Grey Lachlan had disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Stop pacing,” Heathcliff muttered.
“How does heknow?” I dragged my fingers through my hair, slamming my Docs on the floorboards as I stomped back across the room.
We were back in the bookshop. It was well past midnight, but no way in hell could I sleep. Heathcliff had lit the fire and curled up into his chair. Grimalkin, in human form, perched on the corner of the rug at his feet. And Quoth stood in the shadows, his head hung, his pouty mouth drawn in a thin line.
“He knows about the shop because Dracula told him. If Mr. Simson—your father, I mean—has been chasing him all these years, then it’s likely Dracula has watched the shop. He knows about its magic because this is where he came from, and he’s probably figured out our identities through a process of elimination. It’s not as if our names don’t make it obvious. As for you, your father believed you were safe here. If his letters are to be believed, Dracula didn’t know you existed, which—” Heathcliff coughed, cutting himself off.
“—which means something horrible’s probably happened to my father,” I finished for him. “I figured that out. What I don’t understand is… why is all this happening now? If Dracula has been on earth for a long time, why has he waited until now to make his move?”
“Because you went to America,” Quoth said quietly.
“Huh?”
“He didn’t know you existed. You lived in America. Maybe it was only when you returned that he learned about you. Plus…” Quoth squeezed his eyes shut, a sure sign he was about to say something he knew I wouldn’t want to hear. “If you remember, Dracula has a telepathic connection with Mina Harker. Perhaps he believes somehow that you’re necessary.”
“But I’mnotMina Harker. Sharing this same first name as her is a complete coincidence. I’m plain old normal not-from-a-fictional-story Mina Wilde. This can’t all be about me.” I threw up my hands. “I’m a nobody. I’m a failed fashion designer turned bookshop half-owner.”And an aspiring writer,I thought under my breath, but still didn’t have the bravery to say that out loud.
“You’re Homer’s daughter,” Heathcliff shot back.
“Andmygranddaughter,” Grimalkin reminded us, as if that was the most important thing.
“So? It’s not as if that imbues me with some kind of special magic. All it’s been good for is an abandonment complex and a pair of wonky eyes.”
“My son was washed in the waters of Meles.” Grimalkin rose up to her full height, her lithe body stretching long. She placed her hands on my shoulders, sharp nails digging into my flesh. Her eyes blazed with a fire that seemed to come from inside her, that spoke of old, ancient rites and goddesses that walked the earth. In that moment, she appeared every inch the formidable, magical nymph of legend. “That same magic runs in your veins.”
I stared down at my hands. “I’m not magical. That’s ridiculous.”
Grimalkin smirked. “Then why does this building respond to your presence? Why is Dracula using his servant to spy on you?”
“Dracula wants the shop, not me.”
“He needs both if he is to use the Spring of Meles to travel through time.”
I leaped back in surprise, my leg hitting the edge of the coffee table and spilling a stack of books across the floor. “How do you know that’s what he’s trying to do?”
“It’s obvious.” Grimalkin blew on her perfect nail polish. “Why would Dracula stop at consuming all the blood of England when he could travel through time and into the worlds of books to consume every human that ever was and ever will be? He could unseat the kings and queens of history and place himself on their thrones, build whole armies of his undead slaves, and flit to a new era when he craves new blood. When one is immortal, the possibilities of possessing time travel are somewhat titillating.”
I flopped onto the chair opposite Heathcliff. Green lightning danced in front of my eyes, and I rubbed my temples. “Great. Just wonderful.”
“We get it. Dracula is one scary motherfucker. But we’re not going to defeat him tonight,” Heathcliff snapped. “And we’re certainly not going to figure it out without Moriarty. We need to get back to his case.”
Morrie.My arms ached to hold him. I desperately needed to hear his smooth, cocky voice, to feel his arms slip around me. I pulled out my phone and stared at the screen filled with texts from him, asking how our first foray into vampire-hunting had gone. They started off in his usual flippant style but rapidly became more concerned.He’s desperate to be here with us, too.
I tapped out a message about destroying the dirt, meeting Grey Lachlan, and figuring out that Dracula was after the waters of Meles.Shite. If Grey’s working for him, we’re really in trouble if he uncovers the tunnel. I hope Heathcliff can get Andy to show up soon. Maybe we should sprinkle holy water and put some plates of aioli around the place…
My phone beeped with a message from Morrie. “Dracula wanting Nevermore actually makes sense, especially if you consider that mathematical impossibility of vampires.”
“Excuse me, that what?”
He typed back. “An American physicist did the math. If a vampire arrived on earth, fed only once a month, and every person he fed on eventually became a vampire, the entire population of Earth would be vampires within three years. Assuming vampires can’t drink the blood of other vampires, this simply won’t do if you require human blood to survive. But if Dracula could suck on the necks not just of every human in history but of every human in the pages of every book ever written… I’m glad to hear you’re okay, gorgeous. I was beginning to imagine your neck perforated with vampire bites. Tell that Dracula bastard the only one allowed to bite you is me.”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I dictated a reply, asking him how he fared.
“I am well enough, now I have books and chess and your occasional missives for company. Sherlock is acting strangely. The trail from Aidan has gone cold, but despite the evidence you’ve presented he refuses to look at Grant or Tara or even Sam the Cockroach Man as suspects. I’m concerned the time travel has addled his brain or something. What have you uncovered?”
