Magic & Memory (8 page)

“I’m surprised you’re even talking,” Joey said. “I’d expect you to be catatonic after all that.”

“How did they find him at my house?” Lu asked.

 “That,” said Joey, “is an excellent question. Not like they just stumbled across him in the middle of nowhere.” He paused for a moment, then said, “If they
were
working for Augustine and he really is dabbling in witchcraft again, then maybe he somehow managed to work a locator spell…but who knows.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat, muttering, “This is all just surreal. I feel like I’m watching it from somewhere outside my body.”

Joey patted her thigh in a comforting gesture. “I understand, believe me. It wasn’t all that long ago that I was in your position, just a regular kid who suddenly found out that all the monsters are real.”

“How did you find out?” she asked, raising her lids and looking at Joey.

 “Like the cliché says, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’d been taking a short-cut home from my friend Mike’s house during Christmas break my sophomore year. We were on the football team together and hung out like, every day. But that one night I’d lost track of time and was worried about getting in trouble because I was late for dinner.” Joey grinned a little at that. “That’s almost funny now, that there was a time in my life when getting yelled at by my mom was the worst thing I could imagine. Anyway, I was heading home a different way when I got snatched by a bunch of vamps, and they brought me to Augustine.”

“What happened then?” Lu sat up straighter in her seat, attention focused on Joey.

“Augustine was holding Alastair prisoner. Apparently endless torture hadn’t managed to coerce even the slightest bit of obedience out of Allie, so Augustine was trying a new tack. He had Alastair’s older sister Margaret there, too.” He glanced past Lu and said, “She’s your half-sister actually, Allie. Same human mom, but Meg’s dad was definitely of the wing-free variety.”

“Wing free variety?” Alastair echoed.

“I mean her dad was human, while yours was a full-blooded angel. Anyway, your sister had also been turned by Augustine, shortly before you.”

“His sister was also a vampire?” Lu asked. Alastair had turned away from the window and was paying close attention to what Joey was saying.

“Is, not was,” Joey said.

Alastair finally spoke, his voice a whisper. “What did Augustine do?”

“He gave you a choice. Turn the puny human, meaning me, or watch as your sister was slowly and painfully dismembered in front of you. You made the only choice you could,” Joey said, meeting Alastair’s eyes in the darkness.

“Why would he make me do that? For what possible reason?” Pain shook Alastair’s voice.

 “To Augustine it was just a little experiment,” Joey said. “The bond between maker and progeny is extremely powerful, but you’d never established a bond with your maker like you were supposed to. So, he had this crazy idea that maybe creating progeny of your own might somehow trigger the bond you’d failed to establish with him.” Joey shrugged and added, “That’s what he said, anyway, but who knows what he was really thinking. Maybe he was just bored and thought this would be an entertaining way to mess with you.”

 The Impala merged smoothly onto I-5 south, speeding past a tanker truck and climbing steadily toward the summit. Joey continued, “Plus he probably figured, if you and I
did
establish a bond I’d become additional leverage in his ongoing efforts to control you. If there was something you cared about, he could take it away from you and use it to threaten you. Like he was doing with Meg the night I was turned.” Joey’s tone was light, even.

“How are you not angry about what happened to you?” Lu interjected. “You tell the story like you’re totally detached from it.”

“Oh believe me, I’ve run the full gamut of emotions in mourning my own death. Anger, denial, you name it. But after six years, I’ve finally arrived at acceptance. What happened, happened. It can’t be undone.” Joey grinned then and added, “Plus, killing every vampire we meet is awesome therapy, really cathartic.”

“How did we get away from Augustine after I turned you?” Alastair asked.

“It was pure poetic justice. It had been Augustine’s idea to trigger a maker bond in you, but little did he know what that bond would do to you.”

“What did it do to me?”

“It made you stronger somehow. And it gave you a reason to fight like you’d never fought before. You have an overwhelming instinct to protect me, and you killed everyone just to save me.” Joey grinned at him and quipped, “My hero.”

“I did?”

“Yeah. Well,
almost
everyone. Augustine ran away of course, the coward. But before he ran, he saw what he’d created in you. You slaughtered his troops with your bare hands, and then you went after Augustine. I watched the whole thing. You were covered in blood from head to toe, and your eyes were lit up like blue fire.” Joey glanced at Alastair. “And I know that sounds like I’m trying to be all descriptive or something, but that’s exactly what happens when you’re pissed off -- your eyes glow blue and flicker like you’re burning from within. It’s really creepy, bro. Anyway, you just kept advancing, no matter who or what Augustine put in your path. You just kept coming after him. It was epic!”

“So how did Augustine get away?” Lu asked, equally horrified and fascinated by the story.

“He finally conjured up a huge impenetrable wall of fire and ran off,” Joey said. “Allie had to stop fighting so he could pull me out of the blaze. Augustine burned his whole mansion to the ground with many of his guards left inside.”

Lu raised an eyebrow. “A wall of fire? How?”

Joey shrugged. “Like I said before, Augustine’s tried his hand at witchcraft on and off for centuries. He’s usually not very good at it, normally it takes a true-born witch or warlock to pull off most magic. But I guess at some point he managed to master a flaming-wall-so-I-can-run-like-a-chicken spell.”

“What happened to my sister?” Alastair asked, his voice barely audible.

“You tried to bring her along with us, but she refused,” Joey said. “Meg chose to stay with Augustine, and the two of them escaped together.”

About half an hour later they’d crossed into California and stopped to gas up the big black Chevy. Joey sent Alastair off with a duffle bag to change in the men’s room, and while fuel flowed into the huge tank, Joey rummaged around in the trunk. After a couple minutes he opened the car door and handed Lu a dark blue sweater and a pair of sneakers. She noticed that he’d exchanged his blood-soaked t-shirt for a clean grey one.

          “They’re mine,” he explained, gesturing at the things he’d given her, “So they won’t be a good fit. But it beats freezing.”

“Thanks.” Lu put them on, trying to take comfort in their warmth.

          Alastair returned soon after, dressed in a black long-sleeved t-shirt, black jeans, and black biker boots. Lu thought he would have looked like a real badass if it wasn’t for the tousled hair and pretty face.

          Joey said, “Keep a lookout, bro,” and jogged into the restaurant adjacent to the gas station. Alastair stood a short distance from the car and scanned the dark hills, his shoulders tense.

Meanwhile Lu crawled into the back seat and hugged her knees to her chest. She was dazed and hungry, and wondered how long it would be before she could go back home.

          A few minutes later, Joey emerged with a couple of bulging brown paper bags and a drink. He handed these over the seat to Lu. “Figured you were probably hungry,” he said. “This place is kind of a dive, but I remembered how good their burgers were from when my family came through here years ago.”

She took the bags and the drink from him and said, “Thanks. Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I’m actually a vegetarian.”

          Joey flashed a lopsided grin. “I know. That’s why I got you the veggie burger.”

          “How could you possibly know that about me?”

          “Because of your scent. Vegetarians smell totally different than meat eaters,” Joey told her. Alastair slid into the passenger seat and Joey turned the key in the ignition.

          She raised her brows at that and fished in the bags. In addition to the veggie burger and fries there were bags of chips, nuts, bottles of water and candy. “I must
really
look hungry,” she mumbled as the Impala cruised back onto the interstate.

          Joey said over his shoulder, “I thought it’d be good if we had some extra people food on hand for you.”

          Lu said, “You don’t eat? Besides -- well, you know.”

          “We
can
eat regular food, it just doesn’t do anything for us. Kinda like if you decided to eat a piece of paper. It wouldn’t kill you, but you wouldn’t get any enjoyment or nutrients from it, either,” Joey said. Then he added, “We do drink water occasionally. It’s not necessary, but sometimes it’s nice, like when you want to chase away the taste of gamey werewolf. Speaking of which.” He retrieved a water bottle from the floor and took a swig.

          Lu frowned at the back of Joey’s head, then took a big bite of veggie burger. He was right -- it was awesome, and she was starving.

          They rode in silence for a while as she finished the burger and fries and what turned out to be a chocolate shake, then packed the rest of the food up for another time.

After a while, Alastair turned to look at her and asked hesitantly, “Would you mind if I joined you back there?”

          She slid over to make room, and he climbed over the bench seat with impressive grace. His big dark eyes found hers as he said, “I’m so sorry about everything that’s happened, Lu.”

          “It’s not your fault,” she told him.

          “Sure it is. All of this is happening because of me. My God, you’ve been driven from your home, placed in an incredibly dangerous situation, on the run with a couple of…of…” he couldn’t even say it.

          “Vampires,” she finished for him.

          “When I didn’t know who I was, I never in a million years imagined I’d find out I was a monster. If I had known, if I’d had any idea, I would have stayed far away from you. I would never have wanted to endanger you like this.” Anguish shone clearly in his eyes.

          Lu said gently, “You didn’t choose this situation, Alastair. Just like you didn’t get to choose what you are. And from everything I’ve heard tonight, it sounds like you live your life trying to do the right thing, despite what’s been done to you.”

          “Apparently by killing others like me.” His voice was rough with emotion.

          “Oh, make no mistake,” Joey chimed in from the front seat. “Most vamps are
nothing
like us. And until we run into one and you’re reminded what evil, vicious bastards they are, I wouldn’t bother feeling too bad about our ongoing efforts to wipe ‘em off the planet.”

          Lu reached out and took Alastair’s hand in hers. He was surprised that she could bear to touch him, knowing what he was, and after what he’d done to her. He still couldn’t believe he’d actually bitten her. It horrified him that it had happened without a conscious decision, as if it came to him as naturally as breathing. When she reached out and gently traced along his cheekbone with the tip of a finger, he stared at her in amazement.

          Joey glanced at them in the rearview mirror and said, “Not to interrupt this touching moment, but Allie -- do you remember
anything
about killing vampires?”

          Alastair met his gaze in the mirror’s reflection. “No.”

          Joey sighed and muttered, “Jeez.”

After a few minutes he took an off-ramp leading out into the dark rural landscape.

          “Where are you going?” Lu asked.

          “I need to see something,” was Joey’s reply.

          He drove for about a mile down a deserted country road. The land around them was fairly level, fields lying fallow now that it was winter. He pulled into a turnout and shut off the engine, then got out of the car and walked around to the back of it.

Lu and Alastair got out too. Alastair hung back by the side of the vehicle, while Lu went around to see what Joey was up to.

          Joey flipped open the trunk and shoved aside several bags and articles of clothing before lifting a panel. There was a space beneath the floorboard, and Lu strained to see what it contained in the dim light of the single bulb in the trunk.

Joey grabbed something out of the hidden compartment, and in the next instant he leapt up and landed on the roof of the Impala with a loud thud. He paused just a moment and crouched, a long, thin blade in his hand reflecting the moonlight. Then he flung himself at Alastair with a low growl. Lu gasped and took a couple steps back, staggering on the uneven ground.

Alastair spun gracefully out of the way as Joey landed where he’d been standing just a moment before. Joey rushed him and swung the blade in a wide backhanded arc, aiming at Alastair’s chest. Again Alastair dodged him, and he too growled as he struck out, handing a hard blow to Joey’s ribcage. Joey barely slowed from the impact, and again lunged at his maker.