Fateful 2-Fractured (37 page)

When her gaze crossed Beon’s he smiled
gently, lifted the GPS, and said, “We should keep moving. I fear
the opposition could find us more quickly in such a populated
area.”

She knew he was right, of course. Beon was
always right. Worry swamped her. She twisted and scanned the area
behind them, listening, watching ... but saw nothing.

“They haven’t found us yet,” said Seth. “I
would know if they had.”

“How do you know?” she asked, forcing her
feet to move as Ethan gathered her hand into his and walked also.
She tugged her hood back into place.

Seth looked to his left, nodded and
moved ahead, again following Beon. That’s when she saw him. Well,
she suspected it was a
him
when she saw a shadow detach itself from an alleyway and run
down another dark path. “Who—?”

“We’re not the only ones on this trek, my
sweet,” said Beon.

“We have sentries scoping the surrounding
area for any possible threats,” said Seth.

“They missed one,” she complained, thinking
about the drunken man.

“Sorry about that, but as a mortal, we
ignored him.”

Of course they did, she mused with
irritation.

* * * * *

The coordinates appeared to be taking them
deeper into the old city rather than the surrounding forest. That’s
strange, thought Danielle. She’d sort of thought the old sorceress
would hide in seclusion just as the vampire had, but that didn’t
appear to be the case. Halting her thoughts, Ethan tightened his
grip on her fingers. She stopped and looked at him, then heard Beon
say, “It’s leading us to this cottage.”

Hearing the wonder in his tone, she had to
agree. The small rustic building looked rather dilapidated. Holes
visible in the thatched roof would no longer keep rain or snow out.
Paint on the outside of the walls had mostly peeled off and a mass
of vines practically overtook everything else. A stone path, just
barely visible beneath a growth of thick weeds, marked the way to
the front step.

Beon started toward it, his shoulders set at
a determined angle. Max and Seth followed, as did she with Ethan.
They crashed through dead grass and leaves as they drew closer to
the front door. Made of weathered wood, the door appeared as though
it had been painted green at one time, but most of the paint was
gone.

The rotting wooden steps and porch squeaked
under their feet. Fearing one board would surely break Danielle
avoided stepping on it at all.

Beon reached for the doorknob, gave it a
turn and pushed. A blanket of blackness widened as the door swung
open. The hinges groaned as did the floorboards when they moved
inside. Staleness enveloped her senses as their group entered a
dark and dusty room. Furnished with a rotting sofa, tattered lace
curtains, a table and a pair of wingback chairs, the place
certainly seemed deserted. Lilith must not be here any longer, she
worried.

Seth drew in one deep breath and then
exhaled. “It’s a glamour.”

A what? But while she had never heard the
word Beon and Ethan nodded in understanding. “Ethan?” she
asked.

Turning a smile on her, he said, “She still
lives here, but to keep nosy people like us from bothering her,
she’s hidden everything behind a glamour.” He took in the room
again. With a chuckle of approval, he lifted a teacup from the
table, ran his fingers over the porcelain surface. “A brilliantly
done glamour.”

“And a glamour is...?” she prompted because
his first answer sucked.

He returned the teacup and dusted off his
hands. “It’s an enchantment. She could even change how she looks to
us. We might never know what she really looks like—”

“If we can get her to reveal herself, that
is.” Her gaze shifted to Beon, he went on, “Lilith!” he called.
When nothing happened, he added, “Lilith? We wish to speak with
you. We’re in desperate need of your aid.”

Silence saturated the room as they waited.
Light from a nearby streetlamp filtered in through the frayed
curtains. Danielle watched dust motes dance in the shaft of dim
light, then dropped her gaze. The pattern of a threadbare rug
became revealed as she dragged the heel of her boot through the
blanket of dust covering it. Gasping and clutching at Ethan’s
jacket, Danielle started when light suddenly glowed from the bottom
edge of a door as though someone had just flipped a switch.
Danielle knew it was likely just magic too. Her eyes locked on
first the turning doorknob and then the door as it opened. A yellow
glow spilled into the room, sped across the floor and then rose up
until they stood illuminated to whomever it was answering their
call.

A woman. Frail-looking and crooked with age
she hobbled forward. “Lilith is not here,” came an accent-drenched
voice that sounded as weathered as the woman appeared.

“Please, we must speak with her. She’s the
only one who can help us,” said Seth.

Danielle narrowed her eyes. Partly because
of the bright light, but also partly because she suspected this
woman was Lilith in disguise.

“I’m not Lilith if some of you are wondering
that.”

Startled, Danielle blinked. Could a
sorceress read minds? She glanced at Ethan. He hadn’t mentioned
anything like that. As though he could read her thoughts, Ethan
shrugged as his eyes shifted back to the old woman.

Shuffling closer, her thin, knobby fingers
tightened on a walking stick. “I am her friend and I will not have
her disturbed by your kind.” Her eyes creased further as they
narrowed on them. “She will not release you from the curse. You
cannot escape it.”

“We’ve discovered the cure,” said Ethan
simply.

This got her attention. Her momentum halted
as her head lifted. Gray tendrils of wispy hair danced around her
round but wrinkled face. A faint gleam flashed in clear, youthful
eyes. Were they blue or gray? It was hard to tell, even with her
heightened sight. Not that it mattered really, because now Danielle
suspected this woman also hid behind a glamour, and perhaps that
was why she couldn’t distinguish the actual color. A moment of
silence passed and then the woman’s gaze narrowed again.
“Explain.”

Ethan stepped forward and told this woman of
their tale just as he’d told it to Benjamin. As he spoke her mouth
twitched into what appeared to be a shocked grimace, though it
could have been a knowing smirk. This woman was hard to read, again
likely due to the glamour....

Has she just gotten taller? Danielle
wondered, just before the cloaking enchantment fell away revealing
a much younger looking lady. Another gasp left her lips when the
woman spoke to her directly. “You, my dear, are a very special
creature.” The words came out on a smooth rich voice. A graceful
hand reached for Danielle’s shoulder, turning her for a closer
look. Ethan tensed. He may have thought she was safer due to the
turn, but he clearly didn’t trust these magical types.

Just as Danielle opened her mouth to argue
that anyone could do what she’d done, the woman or sorceress spoke
again. “Have you been hunted?” The woman’s hand fell away and
landed on her hip. She tapped a shoe-covered foot. Ethan exhaled,
the sound a quiet one, but she heard it.

“I—wait, what?” Danielle managed in
confusion. “Not all vampires—”

Shaking her head, the woman said, “I
mean other
cursed
beings such
as pixies...”

“Oh, and werewolves?” asked Danielle.

Blue eyes—yes they were definitely
blue—sparkled with understanding as again she nodded. Blond but
still curly hair swayed with the movement now. Her unlined round
face expressed curiosity as she measured Danielle, shifting her
weight to the other foot and folding her arms at her waist.

“But any—” Danielle began, again trying to
explain she wasn’t anything special.

Cutting her off, the sorceress said, “Yes,
yes, of course any mortal could have cured a vampire. But you are
the one who did. The others will naturally notice that, and be
drawn to it.” The woman waved a hand as though dismissing any
further arguments and continued, “Can’t you see it in her aura?”
she asked the others.

Danielle watched in surprise as Ethan and
the other men all nodded in agreement. “Ethan?”

“It’s true, darling. Your glow is brighter
now, even brighter than it was before you turned.”

“What?” Of course when she’d been turned
she’d realized she could now see the glow of others, but she had no
idea hers had actually changed.

She noticed that Ethan’s tension had slipped
away. Did he trust this woman now? Danielle swung her eyes back to
the lady. “Who are you?” she asked, wondering if this could
possibly be the bitter Lilith everyone had talked about.

Smoothing a wrinkle in her simple green
dress, she said, “My name is Corina. Lilith is truly not here.”
Pinning Danielle with a seeming regret-filled look, she said, “She
will not help you. She despises Benjamin and all of your kind. ’Tis
true she will likely be impressed with your discovery.” Corina
emitted a light chuckle as she reached for the teacup Ethan had
touched earlier and sipped at a steaming liquid inside it. Only
then did Danielle notice that the room appeared restored as the
glamour had dropped from it too. “I promise to make her aware of
your plight, but don’t expect any aid from her.”

“Can’t you help us?” Desperation made her
ask the question. They’d come all this way only to be turned away
again? Surely this woman was the one controlling the magic here,
and just as surely she could help them, she thought.

“I’m sorry, but I only dabble in tricks
really.” She proved this by waving hands over the teacup, turning
it into a plate of triangle shaped sandwiches. “Lilith is immensely
more powerful than I.” Corina then settled onto the now pristine
sofa, conjured a remote control in her hand and pressed a button.
At the same time a large flat-screen television appeared on the
wall above a stone embellished fireplace. A cooking show was
on.

Marveling at the fact that this sorceress
liked to cook, or just liked to watch people cook, she gaped in
bewildered awe.

“It was lovely meeting you all, but I’d very
much like to get on with my lunch.” Corina gathered up one of the
little sandwiches and bit into it. Salmon, cream cheese and tomato,
she noted as the smell of it filled her nose.

But just as they began toward the door,
Corina cleared her throat before saying, “Please don’t exit through
the front. I’d rather the neighbors didn’t see you.” She waved her
fingers toward a bookshelf on the left side of the room. Still
utterly bemused, Danielle watched as the entire thing swiveled,
revealing a hidden passage. “That will lead you to the woods.”
Corina winked and then said, “Take care, children, your enemies are
in the city.”

When Danielle turned back, wanting to ask
about the warning, Ethan captured her arm and steered her into the
black tunnel beyond.

Chapter 24

Rending Life

“They found us?” Danielle asked as they ran
down an unlit stone corridor, knowing full well she wouldn’t be
able to see this well as a mortal.

“I’m not surprised,” came Seth’s response
from up ahead.

Apparently even though she too was a
vampire, Ethan’s stride remained longer than hers. As he rushed her
along the uneven pathway, she still stumbled along behind and was
forced to put a hand out to balance against the wall. Danielle
cringed when her fingers came away covered in something that felt
soft and sticky. Had to be a spider web. Shuddering with disgust,
she gave her hand a shake and brushed it off against her pant leg.
This place was infested with the creepy little things. Did Corina
and Lilith even use it? Somehow she doubted that.

“Seems we have to face this alone,” said
Ethan. Danielle could almost taste the concern in his voice.

“Face what? What are they going to do to
us?”

She didn’t get an answer to her question
before they stepped out into a moonlit forest. Max held a tangle of
vines up so the rest of them could exit more easily. Breathing in
the fresh air outside of the musty tunnel, Danielle searched the
surrounding area for any signs of the vampires hunting them. A cool
breeze swept against her face and brushed her hair over her
shoulder. Either they were incredibly stealthy or they weren’t
there yet because she saw and heard nothing.

“Let’s head north,” said Beon, his face bent
over the GPS again. “If they’re still in the city we may be able to
avoid them.”

Breaking into a run, Danielle let go of
Ethan’s hand. She didn’t need to be dragged through the woods at
his pace, even though their vampire speed was incredibly swift.
Again they flew past trees, animals and stones. Moonbeams filtered
through the canopy of tall trees casting them all in shadows of
blue and gray and black. A startled deer bounced out of their path.
Birds fled their perches as though they sensed the danger of the
beings nearing their nests.

“We’re too late,” muttered Max.

“They’re coming.”

Beon didn’t need to explain who. Tossing a
look over her shoulder, Danielle asked, “Which way?” as they flew
through and over the thick undergrowth. Before anyone responded she
knew the answer to that. Danielle dug her heels in and stopped, or
tried to as she slid for a moment before her momentum halted
completely. Ethan gathered her hand into his again as the other men
formed a protective circle around them.

Closing her eyes she drew in a measured
breath. Just as she could sense the deer earlier, she could feel
the presence of many vampires moving toward them from the same
direction they’d been headed. Should they have been going toward
the city instead? No, she realized when she not only sensed them
but could hear and now see them.