by D. C. Gomez
Eggplant lasagna sounded nasty. Last time I checked, Vegans didn’t eat anything animal based, which included dairy. What kind of cheese-like product did she use in a lasagna? I was really afraid to try it, but I was also really hungry.
Katrina’s fridge was just as impressive as her house. The inside was super organized, and each item was labeled with a date. I found the lasagna, as well as some Thai noodles, honey glazed carrots, some sort of Rice Krispy treats, and chopped cantaloupe, which I had no idea was in season. My stomach grumbled and my mouth watered at the sight of all the food. Before I could stop myself, I pulled everything out. It was better to try it all and find something I liked than to try one thing and hate it, right?
Ten minutes later, I was still eating. Everything was amazing and I felt like I was at the best all you can eat buffet. I wasn’t crazy about the eggplant lasagna, but it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. On the other hand, the Thai noodles were amazing. They were covered with spicy peanut sauce and had chopped veggies mixed in—a fabulous combination of noodles and veggies. The carrots were tender, and the cantaloupe was sweet and delicious. On top of that, Katrina had some frozen treat that tasted just like ice cream made out of almond milk.
I was lost in food bliss when my phone rang. The new ring tone scared me to death. I was putting that on silence ASAP.
“Hello,” I said.
“Isis, where are you? Why haven’t you called me back?” It was Abuelita on the line. I guessed Bartholomew had at least managed to forward the calls from my old phone to this one.
Abuelita was my pseudo grandma in Texas. She was in her sixties, a beautiful woman about five eleven with amazing silver hair. Abuelita had always reminded me of my godmother. Now that I thought about it, of course she did. She was also a witch. Why hadn’t I ever thought about how similar their mannerisms were?
“Isis, are you listening to me?” Abuelita snapped, her persistence shining through the phone line.
“Sorry Abuelita. I was trying to chew and swallow.” That was technically true. I sucked at lying, especially to those who knew me. “What’s going on?”
“Where are you?” Abuelita asked, a worried lilt in her tone.
“In Kansas, on a mission,” I said and left it at that. I didn’t know how much I could tell people.
“Kansas? Isis, you better hurry home. Not even Dorothy wanted to stay there,” Abuelita said, her voice completely serious.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Working on it. But what is going on? I’m sure you’re not calling just to check on me.” I stuck a forkful of Thai noodles in my mouth, figuring I could chew while I waited for Abuelita to respond.
“Please tell me it was not your idea to sponsor the Halloween parade.” I coughed and sputtered, spitting noodles onto the counter. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to take a bite…
“What parade? Explain,” I demanded. In our area, most churches were against Halloween. I was sure the Main Street group downtown was not promoting this event.
“We are having our first annual Halloween parade. According to the flyer, the main sponsor is Reapers Incorporated,” Abuelita said, the words flowing out in one long breath. “Isis, the local churches are planning to boycott the event and your business. Of course, they still haven’t figured out how to boycott you. Probably because nobody in the community has a clue what you guys do for business. But the parade boycott is on.”
I couldn’t tell if Abuelita was mad or excited about this.
“Not my idea, Abuelita. I’ll ask Constantine when I get back. What do you recommend we do until then?” I was hoping for some solid advice because I had no clue what to do with any of this information.
“Honey I have no idea, but we have a stand for the night and business will be booming.” So Abuelita was excited. She was the ultimate capitalist. “Whatever you do, be careful. I heard a few wizards have moved into town looking for sanctuary. They are planning to have a float, too.”
She is just full of good news tonight, I thought.
“I’m assuming the word is out on the Texarkana Haven?” It was more a question than a statement.
“Oh honey, this is great news.” Abuelita’s voice filled with excitement. “We haven’t had a Haven in North America for over thirty years, and now there is one in Texas? This is huge. You know, everything is bigger in Texas. This parade is going to be wild. Okay honey, finish your mission and hurry home.”
“Will do Abuelita. Love you,” I told her and killed the call.
“You don’t look happy at all,” Katrina said from the door.
“Drama at home. Nothing I can fix from here,” I told her as I shoveled more food in my mouth.
“Focus on the things you can control. Everything else can wait,” Katrina said as she made her way into the kitchen. I agreed that wisdom came with age, mostly because Katrina was full of it. “Whenever you are ready, we can go.”
I was enjoying the food too much, but I realized I was procrastinating. Who could blame me? In a few hours, we were going to be in New York City facing a bunch of killer vampires. I was not a happy camper.
Katrina left the company SUV in the parking lot and we took her personal vehicle. I didn’t know what difference it made since her SUV was almost an exact replica of the company one, but I figured it was better not to ask. Sometimes, knowing a person’s motive was more traumatizing than the actual act. I learned I could forgive somebody’s actions as long as they had good intentions.
We drove in silence, but when we hit the highway, my thoughts took over and my curiosity kicked in. “Katrina, why is the elf king so against his daughter dating or marrying this vampire heir?” I asked her, hoping she wouldn’t be as critical as Constantine.
“How much do you know about elves?” Katrina asked me without taking her eyes off the road. She sure had a way of answering my questions with questions of her own. I hoped she wasn’t planning to do that every time.
“Absolutely nothing useful,” I admitted. “Unless you count the stuff you see on TV.”
My job was to deal with the dead and they were mostly all humans, so I wasn’t that concerned about the supernatural beings that were living.
“That’s probably a good thing,” Katrina told me. “It means you haven’t dealt with them.” Katrina took a long pause and I was afraid that was all she was going to tell me. Then, she spoke again. “Elves are purely magical, beautiful beings that are very old. Their very essence has an effect on the natural world. Unfortunately, most are proud and arrogant. They don’t believe in their kind mixing with any others. They want to keep their essence pure.” She gave me a quick look as she waited for my reply.
“Oh great. So basically, we are in the middle of a West Side Story or a really complicated Romeo and Juliet,” I told Katrina as I took a deep breath.
“I’m hoping this one has a better ending than Romeo and Juliet.” Katrina offered me a sad smile.
I had to do a double take to make sure Katrina was serious. “I didn’t expect you to be a romantic.”
“Isis, there is only one thing worth fighting for and that is love.” Katrina’s eyes went back on the road. “Soldiers fight and die for love of country, love of their brothers and sisters in arms, or love for their families. You know that.” Katrina said, not really expecting an answer. She knew I would agree with her—every soldier would. She continued, her voice a little softer this time. “I have seen them together. They radiate joy and it is contagious. It’s the kind of stuff you only see in movies.”
“Are you telling me the vampires only want her back for love?” I wasn’t sure if I was buying that.
“Oh please. Arthur wants her back because he is crazy about her and will die his second death to protect her.” Katrina didn’t sound amused. “His master, the self-proclaimed emperor of the vampires, needs her for political leverage.” Katrina glanced at me, and I must have looked lost because she kept going. “The emperor decided that North America wasn’t big enough for him. He wants the
whole world under his command. He has started a takeover. If his heir marries the elves’ most beloved princess, he is hoping to discourage others from fighting.” Katrina rolled her eyes at the end.
“How do the lovebirds feel about all this mess?” I wasn’t sure how I would handle all that drama.
“Better than imagined,” Katrina answered, almost smiling. “Genevieve is a brilliant strategist and one of her father’s greatest Generals. She was working on a way to not be used as a pawn by the vamps and convince her family to agree.” Katrina’s voice carried a tone of pride in it. “Do you really think she might be missing?” She looked at me when she asked the last part.
“Maybe,” I answered honestly. “But it is a possibility that needs to be ruled out. We need to check with people on both sides to make sure they really haven’t seen her. Nobody is looking for her and she could be in serious danger.”
I stared out my window, reminiscing about the time Bob had been kidnapped. Homeless people in Texarkana had disappeared and not a single person had been looking for them. If we hadn’t found them, they’d all be dead. I didn’t want this princess to end up the same way.
“You are right,” Katrina said and we both fell silent. Silence was really comfortable with Katrina, like we had been friends for a long time.
After several minutes, Katrina cleared her throat. “I was hoping this was part of Genevieve’s plan to get everyone to accept their engagement and let them be happy.”
“Do you really think she would risk a war to achieve that?” If this princess was so well liked, I was hoping she loved her people enough not to volunteer them for war.
“No, never,” Katrina said in a dry tone. “So now, I just hope we aren’t too late.” Katrina shook her head.
“Nobody has contacted either side asking for a ransom, so we might be in luck.” Or we might not, but I didn’t want to voice my fears that the reason they hadn’t asked was because she was dead.
“Our friends are back,” Katrina announced as she stared into her rear-view mirror. “It took them long enough.”
“Who?” I had no idea what she was talking about. I glanced out the back window, but I couldn’t see a thing. I wondered if War’s gifts to his Intern included night vision. That would be awesome.
“If I’m correct, and I’m sure I am, our shooters from this afternoon are back.” Katrina looked way too cheery for my taste. “Isis, take the wheel.”
Before I could ask for explanations, Katrina climbed out of her seat. I snatched the wheel and realized this looked a lot easier in the movies than in real life. When Katrina made her way to the back of the SUV, I jumped in the driver’s seat. I tried to glance around but I couldn’t see what Katrina was doing.
“Isis, open the sunroof,” Katrina said from somewhere in the back. I searched the dark SUV for the button. “It is next to the rear-view mirror,” she told me.
“Got it,” I told her as I pressed the little button. “What are you planning to do?” I had a horrible feeling I already knew, but I figured confirmation was in order.
“Just planning to return the favor to our welcoming committee.” Katrina’s voice gave me goosebumps.
I angled myself and glanced in the rear-view mirror to find Katrina pulling the barrel of a 50 Caliber from who knew where.
“For the love of God, do you always carry a 50 Cal in your car?” I blinked hard and looked again, hoping I had been seeing things. Nope, it was still there. Who kept a machine gun in their vehicle?
“Where else would I carry it?” Katrina replied, her voice way too calm. “We have several on the roof of the compound, plus a few rocket launchers.” She beamed with pride.
“Do you need help? I can stop the vehicle.” Last time I checked, the gun and the tripod weighed over a hundred pounds.
“Not at all. I just need to install the barrel.” Katrina wasn’t even breathing hard when she spoke.
“Girl, how much do you bench press?” I asked, completely in awe of her.
“On a light day, two-twenty-five, maybe two-fifty.” Katrina flashed me another smile before going back to the open sunroof.
“Oh, okay. I guess you got this, then.” My eyes went back to the road and I focused on driving and staying in my lane. Super trooper could handle everything else.
“Isis, I need you to speed up,” Katrina told me.
Peering over my shoulder, I saw Katrina carrying a box of ammo up. “How fast?” I wasn’t sure what the top speed for a SUV was, but I didn’t want to lose Katrina in the process.
“Gun it. I want to see how many are following,” Katrina answered as she put on her goggles.
At least she believed in some sort of safety measure. Not much when she was planning to fire a 50 Cal from an SUV. I prayed she had done some big modifications to this vehicle or we were in for a world of hurt.
Looking at the rear-view mirror, all I could see was Katrina’s legs and the empty road. This was definitely the craziest thing I had ever done in a moving vehicle—at least in the states. Without thinking too much about the situation, I hit the gas and the SUV roared to life. I was pondering what kind of engine they added to this thing to make it move this fast when Katrina brought the 50 Cal to life. The sound filled the night like thunder.
“Damn it!” Katrina screamed.
I looked at the rearview mirror as Katrina lowered her head inside.
“I hit one, but we got three more on our tail,” Katrina said, her voice exasperated. “Isis, underneath your seat you’ll find a 9mm. You are going to need it.” After those words, she popped up again and started firing.
The vehicles behind us all turned their headlights on. I wondered if they thought Katrina had night vision glasses and they were hoping to blind her. Poor fools. They just made this a lot easier on her. Within seconds, she took another one out. The lights made it a lot easier for me to see, which helped. From the looks, I had a feeling their vehicles were bullet proof, but I was certain they weren’t 50Cal proof.
The two remaining cars swerved again and again, trying to evade Katrina’s full onslaught of bullet sprays, but when they started slowing down, a sense of panic drifted through my chest. I glanced ahead of us and found the reason they’d slowed. They hadn’t meant to take us out. They had been herding us to a roadblock, and sure enough, a line of vehicles blocked the road ahead of us.
This just kept getting better.
“Katrina!” I yelled, hoping she would hear me.
“What?” Katrina yelled back, as she pulled her head in.
“I’m going to need you to clear the road,” I told her as I pointed toward the roadblock. “Hold on, I’m going to give you a clear shot.”
Katrina gave me a weird look, probably questioning my skills. I didn’t blame her. I did, too. I prayed to God that Bob’s training paid off. If it didn’t, we were going to become part of the road.
Right before I took my foot off the accelerator, I made a cross sign over my heart. Then, I propelled us forward and turned the vehicle one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. As soon as I had us facing the opposite direction, I shoved it in reverse.
I was lucky. Bob had made me drive hundreds of times like this, so it was easy for me. Sure enough, it worked. Katrina had a clear path to shoot as I drove us forward as fast as possible.
Since Katrina was a sharp shooter, she demolished the line of vehicles with the machine gun. People darted out of the way and dove behind trees on the side of the road to avoid being shot. I headed straight for them, not caring. I figured if this SUV could handle a 50Cal, it had probably been remodeled to take a large collision impact and keep on going.
We plowed straight into the pile of cars that was left after Katrina’s massacre. Fortunately, nobody decided to jump in front of us. I highly doubted I could have stopped fast enough not to hit them, anyway. We went about a mile before I turned the vehicle around. After Katrina dismantled the 50Cal, she joined me in the front.
“Isis, you are amazing,” Katrina said, giving me a
high five. I couldn’t help it, I smiled back.
I couldn’t help it. I smiled at her praise. “Here, text Bartholomew and give him a status update.” I handed her my phone. Since Bartholomew had programmed everyone’s phone numbers for me, I pressed his picture for her. “We need to be in the air as soon as we get there.”
“Too easy,” Katrina replied as she started typing.
“Any idea who keeps trying to take us out?” I asked as I focused on the road and the rearview mirror. Not the most affective form of driving, but I was paranoid now.
“Those looked more like human mercenaries than supernatural creatures,” Katrina answered, not looking away from the phone. “The elves would never hire humans to do their dirty. It would be stooping too low for them. Plus, according to them, humans are too messy.” Katrina rolled her eyes again. I guessed she wasn’t too fond of the elves. “I doubt it was the vampires either. One master vampire could tear this vehicle apart with their bare hands, so they wouldn’t waste funds on parlor tricks like that.” She handed me my phone back.
“Unless they don’t want to kill us. What if their goal is to enrage our Horsemen. All they’d have to do is slow us down,” I told her, my eyes wired open as the thoughts poured through my mind. “Whoever is doing this seems to want to start a war, right? It would be way easier if we missed our deadline.” And, I had no idea which side was doing it, but I wasn’t interested in ruling either side out just yet.
“I just want to know how they keep finding us,” Katrina said as she looked out the window.
“Would it be possible for your locations to be compromised?” People always tried to bug our locations. We had to do sweeps often to ensure they didn’t get away with it.
“I wondered that myself,” Katrina told me. “I sent orders to the guys to check each location. Not much we can do now.” She made herself comfortable and buckled her seatbelt.
“I guess, but now we need to watch our backs because they might know where we are going,” I told Katrina. I wished I knew her secret to staying calm because inside, my heart raced and panic settled in my chest.