Page 51 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“We didn’t turn it on,” Anita said.

Jane walked over and waved her hand over the crystals, which immediately shut off.

“Dismantle it,” Branson said.

Mae came in the room. “What’s wrong?”

“Chloe brought up a really good point about the crystals giving others access to us,” Branson put his arm around Mae and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Mae said. “It is what it is. It’s not like they don’t know The Estate exists. We have a certainty about one thing. The troubles in the cemetery are coming from the dark Fae. That’s one thing we can all agree on.”

The clumping up the stairs announced the arrival of Matheus. He walked in the room with Toern, who took Jane into his arms, giving her a resounding kiss.

They both looked like they’d been through a couple of fights, but they were wholehearted and welcome home. Bianca grabbed Matheus and for a moment I thought she might jump him right there; she was so excited to see him.

“I think you’ve got a room upstairs,” Mae said, shaking her head.

“It’s Morel,” Matheus said.

“What do you mean?” Bianca asked.

“The name of the dark Fae stirring a rebellion against the light Fae is called Morel. He’s gaining a lot of power. We had to go to the edge of the Fae territory, Hawaii, to find out, but the minute we touched it, it was obvious. There is a Civil War amassing between the dark and light Fae and this guy Morel is taking the lead.”

“Why does he want to take on the light Fae?” I asked.

“I don’t know, because he’s dark?” Mae said.

“I don’t think it’s quite that simple,” Bianca said. “I think there are ones who tend more toward darkness and ones that tend more toward light, but well, whatever they are, they want our cemetery. We’re going to need to keep a twenty-four-seven watch and figure out a way to combat the wraiths. We can’t afford to risk more people. We need to find the sixth Coven member.”

“We’re going to need to survive,” I said. “We’ll take turns on the watch.”

“Sounds good,” Mae agreed. “Jane and Bianca, maybe you can start researching the wraiths and figure out ways we can combat them, because if the Fae are done with the demons and sending wraiths now, we’re in trouble.”

“What can they do in the cemetery with a wraith?” I asked as zombie dog Carl came up and rubbed against my leg. I reached down and gave him a pat on the head.

“They can wake the nightmares of all the people who are dead in the cemetery,” Hilda said. “Once they raise their nightmares and fears it would be the reverse of the spell we did on Kartika. They’ll collect them all and send them out against the people of Cougar Creek to infect their brains.”

“Holy shit,” I said. “The cemetery’s warded, right?”

“Well, that’s the other problem,” Hilda said. “The cemetery’s never undergone a psychic attack, so if the wraiths were testing out what was going on here, then they’re preparing for a larger attack on the cemetery itself. We’ve already shown we don’t have much resistance to them. Not with the way they took down Chloe.”

“So, we don’t have wards against them,” Trina stated.

“Exactly. I’ll be working on finding wards with Hilda and Trina. Chloe you and the guys will have to do the rounds. Anita and Drake, I don’t want you doing rounds. It’s too dangerous.”

“That’s not fair,” Anita said. “We’re full-grown adults. We’re both twenty-one.”

“But you’re kids,” Mae said.

“Are you being for real?” Anita asked.

“No, I’m pointing out we don’t want you doing rounds of the cemetery patrolling. It’s dangerous out there and the wraiths could really fuck you up for the rest of your life.” Mae explained clearly to them both.

“Well, that’s one way to put it,” Hilda smiled.

“Listen, Mae,” Trina said. “A long time ago I learned my children have a mind of their own and I let them do things. You’re allowed to create rules for the coven to separate us by age, but it’s probably not the best idea. I say we let everybody rotate into the places that suit them best. Anita is a really great researcher, but Drake is a fighter. I’d put him out there against the wraiths any day.”

“Probably right,” I agreed. The twenty-one-year-old, while still a kid in my eyes, was a strapping young man who was able to fend for himself.

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