“Wow, you weren’t kidding about ‘questionable’,” Wanda said.

  I nodded.

  Flying Devil Oil was an old, Voudoun uncrossing oil used to overcome the power of a strong being, and it was the only potion I could think of that would be strong enough to weaken Roscoe. But, it was unstable, which meant if the creator of the potion didn’t fully have her head in the game, it could backfire.

  “And you have a bottle ready to go?” Betanya double-checked.

  I nodded. “I keep a whole slew of questionable potions stocked at home… just in case I ever need them.”

  “Maybe you should stay in the realm of potions tried and true?” Lorcan suggested.

  I shook my head. “Any of my more standard potions won’t be strong enough to tame a wayward vampire with Roscoe’s abilities.”

  Wanda nodded. “Poppy’s right—we need to call in the big guns.”

  “Regardless, we’re still faced with the conundrum known as reaching your place which, if you don’t mind the input of a humble vampire, could prove to be the hardest and most dangerous part of the whole mission.”

  I winced. “Yeah. I know.”

  “Especially since you no longer possess a… working automobile.”

  “Luckily, we still have the Escalade,” Wanda answered with a smile. “And wouldn’t you know it, it’s already survived one vampire attack… so what’s another?”

  “One vampire attack?” Betanya repeated, her mouth dropping open.

  Wanda nodded. “A while back, the head of Lorcan’s line sent this odious vampire named Joseph to scare Lorcan into turning me, but all Joseph managed to do was irritate Lorcan.”

  “Which ended in Joseph coming up close and personal with the Escalade,” Lorcan finished.

  Wanda nodded again. “And there’s still a dent!”

  “Yes,” Lorcan said as he scratched his chin. “We shall have to get that dent seen to, my dear.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “You take charge, Poppy,” Betanya said, “This is your show.”

  “All right,” I breathed. “We need to get over to my house, ideally without Roscoe seeing us.”

  “We won’t know where he is until he strikes,” Wanda pointed out. “He’s immune to tracking.”

  “He might be immune to your tracking spell,” I responded as I shook my head, “but I can use Mystic Veil to locate him in the astral plane the way I did before.”

  “Are you off your rocker?” Wanda blurted, frowning at me all the while. “You saw what happened when you tried that last time. You very narrowly avoided death.”

  I crossed my arms against my chest and held my ground. “This plan won’t work unless we can make it to my house without Roscoe realizing what we’re up to. And the only way we can make sure he doesn’t see us is if we know where he is.”

  “Ya, Poppy ist right,” Olga said with a quick nod.

  “That means going into the astral plane before we leave,” Wanda continued, apparently having accepted the logic in my argument.

  “Right.” I took the potion bottle out of my handbag. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “The sooner we end the bastard, the better,” Betanya said.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Wanda murmured in my ear and when I looked up to face her, she was wearing her concern. “There are other ways, Poppy.”

  I shook my head. “This is the only way. I’m the only one who can track him. And… as soon as he sees me in the astral plane, he’ll start following me.” I took a deep breath. “Not to mention that I’m sure he’ll feel Betanya as soon as she leaves the safety of the duplex.”

  “And that’s what we want?” Wanda double-checked.

  I nodded. “That’s what we want.”

  I sat down on the couch and opened the bottle of Mystic Veil, anointing myself with it. I didn’t have to bother with the Sleep Oil because the essence was still on my skin so I could tap into it yet again. Then I took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch.

  As soon as I closed my eyes, I was launched out of my body as I entered the astral plane almost immediately. That had to be owing to the fact that I’d just traveled into the astral plane recently and I still had the residue of Mystic Veil from my first trip.

  I felt someone pressing my hand.

  Can you see anything?

  Betanya’s voice entered my thoughts, and surprise echoed through me.

  How is it I can hear your voice? I asked in thought. My voice echoed through my head and my mouth never moved. The words sounded staticky and unreal.

  For the same reason that Roscoe can scent me on you.

  Because our magic blended when we crossed through the veil?

  Right.

  Turning back to the landscape before me, I found myself hovering over Haven Hollow. I scanned the darkening landscape and found it appeared the same as it had the night before, except I was now floating over the other side of the graveyard.

  I see my house.

  Can you see Roscoe? Betanya asked.

  I surveyed Haven Hollow and the area surrounding my house. Being bitten by Roscoe had magnified my awareness of him, but as I searched every corner, every tree, every shadow, I didn’t see him anywhere.

  He isn’t here.

  Then let’s go.

  I opened my eyes and, spotting Wanda hovering above me, nodded at her. “It’s time.”

  Lorcan helped me to my feet as Wanda rushed forward and opened the front door, and the next minute, they hustled me outside.

  We hurried to the Escalade, and Roy got behind the wheel while I took the passenger seat. Once I was seated, Lorcan disappeared into the dark night and Betanya got in beside Wanda and Olga. Florence, Libby and Darla had remained at Wanda’s, owing to the fact that there wasn’t enough room in the Escalade.

  Betanya mentioned something to Wanda and Olga, but because I was still somewhat out of it, I couldn’t make out her words. It would take a few minutes for the astral traveling to pass out of my system. Sometimes magic could be hard on your body.

  Roy started the engine, and I suddenly felt myself hurtled back into the astral plane. From above, I watched the Escalade take off down the road. It rumbled down Magnolia Street and hung a right onto Orchard Street, curving around the graveyard.

  Anything? Betanya asked.

  No. He isn’t here.

  I heard Wanda asking. “Is there a way he could have blocked us from seeing him?”

  “We’ll just have to chance it,” Roy replied.

  The vehicle teetered around the graveyard and started up my driveway. It came to a halt in front of my house. From my vantage point above, I saw myself slumped in the back seat. If Roscoe was going to come out of his hiding place, he would do so now.

  He didn’t show himself, though.

  Betanya touched my hand again.

  Time to come back now, Poppy.

  I blinked. I was sitting in the back seat of the Escalade and everyone was looking at me with a mix of hesitation and concern.

  “He wasn’t there.”

  “It’s okay,” Betanya breathed. “You know what you have to do?”

  I nodded.

  Everyone exited and hurried up to the front door while Wanda turned the house key I’d given her in the lock and opened the door. She hurried inside the house, but I stayed where I was, watching as Roy returned to retrieve me since I was trying to retain as much of my energy as I could. I still felt shaky from my first confrontation with Roscoe, and now I was about to do it all over again. If anything went wrong…

  I didn’t want to think about the what ifs.

  So, now we just had to wait. And that was the part I didn’t like.

  ***

  The morning sun squeaked over the horizon and fought with the dark gray cloud cover. What few bolts of golden light managed to get through struck the dewy grass and cast a film of golden sparks over the graveyard. If we were lucky, and it appeared we would be, the sun would lose its battle with the rain clouds, which would allow Lorcan to exist in the daylight.

  In the last ten minutes, I’d traveled back into the astral plane again and I’d spotted Roscoe—he was headed this way and that meant it was time to put step two of my plan into the works. It was time to use myself as bait.

  After taking a few minutes to shake off my trip from the astral plane, I walked outside and faced the Escalade, which Wanda had reparked so it was at the very base of my front steps. I just stood there, allowing my scent to fill the air—allowing Roscoe to track me. Seconds later, I felt him. While my heart did loops in my chest, I straightened and turned to see a shape on the horizon.

  At first, the sun blinked behind the clouds, blinding me so I couldn’t make out exactly what the shape was. But then the clouds won the battle, and I recognized the black outline, which delineated itself into a person standing on top of a gravestone and facing my house.

  Spotting me, Roscoe swooped off the gravestone and rocketed toward the Escalade. He’d reach me in a split second, so I immediately veered away and bolted forward, towards my porch. I heard him touch down next to the Escalade with a growl that sounded like something from a horror movie.

  I turned around to get a read on his location, all the while still moving closer to my house as Roscoe stalked a few paces towards me. His eyes were pinpointed on mine as I knocked into the Escalade’s bumper and nearly tripped over my own feet. Roscoe strolled around the vehicle, taking his sweet time, apparently realizing he could toy with his kill.

  He just needed to come a little closer…

  I stood still as Roscoe approached me, wearing a maniacal smile that would probably terrorize me for years to come. That is, if there were years to come…

  You’ve got this, Poppy, I reminded myself.

  I braced myself and once he was close enough, spat a mouthful of holy water into his face. He whipped out of the way and the stream fell through the air, but managed to spatter his leg and he hissed as it sizzled into his skin.

  A second later, the pain identified itself because he howled in agony as his flesh started to bubble.

  I just had to fire that parting shot before I turned on my heel and started for the house, which was only a few strides away. My strength still wasn’t fully recovered, so I wasn’t as fast as I ordinarily would have been. But, Roscoe was tending to his own emergency—which was exactly what I’d counted on. Acrid smoke rose from Roscoe’s leg, but the wound wouldn’t slow him for long.

  And, no, a whole lot of holy water wouldn’t kill him—it would only piss him off.

  I hurried up the steps and threw the front door open. The instant I set foot in the entrance hall, I heard him right behind me. Skidding into the living room, I spotted him out of the corner of my eye. He wasn’t far behind me.

  He turned into the living room and a blood bolt rocketed for my head. I barely ducked in time and the shot blasted into the bookshelf. Splinters and shattered knickknacks showered my head as I dove out of the way.

  Another blood bolt fired into the side table and it exploded in my face. I scrambled backward, but that meant moving away from the couch—the one place I had to reach, no matter what.

  I made another dive for the couch, but Roscoe flitted out of nowhere and I ran straight into him. My own momentum made me bounce off his chest, and I hit the floor on my butt.

  This time, as if an invisible energy deposit suddenly made itself known, I vaulted to my feet and rushed to the entrance hall one more time. Even though I needed to reach the couch, I more needed to get away from him. I veered behind the corner just in time to escape another blood bolt. It sizzled my hair and scorched a baseball-sized hole in the stairs.

  I almost slipped again, dashing into the kitchen. I had one chance at this. I couldn’t screw it up. I streaked to the other doorway leading to the living room and made a headlong sprint for the threshold, turned the corner, and screamed out loud when I found Roscoe standing right in front of me again.

  Just a second earlier he’d been standing behind me. How could he move so quickly?

  My eyes flickered into the living room. Burn marks smoked up from the floor where the side table used to be. A bunch of broken glass and china, wood debris, and scattered broken knick-knacks dotted the floorboards around the couch.

  Poppy, I heard Betanya’s voice in my head. Are you ready for us?

  No, I answered. Not yet.

  Roscoe made another grab for me. I took one chance and ducked, then I dove under his outstretched arm and flung myself across the living room floor. I slid the last few feet to the couch and then scrambled onto my hands and knees.

  At that moment, I felt powerful hands clamping around my shoulders. I kicked out against him and my foot met his shin, propelling me the last few inches to the couch. I slapped down on my stomach and my grateful fingers closed around the potion bottle that had been waiting on the side table when Roscoe blew it up.

  This time, he wrenched me off the floor with unbelievable strength, jerked me three feet into the air and held me aloft, while I kicked and scratched to free myself. But, it was no use. He leered up at me while he crushed my neck with one hand.

  He let out a spine-chilling laugh at my puny efforts to fight him off and stomped around the couch, slamming me down on the cushions. I clawed at his fingers, which were doing a great job of cutting off my breathing, but nothing loosened his iron hold. He seemed to be chiseled out of solid stone.

  It was then that Roy appeared from one of the rooms, before he was supposed to, and threw himself at Roscoe. This wasn’t part of the plan but, apparently, Roy had taken it upon himself to attempt to protect me, probably because things weren’t looking good.

  But, that was a mistake.

  Roscoe fought Roy with a viciousness I’d never seen before. And he moved so incredibly quickly, he appeared as a blur. Where Roy only had the benefits of his immense sasquatch size and brawn, Roscoe had vampire abilities as well as a witch.

  So when he fired a blood bolt at Roy and it hit him full force in the chest, it sent him sailing into the opposite wall. When Roy hit the wall, it felt like an earthquake ricocheting through the house. The enormous man slid down the wall in an unmoving heap and slumped over himself once he reached the floor.

  “Roy!” I screamed.

  I wasn’t sure if he was dead.

  But, I had no time to further wonder because Roscoe’s other hand dropped over my face. For a second, I thought he was going to cover my eyes so I couldn’t see, but he grabbed my chin and pried my head back as he loomed over me.

  His countenance changed then—he transformed from an unobtrusive, middle-aged man to a grinning monster. His eyes went bloodshot and dripping fangs sprouted from his jaws. He widened his lips and dove for my chin.

  “NO!” I heard Wanda scream as two rays of light suddenly appeared from either side of the living room—one a funnel of white and the other blue. I could feel the magical signature of each spray of energy—one was from Wanda and the other from Olga.

  The bursts of light converged on Roscoe, but they were too late. The pain of his vampire bite was already splitting me in half. I froze against the searing heat of my blood rushing into his mouth and it felt as if an invisible force burrowed inside my body—calling every drop of my blood to him.

  Both Olga’s and Wanda’s power attempted to fight him and as I watched, they entered the room, each extending her hands out before her but their magic wasn’t enough—because it was fighting not only the power of a vampire, but Betanya’s power as well.

  Only one thing under the sun could now save me. And that was the Flying Devil Oil, but I couldn’t reach it. I had to act fast. I already felt myself getting cold… so unbearably cold, as though I’d never be warm again.

  “Lorcan, now!” Wanda screamed and in response, there was a blur and that blur rammed into Roscoe and sent him flying away from me. I fell to the ground, right beside the couch and, in desperation, reached forward and gripped the bottle of Flying Devil Oil.

  Then I looked up and watched as the blur turned into two and Lorcan and Roscoe whirled around my house, looking like two tornadoes tearing everything up in the process.

  I could only lie there because my body was beyond exhausted. I didn’t know how much blood Roscoe had taken, but it was enough to leave me struggling. He’d left me so drained that only the faintest shred of awareness remained.

  When both vampire blurs made their way towards me again, I didn’t waste any time and uncorking the potion, I threw the oil at the shifting tornadoes, not concerned if I hit Lorcan—the potion would only momentarily subdue him. Unfortunately, the same was true of Roscoe.

  As soon as the oil hit them, they both separated and appeared to be mildly dazed and that’s exactly what I was hoping for—the Flying Devil Oil would deplete them of their power and while that wasn’t great for Lorcan, it was for Roscoe.

  Roscoe shook his head as if he didn’t understand what was happening to him and then froze when he came face to face with Wanda, who was standing in the doorway. She advanced into the room. He tried to grab her with a snarl, but she drove him back with a blood bolt. He was able to dodge the blood bolt, but it stopped him from advancing and when he tried to call up his own magic, he couldn’t.

  It was then that Lorcan shook himself off and approached the smaller vampire. Roscoe seeing him, attempted to rush Lorcan, but Lorcan caught him easily. He flung Roscoe back into the living room, where Wanda propelled him backward with another crushing bolt to the chest.

  Wanda flung out her arm like she was going to shoot another blood bolt, but she didn’t. She didn’t do anything. She pointed past Roscoe toward the kitchen.

  And that was when Betanya stepped out of the darkness of the hall. Roscoe’s expression dropped momentarily, to be replaced with surprise, and Betanya narrowed her eyes at him.

  “This is for all of these years, you undead son of a bitch!” she yelled.

  Lightning quick, she spread both arms and brought them together in a thunderclap in front of her. A devastating blood bolt fired from her joined palms and blasted straight through Roscoe’s chest.

  He reeled a few steps toward her, tottered, and then staggered toward the couch. Blood poured from the wound in his chest and drenched his already stained clothes. It was all over the place—on the couch and on me. Roscoe flopped to the floor and didn’t move again.