“We need to talk to you about last night,” Cora said smoothly, causing James to turn from the stove, a tin mug in each of his hands.
“Earl Grey for you both. What do you mean, ‘last night’?” he asked, squinting his one eye at Cora. He shuffled toward us, upsetting a fat
cat that was lazing in his path. The cat hissed and darted under the table, where it lazily flicked its tail back and forth against my ankle.
“Samuel attacked again. And this time, he did more than kill,” Cora said.
At this, James slammed the two metal mugs down on the table so forcefully that the wooden table leg began to buckle.
“Damn it!” James said. He grabbed a jar full of dead turtles from a nearby shelf, pulled one out, and placed it under the uneven leg to keep it steady. “Quit speaking in riddles, girl! Do I look like that fool Ephraim? Now, tell the whole story, and start from the beginning.”
“Yes sir!” Cora gulped. “Stefan and Damon met a girl, Mary Jane, who turned out to be a purebred witch. And they realized that Samuel wanted her heart. So…”
“We allied ourselves with a coven using the vinculum spell. After that was in place, they used praesidium on Mary Jane,” I cut in. “We thought that we’d use her to lure Samuel, then trap him and kill him. But he brought along a witch who had a potion that reversed the spell. He out-smarted us,” I explained.
“And he ate the heart?” James asked, his face, even the reddish boils, draining of color. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Yes,” Cora and I said in unison.
James sighed and sat down heavily. “This is bad,” he said. “This is very, very bad.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s why we came to you. We need help.”
“Of course you need help! But the problem is, I can’t give it to you. Your whole story is the perfect example of why vampires are bad for my business and bad for society. They always think they can control the world. They think no one else matters but them. But they don’t understand what they’re doing in the process!” he fumed, standing and overturning his chair in his fury. He pulled down the shades and bolted the door before crossing to the bookcase and hauling books off the shelf. Finally, he found what he was looking for: a thin, threadbare red volume. He frantically turned the pages with his chubby hands as Cora and I glanced at each other. I was afraid to even breathe.
“Listen to this story, vampire,” James muttered. “Then you’ll know what you’re dealing with.” The cat hissed, and I felt all the eyeballs in the jar on the shelf staring at me in silent judgment.
James gulped Cora’s untouched tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before he flipped one more page. He glanced at it and nodded, as if the words proved some unspoken point. “There’s a town in the middle of Prussia called Tulpedorf,” James said, tripping over the foreign pronunciation. “Or rather, there was a town. It doesn’t exist anymore,” James said evenly, the color beginning to return to his face.
“What happened?” Cora asked, leaning forward.
“A vampire moved in,” James explained. “Kind of like your Samuel—a man with a terrible mission. Elijah was his name. No one knew where he came from, or who he was. He was a stranger, but remarkably charismatic. People liked him, and there was even some whispering that he should rule the town. The more people who whispered that, the more people who started to believe it. After all, strange things were happening around town. Animal attacks, mysterious deaths. Maybe Elijah would save them. Little did they know, he was a vampire. One day, he did take over the town. He rounded up an army of the villagers he’d been turning into vampires ever since he arrived and compelled them to do his bidding. They stormed the castle of the local lord. Then, of course, his army began killing innocent citizens. For two days, there was mass carnage. But just as quickly as it began, it stopped. Elijah called off his vampire army. He compelled them to head to the woods and find as many branches as they could. Once there was an enormous pile of kindling, Elijah lit a match and ordered the army to step into the flames. They did, without a second glance. At this point, everyone in the town who hadn’t been killed just watched in horror. Some screamed for them to stop. But no one did. Elijah did it just because he could, you see? He played with people, like a puppeteer, and didn’t care about the consequences. And that was a tiny town. One can only imagine what a man with ambition and numbers would do in a city like London.”
“Where did Elijah go?” I asked.
“No one knows.” James shrugged. “But that’s neither here nor there. I’m telling you this story so you know exactly what your Samuel is now capable of. But something tells me he won’t be content with a few dozen murders.”
“So what do we do?” Cora asked. “Is there some sort of antidote? I know vervain stops humans from falling under compulsion. If we could just find another herb that would protect vampires, then we could fill the water supply or…” she trailed off.
“There is no herb,” James said. “Vervain won’t work against his power. It may protect humans against any of the vampires Samuel will compel, but how long do you think that will last? Any job that can’t be carried out by one of his minions, I’m sure Samuel will simply perform himself. I can’t help you. And I can’t have either of you coming to my shop anymore. It’s too dangerous. I’m leaving here myself.”
“I understand,” I said heavily, glancing futilely at the shelves.
“Come on, vampire,” he said, unbolting the door. Cora and I stood on the threshold as James hurriedly began plucking jars and boxes off the shelves and placing them on the table. He opened a small bottle filled with green liquid and gulped it town, then turned around when he realized I was still staring at him.
“Go!” James yelled. Cora and I fled. At the far end of the alley, I turned around. James was standing outside the store, throwing stems of vervain over the welcome mat. Even the store catering to monsters wouldn’t have me anymore.
12
I felt like I was the bumbling villain in a burlesque show. Despite being foiled time and time again, I insisted on trying a new scheme. Only in a burlesque show, there was an audience. And I couldn’t help but wonder: Was Samuel watching? I hoped he was, if nothing else than as a distraction from building his vampire army.
When Father had planned a siege against the vampires in our town, he’d done it methodically, making sure everyone knew what their roles were: Jonathan Gilbert was supposed to find vampires with his compass, Honoraria Falls was supposed to distribute vervain to everyone, and Sheriff Forbes was to supply the brute manpower, muzzles, and chains to hold the vampires until their destruction. How much simpler would a siege be if the commander could compel everyone—even his enemies—to do his bidding with a simple thought?
We were out of options, but as foolish as it might have been, I couldn’t stop trying to save the city. I was the only one who could.
As I desperately racked my brain for another idea, I couldn’t help but feel like the curtains were about to fall on the show. The only question was: How would it end?
In the short time we had been in James’s shop, the weather had changed completely. The sun had disappeared behind a cloud, the air was cold and sharp, and the ground was coated in a fine layer of white powder. Cora, chilled to the bone, headed back to Bedford Square, while I continued to walk. The flurries had the effect of making London look like an etching on a holiday card. The air was redolent with the scent of roasted chestnuts, and rosy-cheeked people were marveling at the accumulation of snow along the curb. Men stopped on the streets to jovially slap one another on the backs in greeting. All around me London seemed at its finest, while all I felt was grief and despair.