Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
Fourty-eight hours later
Gemma yanked the key away from the lock on her apartment door before inserting it. There was someone inside her apartment. She could hear the person pacing around muttering what sounded like spells. Her vampire super hearing and enhanced strength had already saved her once today from a witch.
One sniff confirmed the putrid smell of yet another witch. Did being a vampire make her a magnet for witches?
Her trip to the hospital for VanFliet’s medicine hadn’t been as simple as expected.
First, humans were attracted to her. They zeroed in on her, all drooly and intent on touching her.
And not in a be-my-friend way, but an I-love-you or I-want-to-screw-you-right-now way.
Skarde could’ve given her a heads up on the annoyance.
None of the humans in that small town inn had been affected like this, but then again, they might be well aware of vampires’ allure and know to resist it.
Once she peeled the ER doctor off her and got him to sign a bogus script for VanFliet’s medication, Gemma had run into not one, but now two witches. They seemed to be searching for her.
She’d clouted the one outside the hospital on the head and ditched her with super speed.
How could she get past the witch to get through the mirror portal? There wasn’t a question in her mind of if she intended to return to Skarde’s realm. She was going back.
She needed help. Maybe she could call Val? They hadn’t spoken since Gemma’s return. She wasn’t sure how to tell a possible vampire hunter she’d turned into her enemy. But this crisis called for extreme measures.
She crept silently down the stairs and out of the building. Across the street, the Sage & Flame hadn’t yet closed for the night.
After a super-speed move to the doorway, which was kind of fun, she knocked.
Val yanked open the door but then backed away with a hand to her chest. “You’re a…
“I almost died and he bit me. I asked him to let me die, but he refused and, yes, now I’m one of them.”
“You can’t bite me. Witches and vampires don’t mix.”
Gemma rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to bite you.
There’s no time for you to have a heart attack about what I’ve become.
Let’s fast forward past that for now. I need to get back to the other realm and Skarde, but I can’t get to the portal in my apartment.
There’s a witch in my apartment, one I suspect isn’t as nice as you.
I’m hoping you have something here that can help me distract this witch or get rid of her.
” She gritted out a smile. “Maybe something protective to avoid her spells?”
Val didn’t reply. She remained frozen.
Gemma waved a hand in front of her face. “Wake up. Val, I could really use you and every bit of mystical mojo you’ve got right now.”
Nothing.
“I’m not crazy. I swear I don’t want to bite you. The only person I want to bite is across that portal and I have…” She rolled her wrist to check out her watch, which she’d put on as soon as she’d crossed over. “Not much time before the window closes. Please, help me.”
“Okay.” Val nodded. “Let me grab a few things and I’ll go with you.”
As they jogged across the street Gemma said, “I don’t know anything about this witch’s abilities. Do you think you can keep her busy for a few minutes and get yourself out of there safely?”
Val grabbed her arm inside the lobby of her apartment. “This will require some offensive magic. I’ve never tried it, only read about it. It’s a line in the sand that I learned about from my aunt, Serina, one I was told I shouldn’t cross.”
“Your aunt is Serina?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean if you do this combat magic you’ll become an evil witch?”
Val nibbled her lip. “I don’t know.”
“You’re never going to go bad. I’ve been up close and way too personal with evil.
The creature was narcissistic, focused on its own selfish survival at any cost. Maybe you can…
” She listened to her inner voice, which she was starting to realize had been her medicinal instincts all along.It pushed her into understanding what was wrong or what might help a person. “Balance the good with the darkness?”
“What are you?”
“Apparently I have the power to understand what helps people—usually to fix their medical problems—in addition to my new state as an immortal fang face.”
Val giggled. “That’s funny. Fang face.”
“A dwarf said it.”
“Dwarves are real?”
“Of course they are.” In the hallway outside her apartment she whispered, “What’s your plan? I still hear one person inside.”
“I’m going to try a transformation spell. If that fails, I guess I’ll just have to go with my gut.”
They stepped into the dark interior of her apartment. Gemma flipped the light switch, but it didn’t work. The musty smell of mildew and the sourness of something slowly rotting assaulted her. This was no longer her space. It was occupied by something dark. Something that—
Val leaned in and whispered, “She’s been busy in here. It reeks.”
Instinct screamed at her to get out. Run. And never return. She should forget she’d ever lived in this place.
Something dripped. A black substance rested in the shadowy corner over the TV.
Given the smell, she half expected to see a body suspended from the ceiling.
It was worse. Far worse. The sight of the decapitated head of her neighbor suspended in the air with no visible tethers was not something she’d ever be able to erase.
911. She needed to make the call.
But what were the cops going to do other than arrest her for murder? Then she’d die, the cops would die, and Val might die. Bad plan.
The sound of something moving caught her attention. Darkness slithered around the room, but nothing existed in solid form.
Val muttered in a foreign language and threw a dusty substance into the room. She whispered, “Just evening the playing field. I don’t do shadow play.”
A thing appeared. Gemma would label it a female, based on the shape of its filthy clothing. Everything else about it was androgynous. And putrid. The skin of its face was sallow, pockmarked, and crusted with dried blood.
“The medicinal returns. Finally,” it said in a pitchy and grating voice.
“Why are you stinking up my apartment?” Gemma asked.
The witch glanced around as if seeing nothing amiss.
Val uttered rhyming words, pointing her fingers toward the other witch. How had Gemma not noticed Val’s nails had been re-painted a shimmery purple with silver swirls that now moved on their own? The witch twitched and flickered for a moment, but nothing else happened.
It laughed. Not a happy laugh. A bonafide cackle. The witch threw out an electric blast that knocked both Val and Gemma backward. The undersides of Gemma’s feet prickled as if they’d gone to sleep, and she questioned whether they’d support her weight if she stood.
“Val?”
“The bitch. Transformation spell is a no-go. I can only do entry level magic.” Val sat up and swiped hair out of her face.
“I really need you to step up, Val.”
“Shit, she’s recharging. Move left.”
As they shuffled out of range behind the sofa, Gemma whispered, “I have to get to the TV.”
“I’ll hold her steady. I’ll have to fight fire with fire, and you’ll get a few moments to try to go through the portal. After that, either she dies or we do.” Val removed two silver knives from her backpack, handing one over.
Gemma didn’t want to leave Val alone against the witch if she couldn’t handle her. “Can you kill it?”
“Only by beheading it while one of these is in its heart. There’s no other way. On the count of three… This will get physical. And gross.” She held up her hand to silently count down.
One. Two. Three.
Gemma ran for the mirror and threw the bag with VanFliet’s medicine through, crying out, “Instructions are on the bottle.”
Nerves twisted her stomach as the seconds ticked by and she waited for the portal to close. She gnawed at her bottom lip, her heart beating so hard it hurt. Come on, let me see you one last time, Skarde.
He moved in front of the glass. He spoke, but she couldn’t hear anything he said. She pointed to her ear and shook her head. “I can’t hear you.”
“I can’t hold this witch for much longer,” Val yelled. “This is so much harder than I thought it’d be. I’m going to need you in about ten seconds.”
Skarde waved at her as if asking her to jump back across. He tapped his chest and pointed at her. Oh, my. Her heart flip-flopped. He wanted her.
As she stepped toward the mirror, euphoric, she heard Val’s moan.
“I’m so sorry. I have to help a friend. I can’t let this thing have her.”
A blast of energy hit her, knocking her away from the TV.
Head ringing, Gemma crawled toward the TV screen, unsure how long she’d sat in a daze on the floor. Muscles depleted, so weak from whatever spell she’d been blasted with, she struggled to raise her hand and touch the screen.
Skarde’s hand reached up.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Nothing happened.
She slapped the screen and put both hands on it.
Tears blurred her vision. The portal had closed. Any chance for a future on that side was gone. She’d lost everything.
Her anger crested.
The witch would die.