Page 130 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
"That first night, when I ran to your door, I wasn't just seeing things."
"No," he said. "This is caretaker magic. Not as strong as yours, but it will help strengthen the spell. We'll need all the help we can get, considering the time of day." He placed a cauldron on the floor between the skulls. I started mixing the herbs I'd collected with the wet ingredients from the pantry, which Rick brought to me as I asked for them. When it was done, I'd made a salve that smelled like eucalyptus.
"It says I'm supposed to spread it on the closed eyes of the searcher and that when I wipe it away, the spell will reveal the path to the vampire. It doesn't say specifically how it works. Should I wipe it on me or on you?"
"You'd better use it, mi cielo. That way I can protect you as you follow the path. Some of these spells are rather compelling, incapacitating the user to anything but the chase until the object or person is found."
"Sounds logical," I said. I smeared each eyelid with the stuff, thankful that I hadn't worn makeup that day. I waited a minute or two and then wiped it off. At first, I didn't notice anything different, but as I stood up and turned in place, a red dot appeared in the northwest corner of the room as if someone was shining a pointer in that direction.
"He's that way," I said, pointing at the wall.
"Let's move outdoors and see where it takes us."
I followed Rick out and toward the rear of the house. The red dot hovered in the trees, beckoning me to follow it into the woods. "He went through the forest," I said.
We picked our way through the brush and trees, the thick forest floor tripping me more than once.
"Marcus was wise to come this way. The forest provides shelter from the sun. He may have been able to continue after the sun came up, if he wasn't exposed directly."
"How far do you think he could've gotten?"
"I'm not sure. Marcus seems to get stronger every day. The way he fought last night..." He shook his head. "I won't underestimate him again."
I tripped again, this time face planting into a fern.
Strong hands helped me to my feet. "You are thinking too hard, mi cielo. Trust your instincts. Your power element is the air. When you run, imagine that you are blowing over the ground and through the trees."
I wasn't excited about the idea, but I tried again. Instead of watching my feet, I looked straight ahead and trusted my instincts. At first my feet plodded forward, deliberately. But then I picked up the pace. Accelerating until the trees blurred, I ran toward the red dot, Rick following close on my heels. He was faster than me, but stuck by my side since I knew where to go. After an hour of running hard, my thighs ached, and I stopped to rest. The witch gave me speed, but she didn't give me new legs. I was going to feel that in the morning.
"Damn. Did you ever think he'd make it this far?" I asked Rick.
"No. I confess I didn't." He inhaled deeply through his nose. "I believe we're close, though. I smell something coming from there." He pointed to a place where the trees parted. The red dot glowed.
"The spell agrees. Let's move." I forced my sore legs to jog toward the clearing. Rick followed at a walk, which must have seemed painfully slow to him. The spacing between the trees widened with each step until I was certain we were on a man-made path, and then the forest opened into a small clearing. At the center was a shack made from roughly hewn logs and branches that looked like they were broken manually from their source and crudely cemented with mud.
"He's here. I can smell him." Rick pointed at the shack.
"Do you think he built that last night?"
"I don't think so. I've seen hunters build these to hide in during deer season. I think Marcus was lucky to come by this."
"So he's inside, then?" The thought of being so close to my killer made my blood run cold.
"Yes."
"What's the plan? How do we kill him? Stake through the heart?"
"That only works in movies. There are three ways to kill Marcus-your blade, my teeth, and the sun."
Great. No pressure or anything. If I wasn't exhausted from the run and hell-bent on revenge, I might have been terrified. As it was, fear was a luxury for the safe. I was not. This vamp had killed me once already. I pulled Nightshade from her sheath and started toward the shack. "Are you going to shift, or am I going to have to do this alone?"
"If I shift, I won't be able to fit inside." He touched my shoulder and smiled like he had a brilliant idea. "I will pull him out of his grave, and you cut off his head."
I swallowed hard. The head cutting off part didn't thrill me. Even if it was a vampire I hated, I wasn't sure I could do it.
Clearly Rick picked up on my thoughts because he frowned and narrowed his eyes. But he didn't say anything. Smart man.
I thought back to last week, before I'd moved into the new house, before I was expected to know how to sort the dead or kill vampires. My, how things had changed.
