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He was out there, in the night, raising hell.
Chapter Seven
I grabbed my keys and backpack, then raced downstairs to the reading room. As much as I wanted to stop whatever might be happening out there, I wasn’t about to do so totally unprepared. And that meant grabbing my athame as well as some of the precious blessed water we had in stock. I had no idea what spell was being cast, but those two items gave me the best chance to combat it. And if I was too late to do that, I could at least cleanse the ritual site.
Once outside the café, I paused, despite the growing urgency. I needed direction. I couldn’t afford to run around blindly.
The force of the spell rose again and tugged me left, toward Barker Street. I briefly debated whether to grab the car, then abandoned the idea and simply ran. I couldn’t drive and concentrate on tracking the sensations running across my skin. I just had to hope that the location wasn’t too far away.
I turned left into Barker Street without really looking, and crashed full force into someone who smelled faintly of warm musk and smoky wood.
Aiden.
His arms went around me as he staggered back several steps, but he somehow managed to keep us both upright. “What’s the emergency?” he said, his voice a little hoarse.
Which was no surprise given the force with which I’d hit him. “Someone is casting a spell. I need to stop it.”
I thrust away, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me. “Can you track this force in a car?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll drive. This way.”
I followed him down the street. Once in his SUV, I wound down the window and closed my eyes. The wisps of energy that was the spell were getting stronger; whatever the vampire was trying to do was reaching a pinnacle. Time was running out.
“Continue straight down Barker,” I said. “And floor it.”
The truck’s big engine roared as we hurtled down the street. “Can you tell what type of spell is being cast?”
“No, but it’s blood magic, not witch.” I didn’t open my eyes, needing to concentrate on the nebulous threads of power rather than the world whizzing past. “Right at the next road.”
“Princess Street.” The truck tilted alarmingly as he took the corner at speed.
The spell peaked, the power of it so strong—so dark and wrong—that my skin twitched and stomach rolled.
“Left,” I said, voice tight.
The truck slid sideways for several meters before he got it under control. “Cemetery Road.”
Those two words had horror surging. Our vampire wasn’t raising hell. He was raising the
dead.
“He’s in the cemetery—”
“What the fuck would he be doing there?”
“Attempting the second part of his vengeance plan, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Meaning what?” Aiden’s gaze stabbed toward me, something I felt rather than saw. “Trust me, now is not the time for cryptic comments.”
I gripped the door, bracing as the vehicle did a sharp right and slipped around on a graveled surface. We’d entered the cemetery.
“Meaning if I’m right, and if we don’t stop him, we could be dealing with a zombie.”
“Oh fuck.”
A statement I echoed as the caress of magic died. “Stop.”
