by Zoe Arden
"And once I'm... turned, you'll allow me to help with the cause?"
"Of course. There are no secrets amongst vampires. Once we know you are one of us, we shall lay the plan before you and find you a spot in the administration."
Vlaski's accent was old and indistinguishable. He'd lost much of it over the course of centuries, yet enough of it remained to add an air of aristocracy to his image. He said he'd been born in Prussia, but there was no way to verify that.
Vlaski spoke of their plans with such a casual attitude that it sounded as if he was discussing going out for ice cream rather than the death of every witch, human, and paranormal in existence. The group circled around Russ as he made his way to the center. Their eyes were almost black.
"So," Russell said, "how do we—"
Vlaski grabbed him from behind, bared his teeth, and sank them deep into Russell's throat. Vlaski didn't like to waste time. He was a man of action. He drank until the light began to fade from Russell's eyes. Just before Russ could black out, Vlaski cut the vein in his wrist and held it to Russell to drink.
Russell refused at first, but then his mission came back to him. Save the world. Save my family. He drank the dark liquid that Vlaski offered. It was sweet, like raspberries and honey. He felt a thirst in the back of his throat and kept drinking until it was quenched. When he was through, the others congratulated him.
"It will take some time for you to get used to your new eyes," Vlaski said. "For now, just sit and listen as we explain. You are part of us now. We know we can trust you."
Russell listened as long as he could. The story unfolding from Vlaski's lips was more complex and disgusting than he had ever imagined. The plan had already been in the works for a century. Russell listened, but he was running out of time. He had no watch and had to go off the fading light outside the cave.
"I need some air," he said when Vlaski was through.
"Of course."
He went outside and found the others had been right. The cold was nothing to him now. He dropped his fur and walked along the snow-covered path, seeing everything differently. The sky wasn't just blue. It was emerald and yellow and red. He held the vial Dean had given him in his hand. That world seemed so far away now. He could leave it behind. Start fresh.
But Vlaski's plan would destroy the world as he knew it. As his family knew it. In the end, it was Colt's image that convinced him to drink the extract. It tasted like sewage, and made his stomach hurt on impact. He had a half hour at most to get back to the transport site.
"How do you feel?" Vlaski asked from behind. He'd followed Russ outside.
"Fine. A little more air, I think."
"There is still much to discuss. You have only heard half the plan."
"Half?" Russell could see the transport site in the distance. The giant spruce tree called out to him with its leaves.
"Five more minutes," Russell said.
"Five it is," Vlaski replied. "I shall leave you alone to reflect on your new life."
"Thank you."
Vlaski walked back to the cave. "It's now or never," Russ muttered to himself.
Russell headed quickly for the spruce tree. A bad feeling rose in his stomach, though, stopping him. He couldn't go. Not without hearing the rest. This was what he'd come here for. His family was waiting for him; the world's fate hung in his hands.
If he lost the half-hour window the extract had bought him, he would never be able to return to his former life, but at least his family would be safe.
Russell turned his back on the spruce tree. It was now or never.
* * *
CHAPTER
ONE
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"Ava?" Colt looked at me over the glow of the candle like he was waiting for something.
"I'm sorry, did you ask me a question?"
He furrowed his brow. His light brown hair was still growing out but he'd already mentioned he wanted to cut it again. The Council on Magic and Human Affairs preferred short-cropped hair, and Colt preferred to go by the book.
"I asked if you knew what you wanted?"
The waiter cleared his throat and readied his pen.
"Oh, sorry," I said, laughing nervously. "Sure, um..." I glanced quickly at the menu and picked the first thing that sounded good.
"Clams."
The waiter jotted it down. "Very good, Miss," he said and went off.
I tilted my head. "Did I just order clams?"
Colt laughed. "Yeah, why, don't you like them?"
I pursed my lips. "I can't say that I've ever had them."
"What made you pick them then?"
"I don't know. I was distracted, I guess."
Colt's smile faded. "You've been distracted since I picked you up."
"Have I?" I looked around the table for something I could use to change the conversation. A funky napkin holder or a dessert menu, maybe. Even a dirty fork. But there was nothing.
"Is something wrong?" Colt asked. "Are you having second thoughts about tonight?"
"What? No, of course not."
"Then what's the matter?" He folded his hands together and waited for me to answer.
"I... I... uh, I'm just wrapped up with Aunt Eleanor's wedding. And thinking about those break-ins. It's weird that all they took from Dale's Hardware was some food from his mini fridge, isn't it?"
Colt shrugged. "Probably a vagrant. Or a drunk tourist. It happens."
I nodded. It hadn't occurred to me until now that maybe it had been Melbourne breaking in everywhere the last week. He was probably hungry. He didn't drink human blood, so how else was he going to survive?
"So... your distraction has nothing to do with Damon?"
"Damon?" I burst out laughing. It was the last thing I had expected him to say. "No. I haven't even heard from him since he left Heavenly Haven."
"He hasn't written?"
I shook my head. I couldn't pretend the way we'd left things didn't hurt, but what's done was done, as my dad liked to say.
Colt's face softened. "I'm sure it will be a great wedding."
I relaxed my shoulders and thanked the witches he was letting it go. I hated lying to him, but what was I supposed to say? Remember Melbourne? That vampire we all thought turned into a pile of ash? Well, he turned up tonight and wants to talk to me about your dad.
Uh uh. No way. That was not a first date type of conversation. Besides, I'd only talked to Melbourne for a second. I didn't even know what any of this was about yet. Best not to say anything until I found out more. My real regret was that I couldn't tell Aunt Trixie. She'd been mourning his loss for the last month. Even though they'd never been a couple, Trixie had harbored hopes she and Melbourne might end up as one.
"Earth to Ava," Colt said, waving his hand in front of my eyes.
"Sorry," I laughed, "was I doing it again?"
"Spacing out? Yeah."
I blushed but was saved by our waiter. He set our plates down and offered us fresh pepper and parmesan. I took both. The clams looked... slimy. I figured a little pepper and parmesan couldn't hurt. Instead of biting into one, though, I started moving them around my plate like little soccer balls.
My mind kept drifting back to Melbourne. He'd come in through my bedroom window when I was getting ready for my date with Colt, scaring me half to death. Vampires had the lightest footfall of any paranormal, as far as I knew. I'd never even heard him approach until he spoke.
"Ava, I need your help."
I'd thought I was staring at a ghost for a minute.
"You're dead. We found your ashes," I told him.
"I know. I needed certain people to believe I was gone."
"But where have you been? Who are you running from? Let me get Colt."
"No!" Melbourne hissed.
"Why not?"
"Because it concerns his father."
As far as I knew, Colt's father had died when he was twe
lve. Colt had grown up both admiring and resenting him. I still hadn't gotten the full story. Maybe now was a good time to ask some questions. Then I remembered that this was a date, not one of the interrogations Colt and I sometimes worked together on.
"Ava!"
I blinked and looked up from my plate.
"Yes?"
Colt set his fork down and leaned back in his chair, clearly frustrated.
"Are you gonna eat your food or play with it all night?"
I looked back down and realized I'd turned my clams into little flying saucers that had crashed into the bed of rice they came with.
"Oh! I'm sorry." I quickly scooped a clam up with my fork and bit into it. "Ow!"
Colt burst out laughing. "You're supposed to take them out of the shell first."
"Now you tell me," I said and spit it into my napkin. I tried another one, this time scooping it out of the shell as Colt suggested, and thought I was going to vomit when it hit my tongue.
"Are you okay?" His face was etched with concern but his voice was fighting back laughter.
"Yeah." I grabbed my water glass and downed half of it in three giant swallows.
"Do you wanna get out of here?" Colt asked.
"Oh, my roses, yes." I set my fork down and Colt grabbed my hand, leading me outside. He left a big tip for the waiter even though neither of us touched our food.
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting outside Bert's Burgers, a bacon cheeseburger in my hand and a pile of onion rings between us.
"This is so much better," I said.
"We should have come here first. I guess I was trying to impress you."
"Not necessary," I assured him. "You won me over when you caught Polly Peacock." I'd never forget Colt bursting through the doors of The Mystic Cupcake and saving me just before Polly could steal my soul. It had been a close call. One I didn't want to repeat.
"Well, I hate to admit it, but Sheriff Knoxx helped quite a bit on that one."
"Just Sheriff Knoxx?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Sheriff Knoxx and someone else," Colt teased.
"Someone else? Who might this 'someone else' be? She wouldn't happen to have blond hair and a name that rhymes with 'save a,' would she?" I teased back.
Somehow, between the grease and the onions and the bench we were sitting on, Colt had managed to come within an inch of my face.
"You have onion breath," I said.
"So do you." The fact that neither of us cared made it all the more perfect.
Colt kissed me. I knew it was wrong to compare his kiss to Damon's, but I couldn't help myself. I hadn't kissed that many men in my life. With Damon and Colt, I was at a grand total of three. Four, if you counted Todd Murphy in third grade when he cornered me in the lunchroom.
Colt's kiss was better than any of them, onion breath and all. His lips were soft and warm. It was like kissing a sun-drenched cloud.
"Wow," he said when he pulled away.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Wow."
A dark shadow cut across the night just behind Colt's back. Melbourne landed on top of a roof and stood there. Watching us.
"Um," I said. My stomach was suddenly churning. "Can we go?"
"Go?" Colt asked uncertainly. "Yeah. Sure. No problem."
He opened his car door for me as I kept my eyes glued to the shadow. Was it Melbourne? I'd thought so at first, but the longer I stared at it, the less it seemed to fit his build.
"Is anything wrong?" Colt asked as he started the car. He was one of the only locals on Heavenly Haven who drove everywhere. Most people just walked. Of course, he wasn't exactly a local. He was stationed here. For now. Living in Sweetland Cove for a month hardly made you local.
"Nothing's wrong," I said as my stomach did backflips. "Actually, I think that clam's not sitting so well with me. Sorry."
"It's okay."
He dropped me off at home, walking me to the door. Just before I went inside, I saw the shadow again. It had followed me. It watched as Colt kissed me goodnight. When I got up to my bedroom, I looked out the window. It was still there. I opened the window and leaned out, calling tentatively to it.
"Melbourne?"
Instead of responding, it retreated deeper into the shadows until it was either gone or so well hidden I could no longer see it. I hoped it stayed that way.
* * *
CHAPTER
TWO
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The Mystic Cupcake opened its doors bright and early. The line had already begun to form. I was grateful for it. The busier we were, the less time it gave me to think, and I had a lot to think about. For starters, what should I tell Trixie about Melbourne? Should I tell her anything at all?
For weeks, Trixie had been crying over Melbourne's loss. The two of them had grown close after Pennyweather Kelso's death at the hands of the draugr months before. Aunt Trixie had been a life support system for Melbourne, slowly pulling him back from the depths of despair. She had helped him to live again.
It was funny to think of the word "live" in connection with Melbourne, since technically vampires weren't alive. I sighed and tried to focus on the box of cupcakes I was getting together for Lottie Mudget. She'd finally started going out again since her sister's death. Paisley Mudget had been the first in the long series of murders that had gripped Heavenly Haven not long ago. I had almost been the last.
The murders had chased Damon Tellinger out of Sweetland Cove. Heck, off Heavenly Haven altogether. For a while, I had hoped our relationship could work, but when you're a human living in a paranormal world, it was hard to deal with things like soul-sucking witches and blood-sucking vampires. I still missed him, but not as much as I'd initially thought. I was sure that if Colt wasn't here, it would be a different story.
Lottie snapped her fingers in front of me. "Earth to Ava."
My cheeks went pink. "Was I daydreaming again?"
"I'd say so," she replied.
"Sorry. I'll have your order right up."
"Oh, that's fine. I'm not in any rush. I thought I might head over to Mistmoor Point this afternoon and pay Tazzie Singer a visit. See how she's holding up and all since... you know."
Poor Tazzie. Her husband, Mayor Singer, had been one of the last victims in Polly Peacock's series of murders. All of Mistmoor Point had grieved when they'd found out their mayor was dead. Much of Sweetland had grieved with them. Unlike our own Mayor Thomas, Mayor Singer was liked by everyone.
"Have they found anyone to fill Mayor Singer's vacancy yet?" I asked Lottie. "Or is his secretary still in charge?" Hadley Miner had done the best job she could running the mayor's affairs after his death, but she just didn't have the expertise to keep things running smoothly.
Lottie's eyes lit up. I realized now that her coming into the bakery had little to do with wanting pastries and more to do with wanting someone to gossip with. Now that Paisley and Margaret were both gone, her go-to gossipmongers were gone as well.
"As a matter of fact, they have." Lottie’s eyes shined brightly as she wet her lips in anticipation of spilling the beans. "Tazzie Singer."
I blinked. "Mayor Singer's wife is taking over?"
Lottie nodded happily. "Can you believe it? I mean, she's a fabulous woman but she doesn't have any experience in politics at all."
"She runs those charities," I said uncertainly, looking around the bakery for Eleanor or Trixie to confirm this news.
"Witches for a Wart-Free World is a fine charity to host," Lottie said, "but it hardly equates to being mayor."
I bit my bottom lip, not sure how to respond.
"She's only acting mayor," a woman's voice said from behind Lottie. We both turned in the owner's direction and saw Rachel Sessler standing with her hands on her hips. Her lips were pursed and her taut skin looked ten shades of pink. If I didn't know better, I'd think she'd overdone her makeup this morning, but Rachel always looked like that.
"Oh?" Lottie said, trying not to sound too much like she cared. "That wasn't what I heard."
"I can assure you that Tazzie Singer is only acting mayor of Mistmoor. The town has sort of rallied around her since Herbert's death."
"I see," Lottie said, feeling outdone in the gossip department. She didn't try to contradict Rachel a second time. Rachel worked in Mayor Thomas's office. She was his right-hand woman, so if anyone ought to know what was going on with Tazzie, it was her.
"Well," Lottie said, "I bet you haven't heard the other rumors circulating around town."
"You mean about those break-ins?" Rachel asked. "They're nothing. Just one of those things."
"Not those. I'm talking about The Alchemic Stone."
Our blank expressions told Lottie all she needed to know.
"Aha, I thought as much. Apparently, the owner of the Alchemic Stone has decided to rent the place out to the first bidder. And they've had a lot of interest. From what I hear, a woman from the mainland is interested in buying it outright. Not even renting."
"They're selling Anastasia's store?" I asked, shocked. "Who would want it?"
"It's not Anastasia's store anymore," Lottie reminded me. "Anastasia's dead, and Polly's in prison."
"Yeah, but it just seems... wrong."
"It's a smart business plan," Rachel interjected. "Why would you keep a perfectly good store closed up just because the previous owner was murdered and her daughter was a serial killer?"
"It just seems like the new owners would be inviting trouble," I said.
"Oh, Ava, for witch's sake, the place isn't cursed," Lottie said. "The woman interested in buying it knows that."
I frowned. "I guess, but still... with Polly practicing dark magic in there and the draugr Anastasia had locked up in her basement, I just don't know if the place should be reopened."