The commotion inside the mausoleum continued as if I’d only whispered. The vampire, however, heard me just fine. He stopped, tilting his head and looking at me like I was the most delicious slice of blueberry blood pie he’d ever seen. Baring his fangs, he hissed and bolted toward me.
Great plan, Ash. Shouting was definitely the way to go.
My palms tingled, sparks dancing around my fingertips as I bounced on my toes three times. Then I ran. My boots gripped the pavement, propelling me forward, and thank the goddess, I reached the stone wall before the vamp. I planted one hand on top of the fence, kicking up my legs and clearing it easily. I’d have to send my high school track coach my thanks when this was done.
There were four ways to kill a vampire: sunlight, fire, beheading, and a stake through the heart. Since I didn’t have a sword or a UV lamp, my inborn gift of flames would have to do. That and a swift kick to the gut.
I planted my boot in the vamp’s stomach, and he stumbled backward into a pile of dead leaves. Rubbing my hands together, I willed the heat to gather in my palms. My fingertips crackled, and as I curled them inward, the sparks ignited.
“Hey, Drac. I’ve got a kiss for you.” I held up my hand and blew on the tiny flame growing from my palm. Fire rolled across my fingers and dropped to the ground a foot shy of my fangy foe. Whoops. I’d been aiming for his pants, but the leaves made perfect fodder for burning him alive…umm…undead.
It hadn’t rained in weeks, and the dried shrubbery lit up like a bonfire, taking the vampire with it. He wailed as the flames consumed him, leaving behind nothing of his body but goo and ashes. Enemy number one vanquished. Why was I banned from monster hunting again?
I walked into the fire, being careful not to ruin my boots in the sludge that was once a vampire, and stomped out the flames. Well, my plan was to stomp out the flames. The problem was, they’d already spread out in a four-foot circle and licked upward into a thick spruce. Uh oh.
This was magical fire, though. I should have been able to pull it back inside. To extinguish the flames with my power, just like I’d lit them to begin with. With a deep inhale, I focused again, imagining a cool fog rolling over the flames, putting them out.
The fire grew hotter. The flames jumped from the burning spruce to a maple. You’d think bare branches would take a while to ignite, but no. Magical fire, remember? The inferno jumped from tree to tree, thick gray smoke billowing into the sky.
“Ember…” I backed away from the chaos I’d created before turning on my heel and darting toward the mausoleum. “Ember, I screwed up again!”
My boot caught on an exposed root, and I tumbled toward the entrance, scraping my knees on the concrete. I shot to my feet and launched myself through the door, straight into the path of the last vampire attempting to flee. It smacked into me, our skulls knocking together with a crack before I careened back and it landed on top of me, fangs bared.
I struggled beneath its weight, but it reared back, ready to strike like a viper.
Shade appeared above my head, his face pinched like he’d sucked on a lemon and whiffed a foul fart at the same time. He jabbed a blade into the vamp’s back and twisted it before yanking it out. He’d saved my life.
He had not bothered to remove the corpse from atop my body, however. His sour expression turned to one of smugness as the vampire’s form melted into a gelatinous mess right on top of me. Cool, sticky goo rolled over me, soaking my corset and making my skin crawl. It smelled of rotten fish and sulfur, and a bit of the nastiness dripped from my cheek backward to my ear.
Covered in ghoul guts. That was what I got for trying to help them.
Ember offered her hand, so I accepted the gesture and let her tug me to my feet. She pointed a finger at the goo on the ground, and a flame shot out, incinerating it. If I wanted to keep my clothes, I’d have to wait until I got home to wash the mess off myself.
“Ash…” Chrys called from the doorway, her voice incredulous. “What did you do?”
“I stopped a vampire from escaping.” I followed her out the door to find the entire cemetery engulfed in flames. Heat permeated the threshold like when you first opened an oven door, and the blaze crackled, tree branches snapping and falling to the ground.
“You lit the place on fire.” Chrys kneeled, digging her hands into the dirt. She whispered an incantation, and a shockwave extended out in a circle, dirt rising and falling on top of the fire.
Her attempt helped. She extinguished the flames on the ground, but she couldn’t do anything about the trees. “Where’s a water witch when we need one?” she said as she rose to her feet.
“Can’t you call the fire back?” Miles asked.
I held in a dry laugh. He hadn’t been in the coven long, but he should have known better. Everybody knew better.
“Her magic doesn’t work like that,” Ember said in my defense.
“It should,” I muttered under my breath.
Sirens blasted in the distance, growing louder as they approached, and Ginger jerked her head toward the van. “The humans will handle it. Let’s jet.”
“Agreed.” Ember nodded. “Cloak us, Shade.”
The air thickened as the shadow magic activated. Everything took on a grayish tinge, meaning we could see the world but the world couldn’t see us. If only I could unsee the vampire guts dripping from my corset.
We ran to the van, Ember heading to the driver’s side. I tossed her the keys and opened the passenger door. As I climbed inside, Shade stopped beside me and eyed my bloodied knees.
“I told you you’d snag your tights.” He smirked and crawled into the back seat.
I hated it when he was right.
CHAPTER TWO
“Good morning, sunshine.” Ember gave me a tentative smile and gestured to the wad of black plastic in my hand. “What’s in the bag?”
“What’s left of my corset. I didn’t get the ghoul guts off in time, and it ate a hole through the lining.” I clutched the bag and brushed past her in the narrow hallway. Damn vampires needed to stay in the spirit realm where they belonged. There were plenty of reasons ghosts, ghouls, and faeries lived in another dimension, and toxic innards were near the top of the list.
“I’ll get you a new one on my way home from work.” She followed behind me, matching my pace as I went down the stairs and out the back door.
“No need. I’ve got plenty.” I tossed the bag into the dumpster and gestured to the corset I had on. They really weren’t as uncomfortable as people made them out to be. Plus, I had a tendency to slump, and the snug fit reminded me to stand up straight and be the proud elemental witch I was. Ha.
Ember twirled her keys around her finger before clutching them in her hand. “Yeah, but it’s my fault you were at the cemetery last night.”
“And it’s my fault for trying to use my defective fire magic and burning the place to the ground.”
A familiar look of pity pinched her features, so I shook my head and said, “I’m a librarian and sigil artist. I should know better by now.”
She shifted her weight to her right leg. “You were tired. Five sigils in a row would have taken a toll on Dad too. I bet if you’d had time to recover properly, you would have—”
