Daywalker chronicles com.., p.66
Daywalker Chronicles Complete Series Boxed Set, page 66
Ennigaldi smiled widely and turned to Dylan. “Your pack, with your newfound abilities, is better suited than any of us to secure what’s required.”
“Sweet!” Logan piped up. “We’re going hunting!”
Ian huffed. “We’re going organ harvesting. There’s a difference.”
Dylan chuckled. “We can handle it. However, if Sienna’s lunar power is required, she’ll have to go with us.”
“Gather everything else first. We can harvest the eyeballs from an alligator once we arrive in the swamp to perform the spell. Then, Sienna can cast the moonlight necessary for a successful plucking.”
I giggled a little. The phrase “successful plucking” was humorous to me, for some reason. “We’ll still need to find a cauldron.”
Ennigaldi tilted her head. “You already mentioned a peddler of cauldrons. Cauldrons R Us, you called it?”
I smirked. “I was joking about that. It’s called sarcasm. Lucky for us, we’re in New Orleans. There are shops for spellcraft not far from here. Maybe they’ll have cauldrons. At the very least, they’ll know where we can get one.”
Dylan nodded. “I’ll handle the cauldron. Logan, get the snake venom. Ian, take care of the bull’s heart.”
“Seriously?” Ian protested. “This is bullshit!”
I snorted. “Technically, it’s bull heart. Still messy, not as stinky.”
Ian grunted. “You know what I mean. I suppose it won’t be too difficult. I know a few ranches outside of the city.”
“Once we have gathered these ingredients, I will perform the spell within the swamp itself. The best place to do it will be where Mortimer, the Grim Reaper, created the portals in the swamp before. Where a portal is made, the veil between worlds remains thin. It will offer the energy required.”
I shrugged. “Morty has made portals here, as well. Can’t we do it here?”
Ennigaldi shook her head. “The energy will swell from the cauldron. We must be near the creatures we hope to harness. It must be done in the swamp.”
“Sounds like a walk in the park,” I muttered sarcastically, imagining the mud and mosquitoes that awaited us.
“Sienna, please maintain your focus,” Ennigaldi chided gently with a hint of a smile on her lips. “As for the duration of the spell, it will take approximately three hours to complete. We cannot afford any interruptions during this time. I will need you and the Van Helsings, who I presume will return soon, to guard the perimeter, ensuring that no unwanted guests disturb the process.”
“Three hours? That’s quite the time commitment.” I raised an eyebrow. “But hey, anything to stick it to New Babylon, right?”
“Indeed,” Ennigaldi agreed, her eyes gleaming with resolve.
Just as we were about to delve further into the plan, the door to the schoolhouse burst open, revealing Alexander and Reginald Van Helsing, both flushed and slightly out of breath.
“Speak of the devils!” I exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood. “What news do you bring?”
Alexander shot me a weary glance before launching into his report. “We failed to secure Nebuchadnezzar before he could return to New Babylon. He moved with a force I’d never seen. What kind of magic does he wield?”
“His understanding of ancient Mesopotamian magic is on par with mine, if not greater,” Ennigaldi admitted gravely. “But do not lose heart, for our plan to create an army out of the alligators and snakes in the swamp will give us a fighting chance against his forces.”
“You’re going to do what?” Reginald frowned. “How exactly do we go about doing that?”
“Ennigaldi has it all mapped out,” I assured him, glancing at the priestess. “She’ll perform the spell in a specific location in the swamp, where the veil between worlds is thinnest. Our job will be to guard her during the three-hour process.”
“Three hours?” Alexander echoed my earlier sentiment, concern etching his features. “In the swamp? That’s right in the backyard of New Babylon. Are you certain this is the best course of action?”
I sighed. “The president is unwilling to send the military. We need an army.”
“But an army of reptiles?” Alexander raised an eyebrow skeptically. “That sounds like something straight out of a bad B-movie, Sienna.”
“Maybe so, but it could be just what we need to stand up against New Babylon. Unless you’d prefer I turn an army of vampires to our cause instead.”
Alexander grunted. Concern was etched across his face. “Hell no. Sienna, are you sure about this? Ennigaldi, you created vampires to kill demons. A worthy endeavor, dare I say. Since then, the history of the vampire is riddled in blood. If history repeats itself, the last thing we need is reptilian monsters slaughtering humans for the next few millennia.”
“Alexander, I understand your concerns.” Ennigaldi’s gaze flicked between the brothers. “But vampires are different creatures. They have intellect. They can scheme and plan. These creatures will be in our thrall.”
“All right,” Alexander conceded, though not without a lingering hint of apprehension. “We’re in. But remember, Sienna, we’ll be watching closely. If things start to spiral out of control or these creatures turn on us, we won’t hesitate to act.”
“Understood,” I nodded solemnly, feeling the weight of their trust settle upon my shoulders. “Now come on, let’s get this show on the road. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can get back to our regularly scheduled empire conquering.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The moon was a silvery crescent, casting eerie shadows on the schoolhouse as I stood outside, taking in the fresh air, to wait for the werewolves to return. They made it back sooner than I anticipated.
Dylan, Logan, and Ian all arrived over the course of a couple of hours. They each brought back a precious ingredient for the spell that would change everything: the venom from a southern copperhead, the heart of a bull, vervain, and a copper cauldron.
“Look at this beauty!” Dylan exclaimed, hoisting the copper cauldron above his head like a trophy. The metal gleamed in the pale moonlight, reflecting off the ancient brick walls of the schoolhouse.
“Indeed, it is quite exquisite.” Ennigaldi examined the cauldron from every angle. “But it’s smaller than I hoped.” Her fingers traced the intricate patterns etched into the metal. “Nonetheless, it will suffice.”
“Here’s the vervain you asked for,” Dylan handed the bundle of deep purple flowers to Ennigaldi.
She inhaled their earthy, pungent aroma and smiled. “Excellent quality, Dylan. Truly, the gods have blessed our undertaking tonight.”
Logan stepped forward. The bags under his eyes suggested he’d been to hell and back. Logan handed Ennigaldi a vial of copperhead venom. “You won’t believe the trouble I went through to get this.”
“Really?” I smirked, anticipating what was sure to be an intriguing tale.
“Indeed. As it turns out, snakes are quite fond of swampy areas, and this particular serpent was no exception. I found myself waist-deep in muck, desperately trying to avoid the snapping jaws of hungry alligators while keeping my eye on the prize.”
“Sounds like quite the adventure.” Ennigaldi’s eyes twinkled with amusement.
“Adventure? More like a comedy of errors!” Ian interjected, rolling his eyes. “If you think your snake hunt was bad, Logan, let me tell you about my little escapade.”
“Go on then,” Logan challenged him, crossing his arms.
Ian perked up, clearly eager to share his tale. “So there I was, sneaking onto this ranch in the dead of night, looking for the perfect bull. I finally find one—big, strong, and healthy—just what we need for the spell. I shifted, and my claws are ready to rip the bull apart. But as I’m getting ready to slaughter it, I hear the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked.”
“Uh-oh,” I murmured, already anticipating where this story was going.
“Exactly,” Ian continued. “The owner of the ranch, an enormous man with a beard that would make a Norse god jealous, catches me red-handed. Now, I might be fast, but outrunning buckshot is another matter entirely.”
“Let me guess,” Logan broke in. “You got shot?”
“Right in the buttocks, just like Forrest Gump,” Ian admitted. His face was flushed with embarrassment but he laughed along.
“They say it’s a million-dollar wound,” Logan snickered, doing his best impression of the Tom Hanks character. “But you’ll never see a dime!”
Ian rolled his eyes. “I didn’t let that stop me. With my ass burning, I managed to claw out the bull’s heart and make a run for it, all while being chased by an irate farmer with a deadly aim.”
Ennigaldi shook her head in disbelief. “You two certainly went above and beyond in your quest for these ingredients.”
“Anything for the cause.” Logan offered a mock salute.
I stifled a laugh. “All right, enough storytelling. We’ve got work to do.”
“Agreed.” Ennigaldi took the vial of venom from Logan and the bull’s heart from Ian. “I’ll prepare the spell while you all rest up for the battle ahead. We’ll need every ounce of strength we can muster.”
Logan clapped Ian on the shoulder. “Sounds like a plan. Come on, let’s go get something to eat. All this talk of snake hunts and bull hearts has made me hungry.”
“Don’t lie,” Ian joked. “It’s the image of my buckshot-riddled ass that you can’t shake.”
Logan snickered. “I’m trying not to think about it.”
Ian dropped his drawers and mooned Logan. “Never get that image out of your mind now!”
Logan groaned and shielded his eyes. “Good lord! It looks just like your face!”
I winced and turned away.
“Or like yours, back when you were going through puberty,” Ian quipped back.
I laughed. “Enough banter, children. I’m not sure how much food we have left, but it sounds like all this shifting has really stoked your appetites. Best eat up. We’re probably in for a fight with more Babylonian soldiers.”
Alexander came in from the hallway at the schoolhouse entrance. “All right, we’ve got our ingredients, and we don’t have much time. We need to prepare for the battle.” His voice was stern but not unkind.
Reginald nodded in agreement, already pulling out an assortment of high-tech gadgets from his duffel bag. It was clear that the Van Helsing brothers were taking this battle seriously. Their faces were determined as they began strategizing. This kind of thing was right in their wheelhouse, but I wasn’t so great a planner when it came to fights with supernatural baddies. In my experience, when dealing with mystical beings, the only thing you could really plan for was that nothing would go according to plan. After a while, I’d stopped making plans.
Still, I wasn’t going to interfere with the Van Helsings’ preparations.
Ennigaldi’s footsteps echoed through the hallway as she retreated to her room, carrying the cauldron with all the ingredients inside. I wasn’t sure what preparations she had to make, but the more she could do before we were out in the swamp just outside the enemy’s stronghold, the better.
Dylan grabbed my hand gently. “Come on. Let’s get some grub before things get crazy. At least I don’t have to worry about you guys digging into my stash.”
“Yeah, human blood isn’t really my jam.”
I shrugged. “Don’t knock it until you try it!”
“No thank you! Besides, I’ve kissed you after you’ve fed before. Yuck.”
I chuckled. “Hey, you knew what you were getting into with me from the start. A little extra iron in a kiss comes with the territory when you’re dating a vampire.”
As we made our way toward the cafeteria, Logan smirked playfully. “You’ve got Dracula’s money, right?”
I shrugged. “I have his cards, if that’s what you mean.”
“Mind doing a little grocery shopping?”
“If we don’t have enough food, call Grubhub. We don’t have the time for that.”
When we reached the cafeteria, the three werewolves wasted no time in raiding the fridge and pantries, piling their plates with whatever food we had left. It wasn’t much, and even according to my human recollections, it didn’t look great. A lot of cold pizza, leftover Chinese food, and chips. I shook my head in disbelief and teased, “You wolves are going to eat me out of schoolhouse and home.”
I retrieved a bottle of blood for myself. My supply was running short. Before, when Dracula was consumed with gluttony, he had tapped us out. It was all I could do to convince Giuseppe, from Laveau’s restaurant for supernaturals, to bring over an extra crate. Their delivery fees were outrageous and, despite my suggestion to Logan before, Grubhub didn’t deliver blood.
I held Dylan’s hand as I sipped from a bottle of B-positive. He shoveled a handful of pretzels into his mouth, gagged a little from the cottonmouth, and chased it with a gulp of water.
It wasn’t exactly the most romantic meal I’d ever enjoyed, but there was something about the camaraderie of our little family, the antics of Dylan and his wolves, and the determination of the Van Helsings combined with the ancient wisdom of Ennigaldi that pacified my nerves. I knew it was a short-lived respite, of course. We were facing what was likely to be a pretty nasty battle, and there was a good chance that in defending the cauldron, some of us wouldn’t make it.
Was an army of alligators and snakes really worth risking our lives? If it worked, and the army succeeded in taking down New Babylon, sure. Still, if my experience taught me anything, this was nothing more than an opening salvo in a war that was going to take a long time to win—if we could win it at all.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The humidity settled on my skin like a damp shroud as we stepped into the swamp. The crescent moon above cast eerie shadows through the twisted trees, and their gnarled branches reached out to us like hungry claws. I glanced at Ennigaldi. Her eyes darted warily about as she focused on the spell. Even she was a bit distracted by the creepiness of the swamplands at night.
“Stay close,” I whispered, leading the way further in. The stagnant water was already up to our ankles, sucking at our boots with a squelching sound. A shiver crawled down my spine, and not just from the unnerving atmosphere. If the creepy shadows weren’t enough to give me the creeps, the dark and towering shadowed structures in the distance of New Babylon represented a greater threat.
Ennigaldi clutched my arm. “Sienna, we must retrieve an alligator for the ritual. We require its eyeballs.”
I had nearly forgotten we still lacked the final crucial ingredient. “Got it. We’ll find an alligator, and fast.”
As we waded deeper into the swamp, I continued to scan the surroundings, aware of the risks we faced. Shadows danced across the surface of the water, playing tricks on my heightened senses. The sounds of the swamp echoed around us, a symphony of croaks, chirps, and rustling foliage.
“Ennigaldi, what about this clearing?” Reginald gestured to a small area devoid of vegetation.
“Too exposed. We need somewhere more concealed, where the shadows can cloak our actions. The cauldron must come to a boil. That requires a fire. Even with sufficient cover, there’s a chance the Babylonian patrols will spot us. Still, I’d rather give us the best chance at avoiding detection that’s possible.”
“Got it,” Alexander murmured. “I see some trees just to the west.”
Ennigaldi shook her head. “That’s too far from where we need to be. Remember, we need to do this as close to where Mortimer cast his reaper portal before.”
“Where the veil between worlds remains thin,” I added.
As we continued our search, Alexander, Reginald, and Ennigaldi finally discovered a hidden nook among the trees, draped in shadows and concealed from prying eyes. It was perfect for our purposes, and only a hundred feet or so removed from where Morty cast his portals during our last battle in the swamp.
The Van Helsings gathered several sticks for the fire while Ennigaldi sat on the ground and went into a trance. Presumably, she was preparing herself for what was a complex spell involving ancient magic that hadn’t been cast on Earth for several thousand years until recently.
“All right, werewolves.” I turned to Dylan, Logan, and Ian. “Let’s find ourselves an alligator. Fast.”
“Lead the way, babe,” Dylan replied with a grin. His eyes were already scanning the swamp for any signs of the creature we sought.
We set off, our heightened senses alert to the slightest disturbance in the murky waters. My ears pricked at the sound of splashes, while my nostrils flared, seeking out the distinctive scent of an alligator. The werewolves exchanged excited glances as they followed my lead, their tails wagging despite the somber atmosphere. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Got something,” Dylan said, his voice tense yet tinged with excitement.
“Show me,” I replied, rubbing my eyes to improve my focus.
Dylan led us through a thicket of tangled vines and gnarled roots until we came upon a murky, stagnant pool. The water was eerily still, but the scent of alligator permeated the air. A ripple broke the surface, and then I saw it: a massive, scaly tail disappearing beneath the water.
“Okay, guys,” I whispered to the werewolves, readying myself for action. “Remember, we need its eyes undamaged. Be careful.”
Dylan nodded, and his eyes gleamed with determination. In one swift motion, he leapt into the water and his powerful limbs propelled him toward the creature with incredible speed. Logan and Ian stood by, poised to assist if needed.
I watched in awe as Dylan wrestled the alligator. His muscles strained against the beast’s thrashing force and he finally managed to subdue the creature, pinning its jaws shut with both hands.
“Sienna, now!” he shouted through gritted teeth.
Focusing on the crescent moon above, I channeled my lunar power to cast a beam of moonlight on the alligator, illuminating its dark hide with an ethereal glow. The water around the creature shimmered with silver light. Claws grew from the ends of Dylan’s fingers and he slashed underneath the alligator’s neck.
