Chapter Twenty-One

Et Tu, Brute?

A shrouded figure made her way through Old Town. In the dankness of the late autumn evening, no one noticed her. Beggers on the street didn’t ask her for petty change as she walked past. Her shoes seemed to make no sound on the wet cobblestone. The astronomical clock pointed its long, antique-gold arm at Aquarius.

The cloaked woman, who had many a satchel slung at her side, slid around corners of the large buildings to the dark alleys. The face of the moon illuminated her fresh, pearl skin when she gazed up at it. It would be full at the beginning of next month. A harvest moon. She smiled and let her hood hide her face again.

She slipped back out onto a main street. Now in Wenceslas Square, she effortlessly dodged mortals passing around her. Like a cat, she kept to the shadows and avoided the bustling streets and the golden illumination of the streetlamps. She was a master at keeping herself completely concealed. Sounds of mortal automobiles whizzed past her, but she ignored them as the city ignored her.

Once again, finding that she was in the bowels of another alley, she was met by the only human who did pay her any mind. The drunken, burly man grabbed her delicate shoulder and spun her around to face him. If she were human, it would have been violent enough to snap her arm out of its socket.

“Where do you think you’re going, woman?” He had a nearly empty flask in his hand, and she saw most of his teeth were gone, too. When he looked into her flawless face, he instantly fell to hypnosis.

“Pardon?” Her voice was delicate and musical, like a single lilac in the harsh night air.

The man remained silent, continuing to stare into her cat-like green gaze.

“That is what I thought you said.” Her hand plunged into one of the sacks at her hip, and she quickly pulled out a silvery, crystal dagger. She plunged it into the heart of the man.

He cried out, his massive head rolling back as he fell to his knees before her. There was no incantation to enchant the man. This effort was meant to kill him. The woman took something else out of her bag—an empty glass bottle—and held it below the hemorrhaging wound, collecting as much as she could before stowing it away again and continuing her journey.

She finally made her dissention to Josefov, Prague’s previous Jewish ghetto when the Nazi occupation still held the city tight in its fists. The small area of the capital had not since improved much, and the woman decided if there were something that had the intention of hiding, it would be in this part of the city.

A smart notion, she thought, when she closed her eyes and the familiar scent of lavender and death filled her nose quickly. The undead were in the immediate area.

Before taking another step, she ran her pointed nails across her chest, finding the small amethyst amulet strung there by pure silver. She smiled and continued walking.

***

Charlotte found herself back in the lowest, dankest part of the house once again. This time though, she wasn’t being studied fervently like the outsider she was. The feeling this time was much more inclusive, though the hungry stares did still exist. She tried her best to ignore them.

Sarah sat next to her, under Valek’s orders, to ensure whatever spells she had to perform to bring Charlotte back to full health would be done. Mr. Třínožka sat on the other side of her. Valek, however, was bound by their verbal contract to stay beside Francis.

Charlotte did not understand the Vampiric code being conducted before her. Her entire life was spent with Valek, but she was coming to find she truly knew nothing at all about his culture. She watched him carefully behind her frown. Why did he not meet her gaze? He was avoiding her eyes, she could tell.

Valek’s eyes quivered once. If Charlotte had blinked, she wouldn’t have noticed this all too slight reaction to her thoughts. She knew he was listening intently to her. Francis, however, was smirking. He must be loving the silent exchange between she and Valek—how she was trying to get his attention from across the circle. Charlotte’s stomach flipped as it did when she used to think of Evangeline, when Francis ran his claws once through the back of Valek’s hair. He smiled when Charlotte’s gaze burned into his.

“We had an idea, Valek,” Lusian began. “Overthrowing the Regime with just the members of this coven wouldn’t be impossible. We just need to clear the path to Vladislov without getting killed by Aiden first.”

“I’ll entertain any idea. I can’t stay here much longer, or I fear for my sanity.” He mumbled the last part toward Francis.

“What if we let them find Charlotte?” Lusian continued.

“What?” Valek tensed. Charlotte did as well, until Sarah put a hand on her shoulder.

“Listen. Give the little bastard what he wants for now. It will buy us the time we need. We kill Vladislov, we’ve killed the Regime.”

Valek stood, looking Lusian dead in the eyes. “Do you know what it’s like to love something more than yourself, you sniveling, insignificant leach? I would sooner watch myself burn in daylight than use her as bait!”

“You already have, Valek.” Francis snorted. He rubbed at this bridge of his nose. “For what has she been to us all this time than mere bait?”

“It would be our only hope of succeeding,” Lusian said.

A flash of anger colored Valek’s face for an instant before it went back to delicate thought. “You’re asking me to risk the only thing that has any meaning for me in this dark life. You’re asking me to place a bet on my daughter.”

“Your lover,” Francis countered.

“My world.” He glanced out of the corner of his eye to Charlotte then turned his back to her. “But I suppose I would be making that bet anyway by doing nothing. We must make sure to finish it before daybreak. And I want everything under my control. How do we make her accessible to them without revealing ourselves?”

Charlotte stared, horrified as they casually continued.

“We’ll think of something,” Lusian mused.

“If they capture us, our plan will fail,” Valek instructed. “They must find her at night, when it is easier for us to hide. In the darkness, it is less dangerous.”

Mr. Třínožka put a protective hand on Charlotte’s shoulder. Her gaze traveled from face to face around her, and found none were looking back. She kept her thoughts quiet though, trying her best to steer away from the thousands of questions she had. She looked back to Valek again, exhaling very slowly through her nose. It made her eyes water.

“I am tired already of this debate.” Valek sighed. “It is growing early. Perhaps we continue this discussion tomorrow evening.” He clasped his hands together behind his back.

“The night is still young, darling Valek.” Francis laughed, conceitedly folding one leg over the other. He gestured for his created to take his seat again. “And I am thoroughly enjoying this conversation.”

“It’s a wonder the Regime has not yet found us yet,” Andela mused.

“This house is a safe haven. It has been specially protected for years by magic more powerful than mine. It would take the most experienced enchanter to notice anything inhuman about it,” Sarah said.

A knock rapped at the front door one story above them. Particles of the dirt-packed ceiling snowed down around them. They looked at one another.

Sarah silently gathered herself up. She appraised the startled macabre faces. “Probably just another salesmen going door to door.”

“At three in the morning?” Andela asked.

Sarah didn’t believe herself either. She leapt up the dark tunnel, leaving the Vampires around the crackling fire, the only thing making any noise whatsoever in the basement besides Charlotte’s pulse.

They were all listening for thoughts, their faces turned slightly upward at the exact same angle. Even Valek’s, Charlotte noticed. She suddenly saw his features change from thoughtfulness, to astonishment, to a mistrustful wariness.

The others in the coven turned to him as well. “Who is Evangeline?” Jorge said the name as if it were from some foreign planet.

Charlotte’s eyes widened, and she stood immediately up. “Evangeline? Evangeline from our Occult?” She looked at Valek. They finally locked eyes with each other.

“And the plot thickens….” Francis wrapped his claws together.

“I thought she was dead.” Charlotte could feel a new wave of fear squeeze her throat closed, though she couldn’t understand why she was afraid.

“She should be,” Valek mumbled.

“Maybe she escaped like we did.”

Sarah and the familiar cloaked woman plummeted into the basement. Valek froze as he appraised her. The dust settled, and the woman removed her hood. Indeed, it was Evangeline.

The Witch’s eyes swelled with overwhelming joy as she ran to the Vampire and wrapped him in a wiry embrace. “Valek!” She choked out from behind her tears. “I was so sure you were dead.”

Charlotte and Mr. Třínožka glanced at each other. The spider-man wrapped one of his long arms around her middle in an effort to keep her calm.

“I am so happy to see you are alive!”

Valek pulled immediately away from her with a polite smile. He looked over at Charlotte. “It is good to see you are alive as well, Evangeline. Pane Třínožka told us the fate of our city.” He gestured at the spider.

Evangeline spun on her heels to see both Charlotte and the Phaser standing side by side. Once again her face swelled as she ran over. “Oh, Charlotte!” She buried Charlotte’s face in her bosom. “I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I am so glad to have found you!” The Witch pulled away and brushed the hair out of Charlotte’s face, but did not release her grasp on Charlotte’s arm.

Charlotte glanced back at Sarah once, who looked a little more than slightly confused.

“You escaped the palace?” Charlotte asked.

Evangeline’s features turned hard, but she maintained her beautiful, warm smile. “Yes. How lucky I was the guards did not notice the extra teleporting spell I carried on my belt.” Her smile stayed, and so did the grip she had on Charlotte’s arm. She gazed into Charlotte’s eyes for a few moments longer, before something watery tricked from behind her lashes. She turned quickly back to Valek.

“But how did you find this house?” Sarah asked, disappointed.

“Well, you are surely a Witch of the thirteenth generation?” Evangeline asked.

Sarah nodded.

“As am I! We are like sisters. I can sense our spells from miles away.” She folded her hands delicately in front of her.

“Well, good!” Francis stood gallantly from where he sat. He clapped his hands in front of his face. “Now we have two Witches to ensure Charlotte’s safety,” he said with a fangy grin.

“Pardon?” Evangeline’s eyebrows rose.

“We are plotting our uprising against the Regime,” Lusian explained.

“And the only way for any sort of break-in to be successful is if we send Charlotte in as a distraction. But you know your way around the palace now. Perhaps you could help us,” Valek said.

Evangeline’s emerald eyes dazzled as her mouth twisted up in an odd sort of smile that Charlotte didn’t quite understand. “Of course, I would—I would do anything to help my Charlotte.” She wrapped her arms around Charlotte again.

Sarah grumbled something incoherent and walked to the middle of the circle. She yanked a long, silver chain from her pocket. At the end of it, Charlotte recognized her small, silver whistle. She grabbed for it, but Sarah pulled it out of her reach.

“My whistle! Where did you find it?” she asked amazed, studying its details in the firelight. It was tarnished; the grooves caked with dirt, but otherwise just as beautiful as it had always been. “I thought I had lost it forever.”

“I found it the night you and Valek came. It was mixed among the broken glass near the front door. I figured you must have dropped it when you broke in,” Sarah explained. Evangeline marveled at it, too. “I haven’t given it back to you yet, because I wanted to clean it up for you. It was caked with blood and dirt. And also”—she strung it around Charlotte’s neck—“I had a feeling about you. I’ve been working on the spells for days.”

“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked.

“You’ll see.” Sarah smiled and glanced toward Evangeline. “It will come in handy when you need it most.”

“As in, once I’m inside the Regime walls,” Charlotte concluded.

“Thank you very much for that, Sarah,” Valek said.

“Of course,” she replied. “Charlotte is, after all, one of us. I don’t like this any more than you do.”

“And I’m sure there’s something I can do to help in addition. There are a few other spells I can think of,” Evangeline added.

Sarah grimaced once before smiling at the other Witch. “Well good, then. It will be a pleasure to work with you. We start in the morning.” She sharply turned on one toe and disappeared quickly back into the upper portions of the house.

“Morning is an hour away,” Evangeline said to the rest of the coven.

“We suggest you get your rest, then.” Francis smiled. “If you’ll follow me back up to the house, you’ll find several empty bedrooms. I suggest we find you one most fitting.” He smirked, catching his tongue on the tip of one fang.