“It’s okay, Mom,” Lynn said in a stronger, more determined tone. “I feel too sick to wait, and I can call you from the doctor’s office.”
“I’ll keep you updated, too, Mrs. Tidwell,” Saber added. “I’ll phone as soon as we get Lynn to the clinic.”
Kate chewed on her lip then nodded. “She is of age, so it’s her decision. But, please, don’t forget to call me. Either of you.”
Saber used his emergency lights sans siren, and we made it to Cosmil’s compound in warp-speed time. I’d phoned the wizard twice, once when we left Ormond to let him know he had a patient incoming, and again five minutes out so he’d smooth and straighten the road for us.
Cosmil and Lia hurried to the car, but I noticed Triton on the porch gripping a support pole. Since Cosmil barked questions at Saber about Lynn’s symptoms, I approached Triton.
“She’s going to be okay,” I told him.
“She’s infected with the Void?”
“We think so. She has foul-smelling breath, and that worries me.”
“Triton, Francesca,” Cosmil called.
I turned to see the wizard sweeping toward us. Behind him, Saber carried Lynn, but not to the shack. He headed toward the circle where Lia walked clockwise, lighting candles.
“Triton, I realize you are concerned, but I do not want you exposed again if Lynn is indeed Void infected. I do not have room here for two patients.”
“So you’re kicking me out? Cos, let me stay. Lynn will appreciate a familiar face when she comes around.”
“No, I must be firm on this point and on my conditions. First, I want you to leave your pickup truck here. I may need to use it.”
“You can drive?” I blurted the question without thinking.
Cosmil pulled himself taller. “Of course. You saw me once. Driving a tourist tram.”
“Oh, yeah, I did.”
“Back to my conditions. Triton, here is the second. I do not want you to be alone, so you and Saber will spend the night in his home. Francesca will watch over you. Then tomorrow, you will open your shop and go about your normal life.”
Triton would’ve argued further, but Cosmil laid a hand on his arm.
“Attend me well. It is vital to be visible in your world. Starrack’s alleged hirelings failed to get the amulets, and now he has failed to make you critically ill so you could be bent to his will. When he sees his failures, he may become frustrated.”
“So, if he has to work harder to get at us,” I said, “he might get reckless. Do something to expose his hiding place.”
“Exactly, Francesca.”
“But being visible will make me a target he can’t miss next time,” Triton argued.
Cosmil shook his head. “Though Lia and I have not located Starrack yet, we have cast protection spells, which we reinforce several times a day.”
“Your spells didn’t help Lynn,” Triton shot back.
“Ah, but we did not know about Lynn,” Cosmil countered. “Now we will extend protection to her as well.”
Triton’s shoulders slumped. “All right, Cos. I suppose your plan makes sense.”
“ ’Course it does,” I quipped. “It works on TV all the time.”
Triton rolled his baby browns at me. He didn’t add a crack, but the eye roll was an encouraging sign that he was getting back to his normal self.
“Cos, one question. Saber’s been in physical contact with Lynn. If he’s been reexposed, is it wise to put us together?”
“Precisely why I will scan him. Francesca, I shall check you now. Stand over here. Arms at your sides. Breathe normally.”
I obeyed his instructions, breathing my normal ten times a minute. After one exhalation, Cosmil held his palms six inches from my body and moved them over me from head to fang to toe.
“Remarkable. You emit no signs of the illness whatsoever.”
I silently sighed my relief then asked a question that had been nagging me. “Cosmil, why can’t Saber and Triton ground out all the Void gunk like I did. After all, Saber’s the one who taught me the trick.”
“That puzzles me as well, Francesca. I can only surmise that when you drained the blackness from the vampires at the comedy club, you gained immunity against reinfection. The men did not absorb as much of the Void as you did, and may not have effectively shed it.”
“So sucking the gunk acted like a mega flu shot?”
Cosmil merely nodded as Saber joined us. Cosmil began scanning my honey, palms hovering over Saber’s chest longer than I wanted to see, but the wizard finally nodded his satisfaction.
“No change in your energy, Saber. Be off with you, then.”
Triton’s brooding gaze followed Cosmil to the circle.
“Hey,” I said. “The sooner we leave, the better they’ll focus.”
He straightened his shoulders. “Right.”
Once in the SUV, Saber kept his promise to call Mrs. Tidwell, and we were on the main road before I twisted in my seat to catch Triton’s attention.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Last night when I voiced my concerns—”
“Suspicions.”
“—about Lynn, I could’ve been less—”
“Bitchy?”
“Forceful,” I corrected firmly. “I’m apologizing, moron. You could be a little more gracious.”
“Nah, it’s too easy to get a rise out of you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s a good thing you’re out of punching range.”
He looked out the window and back again. “About that. Cosmil told me I nearly slugged you. I’m sorry I lost it.”
“Now that you two are playing nice again, Triton, do you want to hear what we learned about Lynn?”
“Am I going to like the information?”
“Well, it doesn’t look like Lynn is in cahoots with Starrack. That should cheer you up.”
“Okay, what did you find out?”
“Saber found and talked with her foster mother,” I said, then related Saber’s ruse as an investigator for Lynn’s distant relatives. “So, when Lynn showed up at Mrs. Tidwell’s house sick tonight, her foster mom called Saber.”
“Did Lynn say how she hooked up with me?”
“Not exactly,” Saber said. “You have to understand that she was in a bad way when we got to the house. I talked with her alone for a few minutes and only got something about an online network with an entry stating there was a human-dolphin shifter in St. Augustine.”
“What network?” Triton and I demanded in tandem as Saber braked at the US 1 intersection.
In the streetlights, I saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel. “That’s what I intend to find out. The only other thing she said was that she first began to feel ill when she shifted back and that she felt progressively sicker.”
“So if Starrack is using Lynn,” Triton mused, “he’s doing it indirectly.”
“Right,” Saber said. “In addition, Mrs. Tidwell has been Lynn’s foster mother since she was four. Now that we know more about her, Cesca and I have a hard time believing that Starrack pulled off some spell twenty years ago just to use Lynn against you now.”
“Us. Use Lynn against us.”
Saber inclined his head. “The upshot is that, at worst, she appears to be Starrack’s unwitting pawn, not an active weapon. He may just have wanted to distract you, and Lynn served as a diversion.”
“Divide and conquer?” Triton asked.
“Why not? It’s a time-honored tactic.”
As Saber took the left turn on US 1, I twisted in my seat so I could see both him and Triton. “You know, guys, if Lynn is the innocent we think she is, we might need to stash her someplace safe. Just in case Starrack does have designs on her, or she has a relapse.”
“I’ll watch over her.”
“Not gonna work, Triton,” I said. “We’ve assumed Starrack sent those thugs, so he already knows where you live, and I’m in the freaking phone book.”
“What about Cos’s protection spells?”
“The
spells are great, but if Starrack or his minions come to your door with a gun, I wouldn’t count on magick. saving the day. Do you want Lynn smack in the line of fire?”
“Point taken. Okay, I agree she can’t stay with us, but where can we put her?”
We halfheartedly debated safe house possibilities for the rest of the drive to Saber’s house, but they were all academic until we got an update on Lynn’s condition.
The guys went to bed at one o’clock. I spent the night flipping between TV Land and the movie channels, and checking on Saber and Triton. I didn’t think Triton would make a break for Cosmil’s to see Lynn because Saber’s security system covered every door, window, nook, and cranny. Besides, from the way Triton sprawled all over the bed, he looked down for the count. I grinned as I quietly closed the guest-room door. If things worked out for him and Lynn, he’d have to learn to share the mattress.
Saber was conked for the night, too. I feared his nightmare might return, so I looked in on him more often after three, the real witching hour. His soft snore reassured me.
I itched to have my laptop so I could search for the networking site Lynn had mentioned to Saber, but that task would keep. With luck, Lynn would be well enough to give us the URL later in the day, even walk us through the site.
The guys were up at seven thirty. Saber fixed breakfast while Triton and I changed the guest-room sheets. Poor Lia. I don’t know where she was sleeping, but she had to be missing her privacy. And clothing. Last night she’d worn the same light blue scrub-type outfit from our first training session. I made a mental note to call and ask her if she wanted fresh clothes.
After breakfast, Saber ran Triton up the road a mile or so to his shop then returned to take me home.
“You don’t think Triton will bolt out to Cosmil’s?”
“Not without his truck. Besides, he respects the wizard. He may not like waiting, but he’ll stay away from the cabin until Cosmil gives the all clear. You have an early ghost tour tonight, right?”
“At eight. I guess we’ll find out if training is on hold again.”
Saber grinned at me. “In which case, I’m sure we can find something to entertain us.”
“Like those energy exercises?”
“We did miss practice last night.”
I laughed. “You’re insatiable, you know that?”
He captured my hand. “Only with you.”
Okay, I admit my heart was still pitter-patting when I let myself in the cottage and set the alarm for my daytime sleep. I missed Saber being there with me, and Snowball did, too. She meowed at the door even after I set out fresh food and water.
I fell into bed at nine, hugging a pillow instead of Saber’s warm body.
Which might be why my dreams turned ugly.
The vision opened in Cosmil’s perfect circle, except where there should have been trees, rough stone walls stretched to the sky. Triton and Lynn writhed on the grass, black mucus running from their noses like blood from a severed vein. Cosmil and Lia were there, too, coughing and vomiting the same inky goo that smelled like hot asphalt and swamp.
I woke up gagging and found Snowball draped over my neck and chest.
Damn, when did she get so heavy?
These spooky dreams were getting old fast, but I refused to dwell on them. Instead, I showered, downed a Starbloods, and called Saber’s cell from my cordless house phone.
“Any report on Lynn?”
“She’s stable. Cosmil believes she had a mild case of the Void illness, but one that hit her hard. He’ll let Triton see her after he closes the store at five. Cosmil wants to resume our training, too.”
“So you’ll drive Triton to the compound and hang out there?”
“Yeah. Oh, and I used Triton’s computer to look up that networking site. You have to register, and it looks more like a gaming thing to me, but the address is www.shiftermagic.net.”
“Got it,” I said as I jotted the URL on my note pad. “I need to check in with Maggie to be sure there are no wedding snafus, but I’ll get on the computer before I leave for my tour.”
“You’ll come out here straight from town?”
“Probably. I should ask Lia if she wants some fresh clothes. If she does, I may drop by your place on the way, but I won’t stop at home. I can change into jeans and a tee at Cosmil’s.”
“Good deal. See you about ten tonight.”
We signed off, and I called Lia first. She asked for a cotton outfit I’d seen her do the magical ironing job on, and she asked me to bring her pouches.
I disconnected and immediately called Maggie’s cell. She answered on the third ring.
“Are you with a client?”
“The one who can’t pick a bathroom tile to save her snooty life.”
“Tell her to go with neutral glass tiles. It’s the rage.”
“Says HGTV?”
“Just tell her it’s the choice of celebrity designers.”
Maggie laughed. “So, what’s up?”
“I have a tour tonight and then another thing,” I said as I opened my laptop and powered it on.
“You’ve had a lot of other things lately. I’ve noticed all the late comings and goings. Should I know specifics?”
“We’ve been hanging out with Triton a lot,” I fudged, then hurried on. “But I called to be sure all things wedding are going smoothly at your end.”
“They are. I’ll be over to help with last-minute preparations for the bridal shower Saturday.”
“Okay, but Saber and I have Sunday’s party covered. You and Neil just need to show up, eat, and open gifts.”
“And then write thank-you notes. Oh, here comes my client. I’ll catch you later.”
I put the phone unit on the desk, entered the Shifter Magic web address, and waited. The registration screen flashed up with hokey depictions of vampires and shifters and fairies in the outer frame. I signed in using my secondary e-mail address, and borrowed my mother’s maiden name to set up enough of a profile to give me access.
A list of games appeared in a navigation bar at the top of the page. I clicked on shifters, and a long, five-column list popped up. Human-dolphin was in the first column, but so was human-butterfly.
Hmm. Did a butterfly shifter experience a cocoon stage first?
I entered the shifter “game,” went through the tutorial, and finally got into the forum. Sure enough, supposed shifter sightings were reported from St. Augustine to the Barbary Coast by people with screen names like ahab930, adam12, and flipper21, but I couldn’t tell if these were gaming comments or sightings people legitimately believed they’d seen.
I watched the clock so I’d have plenty of time to change, drive to town, park, and meet my tour on time. Meanwhile, I scrolled through scores of entries until I found one that referenced St. Augustine. Sent from magicman1463 three days before the full moon, the message read: Single St. Aug dolphin seeking female.
This lame line had sent Lynn in search of Triton? I guess women fell for worse. The “magicman” moniker could be Starrack’s, but it seemed hit or miss that Lynn would have seen the post, much less acted on it.
I continued scrolling and searching, but never saw a message quite so pointed. I also never saw another message from magicman1463, though there were other magicman users with different numbers. Could Saber pull strings to get 1463’s identity? If so, could he do it in a remotely helpful time frame?
That was the rub.
I decided to break out my female pirate outfit for the ghost tour. It wasn’t precisely period perfect, but it wasn’t a sexy Halloween getup, either.
Since I was dressed for it, I told my ghost tour group tales of St. Augustine’s pirate raids. I told them that English corsair Sir Francis Drake attacked and burned the town in 1586. Then I spoke of the pirate Captain John Davis. In 1668, he and his men had plundered the town, killing sixty inhabitants, including a young girl whose ghost haunted Davis until he fled from St. Augustine half mad.
“You really didn’t
like this Davis dude, did you?”
The question came from one of the teen tourists. I acknowledged him with a smile.
“I wasn’t around then, but you’re right. Just thinking about him makes me angry. Davis strikes me as having been a particularly vicious bully.”
“Well, if you’re so antipirate, why the costume?” a teen girl with the same family asked.
This time I grinned. “Three words. Captain Jack Sparrow.”
She laughed, and the group moved on.
We’d seen the haunts, I’d given my closing spiel, and the tourists had dispersed when two young transients approached me.
“Excuse me,” the girl of about twenty said. “Aren’t you the local vampire?”
Uh-oh. Good things didn’t usually follow a question like that.
“Yes,” I answered cautiously, an eye peeled for one or both of them to whip out a weapon.
The girl fidgeted. “I don’t know how to put this.”
“Let me,” the young man said, bumping the girl aside. “We’ll let you bite us for money.”
My jaw dropped.
“Say what?”
“We’ll donate blood if you pay us.”
I gathered my wits. “You need to know two things. First, I don’t bite people. Second, I don’t have any cash on me.”
Which was true. I’d left my emergency five dollars in the truck, but I did have my Visa in my pirate pants pocket.
The girl spoke up. “Wouldn’t you make an exception? We’re awfully hungry.”
Something about her face tugged at my heart. And wallet.
“I won’t bite you, but I will buy you a pizza.”
“I thought you didn’t have any cash,” the young man said.
“I don’t, but I know a guy who’ll help you out.” As soon as he swiped my credit card.
“You’d do that for us?” The girl’s eyes glistened with hope.
“Sure, but we need to move it. The restaurant closes soon.”
I began walking south on St. George. I sensed them weighing whether to follow me or not, but I soon heard their footsteps.
We arrived before closing, just in time to order one sixteen-inch pizza with the works, two bottled waters, two bottled colas, and two jumbo plastic cups of tea. The girl took hers sweet. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t been able to turn her away. She was a sweet tea soul sister.
Always the Vampire Page 18