“Fuck!” she growled, clutching her bleeding hand to her chest. “You almost chopped off my finger,” she shrieked.
“You’re the one who came running at me. What did you expect me to do?”
“I expect you to … shit that hurts.” She was distracted by all the blood, so I got up slowly and walked toward her.
“I can help you to heal it,” I told her softly, and she peered at me, unsure. Then her dark eyes turned blank again.
“I don’t need your help! I need you to leave me alone.”
I got a shock when she leapt at me, pushing me down onto the muddy grass. I gulped and tried to breathe, but her hands were around my throat, squeezing.
“You see, Tegan, you’re not the only one who can use human means of inflicting pain,” she said hatefully.
She had my hand pinned under her knee, but I managed to move it just enough to burn through the black fishnet tights she was wearing. She suffered through the pain while digging her knee harder into my hand. She lifted her knee the slightest bit before slamming it back down again. Shit, that hurt. I thought she might have broken one of my fingers.
I raised my free hand and smacked her hard across the face. It gave me an advantage for just a second, which was enough time for me to shove her off me. I didn’t get far enough, though, because she launched herself onto my back, her arms wrapping tight around my neck.
“Get off,” I grunted, trying to dislodge her.
“No chance,” she replied breathlessly, and seconds later, she was pulling me back onto the ground. Bits of dirt hit me as she pushed me face down into it. Okay, now it was on. I rolled my body and punched her in the gut, which earned me an uppercut to the chin. My entire abdominal region was screaming in pain with her on top of me. For someone so small she seemed to weigh a bloody tonne.
“You can’t replace Noreen with Theodore,” I managed to gasp.
“Shut up!” she wailed.
“Noreen was the only real parent you’ll ever have.”
“I said shut the fuck up!”
“Rita, he’s evil. You’re not evil. You’re good, just like your mother was.”
She smacked me hard, sending my face flying sideways. I tasted blood in my mouth, and when I managed to turn my head and look at her again, furious black mascara tears were running down her face.
She clutched my throat, squeezing the air from my lungs. My head grew dizzy as I heard her seethe, “I’m not letting go until you’re dead.”
I tried to say something back, but I had no strength left. I needed oxygen. Where the hell was Roman?
He needed to get back here now because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out.
18.
Finn
I was doing one of my routine circuits of the city early in the morning when I was approached by a thin, nerdy-looking fella. He handed me a flyer, telling me he hoped to see me at the rally, then continued on his way.
Rally? What rally?
I unfolded the flyer to reveal Theodore’s face smiling back at me, giving me a momentary fright. That was one ugly motherfucker—and not someone I wanted to see up close and personal first thing in the morning, thank you very much. He wore his ordinary concerned citizen clothing and a kind expression on his face. The text on the flyer read:
THE THEODORE GIRARD FOUNDATION PRESENTS,
AN ANTI-VAMPIRE CAMPAIGN RALLY.
THIS WEDNESDAY, 10 AM SHARP ON CAMPION ROW.
COME AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR HUMANITY.
TOGETHER WE WILL DRIVE OUT THE DARKNESS.
Christ, he really didn’t give up. You’d think he’d have learned his lesson from the fiasco that went down the last time. I kept walking through the empty streets, knowing they wouldn’t be empty soon enough. It was just gone eight-thirty, which meant there was an hour and a half before Theodore’s rally began. What exactly was he trying to achieve with this?
And that was when it hit me.
He was going to release the chaos. Gathering all the humans in one place would make it that much easier for him. According to Marcel, he was supposed to be doing it tomorrow morning, but he must’ve put two and two together and figured out that Marcel betrayed him and revealed his plans to his enemies. Now he had to act earlier than scheduled. I rushed to the van and hightailed it back to the house.
Everybody was gathered in the large kitchen eating breakfast. I walked straight in and slammed the flyer down into the centre of the table. Cristescu calmly reached over and picked it up, his sharp eyes quickly scanning the words. There was ash in his hair and black soot on his face, showing he’d recently paid a visit to the bomb site at Crimson. He looked tired, and I almost felt bad for throwing this doozy in his lap, but there was nothing else for it.
“He’s acting a day early,” he said in a low, angry voice.
“Yeah, which means we need to find Roman ASAP.”
“Tegan will have to summon him. She’s still in bed. I’ll go get her.” The vampire stood and left the room. Less than a minute later he returned, looking both angry and panicked.
“She’s gone.”
“Huh?” I said, looking to everyone around the table. “Did Tegan tell any of you she was going out?”
“No,” Amanda spoke up. “But I did see her casting a spell this morning.”
“What kind of spell?” Gabriel asked with suspicion.
“Um, she had an upturned glass on a map and a piece of a scarf under the glass.”
“That was a location spell. She was looking for someone.”
“What did the scarf look like?” Alvie questioned.
“It was red and black, sort of silky.”
Alvie gasped and put his hand to his mouth. “That’s Rita’s. She’s gone after Rita.”
I was about to swear loudly when the front door flew open. I heard feet stumbling weakly down the hallway. A second later, Tegan emerged covered in dirt and blood and looking like she just stepped out of a warzone. Cristescu immediately scooped her up into his arms, asking what happened.
“Rita …” was all she could manage.
“Yeah, we figured that bit out.”
“She tried to kill me …” she whispered and then passed out in Cristescu’s arms. He carried her to the kitchen counter, swiping everything out of the way to clear the space. Then he began running his hands over her body to check for injuries. He stopped when he reached her left hand, holding up the index finger.
“This is broken. It will need to be taken care of by a doctor.”
“If you have a First Aid kit, I can see to her,” Alora put in. “I’m a trained first aider, and I used to volunteer at the hospital on the weekends when I was still at school.”
Cristescu gave her a look of approval. “Yes, thank you. I will bring her upstairs. The First Aid kit is on the shelf in the laundry room. Retrieve it and follow me up.”
“What about Theodore’s rally?” I interrupted. “We need to find Roman so that he can cast his spell.”
Before Cristescu could answer, the back door swung open and the sorcerer himself entered. His normally pristine hair and suit were slightly dishevelled.
“I am here,” he said as though he heard every word I just said. “I need volunteers and I need Emilia. She’s the only witch powerful enough that we have at our disposal.”