Vampire a Go-Go

THIRTY-SEVEN

“This is getting us nowhere,” Penny said. “We can’t just keep wandering aimlessly through Prague.”

They walked along one of the city’s small parks, their footfalls echoing along the cobblestones. The street was deserted.

“I thought he might go back to the Globe,” Amy said. “He can send email there. He hasn’t been in the city long enough to know any other places. And he didn’t go back to his dorm room.”

“He’s not that stupid,” Penny said. “Anyone looking for him will check the dorm. He knows that.”

“I’m out of ideas. If you’d just let me contact my people, they could help search for him. We have resources.”

“Not any more than you’ll let me contact Father Paul. We had a deal. Can’t you cast a spell to find him?”

Amy shook her head. “It’s not as easy as it sounds, you know? Casting a spell isn’t like wiggling my nose on Bewitched. I need materials, a safe and quiet place to cast. Witchcraft is a subtle and complex art.”

“I think Allen was right,” Penny said. “I don’t think you really have any powers at all.”

“Don’t start!”

Penny sighed. “Listen, I think I can do something that will help, but you’ve got to promise not to freak out.”

“Why would I freak out?”

Penny took Amy’s hand, led her behind a row of thick hedges, out of sight of the street or any houses. “Sometimes people freak out.”

“I’m in the Society,” Amy said. “Freaky stuff is my business.”

“Just don’t freak out.”

“Stop saying that!”

Penny began to unbutton her shirt. Amy raised an eyebrow. Penny took off the shirt, gooseflesh rising on her white skin. She reached back to unclasp her bra.

“Okay,” Amy said. “Now you’re freaking me out.”

“Just watch for anyone coming.” Penny took off the bra, her small, pert breasts bouncing into view. She bent, pushed her skirt down, kicked off her shoes.

“Is this a sex thing?” Amy asked. “Because I don’t go that way.”

“Last warning,” Penny said. “Don’t freak out.”

Jackson Fay emerged from the terminal with his carry-on bag slung over his shoulder. He immediately spotted the two girls waiting for him on the other side of customs.

He approached them, smiled. “Hello, Clover. Sam.”

“We got your message,” Clover said. “There’s a taxi waiting outside.”

“Well done,” he said. “I’ll have questions.”

“We’ll fill you in.”

Fay looked around. “Where’s Amy?”

“We had to scatter,” Clover told him. “We think she’s with Cabbot. She checked in to say she was safe but refused to give her whereabouts. She said the situation was awkward. It’s… suspicious.”

“Yes.” Fay scratched his chin, wondered what the girl could be up to, where she might be. He wasn’t in the mood for complications.

“We attempted a tracking spell,” Sam said, “but they must be blocking us somehow.”

Yeah, right.

“I’ll need a hotel,” Fay said. “Let’s go.”

Father Paul stood next to Finnegan. They looked down at Evergreen’s pale, lifeless body, the fleshy pink gash in his throat garish and horrible.

Father Paul sighed, stuck a cigarette in his mouth. “You got a light?”

“I don’t smoke,” Finnegan said.

“Really? Since when?”

“About a week. Ten days maybe. It’ll kill ya.”

“I’ll quit after this job.”

“You said that before.”

“Well, I’m saying it now.”

Finnegan nudged the body with his foot. “What about him?”

“If she doesn’t need Evergreen anymore, then she’s got her hooks into somebody else,” Father Paul said.

“The Cabbot boy?”

“What do you think?”

“Yeah.” Finnegan rubbed the stubble on his jaw. They both needed sleep. “And Penny wouldn’t say?”

“Poor girl’s in love.”

“Damn,” Finnegan said. “Maybe we can still get through this without love fucking it up.”

“From your lips to God’s ears, Father Finnegan.”