The Midnight Watch

If Emil hoped to force a confession, she was going to disappoint him. "Why? Nadia asked. "Because I have a house-elf? More assumptions." She turned to Charlie. "I do not wish to cause trouble between friends. It is best I go."

"Incarcerous!"

Cords appeared and wrapped around her body. She was strong enough to break them. If she did, however, it would prove she was strigoi.

Emil said, "You're not going anywhere until you admit exactly what you are and what you're after." He told Charlie, "Open your eyes. She only visits at night, her skin is cold--"

"It isn't cold," Charlie said. "It's cool. There's a difference."

"Have you ever seen her eat? Drink?" Emil pointed his wand at Nadia. "She's strigoi and she's using you."

"For what? Sex? We haven't slept together."

Nadia's lips curved when Charlie glanced her way, as if to reassure her that it wasn't lack of desire holding him back. "You are special," she whispered.

Emil said, "Maybe she only wants your blood."

Nadia laughed. She couldn't help it. "I visit every night." Her gaze dropped to Charlie's lips. "Why? To learn all I can about my victim?" The idea was ridiculous. "I only want to be with you," she said to Charlie.

"Same here." He leaned in close.

"Don't kiss her!" Emil shouted. "Am I the only one who remembers Dark Arts lessons? Strigoi kisses are addicting!"

Nadia remembered what happened earlier. "Then Charlie must be strigoi."

Charlie grinned. "Thanks."

Emil made a strangled noise. "She has entranced you with her glamour--"

"--her natural beauty," Charlie said.

"In order to drain your life away!"

Nadia was no longer amused. "Once again, you show ignorance. A strigoi such as you describe would take what she wanted the first night." She told Charlie, "The thought of drinking human blood makes me sick."

"I believe you."

"Accio Tecpatl biface!" Emil said grimly.

A stone blade zoomed into the room. Pearly bits of shell embedded into amber-coloured stone looked like eyes and pointed teeth. The object radiated Darkness.

Charlie pointed his wand at his friend. "If you try to hurt her--"

"I'm only going to cut myself." Emil pushed up the sleeve of his robes.

"No!" Nadia cried. "The blade is evil!"

"It's Aztec," Emil said. "A ceremonial knife, not a Dark object."

He sliced across his wrist at the exact moment Charlie yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

The blade flew out of Emil's hand and shattered against the wall. It was too late.

Charlie cast a Healing Charm to no effect. Emil's wound continued to bleed.

"That's strange." Emil held up his arm. Blood trickled in rivulets. "I didn't cut deep enough for this. I only wanted to prove--"

"That you're mental?" Charlie jumped to his feet to cast another spell.

Nadia felt weirdly detached from what was happening. She could hear Emil's heart pumping, smell the metallic odour of his blood, and yet experienced no urge to taste it. It looked thin, watery: unappetising. Thank the stars. In the back of her mind, she had worried. "Sanescere obduci," she said.

Emil's gash magically healed over and immediately tore open again. Crimson splattered the wood floor. Emil frowned. "You aren't attacking and the spells aren't working." He sounded intellectually curious rather than upset. Almost as an afterthought, he used a counter charm to release Nadia from the cords.

Charlie tore off his shirt and ripped the fabric to tie a tourniquet around Emil's arm. Blood continued to flow from the wound.

"The blade is Dark," Nadia said. "Meant for sacrifice." Meant to ensure the victim bled out.

Charlie said, "I'll go get the Healer."

"He cannot counter such magic." She walked over to Emil. "I can, if you are willing."

"What are you going to do?"

"There are properties in my saliva--"

"Strigoi! I knew it!" Emil cradled his injured arm protectively.

"She drinks dragon blood, not human," Charlie said. "Trust her."

"If I'm turned, I rip your throat out." Emil held out his arm. "I am willing," he said grudgingly.

Nadia wrapped her hand around his forearm and brought it to her mouth. Blood coated her tongue and smeared across her face. It dripped onto her shirt. Nadia's stomach heaved. She dropped Emil's arm and ran out of the room.

She was standing beneath the showerhead, eyes closed, face turned up to the spray when Charlie entered the bathroom.

"Are you . . . okay . . .?" he asked.

The room had a central drain and an open shower. He had a view of her bare back and the orange lump of fabric on the white tiled floor. Nadia hugged her arms across her chest. At least I did not strip naked. "I had to get the blood off," she said."I am sorry I tore your shirt."

"It's no loss. I'll give you another one." After a pause, he said, "Emil's cut healed like it was never there."

"Of course. It is self-interest for strigoi not to leave evidence. It keeps victims from notifying the authorities."

"You're not like that."

"Emil thinks so. I spit out his blood, yet he will never forget I licked it off his arm, and he will always worry that I enjoyed the taste."

"Did you?"

Nadia opened her mouth and let water fill it. She spat it out. "What do you think?"

"I think dragon blood must be like the finest Bordeaux while human stuff's cheap plonk. Yeah, you can drink it, but who'd want to?"

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Not me."

"I know that," Charlie said. "I trust you."

In a flash, she crossed the room to hug him. "That means so much." Nadia buried her face against his neck. Charlie's body heat sank into her front while his hands warmed her back. If she were a cat, she would have purred. She sighed. "I am soaking you and I did not heat the water. You must be frozen."

"Do I feel cold?"

Nadia heard the amusement in his voice and the change in his heartbeat. She lifted her head and kissed him. His lips, his breath: everything about him was intoxicating. She tugged at the hem of the clean shirt he had put on. "May I?"

"Sure."

In the blink of an eye, Nadia stripped Charlie's t-shirt off and pressed her torso to his. "Mmm, you are hot." She wound her arms around his neck. "Muscled too." She kissed a scar on his shoulder.

"Are you trying to make it better?" He chuckled.

Nadia kissed the spot again and swirled her tongue over it. "I like the way you taste."

Charlie's eyes darkened. He took her mouth with an urgency that triggered her own hunger. She shifted restlessly.

He groaned. "I like the way you move. Next time, could you do it a little slower?"

"I go too fast?" Nadia started to pull away.

His arms tightened around her. "No! It's...just...you went from one side of a room to the other--took off my shirt--so quickly I didn't even see you do it." A flush swept up from his chest to his face. "I really wanted to see you do it."

"Oh." Her cheeks burned. Nadia bent and picked up Charlie's t-shirt. "Here. Put this on. I will take it off slowly."

"You don't have to." Charlie pulled the shirt on over his head.

She back-pedalled. "And I will walk across the room to--Ahhh!" Jets of water pelted her face. She had accidentally stepped beneath the shower.

"Sorry, it's automatic." Charlie cast a counter-spell.

Nadia lifted her hands to push wet strands out of her eyes. "I did not look where I was going." She ran her hands over her hair, silently using a charm to dry it. "No harm. See?"

He stared.

She hid a smile. "Nu? I will come closer." Nadia had almost reached Charlie when she heard a floorboard creak. "Your friend is outside."

"I don't hear--"

A knock sounded.

"We'll be right out," Charlie called. He said to Nadia, "Take my shirt."

"It is not necessary." She used a spell to dry both their clothing and picked up the pieces of fabric. Costi was an expert at sewing charms. She had watched him often enough to attempt a hasty repair.

Emil's voice came through the door. "I made tea."

Charlie didn't appear to have heard.

Nadia dressed. "Answer so he does not worry I have drained your life away."

Emil must have heard her. He said, "I apologise for my ignorance."

Nadia glanced down to figure out what Charlie was looking at. Nothing was showing through. Her seams were straight. "I accept your apology," she said, "and your offer of tea, as well, if someone will open the door." She gave Charlie a meaningful look.

His gaze finally lifted. "You drink tea?"

"A sip or two. Why were you staring?"

"Your shirt--never mind," Charlie said, giving her a brief kiss before turning the handle.

In the kitchen, Emil said, "I used an Incendio on what was left of the knife."

"Where did you get that thing?" Charlie asked.

Emile became preoccupied with stirring honey into his tea. "The blade had a certificate--"

"Forged by an underworld dealer, I am sure," Nadia said. "Selling to those who hunt artefacts in backstreets."

"I won't be a return customer." Emil waved a hand at Nadia's teacup. "So strigoi can drink something other than blood?"

"A little."

"But you do drink blood."

"Dragons' blood."

"What about other strigoi?"

"They prey on humans," Nadia said. "I am . . . different."

Emil arched a brow. "I see that."

Charlie cleared his throat. "She was a dragon keeper," he said. "Now she takes the night watch."

Nadia looked at the clock on the wall. "It is time I started my patrol. I want to check on the horntail you mentioned in the log." She rose and offered her hand to Emil. "It has been . . . ." She didn't know what to say.

"Yes," he said, with a firm handshake. "It has."

"Your cloak's in my room," Charlie said. He held her hand as they walked out of the kitchen.

When they reached his bedroom, she said, "We are private, so tell me--why do you keep staring at my chest? Is something wrong with the size, the shape?"

"Gods, no," Charlie said. "I've never seen anything so perfect."

She hugged him for being sweet. "Honesty will not hurt my feelings. I have never used a sewing spell before, so it will help if you tell me my mistake."

An odd look crossed his face. "You're talking about your t-shirt."

"Da, are the seams--" Nadia suddenly realised what Charlie had thought they were discussing. She fought the urge to suggest they compare perfection. She had to leave. Soon. To patrol.

Charlie traced the black cannon ball on her shirt with a fingertip. "Your seams are perfect, but the Cannons logo is inside out."

His touch was as addicting as his kisses. "Emil," Nadia said, in an attempt to focus on something else. "He noticed?" She pictured a black eyebrow rising.

I see that.

Charlie's slow grin hinted that he remembered what had been "seen" in the bathroom as well as the kitchen.

Nadia smiled. "I have to go."

"I understand."

Neither of them moved.

"If--if you wish, I could return," she said.

"I, uh, am concerned about the dragoness." Charlie helped her into her cloak and opened the window. "If I'm asleep--"

"I am invited to wake you?"

His eyes gleamed. "Oh yeah."

She repeated his answer to herself as she flew toward the horntail caves. It was an odd combination of words, and yet so evocative.

Is Charlie Weasley sexy? Oh yeah!

"Oh yeah," she murmured. The night breeze snatched the words from her lips. "Take them to Charlie," she said in a moment of whimsy.

Nadia landed on the slope beneath the caves and cast spells to become undetectable. Stealthily, she crawled into the first cave. Although Charlie had cast a Heating Charm earlier, the sand felt cool to the touch. She punched down through the fine-grained layers. Only the first couple of millimetres had chilled. Peculiar. She used a charm to reheat the sand and edged her way further into the lair.

According to Charlie's report, scales appeared dull. Nadia crawled as close to the horntail as she dared to examine the dragoness. She bit back a scream at the sight of leathery patches of hide. Scales--dozens of scales--were missing. They weren't lying in the sand. They were gone.

The horntail's breathing sounded laboured. Her eyes were cloudy. Had she been poisoned? There was no time to lose. Nadia scrambled to her feet and ran. Once out of the cave, she launched herself into the sky.

"Charlie!" she yelled when her feet touched the ground behind his cottage. She used a Sonorous Charm. "Charlie!"

"Nadia!" she heard faintly. The front door opened and slammed closed. Charlie ran around the side of the house. His coat was unbuttoned. Emil followed behind him. "What's wrong?" Charlie asked. He ran his hands down her arms. "Are you hurt?"

"The horntail." She put a hand on his arm to pull him toward the other cottages. "Bring Healer Polizu to the cave. Tell him the dragoness struggles to breathe. Tell him you fear poison or Dark magic."

Emil's teeth chattered. He had run outside without a coat. "Why would--"

"Scales," Nadia said. "To steal scales."

Charlie's jaw tightened. "I'll go get the Healer."

"I'll come with you," Emil said.

Nadia removed her cloak. "Here. Take this. I do not need it."

"Where are you going?" Charlie asked urgently.

"To visit a gypsy." Magic lifted her into the air and propelled her toward a forest clearing.

A lone figure stood beside the campfire with a bucket in his hand. The rest of the Vasile clan had gone to bed. The fire was reduced to ashes.

"Be careful," Nadia said. "More burns are caused by embers than flames."

"Nadia!" Nicu doused the flames and let the bucket drop to the ground. "I wanted to owl. Iulian would not let me."

"Why not? Did Marko return--threaten your family?" Her hands clenched into fists.

Nicu shook his head. "Nu. I did not see Marko." He pointed toward the woods. "I saw a woman."

-

A/N: Cue the ominous gypsy music! Something with violins. :D

There's a saying, use water, not sand, when extinguishing a campfire. The Vasile clan builds a fire every day, so I didn't go into all the details about proper ways to mix dirt with ashes, then dump water, yadda yadda yadda.