by Lucy Lyons
Nick and I were shown to our room by the young bellhop, who either didn’t notice anything different about us, or was used to helping vampires and magic-users and just didn’t care what we were. He took notice when Nick tipped him, however, and was suddenly a fountain of information about the solstice the following night, and where to find the parties, some of which had started the week before, as some people stretched out the celebration for as long as they could.
I left Nick with the scrolls and summoned Colette to our suite to continue going over them and make sure we hadn’t missed anything. Now that I was so close to the magic that it raised the hair on my arms, prudence seemed the correct call to make. I stopped at Clay’s room on my way out to explore, and with my best friend in tow, we headed toward the stones I’d been waiting my whole life to see, pretending that the hum on my skin didn’t frighten me, and my newfound reservations about tapping into it were going to just disappear.
Chapter 11
Amesbury was a quaint, cobblestone town with all the charm a tourist would hope to find on a trip to see Stonehenge. Much to our dismay, Clayton and I stuck out like we were wearing “Americans abroad” signs on our backs, but the townsfolk were friendly and helpful with the best walking routes and which pubs to eat at. There were a few stares when we told them where we were staying, but according to gossip, the place had a reputation for giving lodging to “funny people” which, according to the locals, we obviously were not.
Realizing they mistook us for a young couple on holiday, I expressed my desire to get married near Stonehenge someday, and was flooded with the names of a florist, a caterer, and the local parish priest, which I did take note of, for business purposes. After walking streets that were almost as old as my fiancé, and grabbing a bite to eat, Clay and I went to the church and found the priest.
Neither of us declared ourselves as Venatores, but in our hunter black and the crosses we both brought out so they lay sparkling against the fabric beneath, we knew he suspected us to be. Out of habit, I knelt at the altar to light a candle and pray, and when I stood and returned to a pew, the priest sat down in the row ahead and turned to smile at me.
His face was like an aged apple, wrinkly and sweet, and he cheerfully inquired as to what had brought Clay and I to town. I gave him an honest, if incomplete answer, that we’d learned of magic nearby, and were investigating possible connections to our secret world. The priest glowed with pride as he told us the story of the Night Mother, from the lore that had been handed down to him.
In his story, the Night Mother was called by another name, the Queen of Light and Mirrors, and she was fey, not vampire. She gifted worthy women the gift of magic, in return for their care of her many pets, who she loved like children. In the end of his story, she was betrayed by the king of the fey, who killed her most beloved pet, a silver fox, who was really a young girl who could take animal form.
I resisted the urge to smack Clay on the leg and schooled my face into an interested but detached expression as the priest’s story confirmed the one in the scroll, that in revenge, she’d she stolen the king’s power and given it to an entire genealogical line of humans, so people would be able to see through glamor, and create inventions to keep themselves safe.
The king of the fairies, her son, became angry that humans were no longer heeding his call and becoming his slaves, so he banished her and set the Stones of Stonehenge to seal her in and never let her return to earth.
We thanked the priest for his time and the story, and he blessed us before sending us on our way. For the briefest moment when his thumb brushed my forehead, I panicked, thinking my new, sinner’s lifestyle might give me away, striking me down, or punishing me in some way. After, I told Clay about my micro-panic attack, and he laughed at me.
“Only you would think you could actually burst into flames for blasphemy, Caroline,” he scoffed, and I chuckled along with him.
“It was nice, being inside a church and knowing if I did spontaneously combust, you would too,” I said pleasantly, and Clay laughed even louder.
“Thanks, Sis,” he drawled, using a nickname he’d had for me since we were kids, and we’d stupidly and predictably become blood siblings with my foster brother, David. It stirred memories of David’s betrayal, and the magic changed as it fluttered over my skin. Even Clay noticed the change, and he shivered. “Was that you?”
“Nope. I think that was the Night Mother, responding to something I shouldn’t have been thinking about.” I hugged myself and smiled without mirth. “Note to self, leave all thoughts of your personal, most painful history behind, when you go to the stone circle. I tried to push the magic away, but it pushed back harder, almost frantic.
I heard the words, look, look quickly, in my head, but it wasn’t Nick or even Jeremy speaking to me. Automatically I turned around and saw a woman approaching quickly, her long legs eating up the ground with each step. She was dressed for an ancient battle, but no one around her seemed to notice her. She strode down the center of the street and even the cars seemed to shift to get out of her way.
“Quick, Clay. We need to get out of here and back to the hotel,” I managed to say before dragging him around a corner. “I think I just found one of those darn kids of the Night Mother,” I told him, and he sneaked a peek around the corner.
“Oh shit. She looks like a damned Spartan. Run Caroline, I’ll stay with you.” I shook my head, backing away from the building.
“No run as fast as you can. If you get ahead of me, get Dom and anyone not allergic to the sun who can help. I won’t be far behind you, if you actually manage to beat me.”
I ran full out, my feet pounding on the packed earth of the dirt road I found out of town. I didn’t dare look back for fear of slowing down, but soon I felt the heat of magic trying to put me off balance and push me to the ground.
I kicked harder, pumped my arms, and leaped over a wooden horse fence between me and my temporary home. The hotel appeared as I circled a copse of quaking birches, and I fell on my face as I had an idea and tried to stop the woman’s advance.
Spitting out leaves that had lodged in my open mouth, I pushed my fingertips into the hard dirt beneath me, giving my magic to the earth until the soil softened and let me bury my fingers deeper. I felt the power of the other woman searching for me, searching the hotel, and I coaxed the roots of the trees to grow and erupt out of the ground.
The woman halted her advance, and I watched her from my prone position as she reached out to touch one of the roots that had spurn up to block her way. Her ancient armor shone in the sunlight, and when she turned, scanning in my direction, she bared fangs.
“Oh, shit,” I panted softly. I’d barely breathed the words, but her head jerked back in my direction, and I looked straight into her eyes as she searched for me among the trees. Only my position flat on the ground in the shade of the trees hid me from her, and I wracked my brain for an idea of how to get away. She was a vampire, walking in broad daylight, while my own love was trapped by the sun and forced to hide.
I was angry that she’d received such a gift and selfishly kept it for herself. Hundreds of years she’d been walking among humans, and even as my magic prevented her from reaching my people. I felt her disdain for my power, too meager to respect, stolen from its rightful heirs.
When I felt that thought wash over me, the words weak and thief pouring into my head despite my shielding, I threw caution to the wind. I jumped to my feet and strode out into the sunshine, and the power that had drawn us here flowed to me, pressed against me and gave me strength.
The Night Mother couldn’t free herself, but she wanted us to live. She wanted me to live and free her. The woman in the golden armor sneered at me, fangs shining on her crimson lips.
“I am Eos, daughter of the Night Mother, and you are nothing,” she spat. Instantly, I felt like I was nothing, a magicless hack who had stumbled into the wrong clearing at the wrong time. My hands started to shake and my chest constricted around my lu
ngs, tightening like a constrictor as I tried to take a breath.
The magic that had comforted me enveloped me, and I felt the power that I’d come to gain course through my veins. I forced my lungs to expand and took a deep, healing breath, then another, as I braced myself for combat. I tried to speak, but Eos had tied my tongue when she paralyzed me.
She advanced, concentrating as she tried to undo the small freedom of movement I’d gained through the Night Mother’s magic. But I knew it wouldn’t stop Eos from running me through with her blade, and her face reflected that same understanding. She grinned as she raised her sword, and I blinked, waiting to feel the steel between my ribs.
Instead, there was a loud clang of sword on sword, and Dominique danced into view, blocking Eos as though they’d practiced choreographed moves for centuries. Eos registered surprise, then began to fight my mentor in earnest, forgetting all about me as she struggled to maintain her ground. Using the distraction to break free of the mental shackles, I reached for my sword, then changed course and knelt instead, placing my palms on the ground and searching beneath it.
“Come on, damn it, there has to be something dead out here, it’s the bloody sticks,” I hissed to myself as I pushed my magic into the earth again. “People bury their mothers in the backyard in the country.” The magic that enveloped me amplified my search, and in a few moments, I’d found enough animals to raise to help throw Eos off balance.
I’d raised forest animals once before, accidentally, and a secret graveyard on purpose, but I’d avoided the necromancer that had been unlocked inside me, and thinking of Colette, I hesitated. Then Dominique made a sound of alarm, and without another thought, I pushed my magic into every dead thing I could find within a mile radius.
The borrowed magic whispered to me that together we could go much farther, and I clamped down on my necromancy, maintaining full control and refusing to let It spread beyond my parameters.
The earth crumbled and fell away from deer, birds, mice, squirrels, and several ancient skeletons, who shambled up through the dirt like they were riding escalators to the top. I felt my power in them, animating them, and gave them more, until their eye sockets shone to me with purpose.
“Stop her,” I growled, pointing at the day walker. “Destroy Eos.” I grabbed Dom’s arm and yanked her back out of the line of fire. Eos spun around to face her new enemy, then scoffed as a skeletal bunny sat at her feet, staring up at her with empty eye sockets.
She kicked the rabbit and it flew apart, it’s little bones flying in every direction. I felt it as if she’d kicked me, and my hand went to my abdomen as I bent forward against the blow. I saw the bones of my animation lying around, and something inside me switched on. I drew the bones back together with my power, and filled the animations with my rage at her attack.
“Betrayer,” I bellowed at her, and some part of me knew I wasn’t the one speaking. Eos felt it too, and I saw her eyes widen a split second before my skeletons poured over her like ants over a piece of bread on the ground. There was a wordless scream from under the pile of bones and tendons that swarmed, and creatures started falling away from the pile, only to reassemble and rejoin the fray.
Dominique had seen my animations before, but I felt her fear like a cold knife at my back, waiting for me to turn on her. I held out my hand without looking at her, and when she didn’t take it, I snapped my fingers impatiently.
“You need to feel this, Dom. Hurry.” She took my hand and I gave her a portion of my control over the undead things at my command. She gasped and tightened her grip, and I felt the power that leaked from the queen’s hidden prison embrace her with the same acceptance as it had welcomed me. She laughed and clutched me tighter, then I saw a small tornado begin to twist behind the vampiress.
Leaves and twigs began to dance in the air and spin faster and faster and I recognized Dom’s handiwork before I felt her pulse begin to race against my hand. The whirling dervish spun faster and tighter, until the twigs became deadly inside the centrifuge.
She squeezed my hand then released it, and I let my animations fall away from Eos. The vampire drew herself up to her full height, just before Dominique attacked from behind. The wind made just enough of a noise that Eos turned at the high-pitched whistle, and the dervish hit her full in the face and torso. While the golden breastplate protected her heart, I saw blood bloom from her throat as flying projectiles found their mark. The dervish died and Eos looked like she’d been dragged through a forest, with leaves in her golden hair and sticks, rocks, and debris embedded in her body.
“You will pay, and even she will not protect you,” the day walker raged, and I forced myself into a state of calm.
“If you return, your blood will pave the road for the Night Mother to find her way from the prison you sentenced her to. I would recommend that you simply return from whence you came, but I know my master will face the council again, and as before, he will destroy his enemies.” Eos was as pale as any vampire, but I would’ve sworn on a stack of bibles that she paled further at my promise.
She had every right to be afraid. I felt the power in my words, and new that Nicholas was blessed by the Night Mother. We had defeated the most public member of the council, the one who was used as a bogeyman to keep vampires in line. Without the power of the Night Mother, I thought at Nick as I felt him anxiously awaiting my return as Clay reported on the fight through the window.
The alpha is preventing your wolf from fighting at your side, and Jeremy will not send out his rats. He fumed, and I nudged Dominique to step back with me, keeping our backs to the hotel, and our eyes on the dejected vampire.
Pussies. I sent back to him. Tell them auntie Dom and auntie Caroline scared off the big bad vampire, and everything is okay.
I was still watching Eos when I blinked and she disappeared, shrouded in her glamor. My hand gripped Dom’s forearm and I cast about looking for the vampire all around us.
“I think she used the glamor to escape. Do you feel her?” Dom asked. “Because your animations are starting to disperse.” Chagrined, I returned my attention to my creatures, who were indeed beginning to fan out, trying to obey my command to attack Eos.
I directed them to return to their graves, and the earth just… swallowed them up, like they’d never existed. Grateful, I finally turned to face the hotel, where Ashlynn and Jeremy met me on the porch. Smiling broadly, I marched up the steps to greet them, and with all my strength and body weight behind it, I punched Jeremy in the face, gasping as my fingers broke on contact with his jaw.
Chapter 12
“I expect Ashlynn to be a disloyal piece of crap, Jeremy, but not you. You asked to come, and took the seat of someone who would’ve been loyal, someone who would’ve been my friend and stood with me, or at least tried.” I winced and curled my hand into my stomach. “Get right, or get the hell out. There is almost limitless power out in those stones, but I don’t have to share it with you, I don’t care if your feelings get hurt.”
I pushed past them and into the hotel, where Clay and Colette met me, just out of range of the sunlight streaming in the windows.
“That’s a good break, slugger,” Clay announced cheerfully to the room as he examined my hand. “Maybe it would do some people good to remember that you’re the human here, and they’re supposed to protect the humans.”
Ashlynn edged as near to us as she dared and watched me with wide eyes.
“We have no excuse, Caroline. I can’t speak for the rat-king, but for myself, it was cowardice. A day walking vampire is the stuff of nightmares. I didn’t want to lose my wolf.” I ignored her and let Clay set my fingers straight so my preternatural healing wouldn’t mess up my hand by healing them crooked.
“I no longer follow the order of the alpha,” Clay announced quietly. His voice held no emotion, but I saw Ashlynn’s face crumple as she tried to hold back tears.
“No, you stay with your alpha, Clay. She’s young, and new to being in charge, and she cares deeply for…
her people,” I stammered. “But, I don’t trust her, and now, I don’t know how much I care if she stays in power.” I gave her a long, hard look and she swallowed and dropped her gaze to the ground.
“For my part, I owe you my apology and I beg your forgiveness,” Jeremy interjected. I felt cold rage at my back and turned to see Nick, standing at the base of the stairs.
“You are finished with my people, and my power,” he hissed, and I tried to distract him from finishing. Jeremy was a mystery to me still, but he was a rat. I’d never seen them change in the daytime, and he kept to himself, so that he was almost a hermit, even while living within the clan compound.
“Might I respectfully suggest a probationary period, Love?” I murmured to him as I let him hold me close. Do we know if the rats have any power in the daytime? I added silently. Because I’ve never seen it, but I’ve been preoccupied with my own selfish pursuits, content to let you build your empire without my help.
“Jeremy, that Eos appeared to us today was a shock to us all. You’ve been instrumental in keeping the peace between our peoples, the wolves, and the humans, but if you cannot stand with my bride when she protects you, then I will release you and banish you from the western territories.”
The rat-king didn’t reply, and I glanced behind me in alarm as rage and fear filled the room like a noxious gas.
He was pale and quiet, his pale eyes watery and clouded by self-doubt and shame. “Of course, Nicholas,’ he finally managed to grind out from between his clenched teeth.