Page 14 of The Psychic and the Vampire: A Bad Case of Vampire Curiosity

“The equation has nothing to do with the density of vampire bones,” Ant said calmly. “Now, please hush a minute, I’ve got to find the source of the original magic ward. There’ll be something here. This magic user is too young to have laid something without providing a talisman.”

“I’ll give you fucking talisman hunting. Get me out of this hole!”

“I’m working on it. I will get you out. But if I don’t do this properly, then the spell could backfire, or I could trigger something else.

There. There it is.” Tucked under a protruding root of a large tree, Ant spotted a tiny earthenware pot.

Going over, Ant picked it up, feeling a slight zing up his arm as the magic in the pot realized it was being disturbed.

He sniffed at the pot and then wrinkled his nose.

“This is newly done,” he said. “This talisman hasn’t been here very long at all, probably only in the last couple of days.

Which ties in again with what you said. Carmine likely had this done the same day he came to us wanting me to investigate his sister’s murder.

This is so annoying, though. The person who set this is really young, and… ”

“What is annoying,” Viktor interrupted him, “is that you’re not following the adage about saving your mate above all else. My leg is literally stuck in the ground. I dread to think what this mess has done to my shoe and my pants. Get me out!”

Viktor sounded panicked, which was surprising. Ant figured he’d better move quickly. “I promise this will only take a moment more. Two at the most.”

“What happens if you shut off the magic?” Viktor’s voice rose. “Is my leg going to stay stuck in the ground forever?”

“No, but I’m not sure your distress is helping matters.

It’s probably feeding the magic that’s holding you.

Please just wait a moment.” Ant would dearly have loved to have had time to study the talisman – it was crude, but it was working, and that took an element of skill.

But Viktor’s panic levels were increasing, and Ant had to move fast.

Encasing the talisman in his own magic, Ant put it on the ground and stamped on it. The clay smashed apart, causing a flurry of sparks to rise up about Ant’s boot. He quickly indicated for Able to move to his other side, in case his dog got his fur singed.

The shimmery, reflective ward between the trees flickered for a moment, then disappeared. Now it was gone, Ant could feel the energies in the spot – dark, desperate…although that might have been Viktor.

“Ant, my dearest. I, more than anyone else, appreciates your deliberate nature, your meticulous attention to detail, and how you instinctively know how to deal with any scene. But at the risk of sounding insensitive, this shit is freaking me out. Get me out of this dirt. It’s almost up to my knee!”

“Aww, you’re being complimentary again.” That always made Ant feel special.

He never thought he needed that sort of thing before, having lived his life not really caring what other people thought about him.

But since Viktor had come along, he found he liked it when Viktor said something sweet to him.

“I want to compliment you on your ability to get me free. In case you haven’t noticed, we have another problem. I haven’t got a tape measure, so my estimates are not scientific or academic in anyway, but I’m fairly sure I’m sinking faster than six inches every two minutes.”

Ant took another look. His mate was right. “Honestly, I’m going to have to speak to the head dean at the Mage Academy about this. That little sod who made this mess doesn’t even know how to set a spell with the correct parameters. What are they teaching mages these days?”

He clearly didn’t have the time to look for another talisman. The dirt was already halfway up Viktor’s knee and rising fast. Viktor’s other leg was bent at an almost impossible angle, as if Viktor was terrified of falling and being sucked in even farther.

Indicating for Able to stay, Ant hurried over to Viktor’s side, peering at the ground where his leg was disappearing. “It’s a very small hole, which is a bonus,” he said. “It was sheer fluke that you stepped on it. Clearly, the mage wasted most of his magic on the talisman side of things and…”

“Ant,” Viktor growled.

“I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Crouching down, Ant put his hand over the dirt.

“Don’t do that! You’ll get sucked in, too. It’s not like there’s anyone else around to free us both. I doubt Able can do it!”

“Unlike the mage who set this spell, I know what I’m doing.

” Ant focused his magic, pouring it into the earth below his hand.

The issue with dirt, or sand, was that it was made up of thousands of small particles, and each one of them had to be encased in his magic for his reversal to work.

The soil wasn’t keen on letting Viktor go.

Ant couldn’t think why, but when gentle encouragement didn’t work, Ant slapped his hand on the ground. “Release my mate, he’s not yours.”

Within seconds, Viktor tugged his leg one more time and then lurched forward as the dirt released him. He went flying across the grass, hitting his head on another tree.

Oops! Ant quickly ran over. Able was already busy licking Viktor’s face. “I have never” - Viktor pointed at where his leg had been disappearing - “I have never in all my years ever come across something like that before.”

“A magical sinkhole-type effect is very rare,” Ant agreed.

“They’re not very efficient or effective.

A mage who set something like this would have to be sure that their target was actually going to step onto the affected area, and even then, the chances of the sand or dirt actually smothering someone are very low, especially in an area like this.

“If you think about it, you’re well over six feet tall.

Sinking soil, which was used in this case, is only going to be as effective as the soil layer is deep.

If there’s a layer of rock underneath, you wouldn’t sink any farther.

So, the soil in this area would have to be at least seven feet deep to smother you completely, and as a vampire, it still wouldn’t kill you.

Soil at that depth is not normally the case. ”

“I don’t find that as reassuring as you likely think it is.” Viktor stood up, brushing off his clothes. “Seriously, we’ve learned all I wanted to know. Carmine is a shit who set a trap for us. I just want us out of here.”

“I need one minute more. I have to see what Carmine was trying to hide.” Hugging Viktor quickly, Ant released him and moved into the area that had been blocked from him before.

As he expected, a vision hit him, and Ant dropped to his knees, reaching for Able, who was suddenly by his side.

He was determined to see every single detail of what happened to Carol Doukas.