14. Rory
CHAPTER 14
RORY
I needed for this day to stop. Just five minutes where I could regroup and get my head and my emotions under control.
Instead I was spending those five minutes watching Ms. Jackson—in their dragon form—carry Manny back to Clementine’s house. Seeing him get taken by the vampire, watching him be thrown to the ground with a life-threatening injury, and not being able to do anything to save him? Yeah, the nightmares would be coming for years. He was still unconscious, and Ms. Jackson didn’t know how long he’d need to recover.
But we couldn’t wait because we had to go rescue Ellis.
Ellis, who was another reason my head and my heart were hurting. He was adorable, so caring, and so unintentionally flirty. With the ghosts help, I would get him back.
So he could be with Shane.
My eyes drifted to the man in question, who walked silently next to Pia, right behind Clementine. He was rubbing his chest again. Was that his bond? Or what was left of his bond? I was pretty sure that was why he’d fallen earlier. I’d been surprised at how fast he’d been able to run. But if the vamps had cut his bond with Ellis, like the ghosts had told me they’d done to the imp in Pflugerville, no wonder he’d collapsed.
He had to be out of his mind worrying about Ellis, but he’d been kind and supportive to me when Manny’d been injured, and I hadn’t missed how he’d jumped up to protect us when Simon had appeared. And when he’d put his hand on my bare shoulder, it’d felt like he was trying to send comfort through the contact.
So, now I was dealing an inconvenient romantic attraction—okay, it was a crush—on Shane too. Manny would have a field day with this when he woke up.
Shane’s phone rang. He looked at the screen, and his shoulders sagged. “Cal.” His voice sounded clogged with unshed tears as he answered. “They took Ellis. They almost killed Manny. Ms. Jackson saved him, but he’s still unconscious.” He listened for a moment. “No, the rest of us are fine. There were eight vampires, but Simon showed up, and he took out four of them.” He ran his hand through his hair. He looked around and met my eyes, so I gave him what I hoped was an encouraging nod. He closed his eyes and nodded back. “Yeah, the friendly vampire. He’s going with us to get Ellis back.”
Shane pulled the phone away from his ear with a wince. Then he said, “Rory’s ghost friends are tracking them, so we know exactly where they are. Ellis is still alive.” He threw his free hand in the air. “I appreciate it, but there’s not enough time for you to get here. What you can do is call Ellis’ brother Arch. You know he’s a Hunter on Dominic’s team, right? Yeah. Okay, thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”
He hung up as we reached the house. After Clementine directed Ms. Jackson to put Manny in a bedroom, she said, “The bathroom’s down the hall. I’d recommend you two get cleaned up if you’re going to be out in public. ”
Well, fuck. I looked down at myself. My chest and jeans were covered in Manny’s blood. At least the leather of my hiking sandals was dark enough that I could probably just wash them and they wouldn’t be too bad.
Shane had escaped being covered in blood, but he was drenched in sweat. Shirtless was a good look for him, I noted numbly. He obviously did a lot of his landscaping work himself.
“Come on,” he said. “I’m guessing it’ll take Simon a few minutes to feed. Let’s get some clothes out of the car so we can clean up.”
He let me shower first, and as I was getting dressed, Grandfather appeared to update me on Ellis.
“You aren’t even in the car yet? They’re getting farther and farther away!”
I silently glared at him, then I left the bathroom so Shane could clean up. “Thanks,” he said as he passed me.
Grandfather stuck his head through the bathroom door after Shane closed it. “Grandfather!” I hissed. “Stop that!”
He tsked as he joined me again. I led the way into the guest bedroom so I could spend a few minutes with Manny before we left.
“Too bad their bond got whacked. Shane’s magic is like a jumble of badly cooked spaghetti. One man can’t keep that many connections.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I can only handle one problem at a time right now. What’s going on with Ellis? Any change?”
“He’s still out cold. They haven’t snacked on him any more at least.” He grimaced. “I’d give a lot not to have witnessed that. Anyway, they’re still heading south. Just went through Stephenville.”
I heard the front door open, so I squeezed Manny’s hand and smoothed back his hair. “I’ll be back in a few hours, Manny. I expect to see you and Pia eating junk food and watching trash TV, okay?” My voice was quavering a little, but I managed not to cry.
I went into the living room, where Levi and Simon were waiting. Simon could’ve used a shower as well, but I didn’t think we had time. He looked worlds healthier though. His eyes were bright gold, his skin was flushed, and I’d swear even his auburn hair looked thicker and shinier.
I still needed to wrap my head around Simon feeding from me and then wiping my memory. But I kind of understood his rationale, and fuck if I didn’t have bigger problems. I’d set it aside and see if it still bothered me next week or something.
I said, “Shane’s getting cleaned up. He’ll be out in a minute. The van just passed Stephenville.”
Simon looked blank. “How far away is that?”
“Oh, sorry. Forty or so miles.”
He nodded then looked toward the hallway to the bedrooms.
Shane walked out carrying his duffel bag. “I’m ready, let’s go.”
“Wait!” Pia shouted from the kitchen. She ran into the room and wrapped her arms around my waist. “You’ll come back, right? With Ellis?”
I met Shane’s worried gaze. “We’re going to try our best. And we have Simon to help us.”
“And Ms. Jackson,” she announced. She let go of me and bounced over to hug Shane, then Simon, who appeared stunned but quickly gave her a grave smile when she released him. “I’ll take care of Manny so you don’t have to worry!” She gave us an officious nod and trotted off to the guest bedroom.
I remembered to get Clementine’s phone number before we left so we could keep her updated on what was happening. She handed me a cooler she said was filled with drinks and snacks.
Ms. Jackson, it turned out, was waiting in the back seat of the SUV. They were in a black panther form. A better choice for nighttime, I guessed.
Levi charged out of the front door, waving his arms. “Wait! Wait right there! One minute!” Then he trotted down the front steps and went around the side of the house.
I tossed Shane and my bags into the back of the SUV and set Pia’s tote bag on the front porch for Levi to grab when he went inside.
He came back carrying two axes and a shotgun. “I thought these would help.”
“They will, thanks.” I couldn’t believe we’d been about to go after two vampires with only Simon and his Klingon sword for weapons. Cal and Greg had made it clear that Ms. Jackson would only fight in defense, but at least their dragon form was scary.
The sun was setting as we left the property. Shane sat up front with me, and Simon was in the back with Ms. Jackson. I was merging onto the highway when he said something unintelligible in a sing-song voice that kind of hurt my ears.
“What the hell?” I shook my head to get the sound out of my brain. Next to me, Shane had hands clapped to his head .
“I was seeing if Ms. Jackson remembered the Elvish language. They don’t.”
“Thank fuck, because I don’t think I could listen to much more of it, especially while I’m driving. It’s painful.”
“Oh, right. My bad. I forgot humans, even magic carriers, can’t tolerate it. The intonations are done with magic.”
“Huh.” I set the cruise control to eighty miles per hour, twenty miles over the speed limit, and hoped for the best. This being Texas, we weren’t the only vehicle traveling that fast, but the highway was only two lanes on each side, so I had to do some weaving in and out of traffic.
Lorraine had reported the van was traveling right at the speed limit, and, because the vampires had stopped to feed on Ellis, they had a head start of only about thirty minutes. So unless we got pulled over by the cops, we should catch up to them in an hour or so.
Simon opened the cooler, and he passed out snacks, along with water and sodas. Not wanting to come across as nosy, I’d been hesitant to ask if he ate human food, but it turned out he did.
Shane accepted a box of crackers and a container of cubed cheese. “Simon, can you please make sure Ms. Jackson eats as much as they want? Turning into a dragon uses up a lot of energy, and I’m guessing healing Manny wasn’t easy either.”
“Can do.”
Luckily Clementine had supplied us with multiple containers of cheese, which apparently Ms. Jackson adored. But after Simon handed them an Oreo to try, they took possession of the package and growled when he tried to get it back.
“Leave some for Ellis,” Shane scolded. “He’ll need the sugar if they’ve taken a lot of his blood. ”
Ms. Jackson made a grumbling sound, and I turned my head to hide my grin at the crinkling of the cellophane wrapper as they passed the cookies back to Simon.
“I can’t believe Cal and Greg never gave them any chocolate,” Shane muttered.
I forced a chuckle. “Why don’t we stop for milkshakes on the way back?”
I caught the wistful smile he sent my way. “Ellis likes strawberry.”
Oddly, I was certain Shane was feeling worry, fear, and almost despair at the thought of Ellis in the kidnappers’ hands. But at the same time, I could see and understand his hope and determination. I’d never been quite that empathetic before, and it was a strange awareness to be having in the middle of our conversation.
I made myself smile back at him. “It’s a plan.”
He nodded and looked down at his phone. “I’m going to message Reno so he knows the vampires are heading in his direction.” He glanced at me. “Reno’s a Seer in Corpus Christi, and he’s also the acting District Monitor for the South Texas District.”
Simon leaned forward. “The van with the tracker on it hasn’t gone this far south yet. It’s possible they’re heading for their home base.” I heard the longing in his voice. Then he shook his head. “But it’s just as likely they’re trying to make sure they’re not followed before they change their route.”
I asked, “If this Reno is a Seer like Cal, can he have a vision to find out where they’re going?”
Shane shook his head as his thumbs flew over his phone’s screen. “He’s not bonded. Calling a vision is an ability that only manifests once a Seer has bonded. Until then he has to wait for visions to appear on their own.”
Simon stuck his head further through the gap between the seats. “I remember his name from your Discord chats. He’s in Corpus Christi, you said?”
Shane’s head came up, and he twisted in his seat to stare at Simon. “You’re on our Discord server?”
“Uh, not officially? But, yeah, that’s how I knew to show up in Wimberley.”
I raised my eyebrows, and Shane seemed about to ask more questions, but his phone rang. He groaned. “It’s my boss. Let me get rid of him.” He answered the call. “Ricky, I can’t talk right now.”
The voice on the other end was at a reasonable volume, which was a nice change from the last time Shane had spoken to his boss.
“No. I can’t. I’m off work.”
His boss’ voice increased in volume. In the rear-view mirror, I could see Simon’s eyebrows go up. And over his shoulder, I noticed Dimi was sitting between Pia’s potted plants in the last row of seats, her arms crossed and lips pinched tight.
“I’m sorry you promised them that, but you didn’t ask me first, and I haven’t even seen the site. I can’t do it. You’ll have to figure something else out.” Shane’s tone was firm, which was also a change from the last phone call I’d heard him have with this Ricky guy.
But I clearly heard his boss’ response. “...or you won’t have a job to come back to!”
Shane dug his fingers into his knee. “Maybe that’s for the best. I’ve got more important things to worry about than you promising designs to clients in an unrealistic timeframe and then passing my work off as yours.” Sputtering noises came through, loud and clear. “Consider this my resignation notice.” He hung up the phone.
I glanced over at him and patted his thigh, only realizing too late the gesture was probably overly familiar. “Good for you, Shane. Nobody should talk to their employees like that.”
He dropped his phone in the cupholder and rubbed his chest. “Yeah, well, I think I just got used to it over the years. But I’m done. I’ll find something else. And at least I don’t have a mortgage.”
I wanted to offer to help him find a job, but it wasn’t like I knew anyone who was in landscaping. But I could help him with his resume. I had an overpowering urge to fix things for him, which was odd. We weren’t that good of friends yet.
I jumped in my seat when Dimi popped up, sitting on the center console. “It’s about damn time. The idiot needs a job where people won’t take advantage of him.” Ms. Jackson nodded in the back seat.
I cleared my throat. “Any update on Ellis?” Shane and Simon snapped their attention to me.
Dimi crossed her arms and huffed. “Fucking vampires. Sorry that this one—” she indicated Simon. “—has to share a species with those assholes.”
“Agreed, but what’s happening?” I changed lanes to get around a slow-moving Honda.
She scowled. “They’re looking for a rest stop so they can pull over and have dinner .” She unfolded her arms to make air quotes.
“Shit. Grandfather said they already fed from him earlier. Simon, how often do they need to feed? ”
He pressed his lips together in an expression eerily reminiscent of Dimi’s. “They expended a lot of energy today, so it wouldn’t be unusual for them to feed twice, especially if they didn’t take a lot the first time.”
“Shit.”
Shane shifted restlessly in his seat, his foot tapping on the floorboard. I glanced over, and his eyes were glowing.
“Shane? What’s up with your eyes?”
He turned his head to stare out the window, but I could still see the reflection of the glow.
Dimi patted her grandson’s leg, but not nearly as high up as I’d done earlier. “It’s his combat mode. It’s a magic thing. He’s worried about Ellis, and he’s frustrated he can’t do anything.”
“Combat mode? Wait is that how you were able to run so fast earlier?”
Shane nodded but didn’t turn around.
Simon sat forward, leaning between the seats, which put his head between Dimi’s shoulder blades. She made another huffing noise and moved to sit on Shane’s knees. He didn’t notice.
Simon said, “We need a way to stop the van on the highway. We can’t ambush them at a rest stop or a gas station because there’ll be too many people around.”
I glanced over at him. “Even if we had some way to stop the van, wouldn’t the other cars notice us fighting with the vampires?”
“Um, not if Ms. Jackson here doesn’t want them to.” He cocked his head. “How do you think we haven’t been stopped by the highway patrol before now?” He looked over at Ms. Jackson, and I could see the light of flashes from their Ouija board reflected in the passenger-side windows.
“That explains so much,” Shane muttered. His eyes weren’t glowing anymore, and he was slumped dejectedly in his seat.
Simon leaned forward again. “They say they’ll help.”
“Great.” I tapped on the steering wheel. “Now all we need is a way to stop the van without injuring Ellis.”
Dimi reached out and slapped my head. I flinched away. “Stop it!”
“Apparently my grandson’s not the only idiot in this car.”
I rubbed the side of my head. Her hand didn’t hurt, but the cold went right through my body. “What do you mean?”
Shane was staring at me with narrowed eyes. “Rory,” he said slowly. “My grandmother used to do that to me when she thought I was being an idiot. Who’s the ghost in the car?”
I held up a finger. “Just a sec. Why am I an idiot?”
Shane covered his face with his hands and said, “Oh, fuck me.”
Dimi rolled her eyes at him. “You remember Garfield killing the security cameras at that billionaire’s house, right?” She waved a hand at the dashboard of the car. “Didn’t it occur to you that’s the same reason us ghosts never get too close to your car’s electrical stuff? ”
My breath caught.
“That’s right. A few seconds hovering over the ignition system, and they’ll be left with a brick on wheels.”
“What? What’s she saying?”
I grinned. “Dimi, you’re the best. ”
She scoffed. “It’s not like your grandfather and Lorraine don’t know this too.”
I told the others. “The ghosts can short out the electrical system in the van.”
Shane sat up, animated again. “How far away are we?”
Dimi disappeared.
“She went to find out.”
Almost instantly Grandfather popped into the third row seats. “You’re only five or six minutes behind them.”
Yes! After discussing it with Shane and Simon, we decided, based on how little traffic there was, that the ghosts should disable the van as soon as it was on a section of the highway without guard rails along the side. Most of 281 was at ground level and open to fields or trees, but there were some overpasses. We’d pull over like we were trying to see if they needed help. Ms. Jackson agreed they would keep the vampires from running away if they attempted to.
After Grandfather vanished, Shane posted an update on a Discord server that Cal and Greg, among others in the know, used to communicate. It’d kept everyone from calling and texting him, so I wasn’t complaining.
Lorraine appeared next. “It’s done. They’ve stopped ahead on the right.”
My heart pounding, I relayed this to the others as I slowed down to the speed limit. Shane’s eyes were glowing again.
Simon handed Shane the two axes. I assumed one was for me. “No guns,” he said. “Vampires are too fast to aim at accurately, and it’s too risky with the cars going by.”
“Got it.” Shane pointed ahead. “There it is!” The van didn’t have any lights on, but they’d managed to pull onto the shoulder. The hood was up, I saw as we got closer. I put my turn signal on and pulled over, stopping about twenty feet behind them.
“I’ll go first and draw them out,” I said. “They’re least likely to recognize me.”
“Don’t look them directly in the eyes,” Simon cautioned.
Shit, I hadn’t thought of that. “Thanks.” I released my seat belt and took one of the axes from Shane. Opening my door, I slid to the ground. I held the axe just under the head, with the handle pointing upward behind my arm. My heart was beating as if I’d run a marathon. I wished I’d asked Simon if vampires could hear heartbeats from a distance.
“Hello? Do you need help?” I walked over to the passenger side of the van so I’d be away from traffic and would have room to move. I kept my eyes on the top of the van. Simon, Shane, and Ms. Jackson got out of the SUV.
Grandfather zipped over. “They called their friends to come pick them up.”
The female vampire, the one who’d almost killed Manny, stuck her head out the passenger window. “We’re fine, thanks. We’ve got a tow truck coming.”
“Is it your battery? I can give you a jump.”
“No, thanks. Don’t worry about us. You can go on your way. We’re fine.”
I kept my eyes just above her head as a swirl of fog whipped past me to the back of the van. It coalesced into Simon, sword in hand. He smashed the hilt into the safety glass in one of the rear windows. The vampire spun around in her seat, then jumped up to rush to the back of the van. Simon planted his feet, then reached through the broken window with his free hand and pulled the door off its hinges. It was still locked to the other door, so, holy fuck, he bent both doors to the side so he could enter the van.
The female vampire leaped out at him. Simon had the sword at ready, so she dodged to the side. The male vampire was right behind her.
I brought my axe up in case they ran at me, but they were focused on Simon. I tried to be stealthy, moving closer in case I could figure out a way to help. Shane skirted around me, heading for the van with his axe also held high. Ms. Jackson slunk up in their panther form on the other side of the fight.
The female vampire was only using her claws, but the male had a long knife. Still, Simon held his own due to the longer reach of his sword.
I moved to keep myself between Shane and the combatants. He climbed into the van, and Ms. Jackson jumped in behind him. A moment later Shane stepped down to the ground, then turned back to pick up an unconscious Ellis.
“Rory,” Grandfather called. “Simon’s hurt. He’s limping!”
Shit. I’d taken my eyes off the fight. I spun around and ran forward, trying to get behind one of the other vampires. The male rushed Simon with his knife held high, and Simon caught it on his blade. The female vampire circled, trying to get at Simon’s back.
I didn’t think I could flank her, but the male vampire was occupied grappling with Simon. I ran forward and swung my axe, burying the head into the back of the vampire’s knee. He screamed, and I yanked the axe out as he fell to the ground.
Simon darted away, intercepting the female vampire. He wasn’t limping now, so I let him handle her. It was up to me to finish off this guy. The male vamp flipped over to face me and sat up, waving his knife to keep me back .
I shifted my grip on the axe. The thing was, I didn’t know how to use an axe to chop things, not really. It wasn’t anything my parents had taught me, and I’d certainly never even laid eyes on an axe once I’d moved in with my grandparents. But what Grandfather had taught me—or rather had made me take lessons for—was golf. Golf was a rich man’s sport, and he’d told me I needed to be able to play with the movers and shakers in my future career. I’d dropped the sport after he’d cut me off, but I still remembered how to put my hip and shoulder into the swing, to get under the ball and send it flying.
I waited until the vampire on the ground flicked a quick glance at his companion, who was being soundly trounced by Simon. Then I swung with a form my grandfather would’ve been proud of, and the flat of the axe head hit his hand with a revolting thwack , sending the knife flying into the darkness toward the trees. The vampire cried out, clutching his hand to his chest. His eyes turned red, and he bared his fangs.
He pulled his good leg in, preparing to launch himself at me, but Simon walked up behind him and casually sliced off his head with the sword. The vampire’s head and body separated, both dropping to the ground, blood pouring out. I spun away, swallowing against the nausea.
Shane trotted up with the other axe resting on his shoulder. He winced and grimaced when he saw the decapitated body. Make that bodies , because Simon had also beheaded the female vampire.
“Ms. Jackson is putting Ellis in the SUV. I got the zip ties off him.”
Simon leaned over to stick his sword in the ground and pull it out again. Was that his way of cleaning it? “Why don’t you two go see if you can get some water in him? I imagine the other vampires mesmerized him into unconsciousness, so he could be out for a few more hours. I want to look through the van, but then I’ll need your help moving it over here so the blood gets burned up in the fire.”
“Would they have anything with their home address on it? Driver’s license?”
He shook his head. “They use fake addresses for everything. But there might be other clues.” He winced as he lifted the strap for the sword’s carrying case over his head.
I examined him. He was bracing his left leg oddly. “Grandfather said you were injured. Your leg?”
He shrugged. “It’ll heal on its own.”
I gave him a flat stare. “Fine, but you’re feeding again before you leave the dyrads’ place tomorrow.” I looked at the van, suddenly aware of the cars whizzing by on the highway. “Wait, what did you mean a fire? We’re burning it? And the bodies?”
He shrugged. “A little gas tank explosion. The skeletons will appear their actual age, which is well over a century old, during a postmortem, so they won’t seem to have died recently. It’ll be all over the news for a day or two, then no one will care.”
He went off to search the van. I tested hacking the axe blade into the dirt to clean it off, but it just seemed messier. I ended up finding a towel in the back of the vampires’ van to wrap the head in. Hopefully Levi had some bleach to get rid of the blood when we got back to the dryad’s compound.