Chapter Three: Aralyn

"Do you think that was a maybe ?" Stan stared at the tavern door as it shut behind Caldric.

"No." Burt shook his head and turned to Aralyn. "It was a silly plan. Sorry for suggesting it."

"Why do you say that?" Aralyn asked as she drained her gin glass.

"I think Burt feels bad that he made light of something important to you—infiltrating this event," Harry said. "We're just sorry we couldn't get you a date to the vampire ball."

"There must be other vampires we can ask." Stan hunched his shoulders over his tankard.

"No," Burt shook his head. "I think it's too dangerous for Aralyn to be around a vampire we don't know. If they see through the ruse…"

"Silas," Stan held up his hand, and his face lit up like the full moon over Wishing Moon Bay.

"Silas?" Aralyn looked at each of the men in turn. "You mean Silas Langdon."

"Is there another vampire named Silas in town?" Burt asked, with no irony.

"Not that I know of," Stan replied.

"I am not going on a date with him," Aralyn said firmly.

"Oh no! No, we don't mean that. But Silas might help us out," Harry said. "He does that for us from time to time."

"You know him?" Aralyn asked. Because she sure did not want to turn up on that vampire's doorstep if they did not. Silas might not be on her radar when it came to slaying, but he sure had a reputation.

"Yes, we're good friends," Stan said happily, although she waited for confirmation from someone else. Uncle Burt's friend did like to embellish things a little. And that little embellishment might mean a lot of trouble. Especially when it came to Silas Langdon.

"We go for tea," Harry added. "On occasion."

"Tea. At a vampire's mansion." Now Aralyn was worried. No one went for tea with a vampire. Vampires did not do tea. Vampires sucked blood. They did not serve Earl Grey. Especially someone as infamous as Silas.

"Yes, Colton bakes a perfect coffee and walnut cake. And his scones are to die for," Uncle Burt said wistfully, staring into space. Then his expression became more serious. "Not that any dying goes on at his mansion."

"No, it's all very civilized. It's almost too quaint, even for my taste," Stan said. "Silas thinks the world of Merri and her children, he would not do anything to cause them harm or bring trouble to the door."

"Children?" Her blood ran cold, and she reached behind her back and curled her fingers around the smooth wooden stake she always kept tucked into her belt. What kind of monster turned children into vampires?

"Yes. Merri's children from a previous marriage. Although they are growing up fast..." Uncle Burt's eyes narrowed in her direction. "Is something troubling you?"

"I am just trying to get my head around the idea of children living in the same house as an ancient vampire, who is not exactly warm and fuzzy," Aralyn replied. If they were ‘growing up,' then at least they were still alive. But still…

"Oh," Stan waved his hand at her. "Don't you worry about the children. Silas would do anything to protect them."

"Would he?" Could she use this to her advantage?

"Oh, yes. Merri is his true love," Stan said dreamily. "Loved her enough to let her go."

"I thought she was living with him at his mansion?" Aralyn asked. She'd forgotten what it was like talking to her uncle and his friends. The Regulars , as they called themselves. Though spending time in this place seemed to have made them even more cryptic than before.

A small smile played across her lips. They seemed to fit right in here at The Lonely Tavern.

"She is the love of his life," Uncle Burt said. "But Silas loved her before she ventured out into the World Beyond. But he let her go because he knew she wanted children, and that was the one thing he could not give her."

Aralyn let out a long sigh as the idea of manipulating Silas faded. It was her one flaw. She might have been one of the greatest vampire hunters that ever lived had it not been for a heart her mentors had called pure .

But maybe it was too pure.

In her world, true love was the most powerful force of all. It triumphed over everything.

Even her.

Even vampires, it would seem.

"Maybe if I call ahead, Colton might rustle up some cake." Harry took his phone out of his pocket.

"There isn't time," Stan told him. "It's only a ten-minute walk to Silas's mansion."

"But Merri is there, and she's a witch," Harry replied. "She might be able to..." He waved his fingers like a stage magician. "Rustle something up."

"Or perhaps we'll just have to kill time with another round." Stan gestured toward his empty tankard.

"I'm sure we can survive without tea and cakes," Aralyn told them as she stood up, ready to go.

"Well, there's surviving ," Uncle Burt said as he pulled on his jacket. "And there's Colton's cake ."

"I'll call ahead. Just in case." Harry tapped his phone screen and made the call.

Aralyn sighed inwardly. This was a mistake. A vampire hunter did not call ahead . They usually entered through the front door after breaking it down, or else they snuck in the back way.

"Colton. It's Harry." A broad smile crossed his face. "Oh, you knew because of caller ID? Of course." Harry covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "He has my number on his phone."

Aralyn backed toward the door, hoping the Regulars would follow. But as she took a step backward, something brushed against her, and she swung around.

"Leaving!" Morwenna stood before her, the animated brush by her side, like a bodyguard.

"We have places to be," Uncle Burt said, stepping to Aralyn's side.

"What places do you need to be when it's pouring with rain outside and it's two for one on all drinks?" Morwenna arched a questioning eyebrow as her eyes bore into Uncle Burt. "Now, you three are my most loyal customers. How could you be the only ones jumping ship at a time like this?"

Aralyn had to admit, the tavern owner was impressive. Confirming her suspicions that Morwenna was behind most...if not all, of the goings on in this place. She seemed a powerful woman, and that was just her imposing stature.

"Important places," Uncle Burt said, straightening his shoulders. "We've got important places to be."

"What can be more important than two for one on all drinks?" Morwenna narrowed her eyes.

"Well..." Uncle Burt began.

Morwenna changed tack. "Besides, why go outside where the rain is pouring, when you could stay inside where Flint is pouring?"

Aralyn was definitely warming to Morwenna. She was smart, didn't shy away from going after whatever she wanted, and had a way with words. Even if that way was usually more akin to brute force than subtle guile.

"Uncle Burt." Aralyn placed her hand on his shoulder as she sensed his resolve to leave slipping. "Shall we wait for the others outside?"

"In the rain?" Uncle Burt asked, glancing over his shoulder toward the bar, where three empty stools were standing together like tiny islands of serenity in the chaos of the bar crowd.

"Why not have another drink before you leave?" Morwenna's voice was unusually soft as she turned on her heel and stepped back to stand with her hand on Uncle Burt's shoulder. "I hear the latest batch of Liselle's..."

"Coffee and walnut cake," Harry said as he joined them. "And a half a leftover Victoria sponge."

"Victoria sponge," Uncle Burt practically drooled over the tavern floor.

"Are you coming, too, Morwenna?" Stan asked as he shrugged on his wet coat with a grimace.

"Yes, you should come, too," Uncle Burt said. "I'm sure in all your time in the tavern, you must have heard rumors and gossip you could share about the Tolioni family over tea and cake. And you're a friend of Silas. Wouldn't it be good to catch up?"

Aralyn groaned inwardly and shot her uncle a sidelong look. As much as she loved Burt to pieces, he was a blabbermouth.

"So that's why you are here, young Aralyn." Morwenna stepped forward and swung around to face Aralyn. "You have business with the Tolioni family."

"No," Aralyn said truthfully.

"Not business," Morwenna mused, picking up on Aralyn's verbal sidestep. "So what do you want to ask Silas?"

"If you want to know, you should come along," Stan told Morwenna.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll soon find out," Morwenna said. "Just promise me you do not intend to put a stake through Silas's heart if he refuses to help you."

"Not today." With a curt nod, Aralyn sidestepped Morwenna and headed for the door. As she reached for the handle, the door opened as if it had a mind of its own. No, not the tavern. It was not capable of thinking or feeling. If the door had magically opened, then the person responsible was Morwenna.

Who seemed to have easily hoodwinked everyone into believing The Lonely Tavern was sentient. What some people would do for business.

The open tavern door revealed the rain had eased a little, but it was still coming down so heavy they would be soaked through by the time they reached the mansion. More than that, they'd be soaked through before they even left the alleyway.

"Umbrella." Aralyn summoned her magic and waved her hand in an arc. The rain instantly stopped bouncing off the ground at her feet and instead dripped off the edges of an invisible umbrella.

"Neat." Stan was the first to exit the tavern

"Thank you." Aralyn bobbed her head.

"Handy," Uncle Burt said as he joined them.

"Room for four?" Harry asked as he tugged his collar up around his neck.

"Always." With a look back over her shoulder to where Morwenna was watching from the doorway, her eyes narrowed, assessing, calculating, Aralyn asked, "Right or left."

"This way." Burt held out his arm to the right. "At least the rain's eased a little. I thought we would need a canoe to get through town."

"Stay close together," Aralyn said as the tavern door closed behind them and they began their journey to Silas's mansion.

The talk as they walked seemed to surround one main topic. Tea and cake. Uncle Burt had mellowed a lot since she had last visited him here in Wishing Moon Bay. There was something softer about him, more cozy... Happier. Yes, he was happy and relaxed, as if he had found his place in the world.

Something that had been a constant source of insecurity for him since he had never developed the required skills to fulfill his destiny as a vampire hunter. Bloodline or not, some people were just not cut out for this type of life.

But she liked this new version of him.

Even if she suspected The Lonely Tavern and Morwenna were responsible for the new Uncle Burt.

The three bumbling men were not her usual company on her way to meet with a vampire, or, well, any time, but she had to admit that their chatter helped lift her spirits against the torrential rainfall, and before she knew it, they were coming to a stop.

"This is it," Harry announced as they turned a corner and headed along a street filled with Gothic-style mansions. It was almost cliche seeing the tall, spindly spires silhouetted against the cracks of lightning that filled the storm clouds.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as they walked. She could sense the vampires to her left and right and her hand once more went to the stake tucked into her belt. But she needed to keep a low profile. If she caused a disturbance, if she pierced the heart of just one of these vampires, she would draw too much attention to herself and she would never get the chance to put her plan into action.

"Silas lives here." Uncle Burt walked to the front door of one of the larger mansions with no hesitation. Even the smallest amount of vampire hunter in his blood should have given him cause for pause.

"Are you coming?" Stan asked when she stopped, her feet firmly planted on the sidewalk.

"Yes." She forced herself to take the next step and the next.

Tea with a vampire. Whatever next?