west,” Bryn said, watching the signs. “Maybe to her father’s house.” And sure enough we exited on a road that drove out into the country where there was only an occasional huge house.
Bryn sent texts updating everyone just as a winter storm rolled in. I shuddered. I’d hate being out in a downpour. Probably suffering from post-traumatic-magical-storm-floods-Duvall syndrome.
Streaks of lightning filled the sky. I jerked at the thunder. “Not again,” I grumbled. Bryn looked tense, too.
I drove partway up the dirt road leading to the ranch and pulled over. In the distance, we watched figures milling about outside Vangie’s family mansion.
“Those vampires aren’t nearly as graceful as Rollie.”
“That’s because those aren’t vampires,” Bryn said.
“What? What are they?” I asked.
“Zombies.”
“No!” I yelled. “Not zombies! Zombies are almost unstoppable, and I didn’t bring any passion flower potion with me.”
“Passion flower potion?”
“It’s what I used to put Mrs. Barnaby back in the ground.”
“Mrs. Barnaby was raised using your blood. These zombies weren’t.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning no potion you made would put them back in the ground. To put the zombies down, the master must be defeated.”
“I—well, how could Skeleton Guy raise them using his own blood? He’s all bones and squishy Jell-O flesh. He doesn’t bleed. I doubt there’s been any fresh blood in him for a long time.”
“I don’t know.”
“We’ve got arrows and bullets, but they won’t work that well against zombies. What we really need is a flamethrower.” I licked my lips. “You didn’t happen to bring one, did you?”
Bryn gave me a look and ran a hand through his hair.
“So, um, what’s the plan?” I asked, peering out the windshield at the loping zombies. I didn’t let their shuffling fool me. Behind the blank expressions was a gonna-tear-you-to-pieces attitude that was really irritating.
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