Magic Burns

Page 113

 

 

 

“No harm will come to them,” the maiden’s wilting voice assured me.

 

The red wave washed against Derek’s ward. Derek raised his deformed jaws. His fangs bit the air. A long eerie howl broke from his lips, a forlorn lament, a song of hunt, and chase, and hot blood on the tongue. It sent my heart fluttering. I gripped my saber.

 

“You injure him, you die.” That fucking crone wouldn’t stop me.

 

“No harm,” the maiden promised.

 

The red fluid circled the ward and surged up to the ceiling, enclosing the ward and Derek within it in a column of streaming fluid. Holy crap.

 

In a moment the second column encased the vampire.

 

“They can neither hear us, nor see us,” the maiden said.

 

“What is the boon?”

 

“The hound…” The maiden shifted a little within her folds of fabric.

 

“Bring us his blood,” the crone said.

 

“…and all your questions…” the mother added.

 

“…will be answered.” The maiden nodded.

 

A witch chorus. Lovely.

 

“Why do you need the blood?”

 

The crone sneered. “Doesn’t matter.”

 

“It matters to me.”

 

“Then you get nothing!”

 

Crap. I bowed. “Thank you for seeing me. Release my associates and I’ll go.”

 

“Why care?” the mother asked.

 

“Because I won’t fetch the blood of someone with that much magic unless I know how it will be used.”

 

For all I knew, they could use it to hex him or brew a city-wide plague. I knew they wouldn’t lie to me.

 

In the modern world of magic and tech, your rep meant everything.

 

“Is that your final word?” the mother asked.

 

It was wrong. Not even for Julie and her mother’s sake. Some things should not be done no matter how much you want the goal. “Yes.”

 

“Then leave!” the crone barked.