Chapter 9
THAT EVENING, ZARA only came over for a brief while. She was packed and ready to go. “I’ve got a 5:30 flight tomorrow morning, so I’m going to take a taxi down to the airport tonight and sleep in a hotel near there. If I leave now, I’ll get there in three hours, including the time on the ferry over to Bellingham.”
“But don’t you want to stay to see Aegis again?” I glanced at the clock. It was six-thirty, and he would be up in less than three hours.
She kissed me on the cheek. “My dear, he’s a fine man. Vampire. Both, I suppose. But if I wait till he wakes up, I won’t be at the hotel until after midnight. And since I need to be at the airport by 4:00 a.m. at the latest, that gives me less than four hours of sleep. I get tired so easily now. So you tell him I said good-bye, and to take care of you.”
Now that it was time, I didn’t want her to go. “Are you sure you have to leave now?”
“Yes, Maddy. I have to be there in a couple of days so I can have time to prepare for the treatments. I hope that I helped you today, though.”
Zara had managed to find an entire chapter on ghost snails. Since the book wasn’t allowed out of the library, she had spent her time photographing every page with her phone, and sending me the files. We hadn’t even thought of finding a photocopier until after she had finished. I, on the other hand, had dredged up half a page of scribbled notes. Apparently ghost snails were extremely rare and not a lot was known about them, but I was beginning to think their rarity was a very good thing, given Sandy’s condition.
I walked her out to the curb, where her taxi was waiting. “Promise you’ll let me know. Either way.”
“I will. And promise me you’ll meet your brother.” She held my shoulders. “And tell him that…I didn’t want to give him up but I was given no choice. I was too afraid to go against my mother, and now I realize that was a mistake. But everything happens for a reason, and maybe, if I had kept him, I wouldn’t have had you. And that would be a horrible loss for the world.”
It was the first time my mother had ever told me she was proud of me—even in so many words—and I could barely speak.
“Now, stand up straight, Maudlin.”
I straightened my shoulders.
“Remember, you’re a Gallowglass. I’m a Gallowglass. Your grandmother is a Gallowglass, and that name means something in magical circles. Carry it proudly, even if you disagree with some of the things that have happened. I love your inn, I love your village, and Maudlin, I love you.” She kissed me on the forehead, and then backed away toward the cab. I barely had time to raise my hand before she was in it and the taillights were fading into the evening.
BY THE TIME Aegis woke, I was deep in study. I had printed out the pictures Zara had sent me and was reading the slightly blurry text, trying to understand the scientific lingo. The magical information, I had down pat. But there was a blur of science and magic in the text, and I wasn’t sure just how important the former was, so decided better safe than sorry.
“Maddy, evening, love.” Aegis entered the office, frowning as he turned on the overhead light. “You need better lighting in here. What are you reading?”
“I’m studying about ghost snails,” I murmured, still reading as I returned his kiss. I hadn’t even noticed how dark it had gotten and realized that my eyes hurt from straining over the print. “Oh, you’re up!”
“Generally, when I walk into the room, you can figure that yes, I’m up,” he said, snorting. “Where’s your mother?”
I bit my lip. “She’s gone. She had to leave.” I was trying not to stress. I had called Max earlier to ask how Sandy was. There was no change. “We need to head over to the hospital. Max asked me to take Jenna back to the house. Sandy’s been in a coma since this morning.”
Aegis slumped in a chair as I filled him in on what had gone on during the day.
“You know,” he said. “Sometimes it feels like the world spins out of control while I’m sleeping. Do you ever feel that way, or is it just something that only being a vampire does to you?”
I suppressed a snort that threatened to turn into tears. “I feel like that every freaking day of my life. Well, maybe not every day but…yeah. Can you go with me, or do you have plans?” Then I remembered—he had rehearsal. “Never mind. You’ve got the band.”
“I wish I could blow it off, but they’re depending on me to be there.”
I felt an irrational flash of anger. If he had needed me and I had a coven meeting, I would have dropped everything. No, you wouldn’t, a voice inside whispered. Not if what he needed wasn’t life-threatening. I wanted to tell my inner critic to shut the fuck up, but decided that would make me sound crazy. It didn’t make me feel any better, but I swallowed my disappointment.
“All right. I’ll head out now, then. Be sure to tell Kelson to lock up when you leave.” I grabbed my purse and headed toward the door.
“Maddy—are you all right? Are you angry?”
“No,” I said, lying through my teeth. “Text me if you’re going to be late.” And without looking back, I shut the door behind me and jogged out to my car.
THE GUARDS WAVED us in. Alex was out, so I stayed for a little while so that she wasn’t too lonely. After I left, I decided that I didn’t feel like going back home. It was close to ten-thirty, but I felt wired. It didn’t help that I had stopped by Bouncing Goats on the way home and gulped down a triple-shot latte.
I thought about calling Delia, but I didn’t feel like hearing that she hadn’t discovered anything new yet, and I knew that she would have called if she had. I had other friends, but none of them were close like Sandy, so I decided to head over to Edgewater Park. It wasn’t heavily used like Turnwheel Park, and it overlooked the shore.
Edgewater Park was long and narrow, a strip of lawn about two hundred feet wide, and a good quarter-mile long. The entire length of it was fenced in by a guardrail that ran along the cliff. There was a footpath to the shore below on both ends. The dropoff was abrupt, hence the sturdy metal railings. There were two parking lots, one on either end of the park, and I slid into an empty slot, an easy task given there weren’t many cars to begin with.
As I slung my purse over my shoulder and headed over to the guardrail to peer over the edge, it occurred to me that I probably should check my text messages. I had turned off my ringer when I left the house, angry and not wanting to talk to Aegis for a while.
Sure enough, he had texted me several times. Probably wanted to say he was sorry, I thought. I opened up his messages, ready to text back that I accepted his apology.
i can’t believe you ran off like that. i know you’re upset but don’t you think that you overreacted? you know that if it was a real emergency i’d be there in a heartbeat, but i owe the band members my attention when i say i’m going to be there.
maddy? maddy? let me know you’re all right. don’t sulk. i know you have a lot going on but please don’t think i’m trying to make things worse.
And finally:
fine. if you want to play the game, go ahead. i’ll be home around midnight and if you want to talk, i’ll be all ears. i love you.
I frowned. So he wasn’t going to apologize. Even though I knew he had nothing to apologize for, I still felt like somebody, somewhere, should say they were sorry. I headed down the footpath, using the flashlight on the end of my keychain to light my way. It was night now, and while there were reflectors to guide the way down, it was still dangerous. But the roar of the waves crashing against the shore called to me. I needed to be close to them. I needed to pour out my frustrations into the water and have it wash my anger away.
I came to the beach. All but about four feet of it was under water given the tide was high, and I stopped by one of the boulders next to the shore. The water lapped just a few feet away, the sound soothing me.
I turned my face up to the cloudy sky and closed my eyes. A light drizzle misted down and a low fog was beginning to creep in on the tide. I thought about everything that had happened. A couple days ago, everything had been fine and now, I realized that I did love my mother, and she was dying. My best friend was under attack and in a coma. And I felt like the world was sweeping the rug out from under my feet.
“I know I’m being selfish,” I said, talking to the water. “I know I shouldn’t think about how all of this affects me, but I can’t help it. And it isn’t like all I care about are my feelings. Right now, I need a bigger perspective. I feel like all I’m seeing is the world from up close and personal. If there’s some bigger plan, Arianrhod, then let me know. Give me a sign so I can at least hold onto that thought.”
Arianrhod was my goddess. She was the one our coven was pledged to. The one I had grown up worshipping. She was the goddess of the Silver Wheel, the goddess of time and fate and reincarnation. The moon and the North Star belonged to her, and she lived in a castle in the sky on a rotating island named Caer Sidi—the land of Annwn. The land of the dead.
I waited, watching the sky, listening to the water. And then, just as I was about to leave, there was a soft sound—a whoo whoo—and an owl flew by, circling over my head before it vanished into the distance.
“Thank you,” I said, breathing softly.
The owl was her symbol. That was all the sign I needed. There was a reason for everything going on. All this wasn’t just coming out of nowhere. I stood, staring out in the ocean. For a moment—just a fraction of a second—I thought I saw something glistening on the water, but then it was gone. Feeling decidedly calmer and ready to face the world again, I returned to my car, and decided to track down the band and make my peace with Aegis.
“I’M SORRY.” THOSE words were way too hard for me to say, but I had to say them. “I really didn’t expect you to cancel rehearsal just to drive over to the hospital with me. Or maybe I did, but I shouldn’t have.”
Aegis stared at his beer. He was slumped back in the chair at the Utopia—one of the local nightclubs—and he hadn’t smiled since I’d joined him. That I had only been here ten minutes didn’t pass my notice, but I desperately needed to feel like we were on the same side again. I needed my lover, my friend, to be an ally again.
After another moment of silence, he finally shoved his beer to the side and leaned forward, elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands. He stared straight at me.
“Maddy, there will be times when things get tense between us. It happens to all couples. But we’ll work through them. I should have thought about how much all of this has affected you. You need my support and I acted like you ran off pissed without a good reason.” He frowned. “But I hope you really don’t believe that I don’t care. If you think I’m that shallow, we have a problem on our hands.”
I just wanted the discussion done. “No, of course I don’t believe that. But everything came swooping down at once and I guess I need…want…to be the most important thing in your life right now.” I picked up his beer and downed the rest of it. “I’ll buy you another,” I said when he eyed the empty bottle.
“No need. I’m not that thirsty. Come on, rehearsal’s over. Sid has to go home and help take care of the little one. And we need a good talk now that I’m back from the tour.” He slipped his arm around my shoulders and escorted me out the door. “You drove?”
“No, doofus, I flew. I’m a witch. Of course I drove,” I laughed, relieved to have something to joke about. I had the nasty feeling we were in for a heart-to-heart which, to be fair, wasn’t a bad thing in relationships. But right now I didn’t know how much more heart-to-heart I could take without feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.
But Aegis surprised me. He glanced down at me. “You need…something different. You need to get out of your thoughts for a while. Come on. We’ll pick your car up on the way back.” He grabbed my hand, dragging me over to the black Corvette that was parked in front of the Utopia. I jumped in the passenger seat and he started the car, waiting till I had fastened my seatbelt before we took to the streets.
WE HEADED FOR the middle of downtown—not what I had expected. Aegis parked in the lot across from the town square and motioned for me to take his hand. We headed across the street to Dugan’s Donuts, a coffee shop that stayed open until 1:00 a.m.
As we entered the shop, the waitress—a woman named Viv—motioned for us to take a seat. She picked up her order pad and headed over to the booth.
The coffee shop was retro, with a checkerboard floor, vinyl stools at the counter, and padded booths that looked like they had escaped right out of the 1950s. The color scheme was coral and teal, and pictures of Hollywood glamour stars hung on the walls.
“Do you know what you want, or do you still need a few minutes?” Viv asked. She was wearing a pale yellow pencil skirt and a Peter Pan collared blouse, very retro, and her hair was tied in a blue bandana. The coffee shop was colorful, to say the least.
“I think I’ll have hot chocolate and don’t stint on the whipped cream. I also want a piece of apple pie, if you have it.” I realized I was hungry again. I had been burning through a lot of energy lately and was feeling it.
Aegis glanced at the menu. “Milk and two chocolate cake doughnuts.”
“I’ll be back with your order in a few minutes.” Viv stuck her pencil behind her ear and sashayed off.
Aegis let out a soft laugh. “Humans are so fond of their retro themes. I understand, though.”
I paused. I had never asked him before, but decided it was time. “Were you ever human? You were a servant of Apollo, so I’m not entirely sure how you got your start.”
He rubbed his nose, then sat back in his seat. He looked a little scruffy, and a whole lot delicious. “I got my start…you know the story about Heracles?”
“Yes, he was the son of Zeus and of Alcmene—a human.” My eyes widened. “Don’t tell me that you are Heracles?”
He laughed. “No, I’m not as strong as he was. But yes, Zeus was famous for leaving spawn around the world. As were a few other gods.” Aegis toyed with the sugar packets. “My father was Hermes. My mother was a human. I was born under the sunrise, and by the time I arrived, Hermes had totally forgotten about my mother. Out of anger that he had left her with child and then abandoned her, she offered me up to the Sun God the morning I was born. Apollo accepted me, granted her a joyful life, and I grew up under his care. That’s why he was so angry at me when I fell in love with one of his favorites…and she fell for me.”
I sat very still, focused on those four words. “Your father was Hermes? Then you are the son of a god?”
“Well, yes.” Aegis paused as Viv approached with our orders.
I downed my chocolate in one long shot, needing the sugar to handle the news that my boyfriend was a demigod. Boy, I could pick ‘em. Not just a vampire, nope—but divine as well.
“Does your father know what happened to you?” I picked at my pie.
Aegis polished off his doughnuts and milk. I envied his ability to never worry about junk food.
“Well, I’m not certain. I don’t know just what transpired between him and my mother. She died several thousand years ago. I never even knew her name.” He paused, glancing across the table at me. “I’ve never talked to Hermes. Apollo took over as my father. That’s why…what happened hurt so much.”
“Do you think Apollo knows the truth about why you did what you did? Do you think he ever looks for you?” I didn’t like dredging up wounds, but now that he had opened the door, I had a lot of questions.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I feel him near, but he never does more than pass by. Never taps me on the shoulder, never whispers in my ear. I owe him my life. Even this one. I owe him my continued life as one of the Fallen. He could have just killed me. He could have thrown me into the sun itself.”
Aegis fingered the ring he wore. Large and square, it was gold with an engraved sun on the surface, and a carnelian cabochon in the center. The ring held a secret—one I knew about but never spoke of. It contained one shot, like the pirates of old stranded on islands. The pirates were given a gun with one bullet, to end things when they got too bad. Aegis’s ring contained one blast of sunlight that—if released—would send every vampire within sight into dust, including him. It was his get-out-of-jail card. His freedom card from eternal life in the shadows. Even if he was forbidden from ever seeing the sun, he could still end it.
“Have you thought of looking up Hermes?” As soon as I had said it, I realized how stupid that sounded. You didn’t just go knocking on the door and saying, “Hey, I’m your kid.” For one thing, finding your path to the home of the gods was a task in itself. If even possible.
Aegis laughed. “I know better to even answer that.”
I finished my pie and motioned to Viv. “I’ll take a chocolate-covered doughnut to go. And the check.”
She nodded, turning to Aegis. “Want anything else?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m good.” After she left, he asked, “So, how is Sandy? Any news? Preferably good.”
I shook my head. “No, but—hey, what’s going on?” I stopped as somebody outside screamed. Aegis was out of his seat and out the door before I could blink. I tossed a ten-dollar bill on the table and followed him.
As I exited the coffee shop, I froze. There, in the center of the street, was a gigantic snakelike creature. As in twenty feet long, five feet tall, with nasty fangs that looked a good ten inches long. What the hell?
I took a step forward, trying to understand what I was seeing, but Aegis had already approached it. Without so much as a blink, the wyrm swung his way and began to slither toward him. Its narrow eyes were glowing, and it looked hungry. Hungry and angry. I called up my fire, holding out my hands as I conjured a ball of flame. I wasn’t about to let Aegis take this on by himself.
At that moment, the worm-snake-monster noticed a young couple on the other side of the street. They were pushing a baby carriage, and they had stopped to stare. The creature slithered across the street before they could react, heading directly toward them.
Aegis snarled as he landed beside the thing and gave it a swift kick. If I had done that, I would have broken my foot. But Aegis was a vampire, and his kick meant business. It startled the creature, knocking it back into the street by a good ten feet. The creature’s belly skidded like tires on slick pavement, and flecks of what I assumed was skin came off in a bizarre reptilian tire print. I grimaced, but shot my fireball directly at the creature’s head. The head burst into flames, and the snake-monster roared, swiveling my way.
Aegis motioned for the couple to take their baby and run, and they did. He raced toward the snake as it lunged for me. I darted to the side, managing to miss its direct hit, but the head swung wide and hit me and I stumbled.
“Oh no you don’t,” I said, wondering if I could create a holeo to fight it. But that took time. I quickly summoned up a swirl of fire again, sending it spraying toward the snake’s eyes.
Direct hit!
The monster lurched back, coiling in like a rattler to rise up, looming over me, its charred skin sizzling. Its mouth was open and its fangs were bearing down on me. I screamed, trying to dodge to the side. Aegis flew by then in a blur of speed, and he caught me by my waist, dragging me out of the way. We rolled into the street, and then he was on his feet again, yanking me up and racing to one side where he set me down, safely out of range.
Before I could catch my breath to thank him, he was back again, facing down the giant snake. At that moment, Delia appeared, her squad car squealing to a halt in the intersection. She leaped out of it, backed by two deputies who had pulled in behind her, staring at the monster in horror. She said something to one of them and he handed her a shotgun, the black barrel gleaming in the shimmer of the streetlamps.
Aegis noticed her too, and darted out of the way, leaving her a clear line of sight. She brought it up to her shoulder, spreading her feet to steady herself. She fired off three rounds, hitting the snake each time, the bullets impacting with small explosions that rocked the air.
The creature went ballistic, twisting and turning. Aegis was about to head in again when there was a noise—like a gust of wind, without the actual gust—and the snake vanished. Nothing was left except three spent bullets, lying in the street.
I stared at the empty road. “Huh?”
Aegis crept forward, as did Delia. I joined them. We were standing in the center of the street. It was perfectly empty. No blood. No snake. No carcass. No nothing except three very confused people.
I glanced at Delia. “What was that?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Aegis?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Where did it go?”
“That’s a good question.” I blinked, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. There was no one around, except a few patrons from the nearby diner who had filed out to see what the commotion was.
“We did see something, didn’t we? A giant snake?” I wondered about mass hallucination, but that mass hallucination had knocked me off my feet.
“Yeah, I think so. I mean, I kicked it. I felt my boot against it.” Aegis seemed just as bewildered as Delia and I were. “What do we do now? Did it teleport away? Is it on another street?”
Delia motioned to her deputies. They had stoic looks on their faces, but I had the feeling they were questioning their sanity just like we were. “Take your squad car and trace every street for a five-block radius. Look for any signs of…whatever the hell that thing was.”
They nodded, heading out.
I worried my lip. I was tired and frustrated, and now my adrenaline was pumping. “I think I just want to go home.”
“Why don’t you do that. Let me know if you hear anything more about our scaly friend.” Delia shrugged and picked up her spent bullets. By the looks of them, they had definitely hit something. They weren’t just lying on the ground unmarred.
Without another word, Aegis and I headed for his car and she headed for hers. All in all, I thought as I crawled into the passenger seat, life in Bedlam certainly wasn’t boring. With that not-so-comforting thought running through my head, we pulled out, stopping back at the club so I could drive my car home.
The entire trip back to the Bewitching Bedlam had me acutely alert, looking for any sign of the snake creature. By the time I got home, the panic had worn off, and I was ready to crash for the night.