The Ghost and The Graveyard (The Monk's Hill Witch) (24 page)

Marcus stood in the rubble, eyes red and stomach bulging with the hunter’s blood. Through the gap between the wall and the fallen roof, the sun’s setting rays cut through the woods. Where the light touched Marcus’ shoulders, his skin steamed ominously. I raised my blade between us. Rick kicked out the remaining wall and folded over next to me, his skin splitting as the beast burst from within.

The vampire seethed and ran for the shelter of the woods.

I followed on foot while Rick took to the air, but there was no chance of catching Marcus, not with the way he pinballed from tree to tree with super human speed.

I halted just inside the tree line.
Do you know where he’s headed?
I thought, testing my connection with Rick’s beast.

I’m guessing Carlton City. There’s a free coven of vampires there
.

Do you think we’d have a better chance of heading him off than catching him here?

Considering vampires are most at home in the woods, and he’s fortified with human blood, I’d say yes.

I ran back out into the clearing
.
He landed next to me.

Come, we need the car if we’re going into the city. You’ll never make it on foot
.

I climbed on his scaly back, tucking my knees behind his wings. With three running steps he took to the air. I gripped his shoulder blades as he climbed above the trees, soaring toward his cottage at breakneck speed. When he dove for the yard, my stomach dropped and I thought I’d be sick. He landed roughly, beginning to shift before we even stopped moving. I yelped as I slipped off his back, but he twisted his folding body and caught me in his arms before I hit the grass.

His eyes were still black as he carried me into the house. They were the first and last part to change and I watched, enchanted, as they shifted back to gray. Setting me on my feet inside the back door, he threw on some clothes and pulled the Tesla around before I’d had time to walk through the house and out the front door. I climbed in, and Rick floored it, the last remnants of the sun sinking behind my house to the west.

I tested my seatbelt a few times once I saw the speedometer top a hundred. To take my mind off the blur beyond the windshield, I decided to start some conversation. “Do you know where the vampires are staying?”

“TiltWorld, down by the river.”

“TiltWorld? The amusement park?” I turned in my seat to face him.

“It’s closed for the season. There’s a barn near the back of the property where they have a fun house in the summer. The windows are blacked out and there’s a basement. It’s the perfect place for them to stay during the day.”

“The
Barn Blast.
I’ve been there
.
You walk through a maze of fun mirrors and joy buzzers.”

“Hmm, I’m sure they’ve redecorated.”

“Wait, if you know where they are, why haven’t you taken them out?”

“They’re free and they’re not breaking any laws.”

“Is harboring a fugitive enough for us to put them away for good?”

“You are the judge and jury. It’s for you to decide. But in the past, you were hesitant to condemn anything that hadn’t harmed or killed a human.”

“What was my reasoning?” I asked.

“The last thing we want is a supernatural rebellion. We’re not strong enough to take out the entire coven. Wielding your power sparingly is the best way to keep balance and control.”

I shook my head. “We can’t let Marcus go free.”

“You’re right, of course. But diplomacy may be in order.”

“What good is having a bone sword if I’m not allowed to use it?” I sighed.

His previously serious composure broke, and he flashed me a half-smile.

We hit traffic on the exit to Macarthur Avenue. Still, we made it to the parking lot of TiltWorld in ten minutes—less than half the time it usually took me to drive to the hospital. Rick paid no attention to the
closed for the season
sign as we rumbled up to the gate. A plywood cutout of an alien torso jutted out of a tilting spacecraft above the entrance, its grin indifferent to our arrival. Rick pried the lock open with his bare hands and swung open the massive chain-link door. Climbing behind the wheel, he drove through and then closed it behind us. We drove all the way to the back of the amusement park, the rollercoasters and midway games eerily abandoned.

The sun had finished setting, and the darkness outside the car window reminded me of Marcus’ advantage. He could see in the dark and I couldn’t. Not to mention he was probably three times as strong now from the hunter’s blood. I wasn’t sure how big this coven was but Marcus definitely had the upper hand here.

We reached the
Barn Blast
, but for some reason I didn’t think this fun house would leave me laughing. “I’m scared,” I said to Rick. “He’s killed me once. I don’t want it to happen again.”

“I’ll keep you safe,
mi cielo
, but after what I saw today with the hunter, I think you can take care of yourself. Trust your instincts.”

We exited the car and scanned the woods to the west of the warehouse. I didn’t see anything. “No red dot. Maybe we beat him here.”

“Come,” he whispered. Rick motioned for me to follow him to the back door of the barn.

The red dot glowed to life again. “Here. The door. He’s gone through here,” I said.

He reached forward and twisted the knob. It was locked, but with a slight push of his hand, Rick broke the mechanism, and the door swung open on its hinges. The dark inside was thick, blinding.

“Stay with me,” Rick said. “I can see in the dark.”

I hooked my fingers into his t-shirt and followed him over the threshold. A suffocating smell filled my nostrils, earthy sweet copper I was all too familiar with.
I smell blood
, I thought to Rick. Better to use our connection than to risk calling attention to ourselves. Then again, Marcus had fed thoughts into my head last night. Maybe it didn’t matter.

Not when you have Nightshade,
Rick thought
. She protects you from vampire mind tricks.

Oh.

The blood you smell is from the animals. There are carcasses hanging from the ceiling. It looks like they’ve been draining the blood. This is a good thing. It means they’re not using humans.

My shoulder bumped something that felt like meat and bone. I could hear the clink of chains above me and an awful image of a strung-up deer filled my brain. I had serious trouble thinking of this as a good thing.

Be vigilant, mi cielo. I’m not sure I’ll be able to smell Marcus over the stench.

We turned a tight corner, deep inside the barn now.
Crack.
Something slammed into me in the darkness, knocking me away from Rick. The sound was my skull hitting the floor. I shook my head and rubbed my aching scalp, frantically scanning the darkness. Without physical contact with Rick, I had no way to know where I was in the blackness.

I heard scuffling in front of me and drew my sword, flipping up to the balls of my feet.
Shit!
This was new. Had I ever moved like that before?
Rick? Rick?
I called with my mind
.

To your right!

A fist or some other body part hit me, and the whole right side of my face exploded. I sailed sideways, my left shoulder slamming into a wall I couldn’t see. Luckily, my suddenly tough and nubile body seemed to know how important Nightshade was and I landed with her still in my hand. I forced myself to stand, the pain in my shoulder making me gag. My face hurt like he’d broken my jaw and my left arm hung useless at my side. Luckily, I was a righty.

The scuffling grew near. I circled my blade around me in a move that must have been remembered from my past life because it surprised my conscious mind. I hit nothing.

I closed my useless eyes in the dark and focused on my other senses. Fists hit flesh. Growls. A shuffle across the floor in front of me. I smelled blood but also the sulfur scent of vampire. I had to do something, but how?

Use my eyes,
Rick thought to me
.

Like it was obvious or something that I could do that. I reached out of myself with my power, into Rick’s head. Behind my closed eyes, images flickered, a zoetrope of choppy action washed in red. The motion made me nauseous and I broke the connection. Rick growled. Teeth snapped. Disoriented, I shook my head and tried again. The images came back and, this time, I concentrated so hard sweat dripped down my face. I could hold this. I could see what Rick saw.

Rick’s half-shifted hands grappled with Marcus. Engorged with human blood, the vampire had grown three times larger since the hunting shack. Through Rick’s eyes, I watched the fight in fast-forward. Rick’s fist shot at Marcus, who turned into a thick black smoke at the point of impact. Sensing that the vamp had reformed behind him, Rick pulled the vapor act to avoid the vamp’s claws. From my front row seat inside his head, I felt Rick’s teeth extend from his mouth in the partially shifted way I’d seen the first night we were together. He was resisting the full change. In close combat, it would make him vulnerable. A split second hesitation and Marcus would have the advantage.

Rick tackled Marcus and the two rolled head over heels across the floor. But before Rick could sink teeth into him, Marcus went up in smoke and rematerialized again, lifting Rick by the neck and pounding him against the wall. I had to do something. If Marcus was going to die, it would be up to me.

Heart pounding, I adjusted my sweaty grip on Nightshade. I tried to take a deep breath but the air rattled in my throat and I only managed a shallow fill of my lungs. Using the image in my head, I walked forward ten big steps, broke my connection with Rick and opened my eyes. In the darkness in front of me was the reddish splotch. Marcus noticed me. I sensed him turning to take me out. But my blade was already around. That part of me that was the witch sprung into action. My sword glowed like a supernova as it sliced through Marcus’ neck, and his head rolled through the ethereal light. The vamp’s blood poured out, hissing acid-like on the floorboards. I stepped back. Black ooze pooled near my toes. Slowly, the light from my blade began to fade.

“Nice work,” Rick gasped.

Clapping echoed through the barn. The lights snapped on, the buzz of electricity flowing into cold bulbs reverberating through the large space. I blinked, trying to force my eyes to adjust to the multiple changes in light.

A hidden panel along the far wall slid aside to expose the source of the applause. In a suit that draped across his muscular frame like it was some sort of living material, a man approached. His hair was slicked back, movie star style, a deep chocolate color you rarely see in real life. I could tell immediately that he was a vampire, not just because his swagger was smoother than any human could pull off, but also because his eyes were too big for his head, like they belonged in the skull of a nocturnal animal. His pale features had a chiseled appearance, down to the straight white teeth that filled his mouth.

He approached me with a sardonic grin. “Very nicely done, Hecate,” the vamp said to me.

“Julius,” Rick hissed. The name might have been a curse.

The vamp ignored Rick and moved toward me. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said with a voice that was both masculine and honey sweet. He held out a hand to me, closing the distance between us. “I am Julius, leader of the Carlton City free coven. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He bent to kiss my hand and his eyes flicked up to meet mine. His irises were as yellow as a candle flame and luminescent.

I pulled my hand away before his lips could touch my skin.

“Marcus was here to meet up with you. Why?” I asked.

“I have no idea.” He looked accusingly at Rick. “Why was he out of the graveyard? Padnon and I have been away until just this moment.”

Fuck that. Not likely.
I glanced at Rick and he wasn’t buying it either
.

Julius tipped his head. “Congratulation, Hecate on a fine kill. You are a natural, my dear. I’d introduce you to my associate but it seems the demon Padnon made your acquaintance last week.”

The man I’d seen in the coffee shop stepped forward, his wrinkled face sending an icy current through my nervous system. Prudence was right. He was a demon. I could tell now how his presence seemed heavier, darker than the vamps. It wasn’t an aura exactly. More like the part of me that was the witch could taste the supernatural. He tasted like demon.

How close he’d been. How easy it would have been for him to kill me then. I gripped Nightshade.

The heavy weight of someone’s eyes watching me landed on my head and shoulders. I glanced up toward a hayloft above us and saw no less than fifteen sets of yellow eyes looking down on me from the shadows. This was a big coven. A very big coven.

“We need to go,” I mumbled to Rick. My jaw still wasn’t working right and with the adrenaline wearing off, the pain in my shoulder was almost unbearable. It was dislocated for sure and maybe broken. Plus, I was exhausted. Two beheadings in one night was a lot for a girl.

“
Rick is a lucky man to have won you so easily,” Julius said. His tone was cryptic. “Padnon and I thought you would wait before joining yourself again.”

“Watch yourself,” Rick snapped.

“Why, Enrique? Should I not tell her the whole truth about who she is? Would you prefer she live believing only your version of the truth?”

“Let’s go.” Rick took my good arm.

“Wait. What’s he talking about?” I narrowed my eyes at the vamp.

Julius had the look of someone you couldn’t trust. When he smiled it seemed like there were more teeth in his mouth than there should be. He was shifty and he was a vampire. Still, I was curious like any person might be about a particular piece of gossip. It probably wasn’t true but I wanted to know anyway.