“What’s up, pussycat?” Shade’s mouth twitched up on the left every time he made a feline play on words.
Max rolled his eyes. “That’s not funny, you granite-skinned asshole.”
“Yeah, it is, dumbass.” The vampire’s face blasted wide into a full-blown smile.
Max’s claws itched to free themselves from his fingertips.
Shade wheeled away. “I’ve got work to do. Either pick a division to align your loyalties to, or tag along and hide in my shadow and live and learn. Make a choice, or I’ll lock you up with Miss Daisy until this is over. Got it, Kitty Ra-Ra?”
Max spotted Samson Caine, the werewolf division commander, leaning over a screen discussing the familiars they’d rescued with a tech. At least he could tolerate the werewolf’s odor better than he could stand the smell of the undead vampire. He made his choice.
Max tossed the coffee cup into the recycle bin, and strode over to Samson Caine. It made sense to ally with the Were Division. After all, they were warm-bloods, all of them shifted, and his older brother Weston was on Caine’s team.
Maybe he could find some solace in their packs. “Commander Caine. If you have a minute, I’d like to speak with you about those familiars, and how I think they can help us with this mission against Rosencratz.”
Commander Caine turned slowly toward Max and eyed him from his boots all the way up to his head. “You got some ideas, kid? ’Cause, honestly, this whole witchcraft thing has me stumped.”
“Yeah, I got some ideas, and I know a thing or two about familiars.” Max rocked back on his heels. Caine’s friendly smile, the way he encouraged him to contribute what he knew, felt like a confirmation of his invitation to join the weres. “It’s kinda what my family does.”
The commander waved him in, and Max joined him at the Geek Squadron’s desk to tell him what he knew. “Here’s what I’m thinking, commander.”
“Caine, son, I want you to call me Caine.” The commander slapped Max on his shoulder, and pointed at the screen.
Max heaved in a tight breath, prepared to lay out his plan. “I know how we can ally the familiars to convince their witches to help us save Helmina Silverton. The Samhain Festival of Light starts at midnight.”
Caine checked his wristwatch. “We don’t have much time.”
“Then let’s get started.” At least this way, even if he had to stay away from Sam, he might be instrumental in stopping Rosencratz.
After that, they both could get on with their lives.
Chapter 29
Sam
I TOOK THE JOSTLING E train down to the end of the line, and got off the subway at the Liberty Tower. I walked the rest of the way down to Battery Park. The sunshine felt good on my skin, an odd juxtaposition to the cool breezes sweeping across the Hudson River.
Through multicolored fall leaves, Lady Liberty waited off in the distance, and a compulsion to wave at her hit me. Mom and I had done that a lot together when I was a kid. I loved coming down here with her.
People fished from the seawall, and sightseeing boats cruised the river. The salty air of the ocean was pungent today. Damn, I loved that smell. Almost anything went in Manhattan, but I looked around to make sure no one was watching, first. The coast was clear, so I tapped my wrist three times to summon Atlantis. “Okay, Dad. Time for you to come and help me get her back.”
Once the trident was secure in my hands, I tapped the end on the sidewalk three times. “Poseidon, I invoke you.”
“I’m right over here, Samantha.”
I turned, and there he was. My father was sitting on a bench swing under a maple tree, watching the boardwalk. I grinned, and went to join him on the swing. “You left the seahorses at home?”
He held up his hand to the Hudson River. “They’re out there messing around with the fishermen, stealing their bait.” He smiled and gave me a hug.
“You look nice today.” He’d dressed in blue jeans, boots, and a white linen shirt. His mustache and beard were trimmed, and he’d pulled back his unruly curly hair. “Very handsome. Very human.”
“Fitting in makes sense.”
I willed Atlantis back into my arm by drawing my finger along my scar.
“Does that hurt?” he asked.
“Not really. It took some getting used to, but now it just feels like a flash of cool energy.”
“Now you both fit in.” Shade strode up to both of us, sporting his black leather jacket, his chainmail gloves, and his oversized ball cap with the flaps down over his skin.
My dad raised his brows. “Friend of yours?” We stood there nonchalantly in broad daylight, a Greek god, a vampire, and a demigod. New York was just that kind of place.
“Dad, meet Shade Vermillion, my vampire handler at the HWB. Shade, this is my father, Poseidon. He’s always looked forward to meeting you, Dad.”
My father sized Shade up, then stood, and shook his hand. “Pity about the whole sunlight thing, and your eternal damnation. The chainmail is actually a stroke of brilliance.”
Shade pursed his lips. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said, and looked at the soft chainmail gloves. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”
Three seagulls swept in from the Hudson River and I giggled when they started squawking over a French fry near a trashcan.
Dad gestured at me, but looked at the vampire. “You’ve watched over my daughter all these years, which puts me in your debt.”
Shade waved him away. “It was all my pleasure, I assure you. Samantha is one of my finest assets in the HWB. I’m honored to know your family.”
I interrupted their little dance. “Aw, come on, Shade. There’s gotta be something you want to ask him for. You deserve it. Dad, he’s been like a kick-ass big brother to me all these years. How about a pony?”
Both men turned and stared at me, as if I’d lost it. Hell, maybe I had. Maybe all the weird stuff was starting to get to me.
“Bad day, I take it?” Dad asked.
“Aww, hell, she dumped Max a couple of hours ago, and it’s starting to get to her already.”
“What did he do?” My dad’s expression turned hard, as if he was worried Max might have hurt me or something.
“Max did everything right. She’s the one with the martyr complex. She broke things off with Max to protect him. Turns out, there’s this other vampire . . .”
“Is this vampire a threat to Max?” Dad asked.
I nodded my head vigorously. “That’s putting it lightly. His name is Kristoff. He’s paying Rosencratz off to kill Mom because she and Miss Daisy supply the Hunters’ Watch Brigade with shifters.” When I said it like that, everything seemed pretty simple. “’Course, they’ve got some history, Shade and Kristoff. Dad, can you help Shade find this Kristoff character?”
My dad smiled at Shade. Shade smiled back at me. I joined in and smiled too, and there we were. Our day all planned out.
“History, huh?” My dad scratched his fingers through his beard. “Let’s go find some cover from the sunshine and you can tell me all about this other vampire, Shade.”
Shade
IN A BUSTLING little sidewalk café, Shade sat down with Poseidon and Samantha and did something he’d never done before—he told someone else about the night Kristoff West had changed his entire world.
“Back then, things were simple. I married Katherine when I was twenty-one, and she was eighteen. We had two sons, Sullivan and Theodore, and she was pregnant with our third child.”
“You lived in America, then?” Samantha asked, sipping her strong double shot of espresso and cream.
Shade nodded. “Here, in New York. My family was well-off, and I inherited my father’s shipping business. We made more money than we could ever spend, but my father had an affinity for importing antiques from Europe.”
&nbs
p; He stirred sugar into his coffee cup. Recounting the night made him nauseated. He didn’t want the strong brew in his gut. “Katherine often came to meet me at the docks, to look over the new inventory. I liked to give her first choice. I wanted her to have nice things.”
Samantha gave me a crooked little smile. “I never would have pegged you for the doting husband type, Shade.”
“And this Kristoff?” Poseidon asked. “Was he part of your family’s business?”
Shade crossed his arms across his chest. “He was an exporter from London. That night, he accompanied the shipment of goods. He lured Katherine and the boys into the hold of the ship to see his wares. I was out looking for them when I stumbled upon them.”
“Go on,” Poseidon said.
“Christ, he’d already drained her by the time I got there. I went berserk. There was blood everywhere, the blood of my beautiful wife. I attacked him. Shot him with my pistol, but he was on me. So strong, so powerful, I never had a chance.”
Samantha’s eyes flew wide. “How did you survive? Oh, my God, what happened to your boys?”
Shade swallowed against his drier-than-dirt throat. “He was furious I’d attacked him, so he drained me, then force-fed me his own blood. He turned me that night. I remember coming in and out of it, like having visions from a nightmare.”
Poseidon held up his hand. “You don’t have to go on, Shade.”
“He murdered all three of my children that night. He . . . the bastard fed me their blood when I was too weak to fight him off.”
Samantha bolted back in her chair, her face drained of color, the same look of horror in her eyes that Shade saw every time he caught a glimpse of own eyes.
“For months, he made me work for him, catching prey, killing them. The blood hunger was so bad in the beginning, I had no other choice. He locked me up, and made me travel with him. Once we were back in Europe, and I was strong enough, I escaped.”
“Did you return to your family?” Poseidon asked.
“I couldn’t.” Shade hesitated, then looked away from them, and let the last vestiges of shame wash through him. He couldn’t look Samantha in the eye. He didn’t want to see her pity. Pity was something he couldn’t bear. It emasculated him, and made him furious. And a furious vampire was a dangerous thing.
“I found others like me. Others he’d changed, who he’d taken everything from, and left to live a life of insanity and bloodlust.” He glanced back at Poseidon, and then Samantha. “That’s when we formed the Hunters’ Watch Brigade.”
“I never knew . . .” she said. “Of course you want him dead.”
“He’s always gotten away from me. I can only hunt him at night, when our powers are equal. He’s left such a trail of followers, it’s difficult to get close.”
Poseidon raised a finger. “What if you could hunt him during daylight hours, say for a short period of time, like one human year? Could you bring the jackal down then?”
Shade looked at Poseidon as if he’d lost his mind. But when a slow smile crossed the Greek god’s lips, Shade could barely contain his own.
“You can do that, Dad?”
“I might be able to work something out,” Poseidon said. “A favor for a favor, if you will.”
“As in, your appreciation for the HWB looking out for me all these years. A kind of human public service, of sorts? Surely your brothers wouldn’t prevent you from doing that, right?” Samantha seemed overjoyed at the idea. She looked Shade dead in the eye. “He’s not supposed to use his powers up here because of some ridiculous pact he made with his brothers. Something about not meddling in human lives anymore.”
“I could catch him if I had that sort of advantage,” Shade said. “What would the price be?”
“Price?”
Shade opened his palms up. “Magic always comes with some sort of price.”
“Son, I think you’ve already paid a heavy price. Consider this repayment for all the lives you’ve saved because of the HWB, particularly my daughter’s.” Poseidon tipped his water bottle and poured some spring water into his hand.
Shade eyed him, wondering what he was going to do.
Poseidon flung the water into his face rather unceremoniously. Shade blinked, and as the water coursed over his skin, it cooled him like a fresh ocean breeze.
Sam jumped up. “Come on. Let’s go outside and try it out. Besides, we’ve got work to do.”
Shade followed them outside the bustling café, removing his fancy titanium chain mail, and for the first time in more than two hundred years, he walked out into the rays of the afternoon sunlight.
Chapter 30
Sam
LIKE I SAID BEFORE, I wouldn’t recommend Central Park after midnight for your average human. New York City’s finest get a little restless when the natives won’t comply with curfew.
After my trip to Battery Park to meet up with Dad and Shade, and listening to his harrowing story about how Kristoff killed his family, we all took the train toward Central Park.
Shade left us to go back to headquarters to organize a division of agents to come help us rescue Mom.
I checked my watch. 11:45 p.m. “Almost showtime.”
We walked across Central Park, investigating the set-up for the festival. Dad took my hand. “Look at that, Samantha.” He looked up into the sky. The blue moon was full and bright, and almost as orange as a Halloween pumpkin.
The covens had shrouded their claim on the Great Lawn with a glamour, a spell that concealed the festival, and projected an alternate image to onlookers.
To the average human, or NYPD beat cop, all appeared quiet in Central Park.
“They’ve started fires for each coven. Won’t they disturb the park?” he asked.
“It’s magic, Dad. In the morning, all this will just be a memory.”
“So no one in the city can see us?” He glanced all around at the skyscrapers.
“If they can’t see us, they won’t remember it.” I couldn’t help but grin, because the Great Lawn was lit up with festive Chinese lanterns. Twenty covens danced together to live music, pipes, and strings and drums, courtesy of one of my favorite covens from Scotland.
Each group danced around at least a dozen fires, the witches celebrating the Samhain Blue Moon Festival of Light. The big full moon hovered over the park, like a giant bright celestial orb, lighting Central Park with an orange autumn glow.
“Mom wanted this to be a night to celebrate.” A chilling breeze rustled in the trees. I swallowed hard, wondering how hard this would be, when I would see her next, and if she was all right. My left arm tingled, and I summoned Atlantis.
Dad touched my arm. “There’s good magic here too, Samantha. You must believe it can overwhelm the bad.”
“Yeah, right, Dad. Just promise me that whatever happens, you’ll make sure Mom is safe. I’ll have my hands full with Rosencratz.” At least Shade had Cyn, Max, and Miss Daisy under house arrest back at HWB headquarters, so I didn’t have to worry about them out here tonight too.
“I’m proud of you, you know.” He caressed my face. “Sacrificing what we want for those we love is never easy.”
I gripped Atlantis and nodded. I just hoped it was worth it, because the sacrifices I’d made in the last twenty-four hours hurt like hell. Max had to be totally freaked out too. We hadn’t spent a day away from each other, ever. At least with Shade promising me he’d detain him, I didn’t have to worry about him showing up tonight.
My dad stopped us. “I sense her. Helmina is near. Are you ready for this?”
I looked around, focusing on the layout of the Great Lawn, trying to pinpoint where she could be. Nothing obvious stood out. How were we gonna find her? “Let’s do this.”
I took his strong hand in mine and we strode across the green grassy field, mingled among the w
itches, and danced with them, making our way to the central podium where Victoria Smith was about to open the festival.
Max
MAX CIRCLED THE periphery of the Great Lawn with Caine’s HWB agents, searching the venue for Sam, Helmina, and Rosencratz. Shade took a crew and approached from the north, and their plan was to meet in the middle, near the podium, and capture Rosencratz and Kristoff West, if he made an appearance.
While it was after midnight, the Great Lawn was lit up with campfires, torches, and Chinese lanterns, adding to the illumination from the full moon.
“There she is. I see her trident,” Commander Caine said, and pointed at Sam.
Max’s heart leapt forward in his chest. He ignored the instinct to go to her. She was on a mission, and his interference was the last thing she needed. Still, he stared. She was ethereal, a hunter stalking her prey. She’d dressed in a silvery robe, a black tunic, boots, and breeches.
Poseidon walked beside her, looking like a forty-something human male. Good. She’d found him. Smart girl. Had he gone to his brothers for permission to use his powers tonight? He blended in so well, Max would have missed him except for an occasional flash of moonlight off his golden trident.
Sam and Poseidon broke off from each other, each taking a turn dancing with the witches through the twenty covens.
They were looking for something, their line of sight never off the other for longer than a moment. They were searching for Rosencratz. For Helmina.
Shade had failed to locate either of them, despite the vampire troops he’d brought with them. Max glanced around the venue. A central podium was stationed at the far end of the Great Lawn, illuminated with lanterns. Victoria Smith, the witch who took Helmina’s place, came to the microphone at the podium. Her fruit bat sat on her left shoulder, peeping, calling all the familiars to attention.
“Let’s speak to the familiars,” Max said. He motioned for Commander Caine and his men to follow him through the crowds. Twenty covens. Four thousand witches, thus four thousand familiars. If the animals agreed, and asked their witches to help them at the right moment, their plan just might work.
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