The Book of Lost Souls (28 page)

Part of her wanted to be mad, but she couldn’t. The book really had been one of the worst things that had ever happened to her. An apology might not ever get Nick to talk to her again, but she still needed to get rid of
The Rise of the Dark Curse
. She’d apologize and ask if he wanted to help them.
 

Ivy managed a smile. “It’s a good plan. Count me in.”

Shayde smiled back. “I’m glad you aren’t mad. You’re my best friend, Ivy. I’d do anything for you.”
 

The bell rang, and Ivy whispered, “I’ll need to find Nick first. You and Raven wait for me at the house, okay? Spike will be there with Devlin.”

“Ahem!” Mrs. Willis said from the front of the class.
 

Shayde nodded to Ivy. “I’ll be there.”

 
The mood of most of the students was unusually upbeat, even for the end of a Friday. People laughed and raced across the parking lot, catching up with friends. Some were even dressed up for Halloween. An eclectic bunch rushed by—a mime, a cowgirl, and a grim reaper.
 

In her hurry to find Nick before he got to his car, Ivy shouldered past Frankensteins, ghouls, rock stars, and a few real zombies who hadn’t bothered to try and camouflage themselves; their skin was pitted and grey. For them, dress-up was every other day in the year. There was a break in the crowd and Ivy took the opportunity to run, turning the corner and slamming straight into Mr. Evans, knocking a textbook from his hand. She hurriedly bent to retrieve the book.

“Sorry!” she said, hoping she hadn’t made him angry enough to hex her right there on the spot. He’d been using
The Book of Lost Souls
so there was no telling what his frame of mind was in. She should’ve seen how weird he’d been acting all along. How bad had the book affected him by now?

She stood and handed him the textbook. At first, she thought Mr. Evans
was
going to hex her. At least she figured he’d give her detention for daring to even speak to him in the hall. His eyes were mere slits that matched the thin line of his mouth.

“Careful, Ms. MacTavish,” he said, a hint of a sneer appearing now. He held something in a closed fist. “You never know what you’ll lose.” He handed her the object he’d been holding. It was a dog toy—a squirrel much like the one she kept in her book bag or jacket pocket for Devlin.
 

“Thanks,” she said as he walked away. After he was gone, she let out a sigh of relief. She’d gotten off lucky. And his attitude meant that Vlad and the Countess hadn’t told him anything. Yet. She pocketed Devlin’s toy, frowning now. She hadn’t realized she’d dropped it.
 

Ivy walked into the crisp autumn afternoon, wishing she could join her classmates in carefree celebration. The sky was a pale, cloudless blue. Students were piling into cars, heading to Saludo’s for pizza before going to the movies or driving down to Burlington. It appeared to be a perfect Halloween day, except for the small fact that there were two murderers on the loose and a crazed teacher who’d brought them back from the dead. She had to tell her mother about Mr. Evans. Vlad and the Countess were still out there, waiting. Ivy decided she’d call her once she apologized to Nick. Then, maybe all this would be over.

Unable to find Nick or his car in the lot, Ivy called and left two messages on his cell phone before driving home. Raven, Bane, Gareth, and Spike were outside on the front porch talking loudly and pacing when she parked her car in the driveway next to Bane’s SUV. Spike ran down the steps toward her. The others were right behind him. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Spike’s eyes were wide, frightened. Bane didn’t look much better. In fact, his eyes were golden, as though he were close to shifting. Other than when the change was voluntary, werewolves sometimes shifted out of anger or fear.

“Spike, what’s wr—”

“I couldn’t stop them,” Spike cried. “I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t.”

“Who?” Ivy asked, already afraid of the answer.

“
Them
! Vlad and the Blood Countess! You have to meet them at the old textile plant with
The Rise of the Dark Curse
.” Spike closed his eyes as though trying to block out some awful memory. “If you don’t, they’ll kill them. They’ve got Shayde and Devlin.”

CHAPTER 31

Ivy’s knees buckled and Bane rushed forward to steady her. She shook her head, unable to let loose the scream trapped in her throat. They couldn’t have taken them. Not her best friend, not Shayde. Not Devlin, her little Beezlepup. Her vision swam and it felt like her heart had plunged into her stomach.

“Tell us again, tell us exactly what they said, Spike,” Bane urged.
 

Ivy forced herself to breathe.

“They said they’ll be at the textile mill at sundown. That Ivy is to meet them there if she wants to see Shayde or Devlin again.” Spike took a deep breath. “She can’t tell anyone what she knows about Mr. Evans, either. And, if they see anyone from the Council, they’ll kill Shayde and Devlin.”

Raven put her arms around Ivy. “We’ll get them back, Ivy. We’re going with you. They said they didn’t want to see anyone from the Council. They didn’t say anything about us.”

Ivy tried to smile. If she went alone, she didn’t stand a chance of saving herself much less Shayde or Devlin. With her friends there, maybe there was a remote chance. Maybe.

Stay positive.

Shayde was tougher than nails and had handled the whole situation back in the woods much better than Ivy. But Devlin, her little Devlin... He had to be terrified. If they hadn’t already...
 

Surely they wouldn’t kill either of them without getting hold of the book first.

“Were they okay when—” Ivy couldn’t manage to say it.

“Yeah. The best I could tell,” Spike said, sheepishly. “Except Devlin had the hiccups.”

Ivy looked at him. “Hiccups?”

“Um, well, I had another bug withdrawal and all the mealworms were gone. So, I ate the rest of the leftover ice cream from the other night. And I sorta gave Devlin a small bowl. There were flames shooting from the crate they stuffed him into.”

“I’m amazed the house is still standing,” Bane said. He’d started to pace. “We’ve got to do something. If they hurt one hair on Shayde’s head, I’ll rip them apart.”

Clearly, Bane hadn’t dealt with Vlad or the Countess yet. He had no idea what they were up against.

“No chance Devlin caught them on fire?” Raven asked rhetorically. She knew just like everyone else that if Devlin had barbecued his captors, then they wouldn’t be coming up with a rescue plan.

“Which direction did they go?” Ivy asked. She had to stop panicking and think this through. Shayde and Devlin’s lives depended on it.
 

“They ran off toward the park. I think they went into the woods,” Spike said.
 

“Bane, you can find them, right?” Raven asked hopefully. “Before they get to the mill? Maybe we can ambush them.”

Bane shook his head. “They already have too much of a head start.”

“I’ve got to get them back. I’ve just
got
to. Let’s do this. Right now.” Ivy felt anger diminish some of the shakiness in her voice.

“I’m in,” Raven said.

“You know I am,” Bane added.

“I’m in,” Spike said breathlessly.

“Me too!” Gareth announced.

“We can’t all go,” Ivy said. “Someone has to stay here, in case...in case we don’t come back.”
 

Raven nodded and turned to her brother. “I think that’s going to have to be you.”

“Are you nuts?” Gareth asked. “I’m a vampire! We’re freaking fast and we’re strong!”

“Ivy has to go,” Raven said. “And Shayde is Bane’s sister. That leaves you or me.”

“No, it leaves you, me, or Spike. I say Spike stays,” Gareth replied.

Raven took her brother by the shoulders. At first, Ivy thought she might shake him. Instead, Raven’s gestures said what Ivy knew she never would—that she loved her brother very much and she wanted to know he’d be safe.
 

“He’s a lizard, Gareth.” Raven sighed and rolled her eyes a little. “Even though he looks human. And, sometimes acts human. Who are Mom and Dad going to believe? You, or Spike? Besides, if someone sees Spike and changes him back, we’re screwed. If we’re not back by sundown, get help.”

Gareth didn’t look too happy, but he agreed. “Be careful.”
 

Raven gave her brother an affectionate punch on the arm. “I’ll be fine. They’re just conjured wannabes. I’m the real thing.”

Ivy hoped Raven was right. They’d need her speed and Bane’s stealth and strength. And Spike had a way of being a bit hard to catch himself. All of this was good because Ivy wasn’t sure what use her spells would be against Vlad and the Countess.

“Raven,” Ivy said softly. “Do you happen to know where Shayde hid the book?”

“You’re thinking of using it to get them back, aren’t you?” Raven asked, although it was more of a statement. “It’s in the truck. Spare tire storage.”

Ivy looked at her, then all of them. Truth be told, she was as afraid of the book as they were. She’d just gotten used to the idea it was gone, and Ivy had never felt more normal. Looking back, her time around it had been like a sickness, a dark fever she’d rather soon forget. And now, she was going to have to use it, at least one more time.
 

“Yeah,” she said before turning and heading for Bane’s truck. “Unless anyone has a better idea.”

Bane wasted no time getting onto the highway. “It’ll take forty minutes to get down to the mill. We’ve got that much time to come up with some sort of a game plan. Start thinking.”

“Will it really take that long to get there?” Spike wanted to know.
 

“Yeah. The mill has been shut down for over ten years. The road going in has deteriorated. We’ll have to do some off-roading,” Bane explained.
 

“Do we
have
a plan?” Spike asked. “Even the start of one?”

Ivy ignored Spike’s look of concern. “I’m working on it.” She placed
The Rise of the Dark Curse
on her lap, and flipped it open. Her heart had started to pound so hard that she could feel her pulse in her temples. She couldn’t believe she was holding it again, watching creepy things move beneath the pages. She heard the familiar voices that were both repulsive and yet so hypnotic and...
addictive
.

Spike eyed the book as through it might suddenly grow teeth. Ivy wanted to tell him it wouldn’t. The book’s ability to control, to
consume
its readers was far more subtle and much more effective.
 

“Isn’t there some other way?” he asked.

Ivy shook her head. “I wish. But, my magic isn’t strong enough. I need to fight dark magic with dark magic, Spike. In the woods, Vlad said that
only
dark magic works on them. He also said the only thing capable of banishing them—” She jerked her head up from the book. “That’s it! Bane! We need to make a short stop.”

“Name it,” he replied. Bane had the truck doing at least eighty by now.
 

“First, slow down. I want Shayde back as much as you do, but we don’t want to draw attention. Second, we’re going to go visit Mr. Evans. We’ve got to get
The Book of Lost Souls
from him. It’s the only way to banish Vlad and the Countess.”

With great restraint, Bane let off the gas a little. As calm as he normally was, Ivy could tell he was ready for action and before the night was over, Ivy figured he’d have it. They all would. Question was, would they live to tell about it?

“That book gives me the creeps,” Spike said as he scooted as far from Ivy as possible. “I don’t know how you can read it. Don’t you hear those voices?”

The car fell silent as everyone strained to hear. Bane cocked his head and Ivy heard the faintest hint of whispering.
 

“Rejoice! She’s back. Little one loves us.”
The voices murmured.
“Little one is starting to see, just like her father.”

“What are they saying?” Raven asked.

“Nothing. Gibberish. I can’t understand them,” Ivy lied. There was no sense in getting everyone more freaked about the book than they already were. What did the voices mean? She didn’t love them, whoever
they
were. Starting to see? See what?

The thought of actually finding and using
The Book of Lost Souls
when she was already in over her head with its twin made her stomach ball into a knot. Even if the stranglehold had started slowly,
The Rise of the Dark Curse
had managed to cause its share of erratic mood swings and a few fits of anger. And, if it could cause a compulsive need to not only read it page for page, but an irresistible need to try the spells within it regardless of who she might hurt, then what would
The Book of Lost Souls
do? It had turned Mr. Evans into a murderer, a kidnapper, and all-around psychopath in less than a week’s time. What happened when someone had control of both books?

Bane turned down Glenview Street. The beauty of living in a small town all her life was that everyone knew practically where everyone else lived. Mr. Evans’s house sat at the end of the block—a white, 1930’s arts and craft style cottage with a two car garage around the back that was missing a garage door, making it easy to see Mr. Evans’s car inside. He’d probably left school right after she’d run into him in the hallway.

Careful, Ms. MacTavish. You never know what you’ll lose.
 

She recalled Mr. Evans handing her Devlin’s toy. She hadn’t dropped it. By then, Vlad and the Countess had already taken Devlin. If Vlad and the Countess hadn’t told him about her, Nick and possibly Shayde, then he had somehow figured out she had
The Rise of the Dark Curse
.

Mr. Evan’s house was in equally rough shape as the garage. The roof sagged in the middle and one of the front windows had a long, jagged crack in it. A notice of some sort had been taped to another window and the entire railing was missing on one side of the porch steps. The property was large, though—a nicely shaped lot with mature hardwood trees.