by Anna Abner
He took off at a leisurely lope, scanning for signs of life and the source of the largest amounts of blood. Also, the freshest. They seemed to be the same spot.
Lukas meandered through wrecked hallways strewn with garbage and rotting flesh, his casted leg thudding softly. The hospital’s cafeteria, now a refuse dump, contained a bloodstain so large it had to have drained from more than one body. When he inhaled through his nose, it smelled human.
There was no movement in the vicinity, though, besides the occasional nocturnal bird or cowering rodent.
And then he heard it. Far off in another wing, a foot slid across gritty tiles.
Huffing in pleasure, he awkwardly jogged down a hallway, up a flight of stairs, down another hallway, all the time listening. The footsteps continued moving away from him, eventually quickening to a run. Too bad Lukas was faster.
He leapt, hitting the stinking infected in the back and knocking him flat.
The creature squealed, swatting and clawing at him.
It wasn’t the vampire Lukas wanted. He knew exactly what the woman looked like who’d killed Oskar. This son of a bitch wasn’t her.
But he’d do.
Lukas smashed his fist into the back of the vampire’s skull and then dragged him by an ankle toward the fire axe he’d passed in the stairwell.
#
When Roz arrived at the coffee shop Friday morning, Lukas was already there, lurking like an angry oak tree in the restroom alcove. His size and scowl kept customers away, and he was alone.
“Hey,” Roz greeted as she slipped into the women’s bathroom with him and locked the door.
Lukas grumbled a hello and immediately removed his shirt, wincing when he peeled off the bandage covering the hex.
“It’s worse,” she observed.
“Just do your thing.” Lukas sat in the wicker chair and lounged with his legs outstretched, forcing her to stand between his good leg and the cast.
“Mull over my question, then.”
“What question?” he asked.
“Does it hurt when you shift?” Without waiting for an answer, she called her power and directed healing magic at Lukas’ ribs.
“Yes,” he said abruptly.
Annoyed, she tried hard not to be distracted by his monosyllabic responses and stay focused, but he was getting on her nerves as much as she was obviously on his.
What was so special about him, anyway? So, he was tall. Big deal. Yeah, he had muscles on top of muscles. Lots of guys did. He also had a temper, violence issues, and few redeeming qualities.
So, when he laced his fingers behind his head, broadening his chest even further and flexed his abs, she closed her eyes and pictured the curse in her mind’s eye. Her magic raced along her nerve endings, whipping her hair around her throat and face.
In fact, closing her eyes facilitated the build-up of magic in her cells. She felt the hex diminishing, sensed it healing. In fact, she’d rarely experienced such a rush of power before. She pressed a tiny bit further, and her skin electrified.
Scared, she closed her mouth and flicked her gaze upon his face.
“Your eyes,” Lukas blurted out, snapping into an upright position.
“What do you mean?” She whirled to catch her reflection in the mirror over the sink, but her brown eyes appeared perfectly normal.
“They glowed blue for a second,” Lukas said.
“You must be seeing things.” Roz finger-combed her hair away from her face and then turned back toward the shifter. “Are you good?”
“Good enough.” Putting his shirt back on, he unlocked the door.
A very startled elderly woman gasped at the sight of him in the ladies’ room.
“Sorry,” Lukas grumbled on his way past her.
But he hesitated outside the coffee shop’s main entrance. “You didn’t go hunting last night,” he said to Roz without making eye contact.
“Uh, no.” Her skin flushed warm rose, and she re-checked the pockets of her jeans because something about his size and grumbly voice made her extremely twitchy. “We weren’t ready.”
Forcing himself upright, Lukas asked, “You going out tonight?”
“Even if we are,” Roz said, eyeing him from the thick, bulging muscles in his arms and chest to the cast on his lower leg. Her gaze travelled back up to his abs and lingered there. “You’re in no shape to participate.”
“I’m fine,” he said firmly. “I’ll look for your truck. Besides, I want to be out there. I like it when you bust my balls.”
She couldn’t help herself. “You like a woman bossing you around?” she teased.
He didn’t hesitate to answer, “Yes.”
Suddenly over-warm, Roz asked the first thing that popped into her head. “The cast won’t slow you down?”
He smiled wryly. “Honey, I’m only slow when I want to be.”
#
After her unsettling encounter with Lukas, Roz detoured into the promenade and picked up some groceries. When she unlocked her suite’s outer door and let herself in, she was surprised to hear a tinkling female laugh coming from the dining room. It wasn’t Ali. Connor certainly never twittered like that, even as a joke.
“Hey,” Sara greeted, twisting in her seat at Roz’s entrance. “We were just talking about you.”
Roz scowled.
Sara, though, appeared unperturbed. “You didn’t tell me you were rejected from the Coven. You’re just full of surprises. Not only an incognito witch, but a rogue spellspeaker to boot?”
Oh, goodie. Connor was spilling her secrets. She gave him an angry look, but then focused on Sara. Two could play at the secrets game.
“What’s it like working for the Coven?” Roz asked, dropping onto a stool across from her.
Sara’s smile faltered. “Uh, it’s good, but it’s also a lot of work.”
“How so?” Roz pressed.
Her gaze flickering uncertainly, Sara said, “There are classes. And I have to report everything I do to my mentor. It’s a lot like college.”
“Sounds fun to me,” Roz lied. “What’s your mentor like?”
“Anyone want coffee?” Connor asked, sending Roz a pointed look that read, Take it easy or she’ll bolt.
“Sure,” Sara said to Connor.
“Me, too,” Roz said, though she wasn’t thirsty in the least. But she recognized Connor’s plan. Drinking coffee was comfy and calming, unlike Roz herself. She was used to being the meanest person in the room.
Sara smiled uncertainly. “Marta is tough, but fair.”
“Marta?” Roz asked, leaning forward. “Marta Karloff?”
“Yeah,” Sara said, her smile dissolving. “How did you know that?”
“Uh.” Marta Karloff had signed the bottom of Roz’s rejection letter. Was it merely a coincidence? “I did research before I applied,” she fibbed.
Roz had almost convinced herself Marta was a hard-ass and probably didn’t accept anyone. Yet, here stood her mentee, a girl barely legal, one who talked like a cartoon character and ran around the countryside shooting vampires.
“What else do you know?” Sara questioned.
“Not much,” Roz admitted. “I can call power, and I can cast a few protection and strength spells, a glamor or two, but without a mentor, that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”
“I can help you,” Sara said. “Then you could apply again. I’m sure they’d accept you. I’ll talk to Marta about it.”
Roz’s first instinct was to snap back with a snarky comment and decline, but she couldn’t fool herself that she didn’t want to be a member of the Coven. She fantasized about being a full-fledged member with all the perks, rubbing elbows with powerful witches, and taking advantage of the organization’s many perks. They could be more than useful with Connor’s mission and Ali’s vampire immunity shot.
Before she could re-think, Roz answered, “I’d love that. Thanks.”
Sara beamed as Connor returned with two mugs of black coffee and then brought out packets of
sugar and some half-and-half from the fridge.
“What are we talking about?” he asked, dropping heavily into a seat.
“I was offering to help Roz with her Coven application,” Sara replied.
“That’s nice of you,” Connor said, nodding encouragingly at Roz.
“Yeah,” Roz agreed, pretending to be absorbed in her mug. “No biggie.”
“It’ll be fun.” Sara sipped her coffee, black.
“Your confusion spell is pretty awesome,” Roz said.
“It’s one of my favorites.” Sara grinned. “The trick is to focus on their inner ears. It sounds weird, but it works.”
Roz remembered how quickly Connor and the other vampires had lost their shit when she’d cast it.
Imagine having a second witch in the group. Roz could focus on one spell instead of two or three or four at a time. They could work together, pooling their power, reaching new heights. God, the spells they could do.
Having a partner to share the magical load might not be such a bad thing.
“Hey,” Roz said, thinking of something Lukas had said. “Have you ever seen a witch’s eyes change color?”
“Like for a glamor?” Sara questioned.
“No,” she said, recalling Lukas’ freaked out expression. “During a spell.”
“I’ve heard of the really elite witches changing during casting,” Sara said. “Their eyes, their skin, their hair. But I’m not important enough to see stuff like that.”
“Yeah, me either.” Roz chuckled as if it were all a joke.
“So, Roz,” Connor said, “Sara agreed to go hunting with us tonight.”
“We can practice the confusion spell,” Sara offered, smiling over the rim of her coffee mug.
“Cool.” This could work out perfectly. She felt excited about casting during a hunt for the first time in a while.
Chapter Eight
While Sara prattled on about motorcycles to Connor, Roz finished her coffee and checked her cellphone for messages.
No alerts.
On a normal day, she could count on Natasha texting her at least ten times. Often, they texted back and forth dozens of times with new ideas, new research sites, and new technology in the battle with the horde. The silence on Natasha’s end was brutal and deafening.
Rather than message the heiress she’d considered her friend for the umpteenth time with no response, Roz clicked into her note app and then her shapeshifter file. In it, she kept every scrap of credible—and some not so credible—information she’d collected over the past year about the elusive creatures. Tidbits like: stronger than vampires, highly aggressive, and multiple animal possibilities. To it, she added: onset at fourteen.
Then, just for shits and giggles, she navigated onto the Coven’s mobile site and clicked onto their application criteria. Ability to call magical energy. Aged 18. Willingness to attend Coven courses, online and/or in person. On top of that, she’d have to sign a non-disclosure agreement about what goes on inside the tower, during courses, and spells her mentor shared with her.
Roz wasn’t sure if her current situation jibed with a mentee lifestyle. It was worth considering, but she sort of liked living in a hotel, hunting vampires with her best friend, and occasionally running into freaks like Lukas.
“Everyone ready?” Connor asked. “It’s dusk.”
“Ready to kick some vampire ass,” she snarked. It was her neutral gear, snark. Lukas seemed to enjoy her sass.
Never mind. Who cared what he thought? He was a beast.
“What’s the plan?” Sara asked, bouncing on her toes. “I can’t wait to get out there.”
“Roz?” Connor prompted.
“Here’s what I have so far,” Roz announced, setting her tablet on the kitchen bar between them and opening a digital map scattered with red dots. Since her locator spell was still in its infancy, old-fashioned technology would have to do.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on our vampire sightings with the GPS in the truck. There’s starting to be a pattern to the southeast of the city.”
“So, we can narrow our search.” Connor bobbed his head, excitement creeping into his expression. “No time like the present. I’ll open the safe. Sara, did you bring your own weapons?”
“We’re talking about thousands of acres of desert,” Roz called after him, needing him to be realistic. This was going to be a needle in a haystack sort of venture. “It won’t be easy.”
With his head and shoulders inside a walk-in safe stuffed with their personal arsenal, Connor said, “That’s why we brought in Sara.”
“What about Lukas?” She hadn’t told Connor about her most recent meeting with the shifter, had decided to keep her and the other man’s agreement to herself. It didn’t affect Connor or Ali, so why cause them anxiety?
“Can you get a hold of him?” Connor asked from the doorway.
“No.” Neither she nor Lukas had offered the other their phone numbers or room info. “I guess he’ll surprise us again if he wants to help.”
“I’d rather he just stay away, to be honest,” Connor admitted. “He’s unstable and dangerous. I don’t trust him.” He frowned at her. “Do you?”
“I don’t think he’s always as agitated as he was that night,” she hedged. “I think some of it was him coming off the sedatives.”
Connor grunted noncommittally.
They didn’t discuss the shifter again on the way down in the elevator with Sara and Ali, their weapons tastefully concealed in a black duffel. When they stepped out into the underground parking garage, Roz casually scanned the area. Nothing out of the ordinary. But was Lukas there somewhere, lurking in the shadows? Stalking her?
“Roz,” said Connor, startling her. He and Ali were already in the F-350. “You coming, or what?”
“Yeah.” Flushing, she ducked her head and hopped in the drivers’ seat. After a last glance, she cranked the engine and rolled out of the garage, headed for the streetlights on the Strip. Sara sped off on her motorcycle, quickly disappearing behind a line of delivery trucks.
As she weaved through traffic, Roz wondered if the other witch were being tracked by the Coven. Did they hide GPS devices in their acolytes’ vehicles like she had in the truck? Did they use Sara’s phone to keep tabs on her? If so, the woman was adept at concealing it. Either that, or she didn’t know.
But Roz couldn’t shake her suspicion. Maybe the fault lay with her. Maybe Roz had been in Vegas so long she’d lost the instinct to trust. Bringing Ali on board had worked out, though. She’d more than proven her worth and her loyalty.
Roz leaned forward over the steering wheel, squinting into the dark night. This far out, only her headlights illuminated the creosote, scrub brush, and low, rocky hills.
“There’s a field of solar panels out here,” Connor said. “Seems like a good place to start looking.”
Roz steered the pickup onto a narrow access road, then onto nothing more than a pair of tracks in the sand. Finally, blanketed in darkness, she parked within shouting distance of a seemingly endless grid of solar panels and turned off the truck. There were no lights anywhere on the horizon. Nothing but stars shone overhead.
Roz created a waypoint on her map and hopped out of the truck.
Before they’d even geared up, a motorcycle approached, the sound reaching them in the silence from a long way off.
The witch parked and turned off the bike. “Hi-dee-ho,” Sara greeted, removing her helmet and shaking out her red curls. “This is awesome. Do you guys do this every night?”
Ignoring her, Roz stomped off in a westerly direction, and the rest followed.
The four of them marched toward the solar panel fields, a line of wannabe superheroes carrying enough firepower to take out a small army. Not to mention the magical energy between them.
Even so, Roz kept her senses sharp. She may not have vampire hearing, but she didn’t want to be surprised by anything tonight.
Connor heard them first, of course, but a few moments lat
er, a slurping sound caught her attention as well.
“Here we go,” Connor said softly, drawing his .44 magnum.
Among the solar panels, a group of vampires feasted on a trio of young men. Connor gave chase, and Roz called her magic, but Ali stayed at the rear, aiming a rifle at the vampires’ blood orgy.
Roz never enjoyed the fight, not the way Connor did. He fairly salivated at the idea of mixing it up with vampires and bloodying his knuckles. It was a necessary evil—killing the horde. But she never had fun doing it.
Sara called her power, and said, “Vampires—confusion.”
Damn it. The same spell from the night before that could have killed Connor. A well-placed foot, a shove from the side, and in the dark Sara probably didn’t notice Roz had bumped into her on purpose. But the redhead went down, her concentration breaking. Connor shook off the fading confusion spell and leapt onto an infected.
The three male victims flopped onto the dry sand, either dead or wishing they were. Their captors, though, more than made up for their lack of spirit. Two rushed Connor, a third only steps behind.
Something or someone blew past Roz’s left shoulder, and Lukas threw himself into the fray. She felt overwhelming relief that he was there, and maybe a tiny thrill at seeing him again. But any positive feelings quickly vanished as she realized her team was struggling to take the upper hand in the fight.
Roz quickly catalogued every spell she’d ever learned, attempted, or even considered. She couldn’t target the vampires specifically because she’d also hurt Connor. She couldn’t create a dust storm or a sleeping spell because it would affect everyone, even the good guys.
Think, she chastised herself. Think.
While she debated, Sara was back on her feet and casting a strength spell at Lukas.
Roz decided quickly on a healing component to layer and enhance Sara’s magic. She called her power.
Nothing happened.
She shook blood into her hands and tried again. “Blessed is my power. I call upon thee.”
She was out of juice.
“No,” she groaned, pulling a pistol from her waistband. If she couldn’t save her friends with magic, then she’d help them with a physical offense. Connor fought with a renewed vigor Roz hadn’t seen in a while. She shot one of the vampires attacking him, and it dropped. Confident Connor could take the other infected without her assistance, she swung her pistol at the last place she’d seen Lukas.