Emma
“What are you all doing here?” Bryan said once we’d all caught our breath. “How are you here?”
“We’ve been investigating the death of Quillan,” I explained as Carol clutched Bryan’s arm. "Vance asked for help from the beginning, but then it got personal when they took you. I don't let anyone hurt my friends, not if I can help it."
She nodded and pecked a quick kiss on his cheek. “While we were looking into that, a vampire named Jeffrey and his gang of vampire jocks, picked a fight right in front of us. Daniel here scared him spitless and he confessed that he had taken you, and he knew your whereabouts. He then directed us to the building he was holding you in.”
“I was doing the same thing,” he said. “When I was taken. Investigating Quill’s death. I hated that SOB, but I didn’t want to be blamed for killing him either. I figured that the best way to avoid blame was finding the real killer.”
We moved toward the truck, the four of us ladies piling into the back seat again so Bryan could sit up front. Carol probably would’ve rather sat in his lap, but that might’ve gotten us pulled over, so I didn’t suggest it.
“Did you find anything?” Deva asked Bryan as Daniel pulled us onto the highway toward town.
“Yeah.” Bryan turned to face us in the back. “Dreven took out a huge life insurance policy on Quillan through his uncle.”
That didn’t exactly sound right. “Why would he take out a policy like that? Vampires don’t die.”
Bryan shrugged. “Exactly what I thought. Huge red flag. He also hired a temp to help handle Quill’s estate, and while I was going to investigate further, I discovered that the temp will need to be paid soon.”
“What’s the problem with that?” Beth asked. “Why can’t the temp be paid?”
“It gets murkier,” Bryan said. “Quill basically burned through the coven’s money trying to impress the young recruits. They’re almost broke.”
“And nobody knew?” Daniel asked. “Don’t they have accountants or assistants for this stuff?”
“Everybody that Vance is investigating knew about it,” he said. “And I think they took me to keep me from talking about it.”
I scoffed. “And Jeffrey said it was for a joke.”
Bryan’s laugh was dark and humorless. “It was no joke. I was the only one likely to report the lack of money, because I was the only one who didn’t depend on it. I've never taken their money.”
“Well, who is the temp?” I asked. “Who did Dreven hire?”
“It’s Faith, the same girl Quill was courting as a new recruit to replace Trista. So, that doesn’t clear any of them.”
“I’ll call Vance. He needs to know all this,” Daniel said. “But I have a different plan in the meantime.”
A short conversation later we had filled Vance in, and he'd agreed to meet us at Clan Dusk’s mansion, which, surprisingly, wasn't that far from the warehouse on the edge of town.
“Can you find it?” I asked Daniel. “Have you been there?”
He nodded his head. “Yeah, I went there years ago for another case.” He proved his ability by driving us down the road that had previously been hidden from me all my life.
Beth and Deva looked around, awestruck, as we pulled up to the massive mansion.
The whole place was a beehive of activity. Dreven, Lysa, and Jeffrey ran around like crazy, in and out of the mansion with boxes and bags, stuffing them into vehicles. While other vampires just stood around looking confused.
I wasn't sure I'd ever seen anyone look more guilty than those three.
Bryan pointed to a young woman with fiery red hair and a body that twenty-year-old me would have killed for.
“That’s Faith, the temp I told you about.” She was moving as fast as the rest of them, filling up vehicles.
We got out of the car and when they stopped long enough to realize who we were, the vampires began to snarl. Apparently, the coven members who were loyal to them weren't afraid to join in as well. Most of their cronies waited near the door, eyeing us fearfully, but Dreven lunged forward.
Once he moved, Lysa and Jeffrey did as well. So much for the friendliness I’d received from those jerks. They were all too willing to attack now.
The other coven members held back though as though they were willing to threaten us, but unsure about actually fighting us. Some recognized us from outside the club, others, well it seemed our reputation from the earlier fight proceeded us. The rest? They probably had no idea who we were.
As the three of them ran across the yard, Trista came hurtling out from the mansion too. I had no idea whether she was innocent or guilty as well , but if she tried to attack us, I wouldn't have any qualms fighting back, no matter how sweet she seemed.
"What on Earth is going on?" she screeched.
None of them paid attention to her and just kept barreling toward us. I was grateful that they weren't using their full vamp speed because otherwise we wouldn't have stood a chance. Why they weren't was a whole other question. One I didn't have time to think about at that moment.
Daniel stiffened and I could tell he was seconds away from shifting. “Hang on,” I muttered, instinct driving me. Sometimes it felt like Karma was a different entity from me, like I was just a conduit for it, which was exactly how it felt as they came toward us. Stepping forward, I let my powers come to life as they flowed out from me toward the vampires.
To my shock, each of our would-be attackers stopped short, screaming. Their chests glowed with magic. My magic! “What in the world?” I whispered.
I’d sort of probed each of them over the last several days. At the time, I’d thought I was just feeling around to see if I could discern anything in them. The little tendrils of power I'd felt were bright in my mind's eye and I knew, even though I'd just asked them to monitor the suspected culprits, they had been doing something else as well.
It seemed like karma had been doing more than just paying attention to their current actions but had been evaluating them over all. My power had stuck around inside of them and had decided what kind of people, or rather, vampires, they were.
The answer wasn't good.
“It burns,” Lysa screamed as she and Dreven and Jeffrey clutched their chests. “Help us!”
Their cronies ran forward, including the temp, Faith. I pushed a little more of my power forward. What I was trying to do I wasn't sure, but I knew whatever was happening needed more from me, so I gave it.
Vines and greenery erupted from the ground, surrounding the three vampires. To my delight and shock, the climbing plants wrapped through their legs, around their torsos, binding their arms to their sides, so they couldn't move.
Smaller vines came out of the ground and held the others in place, wrapping around their legs, but not in a malevolent way. I knew in my gut that those vines were just trying to protect us, not hurt the innocent vamps.
The big vines with the three guilty vampires enclosed inside pulled backward, toward the building, growing to act like pillars around the front entrance of the mansion. It was still passable. Vampires could still pass through, but these pillars, containing Jeffrey, Lysa, and Dreven, would be there reminding them forever to be on good behavior whenever they came or went.
I stepped forward and called out, “When you’ve learned your lessons and done your time, the magic will know. Karma knows everything you’ve done. You won’t just be paying for Quill and Bryan. Everything you’ve messed up in your lives will be paid for now. If you’re truly repentant, you will be freed.”
When my gaze landed on Trista, I was surprised to find her uncovered, not a single vine on her, not even the ones who were keeping us safe. It was nice to know that one of the vampires wasn't trying to hurt us even if her face was pale with shock and horror at what had just occurred.
If I was honest, I was slightly horrified myself, but this was Karma's will, not my own, so this was the punishment that fit the crimes.
"What did you do?" Trista asked as she walked over to us, her voice both awed and slightly terrified.
Vance pulled in as I turned to look back at my friends, a triumphant expression on my face. We waited while he got out and meandered towards the building, peering at the vines and writing down what he was seeing. “Will it hold them?” he finally asked.
I nodded. “I’d bet some good money you couldn’t free them if you tried.”
Vance chuckled. “I suppose that’s good enough for me.”
“They’ll be imprisoned until they’ve served the time Karma sees fit.” I motioned toward the house. “But the rest of the clan is free to come and go as they please. Though I think they'll need a new leader, coven master, whatever it's called."
“Well,” Vance said. “I certainly think the punishment fits the crime.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "With everything you and your friends found out I'm surprised the punishment isn't worse to be honest."
"Can someone fill me in?" Trista asked.
"Vance asked me to help find who murdered Quillan. Dreven had recently taken out a life insurance policy through his uncle, which is odd for a vampire, and he hired Faith to manage Quill's estate," I said, gesturing to the redhead. "Apparently the coven is out of money because of everything they, or at least Quill, were doing to impress the kids he was recruiting to become vampires. I don't know what Dreven's plan was, but it seems like the three of them were in on it together and were about to make a getaway with the money."
Vance nodded at my summary.
"I suspected," she murmured. She turned and focused on me. "It's why I've been so closed off. I didn't want any of them to pick up on my suspicions. And investigating when people think you're an airhead is surprisingly difficult. So, what happens now?" Trista wondered.
"Well, I would assume the money would go to the next person in charge and that would also be your new leader." I shrugged.
"But that would be me!" Trista sounds aghast at the idea. Even though she said she suspected something, I don't think the thought that she'd be in charge ever occurred to her.
"Well, congrats new leader," I replied with a smile. "At least you'll have some money to keep the coven going."
"Not just some money," Vance added. "I took a look at the policy once you alerted me to it and the payout is huge. The coven won't have to worry about money for a long time."
"And I'm the new leader?" Trista asked, looking at Vance. The question was obvious, not just from her voice, but from the way she looked inquiringly at Vance.
He nodded. "The only other person who would be a candidate would be Bryan, as far as I know."
"I'm not interested," Bryan said practically before Vance had stopped speaking.
Trista watched him for a moment before nodding. "Then as my first act, I'd like to offer Bryan some of the money. I know--" She held her hand up as Bryan started to interrupt. "I know, you've never taken our money before and you don't need it, and I know there's no way we can make up for what happened to you, but please let me help you start your new life in Mystic Hollow with Carol. You two deserve to be happy without worry and I can help with that. All I'm asking is that you let some good come from this crappy situation." She gave him a genuine smile.
Carol elbowed Bryan and nodded her encouragement. "Fine. I'll take enough to get set up, but that's it."
"Perfect!" Trista clapped. Her face changed a second later, filling with melancholy. "Now I have to figure out what to tell everyone else." She looked over her shoulder at the others, who were still bound with vines around their legs. "They aren't all going to be happy about it."
"I can help if you want," Vance offered.
"No, thank you, though. I don't want Clan Scarlet to be accused of meddling in Clan Dusk’s affairs."
"The vines will release them as soon as they’re rehabilitated. Truly sorry," I noted.
"Thank you. For everything. And I'm sorry about what happened," Trista said as she offered me her hand.
We shook. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just gave her a nod. She began moving toward the cluster of vampires that were still bound in the garden, probably trying to calm them down.
“Well, let’s put this case to bed.” Vance turned back toward us, completely ignoring Daniel, and smiled at me. “Could I convince you to come and have a drink with me? I could get ol’ Atonal to open up.”
With a smile that I was sure made me look totally mischievous, I looked over at Daniel. “What do you say? Shall we all go for a drink?”
Daniel swung his arm around me, and his grin was even more mischievous than mine as he turned it toward Vance. “I think we’ll skip this time, but we sure do appreciate the invitation, Vance, old friend.”
Beth and Carol both bit back a laugh, and Deva didn’t bother. She openly guffawed as Bryan pulled Carol close and hugged her tight.
We waited for Vance to back out and pull down the driveway. “Now,” Daniel said once Vance’s car was out of sight. “Shall we go celebrate our victory? Without Vance?”
We all nodded, and Bryan said, “I think there’s only room for one vampire in this crew.”
“Agreed,” Carol said as she lifted her face for a kiss.
Daniel shrugged. “I think I can get behind that.”