Requiem

Chapter 3 - Payback-1

Chapter 3 - PaybackHobart and Cho rushed outside, trekked through the deep snow, and jumped into his warmed-up truck.

“Why can't we use the ley lines?” I asked Rick, grabbing my purse and coat in such a flurry, I nearly whacked him in the head with my purse. He ducked. “Sorry.”

The sound above our heads made us all look up.In quick succession, we ducked and dove when the ceiling light fixture swung dangerously. The ceiling cracked, plaster fell in big chunks, then all of it crashed onto the dining room table. Lindee and I screamed as bits of glass shot everywhere like shrapnel. More things in the other room crashed—lamps, and pictures falling from the walls. It was like small bombs going off. I very briefly worried about the clean-up, and then checked myself. When would I ever be able to come back and do any sort of clean up?

“We can't because it's too dangerous!” Rick yelled over the crashing noises, answering my question. “I can't protect us from demons while traveling in ley lines. This is the only way! We have to get out! Grab your keys!”

I grabbed my keys off the hook on the wall just before the rack fell to the floor. I pulled a hooded sweatshirt off a peg and shoved it into Vasyl's hands. “Here. Put this on!” I turned around to watch Lindee run around in circles, she looked like a chicken with her head chopped off. She screamed obscenities when something big crashed—my mother's china cabinet. I wanted to cry as I ran into the living room and dialed down the heat. No reason to keep the heat on high if I wasn't going to be here for a while. It was automatic for me to also turn out lights.

“What are you doing?” Rick asked, jumping up and down looking like the Mad Hatter. “We've gotta leave!”

The house itself gave a huge heave, like it were a boat riding a tsunami.

Lindee fell. Vasyl helped her up.

“Let's go! Let's GO!” Rick said, door opened to his magical whim.

“What about Hobart and Cho?” I asked.

Vasyl jerked his head. The dark form coalesced next to him and formed into the long-haired Native American, better known as Dante. “I will go with them,” he offered, and smiled at Rick. “Demons will not attack an Undead,” he explained, his lips curled into a humorless smile. “Unless they want to die a horrible death while I feed on them.”

“Okay. That works for me,” I said. He vanished. I wasn't sure how he would be traveling with Hobart and Cho, since there wasn't a lot of room in Hobart's truck, but Dante could remain invisible, or sit in the corner of a mirror, so I didn't think he would take up too much room.

“I'm ready,” I said on the move. “Let's go!”

We all streamed out of my house toward my olive green Jeep. Hobart's truck took off out of my drive as we jumped into the Jeep. Gasping and panting, I plugged my key into the ignition and the engine turned over. Thank you! I shoved it into gear and we were out of there. Rick had his eyes on his iPhone the whole time. I didn't know what he saw in it, but it had everything to do with his protection spells.

The snow had been removed from all the country roads and were actually very good to drive on. I was seriously thinking of getting a larger SUV, because I might need something bigger if I had so many house guests—if I ever got my house back.

Fortunately, my brother, Randy, wife and kids had gone to Florida for a few weeks. Disney World was one destination. I secretly wished I could be with them.

“Seriously, this is holy water?” Lindee was holding up the vial she'd dug from my purse.

“Do not take it lightly,” I firmly told her. “Act as though it were acid because it burns demons and vampires severely.”

“Oh, I promise.” She leaned, glancing at Vasyl who rode beside me. The crucifix I'd given her dangled from her neck. Vasyl would not have bothered her, but she did feel slightly unnerved with a vampire around the house and so continued to wear it.

“I'd never use it on you,” Lindee said to Vasyl.

“I was not worried,” he said. “But why are we going to the Towers to see Tremayne?”

“For one thing, it's safer than here,” I said, my eyes sweeping the road and all my mirrors for any possible demons following us. “Secondly, he said he wanted to speak to you about something. Plus I've been put up to Level Two, and I'm supposed to give Morkel an up-date on my new powers.”

“What new powers?” Lindee said. “You have powers?”

I laughed. Rick chuckled beside her.

“Let's see. My new powers include telepathy… um.” I stopped at a stop sign and turned, using the clutch and manual shift. “Oh! Remote viewing.” That was both great and not so great.

“Turning someone into stone,” Rick added and chuckled again, still looking into the iPhone.

“Oh, yeah,” I said, smiling broadly.

“Omygod! Really?” Lindee asked from the backseat, and leaning forward. “You can do that?” Since a lot of things happened last night, and Vasyl had been found by Tremayne, barely alive, I didn't have time or need to hash over the particular details of my night with anyone.

“I turned Ilona into stone, so I guess I can,” I said, trying not to sound boastful. I had no idea that I could do this, and so it had surprised me probably more than anyone, except for Ilona herself.

“Those powers Dante gave you are very dangerous,” Vasyl warned.

“No s**t,” I said. “I'll have to watch my temper.”

“Oh, yeah. I'll be sure to never to piss you off,” Lindee said and laughed.

“You never make me mad,” I said. “I love you. Besides, Ilona was horrible. She was going to bite our little niece, Jena.”

“Oh, my God!” Lindee said. “Really?”

“Yes. They covered my hands so I couldn't use my normal powers.” I looked over at Vasyl. “They tied the bags with pure silver, knowing I couldn't touch silver, and no other person who couldn't touch silver could untie them.” I hadn't told anyone of the details of my trying to find and save my brother and his family from Ilona in Tremayne Towers.

“I don't understand,” Lindee said.

“I couldn't use the mystic ring to control her because of the ring being covered.”

“Oh. That's the magic ring. Got it,” Lindee said with a nod. She was only half right.

“She had it all planned, it would seem,” Vasyl said.

“That it does,” I agreed. “But, when she lifted little Jena, saying she wanted to make a child vampire out of her, something snapped in me. I had to stop her and thought of either turning her to ice or to stone. I chose stone and it just happened.”

“You mean like a statue?” Lindee asked.

“Yes. Like a statue.”

We all became quiet as I pulled up to the toll booth.

“Crap. I don't think I have enough change.”

Rick's snap of fingers made the light turn green and the blockade go up.

“Sweet!” Lindee said, looking at him. “You'd come in real handy. The next time I want to go to Merrilville for a concert, you're coming along.”

“Sweet. I love concerts,” Rick said, smiling at her.

I drove through the toll, and glanced in my rear view mirror to engage Lindee's eyes. “Look for my wallet in there. We still need money to get through tolls next time. They all have toll booth operators in them.” I handed her my bag. Good thing I'd grabbed it.

Lindee opened my purse and dug out my wallet.

“Did he say what he wanted with me?” Vasyl asked.

I glanced over at him, startled as though there was a stranger sitting next to me. It was going to be a while before I got used to his new look. “No. He just said he wanted to see the both of us.”

We caught up to Hobart in his white truck, and came up beside him in the other lane. We waved to him. He would be turning off to go to the airport, eventually.

Red flashing lights ahead made me slow and get into the right lane behind Hobart's truck.

“Looks like an accident,” I said as we went by slower than the break-neck speed that I had been going. A wrecker was there, and so were two police cars, their blue lights strobing.

“Looks like a bad fender bender,” Lindee said, turning around in her seat.

“Remember when I saved you from the car accident?” Vasyl asked.

“Oh, yeah. I was shot in the back,” I said, smiling with the memory. It was the first time Vasyl had touched or spoke to me.

“You mean you were shot another time?” Lindee said, sounding shocked.

“Yes. We were being followed and someone was shooting at me.”

“They were werewolves,” Vasyl put in. “I took you to my place to heal you.”

I chuckled, remembering how he had taken me to his barn and had taken the slug out of my back, and then had me drink his blood to heal—all while I was out, or under his vampire thrall.

“That was our first intimate moment,” I said, smiling.

“The first time I'd given you my blood.” Our eyes met. His eyes had a preternatural glow in them. It would have freaked me out a month ago. But I was pretty used to vampires now.

“You were so handsome standing there, telling me I would have died, and there I was without a shirt on.”

“You held on to that horse blanket as though it were going to hide you from my eyes when I had already seen you.”

“Aw, how romantic,” Lindee said, making me jerk.

Rick made a wolf whistle.

I'd forgotten about them in the Jeep, I was so wrapped up in my memories.

“You guys have a special bond,” Lindee said.

“We do,” I said softly. He reached for my hand. Our fingers twined, he lifted my hand, and his lips brushed the back of it.

“Romance isn't dead after all,” Lindee said.

“I had been searching for her for a thousand years,” he said over his shoulder. Then looking directly at me he said, “Never had I thought I would have to come to America to find you.”

“You were looking for her?” Lindee said, sounding amazed.

“She is the sibyl. The first one in two thousand years,” he explained.

“I still don't understand this sibyl thing,” Lindee said, shaking her head.

“The supernatural community has been waiting for her all this time. She is important because she will give birth to the Dhampir.”

Lindee was quiet for a moment. I could almost hear the wheels grinding, since I now was telepathic. “Is that why you two need to make a baby?”

“Yes.” Vasyl answered first. “And we will. Soon.”

Gulp.

I could not help the little zip of excitement shoot through me. Memories of how he stood in that barn and how singularly handsome he was made me hot. I don't know if my desires were ratcheted up because he was talking about us having a child together, but I couldn't single out any one reason my thoughts suddenly blossomed into desire. We had not been together intimately since the night before because of his injuries. He was now recuperated. I could see from his expression that he thought the same.

“Okay, you two. Sabrina, eyes on the road.”

Lindee's warning made me turn my eyes back on the road. Ahead, Hobart's white truck turned onto an off-ramp. I noted the green sign for O'Hare. I tooted my horn at Hobart, and he honked back at me.

“There goes Cho,” I said, waving. Lindee waived too. As if they could see us.

In another mile I had to pull up to a toll plaza.

“Got the money for me?” I asked Lindee.

“Oh!” Lindee made one of her laughs, as she was caught off guard. “How much?”

“Two bucks. I can get change.” I pulled up behind a van and stopped and waited, then inched forward.

“Here.” She handed me two ones.

I took the moment and put the dollars between my legs while I worked the clutch as I inched forward and then took it out of gear to wait while holding my foot on the break.

“Highway robbery,” I complained low to the others before I powered down the window.

“This reminds me of the tolls we would have to pay when I was alive,” Vasyl said.

“They had tolls back then?” Lindee asked.