Freaky Fangs, page 26
part #9 of Mystic Caravan Mystery Series
“I’ll do it as fast as I can,” I reassured them.
Raven nodded and then reached her fingers toward Starla’s mouth, making a face as she pried open the orifice.
“Look at those teeth,” Nixie said as she stared. “They’re like razors. It’s weird how they grew so fast.”
“She’s a vampire,” Raven pointed out. “The teeth are part of the package.”
“I know but ... why is her tongue black?”
“Probably because she’s a vampire and her flesh is rotting. Hold her still.” Raven sucked in a deep breath and then dumped the potion into Starla’s mouth. I tilted the vampire’s neck in such a way that the liquid had no place to go but down her throat.
At first Starla didn’t react at all and I was convinced we’d failed. Then, right about the time we were about to release her, she bolted into a rigid sitting position and her eyes went wide as she began to scream.
“Holy ... !” Raven slapped her hand over Starla’s mouth as I smacked my hands on either side of her head. Nixie and Naida struggled with her as the woman tried to escape from them.
“Stop,” I ordered once I infiltrated her brain, my voice echoing through the darkness. “You have to stop now.”
Starla did just that, dropping her hands and staring forward. Her eyes were glazed and I had to wonder if she saw anything at all.
“Let me in,” I whispered, hoping it sounded like a tantalizing offer rather than a terrified little girl playing at magic. “I need to see.”
“I ... .” Starla tripped over her tongue, confusion working its way across her face. “What is happening? What is ... this?”
“Shh,” Nixie soothed, her voice coming out a light hum. “Everything is okay. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Except for the fact that you’re a blood-sucking fiend,” Raven interjected.
Naida fixed her with a quelling look. “Is that really necessary?”
Raven shrugged. “I call ’em like I see ’em.”
I tuned out the voices and stepped inside Starla’s mind. She put up very little fight, and when I hit the dark corridors that I was certain were probably much brighter when she was alive I found an ethereal version of her standing in my way.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I drew my eyebrows together, confused. “Are you the real Starla?”
“There’s only one Starla, honey.”
She sounded so much like the worker I used to know I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “Oh, I’m sorry for all of this. I didn’t realize what was going to happen that night. If I had, I would’ve done more to protect you.”
She shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do to bring me back. I know that. Don’t torture yourself over it.”
“Are you trapped in here?”
She nodded. “I don’t think I can ever leave. It’s not so bad really. There’s a television in one of the rooms down that way.” She flashed a smile that didn’t make it all the way to her eyes. “I’m fine. You don’t have to fret.”
She’d always been the strong sort, always worrying about others instead of herself. It made what happened all the worse.
“You won’t be stuck here much longer,” I promised. “I’ll make sure of it. I’ll ... free ... you.”
“You mean kill me.”
“You’re already dead.”
“Yes, but ... there’s a demon walking around with my face.”
“Something that won’t be allowed to continue much longer. Once this is over you’ll be free to move on.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know, but it has to be cheerier than this place, right?”
She nodded, laughing. “I guess it’s not exactly a nice Hilton or anything.”
That was an odd response so I let it go. “I’m looking for information. There’s a stream of consciousness going through here. I need to find it so I can listen in.”
“You mean the voices.”
“Yeah. The voices.”
“This way.” She beckoned for me to follow, which I readily did. “Do you really think there’s something beyond this life?”
“I think we go on, though I’m not exactly sure how.”
“That’s something to look forward to.” She flashed a bright smile and then sobered. “Will the voices help you defeat them?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then good on you. They’ve got whatever hellfire you plan on raining down on them coming to them.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
27
Twenty-Seven
The room Starla led me to resembled a cave. That shouldn’t have been a surprise because of where the vampires and strigoi had set up shop. The fact that there was a cave in her head, however, left me feeling baffled.
“This is where the voices come from,” she whispered. “I don’t like them.”
“I don’t blame you.” I shifted away from her and poked my head through the door, taking a moment to absorb what I was seeing. It wasn’t pretty.
“You can’t just let them get away with this,” Zurie ranted as she paced in front of three other people. Two of them were male, both in their late thirties or forties, and one of them female with brown hair and green eyes. “She came into our home and killed my vampires. They took two of your brethren the other night before we realized what they were doing. They severely diminished your numbers … and mine, for that matter.”
“Yes, she has proven ... problematic,” one of the men replied. As he shifted, I could make out the silhouette of worms ... or snakes ... or whatever it was ... writhing beneath the skin of his cheeks. “That’s why we must cut our losses now.”
“Really, Arrius?” The look Zurie shot him was withering. “You think we’re going to cut our losses, do you? She wiped out two-thirds of our army. She set us back at least six months. We can’t simply let her prance out of town without retribution.”
I was amused at the conversation. I was obviously the “she” they were talking about.
For his part, Arrius didn’t look happy being addressed in such a manner. “She’s powerful. I’m not even sure what she is, but I know that she’s powerful ... and those around her are powerful. It would be bad enough if we were simply dealing with a lamia and two pixies. There are two mages, too. There is an elemental. On top of that, they seem to act in concert with one another and they’ve built that magical net to protect themselves. They’re insulated.”
“They’re not insulated,” Zurie argued, her temper flaring. “They’re vulnerable. We took the elemental from them. I’ve created a few potions to make holes in the net, though we only have three so we need to use them sparingly. Still, we’ve wounded them. The elemental was a great get.”
“He was … and then you failed to turn him to our way of thinking,” the other said. It was obvious these three individuals were the strigoi. That’s how they could be active in the middle of the day. And Zurie? Well, she was something else entirely ... and I was determined to find out what before it was all said and done.
“Thank you for reminding me of that, Cyrus,” Zurie snapped. She showed no fear in the face of the creatures who should have — at least on paper — been more powerful than her. She acted as if she were in control, though I had a feeling that was a role they allowed her to play as long as she didn’t tug on her leash too hard. “How was I supposed to know that elementals were immune to the power of your blood?”
“I am as shocked as you,” Cyrus agreed. “We shouldn’t have kept him after that, though. We should’ve killed him and sent a message.”
The look Zurie shot him was withering. “Oh, really?” She sounded like a sarcastic teenager scolding her parents. “How would that have benefitted us? All that would’ve done is ensure that they burned out both caverns before leaving. They still would’ve infiltrated us.”
The lone female strigoi stirred. “And what do you suggest, Zurie? We did the best we could with the information we had. We knew they were magical. We didn’t, however, know the extent of their magic. How could we even consider the power they had at their fingertips?”
Zurie looked as if she wanted to throttle the creature asking the question, which I found intriguing. “Well, Octavia, we should’ve realized after that first night that they were more than they appeared.” Sarcasm was on full display as the redhead gripped her hands into fists at her sides. “We should’ve realized that we need a different plan. Your idea to sacrifice all the vampires until the other side toppled under the sheer weight of our numbers was a bad one.”
Unlike the men, Octavia didn’t look amused with Zurie’s response. “You don’t want to take that tone with me. While I understand that you’re upset, I refuse to deal with insubordination ... not a second of it. Calm yourself before addressing me again.”
There was warning in Octavia’s words, enough so that Zurie changed her approach. “I meant no disrespect,” she said hurriedly. “That was never my intention. I promise. I just ... we can still take them out.”
“To what end?” Cyrus asked. “What good will it do us? They’re strong enough to wipe all of us out. I think we should step back.”
“And let them win?” Even though Zurie clearly didn’t want to pick a fight with Octavia, she also didn’t want to let us escape. Her mind was fixated on blood. She wanted to wipe us out. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m always serious,” Cyrus said blankly.
“Yes, but ... they hurt us,” Zurie snapped. “They pushed back our plan for months, years. How do you know we’ll be able to replenish our numbers? They’ve also given the people in this area hope that there’s a way to defeat us.”
Arrius snorted. He seemed to be the most laid back of the group. “Let’s not be ridiculous, shall we? Most of the locals have no idea anything is happening. It’s not as if the circus folk have announced it.”
“Word will spread,” Zurie insisted. “It will have a negative effect. I’m your eyes and ears in battle and I say we cannot let this one go. More than that, you need to be there to help us. Only your presence will be enough to defeat them.”
The strigoi exchanged uneasy looks.
“We went with you the first night,” Cyrus pointed out. “We watched from the trees. We helped you infect the big man. Then we went a second night and lost two of our own to their magic. We did everything we said we were going to do.”
“And obviously that didn’t work,” Zurie said dryly. “They’re still alive. Even worse, now they believe that they have power over us. We have to end them tonight. Otherwise, that delusion will only grow.”
“We’re not risking ourselves with a battle,” Octavia argued. “We created you because you were supposed to handle the battling for us. We gave you immortality as a gift.”
“No, you gave me immortality because you thought I would make a good pet,” Zurie shot back. “You picked a witch because you thought I would be stronger … and you were right. You were surprised by my ultimate transformation. You didn’t understand what was happening. You still don’t. Everything I’ve become has been because of me. You’ve done nothing.”
“You don’t want to argue with us,” Arrius warned. “We put up with a lot from you. This insolence will not be blindly accepted.”
“Insolence?” Zurie practically growled the word. “I’m not insolent. I’m trying to protect what you’ve built here. What’s to stop the circus folk from returning tomorrow and burning the other cavern? If that happens, only the four of us will remain. We’re vulnerable now because of the things they’ve done. We have to teach them that going after us is a mistake.”
“We’ll be vulnerable out there,” Cyrus argued. “They have the power to beat us. The lamia has a certain reputation. I’ve heard of her. She knows how to destroy us.”
“And don’t get me started on the pixies,” Octavia added. “They’re more powerful than they let on. When you add the Romani girl into the mix — and I don’t even know all the power she boasts — we’re the ones at a disadvantage.”
“That’s why we have to go after them.” Zurie refused to back down. “We can’t allow them to escape. If they do, they’ll simply return and try to take us out in a different manner. She’s already sworn that’s what they’ll do ... so we can’t allow it.”
Cyrus worked his jaw. “We would need a foolproof plan, something that keeps us safe no matter what. We can build another vampire army — although finding another place like this will be difficult. We cannot, however, replace the three of us. There are only a handful of us left.”
“We can’t give up this place.” Zurie was firm. “We belong here. This is the best place for us. We’ve already taken it. Now we have to keep it. We have to take out the circus freaks. They’re all that stands in the way of our dominance.”
“So ... what is your plan?” Octavia demanded. “We’ve thrown everything at them. We need something different if this is to work.”
“I have just the thing.” Zurie grinned. “I know a way to keep you safe and win the day. All you have to do is agree to take part in the fight. We’ll take them out in record time if we implement my plan. Trust me.”
THEIR PLAN WAS INTERESTING, AND I’m not sure I would’ve thought of it. It created logistical problems, which is exactly what I told Kade and Max when I found them in the parking lot.
“They’re coming from above.”
Max furrowed his brow, confused. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I pointed at the sky. “They plan to use several potions Zurie concocted to negate the dreamcatcher and simply drop in.”
“But ... how?”
“Apparently the strigoi can fly.”
“That’s ... interesting.” Max stroked his jaw as he considered our conundrum. “Well, then we’ll have to light up the sky.”
“We can’t have people here during the fight,” I argued. “It’s too hard to protect them if the strigoi decide to infect the guests and have them turn on us. We’ll be too distracted trying not to hurt them.”
“Is that part of their plan?”
I nodded. “The vampires will be at the outskirts of the fairgrounds, led by Zurie. The strigoi will come in from above. Zurie’s plan is to have the vampires trigger the dreamcatcher so we won’t think to look for the strigoi landing right in the center of us because they plan on covering their approach with the potions.”
“It’s a fairly ingenious plan,” Max mused, “but not insurmountable.”
“No. I was thinking ... what if we move the lights so they cover the entire outskirts? We can use magic to extend their reach. It will keep the vampires at bay. In an odd way, they’re the least of our worries.”
“How would that work?” Kade asked. He was a strategic thinker and needed the plan laid out for him.
“You and Max can boost the power of the lights. They’ve considered trying to cut the electricity, but I think we can beat that by moving the lights straight to our generators. They run off gas and they’re already loaded for bear. They assume they’ll be able to cut our power and put us at a disadvantage.”
“That’s good.” Max jabbed a finger at me. “That’s very good. That will work.”
“By the time they realize that cutting the power was a waste of time, it will be too late. Their first mass of vampires will be dead.”
“And who will be facing off with the strigoi in the center of the fairgrounds if Kade and I are handling the lights?”
“The usual suspects.”
“You think that Raven, Naida, Nixie and you are enough?”
“We’ll need Cole’s fire power to boost us. I was thinking that maybe you could go broach the subject with Luke. They’ve been locked up in there for hours. Cole should be fully charged by the time he wakes.”
Max arched an eyebrow in amusement. “You want me to discuss this with Luke, do you?”
I managed to hold his gaze, but it was difficult. “You’re the boss. He’s not mad at you. He’ll listen to what you have to say.”
“I think it should be you.”
I knew he was going to say that. Max was a big fan of us working out our own issues. “Listen ... .”
“No, you listen.” He shook his head to cut me off. “Luke loves you. He knows trouble is coming. Even if he’s angry, he’ll do the right thing. You two have a bond that can’t be shaken, even by this.”
“It feels pretty shaky right now.”
“That’s because you’re always off your game when fighting with Luke ... and Kade, for that matter. You’re a mind marvel, my dear. When your mind is troubled so is your magic. You have no choice but to make up with him.”
“But ... .”
“No.” Max was firm. “This is your responsibility. You do it.”
I knew he was right. That didn’t mean I was looking forward to it.
LUKE WAS READING A MAGAZINE — OR AT least pretending to — when I lightly knocked on his trailer door. I let myself in without waiting for a response because I was generally comfortable in his space. The chill that pervaded the room when I entered, however, put me off.
“Hey.” It was a lame greeting, but I was feeling out of my element.
“Hello.” His expression was hard to read. “You’re here to ask a favor.”
“I’m here to tell you what’s happening,” I countered. “I ... managed to get inside Starla’s head. We woke her up and listened in on Zurie’s plans. It’s a fairly ingenious battle strategy, but we can beat it.”
“With Cole’s help.”
“Yes.” I related everything I’d heard, leaving nothing out. “Max and Kade are going to run the lights surrounding the fairgrounds. They’ll be able to handle the vampires. They’ll have Seth, Nellie and Dolph with them.”
“Uh-huh. And do you think Zurie will attack even though we’re clearing out the guests early and that will be a clear sign that we have something up our sleeves?”
