Page 67 of The Vanishing Bookstore
‘It never had to be this way. Why wouldn’t you just take my offer to be my wife? The pair of us could have been such a powerful force to reckon with. The things we could have done, we would have been unstoppable.’
Lenny’s instincts had been spot on when she’d spurned his advances. He’d still been a mortal back then, before he’d turned into this and become an eater of souls.
‘I’ve never liked you, and I never will. Don’t you think it’s time you gave up all of this, are you not tired of the hunt? It’s not as if you get a different result with each chase, is it? You find us, stalk us, hunt us, then kill us. It’s kind of getting real boring, George. Wouldn’t you rather be retired and enjoying fishing out on the lake with a six-pack of Bud or playing golf?’
‘Fishing, what fun is that when I can hunt women for pleasure? I’m sorry, Lenny, but this lifestyle is way more exciting than fishing. Why would I drink cheap beer when I can savour souls that taste infinitely divine? I haven’t tasted yours yet, but I like to think it will be like the finest wine, the sweetest chocolate and the creamiest desert all mixed together into one sweet ingredient.’
Lenny panicked. He didn’t just want to kill them this time. He wanted to steal their souls and the thought made her feel faint. She slipped her right hand into her pocket; her fingers gripped the heavy stone inside the bag. She knew it wouldn’t be enough, but it might buy her a little time. What was the binding spell Sephy had said they could use? She needed to summonHecate and ask for her help but how was she supposed to do that when he was standing in front of her? When Dora took the fight to him, she would have already used the incantation that had been hidden for centuries in Lucine’s spell book and called upon the dark goddess of all witches bringing the moon goddess powers to life. If Lenny could stall him long enough for Dora and Sephy to get their act together it might work.
‘Okay, what if we came to a compromise?’
‘A what?’
‘What if I told you I’d be with you, so we could rule the world, that kind of thing?’
He stared at her, his dark eyes probing into the depths of her green ones so hard that she could feel tiny needles of pain as they reached inside.
‘You’re being serious?’
‘I’m tired of running away, tired of all the fear. Why don’t we give it a go, call a truce? Who knows, I might enjoy it.’
‘What about Isadora and Seraphina? What about Lucine? Are they going to let you do this without a fight?’
‘Lucine passed this morning, Sephy and Dora are grieving. I want your assurance that you’ll leave them alone if I agree to go with you.’
He nodded. ‘I only ever wanted you. I’m sorry about Lucine. She was a good woman.’
‘We’re all good women, all of the—’ Lenny stopped herself, not wanting to argue with him and let him know she was still full of fight.
‘That you were and I’m sorry for how it all turned out. I do have some regrets about what happened back then.’
She tried not to glare at him. Sorry didn’t cut the pain and fear he’d caused them for centuries. He was lying, he couldn’t be trusted, but she’d play this game for as long as she could to buy Dora the time she needed.
George walked towards her and held out his hand. ‘Shake on it.’
Lenny swallowed hard; she didn’t want to touch him. The thought of her skilled surgeon’s fingers touching his repulsive dead ones made her cringe inside. Pushing her hand forwards, she gripped his as tight as she could, his fingers slick with perspiration, making it hard to keep hold of it. His other hand shot out and grabbed the back of her neck. His fingers squeezed so tight she felt her shoulders rise to her ears to try and protect herself. He pushed her forwards and she fell into the corner of the desk, hitting her head on one of the shelves containing Sephy’s jars. She felt her skin split and saw stars in her eyes as the blood began to flow down the side of her face.
Anger pulsated underneath her fingers, and she rolled to face him. Pointing towards him, she sent a beam of electricity at his heart. It jolted him backwards and he looked shocked. Taking the stone out of her pocket before he could do anything else, she got to her feet and charged towards him. Taking a swing at his head, she heard the sound of her fist whooshing through the air, but it missed. Somehow it didn’t land where it was supposed to and then she saw the jar of salt he’d thrown at her sprinkled all over the floor. She let out a scream of anger.
‘You dirty bastard. I told you I’d come with you.’ The salt showered her, and she fell to her knees as it covered her, taking away all of her strength. He stood and watched her fall then nodded his head. Taking some cable ties from his pocket he bent down and tugged her hands together; she couldn’t fight him. The salt Sephy had made was too powerful. They’d never anticipated it being used against them and now she watched as he tightened the plastic straps around her wrists with a huge grin on his face, then straightened up.
‘Come now, Lenora, don’t be so angry with me. After all these years and all of our battles, did you really expect me to believeyou would come with me so willingly? I am sorry if you truly meant it this time and I would work on making it up to you if you did but I can’t trust an English woman and you shouldn’t expect me to.’
Lenny’s anger was so great she could feel it radiating from her in waves towards him. She bowed her head, unable to speak, realising that she had just walked straight into George Corwin’s wicked plot and her own death sentence. Her only hope was that it would buy the others some much-needed time to prepare for the final battle. He bent down and scooped her into his arms, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out of the back door to a waiting limousine with blacked-out windows. He opened the door and tossed her into the back, climbing in after her.
43
The smell of charred peas lingered in the air, but Dora thought she might be getting the hang of it. Sephy was busy grinding herbs and more black salt behind her when she cried out loud.
‘Lenny.’
A chill settled over Dora and she turned around to see her aunt’s pale face.
‘What’s wrong?’
Sephy was swaying, her hand clutching the base of her neck.
‘She’s in trouble, he’s got her, I’m sure of it.’
