by TJ Green
Without another word they ran, and just as they approached the fence, Dan darted through the gap, looking flushed. “Come quickly! They’re already starting to fight, and they won’t listen to me!”
Dan headed back inside and they raced after him, skidding to a halt as they arrived in the dressing area and saw the scene in front of them. Harry and the actor who played King Arthur were still in full costume, and they had drawn their weapons on the three Barons and King Mark. They were surrounded by an angry cast, who it seemed had all taken sides, egging each other on.
One of the Barons was covered in blood, and for a second Avery thought it was fake, until she saw him stagger and fall, his hand clutched to his side. Harry raised his sword, and blood dripped along its gleaming edge.
“Bollocks!” Reuben said. “The spell has made the weapons real!”
The sight of blood did nothing to deter them; if anything, it spurred them on, and they clashed again, angry accusations filling the air, which now simmered with rage. Immediately the surrounding cast reacted too, some shouting, others fighting, fists flying, and within seconds, the atmosphere was ugly and dangerous.
The witches leapt into action, using magic to try to subdue the raging emotions, but they barely dented the surface, and then they resorted to other magic to stop the fighting.
Avery sent air whipping through them, trying to separate them, and Reuben and Alex waded in with Dan, pulling the actors apart and spelling the swords and daggers out of hands and safely out of harm’s way. Avery ran through the fighting, constantly using spells to try and return reason, and when that seemed to fail, she used blasts of magic to pull them apart. She saw Briar and Hunter arrive, and they joined in the fray to help.
For a few minutes, it seemed as if nothing was working, and then the cast slowed down as reason inched its way back in. That is, until Emma screamed so loudly that everyone stopped and turned. Emma, Josh, and Ian were well away from the others at the far end of the dressing room. Time slowed as Avery watched Ian straddle Josh, who was prostrate on the floor, punching him repeatedly, and before anyone could do anything, Emma raised a heavy piece of wood and smacked Ian on the head, sending him crashing to the side, unconscious. She grabbed Josh, pulled him to his feet, and they fled into the forest.
The fighting started again, but this time Newton arrived, the policemen in tow. Behind them were Stan, the event manager, a few other officials, the bar staff and a couple of security staff. It was too hard to use obvious magic now.
The witches clustered together, and Alex said, “We have to go after Emma and Josh.”
“You go,” Briar said. “I’ll help the wounded.”
“I’ll stay,” Reuben said, glancing at the fighting cast. “I’ll help stop this.” And without another word, he headed back into the melee, and Hunter followed.
El jerked her head, gesturing beyond them. “Go! And good luck!”
The wood was quiet after the chaos backstage, and Avery and Alex ran in the direction Emma and Josh had taken, but within minutes it was clear they had no idea where they had gone.
They paused and listened, but other than the creak of branches, the wildwood was utterly silent.
“It’s too quiet,” Alex said, looking around. “I can’t even hear the ravens!”
He was right. Normally, the ravens squawked and cackled endlessly, but not now. A soporific silence lapped around them.
“The forest is hiding them,” Avery whispered.
“Don’t say that—we might never find them. Remember how it felt the other night? Who knows where they are!”
Avery looked at him in disbelief. “I will never forget the other night! Come on, think! How do we find them?” She didn’t speak for a moment as she raced through ideas.
“We fucked up, Avery. I fucked up.” Alex leaned against the closest tree, looking around despondently. “We should have burnt the copies of the play as soon as we had them, but I was so obsessed with getting rid of Kit that I waited. We might have prevented this!”
Avery tried to keep the impatience from her voice. That wouldn’t help anything. “We all agreed, and for good reason. Kit needs to go or his ghost will haunt that theatre forever, and who knows what havoc he may cause with other plays. The spell was already in motion, and we couldn’t have stopped it!”
“But burning them might have weakened it. Kit’s spirit is tied to it, and we might have lessened the effects.”
“Burning grimoires doesn’t stop spells from working!” she said forcefully. “The cast is bewitched! And as we discussed before, it might have achieved nothing but weakened our chance of getting rid of him.” Avery was aware that with every passing second Emma and Josh were getting harder to find, but she had to snap Alex out of it. “Don’t let this get to you. We knew this would happen—your dreams told you so. The cast will be okay now that other people are there. We need to find Josh and Emma!”
Alex took a deep breath and pushed his hair away from his face. “Yes, you’re right. My thoughts are all over the place.”
“Then lend your power to me, because I’ve just had a good idea. We follow the magic!”
“What?” Alex asked, confused.
“They’re bewitched—we know how that spell feels. The passion and obsession, and the underlying feeling of loss. We find it and follow it.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Come on, let’s combine our magic, and I’ll find them.”
As Alex’s magic joined with hers, Avery felt her strength grow, and she turned slowly, sending out her senses and feeling for the play’s magic that was very different to the wild magic of the wood. For what seemed like endless minutes, she felt nothing, and then she found it; a tendril of longing, so desolate that it almost broke her heart.
“I’ve found it.”
Still clasping Alex’s hand tightly, she pulled him along the leafy, shadow-soaked paths, feeling the afternoon heat thicken around them like amber. The path was winding and barely there in places, and she pushed through undergrowth, stray branches catching her clothes like grasping fingers. All the while the feeling of love and longing grew stronger, until she felt it affecting her own mood, despite her protective amulet. She drew on Alex’s strength even more, trying to flush the negative emotions from her body, and she felt him do the same.
Then suddenly, as if they’d broken through a barrier, a wave of utter despair hit them, and ahead, under a huge oak tree, they saw Tristan and Iseult together, arms around each other as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Avery shook her head with disbelief. Not Tristan or Iseult, it was Josh and Emma! The spell was getting to her, too.
She loosed Alex’s hand as they stepped closer, and Avery called out, “Emma, Josh! We’ve been looking for you. Are you okay?”
They looked up, alarmed. Josh’s face was bloodied and bruised, and blood had stained his fine shirt, but he straightened his shoulders and pushed Emma behind him. “Leave us alone. You don’t belong here.”
“Neither do you,” Alex said. He walked forward a few paces, very slowly, as if approaching a frightened child. “You’re injured. Let us help.”
“No!” He backed away, Emma retreating with him, and Avery could see her frightened face behind his shoulder, tear-stained and red from crying.
“Emma,” she called. “You look scared. Let us help.”
“My name is Iseult, and you can’t help us. My husband will kill him, and I may as well die, too!”
Shit.
Avery kept her gaze fixed on Emma and slowly advanced, aware of Alex keeping pace with her. “You are not Iseult! Your names are Emma and Josh!” As Avery said their names, she uttered a spell for clarity, sending it across the clearing with a gentle breeze.
“No!” Josh said again, more forcefully this time. “We have had enough lies! Leave us be!” And then he pulled a short dagger from his belt. “I will not return to the court to be sentenced to death. We will end it here and now!”
Emma stepped around him, her face impassive. “You heard
him. Go!”
Avery faltered, and then said her spell again, but Alex had a different idea, and he said, “I will intervene on your behalf. Plea for mercy.”
Josh shook his head. “I have had my chance, but I betrayed my lord. Only death will suffice.”
Emma turned to Josh. “Kill me first!”
Horror filled Avery as she watched Josh plunge the knife towards her and without hesitation, she flicked it away with a powerful blast of magic, satisfied to see the knife jerk out of his grip and hit the ground behind them. As soon as it left his hand, Alex lunged and tackled Josh to the ground, and Avery used a blast of air to lift Emma and pin her against the tree. Neither of them had earth magic as strong as Briar’s, but Alex manipulated tree roots out of the ground, using them to bind Josh, and Avery did the same using the ivy that trailed out of the tree’s branches, until both were immobile.
They both looked terrified, but still writhed within their bonds.
“What now?” Avery asked, exasperated. “They are far too bewitched to break through! So much for spilling that potion—it achieved nothing!”
“We need Newton to arrest them!”
“What for? Madness?”
“Affray! Assault! He’ll be in there now, arresting the whole cast. They need locking up until we end this tonight! It’s the only way to keep them safe.”
Avery nodded as she realised it was the best way. “Okay. I’ll run back. Will you be okay here?”
He nodded, and then as she turned away he ran to catch up with her, pulling her into his arms, and he kissed her as if he’d never see her again. “I’m sorry if I’ve been an idiot all week.”
“You haven’t been! What’s this about?”
“Beltane jealousies. I love you, just remember that.” He kissed her again, but gently this time.
Avery placed her hands on his face, her thumbs running over his stubble. “Of course I remember, and you need to remember that I love you—and only you. I’ll be back soon.”
***
It was close to six o’clock when Avery and the rest of the witches, Hunter, and Dan stood together on the rise of the hill above the castle car park, watching the police put the entire White Haven Players cast and crew into the big black police vans below. As the last van left the car park, Newton strolled up the path to join them, leaving Moore leaning against his BMW, smoking.
“Bloody hell,” Reuben said, nursing his jaw where a ripe bruise was blossoming. “That was a bit hairier than I expected.”
El raised her hand to his cheek, cradling it gently. “More than any of us expected.”
Hunter’s hands were jammed in his jean pockets, and he sat down on a low castle wall. He was also covered in minor cuts and bruises, but he looked invigorated. “I enjoyed it!”
“That’s your wolf talking!” Briar said, looking at him with amusement.
He grinned. “I like it when you rub your salves all over me.”
“I’ll make sure these ones sting!”
“Even better.”
Avery laughed, despite her mood, and tried to cheer Alex up. “That’s a damn strong spell, Alex. Your granddad was good.”
“I wish I could be proud of that,” Alex grumbled. “Now I’m beginning to doubt our plan for tonight.”
“I was going to watch the procession,” Dan said ruefully. “Now I’m not so sure.”
“How was Harry?” Avery asked, watching him pull his car keys from his pocket.
He looked at her bleakly. “Bloody awful. He barely recognised me, and I couldn’t get through to him! I can’t believe how bad that became! I think I should go to the station to support him.”
Avery reached up and hugged him. Dan had never been with them when they dealt with things like this—except for the mermaids, and he was drugged by Siren magic then. He only heard the good results after the madness had passed. “Sorry. I should have prepared you better...but it took us by surprise.”
“And tonight?”
“Tonight will be fine,” she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
“Remind me what you’re doing, again?” Newton said, reaching their side.
“The giant cleansing spell,” Briar explained. “The one Avery told you about.”
“Will it be as giant a disaster as this?”
They all glared at him, but Briar answered him with a tightly controlled voice. “Do you think you could have done better?”
“I’d have brought more police with me if I had realised it would be this bad!” He sat heavily on the wall next to Hunter. “At least the crowd left without any trouble. Stan was pretty good, too. The council cleared the last of the audience who were trying to hang around. It’s bound to hit the news—even though the press had left before the end.”
“Sarah Rutherford?” Alex asked.
“Yep. She’s like a bad penny.”
“It is her job,” Avery reminded him. “And you will be nice to the cast, won’t you? It’s not their fault they behaved this way. They’re bewitched.”
Newton nodded. “I’ll try, but half of them did try to kill the other half. And don’t forget, one of them was stabbed. He’s on his way to the hospital right now.” He stood up and straightened his tie, and then smoothed his hair. “I better get to the station to start processing this mess.”
“We’d better go, too,” Reuben said. “We need to get in place for tonight. We’ll let you know when it’s done, Newton. With luck, you’ll see a change in the cast.”
“Where are you taking them?” Avery asked, having a horrible thought. “They need to be here to get the benefit of the cleansing spell.”
Newton looked incredulous. “We were taking them to Truro!”
“You have to keep them here, in White Haven!”
“It’s a very small police station!”
“But you have to, or it won’t work!”
“Fuck!” he yelled into the air, disturbing the ravens that scattered with raucous calls. Without another word he pulled out his phone and stalked down the path, leaving them dumbfounded.
It was only when Newton was out of earshot that Reuben said, “Oops.”
27
The drums resounded through the streets of White Haven, announcing the arrival of the Goddess and the Green Man. Firelight flared at intermittent points along the high street, and the murmur of the crowd was thick with excitement.
Avery could feel a remnant of their earlier magic carried by those who had been at the play. Mixing with that was the magic from their smudge bundles. As agreed, Avery had worked her way down the lower half of the town, dropping the small bundles into the braziers that were protected by costumed members of the event, and she whispered spells to enhance them as she went. Her giant smudge bundle besom broom was already smoking, the rich scent of the herbs filling the air. Somewhere further along the street was Briar, Hunter, and Reuben, also delivering the cleansing herbs. So far she could feel only positive emotions from the crowd, and she hoped it stayed that way.
Dusk was falling as the front of the procession came into view with a flare of spinning firelight. The lead performers were painted and dressed totally in blue, the whites of their eyes stark against their painted faces. Some were beating drums with rhythmical precision, while others carried huge sticks of greenery that they whirled around them. Their pace was slow, full of import, but behind them came the tumblers and jugglers, tossing their fire sticks high into the air, and behind them was a troupe dressed all in red. The flames cast grotesque shadows, and Avery pulled her cloak around her and adjusted the draped hood over her head. In the end, they had all decided to dress up. They knew most people who watched would be costumed in some manner, whether it was just painted faces or full outfits, so Avery wore a heavy woollen cloak that she sometimes used for rituals, and El had painted her face white, outlining her eyes with bold makeup.
Now that the procession was closer, Avery stepped back into the shadowed recess of a shop front and for a moment she let the cleansi
ng smoke wrap around her, bringing calm and clarity that strengthened her resolve. Then she sent the smoke out in a whirl of wind into the crowd. This time she said the spell louder, her voice drowned out by the drumming, and it carried the cleansing blessing far and wide. Opening herself up to the night, she felt Briar’s presence, and then Reuben’s, and with a smile she banged the pole of her besom broom onto the ground in time with the drums, feeling it resonate beneath her feet. Magic was already rising — potent and unstoppable.
Avery worked her way down the street, keeping to the back of the crowd, only pausing when she reached the quay. Here the procession would turn and make its way along the coast road to Spriggan Beach. Fire jugglers and drummers were already entertaining the crowds, lining the harbour and backed by blazing torches.
Avery waited patiently for the May Queen to finally arrive, surrounded by her maidens. The procession was like a river of blood with its own pulse, the Queen its beating heart, and as she appeared, the excited chatter became louder, and then dropped with an awed silence. She wore bold make-up that enhanced her fierce eyes, an elaborate crown piled high with flowers and ribbons, and her white dress was richly embroidered with tumbling leaves and blossoms. Avery blinked to clear her vision, dismissing the something else that burned beneath the very human form of the May Queen. Alarmed for a moment, she looked around at the crowd, but they were lost in the moment, craning to see the Goddess as she progressed in her majesty. Avery smiled, knowing their spell had a very good chance of working, and planting her smoking broom in a protected corner, wedged into the stone, she left the harbour and hurried to join Alex.
Avery spelled her way in through the side door of the theatre and waited for a few short seconds for her breathing to settle and her heart to slow. It was deathly quiet after the hedonistic noise only streets away, but the theatre was throbbing with a different kind of power.
Kit’s power.
She quickly threw a witch-light above her and headed into the auditorium. As soon as she opened the door, the candlelight drew her gaze to the stage, where Alex had set up his summoning circle. For a moment Alex didn’t see her, and she watched as he worked, his concentration absolute. He had tied his hair back high on his head, leaving his stubble-grazed jaw exposed. He had also taken his shirt off, and she was surprised to see an elaborate design painted on his chest and along the inside of his arms.
