by Martha Woods
Cordless earbuds sat in her ears, pumping modern blues music into her ears so that she might try to lose herself. That was one of the things she grew to love over the years. The heavy beat and soulful words filled the space that she imagined her soul should have been. It got even better over the years with the introduction of electronic elements.
The world had changed in awful and wondrous ways in her undead lifetime. While technology had made it harder to feed on humans, it also made life much easier in other ways. They could board a plane and be across the world in a matter of hours. She could soak in a tub of colored water while listening to music while her cell phone was on the other side of the room.
The air in the room seemed to tighten for a moment. Her ears ached. Then, Charley popped into existence. She appeared on top of the closed toilet, one leg propped on top of the other. She threw Veronica a shit eating grin.
“What the hell are you doing in my bathroom?” Veronica growled.
The demon spun a short, black knife between her finger. Veronica watched it, waiting for her to throw it. “Got me a new boss. Salary pay and holidays off. First job was to watch your wrinkling ass. Wait, does vampire skin wrinkle in the water?”
Veronica’s hands rose to grip the edges of the tub.
“Why are you babysitting me?”
“Morgan got called out on a mission,” Charley said as she fiddled with the embroidered wash cloths on the counter. She grimaced, pulling out one with a cherub sewn into it. The cloth burst into flames between her fingers, gone in an instant. All that was left was a wisp of smoke in the air and a sprinkling of ash that fell to the floor.
“He’s working?” Veronica pulled herself from the tub, not caring that she was naked in front of the demon. Charley had probably seen worse during her time in hell.
“A tracker called in, the witches were getting too close to Southern California. Can’t say that I wanted to be on the front lines when they found the witches so I volunteered to bamf my ass here. Nice place you got.”
Veronica launched herself across the room. She couldn’t stand to hear one more word come out of the greasy girl’s face. Her hand wrapped around Charley’s throat, her force driving the girl up and back into the wall. They both heard the wall crack.
Charley threw her hands up in surrender. The black blade clattered to the floor. “Kill me here and I’ll be back with another body. Gotta say that I like this one. I’m waiting for this ugly duckling to grow into a swan.”
“Tell me where Ally sent him,” Veronica growled into Charley’s face. “Or, I will carve pretty symbols into this girl’s face. I could let the whole world know who your daddy is when you walk down the street.”
“Shit, you’re a mean one,” Charley managed to say. “He went to Santa Barbara. A couple witches flew in there and began moving towards Kristian.”
Veronica let the demon fall to the toilet seat. The demon raised a hand to rub her neck as she stuck her tongue out at her. She was sick of being left behind. She wasn’t some delicate porcelain doll to be put on a shelf.
“More witches are landing in Los Angeles. Others in San Jose. The know where you and your family is and they’re trying to surround you.”
Charley’s words made her pause mid-step. “And you’re telling me that Ally sent Morgan out alone?”
Charley shrugged. “He can take care of himself.”
Veronica shook her head. “When did he leave?”
“About twenty minutes ago?”
Veronica grabbed for her phone. Morgan’s number rose to the top of her mind. The phone rang a few times and she thought that he would ignore her call when he finally answered. She could hear his breathing on the other end.
“Turn around,” she demanded.
“I can’t ignore Ally’s mission,” he said.
“I’m not asking you to.” Veronica reached for a towel. “Come back to get me. I want to come with you.”
“I don’t think…”
“I didn’t ask you to think for me,” she growled. “Charley is coming, too.”
“Hey,” the demon shouted in the background. “I didn’t sign up for field work!”
“Your job is to protect me, right? Then you’re going to have to come along for the ride.”
The demon glared at her, crossing her arms across her chest like a sullen child. She wasn’t much more than that. Veronica wondered how old the demon inside the teenager was. Or, was the teenage behavior typical of demons? She wouldn’t have been surprised.
Veronica turned her attention back to the man on the other end of the phone call. “Are we in agreement or am I going to have to hunt you down myself?”
“Quit harassing the man,” Charley grumbled. The demon grabbed the pile of clothes Veronica had laid out before her hand latched onto Veronica’s arm.
The world spun away. There wasn’t time to scream as they fell through the universe. Her bare ass hit the leather seat of a car and the world came back into focus. They were in the back seat of the Shelby. It was incredibly cramped with the two women.
And Veronica was still bare naked. The scent of her bath bomb, jasmine and ocean water, filled the cabin of the car.
“Holy fucking hell,” Morgan shouted. The car swerved around the road, fishtailing before righting itself again.
“You’re welcome,” Charley said smugly.
“You could have let me finish getting dressed!” Veronica snatched her clothing from the demon’s grasp.
Charley winked a second before she disappeared. The teenager reappeared riding shotgun. Immediately, she reached for the radio, turning up the electropunk on the radio.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Morgan growled. His knuckles turned alabaster white on the steering wheel.
“Lady Vamp had her panties in a twist,” Charley yelled over the sound of her music. “Instead of making you turn around, I brought the argument straight to you. You’re welcome.”
Morgan cast a sidelong glare at the cheeky demon.
“You really shouldn’t be here, Veronica. Kristian is going to kill me once he finds out.”
“Then he won’t find out,” Veronica snapped as she attempted to tug on her skinny jeans in the back seat of a vintage muscle car. It was a feat that she managed it at all. She regretted not adding underwear to the pile.
She had expected another marathon sex session, not a road trip into the hands of witches. She pulled her v-neck t-shirt over her head, finding herself braless as well. She was sure that she’d added a bra to the pile of clothing, if only to push her meager assets up into something presentable. Veronica eyed the demon in the front seat, wondering what she’d done with her lacy black bra.
“I wish you would trust me more,” Veronica said.
Morgan opened his mouth to respond, but Charley cut him off.
“Nope,” she said. “We aren’t going all TV psych talk show up in here. I definitely didn’t sign up for that kind of shit.”
Veronica suppressed the urge to reach around the seat and punch the demon in the head. Still, a small smirk touched her lips. The girl was a little entertaining, she had to admit.
“The mission was to lead the witches on a new trail,” Morgan debriefed them. “I was to make it look like I was running back to report to the coven.”
“With two vampires and their renegade demon, they will be more likely to pursue. I’m sure they want Charley dead for whatever is in that melon of hers. I know they’ll recognize me. They’ll want me dead for sure. This should be easy.”
Morgan’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. “It’s not the pursuit that I’m worried about. What happens when they find us? You aren’t trained for the field. I don’t know the first thing about working with demons.”
“Don’t worry about me, boss man. I can bamf on out of here if you want me to.”
“Don’t you dare,” Veronica grabbed the girl by her leather jacket. “You’re our ticket out of trouble if the witches corner us.”
Charl
ey hissed in response. She leaned back into her seat, straightening her leather jacket. Veronica could see the marks that she’d just left with her long nails.
Veronica was scared. She didn’t want to admit it to anyone. It had been a long time since she’d been face to face with one of the witches. They blamed her for their High Priestess’s death. Hell she blamed herself. It had been her words that had spurred the witch hunt. The men had come for them, cold iron weapons at hand. No men survived the night, but a number of witches had fallen that night, as well. Including their High Priestess, Leticia.
If she closed her eyes, Veronica could still see Leticia’s white braid in the moonlight. She could hear the woman’s violent laughter over their shared bottle of liquor. There had been a time when a vampire could befriend a Calder witch. And Veronica had ruined it. She had betrayed her friend.
It didn’t help that Veronica could see Leticia every time she looked at Tessa. She heard the darkness in the human’s laughter. They could be friends if only Veronica would relent.
“Let’s go fuck with some witches,” Veronica whispered.
Part Two
Veronica crawled into the passenger seat of the Shelby while they discussed their plan. The witches were quick and organized. But, so was Ally. She told Charley, who in turn told them, that the witches had landed in a nearby city and were beginning to band together.
“The plan is to slip into the city unnoticed. From there we can track and dispose of the witches individually,” Morgan said, finger tapping on the wheel as he thought. One hand rose to push his brown curls out of his face.
“Pfft,” Charley made a noise in the back seat. She gripped the back of Veronica’s seat and pulled herself forward. “That is going to take forever!”
Morgan glared at the teenage demon in his rearview mirror. “It is the safest and most surefire way to accomplish our mission. If you have any better ideas, I’m open to listening, but I promise you my plan is the best.”
Veronica watched Charley mouth his words mockingly from the corner of her eye. The promise of danger made Veronica’s blood sing. She was excited and that left a strange mix of emotions tumbling through her. She felt guilty and ashamed. Why should she be so happy to be seeking out danger? Was there something wrong with her?
“Take the witches someplace that they’re uncomfortable. Throw them off their game,” Charley suggested.
“And how do you propose we do that?” Morgan countered.
Charley smiled. It was a snake of a smile. “They hate lots of bodies and loud noises. Pick any night club worth it’s salt. The Calder are probably fuming enough that they won’t think twice about following you in. Once the music and commotion throws them off, then we strike them down, one by one.”
“In a public place?” Veronica couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.
“Don’t kill a witch in front of witnesses, duh. But if one stumbles by, they’ll be so far off their rocker on drugs that they’ll think they’re having a bad trip.”
Veronica glanced at Morgan. His jaw was tight. He seemed to hate Charley’s idea, but in the end, he gave in to her. It didn’t help that she pushed and pushed until Veronica was sick of hearing her talking. So, Morgan adjusted his course, steering them toward the city center. They would take their time, parking near the club in case they had to get away quick, but walking a few blocks out and back to grab the witches’ attention.
* * *
The witches found them faster than Veronica liked. She could see the flashes of their sleek, white hair in the crowd as it undulated under the lights. The music pulsed through her, but she couldn’t give in to it. Fear was chewing on her frayed nerves. Yet, it was something stronger that compelled her to stay. A new feeling bounced through her limbs and she didn’t know what to do with it quite yet. Charley seemed to have lost herself completely. Her leather jacket had been thrown off hours ago.
She was currently dancing, bumping and grinding rather, on a man with a lopsided mohawk. There were a number of holes in his face that Veronica just didn’t understand. What was the reason for the ones in his ears? Charley could have hooked several fingers through either of them and one sharp tug would have torn through his skin. The ones in his lower lip bothered Veronica the most.
Morgan slid up behind her, his lips grazing her ear as he whispered to her. “You’re supposed to be having fun.”
How could she? She was surrounded by the enemy. And she wanted to tear each of them limb from limb for hurting her brother again.
Morgan’s hands moved to her waist, gently guiding her movements. Together, they rocked back and forth. He pressed against her back and, for a moment, she could forget why she was here. She wriggled her ass into his pelvis, rocking in circular motions. He clamped his hands down on her hips with a snarl on his lips.
“Keep that up and I won’t be able to do my job.”
Veronica laughed, but it felt weak. She needed to get off the floor. There were too many bodies, too many hearts beating. The thump of their hearts reverberated through her bones. She slipped from Morgan’s grasp and made a bee-line for the exit. Bodies jostled against her. Each one smelled like dinner and it was a battle just to push them away. This wasn’t the kind of place she could risk even a sip.
Finally, she reached the heavy, metal door that led outside. She shoved it open and burst into the cool night air. A weight that had been on her was lifted when she stepped away from the music and the dancing. She let herself fall back against the brick wall, her eyes drifting closed.
Faintly, she heard the scuff of feet in the alley way. Closer and closer. Veronica tried to stay relaxed. She waited for someone to approach her. Meanwhile, her hand was reaching to the small of her back. Fingers wrapped around the hilt of a blade.
Scuff.
Scuff.
They were right around the corner now. Was a witch this noisy? Veronica didn’t want to believe it. The only reason they’d had the upper hand in the last battle was Tessa’s gift for mind reading. The witches had arrived like smoke in the night. It couldn’t be this easy.
Scuff.
Veronica pulled the blade out from the small of her back. It glinted in the orange street light. But, it wasn’t a witch that rounded the corner. Charley yawned as she walked, hands raised in a stretch over her head, the stretch of her pale belly visible. For a moment, Veronica let her guard down.
Then, as quickly as she appeared, Charley spun. A flash burst from her fingers. The Calder witch staggered in the dark alleyway, blade protruding from her throat. Charley blinked out of existence, reappearing before the witch. She grabbed the blade at the witch’s throat and tore it to the side. Blood and flesh spewed across the brick. Another deft movement had the witch’s head rolling on the cracked pavement. It thumped against the green dumpster.
“And, that folks, is how you kill a bitch,” Charley said. “Oh, I mean witch.”
“Aren’t you just the laugh factory?” Veronica jeered. Her blade dropped to her side before she caught the flash of white hair.
A witch flew into their alleyway, crashing into Veronica. Together they hit the brick wall. Veronica’s arms were pinned to her side. The witch laughed in her face. Veronica smiled. The witch’s laughter faltered. Her head crashed into the witch’s nose and she heard the crunch of bone.
She wouldn’t be taken by them again.
She wouldn’t let them hurt the ones she loved again.
Veronica swiped at the witch with her long blade. In one deft stroke, the witch’s arm fell to the ground. It landed in what had to be someone’s vomit from earlier in the night. That was for the pain they’d made her brother endure.
The witch screamed. It was an ear piercing scream that filled the alley. Veronica lunged forward, the blade coming down. It sliced through the witch’s shoulder. She crumpled inward on herself, her chest gaping open. That was for Morgan.
The witch’s head shot up and she threw out her arm. Filled with rage, Veronica lunged forward. A bolt of fi
re burst from the witch’s hand, racing toward Veronica. Distantly, she heard a howl. Fear and anger pierced her ears. All she could see was the searing light coming towards her. A body crashed into her.
They tumbled in the reeking trash. As she fell, Veronica glimpsed the arc of Charley’s blade. The witch’s head rolled to where she lay in the alley. A heavy weight pressed on her chest. A familiar head of dark hair slumped across her breast bone.
Panic filled her. She pulled him into her arms, struggling to get both of them in an upright. A black hole pierced his torso, the singed edges of his shirt falling to ash. Veronica wanted to scream. She wanted to shake him, but as his eyelids fluttered, hope filled her.
She turned her wrist to her own mouth, slicing it open in her fangs. Two, jagged cuts marred her skin. She pressed them to his mouth, hoping that he would drink. She would force it down his throat if she had to, fist and all.
A long moment passed. Her blood welled on his lips. Her eyes burned with tears.
This was her fault.
Again.
Then he gripped her arm. His fingers seemed to be made out of steel, holding her to his mouth. He drank of her and she felt something stir within her core. Each stroke of his tongue felt like a thrust within her core. She fell back on her haunches, unable to hold herself up anymore. Distantly, she was aware that his wound was closing.
“Damn, dude.” Charley whistled. “You sure do know how to do the white knight thing.”
“Fuck off,” he said, releasing her arm.
Had she had any energy left she would have launched herself onto him. She would have wrapped her arms around him and never let go. Instead, she had to force her knees to make her stand. She reached down, offering Morgan a hand. He clutched where the hole had been in his stomach and took her hand. They were alive. They were mostly in one piece.