Witches Wild

  I thought for a moment. Wood nymphs—and Ivy Vine was a wood nymph—liked expensive presents. They were high-maintenance partners, and easy to offend. I had the feeling that Ralph wasn’t the one in charge of this relationship.

  “What kind of perfume does she wear?”

  “I’m not sure. Should I ask her?”

  “I swear, sometimes you’re clueless.” Most of the time, actually, I thought. “No, I don’t think you should ask her. Wood nymphs tend to have a temper, and if she thinks that you haven’t been paying attention to what perfume she wears, she’s probably going to bean you one. You know what I suggest? Plant her favorite tree on your property.”

  Ralph gave me a startled look. “But then she’d move in. I’m not ready for that yet.”

  “I give up. Buy her a beautiful emerald necklace. Wood nymphs tend to like emeralds. And make sure the setting and chain are 18-karat gold. Don’t stint on the bling. That would be the easiest way to make certain that she ends up your ex-girlfriend.” I paused, wondering whether his parsimonious nature would outweigh his libido. Wood nymphs were the ideal partners for satyrs, given their incredible sexual appetites. They make good matches, but yeah, the wood nymph usually ran the relationship.

  Ralph let out a long sigh. “All right. I’ll buy her a necklace. Thanks, Maddy. I hope you feel better.” And with that, Aegis escorted him to the door, and I went back to configuring my new phone.

  Chapter 5

  BY THE TIME Ralph left, it was around nine o’clock, and my phone had finished configuring. Luckily for me, I backed everything up in the cloud, even though I didn’t trust it very much.

  “I suppose I’d better call Essie,” I said. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. The Queen of the Pacific Northwest Vampire Nation was intimidating, and I always felt on guard around her. But given the circumstances, I felt it was my civic duty. Vampire kills were serious business in Bedlam. Actually, they were serious business anywhere you went, but here in Bedlam they were few and far between because of our rules. When a rogue vampire broke those rules, we didn’t look the other way.

  “I still don’t like it,” Aegis said. “I think Essie’s trouble, and I don’t like the fact that she pulled you into her business. By doing so, she’s made you more of a target. And that pisses me off.” He glowered at me, twisting his mouth as though he had just eaten something rotten.

  “I know you don’t like Essie. I don’t like her either, but you can’t go off on her. Do you realize what would happen if you staked her? It would bring far too much attention from the rest of the vampires to Bedlam, and we already have problems with the fangster set. I don’t want to engage them anymore than I have to.”

  Aegis slumped back in his chair. “I’ll be good. I promise. I don’t like you hanging out over there, though. I don’t trust Essie and I don’t trust any of her cronies.”

  “Your protests are duly noted,” I said with a smile. “Now why don’t you run off into the kitchen and finish baking while I give her a call? Then we’ll drive over for a visit.”

  As he took off into the kitchen, saying something to Kelson that I couldn’t catch, I put in a call to Essie. I didn’t expect to actually reach her, given she had an assistant named Shar-Shar, a pit bull of a secretary who ran interference between the outer world and the vampire Queen. Sharlene was aware of her position, and considered herself about five notches above the general populace. She was extremely proud that she had never been fed on, and that she wasn’t a bloodwhore. She was also pretentious as hell. The phone rang three times before Shar-Shar picked it up.

  “Essie Vanderbilt’s residence, Sharlene speaking. To whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

  “Maudlin Gallowglass. And I need to talk to Essie, pronto. It’s important. I suggest you put her on the phone immediately.” I had my own prestige in town and my own weight that I could throw around.

  Sharlene cleared her throat. “Ms. Vanderbilt is otherwise occupied right now. May I take a message?”

  “You can tell her that she better call Maddy right away, or there’s going to be trouble.” And with that, I hung up.

  It wasn’t more than five minutes before Essie called me back.

  “Maddy, what’s going on? Sharlene is fit to be tied. She tells me you were rude to her.”

  “Sharlene should be used to that by now. Listen, Essie. There’s trouble in town and I need to talk to you about it. It’s something I’d rather not discuss over the phone, so can I come over tonight? Aegis will have to drive me, given I’m not allowed behind the wheel of a car for the next few days.”

  There was a pause. I didn’t hear Essie breathing, of course, because she didn’t breathe. But I could hear the wheels turning in her head.

  “It’s that important?”

  “You haven’t heard yet, or you’d know why I want to talk to you. Delia asked me to pay you a visit. There’s been a murder in town.” And that was all I wanted to say. Even on a new phone, I didn’t trust that nobody was listening in. There were some very tech-savvy people in town, and everybody seemed to have hidden agendas.

  Essie grew very quiet. Then, after a moment, she said, “Come over in an hour. I’ll make sure we have privacy.”

  “Actually, about that, can you meet me out at the car? I had an unfortunate run-in with the rogue wave last night out in the straits. I have a horrible case of vertigo, and I can barely walk.” All of a sudden, the dizziness seemed to pay off. Anytime I could avoid dropping into Essie’s house, the better.

  Essie laughed. “That’s the oddest thing I’ve heard in a long time. You’ll have to tell me all about your adventure. All right, call me when you arrive and I’ll meet you out at the car. And tell Aegis I look forward to seeing him.”

  She hung up, the latter comment feeling more of a threat than a greeting. Essie didn’t like Aegis because he had refused to join her vampire nest, and because he didn’t take her seriously. But he was a lot older than she was, and a lot more powerful, except for the Voudou that she had learned when she was alive.

  Essie Vanderbilt was born in New Orleans, in 1844. She had studied with Marie Laveau, who had been the Queen of New Orleans Voodoo and then, later on, with Marie’s daughter. Over the years Essie grew in power until she was one of the most respected Voudou priestesses there was. By the time she was thirty, people were coming from all around to ask for her help. Unfortunately, a few years later—when she was thirty-three—Essie ran into the bad side of a vampire in a dark alley. No human would ever dare hurt her, but Philippe, a Parisian vampire, didn’t pay much attention to human spellcasters. He was an old vampire, although I wasn’t sure whether or not he had been part of the Arcānus Nocturni. He was also considered the Vampire King of the Southern States at the time, before the vampire nation had divided off into official regions.

  Philippe had attempted to seduce Essie for some time, thinking to align his power with hers over both humans and vampires. She wasn’t interested, but like so many “nice men,” Philippe refused to take no for an answer. He killed her and turned her, expecting her to knuckle under. He had been in for a surprise.

  As a vampire, Essie managed to retain some of her powers as a Voudou priestess, although she was ousted from her House, and she started a blood feud against Philippe. It ended in front of his court, with a stake through his heart and Essie standing triumphant over his ashes.

  Shaking thoughts of the vampire queen out of my head, I called out to Aegis.

  “We’re due at Essie’s in about fifty minutes. So if you’re in the middle of baking anything, you’d better get it in the oven now and put a timer on for Kelson. Can you help me to the bathroom?”

  Kelson darted in. “Aegis is beating the egg whites for a meringue and asked me if I could help you. He’ll be done in twenty minutes. I’ll watch as the goodies bake. He made me promise not to eat them. At least all of them.” She grinned. We all loved Aegis’s baking and I couldn’t imagine not having a ready-ma
de source of bakery-quality treats on a regular basis.

  After she helped me to the bathroom, where I took care of business and then fixed my makeup and hair, I asked her to help me to the kitchen. I was listing like a drunken sailor. The room wasn’t swirling as much, but my knees were rubbery and felt like they could give way at any moment.

  Aegis finished his baking, and handed me a cupcake, a black forest cupcake with chocolate cherry icing, no less. He caught me up in his arms and carried me out to the car. I wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming visit, but I texted Delia to tell her we were on the way to see Essie.

  THERE WAS NO mistaking Essie Vanderbilt’s house. It was the only one in Bedlam that seemed to have been modeled after the Addams family mansion, although the interior was far less daunting as far as cobwebs and dirt went. The Moonrise Coven had taken on the role of monitoring how many vampires Essie had under her thumb.

  While she might be queen over the entire Pacific Northwest region, Bedlam only allowed her a certain number of vampires in her nest at any given time. Most mainland cities didn’t pay much attention to the vamps amongst their midst. In fact, most mainland cities just didn’t want to admit they had vampires living among them. But here on Bedlam, we knew all too well how powerful the bloodsuckers were. And while we tried to integrate them into our community, we also kept them under strict observation. Because when push came to shove, most vamps played true to their nature. As it was, we had suspicions that Essie had plans to infiltrate Bedlam in a way that we really weren’t prepared for.

  Of course, once we got there, Essie made us wait. She had to prove her regality in some way. Aegis had eased into the driveway, which already held a dark van, with which I was all too acquainted, and several sedans. Essie liked to live in comfort, that was for certain. The mansion had a foreboding air about it, although I kept thinking it was far too emo for my taste.

  About ten minutes after he turned off the ignition, the plantation-style door opened and Essie stepped out onto her porch. She was flanked by two men in dark suits, bodyguards no doubt, and both vampire. Essie was wearing a long satin dress, crimson in color and ornately embellished with black lace and gold sequins. At least she wasn’t wearing a hoop skirt this time, but the dress skimmed the ground, and just looking at it was enough to conjure up the swishing noise of taffeta. Her hair was red, and usually she wore it in an elaborate coif, but tonight it flowed down her shoulders, a cascade of ringlets falling down her back. She wore a diadem of sparkling diamonds and rubies. I knew they were real jewels. There would be no costume jewelry in Essie’s collection.

  Followed by her bodyguards, Essie slowly descended the porch steps, making her way over to my CR-V. Aegis had wanted to bring the Corvette, but I had thought the better of it, especially when I was asking Essie to sit in the back seat. She peeked through his window, giving him a cool smile, her fangs pearlescent in the evening. Then, before he could say a word, she made her way around the front of the car, tracing the hood with her fingers until she stood by my side. I opened my window, but not the door.

  “Pardon me, but my vertigo’s really strong right now. That’s what I get for spending the evening in the water.” I motioned to the back seat. “Why don’t you get in the car so we can talk in private. I’d rather keep what I have to say between us for the moment.” I stared at her bodyguards, then my gaze flickered back to Essie. “If you know what I mean.”

  Essie frowned, but she nodded to her guards and they stepped away as she hoisted herself into the back seat. She smoothed her skirt.

  “I don’t think I care for your taste in cars.”

  “Well then, it’s a good thing you don’t own one. I love my CR-V.” I paused. I hadn’t come here to debate automobiles. “Essie, Delia asked me to speak to you. Let me get right to the point. Last night, there was a vampire kill in town.”

  Essie said nothing for a moment, then in a strained voice, she said, “Does she think someone from my nest is responsible?”

  “Boy, you come right to the point, don’t you?”

  “No faster than you.” Essie snorted. “If Delia sent you here to talk to me about a vampire kill, she’ll want to know the whereabouts of everyone in my nest. I had a feeling it would be something like this, so while I waited for you to arrive, I gathered the information. I’ll email it to her and she can fact-check it as she likes. But tell me, where did it happen?”

  “Ten minutes away from Neverfall. That’s another reason why this is so important. We can’t have a vampire targeting schoolchildren. Not that we want them targeting anybody else, either.”

  While we all knew that vampires—including Aegis—fed on the townsfolk, most of them followed the rules. Essie had her own stable of bloodwhores who volunteered for duty. She and her nest usually didn’t feed around town.

  “Does Delia have any clue of who did this? I keep strict tabs on my nest. I can guarantee that no one in my service is at fault for this.” Essie shifted to make herself more comfortable. “I would never allow my vampires to feed on children. This isn’t the Middle Ages, and I certainly don’t want Mad Maudlin to come knocking at my door.” The latter was said in a sarcastic tone, but with enough of an edge that I realized that I intimidated her.

  I glanced over at Aegis who looked one minute away from blowing up.

  “Trust me, Essie. I don’t want a reason to come knocking at your door. Especially carrying my silver stake. So do you have any idea of what’s going on?”

  I glanced in the rearview mirror but the back seat looked empty. It still unnerved me, but I was getting used to it. Several times I had taken a picture of Aegis without thinking about it, forgetting that he wouldn’t show. I turned around, holding Essie’s gaze as she stared back at me.

  “If you know something, you need to tell us. You know the rules. I didn’t make them, I just help enforce them.” And that was true as well. The witches who founded Bedlam early on had agreed on a policy about vampires. Perhaps back then, it was needed more. Or perhaps, we were still wise in enforcing it today. Either way, the town charter contained specific codes on what vampires were allowed to do.

  “This is the first that I’ve heard of it. I give you my word. I’ll put out feelers and see what I can find out. Rogue vampires aren’t good for my kingdom, either.”

  “Then I’ll tell Delia to expect your email. She may have more questions, but that’s a good start.” And with that, I nodded to her, indicating the interview was over. “Thank you for your help. And I’m sure Delia thanks you as well.”

  “A word to the wise, Maddy. It’s not a good idea to accuse members of the vampire nobility of murder. Just a little thought that you can take back to Delia.” She slipped out of the car, shutting the door quietly behind her. Her bodyguards swung in behind as she headed back to the house. She didn’t look back.

  The skies opened up, and a torrential rain began to pound down. Essie didn’t seem to notice it as she ascended her porch steps. I glanced at Aegis. He started the ignition and then in silence, we edged out of her driveway and back down the road.

  When we arrived back home, Kelson had finished the baking. The day was wearing on me, and even though it was only ten p.m., I couldn’t help but yawn. I tried to hide it from Aegis. I wanted to spend more time talking to him, but the truth was I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

  He noticed, of course, and over my loud protestations, he carried me toward the stairs.

  Kelson came running behind him. “Stop! You can’t take her upstairs. She’s probably still going to be dizzy in the morning and I don’t know how she could make it down the stairs without help. I’m strong, but I don’t think I could carry her.”

  Aegis froze. “I don’t know why I didn’t think about that,” he said. He glanced down at me, a puzzled look on his face. I had my arm around his neck and the truth was, I didn’t really care where he took me as long as I was able to lay down. The vertigo was getting worse as the evening wore on and I felt
queasy and tired.

  “Where do you want to sleep, Maddy?”

  “I suppose the sofa will have to do.” It occurred to me that my idea of creating a handicap-accessible room on the ground floor was definitely going to happen. It didn’t matter if it was for a guest or for one of us, if we needed an accessible bedroom, we were going to have one.

  “You can sleep in my bed if you want,” Kelson said. “I can sleep in one of the empty guest rooms upstairs.”

  “I hate to put you out of your room. But you do have a private bathroom. It would make it easier for me to get up when I need to.” Kelson’s room was compact but tidy, and I could probably make it to the bathroom without help. If I had to crawl, it wouldn’t be far.

  “That’s not a problem,” she said. “I’d rather know you were safe down here than trying to careen around upstairs. You would probably be fine in your own bedroom, except for morning.”

  “There’s another option,” Aegis said. “You can sleep in your bed and I’ll come up right before sunrise and carry you downstairs. Then you can snooze on the sofa for the last hour or so. Since the sun is rising later and later, it won’t be too early. And there’s a rolling chair in one of the guest rooms that you can use to get to the bathroom.”

  I thought about it. I kept track of sunrise and sunset now, ever since getting together with Aegis. It was vital that we knew the danger zones. We considered any time during the last thirty minutes before sunrise to be a danger zone—and we always tried to make sure he was in the basement by then. Sunrise tomorrow morning wouldn’t be till 7:29 a.m. And that was my usual waking time anyway.

  “That sounds good. If you come up at seven o’clock, I can be ready to go downstairs. I’d prefer to sleep in my own room because I know my way around better. Hopefully, by morning, the vertigo will have calmed down. The doctor said four days on the outside, so I imagine after another night’s sleep, I should be all right.”