Page 57 of Curses & Cold Brew
Meanwhile, Esme had taken the distraction as the perfect time to pounce. In half a second, Esme had Ramona flat on her back. The vampire moved with breathtaking speed, faster even than most of the supernatural creatures that dwelled in the town.
“You always were a loner, Esme,” Ramona said, unbothered by the hand squeezing her throat. “You can’t bear that I’ve found belonging. I know why you’re really here. Your coven kicked you out, didn’t they?”
“They were growing soft,” Esme seethed. “I need someone stronger. You can be my coven now.”
“Your selfishness is what’s going to get you killed,” Ramona rasped, gripping the wrist of the hand that choked her.
Esme threw her head back and laughed. The madness in her voice sent a surge of energy into Naphula, who snatched my ankle, toppling me to the ground.
Esme gripped Ramona’s chin, forcing her to look over at us. “Watch your so-called best friend kill your little witch, then herself. A grand finale to your last attachments, Ramona. Then you’ll finally be free.”
Naphula pulled me underneath her frame, shoving me into the soft dirt of a fresh grave while I shrieked.
“You forget one thing, Esme,” Ramona gritted out. “I don’t just have two friends. I have this whole fucking town. Now!”
At her signal, the resident of Maple Hollow shot up from behind the graves. An army of supernatural residents spread out, dotting the rolling hills of gravestones far in the distance.
“What the—” Esme’s words were drowned out by a mishmash of odd and zany war cries as the townspeople held up everything from pitchforks to rolling pins and began running to our aid.
“This town is a family,” Ramona snarled. She bucked off a distracted Esme and shot to her feet. “And we don’t let anyone mess with our family.”
Cheers—and a few howls—rang throughout the graveyard. Everyone hidden in the distant halo, ringing the open space, closed in. They’d kept their distance so as not to alert the rogue vampire of their presence, but I suspected she’d been so arrogant and single-minded, she hadn’t even been looking for those lurking in the periphery.
With Esme’s mind distracted, Naphula was finally susceptible to my magic. I sent a blast directly to her chestand scrambled to my feet, making a beeline toward Ramona. Naphula swiped the back of my sweater, but I evaded her and ran as fast as my legs could take me.
“Wyatt!” I called, and the werewolf leaped out from behind an elm tree, followed by three pack members holding nets and rope. “Get her, boys!” I bolted past them as they rushed Naphula, the werewolves easily restraining her in her stupefied state.
I kept running until I reached Ramona’s side, and then she looped her arm around my waist as she smiled at her cornered foe. Esme’s face fell as she whirled, turning in each direction only to find witches, monsters, and werewolves creeping closer and closer.
Agnes emerged at the head of the vampire coven. “We banished you from this town, Esme, for what your callous recklessness brought upon our kind and all other monsters who found safety here.”
“Just let Ramona and me go, and I promise I will never return,” Esme pleaded, holding up her hands in surrender.
“Ramona belongs with us. Here.” Agnes’s eyes darkened. “We claim her as her true family.”
Ramona’s hand on my side instinctively squeezed. It was such a subtle action, but I knew how badly she needed to hear those words and the hoots of agreement from the rest of the town.
“But banishment is clearly not enough, Esme.” Agnes advanced and lifted a sharpened stake. “For the destruction you’ve wrought on your unwelcome return, for breaking the codes set forth by the covens both witch and vampire, and for ignoring the warnings therein, we condemn you to death.”
Esme’s wide eyes frantically searched the crowd before they landed on an opening in the circle we’d formed around her, and she bolted toward the haunted woods.
“Shit!” I cursed as the vampire sprinted across the graveyard with preternatural speed. “Randy!”
“On it!” A bellow and galloping hooves sounded before Randy appeared astride his horse. They raced behind Esme as Randy lifted his glowing head in his hand.
“He’s not going to—” Ramona started.
“Of course he is,” I answered.
Randy lobbed his pumpkin head at Esme, and when it collided with the back of her skull, the force of it sent her sprawling into a headstone.
Jordyn and Harlow dashed toward her from a nearby grave.
“Broom!” Jordyn screeched, and then her broomstick was whizzing through the air and into Jordyn’s waiting hand. Immediately, she snapped it over her knee and drove the splintered end into Esme’s back.
With a wail, the vampire disintegrated into nothing but ash.
“Holy shit,” Harlow said, staring wide-eyed at the ground. “Did you just Buffy a freaking vampire?”
