Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) (29 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO

    ACHAK
CARRIED THE DEAD DEER
having just
drained its blood into the large black pot that was over a robust
crackling
fire.
He was satisfied with himself and his deeds, looking forward to a future where no one would able to stand up to him. Achak
cut out
the animal
’
s heart, liver and lungs
with his curved boning knife
and
tossed it in
as if making a statement.
Nature didn’t have a chance with his supremacy over the elements.
The organs joined others in the pot that was now half full.
The wizard was tired from lack of sleep but was determined to complete the spell before lying down on his bed inside the wigwam.
There was nothing more important than his work.

   
He had had to search
through a hundred pages of changing spells until he found one that he considered suitable.
Staring
at the round domed wigwam
and
getting lost in his thoughts, h
e
finally
went over to the Blood Book on the small antique table and gazed onto its red pages with the black lettering.
Each page contained over seven hundred spells that were rotated through
, magically appearing and disappearing
,
showing only the enchantments
that were poss
ible with his level of wizardry
.
He knew that as his power was augmented, so would the number of
spells
that appeared
.
The sorcerer with the most
powerful
spells always had an advantage.
Once the spell was selected all he had to do was touch the page for it to remain.
Depending on who stared into the tome the knowledge released was different.

    The more that Achak delved into black magic the more it consumed
him, once past the halfway point there was no turning back, and unfortunately for him he had just passed it. He may as well have had tossed his soul into the nether regions because the result was the same. It would not be fun battling other evil entities for eternity when his spirit finally left his body. He would be sorry then but it was already too late.
Or if his soul got black enough perhaps he would enjoy battling the other devils.

    A large raven landed o
n his left shoulder squawking
. He looked at its black plumage and big beak.
It was a bird that he had instilled some magic in and now it worked for him as a sentry.
“I know I’m tired bird, you don’t have to tell me. And yes, I’m being careful with the ingredients.”

   
Although the wizard knew a lot about magic, he didn’t know as much as he thought. Achak was unaware that the caustic fumes that were released from his spells were changing vampires worldwide.
The vapours drove a few insane; others were only slightly altered by augmenting their levels of magic.
S
ome were losing IQ points
while
others were being made more aggressive
.
Some
were becoming more fertile.
His caustic stew was changing the very nature of certain vampires.

   The raven squawked once again. “You are going to make me make a mistake if you continue.
Now shut your beak!
”

   
Dark magic sometimes had a way of taking on a life of its own.
Achak’s
bla
ck magic was slowly accumulating
like centuries of pollution.
Some of it intensified as it took to the wind,
combining with the elements in the air.
It had no effect whatsoever on humans, but vampires were gradually being affected by the remnants of the black magic being spewed. Winds carried it for thousands of miles
, and as its levels increased the consequences were unpredictable.
This specific spell was meant to lure a red sheriff with
high levels of magical ability; it was meant to pull as mu
ch magical essence out of a
sheriff as possible.

    The bird flew on top of the wigwam and watched, like a teacher watching a student with a science project, hoping that the pupil wasn’t going to blow himself up.
He tore a page out of the book as required by the spell but ended up with a paper cut. Wher
e one page had
been in
the book
another appeared. Crumpling the red paper he threw it into the pot as the spell required, however a drop of his blood also fell into the pot. An attempt wa
s made to stop that single drop
from falling
but it was too late.
A small puff of gray smoke was emitted as it combined with the other ingredients.

    “Oh no, all that work lost!
No, no, no.
” The raven shook its head as if to say that it had warned him.
“I know it’s my fault. It’s too late now.
Still, it could work?
”
But the wizard knew that he was fooling himself.
It would be some kin
d of spell but a different one
. He upset the pot and all its contents.

    It started to snow blood red snowflakes. They were pretty enough as they descended, but as soon as they touched something they turned to blood. The area was soon saturated in blood. Achak stood bloodied and angry at himself but there was nothing that he could do about it now. He would have to start the process all over again.
All that time and effort wasted.
He entered the wigwam and
tossed and turned for hours until
he finally went to sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

    A
BBEY COULDN’T SLEEP
with
the sheriff in the house
so they played cards at the kitchen table as they waited for the vampire to show up
and bang on the door
.
She was impress
ed by Alexander’s size and his
good looks, hoping that the rickety chair he was sitting on wouldn’t give way to his solidness.
He was a man’s man, although he could be as gentle as a lamb when necessary
; a good man that one could count on through good times and bad
she thought
.
The table was old with metal legs
that weren’t in the condition that they used to be.
The age of the furniture made it obvious that they were a poor family.

   
The German shepherd
relaxed on the floor beside Alexander; Tessy could sense their mutual attraction and was indifferent to it. The dog lived for battling evil vampires and because there weren’t any present she was bored.
Tessy wanted someone evil to chew on.
She stretched with her powerful legs and let herself fall flat, taking up quite a bit of space on the floor.
The shepherd
had the biggest chest on a dog that he had ever seen, and even before Dracula had turned her into a vampire
she had been
alpha.

    “Beautiful dog.”

    “She
’s
one of a kind.
If someone ever does her in I’m going to cry like a baby
then destroy whoever did
it or die trying
.
”

   
Abbey liked what he had just said because to her it sounded honest.
The smell of strong black coffee permeated the air as they both had a cup.
Abbey
felt safe but she knew that f
eeling would leave as soon as he did
.
They played poker for fun and he let her win more than half the time. They could hear Arym snoring from he
r bedroom. They talked about the
girl’s new
life as a vampire, and
various other subjects including
Dracula.

    “So you’ve met him
?”

    “Yes, a few times.
Every red sheriff has met Dracula.
”

   
Abbey took a sip
of her
hot
coffee from her oversized white cup.
“What’s he like?
They write things about him in books and newspapers
but what’s he really like? They contradict themselves so much that it’s obvious they don’t know much about him.
I’m guessing that half the stuff is made up.
”

    “
I can’t really answer that because we’re not best friends if you know what I mean. H
e’s a handsome guy
but
kind of
scary. He has a presence about him like no other.
Saying that the Master is powerful is an understatement.  Most vampires can detect his energy
from quite far away.
”

    “How far away?”

    “Depends on the vampire.”

    Abbey brushed the hair out of her eyes; she was flirting with the sheriff and he knew it.
He was sexy to her on multiple levels.
“What’s it like to be a vampire?”