Philomena

  Philomena owned the Beanstalk Cafe– a fact no one else knew. A small but powerful gnome, she was always underestimated, dismissed, or outright bullied by creatures who thought themselves superior. That was exactly why she opened the cafe in the first pce– to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.

  And humans certainly couldn’t protect themselves from vampires.

  But, of course, Gillian wasn’t a normal vampire.

  Philomena stood in the kitchen and looked at her friend. Her heart ached at the betrayal she saw lining Gillian’s face.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I shouldn’t have assumed you were feeding on him,” she said softly. “But whatever that man out there is, he’s not human. The wards around Beanstalk Cafe are infallible. I would know, I raised them myself.”

  Gillian blinked. “You built the wards?”

  It wasn’t surprising that she was shocked. The wards were ancient magic, and no one would expect someone with that kind of power to be working as a cook.

  “But you must be mistaken,” Gillian continued. “Because I’m telling you, Jack is one hundred percent human. I’ve been with him all day and–” Color rose to her cheeks.

  “Jack, is it?” Philomena’s lips twitched with amusement. She’d never seen the girl nervous and blushing. “And what have you and your Jack been up to, holed up in the hallway all morning?”

  It wouldn’t be the first time in history a vampire and mortal had become entangled romantically.

  “He’s not my Jack,” Gillian shot back, defensive. “But listen. The reason I didn’t kick him out is because he has magic runes drawn in his notes.”

  Philomena’s amusement faded. She opened her mouth, but Gillian barreled on before she could interrupt.

  “Don’t worry. They aren’t activated. The runes are dormant but they’re tracking runes. And Jack– he doesn’t seem to know what they mean or what they do. But the inscriptions…” she hesitated, giving Philomena a meaningful look. “They’re definitely for my dad. I think these are the runes.”

  Philomena arched an eyebrow. “You mean to say this random stranger, who smells human to you but somehow walked through the cafe’s wards, just happens to have magical runes that have been lost for centuries? Runes designed specifically for the Vampire King?”

  “Don’t call him that,” Gillian scoffed, rolling her eyes.

  Her father wasn’t actually a king, despite what he thought of himself. His title was the Count of Romania, but since he was the highest-ranking vampire in existence, the moniker stuck.

  “Gillian. This is serious,” Philomena scolded. “I knew the witch who created the runes in 1353. If you’re right, and he copied them accurately from the source, you know what his scrap of paper could do.”

  Gillian was one of the st vampires to be created by the great Count before a witch bound his powers with the runes. The magic prevented him and his brethren from creating new vampires after humans came close to extinction when newly turned vampires wiped out whole communities.

  The runes were lost to history. But it was well known that, if found, they could be reactivated to track the vampire king and return his powers.

  “How do we know this boy isn’t here to find you and use you to get to your father? This is all very coincidental,” Philomena said, one eyebrow raised.

  She could tell her friend was convinced this boy wasn’t hiding anything but something still felt off to her. Philomena could sense a person’s aura, their magic, their core. This boy Jack was… bnk. All she could see were traces of Gillian’s aura sparkling across his skin. It was almost as if something was blocking her magic. Philomena wasn’t sure if it was nefarious yet, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down.

  Gillian paused before answering, “I’ve spent a lot of time with him today. He’s only a student…” she trailed off and Philomena could see her mind working, brow furrowed and eyes darting. She suddenly buried her face in her hands.

  “I’m an idiot, aren’t I? Of course he was sent here to get something out of me. Of course this has everything to do with Count Vd von freaking Karnstein.” She rushed towards the kitchen doors to confront Jack, Philomena close on her heels.

  But as they pushed through the swinging doors, Gillian skidded to a halt.

  Jack was gone.