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I trudged along the green wall. The air smelled of flowers. Birds chirped.
The greenery dipped. A narrow path burrowed into the green, twisting to the left, like a dim tunnel to the heart of the wood.
Derek raised his nose and inhaled deeply in the manner of the shapeshifters. “Water.”
I strained to recall the layout of the park. Baker Street wasn’t that far. “Must be the Water Gardens.”
The tunnel lay waiting, like an open mouth. Ghastek’s vamp edged closer to it. Derek and I dismounted and tied our horses to a twisted rhododendron. I looked into the tunnel. No time like the present.
“Any ideas on how to approach this?” I asked the vamp.
“None whatsoever,” Ghastek said.
I sighed and ducked into the tunnel.
CHAPTER 15
I HAD CONQUERED THE FIRST TEN FEET OF THE PATHwhen the magic hit. It rocked me like a shotgun blast. My breath escaped my lungs in a startled cry, my heart squeezed itself into a hard fist, and I bent over, cradling my chest. The pain released me in a heady rush of power that spread through my arteries, into my veins, into the vessels, into the capillaries, until my whole body tingled with magic.
The exhilaration claimed me and lifted me up, as if two wings had thrust from my back.
Around me, deep within the green, flowers opened, glowing stars of white and pale purple. The branches rustled. The vines slithered. An amalgam of scents spiced the air: sweet and honeyed, reminiscent of a rose.
Derek padded out of the green gloom, silent and stealthy on velvet feet and looked at me with wolf eyes from a human face. I fought an involuntary shiver.
The vampire crouched on the side of the path, snug against the greenery, shivering, head tucked to its chest.
The bloodsucker raised its head. Its eyes burned bright red. The vamp mouth opened but no sound issued forth. It showed me its fangs, two yellowed killing teeth. I showed it my saber.I only have one tooth, but it’s a lot longer than yours and it will turn the stringy meat on your bones into pus.
“No need for alarm,” Ghastek said. “He’s quite docile.”
The vampire slunk from the path, arched its back, and brushed against my leg.
It took every shred of nerve not to recoil. “If you do that again, I’ll kill it.”
“I was always curious about your aversion to the undead. What is it that upsets you so much?”
“A vampire is a walking corpse. It oozes undeath that makes the living want to vomit, it has no mind, and left to its own devices it would slaughter until there was nothing left to kill. And then it would cannibalize itself. What’s there to like, Ghastek?”