Dead Is a Battlefield (18 page)

“Where did you find him?” Eva cried, jumping up from her seat next to Evan.

“We found him hiding in one of the cupboards,” Natalie said. “I think I’ll have to take him to the animal shelter. He doesn’t like me. I doubt he’ll get along with my familiar, either.” As evidence, the bird snapped the air, obviously trying to connect with one or more of her body parts.

“Don’t do that,” Eva said. She jumped up and reached out to pet the bird.

“Careful,” Natalie warned. “He bites.”

“Oh, Poe is an old softie, isn’t he?” Eva cooed. “I’m going to ask my mom if I can keep him.”

Leave it to my best friend to have a pet raven.

To my surprise, Wolfgang and Claudia entered the diner, followed by Selena, and then Circe and Count Dracul and Circe’s assistant, Brooke.

“The viragos found out who has been sabotaging the television show,” Selena explained. “And I wanted Jessica to explain it to you.”

I groaned inwardly, but gave everyone a game smile. I’d had bigger things on my mind, such as surviving the weirdest ant infestation ever. The television food disaster mystery had slipped my mind.

“We think that the culprit was someone who didn’t like Circe,” I said. “But that left a whole lot of suspects.”

Count Dracul shot his wife a stern look and she gave him a guilty smile and a shrug, as if to say, “I am who I am.”

He softened and reached over and held her hand.

“But the last stunt was done with intent to harm someone,” I said. “At first I suspected Claudia because, let’s face it, Circe isn’t her idea of a step-grandmama.”

Claudia faced me with a level stare and I wondered if it was such a good idea to tick off a vampire. “And she did have access to the high school,” I continued. “But she doesn’t have any magical abilities and I assumed that if she wanted to get to someone, she would use other methods.”

Claudia gave me a long slow smile that sent shivers down my back. “You are correct,” she said. “I prefer to deal directly with any . . . issues.”

“So that left either Brooke or Wolfgang. And although it seems like something Wolfgang would do, and he’s not above having someone do his dirty work, it wasn’t him.”

All eyes turned to Brooke, whose demeanor went through a quick transformation. Suddenly, the meek little intern was an intimidating sorceress.

Still, I was shocked when she actually admitted it.

She said, “Yes, I did it. So what? There’s nothing you can do about it. Because what Circe isn’t telling you is that she’s somehow managed to lose her magic.”

“What? Darling, is this true?” Count Dracul.

She nodded. “Weeks ago,” she said. “Selena’s been helping me cover.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” the Count asked.

“I was embarrassed,” Circe replied.

Brooke ignored us all and got up from the booth. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she said. “I have another appointment.

“Not so fast,” I said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Brooke actually laughed in my face. “And you think you’re going to stop me?”

“Nope,” I said. “But they will.” I pointed to Natalie and Mr. Bone, who grabbed Brooke by the arm and escorted her away.

I turned to Circe and said, “I think you’ll find your powers will return in a few days.”

“How?” she asked. The hope on her face made me hope I’d guessed correctly.

“I’m pretty sure Brooke has been siphoning off your power to use it against you,” I said.

“My power did start waning not long after she became my intern,” Circe said. “I can’t believe I trusted that imbecile.” So much for the kinder, gentler Circe.

“I am indebted to you,” the Count said to me. “If there is ever anything you need, please do not hesitate to call me.”

“I can’t believe it was Brooke,” Selena said. “I didn’t think she had the nerve.”

“Jessica, I want to talk to you about something,” Dominic said. “Alone.”

There was an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach and my heartbeat quickened. I took a bite of my salad to stall what I was sure would be an awkward conversation. I chewed slowly until my heartbeat returned to normal.

Everyone else in the diner suddenly got extremely busy elsewhere.

“Shoot,” I finally said.

“I wanted to explain about my mom,” he said. “Raven told me what she said to you.”

“About what?” I was lost and it showed on my face.

“How she was surprised that I like you,” he said. “It’s not about you.”

“It’s not? Then who could it possibly be about?”

“My mother’s not dead,” he said flatly.

My mouth fell open and a little piece of salad tumbled out. I snapped my mouth closed and brushed the lettuce out of sight.

“She’s not? But you said—”

“I didn’t lie,” he said. “But I didn’t tell you the truth. I just said she’s gone. She abandoned us to travel the world, fighting. She’s a virago, like you and Raven.”

I tried to absorb the information calmly but my mind raced. “That’s why Raven said she was surprised you wanted to go out with me.” And maybe that’s why Raven was trying to be a pacifist.

He nodded. “But a virago has a choice, you know. You don’t have to go from city to city. You can decide to be the protector of one place. She chose to leave.”

I reached for his hand. “I’m so sorry, Dominic.” I couldn’t imagine my mom ever leaving us, or my dad, either. In a way, Dominic had lost both of his parents. Just not the way I thought. “Do you ever hear from her?”

“Not very often,” he said. “As you can imagine, she was thrilled when she heard that Raven was following in her footsteps. Too bad Raven hates being a virago.” We looked across the diner at his sister. “Raven is the most gentle person I’ve ever known. Can you imagine how hard it is for her to actually fight?”

“I can now,” I said softly.

“She’s stuck for seven years, and that’s after she finishes her training.”

“Is it true, though, what they told us? That we have no choice? Maybe there’s a way she doesn’t have to fight.”

“Why would Flo lie? Or my mother?” But there was a trace of hope in his eyes.

“Maybe they’re not lying,” I said. “Maybe it’s just what their trainers told them.”

We stared at each other, stunned by the possibilities behind my impulsive words.

“If you had a choice, a real choice, would you want to be a virago?” he asked me.

I didn’t know what to say, but I settled for the truth. I met his eyes. “Yes, Dominic, I would.” I’d rather never have a boyfriend at all if I couldn’t be myself around him.

He nodded. “I’m glad you told me the truth.”

“And?” I was waiting for bad news, but it didn’t come.

“And what are you doing next Saturday night?” he asked.

“You mean you still want to go out with me, even though I want to be a virago?”

He cupped my face gently. “Jessica, I want to go out with you no matter what.”

He was about to kiss me, when there was the sound of loud throat-clearing.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Slim said. “But, Jessica, your mom is on the phone and she sounds mad. Something about laundry not getting done.”

“Ah, the glamorous life of a virago,” I said with a laugh.

My life in Nightshade wasn’t exactly glamorous, but no one could say it wasn’t interesting. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to my agent, Stephen Barbara, my editor, Julie Tibbott, and everyone at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. And thanks to my husband, Michael, who always manages to fix whatever technological gizmos I’ve managed to break.

1

The bad thing about being a virago wasn’t the mysterious whirling tattoo, my hard-as-nails trainer Flo, or even that I regularly put my life in danger to keep Nightshade safe.

All of those things I could handle, but what I couldn’t handle was arguing with my parents for the thousandth time about why I couldn’t watch my little sisters.

My best friend, Eva, had no sympathy. “Why not tell them the truth?” she asked when I called her to complain about their unreasonable attitudes.

“You
have
met my parents, right?” I responded. I couldn’t think of two people less likely to believe that werewolves, vampires, and witches lived in Nightshade, or that it was my sworn duty to protect them. Or fight them. It depended upon the day of the week.

A few years ago, my big brother Sean went all furry and my parents didn’t even notice.

My mom didn’t even blink when Sean started shoveling two-pound slabs of rare meat down his gullet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

She just mumbled something about growing boys and then asked me to do the laundry.

Eva had been talking, but I’d missed half of it, probably because I was still thinking about my parents. Or maybe because her pet raven, Poe, was croaking “Nevermore!” in the background.

“Say that last part again,” I said.

“I knew mentioning Dominic would get your attention,” she replied.

I didn’t even bother to deny it. “What about him?”

“I asked if you and Dominic wanted to go out with Evan and me this weekend. There’s a VP triple feature.”

VP stood for Vincent Price. Eva was a serious horror movie fan.

“I’ll ask,” I said.

“Your parents or your boyfriend?”

“He’s
not
my boyfriend,” I insisted. Dominic Gray was the lead singer of Side Effects May Vary—all six foot three, blond, blue eyes, and high cheekbones of him.

We’d gone out a few times, but calling him my boyfriend was definitely premature. Especially since I had the distinct impression he’d been avoiding me lately.

Eva lost interest in the subject of my pathetic love life and hung up a few minutes later.

I stayed by the phone and brooded. Dominic and I had grown closer since we had saved Eva from becoming a brain-munching zombie, but I still sensed some reserve in him.

Maybe it was because I was high-risk as a potential girlfriend. As a virago—a woman warrior—I got hit a lot, and sometimes nasty things wanted to eat me. I’d had a run-in with a hungry chupacabra a few months ago, but it had been quiet in Nightshade since then. Almost too quiet.

When my parents came home and let me off the hook, I headed for the library. I had a new assignment from my guitar teacher. My favorite librarian, Ms. Johns, was working at the reference desk.

“Jessica, I haven’t seen you around lately,” she greeted me. Ms. Johns had a mass of curly brown hair and a smile that practically made you smile back.

“Hi, Ms. Johns. I was hoping you could help me. Does the library have any sheet music? My guitar teacher wants me to learn a new song and she’s letting me choose it.”

She pointed me in the right direction, and I spent time thumbing through the selections. Nothing seemed right, though. I hated to part with my precious allowance money, but it looked like I might have to.

Ms. Johns came up as I was leaving. “No luck?” she asked.

“Not really,” I said. “I’m looking for something really different.”

“I know of an estate sale on Saturday,” she said. “Mr. Lindquist played several instruments for years, but he’s moving to Florida and is selling almost everything. Maybe you can find something there.” She wrote down the address on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

“Thanks for the tip,” I said. “See you later.”

I liked the idea of performing something unusual, maybe even something my teacher, Ms. Minerva, had never heard before.

Saturday morning, it was foggy and rainy, which didn’t make Eva happy.

“Remind me why we had to get up at the crack of dawn?” Eva complained as my mom dropped us off at the estate sale.

I gestured to the dozens of cars already parked in the street in front of the house. “This is why,” I told her. “Mr. Lindquist is a serious collector. Musicians from all over California are coming to this sale.”

As if to prove my point, a pasty-looking guy in leather pants and a vest without a shirt stepped out of a black town car. He groaned and fumbled for his sunglasses.

I nudged Eva. “He’s clearly not used to getting up this early either.”

The house was a typical-looking tract home on the outside, with a two-car garage, beige paint, and a manicured lawn. Music notes had been painted on the front door and one of the hedges was in the shape of a saxophone.

A baby grand piano stood in a position of honor in the living room, near a big bay window. Teddie Myles, the owner of the all-ages club the Black Opal, sat at the piano and touched the keys softly. Today, the purple highlights in her hair had been replaced with hot pink and lime green streaks.

On the opposite wall, above a leather couch, hung three guitars. Three amazing guitars. I went to get a closer look.

“Dominic would love this!” I exclaimed, pointing to a Rickenbacker guitar.

“What would I love?” a familiar voice asked.

I whirled around. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Neither did I, until about an hour ago,” he replied. “Aunt Katrina wanted to check it out.” Dominic and his aunt were both in the band Side Effects May Vary.

Eva said, “I’m going to look for”—long pause while she figured out what to say—“something over there.”