The Longest Night: A Drake Chronicles Novella (8 page)

Seeing hunters and vampires hug like old friends was just more confusing. It made
Aggie’s head hurt. She ducked into the woods and kept walking, snow falling on her
eyelashes.

She wasn’t surprised this time when Cal stepped out of the pines to walk beside her.
Her heart quickened, but it wasn’t fear. It was something else. Something fragile,
breakable.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked.

“Of course,” he replied, hands in his pockets. “I’m undead, remember?”

“Do you ever feel haunted?” Aggie asked.

“Yes.” He didn’t pause.

“By Jane Corbeau.”

“How do you know about her?”

Aggie just shrugged.

“She loved vampires,” Cal said. “Almost as much as you hate them. She wanted to be
one.”

“So you turned her.”

“Not at first. I got turned, just to make sure it was even possible,” he said.

“You were the test.”

“It was the only way I could stop her from running out and baring her neck to the
first vampire she saw.” Aggie shivered. “Exactly. She was too trusting. Sweet.”

Two words which had never been used to describe Aggie.

“So what happened?”

“I changed. It was . . . unpleasant.” Aggie knew there was a wealth of painful information
stored in that single mild word. “And I tried to talk her out of it. We were in the
mountains. She slit her wrists in front of me. It was either bite her or watch her
die. Turns out, I had to watch her die anyway.”

Paige would have hugged him. Aggie just stepped a little closer. It was all she could
do. “And now she haunts you.”

“No, not her.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Not anymore.”

“Who, then?”

“You.”

He kept walking, but Aggie stopped in her tracks. She felt his words inside her chest
like roses blooming: part flower, part thorn. “Me?” she asked stupidly.

“I think about you,” he said quietly, not turning to look back at her. His voice was
smoky and warm, vulnerable. “All the time.”

“But . . . I try to kill you. A lot.”

“But you never do,” he pointed out. “And I think you could, if you really wanted to.
“

That was even more of a compliment than knowing he thought about her. The cold seemed
to fade away. She was warm down to her toes.

And then Paige barreled at them like a bear chased by honeybees. Catelyn chased after
her, stake in one hand, flashlight in the other. “Aggie, thank God!”

Aggie caught Paige when she slipped on a patch of ice in her excitement. “What’s wrong?”

Paige shoved a crumpled piece of paper at her. “I found this.”

She blinked at it, nonplussed. “What is it? Report cards? Already?”

“It’s your confession. To killing Kali,” Catelyn explained. “And your promise to kill
the others, starting with Cal.” She didn’t seem nearly as concerned about it as Paige.
Aggie half expected a celebratory high five.

Paige frowned at Cal. “You don’t look dead. Well, any more dead than usual.”

Aggie scanned the note, reading the rest out loud. “Then I’ll finally be free to join
my sister.” She went cold.

Paige shoved her, hard. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” She hit her again,
mouth trembling as she suppressed tears. “I thought you went full-out Mary Walker.”

“Paige, I didn’t write this.” She looked up, appalled. “God, don’t
cry
.”

Paige sniffled. “She’s a beast,” she said to Cal.

He smiled briefly. “I know.” He sounded so amused Aggie couldn’t take insult.

“Who would write this?” Aggie asked. “And why?”

“To scapegoat you?” Paige frowned. “Okay, now I’m really pissed off.”

“Gee, thanks. My impending death wasn’t enough?”

Paige waved that off. “You’re a dumbass, sweetie. But you’re not a coward.”

“Really feeling the love here.”

“You’d never have staked Kali in the back,” she insisted, now that she was thinking
clearly again. “You’d have killed her to her face.”

Cal took the note from her. His fingers brushed hers, cool and electric. She shivered.
“What are they scapegoating you for?”

“Attacks on vampires, what else?” Aggie said, feeling ill. She was so interconnected
with vampire violence that someone could use her as a shield and it would be completely
believable. She thought of the Spirit Stone and all the names marching in a spiral
to the lantern light. “Well, screw that,”
she muttered. She slayed monsters. She wasn’t a
killer
. There was a difference. She glanced at Cal, tall, lean, and silent beside her. Wasn’t
there?

“Let’s get back to the farm,” Cal suggested.

They jogged back, the frigid air searing Aggie’s lungs. Paige coughed, holding a hand
to the stitch in her side.

Catelyn scowled. “I don’t see why we’re rushing to rescue vampires.”

“Just come on,” Paige muttered, yanking on her sleeve.

* * *

The longest night of the year was full of stars and snow. The bonfire crackled cheerfully.
Lucy was surrounded by her best friends and no one was trying to kill them.

Lucy frowned. “Something’s not right.”

“That’s just the three gallons of apple cider you drank,” Kieran said fondly.

“No, she’s right.” Solange stood up. Kieran reached for a stake.

“I smell something . . .” Nicholas paused, jaw clenching. “Gasoline.”

Before they had a chance to move, an arrow sliced through the air. It slammed into
a bag of Hypnos powder hidden in the tree branches above them. The mesmerizing powder
covered them. Lucy and Solange exchanged a glance, recognizing the same type of paracord
that had trapped Noah, attached to the bag.

“Don’t move.”

Lucy knew that voice.

But it was too late.

* * *

When they reached the farm, Cal held them back, nudging them behind a concealing hedge
of cedar. His arm crossed over Aggie’s hips and Paige behind her. Catelyn threatened
him silently with her weapon. He just held a finger to his mouth for silence.

The twinkly lights strung through the trees looked like frozen fireflies. In the backyard,
Lucy’s solstice fire burned bright and cheerful in a ring of melted snow. Standing
around the flames were Lucy, Nicholas, Solange, and Kieran. They were still as statues;
the only movement was their wild eyes, flickering furiously and helplessly.

“Hypnos,” Noah whispered from a tree branch, startling them. “And gasoline.”

Aggie didn’t waste time cursing, though she thought of a string of words that would
have shocked the proverbial pirates. “What happened?” she asked Noah.

“I don’t know. I just got here. I was taking the high ground to see if I could follow
the tracks in the snow.”

“And?”

“Too messy. Can’t tell.”

Aggie motioned to Catelyn to take the left and for Paige to circle around the other
side. She’d go straight to the center.

Catelyn just stared at her. “Since when do we rescue vampires?”

“Put it this way,” Aggie said, feeling a strange sort of pride. “You’re rescuing Lucy
and Kieran. And the farm. This is our
home
. Are you going to let someone just attack it?”

Catelyn finally moved and Aggie went to follow. Cal caught her elbow. “We need a plan,”
he murmured in her ear.

Aggie smiled at him, grim but confident. “I’ve got a plan. Courtesy of Lucy.” She
ducked low along the hedges until she reached the tap at the side of the porch. She
forced it open when the ice threatened to fuse it shut. She grabbed the hose and hauled
it toward the yard, spraying water at the fire. The flames hissed and sputtered. Water
clung to the snow in icy rivers. Solange shifted slightly, her dark hair falling over
her shoulder. Gasoline stung the air, dripping from the end of her braid.

Orange light flickered behind Aggie and she smelled more gasoline; this time it was
burning.

“Down!” Cal shouted a warning. Aggie dropped, twisting to the left. A flaming arrow
flew past her right shoulder, singeing her sleeve. Cal leaped, moving so quickly her
eyes stuttered to see him. He was a whirl of pale eyes and pale teeth clad in shadows.
He plucked the fiery arrow from the air before it could slam into Nicholas.

“Trap,” Nicholas croaked, fighting the lingering compulsion of the Hypnos. “Get out
of here.” His eyes flared as he tried to move toward Lucy, but his body wouldn’t respond.

Another arrow sliced the air.

Aggie aimed the hose toward the back shed where the arrows were coming from. She turned
the nozzle until the spray was a thin sword of ice water. There was a muffled shout
and the farm dogs began growling and barking. They snapped at Fletcher’s legs, forcing
him out of hiding.

He was soaked and surrounded but he still had another arrow nocked to his bow. He
held the tip down over a small fire burning in the metal barrel Lucy used to collect
rainwater for the vegetable garden. It was partially hidden behind the shed, the light
blending into the Christmas bulbs strung everywhere.

“Gandhi, Van Helsing, stay,” Paige snapped. If they attacked Fletcher, he’d release
the arrow and everything would burn.

“Yeah, you keep them off me,” Fletcher said harshly. His hand trembled faintly. He
hadn’t planned on getting caught.

“You were wounded,” Aggie said, trying to hastily connect the dots before they turned
into grenades and exploded in all of their faces. “I saw you. Cal
saved
you.”

“A necessary evil,” Fletcher said. “To keep my cover intact. Until we were ready.”

“We?”
Keep them talking
, Yen would have told her,
until they’re distracted, and then move in for the kill
.
You only need a second
. Of course, she’d been talking about vampires, not humans.

“Whitethorn,” Fletcher said. The facade of the meek, quiet boy fell away. Fire traveled
slowly along the hidden ropes. They burned blue, hissing as they seared through the
snow. “It took me ages to get myself sent to this stupid farm. But it was worth it.
Now I can take out the Drake bitch, as well as her brother and everyone else who stands
with them.”

“So you’re nuts, then,” Aggie said calmly. Cal was behind him, moving silently and
steadily.

“I’m saving us all.”

“By becoming a serial killer?” she mocked, trying to keep his focus. Cal had nearly
reached the edge of the circle. A few more steps and he’d be close enough to drag
Nicholas out of the way. Solange and the others were still out of reach. She needed
to buy Cal more time. And she didn’t think she could spray the arrow with the hose
fast enough to extinguish it before it left the bow. “Way to be a hero.”

“And you put the blame on Aggie,” Paige added, the fury in her voice not entirely
a ploy. “You left that note. You killed Kali.”

“I needed you guys out of the way. I didn’t think you’d find her so fast.”

“Gee, sorry to ruin your murder plans,” Aggie muttered.

“You should thank me. You went soft. So I turned you back into a weapon.”

“You hid behind her,” Paige spat. “Asshat coward.”

“And you attacked Cal that night at Conspiracy Theory. So it would look like I did
it,” Aggie guessed. “And you framed Mary Walker last year too, didn’t you? You sick
bastard.”

“Maybe you two could stop taunting the guy with the fiery arrows,” Catelyn snapped
from the shadows. “I’m not keen on going up in flames right now.”

Cal was so close.

“You planted Yen’s stake,” Aggie realized slowly. Reason fled like a rabbit. “And
her necklace.”

“She was one of us,” he said. “Whitethorn. But you’re just a disappointment.”

“You used her against me. Oh, I’m not just going to hurt you,” she said pleasantly,
even as rage tinted everything red for a brief searing moment. She suddenly understood
vampire bloodlust a little bit better. “I’m going to end you.”

“Cal,” Fletcher snapped, just as he reached out. “Stop. Or I’ll shoot Nicholas.”

“You’re going to shoot him anyway.”

“But if you take another step, I’ll shoot Aggie first.”

“Well, shit. You’re trying to make me the damsel in distress,” she said. “You really
are an asshat.” Her fingers cramped around the hose, cold and slick with icy water.
“Don’t listen to him, Cal. He’s going to kill us regardless,” she told Cal. “We’ve
blown his cover. How long have you been doing this, anyway?”

“Long enough that you can’t stop me.”

Solange moved again, eyes veining red as she struggled to break the chains of the
Hypnos. Lucy looked like she was trying to meditate, her lips moving around the word
“om.”

“Fletcher, you can’t take us all on alone.” Aggie reminded herself to try to sound
reasonable, but she was usually on the receiving end of pacifying lectures. She’d
rather pummel Fletcher into the ground. Lucy was right. Giving them wasn’t any more
fun than getting them.

“I don’t have to,” he smirked. “Because I’m not alone. Not for long.”

“Incoming!” Cal yelled the warning just as Whitethorn hunters burst into the yard.

Crossbow bolts glinted like deadly sleet. One of them narrowly missed Aggie’s ear.

On the plus side, if Fletcher loosed his arrow now, he’d kill his own hunters.

Aggie flung the hose away, rolling low to avoid getting stabbed, staked, or otherwise
turned into a human pincushion. She knocked Lucy off her feet, out of the trajectory
of the flying missiles.

Beside her, Catelyn clotheslined a hunter across the throat. “I don’t even like vampires,”
she complained, as he gagged, stumbling back. “Sorry, man.” He still kicked her in
the knee and she fell, screaming.

“Stay down,” he barked at her.

“You first,” she barked back. “This is
our
farm.”

Lucy was the first to break free of the drug.

“Om, you bastards!” she yelled, swinging a punch at the hunter. He flew back into
the snow, nose broken. “Damn, Mom was right,” she muttered to no one in particular.
“Meditation works.”

She stood over Nicholas even as Solange fell out of her trance and into a forward
flip. She kicked a hunter away from Kieran. Nicholas soon whirled into motion, blocking
Lucy from a flung stake. He caught it and flung it back in one smooth flick of his
arm. It caught the hunter’s right arm, leaving a raw, bleeding cut. Blood dripped
into the gasoline-soaked snow.