“Are you serious?” Linus glared up at his brother.

“Yes.” Ajax drew out the word as he looked into the pit. “Who would lie about that?”

Linus, sweating in the messy grave he had just finished digging, leaned on the shovel and asked another question. “Where did you lose the body?”

“I didn’t lose the body. It’s just not where I left it.”

Linus climbed out of the grave, noticing the full moon peaking out of the clouds. Too bad he didn’t notice it earlier. Considering they were in the old part of the cemetery, planning to toss the missing body in a grave that was already in use, he wasn’t as spooked as he probably should have been. The werewolves roamed tonight and the last thing they needed was more werewolves. He glanced around while he brushed at the dirt on his clothes. “Where did you leave it?”

“In the Blakemore Mausoleum.”

Linus’ eyebrows went up in shock. “You stashed a still warm body in the Blakemore Mausoleum?”

“Yeah.”

“In the mausoleum of the oldest vampire family in the States? The mausoleum that’s the entrance to their seethe?”

Ajax nodded. “Well, yeah.”

“And you think that’s a good idea?”

“Not anymore,” Ajax muttered.

“You do realize Dustan is probably being turned into a vampire as we speak?”

“I guess.”

“The werewolf we accidentally killed could come back as a vampire.”

“So?” Ajax swung his hands in the air. “This is not my fault. I’m not the one who threw the bat at his head.”

Linus growled low. “If you had held him, the bat would have taken out his kneecap, not his neck.”

“You try holding onto a werewolf in mid change.”

The brothers stood toe-to-toe for a minute. Their plan to scare off the werewolf their sister loved had gone horribly wrong. Not checking the moon’s status before confronting him, had been a bad decision of epic proportions. Linus took a deep breath, and grabbed his phone out of his back pocket.

“Who you calling?” Ajax asked.

“Marcus Blakemore.” Linus glared at the moon again. Maybe the rest of the pack would show up and put him out of his misery. Nah, considering how the night was going, they would turn him into a werewolf. Facing Mother as a werewolf was not something he wanted to experience.

Ajax kicked the ground. “Why?”

“Maybe he can help us.”

Marcus appeared at the edge of the woods just as his phone rang. He ignored it, and said, “Not my circus. Not my monkeys.”

Linus cancelled the call and dropped the phone back in his pocket, eyeing his friend. He started to ask about the outfit since Marcus looked like a vampire heading to a rave, but decided dress code wasn’t important. “So, er, you found the body.”

“Kerry did. And yes, she called Audrey.” Marcus leaned on the monolith next to the grave they had dug. “Your sister has quite the temper. Whatever issues you had with Dustan as a werewolf are nothing to the problems you have now that he’s a vampire.” Marcus raised his hand in the universal sign for stop. “Not my fault. I refused to take part in this family feud. Kerry turned him. And your sister is on her way to the seethe to be turned as well.”

“What?” Linus asked. “No way? The seethe must approve all new vampires. The waiting list is long and the tests to be accepted take months.”

Ajax nodded his head in agreement.

“Foolish humans. Kerry petitioned the Master of the Seethe and he approved. Both Dustan and Audrey will be vampires by morning, together forever in wedded bliss.” Marcus laughed as if he had told a good joke.

“Why would the Master do that?” Linus asked.

“Father always did like a good love story, and a good tragedy. This is both.” Marcus grinned showing his extended canines. “On the plus side, if Dustan doesn’t kill you, you may live long enough to see him suffer.”

Ajax titled his head in confusion. “How so?”

“Vampires mate forever. The only divorce is the final death no matter what.”

Not sure what to do with that information, Linus eyed his friend. “At least help us fill in the hole with that super speed and strength of yours.”

Marcus waved and disappeared, fading slowly so that all that remained were his glowing eyes and teeth. After a few seconds, even they disappeared.

“I hate when they do that,” Ajax said. “Now what?”

“Now you fill in this hole.” Linus tossed him the shovel as a wolf howled in the distance.

Ajax caught the shovel and frowned at it. “Where you going?”

“To see just how mad Mother is.” Linus walked away, disgusted. What had sounded like a good plan to scare Dustan away from their sister, kept moving further down the highway to hell.

Ajax poured the first shovel of dirt into the hole. Anything beat facing Mother. She was a powerful witch who just lost her apprentice, and her only magically gifted child, to the vampires. He tossed another shovel full of dirt as the werewolf pack, teeth bared and hackles raised, exited the woods. He threw down the shovel and waited. Mom was gonna be mad when he returned home a werewolf, assuming he lived.