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“First things first,” I said, turning to Wanda. “How do we find out exactly where these daggers are?”
“Lucifer’s creatures,” she said. “It’s the only way. Bring me one and I will extract the information.”
Ronin grinned. “I can get any information you want.”
Wanda smiled. “I can do it without killing them.”
“Fair play,” Ronin said, chuckling.
“Any particular creature you have in mind as being the best bet?” I asked.
“Stay away from magical creatures. So no warlocks, wizards, or witches. It will make my spells ten times harder. Go for a vampire or werewolf.”
“Where’s the best place to find them?”
“There’s an abandoned graveyard about three miles outside of the city. They all seem to come and go from that central point. My guess is it’s a portal of some kind.”
My jaw dropped. “Odd Fellows?”
“Yes,” she said, frowning. “How did you know?”
“Because that’s exactly where our vampire was when he bumped into me, with this.” I waved the dagger at her. “See what I mean about Fate?” I said, looking at Ronin.
“I would hazard a guess that he was about to go and deliver that to the Prince of Hell,” Wanda said. “Shame you killed him. He could have been useful.”
I pursed my lips and sighed. “Had you ever seen him before?”
Wanda shook her head. “I didn’t see him. Ronin?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never seen him before. Doesn’t mean you might not recognise him though. Makeysha—can you do your weird mind link thing with Wanda to show her my memories?”
“I don’t know...I’ve never heard of it being done before.”
“If you’re open to it,” Wanda said. “I can use a ritual to see your memory.”
He hesitated, looking back and forth between me and Wanda. “Voodoo? You want to do voodoo on me?”
Wanda grinned. “Yes.”
“Is there any other option?”
“Not unless you’re great with a sketch pad.”
Silence fell as he fought an internal war. About a minute later, he sighed. “Alright, fine.”
Wanda shot up and started rifling through her draws. Her whole energy buzzed with positive energy and excitement. I suspected she was looking forward to this.
“You’ll be fine,” I said, giving Ronin a reassuring smile.
“Are you going to give a dead man one last kiss?”
I burst out laughing. “That was not so smooth.”
“Man’s gotta try.”
“Keep trying, wise guy,” I said, grinning. I loved his sense of humour.
Wanda spread various small tubs and glass bottles over the wooden counter. Then, she reached behind her and plucked a mirror out from a small space between the edge of the counter and the wall.
“Ronin,” she said, pointing to the space in front of the mirror. “Come and sit in front of the mirror please.”
Worry creased the edges of his eyes, but he did as she asked. Wanda pulled out several incense burners and sticks, and then six candles. She arranged the candles around the mirror and then started opening the tubs and bottles, sprinkling bits of powder over the candles.
“Can I ask what you’re doing?” I asked, curious about all of this.
“Sure,” she said, talking as she carried on with her ritual. “I have powdered dragon’s blood and nutmeg that I’m tipping onto the candles, which I’ll then light. The nutmeg helps with hallucinations and the powdered dragons blood purifies the air.”
She finished dressing the candles and proceeded to light them.
“Next, I have a dried mint leaf and a ginger root, which Ronin is going to place on his tongue and hold there. They help charms and spells work faster. Then I’m going to dip the incense sticks into this dragon’s blood...” she held up a small brown bottle with a liquid inside “...and burn them. The natural form of dragon’s blood, when it’s burned, allows for people to shape shift.”
“Shape shift?” Ronin said, his eyebrows shooting up in alarm.
“Yes,” Wanda replied, settling a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to stand behind you and watch you in the mirror. Once my spell has been cast, you need to remember that vampire’s face. Your face will then morph into his, enabling me to see who you saw.”
“My face will turn back though, right?”
Wanda laughed. “Yes. It’ll last a matter of seconds, if that. Now—” she held up a dried mint leaf and a small chunk of ginger root “—hold these on your tongue. Do not swallow them.”
Ronin stuck his tongue out, allowing Wanda to place the two items on his tongue. He gently took his tongue back into his mouth and sat stock still on his chair. Wanda dipped the incense sticks into the red/purple coloured dragon’s blood and then lit them. She began chanting words in Latin and moved to stand behind Ronin.
I watched fascinated, as the room filled with a smoky fog and the rich scent of burning dragon’s blood. When Wanda finished chanting, the room fell into an eerie silence. Then, as the streaks of smoke drifted in front of the mirror, Ronin’s reflection started to morph into the ugly face of the vampire I’d met hours earlier.
His fingers clawed at his knee as panic seemed to win over him. Wanda gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.
“Oh my,” she said. “It can’t be.”
She rushed forwards and blew all the candles out but left the incense sticks burning. She ordered Ronin to spit out the mint leaf and ginger root, which he gladly did.
“What’s wrong?” he said, screwing his face up like he’d just tasted something disgusting. “Have you got a drink? That was gross.”
Wanda handed him a bottle of water from her purse then sighed. “That vampire was none other than Lord Melrose.”
Ronin cocked an eyebrow. “The mythical figure people likened to Count Dracula?”
“The one and only.”
“None of my community have ever seen him. He’s as much of a myth as what Makeysha is.”
“I think it’s safe to say, at this point, that anything you ever shrugged off as a myth is now a distinct reality.”
“That was Lord Melrose?” I asked. “He really didn’t live up to the hype.”
“The fact he’s involved means that dark and powerful forces are gathering together to help Lucifer’s quest. It means that this mission just reached another level of dangerous.” Wanda sighed. “Is there any chance you didn’t kill him?”
“I incinerated him,” I said. “I’m afraid Dracula dude is long gone.”
“The thing is, without him, we have no idea where he got that dagger from, let alone where to start looking for the other one,” Wanda replied, sighing.
“Have you heard of any other old creatures mysteriously reappearing lately?” I asked.
“Yes!” Ronin said, jumping up from his stool. “There’s an old werewolf who we thought had died centuries ago. The Whitstable’s swear blind they saw him on a hunt a few weeks back.”
“Where was that? What made them think it was him?”
“He had an easily recognisable tattoo on his forehead. He’s the only one that bears it because he’s the original creation. They were in Arizona, near the Grand Canyon.”
I gasped. “Oh my goodness. That’s where we fell. When God tossed us out of Heaven, Lucifer and his angels were falling towards a huge mouth in the earth. That’s where it was. Hell’s mouth is the Grand Canyon.”
Ronin’s jaw dropped. “You’re sure?”
“Very sure.”
“That makes sense,” Wanda said, clapping her hands together. “Only the oldest of creatures could withstand walking through the mouth of Hell to deliver these to Lucifer.”
“Well, that makes this a thousand times easier,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “No need to go hunting.”
“Why’s that?” Wanda said.
“We simply stake out the Hellmouth and wait for dagger number seven to show up.”