Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
A dark-haired vampire angrily strides up to the counter and points at the girl. No, it’s not about me. “You, abomination,” he snarls.
“You just had to say it, didn’t you? You had to say you were bored and tempt fate,” the pixie says in a singsong voice from the top of the wedding cake.
In response, the girl rolls her eyes, casually leans against the counter, and crosses her arms. With her top hand, she dramatically points her thumb at her chest and flutters her multi-coloured eyelashes. She manages the best ‘who me?’ face I have ever seen. I can’t help snorting.
“Yes,” the vampire snarls. His teeth elongate and prick against his bottom lip. “Prepare to die.”
Whoa. My eyes widen. That escalated quickly; things are about to get real.
The girl, seemingly unaffected, smirks and holds a hand up. “Hold on a minute. That’s against the health code. Sorry, they are pretty strict with the no dead bodies in the café rules. We’ll have to take this outside.”
Wow, how cool is she? My eyes automatically drift to look outside and I frown at the busy street. It’s bustling with people going home after a busy workday. She must spot what I have seen as she huffs, “Perhaps we can go out the back.”
“No,” the vampire bellows.
It appears he has had enough of the conversation and to make a point, he swipes his arm across the till display, sending things flying. Leaflets scatter, and an empty sounding tip jar crashes to the floor. His fist then heads for her face.
Oh no.
I watch as she blocks the vampire’s strike with an almost lazy movement, as if fighting is so easy for her, she could make a cup of coffee while she’s doing it. The vampire really does not like that, and he lets out a dramatic roar. She rolls her eyes.
Then his hand heads towards the cake masterpiece. My eyes almost pop out of my head. No, not the cake! The pixie squeaks out in horror. “Tru, stop him!”
The girl, Tru, grabs his wrist. “No. Bad vampire,” she scolds.
Gone is the amusement and in its place, with a flash of red eyes, the girl transforms into something other.
What the heck is she?
I thought she was human. She must have him in a bone-crunching hold as the vampire winces. Like Owen’s friend, Forrest, who has all that crazy power packed inside her, this girl has a serious hidden strength that makes me feel a bit like wet lettuce.
Two more vampires aggressively crash into the café.
Double oh no.
It’s a full-on party. Like a wimp, I sink lower into the chair, and with shaking hands, wipe my chocolate frosted fingers on a napkin.
I puff out my cheeks and try my best to control my rapid heartbeat.
It’s all going to kick off and I don’t want to be ringing the dinner bell with my heart racing and my tasty blood rushing through my veins.
Not that vampires are allowed to go around chomping on people, but I wouldn’t put it past them to say my neck got in the way of their teeth.
The old ladies also sink in their seats. We are all scarcely breathing. They look so frightened.
I grind my jaw. The rainbow girl is going to struggle against three vampires. I don’t want to see her get hurt.
The first guy smiles smugly at his backup and puffs out his chest. He yanks his wrist out of the girl’s grip as the other two vampires spread out about the room with the bigger of the two blocking the door. He cracks his knuckles.
Err, I hate bullies.
When I was younger, I always expected people to have the same level of morality as my own.
To understand wrong from right, to value life.
It was a shock and a big lesson to learn.
Other people do not play fair. They do bad things and sleep well at night.
As long as they are alright, the world they live in is perfect.
I can’t do that. I cannot sit back and watch bad things happen when I can do something, try to help. I think my life would be easier if I minded my business. The problem is… I care too much.
Gosh, after everything I have been dealing with, I’m going to die by vampire in a tiny café.
Boy, my mum is going to be pissed.
All I’m missing is my raging temper. I didn’t realise how much of a buffer it was.
I think I prefer to be angry than feel this kind of powerless fear.
If only I had my magic, if only I had access to my power…
An idea tickles at the back of my head. It is such a silly thought.
I have to be in my realm to use my magic, but perhaps I can use it another way.
I do have an item coated with magic in my pocket.
The portable dimension. Nah, I shake my head.
No, it will not work. It can’t be that easy.
Can it?
Tru might not even need my help. My eyes flick back to the vampire as he continues to shout out murderous threats.
But we all know what happens to witnesses of a crime and if she fails…
she isn’t the only one who’s going to get hurt, or potentially die.
I can’t help looking at the two old ladies.
One whimpers and the other shushes her, reaching over to hold her hand.
No, I will not sit and watch this happen without at least trying to help.
I make sure the vampires are busy and, millimetre by millimetre, I lift my hips and from my back pocket, pull out the empty storeroom bag.
With a hope and a prayer, I unravel it and without giving the game away, I stuff my left foot into it.
My leg tingles with pins and needles. Okay, that is something.
The vampire grabs hold of Tru’s hair and, at the same time, sticks his dirty finger into the cake. The pixie, with a kamikaze scream, throws herself at him and bites his hand. He hisses and bats her away. Her tiny body flies across the room and hits the café window with a bone-crunching crack.
“No!” Tru cries.
Oh my.
“That’s enough!” I yell as I slam my hands on the table and stand up.
The chair scrapes the floor and rattles as it impacts the bookcase behind me.
My leg continues to tingle as familiar energy zips across my body and settles into my chest. Relief makes me almost dizzy as my glowing tattoos reflect in the window.
It’s working! The two vampires turn and one of them, the big one, rushes toward me.
Oh heck.
With a fancy parkour move, the rainbow-haired girl leaps over the counter and spins on her toes. With unnatural speed, a blade appears in her hand and she stabs the closest vampire in the chest, just as I throw my hands up to cover my face.
There is a moment where it feels like time slows down as I wildly fling out my magic.
The seconds tick.
When nothing happens, I peek from behind my quivering arms. The knuckle cracking vampire’s fist hovers inches from my face.
Ooh.
I don’t know why, but I reach out a shaky hand and poke at the dinner plate sized fist. If he had hit me with that… Hell, look at it. I gulp. He would have mashed my face.
Luckily, I have frozen the vampires in place.
Tru circles the frozen vampire she stabbed and pokes his cheek.
“Huh.” His blood didn’t freeze with his body, and it drips down his chest onto the floor.
“Shit, Tilly is going to kick my arse. I hope you have got some cash on you,” she says to the now presumably dead vampire.
“You’re paying for the clean-up spell, buddy. ”
I wince.
She moves, graceful and lithe, like a dancer, to the next vampire.
When she isn’t leaning against the counter, the rainbow-haired girl is super tall.
Beautiful but… with a sleek predatory quality I didn’t see when I first spoke to her.
All I saw was the girly hair. I guess that was all she wanted me to see.
I shiver.
With a shrug, she grabs hold of the next vampire’s head. With one hand gripping the back of his dark hair and the other on his chin, she breaks his neck with a crunch. She does the same with the third. The one near me. I swallow down bile. I’m not used to this kind of violence.
My wide eyes meet the girl’s.
“It’s okay,” she whispers. “Vampires can’t be killed by a broken neck.
They will heal. Well, those two will. The one I stabbed…
” She pulls a face. “I hit his heart. You can let them go now.” I release the freezing magic, and like puppets with their strings cut, all three of them flop to the floor. I shiver.
“Thanks. Shit, are you okay?”
I nod.
Across the room, there’s a tiny rasp. Even from here, I can see blood bubbling between the pixie’s lips with each of her struggling breaths. “Oh no. Please, no.” The despair in Tru’s eyes makes my abdomen clench as she spins and hurries back across the café toward her friend.
I don’t know how long the power in the bag will last, so without losing time trying to move and worrying I’ll dislodge the bag from my foot, I direct the magic to heal the pixie.
I cringe and cross my fingers. I am all so new to this, and I’ve never healed without touching someone before. My magic flies like an arrow from me to the pixie without issue. It takes seconds to heal her. Then because I can, I fix the beautiful wedding cake that the vampire damaged.
With a wobble, I lift my foot and pull off the bag. My trainer smokes. It also looks a completely different colour than the other one now. Whoa, I must have pulled in some power. I scrape it against the floor, and it leaves a rubber residue. At least it didn’t disintegrate.
The bag still bubbles with power. I can feel it, but I have got no energy left to access it. Working magic in the real world is exhausting.
Dizzy, I slump in the chair and, with trembling hands, take a mouthful of the now cold drink. Black spots dance across my vision. I need to eat something. My stomach growls and aches like it’s eating itself. I take a big mouthful of cake.
“Hey, thanks,” the pixie shouts. Standing on the glass dome that surrounds the cakes, she grins and waves. “You healed me and saved the cake. Thank you so much. It took me so many hours to make.”
I finger wave, finish my mouthful of cake and wipe my lips. “Oh, you’re welcome. I’m just glad you’re okay.” The bell chimes above the door as the old ladies leave without a word. I try not to watch as Tru unceremoniously drags the dead and unconscious vampires outside.
I duck my head and shovel in more cake.
“He will know about this. I bet he’s already on his way,” the pixie whispers.
“Yeah, I know. That is why I’ve texted Tilly that I’m getting the hell out of here. I’m so done for the day. I need to go to the gym and smash things.”
“We can close early. It’s almost time.”
I jump in my seat when the rainbow-haired girl appears. Crikey, she is freaky quiet. She must have glided over the floor like an apparition, making little to no noise at all. I know ’cause I was listening so hard to their conversation. It’s another little detail that affirms her deadly nature.
“I owe you one. You stepped up even when you didn’t know us. You saved my friend’s life. Thank you.” I blink. Her warm orange eyes take in my trembling body.
I must look pathetic.
I shuffle uncomfortably in the seat. “It’s no bother,” I say with a shrug. “It was the right thing to do.”
“Yeah? Well, thank you. You are a total badass.”
“Me?” I squeak. I point at my chest and shake my head in disbelief. “I was so scared.”
“You could have fooled me. I loved the whole ‘that’s enough!’ scream. It was very scary. Here. It’s on the house.” She slides a replacement hot chocolate on the table.
“Thank you,” I mumble.
“My name is Tru.” She taps the table twice and raises a rainbow eyebrow.
Oh, she wants to know my name. “Tuesday,” I splutter. Seemingly satisfied and finished with our conversation, with a nod and a warm smile, she pirouettes on her toes and goes back to cleaning up.
Huh. Tru didn’t ask any awkward questions. She didn’t even care what type of creature I was. She just appreciated my help.
That was nice.
My trembling disappears, and my pounding heart settles. Bloody fate. Looks like I’m exactly where I need to be. Back in my pocket realm, helping people like Erin. For the first time since this wacky adventure started, I can take a full breath. This vampire fight has settled something inside me.
I’m enough. I am strong enough, and if I can pull magic out of my arse to deal with raging vampires, I can deal with my mum and running a hotel in another dimension. I dab my finger onto the plate and sweep up a dollop of chocolate frosting.
Perhaps I can be a badass. Yeah. I grin at the plate. Piece of cake.