The Ruby Blade

by Amy Cissell

  The air started to get noticeably frosty again, and I said what I’d not wanted to say. “Florence, she isn’t your sister. She doesn’t need saving. She needs friends.”

  I waited for the snow storm to erupt in my cabin, but instead, Florence drew everything back inside and shut down. I reached out a hand to her, and she walked by, not looking at me. I followed her out of the cabin, but before I could say anything, she’d run into the woods. I didn’t follow. My tracking skills were crap, and it was cold. I was already shivering, so I went back to the others.

  “That went well,” Raj said.

  “As well as expected,” I agreed.

  “What’s going on?” Emma demanded.

  I filled her in, and she reacted exactly as I’d thought she would. She cursed a lot, insulted the parentage of Finn and everyone associated with him, including me, demanded to know why she hadn’t been told earlier, and then asked Raj to help her kill the elf next time he appeared.

  After an hour or so, her anger cooled.

  “You have amazing control,” I said. “You might not need me at the full moon.”

  She shrugged. “Control is the only way to survive Underhill. It felt kind of nice to let go for once.”

  I grinned, and then said, “There’s a way to break the bond. He did the same to me, and I forced him to break it.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “I threatened him, cut off a couple small body parts,” Emma snorted, and I laughed. “Not that,” I said. “I removed an ear tip and a couple fingertips, and then he agreed to dissolve the bond. It involved spilled blood on both sides, but I felt it break, and now he can’t just jump to me anymore.”

  “So that’s how he’s been finding us so easily now?” she asked. “Me?”

  I nodded.

  “And he can read my mind?”

  “If he’s close enough.”

  “But you’ve had me in on planning sessions!”

  “You’re part of the team.”

  “You can’t tell me any more until the bond is broken. I will not unwittingly betray you.”

  I notice she said nothing about betraying me on purpose, but I let it pass. Baby steps.

  “As you wish.”

  “Where’s Florence?”

  “Taking a few moments for herself. She’ll be okay, especially if you’re okay. Do you want me to stay until she gets back?”

  “There is no need, Eleanor,” Petrina said. “I will stay with Emma until her guardian returns. You and my father should go take some time.”

  I tried to think of a witty rejoinder, but my sense of humor was failing me today.

  Raj walked me back to my cabin and stood outside while I changed into pajamas. “You can come in now,” I said. “You saw me in a lot less last night.”

  “And that was trying,” he said.

  “You made that sound like a bad thing.” I pouted. He just laughed at me.

  “Get some sleep, Eleanor. I will stay.”

  I crawled under the covers and puckered my lips. Raj brushed a light kiss over them, then moved out of reach when I attempted to take it further. “Spoilsport.”

  “Six weeks,” he said.

  “And a couple of days.”

  I fell asleep almost immediately, and when I woke the next morning, Raj was gone.

  Our plans took us to Athens, Georgia for our next overnight. I was a little nervous about spending any time in Georgia since my last memories of it included getting shot and losing my mate, but it was a good stopping place, and Raj insisted. The chances of me getting shot or re-losing Isaac seemed negligible. We rolled into a motel with a hand-written sign proclaiming it “Open for Bizness,” and I went in to see about rooms. It wasn’t warm by any means, but it was so much warmer than Pennsylvania had been that I was willing to go outside with only a few extra layers on.

  The motel clerk wasn’t the most pleasant person I’d ever encountered, and I felt like he’d prefer to have a one hundred percent vacancy rate. He handed me two keys. “Room 112 is just there.” He pointed across the parking lot towards the second building. “Room 301 is in the same building on the other side, and room 237 is in this building, on the third floor, around back.”

  I didn’t take the keys. “We’d really like three rooms next to each other.”

  He heaved a giant sigh, rolled his eyes, and said, “That’s what I have available.”

  “There is no one else here. All your rooms are available.”

  “If you don’t want to stay here, no one’s keeping you,” he said. He spat noisily on the floor, and I swallowed to keep from gagging.

  I tried to be reasonable. “I will pay for three rooms. I have cash.” I showed him my cash, and his eyes lit up. “I just need them to be, at the very least, near each other and not as far away as possible from each other in this small motel.”

  His eyes narrowed, and I could practically see the gears turning. He looked at me, down at my cash, then squinted out the grimy window towards where Florence and Emma were stretching their legs.

  “Just you three ladies then?” he asked.

  “What you see is who you’ll get,” I confirmed. “No one else will be staying with us.” I bit my tongue in an effort not to add that Raj and Petrina would be dropping in to visit. He didn’t need more information. “Why don’t you give us room 301,” I took that key from him, “and two more rooms on the third floor near that one.”

  A sly smile crept across his face, and something about it raised my hackles. I didn’t know what he had planned, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like it.

  “You want three rooms on the top floor, facing away from the main office?” he confirmed.

  “That’s great.”

  “Three hundred dollars.” He held out his hand.

  “Seriously? For this place?”

  “One hundred dollars a room per night. It’s the policy.”

  I tilted my head and looked at him. “Your sign out front says fifty dollars a night.”

  “Old sign.”

  I rolled my eyes, counted out three hundred dollars from my wad of cash, and took the keys to rooms 305 and 307.

  “There’s no hot water and no HBO,” he said as I was leaving.

  “That’s fine.”

  “Sleep well, lady!” He laughed.

  The rooms were even worse than I’d anticipated, but at least they didn’t have bedbugs or other vermin. I carefully stripped the comforter off the bed and spread some of my towels down over the sheets. Who knew what had happened here.

  “Did you ask about food?” Emma called from her room four doors down.

  “I didn’t, but I don’t think he would’ve been that helpful anyway,” I said.

  “I’ll set up the little camp stove in the parking lot and cook up something quick,” Florence said. “It won’t be delicious, but it’ll be filling, and I’d rather not venture out here. Something about this town makes me wary.”

  I looked at her. If Florence was uncomfortable, too, then maybe the wiggins I was getting shouldn’t be dismissed. “This might sound paranoid, but I think we’re being set up,” I said. “The motel clerk was overly excited that it was “just women” as he said, and he saw how much cash I had. If I were him and had the brains and moral compass of a dull stone, I’d be contacting some buddies and arranging for them to rob the helpless ladies.”

  Florence grinned, and her teeth gleamed. “That could be fun.”

  “It will not be fun,” I said. “I don’t want to discourage a bunch of stupid humans from robbing me.”

  “I do,” Emma said. “I like fighting.”

  “Shifters,” I said, dropping as much scorn as I could into it.

  “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” Florence said. “In the meantime, we can at least do a makeshift dinner while we wait for Petrina and Raj.”

  True dark had settled over the motel when I heard footsteps approaching. Florence and I were working on Emma’s poker skills. She was getting better b
ut was still losing most of the time. We had the door open to catch the slight breeze that had sprung up at dusk. It might not be hot, but it was muggy, and I enjoyed breathing.

  “Get ready,” Raj’s voice sounded in my head. I jumped up, grabbed my sword, and faced the doorway.

  “Should I shift?” Emma asked.

  “To be on the safe side,” I said.

  She stripped off her clothes and started shifting—it was a noticeably faster process now than when I’d first seen her shift. I ran to the doorway and met Raj.

  “What is it?” I asked, urgency straining my voice.

  “Vampires,” he said.

  I desperately wanted to make a joke, but even I can tell when it’s not the right time. “How many?”

  “I’m not sure. Petrina is holding them off. They’re on their way here.”

  “Who is their master?” Florence asked.

  “They are rogues,” Raj said. “I’ve informed the new master of Savannah that she has a problem in his territory, and if we’re lucky and she’s smart, she’ll be here with a contingent to take care of this problem.”

  “How did they know I was here?” I asked.

  Raj flicked his eyes towards the motel room where Emma was completing the change and said, “Could be anything.”

  Well, fuck. Finn was still keeping tabs on us through Emma. I didn’t want to leave her out of the planning, but she was right; she was a liability.

  “How far away are they?” I asked at the same time that Florence asked, “Where are they from?”

  Raj answered Florence first. “Somewhere in the Appalachians. From what I picked up from their minds, they hide there to stay off the radar of any local vampire clans, and feed on hikers on the Appalachian Trail.” He turned away from us and looked out over the dark expanse of the city, dotted sporadically with lanterns, torches, and bonfires.

  “They’ll be here in less than five minutes, but unless they’re more adept at hiding their numbers than I think they are, they’re down to less than ten. Petrina has been taking care of business.”

  A minute later—which seemed much faster than the five Raj has promised—I heard stealthy footsteps on the stairs on the other side of the motel. I wrinkled my nose at Raj for his timing error, but he whispered, “That’s not the vamps. I think there are humans coming.”

  Dammit. I’d forgotten about the stupid humans in the excitement. This was not what we needed.

  “Want me to scare them off?” Raj asked.

  “That’s probably wise,” I said. They were close enough that I could hear their whispers now, although they probably couldn’t hear ours.

  “They’re in 301, 305, and 307,” a voice that I recognized as Motel Clerk said. “Let’s hit room 301 first, then the other two. The short bitch had the money, but none of them looked that tough.”

  Before Raj could go scare them or glamour them or whatever he had in mind, Petrina appeared in the parking lot below. “They’re right behind me!” she yelled, then jumped up and over the railing to land next to us.

  The four would-be thugs walked around the corner just in time to see Trina set the Guinness Book of World Records high jump and froze.

  “Oh, shit,” Motel Clerk said. “They’re freaks.”

  “Good thing we have guns,” one of his companions, who reeked of BO, said.

  “Do you think the bounty is still good?” Another guy, whose voice had never made it out of puberty, squeaked.

  “I don’t have a gun,” Motel Clerk said. “My mom took mine away.”

  Jesus Christ, Thor, and Vishnu—I was trying to get more creative with my cursing—I couldn’t believe we had to deal with these morons. If they hadn’t disclosed that they were armed and stupid—the worst combination—I would’ve felt comfortable ignoring them and letting them get scared off by the encroaching vamp fight, but I really, really didn’t want to get shot again. Fucking Georgia. I hated Georgia.

  “Florence, come with me. We need to disarm these idiots.” I said, loud enough for the idiots to hear. I turned towards Raj. “Can you, Petrina, and Emma hold off the vamps while we deal with the other problem?”

  “As long as no more show up, we’ll be fine for a bit,” he said. “They’re remarkably old and powerful for a bunch of unregistered vampires living in the woods.”

  “Unregistered?” I asked, then shook my head. It could wait. I walked towards the group of humans. “Hey,” I said, hoping I sounded non-threatening.

  “Don’t come any closer!” Stinky yelled, brandishing his weapon. From the way he held it, even a gun amateur like myself could tell he had no idea what he was doing. Great. Just fucking great.

  I stopped moving and held up my hands. “We don’t want to fight,” I said.

  “You’re a bunch of freaks!” Motel Clerk shouted. “I don’t let freaks stay here.”

  “You took my money—gouged me, really,” I said. “We just want to have a peaceful night.”

  At that exact moment, nearly a dozen vampires appeared in the parking lot. “Give us the catalyst and no one gets hurt!” One of them yelled.

  “If you think you can take her, come and get her,” Petrina yelled back. “I can’t help but notice that several of you have already gotten hurt. Your group seems smaller than it was before.”

  “Now go away, or we shall taunt you a second time,” I said.

  Squeaky laughed. Great. Another fan.

  The only human who hadn’t yet spoken broke his silence. “What the fuck are those things?” he whispered. He pulled a gun out of his pants and pointed it forward. It wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular, but that didn’t make me feel better.

  “Listen boys,” I said. “There’s going to be a messy fight here, and it’ll be better for everyone if you’re not here to see it. I wouldn’t want any of you to get hurt.”

  “Us?” laughed Stinky. “You’re the one who brought a sword to a gun fight.”

  I was about done with these idiots. I prepped my air magic to bind them, but before I could do anything, one of the vamps from the parking lot leaped up and tried to grab me. Before she could make contact, Raj had his hands on her head, twisted, and popped it off. Her mouth widened into an “O” of surprise before she turned to dust and ash.

  “Fuck!” Stinky yelled and pulled the trigger. I felt the bullet almost before I heard the shot. It grazed my arm and barely stung. It didn’t even rate in the top ten of the most painful injuries I’d had in the last few months, but it pissed me right the fuck off.

  “I have had enough!” I yelled. I stepped forward, grabbed the guns from Stinky and the other guy, tossed them away, then bound them with my air magic. Once they were immobilized, I banged their heads together and knocked them out. Motel Clerk was running, but Squeaky stayed put, drew his weapon, aimed it at my face, and pulled the trigger.

  The noise and light rendered me temporarily blind and deaf, and searing pain radiated through my shoulder.

  “Eleanor,” Raj yelled, and I couldn’t tell if he was really far away or in my head. I felt myself begin to crumple and leaned back against the wall to steady myself. I would not pass out.

  My vision was slowly coming back, although my hearing was taking a little longer to get back to normal. “The fucker shot me!” I said. “He shot me in the same shoulder I got shot in last time.”

  “It’s a through and through,” Florence said. I could hear her, but it sounded like it was coming from under water. “She’ll be fine. She’s stunned and in shock, but it’s already starting to heal. Take care of the vamps. I’ll take care of this one,” she nodded towards Squeaky, who was shaking and looked like he might be the one to faint.

  Florence helped me sit, then turned to the human who’d shot me. “Give me your gun,” she said.

  He handed it over with no argument. “I didn’t mean to,” he stammered.

  “You very much meant to,” she said. “Fortunately, you’re a terrible shot, and you’re carrying a terrible gun. I won’t kill you, because you�
�re human, but if you aren’t at least a half-mile away from here in five minutes, I will make you wish I had.”

  He was gone in the blink of an eye, and Florence laughed. She turned back to me. My hearing was already better, and the pain was receding. “How are you?”

  “Fine. Irritated. A little sore.”

  “I’m going to go help the others. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  I managed to stand up again and walked over to the railing to watch the battle. There were only four vamps left, which meant the odds were no longer in their favor. Raj and Petrina paused at the same moment, and both turned to the east. I grabbed my sword. I might be sore, but if there were more vamps coming, they’d need my help.

  “It’s okay,” Raj said. “It’s Lee Robinson, and she’s brought more than enough vamps to clean up this mess.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  WHEN THE SAVANNAH vamps showed up, I made my way back to the room and cleaned myself up as best as I could while the battle wound down. I fell asleep before anyone came to report, and when I woke the next day, I was alone in a doubly warded room—I recognized Florence’s signature and guessed the other was Petrina’s work—and had a note on the pillow next to me.

  “I will be meeting with the Master of Savannah one hour past sundown and would like you to accompany me to that meeting. - Raj.”

  I glanced out the window to gauge the time. The sun was on a downward track, so it was after noon. My stomach growled to emphasize that it was several hours past when I should’ve had something to eat.

  My shoulder still throbbed a bit, but it was manageable. There wasn’t a hole anymore, and the exit site looked weeks old, not hours.

  I dressed and went to find Florence and Emma.

  “How do you feel?” Florence asked when I walked into her room.