Magestorm: The Reckoning (6 page)

15

When Samantha awoke the next morning, still lying in bed naked, alone, she looked over to Dhane’s bed with disappointment.  It was empty however.  He hadn’t simply spurned her, he hadn’t even shown up.  There was no telling whether this was good or bad.

She jumped out of bed and got dressed as quickly as she could.
 Over to Cassandra’s room, she knocked softly in case they were still sleeping since it was just past dawn.  After a moment, Amber answered the door.

“Hello Samantha.
 How may I help you?”

“Did Dhane come back last night?
 Come by here, I mean.”

“No, is he missing?”

“I don’t know.
 He didn’t return to our room.”  Samantha was now getting worried.

There was a message for him yesterday, and he had to go somewhere.
 Perhaps it is taking a while, whatever it is.”

“Oh.”

The witch nodded, satisfied with that answer.
 A smile and a goodbye, and she returned to her room.  After a short time, though, she needed more of an answer than that.  She left the room again and headed straight back to where Dhane had met with the vampire friend of his.  The message must have come from him.

Of course, the cemetery was empty and the vampire wouldn’t be showing up, not in the daytime.
 The sewer was where he had come from, so that was where Samantha would seek answers.

Down below, the smell was not pleasant and she struggled to keep from gagging.
 Once she had calmed herself, she started down the tunnels and hoped she would find Demian and nobody else.  If one vampire was living down here, who’s to say there weren’t more?

The thought gave her a chill and she began to second guess herself.
 After walking aimlessly for several hours, she realized there was a noise coming from the tunnel behind her.  Somebody was following.  She picked up her pace, searching for a manhole to get back out of.  Eventually she found one and hurried up the ladder.  The cover wouldn’t budge, and the noises from the tunnel were closing in.

Desperately
, she pushed on the cover, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.  Dying in the sewer wasn’t what she planned for today.  With every ounce of her strength, she grunted loudly as she shoved her shoulder against the disc, but it just wouldn’t give.

“You will hurt yourself up there,” a voice called from below.
 “I will show you another way, another way.”

Glancing down with terror in her eyes, she recognized the vampire and nearly fell off the ladder.
 Climbing down slowly on wobbling legs and weak arms, she became aware of the pain in her shoulder from her futile escape attempt.  Reaching the bottom, she nearly fell to the ground, but Demian caught her.

“You are too weak to be here.
 We are near the home of the bad people.  You must leave.”

“I’m looking for Dhane.
 He didn’t return last night.  Did you leave him a message?”

“Yes, a message, a good message.
 If he hasn’t returned, he may have found what he was seeking.  You must go quickly.”

The vampire was trying to pull her along, back in the direction she came from.
 Finally getting control of herself, Samantha pushed away from him and refused to go any further.

“We need to check on Dhane!
 What if something happened to him?  Where did he go?”

Demian didn’t want to tell her.
 If she rushed after him and got herself captured or killed, surely Dhane would be angry with him.  She wasn’t going to just leave though, that much was obvious.  He needed to compromise.

“I will go look for him, but you must go.
 I will tell him to return to the motel so you know he is safe.  All is well, I am sure.  But you must go, must go, must go!”

“Fine.
 But if I don’t hear from him or you by tomorrow morning, I will be back, and I won’t be happy.”

Storming away down the tunnel, Demian watched her curiously.
 She was clearly a strong and determined woman looking to help her friend.  That was a bad idea.  Here, in the city, she would find many more enemies than friends.

There was only one way to make sure she didn’t come back, and that was to find Dhane.
 If their friend was in any trouble, he would find him and help him.  He just wished he wasn’t an army of one.

16

Nightfall was close at hand, and the Grand Hotel began to fill up.  Before they started another full-scale search for the mage, Elisabeth wanted to meet with everyone so they could coordinate their efforts better.

Vampires were filing out of their rooms and down to the lobby.
 Soon, the werewolf population joined them, along with Rachel, the only other witch on this side of the fence.  The room was nearly full as they prepared to start.

“Has anyone seen Heather?
 I want everyone here.”

Rachel, Sebastian, and Charles looked at each other and shrugged over Elisabeth’s question.
 Reluctantly, Rachel stepped up.

“I’ll go get her.”

The witch headed up the elevator and marched to the vampire’s room.
 She didn’t like Heather.  The blood-sucker was erratic and odd, and just gave her the creeps.  Nobody else liked her, either, so there wasn’t a line of people wanting to come and knock on this door.

With a deep sigh, she balled up her hand and rapped her fist on the door.
 Noises could be heard inside, scuffling and moving about.  She knocked again louder and called out for Heather.  A door slammed shut and keys jiggled, then the front door finally opened.

“Yes?
 What is it, witch?”

“Elisabeth wants everyone in the lobby, including you.
 I’m knocking on a few doors to get everyone there.”

The vampire wasn’t happy as she huffed.
 Rachel didn’t care.  She would just as soon turn this woman into a toad if she could.  Heather turned to her henchmen standing in the living room.

“Guard both doors.
 Nobody in or out.”

“She said everyone attends.
 That includes your lackeys.”

The anger on Heather’s face was priceless.
 Of course, Elisabeth had only mentioned Heather, but she didn’t know that.  And if there was something she wanted protected, Rachel wanted to find out what.

“Fine.”

The three vampires exited the apartment and Heather locked the door, handle and deadbolt.
 She looked suspiciously towards Rachel, who was moving to another door and knocking, though she knew it was empty.  

“It’s Rachel.
 There’s a meeting and Elisabeth wants everyone there.

She called out loudly so the others could hear her, even if she was actually talking to herself.
 Once the vampires were on the elevator and gone, she rushed back to Heather’s door and used the unlocking spell on each lock.

Slipping inside, she knew exactly where to look.
 Using the unlocking spell again, she was surprised to find the door wouldn’t open.  She tried it again, but still, nothing.

“What the fuck?”

The whisper barely escaped her lips when she heard movement inside.  Just what was Heather hiding?  She had to find out.  Out of her hair she pulled a pin and stuck it into the keyhole.  After nearly ten minutes of fishing around, the lock turned with a ‘click’ and the door could be opened.  Carefully and quietly she turned the handle and pushed on the door.  

“Holy shit!”

Lying on the bed, tied up and naked, was the very mage the entire hotel was looking for.  The irony nearly made her laugh out loud, but instead simply put a grin on her face.  A good fifty vampires, werewolves, and witches would be out looking for the man who lay in their very home.

“And into the fire.”

It was all he could muster of the saying when he saw the witch with fiery red hair enter the room.  He was a dead man now, and he started to wonder how they would do it.  The witch Elisabeth had failed to kill him recently.  Before that, the vampires took a shot and came up short.  Perhaps Rachel would have her boyfriend, Sebastian, tear him limb from limb.  Hopefully death by werewolf would be quick.

“Of all fucking things... to find you here right under everyone’s noses.
 Tell me, did you really kill those vampires they found?”

“Yep.
 There are more bodies where those came from, too.”

A look came across her face as though she was impressed.
 She strolled into the room casually, circling the bed.  Dhane wondered why Heather had given him up, then the scratching sounds at the door revealed their true source as she put the hair pin back in.  His would-be vampire lover didn’t know her secret was out.

“So, your weirdo vampire girlfriend is keeping you as a pet or something?”

“Something like that.  Apparently she’s not so enamored with your leader after all.  It doesn’t really matter what she wants, though.  I plan to take down your master either way.”

That was music to Rachel’s ears.
 The bitch was sleeping with her man behind her back, and she hadn’t yet figured out how to get rid of her.  Now, right before her, was a way to do it while keeping her hands clean should anything go wrong.

“Let me make sure I have this right.
 If you escape, you plan to overthrow Elisabeth?  You, who are lying here trapped by a psychotic vampire?”

“That’s right.
 I made a mistake with Heather, one I don’t intend to repeat, assuming I ever walk out of here.”

“Perhaps I can help with that,” she sat down on the bed next to him, “assuming you can help me in return.”

“Seriously?  What do you want?”

Dhane waited for the worst.
 Surely she wanted all the power contained in the spell books, to lead the vampires and werewolves, and maybe even the world.  Making that kind of deal wouldn’t work for him.  He wasn’t trading one bitch for another.  Her answer surprised him.

“I want Elisabeth dead.
 Not removed from power, not stripped of the books and exiled.  Do you understand what I’m saying?  D. E. A. D.  Dead and buried.”

“So, not maimed?”

A serious expression came across her face.  The time for jokes was clearly over.  He nodded and she proceeded to unstrap one of his arms before standing up and letting him work the others himself.  She noticed the injury on his neck from the vampire bite.

“Listen carefully.
 Around two in the morning I’ll return here and set loose a spell in the living room to put everyone to sleep.  You just need to play nice so you can make sure Heather is out there and has her guard down.  Oh, and keep that necklace on, or you’ll be knocked out too.”

He nodded and she slipped out the door.
 It was odd that, of all people, a traitorous witch would be the one to help him get free.  Now there was just the suffering of being nice to his captor.  He felt like puking.

17

Samantha walked down the sidewalk away from the motel, determined to get her mind off Dhane.  A simple walk to the local gas station would supply her with snacks of sugar and salt.  Hopefully that would be enough.

When she arrived at the gas station she noticed a man out front leaning against the wall.  He was over six feet tall, wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, which was pulled low, hiding his face.  The t-shirt he wore did nothing to hide his muscular frame, and his blue jeans were very worn.

Once she realized she was staring, she hurried inside and gathered her groceries together.  The clerk behind the counter rang it all up and announced the total.  Samantha reached into her pocket for her money when suddenly a hand slammed down on the counter, slapping down a fifty dollar bill.

“Keep the change.”

She looked up at the cowboy and her heart skipped a beat.  His rugged features included the beginnings of a beard and his blue eyes were cold and focused… focused on her at the moment.

“I, uh, I can take care of it myself.”

The clerk hurriedly grabbed the fifty and shoved it into the register.  He wasn’t about to lose this great tip if he could help it.  The cowboy didn’t miss a beat.

“It’s already done.  So, I hear you been looking for me.”

“I have?”

His eyes narrowed and Samantha wondered how fast the clerk could dial 9-1-1 if this turned bad.
  The man finally softened his face, if only a little.  It was just enough to try and show he wasn’t there to harm her.

“My name is
Jackson.  You left me a message.”

A wave of relief ran over her as she realized it was Veronica’s ex.  As her heart began beating normally again, she suddenly became angry.

“You could have just said that in the first place.”

“I could have.”

Samantha gathered her groceries and
Jackson held the door for her to exit.  The man was ruggedly handsome, but also kind of an ass.  She wondered which part drew Veronica to him, and which part drove her away.

Silently he walked with her down the sidewalk.
  She expected him to ask questions, but he stared straight ahead and waited for her to speak. 

“So, did you date Veronica long?”

“Long enough.”

Well, wasn’t this going great?  He was such a talker, she might actually learn something in about a million years.  She sighed audibly and he glanced at her with a frown.

“I’m not here to talk about my personal life.  You asked for help with Veronica, and it sounded like she might be in trouble, so I’m here.”

“Thank you,” she said sharply.  She wanted to say more, like ‘was that so hard’, but thought better of it.  “Did
you and her, you know, whatever it is you werewolves do?  That thing where you can feel each other or whatever?”

He almost smiled at her attempt to explain herself.  Almost.  This whole thing brought
back painful memories.  After six years he thought he would never see Veronica again, or even hear her name.  The message from Samantha, just hearing the name, had wrenched him.

“Yes, we did.”

“Oh, good, then you can find her for us.”

“Doubtful.  When we split
up, I removed the bond.  If I still had it, I would’ve known sooner that she was in this much trouble.”

Samantha stopped walking and wondered if there was anything they could do for Veronica at this point. 
Jackson was their last hope, and it seemed he couldn’t help either.  The worry on her face pulled at him, so he offered one last beacon of hope.

“Listen, we were together for some time.  Maybe, if I get close enough to her, I’ll still be able to sense her.  Can you give me a starting point for my search?”

“Well, there’s the Grand Hotel.  That’s where the vampires stay, the ones that had her at one point.  I’m not really sure if they still do, but that’s probably your best bet.  Just be careful, the vampires and werewolves in that area are hostile, very hostile.  I really appreciate you helping like this.”

“Yeah, well, if I do find her, I’ll call you and you can figure out the rescue part.  She won’t want to see me, or even know that I was involved.  We clear?”

Once she nodded that she understood he marched off down the street in the direction of the hotel.  Samantha watched quietly until he was out of sight
.  His words ran through her head, making her wonder what exactly happened between the two of them, that she wouldn’t want to see him even now, in her darkest hour.

She turned and started back towards her motel room and hoped she hadn’t sent
Jackson to his demise.  He seemed capable of handling himself, but the numbers were against him, if they found out what he was there for or who he was helping.

Arriving back at her room, she didn’t feel like eating.  Instead she stacked the junk food on the counter and stared, waiting for something else to happen; a ringing phone, a knock at the door, anything.