Chapter Seven

No Rest for the Wicked

Charlotte stretched as she woke. The curtains were drawn, letting the soft light in. It was seven o’clock. The sun had had its turn in the Eastern hemisphere and was now fading deep into the West. Twilight had come upon the small town, coloring the sky with swirling tufts of pink and gold.

Bolting up, she gasped and jumped out of bed. She fought to remember how she had gotten there, and peering down, why she wasn’t in her night clothes. She gazed around the room, not seeing Valek anywhere. How could she have fallen asleep? The last thing she remembered was the cold night, the spider, and…Evangeline.

The memory of the night came flooding back to her. The pain, the confusion, the ridiculous jealousy all burned within the tears forming in the corners of her eyes again. It couldn’t have been a dream, though she wished it were. It was the only way to explain the dull, familiar pain that reverberated in her chest—a telltale sign of a broken heart.

She quickly slipped on jeans and a sweater and made her way into the hall, seeing Valek’s bedroom door wide open. Charlotte stopped, listened. She didn’t hear Valek stirring in his office. It seemed too early for him to have gotten up already. What if something awful happened to him last night? There was no way he could be awake yet. She ran downstairs.

In the library, remnants of a dying fire glistered in a heap of black ashes. Charlotte lurched when she finally saw an emaciated Valek, sprawled out in his armchair like he had been there for over four hundred years.

She muffled a scream behind her arm. Something really had gone wrong. Why wasn’t he in his bedroom with the thick curtains drawn? Had he been there all day? Was he really hurt? She tore through her memory for an answer but didn’t remember what took place after their conversation in the churchyard.

Cautiously, she padded toward his corpse and suddenly stilled. His chest abruptly jumped. Her heart pounded as she watched him lunge forward, gasping for air. Valek clawed at his shirt, heaved as he bent in half. He coughed up something black and putrid as he struggled to inhale, the stuff oozing between his fingers as he tried to cover it. He grasped the side of the chair with his other hand. Charlotte watched, horrified, as his skeletal frame seemed to expand back into semi-living flesh. His eyes, like ink stains, scowled at her from under a wicked shroud of tousled, dark hair.

She inched forward but he halted her with an outstretched claw.

“Stop!” He choked out more of the bile spewing.

“Do not…come any closer.” He heaved again. “I need—” He hacked again.

Knees quaking, Charlotte balled her fists in her hair. She hadn’t hunted for him last night.

“I’m going. Don’t worry, Valek!” She bolted out of the house, not forgetting her whistle, still strung safely around her neck.

The night was as frosted as the one before had been. Wind blew Charlotte’s curls in her eyes, though she quickly clawed them out of her face as her shoes crunched in the gravel and leaves between the fixed stones in the path. She could feel her heart, damaged and throbbing inside her, as she pushed onward. No matter how hurt she was, it couldn’t stop her from hunting. No matter how badly he’d hurt her, it would never drive her to do the same to him. Quickly, she made her way into the town square, not wanting to run into anyone that might distract her. She passed Broucka General Store and saw the little, burlap guardian staring sadly at her through the spotless window, rag in hand. He waved meekly.

Charlotte frowned at Edwin, aware he knew more than she did about what happened last night. She watched Edwin shake his head and hobble back into deeper ends of the shop. So now he couldn’t even bear to look at her? She didn’t blame him. Her thoughts were awful. She cringed.

“Charlotte!” A sickeningly familiar musical voice rang out from behind her. Evangeline. She clenched her jaw tight.

The vile enchantress ran up to her from her usual place in the village tavern. “Can I talk to you?” Evangeline asked, breathlessly.

“No.” Charlotte scowled and kept walking, pushing her way through the crowding Elves and imps.

But Evangeline was determined and kept up effortlessly alongside Charlotte. “Please? I really want to talk to you!” the Witch begged.

“I don’t have time.”

“Listen! I want to say I am really sorry about what happened yesterday.” Evangeline was shoved backward by one large ogre. “I didn’t think it was like that between you two!”

Charlotte stopped dead in her tracks, whirling around to face the Witch, only barely breathing through clenched teeth. “Like what? ” Her hands wound in knots at her sides as her shoulders trembled. Do not get angry; do not make a scene.

“I don’t know.” Evangeline sheepishly tugged at a lock of hair. “When you saw us in the library, you reacted like you had found him committing adultery or something.”

Charlotte’s nostrils flared. She jabbed a finger at her. “I do not have to explain to you what it’s ‘like’ between Valek and I! That is really none of your business!” She turned on her booted heels and began storming through the square again.

“Then, it’s really none of your business if we see each other or not,” Evangeline called after her.

Charlotte closed her eyes tight, wishing fangs would magically appear in her mouth. She spun around. “For your information”—a few of the Occult patrons stopped, gawking wide-eyed at the two. It made Charlotte’s cheeks burn—“Valek is my business! He has been my business for almost eighteen years!”

“Exactly!” Evangeline started to yell then. “He is your father! ”

Charlotte’s jaw dropped, her eyes pricking with the horribly embarrassing feeling she was about to cry. She hadn’t expected those words to come from Evangeline’s mouth. Father. Salty tears stung her eyes, but she forced them back.

“He doesn’t feel that way about you, Evangeline. He told me he never would.” Charlotte sought her revenge quietly this time. “Valek is too good for you.” She took a few slow steps closer. “And let me fill you in on something else. Valek was like my father until you came along and ruined everything! Because of you, things are never going to be the same between us again!” Hot tears streamed down her face; she couldn’t help it. The honesty of it all stung worse when articulated, like the tormenting thoughts had suddenly become tangible. “So here….” Charlotte reached into the pockets of her jeans and tossed a few silvery coins at Evangeline's high-heeled toes. “The payment Valek owes his harlot from last night. In full.” With that, Charlotte turned once more and sped away from the lingering crowd, and the Witch.

But Evangeline was relentless. “Charlotte?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. Apparently, there was no way she was going to win this without creating even more of a scene. She turned once more to look at Evangeline and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I really had no idea. You have got to believe that I’m really sorry.” Evangeline’s gaze shimmered with a hint of moisture.

Charlotte tightened her jaw, but said nothing.

“Please?”

Silence.

“You’re right, Charlotte. I wasn’t aware of the situation. I didn’t realize how close you two are.”

Charlotte relaxed. She didn’t want to fight anymore. “You mean how close we were. What did you think, Evangeline? He raised me. How separate could Valek and I possibly be? It has always been just the two of us. What makes you think I’d ever want that to change?” Charlotte looked up at the tall, gorgeous woman with magical traits that made her closer to Valek then her own humanity could, and her heart sank. “And your apology really isn't going to undo any of this damage now.”

“You’re right. I didn’t think.” Evangeline looked at the ground. The two of them started walking again in silence, together this time.

“It’s fine. You’re forgiven. You can go back now,” Charlotte finally said once they reached the edge of the town square.

“I want to come with you,” Evangeline persisted. “I don’t like you leaving the Occult borders alone. Valek wouldn’t like it either. It’s very dangerous”

“But you aren’t allowed to leave. Trust me, it’s more dangerous if you come with me.” The memory of Charlotte's leg wound from the other day prodded at her consciousness. No matter how she despised Evangeline, Charlotte would feel too guilty if anything happened to her when they crossed the borders.

“Let me right my wrongs,” she begged. “I can protect you. I can get you to Prague in two seconds! It will be easy.”

Charlotte could see she was not about to give up and decided the less the two of them spoke, the better. They walked together through the rows of houses, through the dark canopy of trees, the fake cemetery, and the black iron gate. The large crescent moon hung low in the sky and made the long, dirt road ahead of them look like a silver serpent in a river of grass. Sounds of the night surrounded them. An owl, a distance down the tunnel, hoo-ed from its hiding place in the canopy. A calm breeze made a soft ruffle in the wheat fields. Charlotte imagined that even the stars seemed to have their own distinctive twinkling sound.

“So where are you planning on going?” Evangeline asked. “I can get you anywhere.”

“I don’t know.” Charlotte sighed. “Normally I just walk until I happen upon a night traveler or a small town.”

“And then what?”

“I pretend I'm lost. I ask if they can help me find my way. Sometimes my conversation distracts them, sometimes...it doesn’t.” Charlotte’s tone dropped several decibels. “But normally by that time, they are already through the gate, and Valek is fast when I call for him. By the time I’m home, they’re already dead, and he’s smoking his pipe in the library.” Charlotte didn’t elaborate on the details; how sometimes when they didn’t come as quietly as she hoped, she resorted to knocking them out. She couldn’t kill them. Valek couldn’t drink from a dead heart. Charlotte puffed out her chest a little. The seduction, the killing—that did make her closer to Valek than Evangeline.

“But aren’t you frightened?” Evangeline's eyes grew wide.

“Yes. And it’s dangerous, of course. But I have this.” Charlotte held out the small, silvery whistle, inscribed with a scrawling cursive C on one side and the face of the moon on the other. It glistened in the dim starlight. “Valek always comes when he hears this.”

A little ways down where the crop fields started, Charlotte noticed something stirring between the stalks caught Evangeline’s attention. The Witch grabbed Charlotte’s shoulder, wrinkling her nose.

“Wait,” she whispered. “There’s one.” She indicated with a long, manicured talon.

Charlotte squinted, sifting through the shadows, but it was too dark for her to see.

“Let me handle this.” Evangeline grinned.

“You really don’t have to do that—”

“I want to. Trust me.”

Charlotte watched as Evangeline sauntered up the grassy bank, leaving her standing, arms folded, in the middle of the dirt road.

The man creeping through the tall crops, undoubtedly up to some sort of bad behavior, stopped moving and analyzed the length of the sorceress in front of him. Charlotte felt her stomach turn. Hunting would be so much easier if I looked like Evangeline.

“Good evening.” He smiled wryly, undressing her with his human eyes.

“Hello.” She smiled back. “You're out a little late, aren’t you?”

The man, clearly having escaped from somewhere, rubbed at his torn, right sleeve. “Yes. And yourself as well.”

“My friend and I are traveling this road alone, and I think we’re extremely lost.” She giggled. A light flashed in her eyes and suddenly the mortal seemed to instantly turn to butter in Evangeline’s hand.

He chuckled back. “Where are you headed?” he asked, the smile not leaving his handsome, spellbound face. “Perhaps I can help.”

“South,” she said, and gave no further information. She glanced back once at Charlotte.

“Well, I suppose I could accompany you until we reach the next town.”

He offered his arm. She accepted. The moment her flesh touched his, all human qualities in his face fizzled, flickering out in his eyes like an extinguished candle flame.

Charlotte’s head cocked to one side upon seeing Evangeline's effects. Amazing. She probably had those powers against all men. Charlotte sighed. Maybe Valek really didn’t have an advantage against Evangeline last night.

Evangeline and the man started walking back down the grassy bank to the dirt road.

She was watching the two walk and laugh together, though the man’s laugh was hollow and enchanted, when she heard a low rumble crawl up her spine and into her ears. Charlotte dropped her arms to her sides.

Evangeline and the man froze also, looking past her to what was standing just behind.

“Charlotte….” Evangeline squeaked.

Charlotte slowly twisted her head around to see a half-phased Lycan standing there, lower parts like a man and fangs dripping; its slanted eyes fixated on her horrified face. She recognized the scar on the left eye and slight indentation in its head from when they had first met in the tree tunnel. It was guarding the Occult border; Charlotte suddenly found herself in heaps of trouble.

She gingerly slid her hand up to her chest for her whistle when the wolf struck her with its massive claw, sending the glimmering object hurtling out of her hand. Its claws left deep gashes in her arm as she tumbled face first to the ground.

Charlotte coughed up a thick clod of dirt and rolled onto her back, trying to fill her lungs with air instead. The animal loomed over her, a low grumble bristling the fur around its neck, its nose almost grazing hers. A bloodcurdling scream ripped out from her chest.

She heard the mortal man yell from somewhere behind her. “We have to do something!”

“The whistle, Evangeline!” Charlotte yelled from underneath the wolf. “Get the whistle!”

Evangeline, who had been frozen in a state of terror, suddenly snapped and ran for the little silver thing twinkling in the dirt. The wolf diverted its attention to her, leapt away from Charlotte, lunged for Evangeline, who now had the whistle clasped tightly in her hand. Evangeline shrieked when something small darted in front of the large animal, intercepting it from her.

Charlotte rolled on her elbows and saw the small body the wolf was now thrashing around with in the dirt was Edwin. The sound of burlap ripping made bile crawl up Charlotte’s esophagus. She could see piles of stuffing spilling out one of Edwin’s limbs.

“Edwin!” She stumbled forward, tripping as she ran for the beast. She lacked a plan, but her mind was clouded with the image of Edwin’s body. Charlotte leapt onto the beast’s back and pounded on it with her fists as it continued to snarl and tear.

Someone else jumped on next to her. In a flash of moonlight, she saw it was the mortal man before she was thrown off into the dirt again. The wolf-man vaulted away from the now lifeless pile of rags and back at Charlotte, pinning her to the ground. It dug its claws deep into her shoulders as she cried out.

Evangeline blew the whistle with all her might; the sound trilled high above the growling.

The Lycan was about to tear Charlotte’s face off when a silver shadow gunned through the night and slammed into the beast at full force.

The two skidded several feet through the dirt. They tangled, throat for throat, limb for limb in the darkness. Vampire and Lycanthrope. Evangeline ran over, pulled Charlotte into her lap and held her as they watched both figures roll and tumble with each other, growling and flashing silvery fangs and claws.

Valek roared, clutching the half-wolf by the neck and sent it flying into an elm, its body crunching against the impact of the thick trunk.

The human man, his clothes soaked in his own blood and dirt, stared wildly at the four of them. First Evangeline, then Charlotte, next Valek, and finally the wolf whimpering on the ground. He watched as it twitched. It fought to get up, stumbling over itself and shaking its head before it set off deep into the forest, disappearing in the heavy shadows.

“Let him go.” Valek sighed through his exhaustion. He rolled over onto his back and panted. “He’ll die soon enough. He’s too weak.” He inhaled slowly, seeming to smell the fresh blood lingering in the air. His nostrils flared, and he snapped his neck in the direction of the one closest to him, eyes enveloped in black.

Both Charlotte and Evangeline stared in horror at the Vampire they thought they knew so well. The monster before them, however, seemed altogether different. His gentle mannerisms had sunken somewhere deep in the dark waters of his mind. He looked at Charlotte as a shark would look at bleeding bait. The drunken passion behind his wild gaze surfaced as he stumbled toward her, fangs gleaming behind parted lips. He moaned softly, tortured, aroused, hungry.

Creeping ever closer, he got to his knees, sinking one claw in the soft dirt. He leaned in so close to her face, she could feel his cold breath on her eyelashes. She pressed her back more firmly against Evangeline’s shoulder.

“Charlotte—” he hissed. The sound of his voice was foreign and serpentine as it slid from behind his lips. Her pulse quickened in her throat and she willed it to steady, shutting her eyes.

Charlotte felt Evangeline’s grip on her tighten.

“Yes, Valek. It’s Charlotte. It’s Lottie,” Evangeline soothed.

Valek’s wild gaze did not leave Charlotte’s throat. “Lottie—” He breathed again, saying the word, but attaching no comprehendible recognition.

Charlotte swallowed and bravely pulled away from Evangeline. She inched closer to Valek, looking directly into his eyes. The sound of her pulse was as vibrant in her own ears as she was sure it was in his.

“Yes, Valek. Little Lottie.” She smiled and hummed the familiar lullaby he had always hummed to her when she was afraid. The same song when the Fairy had attacked her in his office, and when the thunderstorms had scared her. “Little Lottie,” she sang again.

Something human grasped at the flickering light in his eyes, and he withdrew from her. He stood back up, fighting hard with himself, forcing to turn away.

“L-Lottie.” His breathing was staggered as his hands balled into fists against his eyes, rubbing them feverishly. His focus turned on the other mortal who was staring at them, a petrified mess in the dirt.

The man writhed on the ground, trying his hardest to stand and run. But something cracked in his hip, causing him to arch backward and cry out. His head pressed to the ground. Tears drenched his bloody face.

Valek’s eyes glazed over again. He bent to the ground at the man’s side. “That is a lovely smell,” he whispered. Valek reared back, as a cobra would, and struck, sinking his fangs deep into the mortal’s jugular.

Evangeline let out a tiny scream as Charlotte buried her face in the Witch’s angular shoulder. Evangeline tried to cover Charlotte’s ears so she would not have to hear the man’s inevitable demise.

***

Warm, thick ichor rushed past Valek’s lips and ran slick down his throat like hot, sweet molasses. He held the human’s neck secure to him as he swallowed heartily, enjoying the grapple as the man clawed and shoved. He listened to his wild heartbeat, like the pulsation of a thousand hornets. The man’s life pooled around Valek’s lips, the smell singeing his nostrils.

Finally, the human was drained, finished, and Valek came up for air. He craned his head toward the moon as the leftovers swam in a string of garnet down the side of his face. The animal in him disappeared, and even though some of the feeling still stuck at the forefront of his consciousness, he was at least sane again. He slowly got to his feet and turned to see Evangeline quaking, clutching Charlotte as though she were a small child.

Valek frowned then knelt beside them again with a wary look toward the Witch. He placed a cool hand on his Charlotte’s shoulder.

Charlotte’s head immediately shot up, her eyes drenched. That was the first time she had ever looked at him like this. Like a monster. He hushed her, running his long fingers down her cheek.

“I am so sorry, Lottie,” he said sadly. This time he really had done permanent damage. “Don’t cry.” He caught a tear that lingered on her face.

Charlotte’s knees shook like they might cave. She saw the heap of burlap and stuffing on the road. Edwin, the once enchanted rag doll, lay dead in the mix of fur and dirt. She looked to Evangeline again, a plea in her eyes this time.

“I can fix him.” A tear rolled down the Witch’s bloodless face. “I promise. It will be…easy.”

Charlotte nodded, finally starting to feel a little less numb as the onset of sadness began to swell at the bottom of her throat. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she got up and gazed down at the tow of them. The glamorous Witch’s hair was caked to her face with dirt and sweat, though she was still just as beautiful as she ever was. Charlotte glanced at Valek one last time.

Valek, Charlotte’s only confidant in the world, was now beyond recognizable to her—their differences painfully apparent. She would never be close to what he was. She was the prey, a link in his food chain. She’d never felt so far removed from him. Not when he argued with her about sneaking into his bedroom. Not even when she’d found him with Evangeline the night before—her worst fear realized.

She ran back down the dirt road. Back to her home, to where it always used to be safe. Back to where things were familiar. She ran as the wind dried the tears on her face. She ran until all she could think about was the path in front of her. She ran, leaving Valek, Evangeline, and a crumpled little Edwin behind.