“You ready to give it a go?” Meg handed the contraption to a very reluctant Uther and faced him toward a scarecrow near the lake shore with a cloth head and stitched-on face, featuring two pointed canines—a dart protruding from its chest.
The door squeaked open behind her.
“You’re vampire hunters,” Esther said.
“That’s a simplistic way of putting it.” August joined her at the railing overlooking the scene below. “We consider it population control.”
“Population control.” What a simple yet nefarious phrase. A word pulled out by hunters every deer season. Orconservationistswhen dealing with an invasive species. A word used by one group to justify the death of another. For the sake of balance.
“There are rules,” he said.
But Esther barely heard him over the rushing static in her head.
“No one wants to start a war,” August continued. “Vampires in a Family are safe from hunters. We only go after the young and unaffiliated. Those without anyone to keep them in line.”
That “we” echoed in her head. August had hunted vampires. Vampires like Ashley, who was a real person and not a deer.
“Uther.”
Uther loosed the dart as Esther called to him, and the shot sailed past the target and into the lake.
“Watch it,” Meg scolded him. “Greg. Fetch.”
The dog shot out from under the porch and performed a perfect dive into the lake, beelining for the missing dart.
“I’m ready to go back now.” Esther didn’t wait for August’s answer or even for Uther to catch up to her. She went back through the kitchen door and out the other side to the car. It was time to call it a day.
This time, Esther was happy to be the forgotten third wheel in the backseat—the ferry chugging along beneath them back to Plattsburgh. August was a member of a coven of vampire-hunting witches. And Esther was checking her phone to see if the hot vampire from class had texted yet. No, she had not. This was a problem.
“All right, here’s the plan,” said August.
Esther hated this plan already.
“I’m dropping Uther off on our way into town.”
Uther raised his hand as though summoning a teacher. “Umm. Actually, I don’t like this plan.”
At least she wasn’t the only one not on board.
“I’m dropping you off on our way into town,” August continued, “and Esther, I’m taking you to the vampire house to get the missing page.”
Esther and Uther had strong words on this idea, and both shared them—loudly, one over the other.
“You can’t just dump me at home like this.”
“Why do I have to go? You go.”
“Just because I’m not some magical creature doesn’t mean I’m not helpful.”
“I just wanted to work on my paper in peace.”
“Stop it!” August yelled, but they continued to argue their points, Esther fueling her anger from Uther’s.
August finally resorted to holding down the horn until they both quieted, and everyone on the ferry glared daggers at their car.
“Here’s the plan,” August said. “I am going to take Esther to interview my aunt about Platt family history as part of her internship. You can actually benefit from this. Uther, you don’t need to be there, so I’m taking you home, where you won’t be in any danger. Ideally.”
They sat in silence, both Uther and Esther fuming for being treated like children. If August thought he was going to have two cooperative volunteers, he had another think coming. In the silence, Esther’s mind went to the small journal she’d found days ago in the Platt collection talking of night contagions and a secret society. She had a feeling she’d just met a branch of that secret society. August’s aunt was the perfect person to ask about that piece and the history of the collection in general.