The search was not going well. Magnus and I had worked together for weeks trying to find the other vampires with no luck. We were pretty sure none of them were past my stage when they escaped, meaning they couldn't teleport. Even without teleportation, they were eluding capture very well. By now, they were probably spread all over the globe. Most were older than me, so they could drive. There was only one who couldn't: Danaka Cabalus. She was only seven years old. The thought of the Cabal using young adults for their experiments made them despicable, but using a child made them horrendous. Many times I had lain awake at night imagining being seven when I was taken. The poor child must have been scared out of her wits, and now that she was on her own, wandering the cruel world… All sorts of bad things could happen to her. Magnus jerked me from my reverie.
"I think we've been going about this all wrong. If you were on the same stage as them, they should be afflicted by the same things you were a week ago," Magnus said. I fingered my watch. "And if we have no leads, instead of blindly searching, we should be trying to find out more about your family's connection to the Source Blood," Magnus added. She murmured an instruction to Henry, telling him to search for the effects of vampire bloodlust on the population.
"Well, we know my uncle helped you obtain the Source Blood in the first place," I offered.
"Yes, but what connection does your dad have with the Cabal?" Magnus mused.
"He went missing when I was six. I don't know anything about him," I said flatly.
"Tayla. Maybe he didn't leave you and your mother by choice. Maybe the Cabal kidnapped him like they did you."
"Why would they?"
"For information. Experiments. It's the Cabal. The possibilities are endless."
"Then it's possible he's still alive," I said.
"Doc? I found something," Henry's voice came over the intercom.
We looked at each other, the same hope in our eyes. The hope that he found had the location of a safe, unharmed vampire. We turned and walked down the hall and then down the stairs to Henry's lab. We arrived and Henry was standing by the printer. A sheet of word-filled paper came to rest in the slot. Henry handed it to Magnus.
"Well, this confirms it," Magnus said.
"Confirms what?" I asked.
"Your dad did leave you by choice, and he's dead," Magnus said, looking at me carefully. My heart dropped in my chest. My dad had left me for the Cabal. My dad was evil. All these years I had been supporting the fantasy that he hadn't wanted to leave and would be back. Now I knew that wasn't true.
"Wait Tayla…there's something you don't understand," Magnus said as I turned to leave, "He did leave you by choice, but not because he believed in the Cabal's vision. He joined to make money to support you and your mom. It says here he was promised enough to send your mom back to college to get her degree and for you to go through college too. He loved you."
I stopped and turned to face her. "He did it…for me?"
"Yes," Magnus said gently. I stood still for a moment, processing the information, revising my image of my father. Magnus left, saying she had urgent matters to attend to, and I wasn't ready to think about this yet. I wanted to change the subject.
"So how was surfing in Tasmania?" I asked Henry.
"It was really, fun, yeah," Henry answered, looking at me strangely.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"No, seriously, what?"
"Nothing!"
"Henry…."
"Oh all right, fine! Did you and Kate paste pictures of Jacob, the werewolf from Twilight all over my room while I was gone?" I nearly fell over laughing. In light of recent discoveries, I had totally forgotten Kate's prank. "Cuz' I'm a HAP not a werewolf," Henry said indignantly. I just rolled my eyes. "It was Kate's idea. I just kept my mouth shut," I explained.
"Would you also know how she stuck them to my wall?" Henry asked.
"Oh! Yes, I would. Secretion of a rare orange slug in Africa," I answered him brightly, knowing the best part was coming.
"And would you know how to get it off? I've tried everything."
"You can't." I burst out laughing again.
"Can't what?" asked Henry, not getting it.
"Get it off," I answered, laughing harder at the look on his face.
"You know I hate Jacob! How could you Tayla?" Henry shook his head and typed a few more commands into the computer. "I have to go now, see you in a few days."
"Bye," I said.
Two days later, I was in Henry's lab again, and Magnus was saying, "Will, we have to go now. They'll be taking the bodies away any moment."
"Okay," Will nodded, "I've already started a facial recognition scan of the car crash victim." He motioned to a picture on his desk of the victim.
When the scan was done I looked at the results. It had found security camera footage with the guy in it.
"Isn't that guy supposed to be dead?" I muttered to myself, staring at the video. I watched as he strangled another guy and stuffed him in his trunk.
"That is seriously messed up," I thought out loud. Just then Will came back and I showed him the video. He sent the link to Magnus through an email, and we went out to meet her. We found her in her office.
"Hey, did you get that link I emailed you of the security camera footage of that parking lot in New City?" Will asked.
"Yeah, I just finished watching it. Is the killer who I think it is?" Magnus asked.
"Well, Henry's facial recognition software caught a hit, and I pulled a frame from the video," Will said. He showed her another picture.
"Huh…Chad Spencer, our missing car-crash victim. 24 years old and clearly very much alive. He's a trust-fund baby on his fourth Ivy league tour."
"Ah...Who walks away from a crash like that? Actually, what am I saying? We know a lot of people who walk away from a crash like that," Will said, smiling in spite of himself.
"The question is, why hasn't he been in touch with his family or any of his friends?"
"He has," Will answered her, handing her another picture, "This is Darrin Wilson, the other guy in the footage. Reported missing two days ago. Darrin is Chad's roommate."
"From another wealthy family, and yet it's not a kidnapping scheme. There've been no ransom demands," Magnus said.
"Okay, so what've we got? We got a dead man. Walks away from a crash, becomes homicidal."
"Run the data again. There's obviously a common denominator we're overlooking. See if anyone else has disappeared," Magnus told him.
"Yeah," Will turned to leave and then stopped and faced us again. "Hey, you know, this would be a lot easier with Henry's help."
"He's unavailable," Magnus said.
"Why again?" Will asked.
"He's on a mission of utmost importance. I was sworn to absolute secrecy," Magnus said after a moment of hesitation.
"Wait a second. San Diego Comic-Con? That's the mission of utmost importance?" Will asked incredulously.
"You did not hear it from me," Magnus said, smiling slightly.
"Where's the Big Guy?" Magnus shook her head. "He's with him?"
"It's one of the few places he actually blends in," Magnus explained.
"Okay, great, so they're fan boys. I'm working with fan boys..." Will said. I laughed.
**~~o0o~~**
I was walking with Magnus, Will, and Kate. Will was explaining how all three (there were three missing kids now) recently visited Mexico.
"So they checked into a drug clinic, very expensive, very exclusive," Will continued.
"Headed by the noted Viennese scientist doctor Heinrich Baumschlager. Never heard of him," Magnus said, flipping through the files.
"Well, the place is called La Casa de la Nueva Vida," Will said. I quickly translated that in my head, but Magnus was faster.
"Ah, the House of New Life, and it appears to be living up to its name," Magnus commented. "Well, it looks like we're going to Mexico."
Once we were finally inside the clinic, a nurse greeted us and told us that Dr. Baumschlager would see us any moment.
"Thank you. Gracias," Will replied. Magnus walked casually up to an exotic looking plant. She rubbed the leaf between her fingers.
"Plastic," she said.
"Why do I get the feeling we're going to sit through a timeshare pitch?" Will asked.
"Because there's something a tad dodgy about all of this," Magnus answered, looking around.
"Yeah, well, the crash forensics came up zilch. Right now we have nothing. None of this makes any sense."
"El doctor will see you now," the nurse came back.
Magnus turned around. "On the contrary, now it makes perfect sense," she said, pointing. The figure approaching, Dr. Baumschlager, was someone we knew. Nikola Tesla.
"Hola amigos!" He called out to us. Magnus bit her lip, and exchanged a look with Will and me. We walked through a long extensive tour of the place, consisting of various fancy sounding rooms and more fake plants. I kept expected Magnus to interrupt him, but she waited a long time.
"And right over here, we have our friendship lanai. It's a small, intimate space for sharing…" Nikola said, smiling.
"Nikola, we're not here for the tour," Magnus said finally.
"I notice you do seem a bit on edge. Might I suggest one of our green-tea detox massages? It makes you feel 100 again," he said silkily.
"We know what's going on here!" Magnus said with a quiet anger.
"And I don't like the tone of your voice," Nikola said.
"And we don't like being lied to, so…" Will said.
"Why are you people always so ready to think the worst of me? You've seen my facilities for yourself," he asked.
I rolled my eyes as Magnus stated my thoughts, "You don't honestly expect us to believe that you are running a detox clinic."
"Yeah, you're, uh, you're not exactly the philanthropic type," Will added.
"I never said I wasn't making a profit, but in return, I provide a public service," Nikola said.
"I'm waiting," Magnus said, fixing him with her piercing gaze.
"Wealthy parents ship their drug-addled teenagers to me. They arrive, their poor little bodies wracked by the best designer drugs trust funds can buy. It breaks your heart, but then after one week of my treatment, I send them home to mater and pater completely cured of all addictions," Nikola said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, one week? That's impossible!" Will said.
"What part of 'I'm a genius' aren't you getting?" Nikola asked.
"Less ego, more facts, please," Magnus said, causing Will to smile.
"Alright. Do you remember that weapon I invented to combat the Cabal's super abnormals?"
"Yes, all too well."
He pointed to Will. "This may go over your head. Just try to play along," he turned back to Magnus, "Suffice it to say, I redesigned the biotechnology core, creating a blood matrix scrubber with selective protein inhibitors—"
"Enough! Whatever you've done to these young people, Nikola, they're disappearing!"
Surprised, Nikola said, "As in…"
"Something's killing them and stealing their bodies."
"You don't say," Nikola said, mildly shocked.
"Come on, out with it. I want to hear you say the words." I felt like I already knew what he was going to say.
"All right. I…I may have…sort of…"
"Spill it, Nikola," Magnus said, her voice dangerously soft.
Nikola grinned. "Turned them into vampires. Admittedly, I was too impatient with my previous experiments. They were... imperfect."
"They were homicidal," Magnus countered exasperatedly.
"Semantics. This time it's different."
"How? You would still have had to use your own blood."
"Yes, but I programmed the little tykes' DNA for a time release of the vampire gene…30
years minimum for the metamorphosis to complete."
"Time release? We're talking about ancient vampire blood here. It's not cold medication," Will said.
"Same principle, junior. I thought that if I slowed down the genetic mutation, I'd sidestep the antibody rejection which was plaguing my former subjects."
"Well, clearly, something went wrong," Magnus said.
"Clearly."
"How many subjects did you treat here?" Magnus asked. Nikola looked at her, half proud and half worried.
"Enough to make a little hell. I don't know. I don't get it. I adhered to all the protocols. Have a look for yourself." Nikola handed Magnus his laptop.
"And yet the incubation period was drastically truncated."
"Instant vampires," Will said.
"So maybe there's some sort of environmental variable I didn't take into account."
"What, like weather, or diet, lifestyle?" Will asked.
"Death," said Magnus suddenly. I realized she was right.
"Death?" Nikola asked surprised.
"Death would be the last thing that an immortal would think of," Magnus said.
"This first kid died in a car accident," Nikola said, piecing it together.
"And then showed up two days later, alive," Will continued.
"Chad Spencer."
"Yes, I remember him. Alpha-male type," Nikola said.
"If a human, having under gone your treatment, dies..." Magnus began.
"The vampire gene would kick in. It was programmed to survive at all costs."
"Okay, so Chad comes back to life and starts rounding up the other patients," Will said.
"And killing them, thereby triggering their vampire genetics," Magnus said.
Nikola slammed the lid to his laptop shut. "The little bastard. This was supposed to be my
party! Nobody hijacks Nikola Tesla!"
**~~o0o~~**
Ten minutes later, we were in the parking lot of La Casa de la Nueva Vida. Magnus was talking to Kate on her cell phone, and we were all listening in.
"Hey there," Magnus said.
"How are things in the land of the 65-cent Margarita?" Kate asked.
"Well, the phrase 'bloody awful' comes to mind. We're on our way back. In the
meantime, I've emailed you a list of patients who spent time at the clinic. Find out all you can about them."
"Okay. Am I looking for anything in particular?"
"Vampires."
"Come again?" Kate asked.
"Yeah. It seems Nikola's been up to his usual selfish tricks."
"Oh. Oh, I'm selfish?" Nikola asked.
Magnus looked at him. "Shocking, I know."
"Because I tried to save my race from extinction?"
"Because you used innocent children in a potentially deadly experiment."
"There was that," Will said, glancing at Nikola.
"Professional jealousy."
"You've no idea what you've unleashed!" she yelled. We all stopped as three figures
approached us. I recognized Chad, Darrin, and the other missing girl Laura. "Ah, let me guess. This must be your graduating class," Magnus said.
Nikola approached Chad. "Incredible…it worked."
"You're coming with us," said Chad.
"But you didn't even say please," Nikola said as he extended his claws. He stepped aside, leaving us to fend for ourselves. The vampires approached, and I slid out my own claws. They all attacked, leaving me as the only viable defense against them. They would just heal against bullets. Two ran at me and I scratched my claws down their arm, but it healed immediately. I needed to keep my claws embedded in their flesh so they couldn't heal to do any real damage. That was a problem because if I waited for one to die, I would be attacked by the other. Nikola stood on the side lines watching Magnus grapple with another vampire.
"Nikola, what the hell are you doing?" Magnus yelled.
"Crude, yet magnificent," Nikola muttered, looking proudly at his vampires. Just then a car slammed into Nikola, knocking him down. The vampires ran for him and loaded him in the car. Magnus shot the girl Laura, but the rest got away. The car zoomed off, leaving us with one vampire, and no Nikola.
"Damn it!" Magnus swore.
We made it back to the Sanctuary in one piece and secured Laura in a cell.
"Should counteract the sedative we gave her during transport," Magnus said.
"Yeah, just tell me the straps are going to hold," Will said.
"Titanium webbing, vampire-proof," Magnus said, "Tayla can attest to that." I nodded as Laura started to wake up.
"Hmm, rise and shine," Kate said.
"Where am I?" Laura asked.
"I'll be asking the questions now," Magnus said.
"And who the hell are you?" Laura spat out angrily.
"Where have your friends taken Nikola? Dr. Baumschlager?" she corrected herself.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Laura answered insolently.
"I don't have time to play games," Magnus warned.
"You know, Chad's not going to be cool with this. If he finds out where you're holding
me, he's going to whip some serious vamp action on your ass."
"You have no idea what you've become. Insolence will only make things worse."
"Yeah? Why don't you bite me, bitch?" Laura asked, obviously trying to provoke Magnus.
"Why don't you go get an earl grey and let me take a shot?" Will asked. Magnus left, slamming the door behind her.
"Hey, cute boy," Laura said, smiling at Will.
"Look, Laura, you know that we're only trying to help you, right?" Will said.
"Mmm, blah, blah, blah…Who's your cute little friend in the thrift-store wardrobe?"
Kate stepped forward and raised her gun angrily, and my claws slid out.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're cool, right? Right? I mean, look, I get it. You were brought to that clinic under false pretences, and you were experimented on without your consent…"
"I checked in a meth-head. I checked out a vampire," she grinned, "Bonus."
"Look, if you tell us where the others have taken Tesla, we might be able to reverse the process."
"That's your pitch?"
"Yeah."
"Rat out up my friends, I get to go back to being an addict? I'm not telling you anything,
and you can't make me.
"Okay. Well, have it your way. Kill her."
Kate smiled, "About time."
"What are you going to do, shoot me? I'll just heal again. I'm immortal."
"If this gun was loaded with regular bullets, you'd be right," Kate told her as she pulled
out a bullet, "but these, sweetheart, are solid silver, blessed by a priest with holy water from the Vatican."
"Yeah, only us sanctified monster hunters get 'em. It's…"
"I pump just one of these babies into your heart," Kate began as Laura gave her a fearful
look, "And wham!" Laura whimpered.
Two minutes later, we went to see Magnus.
"We found out where they're holding Tesla," Will said brightly.
"Oh, good. So the psychological approach worked?" Magnus asked.
"I had my doubts."
Kate put her arm on Will's shoulder. "But, hey, result," she said.
"Yeah. Uh, did you find anything interesting in Laura's blood?" Will asked.
"Perhaps," Magnus answered, "Her mutated DNA shows a triple helix."
"Translation, please?" Kate said, looking at us.
"Well, if I can find a way to break the peptide bond, I might be able to detach the third
strand and undo Nikola's handiwork," Magnus explained.
"Tesla said he used the biotech developed for the super abnormal weapon. You think we can adapt it in some way?" Will suggested.
"Without Nikola's research, I'd be flying blind. We can't take that risk."
"But you may be able to reverse the process."
Magnus frowned. " 'May' being the operative word. Nikola's really done it this time. His
creations are better, stronger, even deadlier than he is. Conventional means of control are no longer sufficient."
"What if we can't put the genie back in the bottle?" Kate asked.
"These people know what they are, and now they have Nikola."
"Wait, you think they're going to start pumping out vampires?" Will asked, horror
suffusing his features.
"I do, and unless we find a way to stop them immediately, we could be looking at a full resurrection of the deadliest race of abnormals ever to roam the Earth. I know how Nikola thinks. He would never create something that he couldn't destroy, or at the very least, control.
"So you're saying there's a fail-safe somewhere?"
"Like a kill-switch that'll un-vamp the vamps?"
"It makes sense. He'd never let his work get compromised."
"Right, but what is it?"
"And where is it?"
"Didn't Tesla say the timeline for the vampires was, like, 30 years or something?"
"So he'd have to have hidden it somewhere that he could be certain would still be around
then."
"Right, someplace solid, secure, like a…a bank."
"Or a vault."
"A Sanctuary," Magnus said. On Magnus's hunch, we all trooped down to the library to look at some of Nikola's favorite books.
**~~o0o~~**
"Dammit, that was the last Borges, and I was positive. Nikola so loves Borge's A New Refutation of Time."
"Hey, what about Trollope?" Will asked.
"No, it's not his taste. Try Whitman. He went through a free-verse phase for a while."
Kate threw a book on top of a growing pile.
"So that's Curie, Einstein, and Hawking down," she said.
"Nothing?"
"No. No hollowed-out compartments, no hidden failsafe schematics, just a bunch of wine
stains on the first editions. Looks like fang-boy's a real slob," she said. Magnus, Will and I all looked at each other and tossed away our books. We took off for the wine cellar. "Hey!" called Kate as she ran after us. I got there first with my vampire speed and immediately started searching bottles.
"Not to be a Debbie Downer, but isn't this one hell of a long shot?" Kate asked when she reached us.
"And the alternative?" Magnus asked.
"I don't know."
"Exactly. Keep looking."
"Hey...Over here," Will said, holding out a bottle.
"What did you find? "
"It's what I didn't find. Dust. Squeaky clean."
"The '45 Bordeaux. Bastard. That was a gift from Winston," she said, mildly annoyed. Kate, Will, and I exchanged puzzled looks. Magnus noticed and explained, "Churchill. D-day. Long story."
"Either that's a lot of sediment, or…" Will said. Magnus broke the bottle and pulled out a strange looking glass stick.
"Yeah, baby," Kate said.
"Great. What is it?"
"Must be some kind of weapon, knowing Nikola," Magnus answered.
"So how do we figure out how to use it?" Kate asked.
"Well, that's quite simple. We ask the inventor."
An hour later, we were all suited up, waiting in a car outside Nikola's location.
" You call this a plan? Whatever happened to the good old stake through the heart?" Kate asked.
"Doesn't work."
"What about all those movies like Buffy?"
"Misinformation propaganda spread by the vampires themselves. Confuse the enemy, preserve the race," Magnus explained.
"What about exposing them to sunlight or garlic?"
"All you get is tanned vampires with bad breath," Will said.
"Besides, we don't want to kill them. We want to help them," Magnus said.
"No, I'm thinking kill them," Kate said.
"Yeah. Trust-fund vampires? I'm thinking she's right."
"Granted, but it wasn't their choice. They may be rich, spoiled, insolent children, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't save them," she paused and then said, "That's a terrible sales pitch."
"Yeah. So it's just us against a bunch of badass blood-sucking immortals, huh? Well, it's a good thing we have our magic glass stick that we don't know how to use. Otherwise, I would be worried." Kate said sarcastically.
"All right," Will said. We got out of the car. Will snuck in the building while Magnus, Kate, and I climbed to the top of the building. Well, actually, they climbed. I jumped. It's a vampire thing. Anyway, when we all reached the top Kate asked,
"You ever done this move before?"
"Are you kidding? I invented it," Magnus replied. She jumped off the side, at the last second grabbing the rail and flipping under, into the building. Kate did the same, and them they split up. I waited on the top of the building, concentrating on what was happening inside. I heard scuffles and the sounds of Magnus, Will, and Kate being put in a closet at Nikola's direction. Then I heard Nikola talking to them.
"What is it with kids these days? All right, where is it? My failsafe? The '45 Bordeaux, tell me you brought it."
"You were taking an awful chance that we'd actually find it."
"Yes, but, Helen, we've known each other for 100-plus years. I think I know your mind
by now."
"Left side," Magnus said resignedly.
"I've often wondered what this moment would be like. Me…you tied up. It's a shame you brought the children."
"Focus, Nikola."
"Ah…"
"Okay, so what is that thing?"
"I call it...The De-Vamper!"
"You're a genius, and that is the best name you could come up with?"
"Watch it."
"If this is some sort of weapon, what's its power source?"
"You're looking at him."
"Fascinating. Now untie us."
"No, you're safer tied up here."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to teach those kids some manners," Nikola replied.
"Oh, dear. I think Nikola's about to bite off more than he can chew."
"Oh, this is driving me nuts. Okay, look, why don't you, uh, why don't you try to reach..."
"D... don't," Kate said.
"Just reach down..." Will said.
"No," Kate said.
"Can you... can you feel it?" I heard two crashes, and I imagined Will and Kate falling over. "Oh, crap. Magnus..."
"I'm trying."
"Faster is better."
"Ah…Ah, yes."
"Hey, well done."
"So, any time," Kate prompted.
"Right." I heard movement in the room. I flipped down into the place where Nikola was fighting the other vampires, and slashed one across the arm. I made my way to the closet, which Magnus burst out of. She pulled out a gun and shot Chad.
"Unnecessary, but appreciated," Nikola said.
"You're welcome," Magnus replied. Nikola successfully used the De-Vamper on another vampire, leaving only Chad and Darrin. Magnus and I threw Darrin over to Nikola, who de-vamped him as well. Just then Chad entered the room holding Kate.
"Hey! Toss it over or I'll kill her," he shouted at Nikola.
"Oh, not that old Chestnut," Nikola muttered.
"Put it down," Chad ordered, dead serious.
"Trust me, son, this will all end in tears."
"Do it!" Chad shouted.
"Helen, I'm famished. Do you think you could light the barbecue?" Nikola asked.
"Doubtful. They're only tranqs."
"Pity. Perhaps I could help?"
"How very gracious of you," she said as she lowered her weapon and hit the light switch.
"Magnus, shoot him!" Kate yelled.
"Shut up. Listen to me. I'll slice her, man," Chad threatened.
"Hey, hey, hey, Chad, my man, my bro. We can work this out. It's not too late to hit
rewind."
"Don't mess with me."
"I'm sensing there's some anger here."
"So…We were going to rule the world together, huh?"
"See, the thing is, I'm more of a one-man show."
"So this was all some sort of set-up, huh?"
"Well, what can I say? Never trust anyone over 130. Helen..."
"Yeah." Nikola jumped and pulled the lamp from the ceiling. He threw it at the chimney. Flames burst out and Chad is knocked down. Nikola jumps over him and stuck the De-Vamper in his heart. I watched, transfixed, as Chad pulled Nikola into the De-Vamper as well. It powered off when Chad was human once more. Nikola stood over him, hand outstretched. I knew what he's trying to do.
"I…I can't…I can't…"
"Nikola," Magnus said.
"I can't... Well, I hope you're all happy now. I'm ordinary." That made me the last
vampire in the Sanctuary.
That night was hectic. Magnus had been working in the lab trying to combine Laura's vampire DNA with Nikola's human DNA to make him a vampire again since we got back, but his cells were rejecting it. I had even given her my own blood to try with, but he needed the true ancient untainted vampire blood. Magnus and I were sitting in the lounge with a bottle of wine ready to break the news to him.
"So?" Magnus asked when he came in.
"Yes, it's done. Laura is back to her sniveling, spoiled self." He threw himself onto the couch next to Magnus. She lifted the bottle of wine and said, "This may cheer you up."
"Oh, the Premier Cru? You must be feeling guilty."
"You can't seriously blame me for this?"
"Forgive me, Helen. It's just my soul-crushing depression talking. I'm not myself."
"On the contrary. You are your real self again. Human. Mortal."
"Watch your language."
"I'm sorry, Nikola, but it's true. I've tried everything I can think of. There's simply no way to re-vamp you."
"You see how this puts a crimp in my plans for world domination? Not to say I won't keep trying."
"I would expect nothing less."
"Very well. If this is to be a wake, then let's do it properly," Nikola said as he raised his
glass, "Join me in a toast." Magnus raised her glass as well, and I lifted my animal plasma drink since I was too young to drink wine.
"To happier times. To those halcyon days of bloodlust now gone, plus you gotta admit, vampires are just plain cool," Nikola said. I refrained from mentioning my days of vampire bloodlust weren't over.
"Amen," Magnus said.
"Here's to the glorious vampire race, once mighty, now extinct."
"What, Cabal-made vampires don't count?" I asked, unable to stop myself. Magnus gave me a warning look, telling me I had almost revealed the secret that there were more vampires like me.
He looked at me. "No." he put down the glass on the metal platter, and then the platter stuck to the glass. He and Magnus looked at each other. He held his hand over it, and the metal rose to stick to his hand. I realized my mouth was open in shock, and immediately closed it.
"Mmm…" Nikola said, "Well…I can work with that." Magnus and I smiled as Nikola continued to play with his new magnetic skills. I was happy to be here, with friends, and dreaded the thoughts of tomorrow, when we had to figure out how to explain the 'dead' car crash victim being alive again. They had cells in the Sanctuary right now, but we had to give them back to their parents somehow. I sighed and leaned back against the seat, laughing as Nikola, like a delighted child playing with a new toy, sent the platter flying across the room towards his outstretched hand.
