Chapter Nineteen

Blood and Terror

            Alice stretched one hand out towards the fire place. She heard it flare up with a roar, and then surprised murmurs from all around her. She opened her eyes, a little scared of what she would see. Something had formed in the flickering orange flames, a huge ball of fire, brighter than the rest. The globe rose from the fire and hovered over the tile floor, moving forward slowly, cracking and spitting sparks in its wake.  The guests in its path gasped, jumping aside as it approached, their faces ghoulish in the flickering light.  It was a surreal spectacle, and Alice shut her eyes tightly. If she disbelieved herself she wouldn’t be able to pull this off. She could feel the heat as it neared her; a gentle tickling warmth ran up her outstretched palm and traveled the length of her arm. The protection spell was working.

            The murmuring grew louder.  Alice could imagine what the guests were seeing. She could feel the prickling tongues of fire spreading over her body.  Several people murmured about clever tricks, and a few didn’t sound the slightest bit phased, as if people regularly set themselves on fire at this sort of dinner party. At last she opened her eyes.

“What was that you say about burning Witches?”

            Although Ambrose kept his smooth face expressionless, she could tell he was not as calm as he appeared.  He leaned forward eagerly, his eyes burning as fiercely as the fire surrounding her.

            At last Alice dropped her hands to her sides, and the flames died out, leaving her skin and dress smoking, though there was not a burn mark or soot stain on her. The crowd dissipated slowly after a smattering of applause, and Alice heard one old woman mutter about “show off Sorceresses”. She felt faint with relief. She had pulled it off without actually setting herself on fire.

            “That was most impressive,” Ambrose purred. “I applaud you, my dear. A wonderful trick. I do believe my guests thoroughly enjoyed it.”

            She gave him a shaky smile. “I’m glad you liked it, Alexie.”

            “Very much,” Ambrose said.

            “Perhaps next time you can do a trick, seeing as you’re a Greek god? Isn’t that right?” Alice gave him her sweetest smile, and Ambrose looked at her critically.

“Ah, my talents run to subtler things.”

            “What sort of things?”

            “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”

            “You’re awfully secretive. Are all Titans so closed-mouthed?”

            Ambrose gave her a rueful look. “You mock me, my darling.”

            “I don’t!” Alice protested. “I’m only wondering.”  She had better reign in on the jabs, just in case he did turn out to be some sort of ancient deity. After all, Maya had said he could do magic, even if it was only once.

            “Since you were just curious, than I shall answer you.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “I am the least secretive of my brothers and sisters.”

            “Alright, which Titan are you?” Alice said, “Or is it rude of me to ask?” She thought of the question she really wanted to ask him, which was ‘What the hell do you want?’, but that was definitely rude.

             Ambrose grinned. “You know…I’m not going to tell you.”

            “Why not?” Alice said, indignantly.  He probably just liked to have a secret he could lord over her. “Are you not a very good one?”

            Ambrose looked at her sharply, than relaxed his face into a grin, shaking his head. “My dear Alice, you have a sharp tongue. Why don’t you research it? I’m sure you’re clever enough to figure it out.” He raised his eyebrows. That was a challenge if ever she’d heard one!

            Ambrose continued to talk and Alice nodded, but she wasn’t listening. She was suddenly aware of something going on behind her. The tall thin vampire with his ash blonde hair and dark eyes…what was his name? Aspen? He had approached Maya as she stood just a few feet away, and Alice strained to hear the murmured conversation.

            “No words, little mouse?” Aspen was hissing. “What’s the matter, are you afraid of me?”

             “No, Aspen. I’m not.” Maya’s voice was much quieter, and Alice had to strain to hear her. “It wouldn’t be very smart to try anything in front of Alice. Didn’t you see what she just did?” Alice admired the steel in the younger girl’s voice, which she guessed must have taken real effort. She heard Gabriel’s angry hiss, telling the Vampire to back off.

            Aspen snorted softly, ignoring the Elf completely. “Parlour tricks.  I’ve seen more impressive things in this court. You think she’s the first Sorceress he’s taking a liking to? Do you have any idea what’s happened to the other ones? They are just toys for him, to be used up and thrown away.”

            Alice’s skin prickled in alarm. What did that mean? She missed Maya’s reply as Ambrose asked her a question.

            “What? Oh yes, yes.” She hoped that answer would suffice, and it seemed to work.  He continued talking.

             “Leave me alone, Aspen,” Maya was saying

            “Or what?”

            Alice turned at last - it might be rude but this sounded bad. She was shocked to see the tall Vampire in the midst of grabbing Maya by the back of her neck, holding her head in such a way that her bare throat was exposed to him.

“You smell delicious.”

            Gabriel was already starting for him, but Alice gave a cry of angry protest and lashed out without thinking.

            Aspen screamed as the threads picked him up by the back of the neck and threw him violently. He hit the wall with a thud and a sharp crack that could be heard from across the parlour, and then slid down onto the floor like a drunk, his neck at an awkward angle.

            It was very rarely that Alice swore, but this time she let out a long string of expletives before turning back to Ambrose.

“I’m sorry, but he was about to hurt Maya.”
            Ambrose looked around in evident surprise. The other guests were backing away from them, as if they were unsure what Alice was going to do next. She clamped her hands onto her hips to keep them from shaking and took a deep breath. Everyone was staring.

            “Was that Aspen?” Ambrose’s voice was furious.  Allira nodded, a smile playing on her venomous lips. Alice wondered if she had something against Aspen. Or perhaps she thought that Ambrose would be angry at Alice, and that’s what was making her smile.

            “Aspen is such a moron,” Ambrose muttered angrily. “He knows never to touch her. What got into him? Hopefully a broken neck will teach him a lesson.” He eyed the still Vampire slumped against the wall. The servants were already dragging him out of the room. They didn’t look alarmed or surprised. How often did this sort of thing occur?

            “I am sorry,” she hesitated. “Will he be okay?”

She didn’t particularly care about Aspen, but she’d never killed anyone before.

Ambrose shrugged. “The recovery process will be long and painful, and give him just enough time to think about what a bad move that was.” He smirked. “I apologize for him - my household seems to be getting a little out of hand, perhaps we’ll have to have a chat after the party.” He shot a look over his shoulder at Allira, who blanched.  

            Alice frowned, wondering how much of his anger was real. Had he ordered Aspen to move on someone in their group? Perhaps to test what her reaction would be? The pop star was almost impossible to read.

            “Oh dear…” Ambrose shook his head. “It seems something always happens at my parties when you are here. I am terribly sorry, Alice.”

            She nodded, accepting his apology, but determined to use this as a way to get out of the rest of the party. She put on a flippant tone.

“No damage done, but I think Maya must be a little shook up. I’m just getting the little dear to come out of her shell, so I think I’ll take her home now. Perhaps our next visit will not be quite so exciting.” Ew.  Her tone was nauseating, but it seemed to work on him.

            “I do hope so.” Amrose took her hand gently and bowed over it. “I am saddened you must leave, but I wish you a safe journey home.” He gestured to the rest of them. “Safe journey everyone, thank you for coming!” And with that he swept away, leaving them to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

            “That was interesting.” Azura spoke for the first time as they headed for the exit, pitching her voice low enough so that only the group could hear her. “Alice, I most certainly did not teach you that fire trick. You gave me a fright when you first started.”

            “Sorry,” Alice said, pausing at the double doors while the old butler ponderously opened one to let them out.  “I didn’t mean to be quite so dramatic. I was just going to have a little fire ball and run it over my arms.”

            “What you ended up doing was far more effective. You should have seen the look on his face.” Shakra sounded amused.

            “That was so cool,” Tricia gushed, as they finally emerged outside into the crisp night air. “I can’t do anything like that. I would totally trade making glamours for being able to set myself on fire.”

            “I can set you on fire if you like,” Lacy offered. Alice laughed, nearly dizzy with relief as they climbed into the limo. Oh, for my warm, safe, unexciting bed! She tried to close the door behind her, and stopped when it refused to budge. Puzzled, she looked up, and was shocked to see Allira standing there, gripping the top of the car door firmly.

            “Can I help you?”

            “Get out. I need to speak with you.”

            “That’s kind of rude...” Alice gasped as the woman reached in and grabbed her wrist, hauling her out of the limousine. Behind her she could hear her companion’s angry protests.

Allira let her go almost immediately and stood back, as if she were afraid Alice was going to cast a spell on her. In fact, Alice had already taken in her surroundings. There was precious little magic floating around the driveway, so she wouldn’t have had much to work with except what she had in the bottle around her neck.  How fast could I get this out and uncork the magic if she came at me? It was interesting to see that there were limitations to everything. It paid to be wary. Behind her, Shakra climbed out of the car and moved over to stand beside them.           

Alice said warily, “What do you want, Allira?”

            “I want you to stay away from Ambrose,” Allira hissed angrily. “He’s mine.”

            “He’s all yours.” Alice started to turn away, but Allira grabbed her arm again, wrenching her back around.

            “What spell did you cast on him…” She flinched as Alice batted her arm away.

            “Are you insane? Stop grabbing me like that. I didn’t cast any spells on him.”

            “You lie!”

            “I have no interest in him.”

            “How could you not have an interest in him?” Allira said furiously. “Everyone else does. What do you want from him? His money and fame? His attentions? Don’t be foolish. You should know he only wants to use you.”

There it was. She knew it! She had to keep the woman talking. “What do you mean by that?”

Allira’s face went blank; she had said too much. “He uses everyone,” the Siren stammered.

            “That’s not what you meant,” Alice cried. “You meant for something else, something specific! What are you talking about?”

            “I know you want him. You can’t have him.”

            “You are crazy.” Alice cried angrily. Allira drew back her arm and slapped Alice across the face with a crack that echoed out into the still night. Alice had never been struck in her life. To say that it stung would be a major understatement. It was shocking in its force, and she felt a jolt of pain as her tooth punctured her lower lip, then the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.  She staggered backwards, head spinning. Her cheek felt like a million angry bee stings concentrated in one area. She clutched her hand to her face, gasping and Shakra gave a growl that made Allira back up a step. Someone came rocketing out of the limousine and at the same second a voice cried furiously from the steps of the manor.

“Allira!”

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