Chapter 16
“SO, GO WITH me to rehearsal?” Aegis asked. We had made love, and showered together, and now I was eating a bowl of clam chowder, along with a handful of crackers. Aegis had declined to join me—he wanted to change out the strings on a new guitar he had bought.
“I wish I could go.” Franny appeared, startling us both. “I never get to do anything.” Great, she was on another one of her jags.
“When things settle down, I promise to look into what’s keeping you tied to the house.” I didn’t have the strength—or the heart—to yell at her.
She smiled at me, which was a little ghoulish, and then let out a mournful sigh that would have rivaled any melodrama on the stage.
“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you, Franny?” Aegis grinned at her.
“How rude can you get?” She glared at him for a moment, then flounced away, vanishing into the wall through the refrigerator.
“That always gives me the creeps when she does that,” I said. “Since when do you play guitar in the band?” My heart felt lighter than in decades. Tom had let me go and that had allowed me to let go of him.
“I can play. I can play a number of instruments. I just happen to be the singer. But Jorge may have to take a trip to visit his mother and I’d like to be able to fill in for him if we can’t find a guitarist to take over while he’s gone. We’re holding tryouts next week, but it never hurts to have a backup.” He grinned at me. “You’re my groupie, you know that?”
I snorted. “You have a lot of groupies, dude. Do you even realize how gorgeous you are?”
“Yeah, I do. But we make a good pair that way. You’re pretty fucking gorgeous yourself. I love your boobs and your ass…and your eyes and your neck and your mind.” He set down the guitar and moved behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders as I tried to balance the clam and potato on the spoon. Whispering, he began to nuzzle my ear. “I love your ears and your toes and your fingers and your—”
Laughing, I shook my head. “You’re tickling me now. Stop!” But I didn’t protest too loudly, and I ended up wearing some of my soup as he continued to tease me. Finally, he returned to his guitar.
“Yes, I’ll come to rehearsal. I haven’t been down there in a while and with everything that’s gone on lately, I need a break.”
“Good. Can you be ready in fifteen minutes? I promised the guys we’d start at eight-thirty pronto, and that we’d end by eleven. Sid’s wife really needs him to be home at a decent hour except for performance nights.”
I raised the bowl to my lips and drank the last drops of my soup, then grabbed my coat and stuffed my feet into a soft pair of fuzzy boots. Bubba yowled in protest—he didn’t want me going out—but I ruffled his hair.
“We’ll be home in a few hours, Bub. You’re safe here. Be good.” To Aegis, I said, “I’m going to take my own car just in case I need to leave early for some reason. With everything that’s gone on lately, who knows what the fuck will happen next?”
“Hopefully, a peaceful rehearsal and then we can come home and work on some of the details for the opening next week. Have you received any more bookings yet?” Aegis held the door for me, then locked it behind him as we exited the house.
“Actually, there were two online bookings today. I think my Prosperity spell is helping. But I still need to cleanse and ward the yard, given Rose’s death. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that earlier.”
“I’d say it’s because you’ve been busy with other things, maybe?” Aegis waited until I was safely inside my car and locked tight before heading toward his.
I eased out of the driveway with him following, and headed into the cloudy night. The skies were overcast but at least the snow was holding off. Given how much had fallen so far, come spring we’d best watch for flooding once all the white stuff started to melt.
By the time we got to Utopia where the band practiced during the weeknights when the club was closed, I was already regretting my choice to come. Not only had the temperature dropped to a balmy twenty-three—Fahrenheit—but I realized just how much energy the past few days had leeched out of me. I just wanted to go home, climb into jammies, and curl up under the covers with a good book. But I had promised Aegis and didn’t want to go back on my word.
I hauled ass into the club with Aegis behind me. The band members were setting up, and they waved when they saw me. I found the most comfortable chair in the club, and the row of bottles that Jack-Az allowed the boys to plunder, pouring myself a large glass of wine. As I sank into the overstuffed beanbag and stretched out my legs, it occurred to me this might not be so bad after all. If I fell asleep, Aegis could drive me home, then bring me back to get my car before dawn broke.
As they warmed up, I realized how much better they were sounding than even a few weeks ago. There were still some rough spots—Keth kept a good beat with the drums, but once in a while he would trip over a particularly grueling part. And Jorge’s fingers were fire on the guitar, but every now and then a riff would send him stumbling. But all in all, the more I heard, the more I had faith that they would actually land a record deal or make it big on their own. I wasn’t sure what their end goal was, I hadn’t thought to ask, but if they wanted to go big, there was a good chance they could make it.
They launched into a weaving medieval piece they had sexed up but then Sid suddenly stopped, shaking his head. “This is all wrong. To get the sounds we want, we need somebody who can play didgeridoos, shawms, and bagpipes.”
“Where are we going to find someone like that here on the island?” Aegis asked. “I’m not being facetious—I seriously want to know.”
“We won’t find anybody if we don’t look. We’re holding tryouts for a substitute guitarist, why not for the others?” Keth frowned. “I can play a little on the didgeridoo but not the extent we could use. And if I were playing on that, we wouldn’t have percussion in the piece. Unless it’s a track we lay down ahead of time and play in the background.”
I cleared my throat. “If you want a suggestion from the peanut gallery, I vote you take Keth’s suggestion and open up tryouts. You guys sound great, but you can take your music to a whole new level by adding in a few of those sounds. I’m serious—you have what it takes to become another Corvus Corax or Faun.” Two of my favorite bands were pretty much the role model for what the Boys of Bedlam wanted to become.
“Peanut gallery suggestions welcome, considering the comparison you just made.” Sid grinned down at me. “We can talk about that next time we get together to write some new material. Until then, let’s get started on rehearsing Saturday’s set. We had a few clunkers last time during the gig and don’t think that Jack-Az didn’t notice.”
I watched as they plugged in, turned on, and got down, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was just too tired and the wine was going to make me even sleepier. I set the glass down after a few sips and—once they finished the first song—stood.
“Aegis, I’m sorry, but I’m going home. I’m too tired to tough it out.”
“I’ll come with you.” He glanced at his band mates. “Sorry, guys, I’ll be back in half an hour.” They didn’t grumble but I could tell they weren’t thrilled.
“No, you just stay here and I’ll text you when I get there. I’ll be fine,” I added as he started to protest. “I’m just too tired to manage tonight. It’s not that far of a drive and I’ll be careful. Traffic’s light, anyway. Most of the people who are out and about are downtown, shopping for Solstice.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, now get back to work. If I’m asleep when you get home, just leave me a note, okay?”
He jumped off the stage, gracefully landing in front of me, and swung me in for a long kiss. Laughing, I patted him on the arm and disentangled myself.
“I love you. Play good. Become famous. Make me the happiest groupie around.” With that, I waved at the guys, who waved back, and headed for the door. Aegis was still looking doubtful, but he hopped back on the stage and, as the door swung shut behind me, I heard them start up another song.
I kept my guard up, but the sidewalks were deserted and I made it to my car without seeing a single person. As I fastened my seat belt and started the engine, I let out a breath of relief. So much stress over so many days had left me a nervous goose.
I was halfway home before I realized that the energy felt off. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but something was out of kilter. Given it would be stupid to lower myself into trance while driving, I tried to brush away the feelings but they kept up. Finally, half a mile from home, I eased into the parking lot of a city park and idled the engine, listening quietly to the silence around me.
Going into trance here might not be the best idea either, but at least I wasn’t driving. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up and I wanted to know what the hell was going on. Finally, I turned off the ignition after making sure all the doors were locked, and leaned back in the driver’s seat, closing my eyes as I lowered myself into the soft fog that beckoned.
I tested the space around me, looking for anything that stood out of place. The car felt normal, except there was a heaviness that didn’t belong. A sense of being latched on to, like a bungie cord attached to the fender. Yet, there was no sense that it had been tampered with.
You’re tired, Maddy. Pay attention. Get your ass out of trance because you’re in danger.
The voice echoed in my head, and I wasn’t sure who was talking, but a fear rose as I realized that there was a magical binding connected to my car and it was putting me in danger. I shot up in my seat, suddenly all too aware that I wasn’t alone in the parking lot. Figures were emerging from behind the trees. Five of them, they were coming in from all sides. I couldn’t see who they were from here, especially since we weren’t near the streetlights, but they were intent on my car.
I grabbed my phone and frantically texted Aegis. help. honeysuckle park in parking lot. somebody’s here and i don’t think they’re friendly.
I managed to copy and paste the text over to Delia before the figures suddenly sped up. They had surrounded the car before I could turn on the ignition. As I stared out the driver’s window, I saw Rachel, leaning down looking in at me.
Crap. And she had brought friends. No doubt lured in by the promise of witch’s blood for dinner. My doors were locked, but that was no guarantee to keeping out a determined vampire, especially someone who was as old and powerful as Rachel.
“Open the door, Maddy. You don’t mind if I call you Maddy even though we’ve never officially been introduced, do you?” Rachel’s voice was melodic and hard to ignore, even through the closed window. She knew she couldn’t get me with her gaze, but she could still win me over with her glamour. “Just accept that I win. Aegis will return to me, and you can’t stop him. It’s been a fun romp, though, hasn’t it?” She sounded almost wistful, as though she were remembering her own time with him.
I jumped as one of the other vamps slammed his hands against the passenger window, peeking in. “She’s a pretty one, Rachel. Can I play with her? For just a little bit?”
Rachel laughed. “Oh, Cane. I know you like big boobs and a fat ass, but honestly, isn’t it enough that her blood’s going to taste like ambrosia? Do you need to nail her, too?”
“I fancy me some jiggly butt,” the vampire she called Cane said.
I realized I still had hold of my phone and frantically texted, cane. rachel’s got a vampire named cane with her. i don’t know who the others are. going to try to get out of here.
Suddenly, texts began to flood in.
maddy, i’m coming. i just got this. hold on. That was from Aegis.
And the next, from Delia. on my way.
I fumbled for the key, but in my fear, I knocked it out of the ignition and onto the floor. As I scrambled, trying to scoop it up, my mind was racing.
How long it would take Aegis to get here? And then, of course, we had vampires to deal with. Could I hold out? That would depend on whether Rachel and her cronies could get into my car. Some vampires could turn into—
Oh shit. As I came up with the key again, I saw Cane dissolve into a black mist. Shaking, I managed to get the key back into the ignition as he formed inside the passenger seat, coming through the vents.
“Don’t you drink her down before I get my share.” Rachel pressed her face against the window, her fangs gleaming in the shimmering light of the clouds.
I flipped the key, gunning the gas, and jammed the gearshift into drive as Cane grabbed my right wrist. The car lurched forward as I tried to pull away from him and steer with my left hand. The vampire to the front got hit and went down, under the car, but unless I managed to puncture his heart, being run over wasn’t going to stop him.
Cane laughed, yanking me halfway across the gearshift panel. I cursed as the steering wheel spun wild and the car began to spin on the ice, skidding against one of the concrete stops. The back right wheel jammed against it and the car idled as the vampire managed to pull me into his lap. He planted a hand on my breast, squeezing hard enough to make me scream, and his fangs were gleaming in the light of the lamppost beneath which we were stalled.
The next moment, Rachel yanked open the driver’s door. But when she saw how Cane had hold of me, she hissed at him, low and threatening.
“She’s mine. You can play, but she’s mine to drink and to kill. Get her out of the car. She’s my trump card in the next hand of the game.” In a blur, she sped around to the passenger’s side and tried to open the door, which was still locked. Frustrated, she ripped it off its hinges as well and tossed it to the side. My blood ran cold as I realized that—one way or another—this wasn’t going to be a win-win situation. I was on the losing end and the loss I was facing wasn’t exactly one I could rebound from.
“Stop! Aegis is on the way and if you kill me, he’ll just attack you. If you let me live, he might thank you and go with you.” I had no clue how to approach this situation, but it seemed like playing to her ego might help me.
Rachel leaned into the car and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Cane, who held on a moment too long. I heard a bone snap in my wrist, and then the pain hit. As I let out a shriek, they both laughed.
“My bad, I broke your toy,” he said.
Rachel snorted. “Oh, no problem. You can play with the parts that aren’t broken in a few minutes, but I need to use her first. Aegis is going to understand just what it means to have his heart broken. And then he’ll realize that I’m the only woman in the world for him.”
I focused on my wrist, sending a Muting spell down my arm to numb the pain. It wouldn’t heal broken bones, but it would allow me to function without the pain interfering. At least for a while. But I was over any attempt to play nice.
“Bitch, you’re fucking insane. You think that killing me is going to make him come back to you? What have you been smoking?” What was it they said? Don’t look away? Don’t show fear?
That’s for mountain lions, you idiot. Again, that annoying inner voice, which I highly suspected was my inner, smarter, self.
Rachel ran her fingers down my cheek, using one of her incredibly sharp nails to raise a weal. I wasn’t sure if it was bleeding but by the gleam in her eye, I suspected maybe it was, just a little. She leaned in and slowly drew her tongue across the wound, letting out a trill.
“Yummy,” she said, her voice low and sultry. “At least Aegis gave us dessert instead of an appetizer.”
Cane was holding me by my elbows, but Rachel was close enough for me to give her one hell of a good head butt. She wasn’t expecting it, and so the blow sent her back a couple of steps. Cane growled, adjusting his grip on my arms and I had the feeling that once my spell wore off, I was going to regret doing that because I was pretty sure he had just managed to break another bone in my wrist. But for now, the fact that I had startled Ms. Bloodsucker made me smile.
“Feisty, isn’t she?” Cane piped up as the other vampires gathered ’round. They all looked hungry and I had the feeling that I was one second away from being the honored guest in a five-way vampire fang-bang.
“Too feisty.” Rachel’s cloying tone was gone. She stared at me. “So, when Aegis gets here, we’ll see just how much he wants you safe and sound.”
One of her toadies leaned in to sniff my neck and Rachel went from being five feet away to knocking him across the car. All within one quick blur.
“Nobody feeds till I say so!” She suddenly turned as the lights of a car hit the parking lot.
I recognized Aegis’s Corvette. I stiffened, not sure exactly how this was going to play out, but then I saw Delia’s squad car pull in right after. Worried about her—she might be a werewolf, but vamps were freaking strong and there were five of them—I regretted having texted her.
Aegis leaped out of the car and came running over, a blur himself. He stopped out of reach, hands on his hips. In his leather jacket and dark shades, he looked so fucking bad-ass that for a second, I forgot how much danger I was in.
“Let her go, Rachel. It’s over.” His voice carried through the night.
“What makes you think it’s done? It’s not over till I say it’s over, babe.” Rachel sauntered toward him. “You want her alive? You want little Miss Twitch to come out of this in one piece?”
Aegis stared at her. “Rachel, you have to move on. I don’t want you. I’ll never take you back. And no matter how many people you threaten, you can’t command me.” His voice was so rich, so compelling, that I found myself mesmerized. I could float in that voice, I could bathe in it, live on it. A sudden parting of the clouds brought out the moon and it shone down, bathing us in the crystal white starkness of the snow.
He held up his hand, turning so that the moonbeam caught his ring. “You know what this is. I told you long ago.”
Rachel suddenly froze. “You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me. Let her go and we’ll have ourselves a fair fight. Touch one fang to her throat, and I unleash your death.”
I was starting to get a very bad feeling about that ring. It was glowing faintly with a golden light. The ring was the symbol of the time when he had belonged to Apollo. It marked him as the Sun God’s chosen. And then, it began to dawn on me.
“If you do that, you unleash your own death.” Rachel cocked her head ever so slightly as though she were testing him, but she motioned to Cane, who let go of me with a clueless “Huh?”
“I’ve lived a long life. If I have to, I’m willing to sacrifice myself.” He let out a mirthless laugh. “Do you think that I chose this state willingly? I embrace being one of the Fallen because I have no choice. But there are other paths and other lives.”
“A fair fight, you say? We win, we get the witch. And you come back to me.”
“You win, I won’t have any say. Because you’re going to have to kill me to end it. If I win…well…then I win.”
She laughed. “Well, if you consider five against one fair, far be it from me to dissuade you. But no help from the werewolf. Or the witch.” She reached over and shoved me hard toward Aegis. “Get your ass over there. Try to leave and you’re dead, regardless of his rules.”
I hurried past Aegis, giving him a desperate look, but he kept his eyes on Rachel. “Touch her before we’re done and I won’t hesitate to bring on the sun. But trust me, it will be a fair game. I brought my own backups.”
At that, I saw three figures exit Delia’s car. Vampires all. And Essie emerged with them. She passed by me, stopping to say, “I’ve loaned Aegis three of my men. I’ll stay out of the fight, but I couldn’t help but take a piece of the action, given you’ve been after my throne, you little upstart.” Essie sat on the hood of Delia’s car, glancing over at me. “Get in the car, girl.”
I scrambled, diving into the front seat beside Delia. “Fucking hell.”
“What does Aegis mean, he’ll unleash the sun?” Delia slammed the door locks and kept the engine idling. “Don’t worry, we aren’t leaving. I promised Essie we’d stay in return for bringing her and her men over. Aegis set this up while he was on the way here.”
“Aegis has a ring—it’s from when he was a servant of Apollo. I didn’t think much about it, though he wears it constantly. But now I think it contains the power of the sun. If he unleashes it, we’ll get a blast of sunlight.”
“And that will kill every vampire in the area who happens to be within range of the light.”
“Right. Talk about deterrents. I had no clue what he was carrying around.” I watched as Essie’s men moved up to back Aegis. They poised, waiting, and then with the barest flutter of movement, the nine vampires engaged. Aegis went straight for Rachel, and the others gave the pair a wide berth.
I leaned forward, straining to get a better look. “I wish I could be out there, helping.” My heart in my throat, all I could think about was Aegis and whether he could survive.
“All you’d do is get yourself drained. Putting yourself in the thick of that fight is suicide.” She pressed her lips together. “I didn’t like having to pick up Essie and her crew, but Aegis insisted and I trust him enough to pay attention.”
Quickly running through the spells I had on tap, I suddenly realized I could do something. I had fire at my disposal. And even though I seldom tapped its power, I knew that if I was going to, now would be the time. I looked down at my broken wrist. Still numb, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t functioning.
“I need something for a splint to hold my hand straight.” I lifted my arm so she could see the swelling.
“Crap! That’s—”
“Broken. Yeah. But right now, I’m playing without pain. Help me strap it up. I can do something out there.” Regardless of Aegis promising he wouldn’t use my help, I was determined to be part of this battle. And if I didn’t ask, he couldn’t stop me.
Without a word, Delia leaned down and pulled a first-aid kit from beneath the front seat of her SUV. She opened it up and poked around. “The best I can do is strap it with an elastic bandage.”
“Then do it.” I held out the wrist, watching as she wrapped the bandage tightly around and over the wrist and fingers. It wasn’t as good as a splint, but it would do the trick for now.
As soon as she finished, I hopped out of the car and stepped over to Essie’s side. Ahead of us, Aegis and Rachel were rolling in the snow, snarling like wild animals. Aegis was trying to throttle Rachel as she aimed a well-placed kick to his balls. He groaned, but kept hold of her throat. Apparently, a kick in the nads wasn’t nearly as painful once you were turned.
The others were into the thick of it. Nobody was toast yet, but it wouldn’t be long before somebody struck a lucky blow and dusted their opponent.
Essie glanced at me. “What are you doing?”
“What I would have done earlier if I hadn’t been so startled.” I closed my eyes and reached deep inside. There it was—the tiny flame, flickering with a pale ghostly light. I coaxed it brighter, feeding it my frustration, feeding my anger at Rachel, feeding it the pain of losing Tom and every other angst I could summon up. The fire grew quickly and I readied my hands, holding them out in front of me.
“Fire, attend me.” The whisper was almost so soft I wasn’t sure if I had actually spoken or if it had been my thoughts, but then a brilliant ball of orange roared to life, hovering over my palms. I focused on Rachel, on the trajectory between her and me, and with a soft puff, blew the fireball off my hand. It sailed, gaining momentum as it grew to the size of a bowling ball.
Rachel turned, staring at the fire that was on a collision course with her. She darted to one side. But the fireball shifted course with her. She raced off, blurring her speed, but the flame sped up and—like a missile tracking its target—it enveloped her, setting her dress alight.
She fell face first in the snow, screaming as the flames licked at her body. Aegis took one look at me, then darted toward her and for a moment I was afraid he was going to try to save her—the look in his eye had been frightening and feral. But as he loomed over her, she turned, dousing the flames in the snow, screaming for him to help her. He watched her for a moment, then brought out a thin sliver of wood about a foot long.
Rachel must have seen it because she scrambled to her feet, her skin blackened and charred. Aegis paused for one brief second, and then plunged the stake into her chest. There was silence as all the vamps stopped to watch, and then in a puff of smoke and ash, Rachel vanished into a cloud of charcoal and bone. The wind rose at that moment, and howling, it blew her away as it raced through the meadow.