Alex Van Helsing The Triumph of Death - By Jason Henderson Page 0,28

on it, crossing them. “Do you know how we prepare them?” When Alex shook his head, she continued. “We make them ourselves. There are some spells that can be done on the fly, with a flurry of words, but many of them take more incantation than you’re likely to have time for in the field. Remember also that spells of conflict are especially costly and take more time and energy. So we very caringly prepare spells. It takes me hours and weeks to put a full library together. Everyone prepares them for themselves. The decoding spell you saw me use, I made myself.”

“I’ve…seen other spells cast,” Alex said. “And they didn’t use tools.”

Astrid nodded. “This would be your mother.”

Alex’s ears pricked up. “Yes.”

Astrid seemed to brighten when the subject came up. “Amanda is very much admired in the community. I mean, people talk about her, Alex. She can work faster and more efficiently than anyone of her generation and many older witches. She has both the innate talent and the years of training.” Astrid paused and leaned forward, looking the way Sid often did when he learned something new about vampires. “Can you tell me about her? What was it like growing up with such a powerful witch?”

Alex felt his mouth drop open as he searched for an answer. The truth was going to be embarrassing. She seemed to know more about his mother than he did. “Um, she didn’t ever use her power when I was around.”

Astrid didn’t seem to understand this. “Really?”

“Really,” Alex said. “I didn’t know.” It was worse than that; he didn’t just not know—his parents had actively hidden the existence of the paranormal world from him. Vampires, werewolves, and witches, ghosts and zombies, and of course any significance to Alex Van Helsing’s name were all the imaginary stuff of books and movies. His parents had lied about the fact that the books, especially, carried clues regarding the truth about all of those things. He wanted to say, What else can you tell me about my mother? but he felt himself brimming with irritation.

“She must have sacrificed a great deal,” Astrid said.

Must have sacrificed. For Dad first, then for Alex and his fraternal twin, Judith, then for his three younger sisters. For all of them.

But what did that mean, must have sacrificed? Was Astrid suggesting Mom was miserable? No, no, stop flying off the handle. He caught himself overreacting. He slowed down the way his father had taught him, as he would if he suddenly found himself losing his balance on a ski slope. He was hearing every word that Astrid said and for some reason he was giving it all the worst possible reading. Why was he doing that? It didn’t matter. This panic you’re feeling is not real.

Alex shrugged. “I really couldn’t say.”

Astrid’s eyes darted rapidly and she seemed to be looking over his eyebrows, and if he didn’t know better he’d think she was trying to read his mind. Could witches do that? “There’s a lot going on in there.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Alex asked.

“Anything!” she said. “Alex, do you know you’re the only teenager I’ve met who’s aware of this weird little world we run in? It’s nice not to have to pretend to be normal. Go ahead, ask away.”

“When you said that you insisted on working with a Van Helsing—I guess I’m confused. My mom was the witch, but what’s so special about the Van Helsings?”

She shook her head and smiled. “Alex, you should know this stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that.”

“Let’s just say that just because your dad says the family belongs on the Polidori side of the equation doesn’t make it necessarily so.”

“What do you mean? We’re not magic users.”

“Well, you are, aren’t you?”

“I have a…” He looked at his hands as though he had the right description written on his palm. “I have an ability to sense evil. I can’t do spells or anything. And apparently it’s unusual.”

“And you’re thinking you inherited this from your mom?”

Alex shrugged.

“Well.” Astrid leaned forward conspiratorially. “I do know something about this. You’re not the first Van Helsing to have power when it comes to vampires. You might be the first in a long time, but not the first. The Van Helsing that John Polidori met and worked with is someone my people admire greatly.”

“You mean Abraham?” Alex knew that she was talking about the Van Helsing, Alex’s great-great-great-grandfather, who had given Bram Stoker notes on the hunt for Dracula that had played