Chapter 31

Selene puzzled over Sam's talk of fate's gifts for the rest of the day, but shied away from asking him more about it. She was too reluctant to receive another interrogation about her non-existent hopes and dreams. Also, she was tired. The events of last night were catching up with her and her shoulders and feet ached. When nightfall came, she welcomed it, despite the danger it brought.

After following a rough path through the trees, they found a suitable spot to make camp under the moonlight. Selene was about to inflate her tent when Sam froze. His head cocked to the side, listening.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Then she heard something too. A soft whimpering up ahead, but not an animal. More like a woman crying or moaning in pain. A sob, then short hiccups, followed by another sob.

Goosebumps rose on Selene's arms. "It sounds like someone's hurt."

Sam extended an arm. "Stay behind me. It could be anything."

They crept closer. Sam moved silently through the trees, but Selene's footsteps weren't as graceful. She winced when a twig snapped loudly under her boot.

"Who's there?" a feminine voice called out. "Hello? I-I need help. Please. Someone attacked me and… my ankle, I think it's broken," The voice was thin and pleading, but also eerie. Something about the sound that made Selene break into a sweat, despite the night's chill.

Sam halted his steps, causing Selene to nearly collide into him. His nostrils flared as he looked around, sniffing the air.

"Violet water… " he whispered. "Margery?"

"Is that you, Samael? Oh, thank God!"

Selene recognized Margery's unmistakable voice. What on earth was she doing here?

"Where are you?" Sam asked.

"I'm here! Behind this tree. Help me, please! I'm hurt."

He stood still for several moments, as though weighing whether or not he should go to her. After tightening his fingers around the largest knife on his belt, he said, "We're coming."

They quickened their pace until Selene saw a figure in red sprawled on the ground under a huge tree. Her heart picked up at the sight of the vampire, even though Margery was clearly incapacitated. Her scarlet cloak twisted over her torso, while one booted foot was tangled in a gnarly tree root. Margery rose up onto her elbows, black hair streaming behind her.

"I'm so happy to see you! It's a miracle!" Margery said.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"I tripped on this root, and now I can't seem to move. Oh Samael, will you help me? It hurts so much."

Sam whispered to Selene, "Stay back," and gestured for her to huddle behind a nearby tree. Then he slipped off his backpack before slowly approaching Margery. From Selene's vantage point, she noticed that although Margery appeared to be crying, no tears leaked from her eyes. The heavy layers of foundation on her face weren't tracked with moisture, and her thick eye make-up was perfectly intact. A perk of being undead, she thought.

"Why are you here alone? Is the Padu near?" Sam asked.

"I've left it to strike out on my own. But I guess someone didn't like that so, they sent a brute to attack me! Why?" she sobbed. "I tried to run away from him, but then I fell."

"You cannot stand?"

"Don"t you think I would have gotten myself out of here if I could?" She flexed her knee to demonstrate that her foot was immobile. "I"m all twisted up. Will you help me?"

Sam looked back to Selene before stepping closer to Margery. "Have you fed recently?"

Margery released an exasperated cry. "Mercy me, Samael, I'm not looking for a snack! Can you not put aside your prejudice against my kind for one moment? What would your little Nereid girl over there think of you, failing to provide aid to a helpless woman?"

Margery"s words seemed to have their intended effect on Sam. "Fine. I'll have a look," he said, then crouched to examine her ankle. The moon glowed brightly in the sky, and the sight of Sam's hands on Margery"s velvet boot made Selene strangely jealous. And deeply uneasy.

"Is it broken?" Margery asked.

"I don't think so, just twisted and trapped in these roots. Let me cut them away, and you can be off."

As Sam pulled out his knife from his belt, a slight movement in the tree branches above caused Selene to look up. Squinting through the thick foliage, she could make out something dark crouched on a heavy branch. It was too big to be a bird and the wrong shape for a forest animal. Alarm bells went off in her head.

It was a man.

The hair lifted on the back of Selene's neck. Was this Margery's attacker? Hiding right above her up in the tree all this time? Selene called out a warning just as the figure sprang from the branch. It landed on the ground next to Sam. Selene could see it was a well-built male, with greasy, slicked-back hair. He wore a long black cape, and in his pale hand was an enormous wooden club, dotted with protruding nails.

Sam drew back, but before he could fully react, the sickening sound of a thud rang through the forest. The figure's club had made contact with Sam's head, and the impact sent the big demon reeling back. His body hit the grass with a force so strong Selene felt the ground vibrate under her feet. A shocked cry burst from her lips.

She watched the figure stand over Sam before striking him in the head a second time. As Sam struggled to sit up, Selene could see that the blows had caused an inch-long crack to appear across the lower half of his left horn. There was also a deep gash on his forehead, which began to stream with blood. Sam moaned with pain as his head swayed. Weakly, he tried to thrust his knife at the man but was met with empty space. Sam raised a hand to his horn then collapsed back on the ground.

Selene stood frozen behind the tree, staring dumbly at the scene before her. Get up, Sam, get up! Yet he did not rise.

The creature circled Sam, then nudged him with his club. There was no movement. With an eager cry, he leaped on top of Sam's chest then threw his head back to reveal a pair of vampire fangs.

"No!" Selene cried, breaking out of her temporary paralysis to run toward them.But as she did, Margery deftly untangled her foot from the tree root and popped to her feet. She sprinted toward Selene and shoved her to the ground.

Margery made a disgusted sound and smacked the back of the vampire's head. "You idiot, stop wasting time!" Pointing at Selene, she said, "She's the one we want!"

White-hot fear coursed through Selene's veins. For a second, she was beset with the ridiculous urge to look behind her—just in case there was some other "she" they were referring to. Surely these two monsters couldn't have set this trap for her alone.

"I only need a taste," the vampire said.

He drew his tongue over Sam's bloody cheek. The sight was so revolting Selene wanted to turn away, but then then vampire began to gag. Violently. Crimson blood trickled down his thick jaw. He slid off Sam's body to writhe on the ground. Coughing and spitting, he wheezed, "His blood! It's… it's like acid!"

"It's demon blood, you fool," Margery cried. "You've just poisoned yourself."

The vampire began to vomit in the grass. The smell was so noxious Selene pressed a hand to her mouth, fearing she might join him.

Margery watched him, then said with exasperation, "Look at you. What good are you to me like this? Oh, forget it," She reached inside a fold in her red cloak and pulled out a polished stake. It was about eight inches long and made of dark wood. "I knew I should have done this alone."

The vampire tried to crab-walk away from her, but Margery advanced toward him. Then she drove the high heel of her boot into one of his hands, pinning him to the ground. Crouching before him, she flashed a smile that showed her yellow fangs.

"Don't—" the vampire begged.

"Don't what?" Margery teased. With brutal efficiency, she placed the stake above his heart then drove it in deeply with the heel of her hand. "Nighty-night!"

The vampire's body tensed, then crumpled. He fell back into the grass before the light in his eyes winked out. Television had led Selene to believe vampires disappeared in a poof of ash when they met their final end, but it wasn't true. She took in the lifeless vampire before turning her gaze to Sam. Oh God, was he dead too?

A nauseating squelch pulled her attention back to the threat at hand. It was Margery, pulling the stake out from the vampire's chest. Margery cleaned the wood with a handkerchief, humming softly to herself. When she was done, she twirled it like a baton then tucked it back into the folds of her cloak.

"There," Margery said, winking at Selene. "Now it's just us girls."