by Nadia Heaton
Witches could often make a simple illusion work simply by placing mirrors strategically, or by using something with natural power like fire to amplify the energy stores of a spell.
Three days later, Rashid was still searching the forest. He moved in a grid pattern, determined not to miss a single spot. Being lazy now would most likely just result in him searching the entire area twice. It was vexing, but he knew that if he looked for long enough, he would find the house.
Rashid took a small break from searching to hunt a deer for its blood. He preferred the blood of sea creatures, but that wasn’t an option right now. As the sun started rising, he got out his tent, carefully positioning the thick, light blocking panels so that he would be protected.
The trees blocked a good deal of the light anyway, but like all vampires, he felt most comfortable with no light on him at all.
Witches knew that, of course, and used it to their advantage, trying their best to make sure that any fight between themselves and vampires happened during the day.
Rashid paused in the act of lying down on his camp bed. Witches knew his kind’s weakness for light, and they didn’t hesitate to use it. What if that was one of the defenses Mirabelle used? Perhaps the house was only visible during the day, a time when she knew most vampires would be asleep or inside.
He groaned as he started rolling up his camp bed. That was exactly the kind of thing a witch would do. Rashid got changed into his heavy robes and sunglasses. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but he could go about safely in these, especially if he stuck to the shady parts of the forest.
With this in mind, he began his search again, knowing he couldn’t count on having checked each area thoroughly if Mirabelle was indeed using a spell that was affected by daylight.
Though it wasn’t comfortable, his strategy turned out to be successful. Rashid had barely been searching for a couple of hours when he felt a telltale pulsing in the air. It didn’t take long to follow the sound to a hollowed out tree. He’d passed it before in his previous search, but at that time at night, there had been nothing interesting about the tree.
Now, he could practically feel the energy emanating from it. Inside, there was a small orb, just bigger than his fist. Rashid knew better than to stick his hand in there, given that he’d like to keep all his fingers.
He wasn’t without magic of his own, though. He couldn’t construct comprehensive shields like witches could, but he had access to a simpler version. Rashid carefully shielded the tree, sort of like covering it in cushions and tying them in place. It was crude, but it worked.
The pulsing power of the orb faded behind the shield, and an image flickered slightly to his right. Where before there had been an empty glade, a small, simple wooden house stood. Rashid snorted. All of this magical protection for that pathetic dwelling? He thought of his own elegant chateau.
The simplicity of witches was both irritating and deceptive. For all that she was happy with this tiny thing, Mirabelle was a powerful witch who could destroy Rashid in the right circumstances. He carefully walked toward it, his senses on full alert, trying to detect any defensive magic.
If it wasn’t for his vampire speed reactions, Rashid would have died for sure. He flattened himself to the ground a split second before a huge blade swung out of nowhere, scything through the space where his neck had been only moments earlier. As it finished its arc, the blade dissolved into smoke.
Rashid crawled forward on his knees, glad that there was no one else there to see him in such an embarrassing position. He didn’t risk getting up again until he was right at the door. He kicked it in and stepped swiftly back, dodging the sudden burst of flame that would have otherwise consumed him. Once that had flared out, he darted inside, breathing a sigh of relief when there were no further defensive mechanisms from the house.
Before anything else, he walked around the entire place, not that it took long. If there were any more hidden defenses, he wanted to set them off now, while he was prepared for them.
There was nothing. Apparently, it had all been aimed at stopping an invader from getting inside. Rashid wouldn’t be surprised if Mirabelle had received some magical notification of his intrusion, but that worked to his favor. After all, he wanted to speak to her, he just needed to ensure that the circumstances were ones that he would be able to escape alive.
It would take some time to make enough preparations to give Mirabelle a disadvantage, but Rashid was confident he could dissemble her seat of power long enough to make it work as protection for him. A lot of her protective mechanisms could actually stay, they just needed to be switched over to protect him.
He spent a further day preparing, rather surprised that Mirabelle hadn’t turned up yet. Of course, it was entirely possible that she had been watching him all this time. Either way, Rashid was ready.
A black and orange salamander scurried past him as he stood on the doorstep. Bingo. Rashid snatched it up, holding it by its squirming torso.
He called out into the woods, sure that she would be able to hear him, wherever she was. “Mirabelle! We need to talk.”
11
They walked hand in hand through the open market, exclaiming over small trinkets like true tourists. Lisette couldn’t stop smiling. She kept waiting for something to change – for her feelings for Nobu to start to wane.
Her feelings weren’t fading, though. If anything, they were growing stronger. They’d been in Spain for almost three weeks, which put it at over a month since they had met. Usually, Lisette’s feelings for a guy started to wane by now. The occasional one lasted longer, like Teo, but no matter how she worried about this just being a repeating pattern, Lisette knew deep down that Nobu was different.
After buying a few small items, the two of them got lunch from a small nearby café. The tables were small enough that they could easily hold hands across theirs.
Lisette was caught up in wondering about the romantic atmosphere of Spain, whether it truly was as romantic as it seemed, or if it just felt that way to her because she was in love. Honestly, being stuck in a dark cave with Nobu would probably feel romantic to her.
She looked up to find him staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Nobu pulled her closer, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” The words came out automatically – Lisette had said them so many times by now, it was practically routine.
Nothing about this time felt routine, though. Lisette could see herself having a life with Nobu. Sure, she’d seen that with a number of guys, but never like this. It wasn’t a cloud of hormones and infatuation talking. She truly loved him as a person, and wanted to be by his side every day for the rest of their lives.
The food arrived before they could say anything else to each other, but it didn’t matter. They both ate with one hand so that they could continue holding hands. This resulted in a lot of food being spilled, and the two of them ended up giggling like maniacs and garnering dirty looks from the café’s owner.
As they left the shop, Nobu started leading her to one of the many beaches. They always stayed well clear of the water, ensuring that Lisette didn’t get sprayed accidentally. As long as they were clear of the water, she found she loved her walks on the beach with Nobu.
“Have you thought about going back?” He stared thoughtfully ahead as he spoke.
“No. I’m not in any hurry, to be honest. What about you?”
“Me neither. My client isn’t going to be happy, but I don’t really care right now. I’d rather be here with you.” Nobu’s tender smile melted her heart. Lisette wondered idly if they could just stay here forever and never return to the drama of their individual lives.
It was a nice fantasy, a life of walks on the beach and lunches at small cafes, but Lisette knew she wouldn’t go through with it. She’d miss her family too much, for one thing. And despite all the drama recently, she loved being part of her coven. No, she didn’t want to hide here forever – but
she certainly wouldn’t say no to another few months. She definitely wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
The waves crashed on the sand, and Lisette stared at the water. It really was beautiful; too bad she couldn’t go near it. There weren’t many disadvantages to being a witch, but this was definitely one of them.
“What are you thinking?” Nobu didn’t stop moving, and the two of them continued their walk down the beach as they talked.
“The sea. Bethany loves diving so much. She’s taken some photos with an underwater camera she got, and they’re really beautiful. I kind of wish it was something I could do, even if it’s just once, to see what it’s like.”
“What about going in a submarine? You told me some of your coven went down in a submarine.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t a part of that – apparently, it was a conflict of interests, since Bethany was involved. Fleur only got to go because she’s training to take over the coven. Besides, it was a dangerous move. I’m not sure it would be wise to risk for something like sightseeing.”
“Because attacking a coven of vampires is so much safer.”
“True. Tell that to Mirabelle, though.”
“You don’t need her permission. What does sea water do to you, anyway?”
“It’s not sea water specifically – any salt water. A little bit will burn us and reduce our powers. More will kill us. You have no idea the complications it causes if one of us needs to be hospitalized – that’s why we try so hard to do all our healing ourselves.”
“What’s the problem with hospitals?”
“The first thing doctors do for almost all patients who come in is get them on a saline IV.”
It took a moment for Nobu to understand the severity of this for a witch. “Oh. Oh. I imagine that goes quite badly.”
“Being burned from the inside is never fun. Fortunately it hasn’t happened to anyone in a while, as we’ve been very careful, but of those hospital cases… few survived.”
Nobu carefully edged her a little further from the sea, even though there was no chance even the biggest waves would splash her here. Lisette was still watching the water, and she saw a shadow beneath it.
It was probably just seaweed, but it looked to her like a ray. No, she was being paranoid. There were no vampires here. Lisette turned her focus back to the sand in front of her, picking up a shell and starting to brush debris off it.
Her eye was caught again by movement, and this time, it wasn’t under the water. A man rose up from the waves, wearing nothing but a speedo. Lisette froze, and Nobu followed her gaze. He glanced at her, his eyes unsure. He didn’t understand why she was so tense, but Lisette knew a vampire when she saw one.
Not only that, but she recognized this one. She’d met Rashid before. She didn’t know what he was doing here, but it surely wouldn’t bode well for her.
Rashid started striding purposefully toward them. Lisette scrambled to pull up a shield. The last thing she’d expected to find here was a vampire, and he’d surprised her. Before she could put up a proper defense, Rashid spat out a long stream of sea water at her.
It felt like acid hitting her skin. Lisette screamed and twisted away as it splashed across her arm. Nobu immediately jumped in front of her, reaching behind himself and pulling a gun out from under his belt. Lisette hadn’t even known he’d been carrying one, but it made sense. Nobu probably didn’t ever go anywhere without a weapon.
She could see the softness falling quickly from his eyes as he faced Rashid. Nobu was getting into assassin mode.
12
After so many years of being in his line of work, it was almost automatic. Nobu identified a threat and he went for it. He fired off three rounds in quick succession. It was a move that would have downed any normal opponent.
The man from the sea kept coming, barely twitching as the bullets hit him. Nobu didn’t see any blood. It was like the bullets had somehow failed to penetrate skin. He realized that this had to be more than a man – some kind of supernatural creature.
From Lisette’s descriptions, and given that this man had come directly from the ocean, he expected it was a vampire. They turned into manta rays, according to Lisette, so the man could easily have swum up to them in that form.
Nobu continued firing until his gun was out of bullets. Behind him, Lisette was shouting something in what he recognized to be the language she used to cast spells. Instead of a ball of lethal energy, though, a small orb appeared before fizzling out like a guttering lamp.
Nobu’s heart sank as he remembered what she had told him only minutes before. The salt water reduced her powers. He would have to fight this fight himself, but he could do that. Nobu was used to fighting alone. He dropped his gun and drew his knife, facing the vampire.
The thing moved fast. One moment, it was two steps away from him, and the next, Nobu was flying through the air. He scrambled to his feet, putting himself between it and Lisette once more.
“Stay away from him, Rashid!” Lisette shouted. “My coven will leave you in a desert to roast!”
Rashid didn’t answer, but continued his attack. This time, Nobu was ready, and he dodged the vampire, spinning around to stab him between the shoulder blades.
He may as well have been stabbing a rock. Now there was nothing between Rashid and Lisette. Nobu grabbed Rashid’s arm, spinning the two of them around. He punched threw a punch at Rashid’s face, and was fairly certain he fractured his knuckles.
Rashid growled, slapping at Nobu’s hand, which immediately went numb. He felt the knife dropping from his fingers. Not ready to give up yet, he yanked a cord at his belt. A thin wire loop with a belt buckle as a handle came out, and he wasted no time in slipping it over Rashid’s head.
Nobu used all of his considerable muscle to yank. The move would have beheaded any mortal, but Rashid barely seemed to notice it. Panic was starting to set into Nobu’s mind. This was something he couldn’t beat. It was like nothing he’d ever fought before.
Unable to make any mark on Rashid’s body, he did the only thing he could. Nobu tackled him to the ground, shouting over his shoulder as he did so. “Lisette, RUN!”
Lisette ran – toward him. She was casting some kind of magic at Rashid, but it had just as much effect as Nobu’s weapons had done.
He tried again. “Get away!”
“I won’t leave you!”
Lisette lunged toward him, but Nobu pushed her roughly back. He wouldn’t have her hurt. He’d rather die.
Rashid used Nobu’s moment of distraction, grabbing both of his arms and pinning them behind his back. Nobu struggled, but he had no strength to match a vampire. Lisette was advancing on them, but Rashid clamped a hand over Nobu’s throat. “Don’t move.”
Lisette came to a reluctant stop. “What do you want, Rashid?”
He merely smiled. Lisette glared at him, but her voice was shaking slightly when she spoke again. “How did you find us?”
Nobu knew what she was doing – stalling. He hoped she had a plan for how to get them out of this, because he certainly didn’t.
“Oh, that? It wasn’t that difficult. A witch’s familiar is a useful bargaining tool, not to mention knowledgeable. I’ve seen and done a lot in my time. I know how to ask questions in a way that leads to answers.”
This hardly told them anything, but right now, Nobu didn’t really care about how Rashid had found them, only that he and Lisette got away. He slammed an elbow into Rashid’s stomach, probably cracking his bone in the process. Rashid didn’t so much as flinch, but Nobu wasn’t going to stop fighting, even if he was hopelessly out matched.
“Help! Someone help us!” Lisette stared helplessly around the beach, but there was no one else here, and no one seemed to hear their call.
Rashid started retreating, and dragging Nobu with him. They moved so fast that Lisette shrank rapidly in his vision. She screamed and started running toward them. Nobu felt cold seawater at his ankles.
“Lisette, stay back!” The water would burn her,
and it was too late for him. Rashid had already dragged him into the water up to his knees, and he wasn’t stopping. As the water came to his shoulders, Nobu craned his neck to get one last glimpse of Lisette. This would be the last time he ever saw her.
Her face was tear streaked, but still beautiful. She was screaming his name. Nobu hoped she didn’t follow him. Then, she would just die too. As the water closed over his head, Nobu could only hope that Rashid snapped his neck rather than letting him suffer the agony of drowning. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t break loose.
At first, he thought that his wish had been granted. Cold water surrounded him as he was pulled down, and Nobu felt a piercing pain in his neck. Instead of the blackness of death, though, everything around him exploded in bright colors.
Nobu’s lungs burned for air. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold his breath for. Meanwhile, despite the freezing water, his body seemed to be burning from the inside out. He gave one last futile kick, but Rashid held him fast, dragging him further down.
Finally, his lungs gave out. Nobu gasped a breath, feeling the water hit his lungs. There was a moment of blinding pain and desperate need for air before everything around him went black, and he remembered no more.
When Nobu came back to consciousness, the first thing he was aware of was noise. So much noise. It was like being in a packed train station at rush hour.
The next thing was surprise. How was he still alive? He’d inhaled a lungful of sea water. People didn’t just come back from that. He opened his eyes, only to squeeze them shut again. Why was it so bright? He had no idea what was happening, but Nobu knew this was a time for caution. He sent his awareness to his other senses.
It seemed he was lying on a bed or pallet of some kind. It was bright and noisy, and his throat was aching with thirst. That much, at least, made sense. He’d probably swallowed enough salt water to leave him severely dehydrated.