Canticle to the Midnight Moon

by Val St. Crowe

  “Actually, I do,” I said. “It’s a risk, but you’re worth it. I need to help you. I need you to stay alive.”

  “Well,” said Landon, “now she’s shown her hand. I say we find some way to take it from her instead of dealing. Whatever she’s got might be a bluff anyhow.”

  “Take it from her? Like what we did with Vivia and the spell?”

  “Yeah,” said Landon.

  “Except Meridian is fifty times more powerful than Vivia ever was,” I said. “How can we take anything from her?”

  “That amulet we took from her, what happened to it?” said Landon.

  “I… I have no idea,” I said. “I think… the last person I remember having that anklet was Viggo.”

  “Oh, chances are he’s still got it,” said Landon. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that thing. If there was anyone among us who would save something like that, it’d be Viggo, though. I was so happy to be out of that dungeon, I didn’t give the anklet another thought. Fang knows what Viggo’s done with it since.”

  “Viggo and Desta are a few miles outside the village,” I said. “They’ve got this camper they’re staying in. We could go and see them.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” said Landon.

  * * *

  “What? This?” said Viggo, taking the witch’s anklet out of his pocket. “You’re damned right I kept it.”

  Landon and I were sitting outside the camper with Desta and Viggo. It was dusk, and we were all drinking wine. Well, they were drinking. I was sipping, due to the fact that my tolerance wasn’t nearly as high as the rest of them.

  “You said,” Landon said, “that she was storing up all the power she got from the deaths of her prisoners in there.”

  “Exactly,” said Viggo. “It’s a very powerful amulet.”

  “What could we do with it?” I said.

  “Well, I don’t entirely know,” said Viggo. “I’m not a gladiorum witch. I don’t know much about magic in general, let alone this sacrificial kind. But I do think we should be able to use this power against her somehow, if that’s what you’re after.”

  “Excellent,” said Landon.

  “I thought you’d be happy enough to wipe vampires off the face of the earth, bloodhound,” said Viggo. “You don’t have any love for us.”

  “Well, we have other issues,” said Landon.

  “Like what?” said Desta.

  “Aston attempted to cure Landon’s rage mode,” I said.

  “Ah, you took my advice,” said Viggo, smiling. “Glad it worked out for you.”

  “It didn’t work out,” said Landon. “I’m dying.”

  “Oh.” Viggo made a face. “What rotten luck. My apologies.”

  Landon rolled his eyes. “Yes, thanks. Look, let’s get down to brass tacks. I imagine you won’t just give us the anklet.”

  “Have you tried vampire blood?” said Viggo. “It’s very good at curing all manner of illnesses, you know.”

  “I’m half vampire,” said Landon. “Besides, Aston already tried upping the vampire DNA on one of the rats, to see if it would help, and the thing’s head exploded or something.”

  “I don’t think it exploded,” I said.

  “It didn’t work, anyway,” said Landon.

  A noise from Desta.

  We all looked at her.

  She made the noise again. It was a kind of strangled gasp. “You can’t be dying, Landon.”

  Viggo narrowed his eyes at the bloodhound.

  Desta reached out and seized his hand. “Oh, don’t be like that, love. I’m with you. I choose you. But you know how much I’ve done to try to help Landon be happy and free. I can’t believe it’s all ending like this.”

  “It’s not,” said Viggo. “I’m going to give them the anklet, and they’re going to use it to bargain with the witch somehow. She’ll give them the cure, and he’ll be fine.”

  “Assuming the cure isn’t a bluff,” said Landon. “Which we think it very likely could be.”

  “We have to force that stupid witch to fix you,” said Desta. “And then kill her before she can kill the vampires.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” said Viggo. “As soon as we figure out how to use this.” He handed Desta the anklet.

  “Well, how do we do that?” said Desta, holding it up and peering at it. “Maybe we should look on the internet?”

  “Magicum gladiorum has been all but extinct for hundreds of years,” said Viggo. “I doubt you’re going to find step-by-steps on the internet.”

  She handed me the anklet and took out her phone. “Well, you’re just too old to properly understand the internet, love.”

  “I understand it,” said Viggo. “I’m old, not stupid.”

  “You have no idea how much information there is out there,” said Desta. She typed into her phone.

  I studied the anklet. I tried to touch its power, the way that I would reach out and touch the others in the pack, but I only felt Judah, and he was close.

  Too close.

  I stood up. Was Judah in the woods?

  “See, here we go,” said Desta. “How to access magic stored in an amulet. How to bind a witch.”

  He was in the woods, and he felt my mind touching his.

  Judah pushed forward out of the woods into our little circle. “I knew you’d go to the vampires, Camber. I knew you’d betray us.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “Betray who?” I said.

  At the same time, Landon said, “No one’s betraying anyone,” as he got to his feet.

  Viggo and Desta were standing too.

  “You’re Camber’s mate, Judah,” said Desta. “I don’t think we’ve ever met.”

  Judah looked her over. “And you’re the sister. I saw you a few times when you were staying in the village. Look, this isn’t personal, but your kind has been hunting my kind for generations. We want our freedom.”

  “What did you hear?” I said.

  “Enough to know that you’re going to stop Meridian before she can do any spell against the vampires,” said Judah. “I can’t let you do that.”

  Viggo stepped forward. “If you think you can stop me from doing anything, I’d like to see you try.”

  “Viggo,” I said. “You can’t hurt him.”

  Viggo looked me over. “I’m sorry, do I have some reason to be loyal to your whims? Besides, how many men is it that you’re mated to?”

  I turned to Judah. “Look, I’m sorry, but genocide is never a great plan.”

  “We aren’t going to kill them all,” said Judah. “Just the ones in the city.”

  “That’s basically everyone,” spoke up Desta. “You know that most vampires reside there. Who will be left? The exiles in Pattos. The vampires across the ocean. And the scattered few who may have been traveling or out in the woods for various reasons. You will kill most everyone.”

  “Vampires have been hunting werewolves for hundreds of years,” said Judah.

  “Yes, badly,” said Viggo. “If I’d wanted to wipe you out, I would have tried harder, I assure you. I didn’t want to wipe you out. I wanted you to remain in the woods as a threat to keep the humans in line.”

  “Oh, well, that makes it better,” said Judah sarcastically.

  “I would never have killed the entire werewolf population regardless,” said Viggo.

  “If it served your purposes, you would have,” Landon countered. “Don’t try and pretend as though you have some kind of conscience, Viggo.”

  Viggo sighed. He sat back down. “I suppose not. Still, I can’t let you kill so many vampires. I simply can’t.”

  I sighed. “All right, look. How about… a building?”

  “What are you saying?” said Desta. “A building isn’t any worse or better than a city.”

  “It’s less death,” I said. “And it still sends a message.”

  “Not a strong enough one,” said Judah.

  “Ondine’s building?” said Viggo, tapping his chin.

&nb
sp; “A block,” said Judah. “An entire city block and every vampire in it.”

  “Ondine’s block?” said Viggo.

  “Sure,” said Judah.

  “Done,” said Viggo.

  “What?” said Desta. “How can you say that? You know that almost everyone living in that block will likely be your own former favorites, because Ondine kept most of the government intact.”

  “Indeed,” said Viggo carelessly. “Traitorous bastards.”

  “But you didn’t want the throne,” I said. “I seem to remember you telling vampires to go back to the city and not to fight for you.”

  “Are you arguing us out of this deal?” said Judah.

  I sighed. “Fine, whatever. We’re killing an entire city block of people.”

  “Vampires,” said Judah.

  “They’re still people,” I said. “But if we’re all in agreement, I guess there’s nothing else to say about it.”

  “It’s better than the city,” said Landon.

  “Right, then,” said Viggo. “So, we go to Meridian, and we bind her with that.” He pointed to the anklet. “And then we demand that she cure Landon and destroy all the vampires on Ondine’s block, and then everyone’s happy. Fabulous.”

  “Fabulous,” said Landon dryly.

  “Oh, and after this, you guys have to drink synthetic blood,” I said.

  “What?” said Viggo. “That swill that Aston made for me? It was awful.”

  I put a finger in his face. “No feeding on humans.”

  Viggo snorted, sarcastic. “Yes, well, when you put it that way, of course I’m going to listen to you.”

  * * *

  Desta said it would be better if I had control of the anklet, because she thought that magic would work better within me. It was used to a female presence and it was used to something that was alive—not undead like the vampires or altered like Landon. Since I’d been able to do the invisibility spell okay, I decided it was worth a try.

  The spell for binding was fairly simple, anyway, and I thought I could handle it.

  First, we had to activate the amulet and attach it to me so that I could access the magic.

  It was too big to be fastened around my wrist, so I fastened it around my ankle, just like Meridian had. Then Desta bent over me and pricked my skin so that I was bleeding.

  “Ouch,” I muttered.

  “Say the words,” she said, running the anklet into my blood.

  “Right, right,” I said. “I command the power. Hear me. I command the magic. Hear me. I am your mistress. Hear me. Hear me, and obey.”

  “Again,” said Desta.

  I repeated the spell over and over until she had doused the entire amulet in my blood. Then I stopped.

  “Well?” said Desta. “Do you feel any different?”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t.” I tried to reach out for the power again, like I had before, but I only felt my pack. Maybe there was some other way I should feel for the magic, another extra-sensory way that I didn’t understand.

  “Maybe it doesn’t have any power,” said Landon. “Maybe that witch drained it somehow.”

  “No, she was fighting for it,” said Viggo. “She wanted it back. It had power. And I haven’t accessed that power. So, it’s still in there.” He paused. “Unless it somehow leaked over time.”

  “There must be a way to test it,” spoke up Judah.

  “Yes,” said Viggo. “Look up another spell on the internet, Desta.”

  “Oh, now you think the internet is going to be useful?” she teased.

  “Yes, you’re right, I’m old and decrepit, and I don’t understand it. But you make it work.”

  She smiled and got her phone out. Then she handed it to me. “Try that.”

  “Okay,” I said. I rolled my head on my shoulders and pointed at her fire pit. “Accende.”

  At once, I felt hot power burst out of the anklet. It burned its way up my leg and through my torso, down my arm, and out my finger. And the fire pit was full of raging fire.

  “Fur and teeth,” said Judah, stumbling backwards.

  “Okay, it works,” I said. “Good. Let’s do this.”

  * * *

  First, we had to find Meridian.

  I knew she’d been at my place the night before, but I didn’t know where she’d gone after that. For all we knew, she might have left the pack entirely and gone after some other wolf pack. Maybe she was done with us and wanted them to do her bidding.

  We checked the cabin where she had been staying first, though, and she was there.

  We watched through the windows as she sat up in her living room, watching television.

  Then we crept away, all in a clump, to talk about what we should do next.

  “Okay, she’s here,” I said. “Should I just come inside and start the binding spell?”

  “That gives her the chance to counter with other magic,” said Desta. “We can all try to fight her, but you remember how strong she was.”

  “Maybe, with this anklet, I’ll be just as strong,” I said. “After all, she needs the blood of the pack to do the spell that kills the vampires. Without anything to power her magic, she might be weak.”

  “Or she might not,” said Landon. “It would probably be safer to wait until she falls asleep.”

  That did make sense. If she was asleep, she wouldn’t know what was going on. It was better safe than sorry.

  So, we waited.

  Hours passed. We watched whatever Meridian was watching on TV through the windows of her cabin. I kept worrying she’d look up and see us there, but she never did.

  Meridian had terrible taste in television. She was watching some stupid, boring reality TV show, the kind where people are doing challenges to win and people get voted off every week. It was some kind of marathon, and it was boring, but she never seemed to get bored of it.

  Instead of looking at the screen, I looked out into the woods, and I thought of how long it would be until the next full moon, and what it would would be like after the vampires were all on synth blood, and what I would do if Meridian was lying about Landon’s cure.

  If she couldn’t cure him, I was going to kill her, and that was that, I decided. If she hadn’t done the spell against the vampires, I didn’t care, because I didn’t want to kill all those people anyway. I would use this anklet to kill her.

  Of course, I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to kill her. Taking off her head hadn’t worked, and that killed everything else. I also doubted I was going to find a good death spell on the internet for killing a witch.

  I toyed with some other ideas. If I couldn’t kill her, I’d keep her alive and torture her, cutting off pieces of her every day. If she grew them back, so much the better.

  And then I wondered at myself. I was so dead set against killing all the vampires, because it seemed like such a big, horrid thing to do, but daydreaming about cutting off pieces of someone was surely just as bad and a sign that I might be evil.

  Maybe I wouldn’t kill her after all.

  Maybe she would know how to heal Landon.

  Finally, Meridian got up and went to the bedroom. She got into bed and turned out the light.

  And then we waited some more.

  She tossed and turned in the bed, seemingly unable to get comfortable.

  Then she settled down and was still.

  But every ten minutes or so, she would turn over, kicking at the covers and fluffing her pillow.

  She wasn’t asleep.

  Another hour and a half passed.

  Finally, when she’d been still for twenty-five minutes or so, we decided she must be asleep.

  “Let’s go,” Desta whispered. “Camber, you first.”

  I swallowed. It made sense for me to go first, since I had the magic, but I was feeling wary about everything, and I was worried this wasn’t going to work. I got to my feet, though, and I started walking around the house.

  Then I stopped, because my legs had been asleep from sitting o
n the ground for too long, and the pins and needles were traveling painfully up and down them.

  “What?” whispered Viggo.

  “Leg’s asleep,” I whispered back, stomping it on the ground. I managed to stomp on a twig, and the sound was deafening, loud enough to wake the entire village. I cringed.

  “It’s going to be the only thing that’s asleep if you keep doing that,” said Judah. “Come on, you’re a werewolf. Be stealthy.”

  “I seem to have missed getting stealth training,” I said, glaring at him. But my leg was feeling better, so I turned and began my slow creep again. I rounded the corner of the house and then stopped.

  “What’s the hold up?” said Judah.

  “Nothing,” I said, starting to walk again. I guessed I was just nervous.

  We reached the front of the house, and I tried the door knob.

  Locked.

  Viggo pushed me out of the way. He put one hand on the knob and crushed it.

  The metal buckling was loud.

  We all cringed.

  The door swung open.

  “Someone go and check to see if she’s still asleep,” said Desta.

  No one volunteered.

  “Fine, I’ll do it,” said Desta, annoyed. She disappeared.

  We waited.

  It was dark and silent, and all I could hear was my heart beating, and it was beating way too fast.

  Finally, Desta came back. “She hasn’t moved,” she said.

  I nodded. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and stepped inside the house.

  Slowly, I tiptoed into the kitchen and the others followed me. This cabin was laid out like my own. Many of them had the same layout. I pushed through the hallway and to her bedroom door.

  It creaked open.

  Her bed was empty.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Meridian stepped out from behind the door, her fingers glowing with blue lightning. “Did you think I didn’t know you were there?” she growled. She pointed at me.

  I collided with the far wall, pinned there, pain lancing through me.

  Meridian sent bolts of blue power at me, they sizzled into me, and everything hurt.

  I moaned. Think, I told myself. What’s the spell? But it hurt too much to talk. I didn’t even know if I could get any words out.