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  “Hi Tommy,” Maisy tried, knowing what going missing in the woods meant around Wicked, and deciding that pretending they knew one another was probably the best way to stay alive.

  “It’s Tony,” the young man said, and as he spoke, Maisy spotted the fangs. So he was one of Pietre’s vampires. Maisy tried to think of a way that could count as good news. The best she could think of was that at least it proved Steve’s program was working well. It wasn’t much of a consolation, really.

  “Sorry,” Maisy said. “It’s just been so long since anyone has seen you.”

  “Like I would have hung out with nerds like you,” the vampire said. “Now, where do you two think you’re going?”

  “Away from you,” Maisy said, trying to sound as confident as she could as she got out a wooden stake from inside her jacket and held it in front of her. Unfortunately, Steve wasn’t so quick, and the vampire grabbed him in an instant, pulling him back away from Maisy.

  “Let Steve go!” Maisy ordered, holding the stake up. Of course, that was the total opposite of what she knew she ought to do. After all, now the vampire knew that she had a weapon, so any chance of surprising it was gone. As for using it, Tony just kept behind Steve, looking down at his computer.

  “What’s that for?” the vampire demanded.

  “Nothing,” Steve said. “We’ll never tell you.”

  “I’m pretty sure you will,” Tony snapped back, opening his mouth wide. He was going to bite Steve. He was actually going to do it and Maisy wasn’t sure what she could do about it.

  “Wait!” Maisy cried. “Let Steve go!”

  “Why should I?” Tony demanded.

  “I’ll tell you what Steve’s computer does if you promise not to harm him.” Maisy knew that she shouldn’t, but what other option was there? At least this way, there was a chance of thinking of something else in the time that it bought them.”

  The vampire shrugged. “I’m waiting. What does it do? And what are the two of you doing wandering through the woods?”

  “Steve has set it up as a way to track vampires,” Maisy said. “It takes satellite imagery and it runs it through filters to spot them.” She looked over at Steve and did her best to smile reassuringly. “It’s very impressive.”

  “I don’t think so,” the former jock replied, snatching the computer out of Steve’s hands while shoving him away. “I just think it’s the kind of thing that makes life far too easy for werewolves and hunters. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to crush this. Then I’m going to kill the pair of you so that you can’t make any more.” He smiled over at Maisy in a way clearly designed to emphasize his fangs. “I don’t normally like geeks, but you aren’t bad looking for one of them. I’ll save you for last. First though…”

  He lifted the computer.

  “No!” Steve called out. “Don’t destroy it! I spent so much time on it!”

  The vampire laughed. “That’s what I love about geeks. I threaten his girlfriend and I get no reaction. I threaten his computer, and suddenly he’s ready to fight.”

  The vampire lifted the computer again. Maisy struck in that moment, throwing herself forward with the stake out in front of her, hoping that sheer momentum would help her to plunge it home in the creature’s heart. The vampire twisted away, dodging the movement while still laughing. Maisy struck again and Tony struck down at her wrist to parry it with enough force that Maisy’s arm went numb and the stake fell from her fingers. He shoved Maisy hard and she went tumbling to the ground.

  Steve yelled a challenge and rushed at the vampire, hitting him with the best tackle he could manage. Somehow, he managed to get the former jock down to the ground and rose up above him, hitting out at him wildly. The blows did no damage though. With as much effort as it might take to swat a fly, the vampire rolled and ended up on top of Steve. He hit him open handed once, then again, obviously taunting him.

  “Is that really the best you can do?” Tony demanded. “Come on, little nerd. Fight. Show us all what you can do.”

  He actually stepped back to let Steve up.

  “If you don’t do better than you have been,” he warned, “I’m going to just kill you fast. That will give me far more time with the geek-ette over there.”

  That got another charge from Steve, which the vampire met this time with a body check that sent Steve sprawling. Tony loomed over him, lifting a foot to kick him, and Maisy knew she had to do something to stop him. She didn’t even take the time to retrieve her stake. Instead, she just threw herself onto Tony’s back, clinging on as best she could with her arms around his neck, strangling him. She figured that even if vampires didn’t have to breathe, it would at least stop him from killing Steve for a second or two.

  A second or two was all it bought her though, because the vampire beneath her twisted, ducked his head, and sent Maisy sprawling to the dirt between the trees. She struggled to rise and he pushed her back so that she slammed into the trunk of one of them. It knocked the air from her.

  “That was stupid,” Tony said. “Oh well, it’s not like you’re that pretty anyway.”

  He opened his mouth to bite and another form hit him from the side, moving in a blur. It was a fur covered form, and for a second, with everything moving so fast, Maisy thought it might actually be a werewolf. It was only when the blurred form moved smoothly to his feet that Maisy saw that it was the vampire she had seen come through the gate. His eyes were red, and his blondish white hair fell well down his back, over the furs he wore. As he stood, he made even the former jock in front of him look small.

  Tony seemed to realize then just how much trouble he was in. He raised his hands in a pleading gesture. “Hey, man, I don’t have any problem with you.”

  “I think that you do, youngling.” The newcomer’s voice had an odd accent to it and rumbled with power. It was enough to make Maisy think of running again, but even as she tried, the creature turned to fix her with its gaze.

  “Stay,” it said, and Maisy’s legs immediately felt like they were rooted in place. The vampire turned back to Tony. “You were going to claim these two pathetic humans as your kills? You think you have the power to make that claim?”

  The sensible thing would have been for Tony to back down, but it he didn’t seem that bright. “I’m one of Pietre’s vampires,” Tony said. “Pietre’s. You know what that means around here?”

  “Not very much at all,” the larger vampire rumbled. “I have met this Pietre, and if he is this world’s idea of strength then it is a weak place indeed. Now, how will you fight me for your kills?”

  “Fight you?” the smaller vampire looked the other vampire up and down. “I don’t want to fight you. I don’t even know you.”

  “I am Marcus, and you will either fight, or you will die where you stand. The result will be the same, but at least this way, you can have a warrior’s death.”

  “But you have swords,” Tony argued.

  Marcus shrugged, drew his blades, and threw them point down in the dirt. It seemed to have been what the younger vampire was waiting for. Tony reached down to snatch up one of the swords and lunged inexpertly. Marcus moved aside and trapped his arm, breaking it easily. Tony tried to turn, and Marcus hit him. He hit him again and again, never allowing the young man to recover. He hit him with such force that even from where she was, Maisy heard bones break. Tony whimpered with each blow.

  It was clear that the fight would only go on for as long as the larger vampire allowed it, so the moment Marcus tired of it, the end was swift. He swept up one of his blades and sliced neatly at Tony’s hamstrings, bringing him to the ground. Then he plunged the sword into the other vampire’s stomach, not going up into the heart, but simply slicing. Maisy felt sick to her stomach.

  “When you see your master vampire again,” Marcus said, “tell him that I have come to his town. Tell him that I am going to take the scepter. Then beg him to kill you cleanly, because if I see you again, your death will last for days, coward.”

 
He let Tony fall. Even though the vampire had been about to kill Maisy and Steve, even though he had been about to destroy the computer that now lay on the ground with Steve, Maisy still felt a twinge of pity for him. Then Marcus turned his gaze back to her, and Maisy decided that she was probably going to need all her pity for herself.

  Chapter 3

  Steve clearly wasn’t under the new vampire’s spell, because he darted forward to grab Maisy and pull her away, getting ready to run. Maisy’s feet still refused to move, however, and Marcus stalked towards them until he was too close to run from. He stared at each of them in turn.

  “So, this is what humans look like nowadays,” he said, and then made a dismissive sound. “I cannot say that I am impressed. The last one that I saw from your world was better, but then, she was part hugtandalfer.”

  Briony, Maisy thought. He had to mean Briony. Did that mean that this newcomer and Briony knew one another well, or were they enemies? Maisy wasn’t sure that she and Steve could take the risk. Finally, with an effort of will, she managed to persuade her feet to move. Together, the two of them ran into the trees, for the space of about ten yards. Marcus was in front of them then, the sheer size of him terrifying.

  “There is no point in running,” he said. He did not seem bothered that they had tried to escape him. In fact, he seemed more like a cat amused by a mouse’s attempts to get away. “I am strong and you are weak. That is the way of things. Now, the foolish boy I gutted seemed to think that you had something of use. Give it to me, and I will allow you to live. After all, human fear is delicious.”

  Something about the way he said that made Maisy suspect that he wasn’t just being metaphorical. Especially when he loomed over them pointedly.

  “Y-you feed on fear?”

  Marcus smiled in a way that bared those too long fangs of his. “So scared, and yet still able to question? Yes. After all, what is blood but a conduit for the energy of a person’s spirit? It is far easier to feed directly on emotions, and fear… well, it is so powerful. Now, the device.”

  “Here!” Steve thrust his computer at the vampire, putting an arm around Maisy. “Take it. Just keep your word. Leave Maisy and me alone.”

  Maisy had to admit she was touched by that. She knew how hard it had to be for Steve to give up his computer. Marcus reached out and snatched it from him, his hand suddenly around Steve’s throat. It wasn’t squeezing yet, but the threat was obvious.

  “What is this?” he asked, looking at it. “What use is it to me?”

  Steve couldn’t stop himself, of course. Give him an audience to explain things to and he had to start talking. “It’s a computer program designed to track vampires. It works by…”

  “Steve,” Maisy interrupted, realizing that the moment Steve bored the vampire with his explanation it was going to start squeezing, “I don’t think he’s going to want to hear that part.”

  Marcus stayed there, apparently considering. “Why would the two of you wish to track down our kind? You hardly look like vampire hunters.”

  Maisy took a little umbrage at that. They were both hunters. After all, they were both part of the Preservation Society. However, it occurred to her that might not be the best thing to admit in front of a vampire like this.

  Thankfully, Steve seemed to have realized the same thing. “It’s so we can find our friends.”

  “You want me to believe that you have vampires as friends?” Marcus asked. There was an amused note to his tone. “Vampires are not friends with the weak.”

  “Not just friends,” Steve countered. “Good friends.”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Maisy insisted, as she saw Marcus’ grip on Steve tighten slightly.

  Marcus looked from one to the other of them. “Yes, Maisy, I believe that Steve here is. It is strange, but our kind have taken pets before.”

  “How did…”

  “I know your names?” Marcus said, letting go of Steve and laughing. “Do you really think I could not pluck them from the surface of your minds? And now, I am going to get what I want. You will not stop me. You fear me too much.”

  Maisy shivered, even as she tried to control herself. The thought of that vampire in her head was too much to take, but maybe it wasn’t deep. Maybe it was just surface stuff. There were plenty of sci fi episodes where people kept others from reading too much of their thoughts by thinking about other things. She saw Steve nod, and knew that he was thinking exactly the same.

  Marcus didn’t seem concerned with the contents of their heads anymore, however. “Fear is good. Fear is control. A toy like this…” he threw Steve’s computer to the ground hard enough that the casing shattered “…is useful only to your kind. Mine have better ways to find what we need. All supernatural creatures do.”

  He ground the remains of Steve’s broken computer under his heel. Steve let out a pained sound. Even Maisy winced. So much work destroyed in an instant. Sure, Steve could probably recreate it, but doing that… it was just wrong.

  Marcus didn’t seem concerned about the two of them for a second or two. He was too busy looking up. Maisy followed the line of his gaze and saw the two dragons circling. They weren’t circling right over them though, but rather off to one side. They clearly didn’t know where they were.

  “Fools,” Marcus said. “They have no idea what they are doing. I have all I need. The two of you know the area, yes?”

  “Absolutely,” Steve said. It took Maisy a second to work out why he would do something like that. Then it was obvious. For one thing, Marcus had already shown how violent he could be. They could not risk being of no use to him. For another, it might give them a chance to lead the vampire somewhere they could get help. Perhaps to the werewolves or the other members of the Preservation Society.

  Would they be able to help? Since the attacks of the last few days, everyone was on edge. They would be expecting trouble, but were they really equipped to deal with something as dangerous as Marcus? Fallon and Kevin were both missing, and Maisy hoped that they had gone over to Palisor rather than getting caught up in the violence, but without them, would even the werewolves be able to stop something like this? With Fallon, even with Pietre, there was a sense of their humanity lurking somewhere below the surface. Admittedly, quite a long way below in Pietre’s case. With Marcus, Maisy got no such impression. He was about as far from being human as it was possible to be.

  All that meant though was that it was all the more important to keep Marcus away from the town. Someone had to do it, and at the moment it looked like it was going to be the two of them. Maisy did her best to pretend that was a good thing. She really wished Briony were here.

  “That’s right,” she said. “Whatever you want, we can help.”

  “It is good to see you eager to help,” Marcus rumbled. “Not that it would have been hard to force you to, but there is little time.”

  Maisy bit back a rush of fear at that. She didn’t want to think about all the things that a vampire like this one might do to them. It had crippled one of Pietre’s vampires so casually, like it was nothing. What would it do to an uncooperative human?

  “Would you like to find out?” Marcus asked. Maisy had forgotten that for a moment. She had forgotten all about the mind reading. What had the vampire seen in her head?

  “I saw a most interesting flash of a young woman’s name,” Marcus said. “The name of the daughter of King Waltham. It seems that my time here is going to be easier than I expected. You are going to take me to where she lives.”

  “What?” Maisy asked. King Waltham’s daughter? Then it occurred to her that Marcus meant Briony. She fought for control. “No, I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Interesting.” Marcus moved so quickly that Maisy did not even see it. One moment he was standing there, the next, he had Steve by the throat again. “From what I can tell, the two of you are meant to be intelligent, for humans. You must be, or this one would not have been able to put together this ‘program’ of h
is. That is correct, yes?”

  “Well I…” Steve began.

  Marcus cut him off by squeezing, just a little. It was enough that Steve scrabbled at the vampire’s hands and kicked out. It made no difference. Marcus glared at Maisy. His voice was harsh. “Then why are you so stupid as to think that I will believe a lie like that? Do you think I am playing games?”

  “But we don’t have kings here!” Maisy insisted. Perhaps if she thought it strongly enough, the vampire would think that she believed it. “I don’t know who this King Waltham is. I certainly don’t know who his daughter is.”

  “Liar! I saw the thought. Briony. You thought the girl’s name. She is King Waltham’s daughter.”

  There was no use in denying it. Especially when Steve was going very red from the lack of air. “What do you want with Briony?” Maisy asked. “Please, you’re going to kill Steve.”

  Marcus’ grip loosened just enough for Steve to take a gasping breath, but then tightened again. “You don’t like seeing this one hurt, do you? Well, I will hurt him. I will make you watch as I do such things to him as nightmares are made from. I will even use my power to force you to take part in it, so that it is your hand that wields the knife.”

  “No,” Maisy begged, “please no.”

  The worst part was the obvious satisfaction on the vampire’s face at her terror over Steve. He was feeding on the emotion. Even as he threatened and manipulated her, he was feeding. Maisy wanted to kill him then. She wanted to kill him so badly, in a way that she had never wanted to do before. Yet even as she thought it, she knew that she would never be able to defeat something like Marcus.

  “You are weak,” the vampire said with contempt. “The worst part is that you even know it. You embrace your weakness like it is some kind of shield. If you do not do as I command, I will show you how wrong you are.”