Arcane Inc.: Books 1-4 (Arcane Inc. Box Set), page 63
“Here,” I handed the ring back. “Keep your eyes open and try not to go anywhere alone.”
“Sure,” he said unconvincingly and then headed off to his car to give us some privacy.
When I returned to the site Margie was already gone. Ashley was standing over her father with that same expressionless look on her face. If she carried on blocking out her feelings it wasn’t going to end so well. She needed to let herself feel the pain of losing her dad.
“It’s okay to be sad, you know,” I said. “He was a dick but he was still your dad.”
She looked over at me, her eyebrows slightly raised. “Why does this keep happening to me?” she asked and her face finally gave way to the grief.
I took her in my arms and squeezed. “I know how it feels. I know,” I said softly.
“Both my parents killed by that horrible beast,” she said. She wasn’t crying but she was on the verge. Rachel had done the same thing to me when I was thirteen and I knew exactly how it felt.
“She did the same to mine. We will get her for this, Ash. I promise.”
“I want her to suffer, Eddie. I want her to suffer more than anyone ever has ever,” she said coldly. On that matter we were agreed.
For some reason, Ashley insisted on delivering the news to her half-siblings in person. I couldn’t fathom why considering they were absolutely appalling towards her last time she was there - well, Clarabelle was anyway. I wasn’t up for the plan but I wasn’t really given a choice so back to Cedarstone we went. If we visited much more I might as well just call Ramsay and tell him to come get me. Not that I had his number.
When we arrived, Clarabelle answered the door and she was not happy to see us. “How dare you come back here after attacking my dad,” she said, her nostrils flaring.
“Our dad,” Ashley corrected. “And I’ve got news to tell you.”
“Unless that news is you’re never going to come near us again I’m not interested. Now, sod off,” she said and swung the door shut. I lifted my finger lazily and the door swung open again with such force that Clarabelle was knocked back. She threw some sort of nasty spell at me but I deflected it easily and smashed a nearby mirror instead.
“Who gets that bad luck?” I asked as I entered the house uninvited. I’m not a vampire so I can do that. “I mean, you threw the spell but I deflected it.”
“What are you on about?” she demanded.
“We’re not here to fight,” said Ashley as she followed me in.
“You’re here to deliver bad news,” Annabelle said as she came through from what I assumed was the kitchen.
“Oh, for god’s sake,” muttered Clarabelle. She was about as impressed by her sister’s psychic abilities as I was. Or maybe I was just in denial.
“Our dad’s dead,” Ashley said in a not so gentle way.
“He’s not your… What?” Clarabelle stared at Ashley in disbelief. “You,” she snarled at me.
“No, not me!” I declared indignantly. Why did I always get the blame for bad stuff?
“It was a warlock called Rachel, she killed him for his magic. We think she’d going after people close to me and Eddie.”
“So you did get him killed,” she accused us. I was baffled by the fact that she blamed us so easily.
“You’ve got a funny way of looking at things,” I muttered.
“Just shut up and listen,” Ashley snapped. “You could be in danger too.”
“We are not close to you.”
“Rachel doesn’t know that. All she knows is we’re related.” Ashley had no evidence to suggest that Rachel knew that but even if she didn’t yet she would soon. Rachel had a knack for finding things out. Some might call it being resourceful, I called it being a nosey whore.
“Mum’s been missing all morning,” Annabelle said quietly. Her eyebrows twitched in worry.
“She’s just gone out!” shouted Clarabelle. “Do not listen to their rubbish. Dad probably isn’t even dead.”
“Oh, enough,” I hissed and put her to sleep. “Annabelle, we’re telling the truth and if you want to see your mum again then let us help you find her before it’s too late.”
Annabelle nodded and we got straight to work. We used her mum’s hairbrush to cast a locator spell which led to Cedar Shades. A woodland. It didn’t look good.
Worried that Rachel would come for Clarabelle if we left her behind we bundled her into Ashley’s boot and locked her up. I made sure to soundproof the boot in case she woke up. I sealed it with magic too. I’m sure I’d hear an earful for kidnapping her later.
Once at the park we were greeted by a familiar sight. Annabelle’s mum was tied to a tree with her throat cut. A small branch was missing from the tree. Rachel had doubled her magic intake already. I needed to keep a closer eye on the remaining sorcerers I knew.
“They have to come home with us,” Ashley said to me after we’d called Richards and told him what we’d found. I agreed and invited Annabelle back to my house in Maidstone. Clarabelle had to come too, although I didn’t see why we couldn’t let Rachel have her. Nobody liked her anyway.
22
When we got home Adrian was awake and sitting in the darkened living room. Emma was sitting in the corner far too docile for my liking. I dropped Clarabelle into one of the armchairs and then rounded on Adrian.
“What have you done?” I demanded.
“She was throwing things around in her frustration at not being able to leave the house,” he said simply. “I too would have been somewhat irked had the daylight not been keeping me in already.”
“So what did you do to her?” I asked again.
“In the interest of keeping the house free from damage I compelled her to sit silently and behave herself,” he said as though he were talking about an unruly child.
I closed my eyes, pressing my hand to my forehead. Everywhere I looked something shitty was happening. “Well, now you can un-compel her and do not compel my friends again.”
“I see that you have put that one to sleep,” he said, pointing at Clarabelle.
“Twice.” She’d woken up in the boot on the way home and after she’d learned her mum was dead she became uncontrollable, like totally off the hook uncontrollable. “She’s not a friend,” I explained.
“As you say,” he said quietly and then crossed the room and released Emma from his compulsion. As soon as she was free, Emma scurried away from Adrian and hid herself in the corner of the room.
“Let me out of here, Eddie,” she said in a quiet but furious tone. “Let me go home.”
“Emma, I can’t let you go until Sebastian and Rachel are dealt with,” I said. “You’re in danger.”
“Oh and you’re going to protect me are you?” she demanded. “Like you protected Matt and her mum.” She pointed at Ashley.
“Their deaths weren’t his fault,” Ashley said on my behalf.
“You’re safe in this house,” I said. That seemed to relax her somewhat, or at the very least it stopped her from arguing.
Adrian decided that it was time we learned to use the guns he’d provided. I chose not to let Emma handle a weapon, she was so intent on leaving the house I suspected she might turn the gun on me. Me, Ashley and Annabelle all enjoyed a training session from Adrian. It was fairly simple. He’d provided us with Glock Nineteens. I won’t pretend I know what that means, I know nothing about guns. He said they were the easiest to use because you can just point and shoot. The only trouble was aiming. We practiced in the kitchen using pictures of Sebastian that Adrian stuck to the wall. For me aiming wasn’t so bad because I used magic to guide the bullet to where I wanted it. Ashley and Annabelle were unable to learn my trick, though. After about an hour, Adrian had managed to improve Ashley’s aim considerably but he decided that Annabelle was so poor with the weapon that it was safer to leave her without one. Considering I had no intention of letting her out of the house she wouldn’t need a gun anyway. I was just repeating the damage to the kitchen wall when Emma screamed.
We all charged into the living room where we found Emma staring horrified at the fire which now had a woman’s face staring out from it. Margie had returned. She looked at the sleeping Clarabelle and then Annabelle before looking at Ashley inquisitively.
“My half-siblings,” said Ashley meekly. I hoped that nobody was going to cause any trouble but thankfully, nobody said anything on the matter at all. It seemed that they’d all rather pretend the massive elephant wasn’t in the room.
“The sun’s down. We need to decide what to do,” Margie said. “Rachel has magic again—”
“Even more now,” Annabelle said and we had to explain the situation to Margie.
“Well, we definitely have to stop her then.”
“We need to find her first,” I said. I sat down on the sofa and everybody else took a seat as well. Emma slid down to the floor, though she remained in the corner farthest from Adrian.
“I’ve been looking but found nothing so far,” Margie said. “Is everyone she might go after safe?”
“We’re all in this house. Except for Richards. I gave him a ring to protect him from Rachel.”
“Have we heard from Ashworth?” Margie asked.
I shook my head. “Not yet. As soon as he knows where Sebastian is he’ll let us know.”
“Unless this is some trick,” said Adrian, still refusing to trust Aldric.
“I don’t think so,” I replied.
“You’re a seer, have you seen anything?” Ashley asked Annabelle. She shook her head.
“Nothing pertaining to this matter,” she said mysteriously. I understood why Clarabelle had so little patience with her, she had such a pretentious air about her.
“I do not feel comfortable sitting in this house waiting for somebody else to deliver us a plan. We need to be doing something,” said Adrian.
“Like what?” Ashley demanded, anger flying out of nowhere. “Sebastian is immune to magic and surrounded by an army of vampires. Where? We don’t know. Rachel is with him and she has a magic wand she can now use against us. What do you think we can do with no way of attacking and no way of finding them?”
“Perhaps, we could provoke the Alliance of Covens to attack them?” he suggested calmly.
“Clara won’t. And she’s not going to bow to any pressure we put her under,” I said.
“But, if we told Sebastian that we were working with Clara then it would provoke a war all the same,” he said casually.
I stared at him in dumb horror. “Is that what you want? The streets filled with fighting? Sorcerers and vampires tearing each other apart?”
He stared me down, refusing to blink. “If that is the only solution then it seems better than dying,” he said.
“It’s not the only solution,” Margie said. “We’ve all lost enough. You’re all being very brave but maybe running is the best thing to do now.”
“I spent thirteen years running from Rachel. It doesn’t work.”
“We can handle Rachel. If we run Sebastian won’t chase us,” reasoned Margie. She was right. Even with the wand Rachel wasn’t strong enough to beat me. But what if she sacrificed more sorcerers? There was no telling how much magic she could force into her wand.
“Sebastian still wants the serum,” Adrian pointed out. “He will send people after you for that.”
“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to run,” Margie accused him.
“I do not want to run, you are right. Maidstone is my home. It is the home of all of us. Why should we give it up for these foreigners?”
“It’s not our home,” Annabelle said.
“You should give it up because they’ll kill you,” said Margie forcefully. Adrian stared her down.
“We’re not running,” Ashley said firmly. “They killed dad. I might not have liked him very much but he was still my dad.”
“And Matt,” Emma added. She’d moved closer to the rest of us.
“And Matt,” Ashley added softly. “We can’t let them get away with what they’ve done.”
“Ashley I want what’s best for you,” Margie said pleadingly.
“I know. But I’m not running.”
I was about to speak when there was a knock at the door. Everybody froze. It was now dark outside which increased the probability that it was the vampires. I glanced around at the other uneasy faces in the room. “Adrian, with me,” I said. I had magic, he had vampire muscle; the perfect team. Unless it was Sebastian in which case we were both useless.
We got up and crept to the front door. I could see a shape thought the small frosted window. “Who is it?” I called.
“Me, Eddie, let me in,” said a pained but familiar voice. I practically ripped the door off it’s hinges. I had to confirm that it wasn’t a trick. It wasn’t. There he was, Matt Stoker, just as alive as I’d last seen him, though a little worse for wear. His hair was a mess, his clothes were torn and his complexion was pallid.
“Matt…” I gasped. I stepped outside and looked around at the street. There was nobody else around and yet I know it was some kind of a trick. I’d heard them kill him. How could he be alive? I couldn’t even begin to describe the confusing swirl of emotions jolting through me. “Come on.” I grabbed him under his arm and pulled him into the house. Except I was the only one who went in. It was like an invisible wall was keeping him out. “Matt?” I said.
“You need to invite him in,” Adrian said sombrely. “He’s been turned.”
I invited Matt in and took him through to the kitchen as quietly as I could. I couldn’t let anybody see him like this, least of all Emma. He was still shaking a bit as he lowered himself into a chair. I suspected it was more from shock rather than cold.
“He needs to feed,” Adrian said, following us through. “He will lose control otherwise.”
“I’m fine,” Matt mumbled, staring down at the table.
“Matt, I thought they killed you,” I said quietly. We had to stay quiet or Emma would hear us. I didn’t want anybody to know who was here until I had a control on things. “Adrian, can you make sure no-one comes in please?”
He nodded and then walked slowly from the room. I turned back to Matt and repeated my question. He shook his head once. “They hurt me. That’s what the scream was. Sebastian. He…” Matt inhaled a long breath. “He snapped my arm. That’s what made me scream.” He stretched his arm and stared at it as if he still didn’t believe it was completely healed. “Then he knocked me out.”
“So how did you get… you know.” I didn’t want to be so blunt. It was a touchy subject. I don’t usually care much about subtlety but Matt’s a friend.
“Turned?” For a fleeting moment he met my eyes. His own were usually a greenish-brown colour. Now they were a very dull red. “When I woke up. Sebastian said he was going to kill me but he changed his mind at the last minute. Decided he had a better use for me. Then he bit me. I felt him drain my blood away and then… just when I thought I was going to die he… he forced his own blood down my throat. Then I… I don’t know… It felt like I did die…”
“You did,” I confirmed. He didn’t look surprised. “That’s how it works. You die and the blood swap turns you into a vampire.” As far as I knew that was how the process worked.
“Matt… I’m sorry this happened to you. I should have looked after you better.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Ed. For once you didn’t get me involved. It was just bad luck. I was on my way to work when I bumped into Rachel,” he said glumly.
“It wasn’t any sort of luck. She was looking for you.”
“Yeah, I guessed that much. She had a couple of guys with her and they bundled me into a van and took me to Sebastian.”
“Where did they take you?” I asked quickly. Matt was the key to finding him. This was a blessing in disguise, not that I was going to tell him that, I was sure he wouldn’t see the same way.
He shrugged. “They kept my eyes covered until we were inside.”
I tried not to show my disappointment. “I’m going to find a way to fix this. There’s a cure for everything, even this. I just need to figure out what it is,” I promised, not that I really believed my own words but I had to give him some hope.
He nodded, but I could see I’d instilled no confidence in him. “I need to see Emma,” he said.
“Are you sure you should…. Now, I mean? You don’t want some rest first? To freshen up?”
“I don’t care how I look. I know how she must feel right now and I need to stop her from feeling that,” he said.
I nodded and then went back through to the living room. Adrian was standing by the door making it quite obvious that he was guarding the room. Everyone else was looking around anxiously. Clarabelle was awake now but sitting perfectly silent and still. Either Adrian had compelled her to do so or she’d finally learnt to behave herself. I didn’t care which.
“What’s going on?” Ashley asked, she looked worried.
I looked from her to Emma who looked equally worried. “Matt’s alive. He just got here.”
“What?” They both said at once. Emma shot to her feet. “I need to see him,” she said.
“I know. But I need to warn you.” There was no easy way to say it so I just came out with it. “He’s been turned.”
“What?” She had been walking towards me but now she froze. Her face lost what little colour it had.
“He’s a vampire.”
“I… Is he….”
“He’s still the same person. He’s just got a new lifestyle to adapt to. He’ll need you Emma. He’ll need us all, I think. He’s putting on a brave face but he’s probably destroyed on the inside.”
She nodded. “Where is he?”
“The kitchen,” I said and then watched her go to him. I couldn’t imagine the horror of being turned into a vampire. I mean, the immortality part is pretty awesome but the whole no sunlight and drinking blood part sucks. I enjoy fried chicken way too much to give it up.
“I want to leave,” Clarabelle said. She spoke in a whisper but I could see the fury in her eyes. I turned and met her gaze.
