more cursing.
There was a new-looking housing development right at the base of the hill, so close that the gravestones were practically in the backyard of the first line of houses. Weird for them, but good for us—we parked on the street a half block from the graveyard. I checked the time on my newest disposable phone. It was only a few minutes after ten, and plenty of the houses still had lights on. I was hoping that alone would dissuade Odessa from starting her little ritual anytime soon, but then I saw the fog creeping down the hill, brought on by the change in temperature. Or hell, by a portable fog machine, for all I knew. Odessa was making sure no one would look too closely at anything happening in the older section of the cemetery tonight. Great.
At least we were in the right place.
We crossed the street that formed the border between the houses and the fence around the city cemetery, with Lily on my left and Tobias on my right. Simon was slightly behind us. Nothing was moving on the border street, though we could hear the cars from the connecting streets on either side. “Is your guy—” Lily murmured to me, but at that exact moment a shadow stepped forward. A low growl ripped from Tobias’s throat, but he didn’t say anything.
“Evening,” Cole said quietly, tipping his fedora at me. He’d been leaning on the chain-link fence right in front of a big tree, practically invisible from the opposite side of the road.
“Hi.” I didn’t introduce my friends. I figured Cole wouldn’t want me spreading his name around.
“Y’all look ready for war,” the vampire said, surveying us.
“Yeah, but one thing is missing,” I replied, and he stepped forward and handed me a small, cheap duffel bag, which I accepted without verifying its contents. The bag was properly heavy, and anyway, I trusted Cole.
“Did you bring the bolt cutters?” I asked, trying to squint toward the fence.
“Yes, ma’am,” Cole drawled. “I already cut the padlock.” He pointed along the fence to the nearest gate, which he’d left closed. “Go in there.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I owe you one.”
He heard the seriousness in my voice, and his eyebrows lifted. “For real?”
I nodded. “You’ve gone above and beyond.”
“Yeah, well.” Cole scratched the back of his neck. “Rich white kids messing with boundary magic isn’t good for anyone, especially vampires. But I appreciate the marker.”
“You want to come with us?” I asked, a smile at the corners of my lips.
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you work, but them kids put some kind of barrier up around the whole cemetery. I can’t go in.”
I glanced at Lily, who nodded. We’d expected Odessa to use some sort of vampire warding to keep Beau away, but I’d hoped it would be limited to the Confederate Cemetery. Instead, she’d put a massive protective circle around a smaller inclusive circle. “Can you undo it?” I asked Lily.
She shrugged. “Yes, but it would take a couple of hours to pick it apart.”
I shook my head and turned back to Cole. “Did you see anything up at the top of the hill?” I asked.
“I can’t see inside, either,” he said with a frown. “Some kind of fog blocking my view, though I don’t know if that’s for vampires or if it’s natural.” Vampires might have supernatural sight and hearing, but they didn’t have X-ray vision through fog.
“All right. Thank you,” I said to Cole. “For everything.”
He touched his hat again, “I’ll remember that marker,” he said, and disappeared back into the shadows.
I looked at my friends. “Let’s go in.”
Once we were inside the city cemetery, the fun really got started.
We split into two teams: Lily and Tobias, Simon and me. I would have preferred to stay with Lily after the awkwardness between Simon and me earlier, but since she’d become clan leader, Lily was the stronger witch, and it only made sense to pair her with someone who had no spell ability.
I’d been a little concerned that the warding would keep Tobias out too, but he made it through the gate without any problem. Odessa and her coven probably hadn’t had enough time to adjust their ward for werewolves.
Simon and I took the west, or left, side of the cemetery, while Lily and Tobias went east. From where we stood at the bottom of the hill, this cemetery seemed a world away from the stately park atmosphere of Oakland. It was simple and functional, but