Page 127 of Castings & Curses

“You scared the living—” she broke off. Her irritation melted into concern when he continued gagging. “Are you okay?”

Drops of scarlet blood littered the ground. Her hand throbbed.

“Sorry.” He tried to straighten but gagged again. “I have trouble with fresh blood. Give me … a second.” He turned his back to her.

Priya wiped her sliced palm in the snow. Scooping up a handful, she held it against the tender wound.

“Whew.” Miles rolled his neck as he turned to face her. “Fresh blood makes” —he swallowed hard— “me nauseous.”

“How are you a vampire?” she asked, incredulous.

He shuffled from foot to foot, hands jammed in his pockets. “I use bagged blood and mix it into smoothies to disguise the flavor.”

The thought of blood smoothies made Priya slightly nauseous.

She scrounged up a crumpled Kleenex from deep within her coat pocket. She folded it into a small square and pressed it over the cut.

A displeased scowl scrunched up Miles’s face. “I told you to wait.”

Gingerly, she pulled the glove onto her injured hand, trying not to dislodge the Kleenex. “I couldn’t. There’s something in that room she wanted me to see.” Using her uninjured hand, Priya pointed at the opaque window. “I don’t know her name and even if I did, we don’t have the luxury of time to call her and find out what was so important. I have to get in that basement.”

His features smoothed out as she spoke. “Okay. Move. I can get it open easy enough.”

She scuttled back, giving him room.

“I’ll just loosen the paint a bit.” Miles hammered the side of the frame with his fist. The wood creaked. The window pane rattled.

“Don’t break the glass.”

“I won’t.” He struck the opposite side. The lighter blow didn’t rattle the glass this time. He hit the lower edge of the frame. The wood splintered. “Oops. Didn’t mean to do that.” Then he muttered so low she almost missed the words. “That should have popped the latch.”

Priya cast frantic looks about, sure that someone would hear the noise and come investigate.

Another strike and the window popped loose. “There!” The hinges squealed in protest as he pushed the window inward, opening it up.

Priya snatched up her phone and aimed it into the dark. Broken spider webs dangled from the wooden frame.

“What do you see?” Miles asked.

“Cobwebs. Boxes. Blankets and sheets are covering up piles of … I don’t know what all.”

He swiped away a dense web. “I’ll hold the window up. Go in feet first.”

Hoping a wolf spider didn’t drop down her neck, she shimmied through the rectangular opening.

“Take my hand. I’ll lower you down.”

With her ribs balanced on the jamb, she took Miles’s offered hand. A tremor raced through her as he lowered her. Even though the movement was smooth and steady, a part of her brain insisted he would drop her. Priya tightened her two-handed grip, making her injured hand throb. Miles wrinkled his nose. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard, struggling valiantly not to gag.

The window pane dipped, whacking the back of her skull.

“Sorry!” Muttering a curse, he lifted the window up another few inches.

“No worries.” Her feet touched the ground. “I’m in.” She rubbed the back of her head, moving aside as Miles came through the window.

Priya located a lightbulb with a string and pulled it. Light filled the musty-smelling room. She estimated the space was twenty by twenty. There were no other windows and only one door on the opposite side of the room. Dead bugs littered the floor.

“Crap!” Miles snarled.

---