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CHAPTER TEN

“She’s clear,” Astra said, though I could already see that Devon was free from the cords. “How do you feel, dear?”

Devon looked at my aunt, her eyes wide. “I feel so odd. I was feeling so draggy, but now—I feel like I’ve caught my second wind. I haven’t felt this much energy in months.”

Astra nodded. “That’s what cords will do for you—they drain you. My guess is, in a couple days, you’ll be feeling back to normal, and Marcus’s hold on you should be gone for good.”

Devon sat there, silent for a moment, then shook her head, her eyes wide. “I feel clear headed. Like some fog has lifted.” She shifted in her seat. “How could I have been so blind to what was going on?”

“It was his charm. He corded you with his glamour. Psychic vampires can use glamour as easily—if not more so—than traditional vampires. Reese, deliver her to the Safe House,” Astra said.

Devon blushed. “Um…there are pictures on there…he made me send them.”

“Marcus made you send him nudes?” Astra said.

Devon nodded, wincing. “Yeah. What if he uploads them to the net to punish me?”

“Don’t worry about it, Miss,” Reese said, his voice husky. “We’ll take care of that while we’re at it.” He turned to Astra. “I’ll be back in about an hour. Did you get his info?”

Astra shook her head. “Not yet. Devon, we need Marcus’s address. Can you please give it to me?”

Devon wrote out his address and phone number, then followed Reese to the door, where she turned back. “I’m so glad I decided to ask you for a reading,” she said, her eyes misty. “I can’t believe all this has been going on, and I’ve been letting it.”

“ You aren’t to blame. Psychic vampires pick their victims carefully. There was something in you that Marcus saw, that he was able to play on. Some heartbreak in the past, or some loss, that he was able to manipulate. But, I think you should talk to a therapist. Our people at the Safe House can help you.” Astra gave her a hug, then said to Reese, “Return as quickly as you can. He’s going to feel the break, and he’ll either go on the hunt, or hie himself out of town.”

“I’ll hurry,” Reese said, closing the door behind them.

While we waited for Reese to return, Astra took the time to make sure that neither Crystal nor I had picked up any of the cords by accident. Sometimes, when energy went flying, it landed on people who were nearby. But Astra saged the room, and chased out any last feelers.

“How are we going to arrest him?” I asked.

“Reese told me he’s bringing backup when he returns. We won’t be going in alone.” Astra stood. “I’m going to change. I want to be warm and comfortable when we head over to Marcus’s house. When Reese gets back, let him in if I’m not done.”

While she was in her bedroom, I pulled a couple doppios for Crystal and myself.

“You have any creamer?” Crystal asked. “I’m not a straight-shot girl.”

“Of course,” I said. “We have peppermint mocha, and hazelnut.”

“Hazelnut, please,” she said.

I handed her the creamer, then when she finished, I added a spoonful to my own drink. As we sipped the espresso, I stared out the window. It was snowing heavily. “I guess we’re getting the snow event, after all. I wonder if the club meeting will still be on tomorrow night. I don’t know how I’m going to find a star witch for Brenda. Maybe this was all a bad idea,”

I had no clue why I felt so depressed. It had come on suddenly, as soon as Astra had saged me. It occurred to me that maybe I’d been masking it, not realizing that I was down in the dumps until Astra cleared my aura, along with everyone else’s in the room.

“Don’t go there,” Crystal said. “It’s been a long day, and this mess with Devon has messed with your head.”

“Maybe,” I said. I finished my espresso as the doorbell rang. “That should be Reese.”

I peeked through the peephole. It was, indeed, Reese, along with another very large man beside him. I opened the door. “Come in.”

Reese motioned for the other man to stay out on the porch.

“It’s cold out there,” I said, closing the door.

“Garn’s fine. He’ll keep watch until we leave. Cleo’s not about to let you get hurt,” he said. “We should go, though, because we don’t want the psychic vampire to escape. He’s killed before, he’ll kill again,” Reese said. “You might want to wear any protection charms you have.”

“Here,” Astra said, returning from her bedroom. She handed Crystal and me smoky quartz pendants. But in addition to the energy of the crystal, magic emanated from the stone—protective magic. We draped them over our heads.

“Ready?” Reese asked.

Astra nodded. “Ready. Let’s go.”

As we headed out, I wondered what the hell we were in for. I had never counted on being in this position when I came home to Midnight Point.

At night, Midnight Point could be a spooky place. Most shadow towns were dangerous for the unwary, and ours was no exception. It wasn’t so much that we had a seedy side to the town, or that gangs roamed the streets. But when a town existed on the edge between worlds, anything could cross over.

Following the address that Devon gave us, we found ourselves in front of a set of three-story apartment buildings. Walk-ups, three apartments on either side were joined by the stairwell. Three groups of buildings meant the complex had eighteen apartments total. Outside, floodlights illuminated the sidewalks.

“He lives in apartment 3-3-B, which means building three, third story, apartment B,” Astra said. “Which puts him in…there—that building.” She pointed to the furthest building down the sidewalk. The complex also had a common area, along with a pool which was drained and covered for the winter.

The light in the apartment was on. Hopefully, he was home, and hopefully, he’d go quietly. I had never participated in anything like this in my life, and I really didn’t want to be here. But if my aunt could handle the situation, so could I.

Reese took the lead, with Astra and me coming next, and then, Crystal and Garns leading up the rear. We quietly ascended the two sets of stairs, coming to rest on the landing by Marcus’s apartment. I swallowed my fear as Astra knocked on the door.

No answer.

She knocked a second time.

Still no answer.

Reese motioned for her to move back and she stepped out of the way so he could take her place. Instead of knocking, Reese held the doorknob in hand and muttered some kind of incantation that I couldn’t catch. There was a sudden click , and he slammed open the door and darted inside. Garns followed him, motioning for the three of us to follow.

As I pushed through the door, Reese raced over to the window, where a man was trying to get through the open pane. Reese grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him back into the room, slamming him to the floor. My first thought was to close the window so he couldn’t get away, and I dashed over, slamming the window shut again.

The man on the floor—I assumed it was Marcus—pulled away from Reese and rolled to one side, coming up on his heels. He crouched as he held onto the floor for balance. With dark hair and eyes, he was handsome enough, but there was something behind his eyes—a smoldering, repressed anger that chilled me to the bone.

“What the fuck do you want?” he spat out.

“You’re under arrest, by ruling of the Order of the Moon. Surrender now, and we won’t use force,” Astra said, reading from her phone. It must have been what Cleo told her to say.

“I don’t yield to the fucking Crown,” he said. The next moment, he launched himself in a blur toward Crystal and grabbed her, his arm around her neck. “Let me go or I break her neck.”

I stared in horror, trying to think of what I could do.

Astra stood her ground as Garns and Reese edged to either side of him. “You’re surrounded. You do that and we have the option to kill you right here.”

Break her neck… his words reverberated through my head.

What the hell kind of nightmare was I in? Life had gone from twenty to two hundred in seconds. I wanted to beg him to let her go, but if I interfered it could result in more people getting hurt. I forced myself to keep my mouth shut and watched, wondering what we’d expected. Had we thought he was going to meekly raise his hands and go with us? This man was a killer.

But Reese and Garns looked unperturbed.

Reese cleared his throat. “You’re going to let her go and you’re going to come with us quietly.”

“What makes you think I’d choose to do that?” Marcus asked. His eyes glittered with a cold light, I found myself more angry than shocked. He was threatening my best friend, and I wasn’t going to have that.

A well of energy began to build inside me—one that I had never felt before—but it coiled up, seductively. I held out one hand and began to whisper. The words felt like they were coming from far, far away—from someone standing behind me. They were silken, like a soft caress as they fluttered out of my mouth. I could almost see them—music notes on the wind, targeting the psychic vampire and no one else.

“You don’t want to do that. You want to let her go. Let the woman go and come to me. You know who I am and you know what I can offer you,” I said, from inside a warm, golden shroud.

Marcus faltered. He hesitated, loosening his arm a little from where it rested around Crystal’s throat. At that moment, Reese grabbed hold of him, yanking his arm away. Garns grabbed Crystal and dragged her away from the psychic vampire, pushing her toward Astra. Marcus let out a sharp bark and pulled out a knife, but Reese brought his arm down on Marcus’s wrist and the cracking of bones filled the air.

Marcus let out a shriek as Reese produced a pair of handcuffs. They had an air of magic to them, and the moment he slapped them on Marcus’s injured wrist, Marcus let out another shout, but I immediately relaxed. Astra brought up her phone and handed it to me.

“Record this,” she said, turning to Marcus.

“Marcus Levius, you are under arrest by the order of the Court Magika, for murder. You have the right to remain silent. If you speak, we may hold anything you say against you. By the order of Queen Heliesa, Her Majesty of the Witchblood Nation, we take you into custody. Any attempts to escape will be considered an admission of guilt and will be met with violence.”

Astra let out a sigh, then nodded to me. “Okay, you can stop recording.”

As I turned off the video, she turned to Reese.

“You can take him in. I’ll text the video to Nightshade, and she’ll send it to the Court. I suppose that we can release Devon from the Safe House?”

“Leave her there till morning. It’s late, and she needs her rest. Plus, we need full statement from her for the court, and it’s better we do it there. Not everybody wants to give evidence once they feel the problem is over.”

I was still shaking. I had no idea what had come over me or where those words had come from. “Are we done here?”

“We’re done for the day,” Astra said. “I suggest that, while Garns and Reese take Marcus into custody, we find a diner and have a bite to eat.”

“I could go for food,” Crystal said, still looking shaken. She touched her throat. “That was too close for comfort. But what happened—what did you—” She paused as Astra gave her a shake of the head.

I cleared my throat. “I could use some food, too. Are we done here?”

Reese nodded. “You can go. We’ll search his apartment for any evidence, and Cleo will call you in the morning, Astra.” He motioned for us to leave. “Trust me, this ain’t my first rodeo.”

We had come in Astra’s car, and Reese and Garns had ridden together. As we headed back to the parking lot, I had the feeling that I’d stumbled into some surreal movie plot—where everyday life had taken a stand on its head.

The feeling lingered all the way out to the car, and all the way to the Pacific Blue, a diner that was open all night long.

The diner was empty save for a few patrons. The waitress led us to a booth in the corner, and I gratefully slid into the soft, velour covered seat. She handed us menus.

“Drinks?” the waitress—who was wearing a nametag that read Jelico—asked.

“Hot cocoa with lots of whipped cream and chocolate shavings,” I said.

“Same,” Crystal ordered.

“Why don’t we make it three?” Astra said. “I think we know what we want to order for food.” She ordered pancakes and bacon, I asked for fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and Crystal wanted a burger and fries.

After the waitress moved off, we leaned back against the booth and let out a simultaneous sigh.

“This morning, if someone told me I’d be breaking into some guy’s apartment, arresting him after he threatened my best friend’s life, I’d have laughed them out of my shop.” I shook my head, still trying to process everything that had gone on.

“Me too,” Crystal said. “Except…Instead of my best friend being threatened, well… me .” She stared blankly at her menu.

“How is your throat?” Astra asked. “Do you want to see a doctor?”

Crystal thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I think I’m okay. Though I think he would have actually gone ahead and broken my neck, if circumstances deteriorated.” She turned to me. “So, what the hell was that ? It wasn’t you talking to him.”

“She’s right,” Astra said. “The words may have been coming out of your throat, but you weren’t the one saying them. Your eyes turned black, Maisy. There wasn’t a gleam of color in them. Somebody was speaking through you.”

“I know, but I don’t know who.” I decided to ‘fess up. “Although I have my suspicions—just like we were talking about, Astra.” I turned to Crystal. “I’ve been having instances lately, where I thought somebody was talking to me. I hear a woman’s voice on the wind, or in my head, or wherever. I’ve been writing it off as my inner thoughts coming out, but I don’t think so now. Somebody is trying to get my attention, and I have my suspicions that it might be Aphrodite. Whoever it is, she’s the same one who spoke through me tonight. I recognized the energy. I was going to meditate on it later tonight, but then the whole thing with Devon went down.”

“What did it feel like tonight?” Astra asked.

I thought about it for a moment. “All I know is that when I realized he was holding my best friend hostage, I was furious—and then, that energy came through. It was preceded by…oh…the best way I can describe it, is a feeling of ‘oh no, you don’t!’ .”

At that moment, the waitress returned with our drinks and our food.

“That was fast,” I said, realizing I was starving.

“You’re the only customers in here right now,” the waitress said, with a grin, before placing our check on the table. “Just call me if you want anything else.”

I dug into a chicken thigh. Pacific Blue made some of the best diner food I’d ever tasted.

We ate in silence for a few moments, then I set down my fork and leaned back. “Okay, I’m going to say it. What the hell was all of this? How did we end up involved in arresting a psychic vampire? Yes, I know it was my tarot client who started it, but…I’ve read for hundreds of people—maybe a thousand, in my life. And not once did I end up charging into someone’s apartment to arrest them.”

Astra bit into a strip of bacon. “Here’s the thing. You’re back in Midnight Point. You left when you were relatively young, and though you’ve been home to visit, consider that you’re now experiencing the town for what it is. Shadow towns aren’t like other towns. If they want you, they suck you in, and then they open up their secrets to you.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said. I thought about the town and my move. “As scary as today was, and as unexpected, I’m so grateful I moved back here. And I’ve been thinking. You said that I could stay as long as I want. Do you think the house is big enough for both of us?”

Astra perked up. “Do you mean you’d consider staying?”

I worried my lip. “After Dan died, I missed living with someone. I didn’t realize how much, until I came back here. Obviously, I miss Dan. But…I don’t think I’m very good at living alone. I like having someone else in the house.”

Astra reached out and patted my hand. “I told you you’re welcome to stay, as long as you like. If you want to move back in, I’m good with it. If you choose to find your own home, I understand.”

I put my hand over hers and let out a long breath. “Thank you, Auntie. I need you. I need you more than I realized.” Tears began to well up, and a wave of loneliness swept over me. “I never thought Dan would leave me so soon. I know it’s been two years but…”

“Two years or twenty, their absence still hurts. Take a deep breath, hold it, then exhale slowly.” She held my hands while I did as she asked.

As the breath streamed out, so did my tension from the day. “I suppose now that I’m back in Midnight Point I’d better be prepared for anything, because anything might happen.”

“I think you’re right,” Astra said.

We decided to table the discussion over Marcus and Devon for the night. As we finished our food, the snow began to come down seriously, swirling in eddies with the wind. I shivered, staring out into the night. Midnight Point was definitely working its magic on me, but I couldn’t see whether it was for good or ill, and that made me nervous.