Beltane

by Alys West

  “That’s powerful magic. Even for a spellworker.”

  “Tell me about it,” Finn murmured. Then he took a deep breath and added, “Come on. Let’s get it over with.”

  Winston pressed the screen and then he grimaced. “Jesus, Finn! That’s brutal.”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  “Do you want to see it?”

  Finn shook his head. He needed no reminders. The agony and terror already haunted him.

  He was silent for a long moment then he said, “Give me the phone.” When Winston handed it to him the screen was blank and he was grateful for that.

  “You going to ring her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Right. I’ll -” Winston pointed across the clearing, “- be over there.”

  Finn put the phone to his ear, listened to it ring. He had no idea how he would explain. He just knew that for Zoe he was going to try.

  * * *

  “We haven’t decided where we’re going yet. Somewhere nice,” Zoe said. Or at least that’s what she tried to say but she had problems with her words. They kept coming out slurred. She looked at her wine. She hadn’t even finished the glass. “Just how strong is this?”

  “I’m not sure. Nothing out of the ordinary. Are you alright?”

  “I feel like I’ve drunk -” it took two attempts to get that word out “- the whole bottle.”

  “Probably it’s because you’re tired. Why don’t you put your feet up? Close your eyes for a few minutes. I don’t mind.”

  “No, I’ll be fine.” Zoe scrubbed her hand over her forehead. She suddenly felt really hot. “Would you mind getting me some water?”

  “Sure.” Anna went through to the kitchen. She came back with a glass and gave it to Zoe. She slugged the water back and held the cool glass against her burning cheek.

  “Better?” Anna said.

  Zoe shook her head. She rested it against the sofa cushions and closed her eyes for a moment.

  “That’s right. You take it easy.” Anna’s voice seemed far away. Dimly aware of her friend moving about, it was too much effort to open her eyes. A moment later Zoe heard Anna say, “Yes, it’s working. Exactly as you said. What do you want me to do now?”

  Zoe blinked repeatedly trying to bring the room back into focus. She turned her head to see Anna on the phone, pacing restlessly up and down the hall. “You were right,” her friend said. “She and Finn are together.” There was a pause and then she added, “Okay. I’ll stay with her until you get here.”

  Zoe eyelids slid closed and she gave up the fight for a moment. The next thing she knew Anna was sat next to her, stroking her hair. “What’s going on?” Zoe tried to ask but the words were hardly distinguishable.

  “You’re going to be fine. Just rest,” Anna said softly. Hovering on the edge of the darkness, Zoe knew she shouldn’t be feeling like this. Her lids flickered helplessly as she tried again to push through the blackness.

  Then her phone rang. Finn. She tried to grab her mobile but it fell through her numb fingers and slipped to the floor. Head swimming, she bent to pick it up. Anna snatched it away.

  “Give me the phone,” Zoe said shrilly, the words slurred.

  “Sorry, sweetie.” Anna pressed the screen and the ringing stopped. “It’s your new boyfriend and I’ve been told not to let him speak to you.”

  “No!” Zoe exclaimed, the single word surprisingly clear.

  With a monumental effort she tried to grab the phone from Anna’s hand. “Oh, no you don’t,” her friend said, easily moving it out of her grasp. Unbalanced by the movement, Zoe collapsed face down across her friend’s lap. “Why you doing this?” she mumbled.

  Again Anna stroked her hair. “Stop fighting it, sweetie. You need to rest for a while. That’s all.”

  No, she needed to tell Finn. Holding that thought she tried to struggle upright but Anna’s hands were firm on her shoulders. Long seconds later unconsciousness claimed her.

  * * *

  “Well?” Winston said.

  Finn shrugged, trying not to look worried. “No answer.” He couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved that he’d got a temporary reprieve, a little longer to figure out how to explain. But beneath that he was pretty sure he’d never get the chance, that he’d never hear from her again. And he couldn’t blame her. What woman could handle that her new man had spent six months trapped in a tree? Winston was probably right and he should have told her but he’d honestly thought she’d never need to know. Or at least, not yet. Not until they knew each other a whole lot better.

  He pushed his fingers through his hair. There was nothing else he could do. She’d either ring back or she wouldn’t. He slipped his mobile into the pocket of his jeans. If she did ring he wouldn’t miss it this time.

  “We’re going to try breaking force fields,” Winston said. “We know Maeve likes to use them. If you can shatter it then it’ll recoil on her. When that happens it’s like an enormous elastic band snapping. The recoil physically hurts but only for a second or two. You’ll have to be ready to follow through.”

  “With the killer blow.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Come on then,” Finn said, hefting his staff from hand to hand. “Make a force field.”

  Winston grinned. “Like you’re going to break it!” He closed his eyes to concentrate and, at that second, Finn pushed outwards with the palm of his hand, directed the awen and let it go. Winston staggered backwards as if he’d been punched in the stomach and fell flat on his arse. Finn burst out laughing.

  Winston stood up, brushed away the leaves that clung to his clothes. “At least you’re aim’s improving.” He bent to pick up his staff and, as he straightened, the air around his body solidified into a transparent bubble. “Come on then, if you think you can take me!”

  “No problem,” Finn said with a lot more confidence than he felt.

  * * *

  Zoe heard a buzzing noise. Someone moved her head. She murmured restlessly, her eyes flickering half open. “It’s alright,” Anna’s voice soothed. Zoe’s cheek came to rest on something soft and her lids closed again.

  As if from very far away she heard the front door open and her friend quietly say, “Come in. She’s through here.”

  Who’s here? But even that thought was hard to catch hold off. She was sinking back towards unconsciousness when a cool hand touched her forehead.

  A familiar voice said, “You’ve done well, my dear. How long has she been out?”

  No, it can’t be! This must be a dream.

  “About half an hour.”

  “Good. Then the drug should last at least another hour.” The word ‘drug’ penetrated the haze enough for Zoe to force her eyelids open for a second. She saw legs. A short flowery skirt; that was Anna. And grey trousers.

  “What was it that I gave her?” Anna said.

  “A tincture of valerian, skullcap and poppy.”

  “But she will be alright? I mean, it won’t hurt her, will it?”

  “Don’t worry, my dear.” The words were spoken slowly and with emphasis. “No harm will come to her.”

  Chapter 31

  “I think Zoe’s right.” Winston held two sheets of paper next to the screen of his laptop and looked between them. “The stone circle’s the Nine Maidens.”

  “On Dartmoor?” Finn picked another slice of pizza out of the box on the coffee table and bit into it.

  They’d stayed in the wood long after darkness fell. Practising again and again the skills he would need tomorrow night. He was shattered, his muscles ached and yet he felt strangely wired. It’d been good to handle some serious energy. He’d felt the return of the bone-deep connection to awen. He would need that if he was going to make it through tomorrow night alive.

  “Aye. And the Saint Michael line goes straight through the middle of the circle,” Winston said, dropping Zoe’s drawings onto the pile of papers and maps cluttering the table.

  Finn’s eyebrows rose. “You’re serious?”

/>   “Would I joke about the most important ley line in England?” Grinning, Winston leaned over and grabbed the last piece of pizza.

  “You’d joke about anything!” Finn laughed. Then Winston’s words hit home. “But this could be bloody brilliant. Think of the energy I can take from the ley line.” As he spoke his gaze fell on Zoe’s drawings and he saw Maeve brandishing his broken staff over the fire. “Course that’s only going to work if I’ve got my staff. If this drawing of Zoe’s is right and Maeve breaks it then not even the St Michael line is going to save me.”

  “Aye, I know.” Winston’s voice was unexpectedly soft. “I’m still working on that.”

  Finn glanced at his friend. “I don’t want to pressure you but we’re on a schedule here.”

  “It’s not as easy as I first thought.”

  Finn stared at the carpet. He didn’t want Winston to know how much his words earlier had sparked a hope. If his friend couldn’t make whatever it was work then he was well and truly screwed. He picked up the Ordnance Survey map of Dartmoor and said, “I’ll head over to the Nine Stones first thing in the morning. I want to dowse it, find out exactly where the energy goes.”

  Winston nodded. “Alright. I think I’ll stay here. See if I can figure this out. I’ll come down later on the bike.”

  “How far is it?”

  “Couple of hours max. Even in your heap of junk.”

  Finn ignored that. He was used to Winston insulting his car. “You think Maeve knows about the St Michael Line? Is that why she chose this place?”

  “Spellworkers aren’t generally interested in ley lines. However I suppose it’s possible that she…” Winston reached for The Seventh Book.

  Finn completed his sentence. “Plans to use the ley line after she’s taken my connection to the earth.”

  “Aye, that’s possible. But if that happens you’ll be dead.” Winston opened the thick black book.

  “Thanks for reminding me,” Finn muttered.

  “I thought so.” Winston tapped his finger on the page. “The ritual doesn’t require a ley line.”

  “Then why’d she choose this place?”

  “Could be one of two reasons. There was a burial chamber in the centre of this circle. It’s long since been robbed out but perhaps the chamber’s enough for what she needs.”

  “Bones of the ancestors,” Finn said.

  “And the circle’s beneath Belstone Tor and about a mile from Belstone village. Some people believe Belstone Tor’s named for the god Bel.”

  “The Celtic God of fire? That’d be appropriate seeing as it’s Beltane tomorrow.”

  “Exactly and that ties in with the Saint Michael line. The Celts’ major celebration of Beltane was at Avebury but there would have been fires all the way along the line to welcome the sun on the morning of the first of May.”

  “Stop! It’s way too late for a lecture on the history of ley lines.” He picked up his phone and, for the fifteenth time since they’d got back to the cottage, checked the time. Seventeen minutes past eleven and Zoe still hadn’t rung him back. He was running out of reasons why she hadn’t called. Unless, of course, she didn’t ever want to speak to him again.

  Was it worth another call? Just in case she’d missed his message. Maybe that would shake the nagging sense he’d had all evening that something wasn’t right. Only if he rang her again in front of Winston he’d never hear the last of it.

  Standing, he rolled his shoulders and said, “I’m going for a quick walk before bed. Stretch out these aching muscles.”

  “Right. I’m going to make some calls. See if anyone knows how I can get hold of the Irish guy I was telling you about.”

  Finn grabbed his fleece and stepped out into the night. The breeze whipped at his jacket as he put it on. Striding down the gravel path away from the cottages, he crossed the car park and headed down the lane. Under the shadow of a large sycamore, he pulled out his mobile. He hesitated for a moment before pressing the screen to dial her number. As he listened to it ring, he remembered this morning at the bus station. Saying goodbye had been harder than he’d anticipated. He’d only known her four days. Logically it was ridiculous to miss her. Yet somehow it felt like he did.

  The ringing stopped and, expecting the call to go to voice mail, he scowled. Then after a long pause a voice said, “Yes?”

  It didn’t sound like her. “Zoe?” he said uncertainly.

  “Zoe’s sleeping. But I thought you might call.” The voice was dreadfully, shockingly familiar.

  “What have you done to her?”

  “I gave her something to help her sleep. If you do exactly what I say then no harm will come to her.”

  “You bloody bitch! How the hell did you find her?”

  “It was remarkably simple,” Maeve said. “Zoe’s friend Anna was most helpful. Zoe may be capable of resisting me but Anna has always been charmingly responsive.”

  Rage boiled through Finn’s veins and for a long moment he didn’t trust himself to speak. Then he drew a ragged breath and, his voice vibrating with anger, said, “What do you want, Maeve?”

  “You, of course. It was foolish to think you could escape. All you’ve done is make the end worse for yourself.”

  “I doubt that!”

  Maeve laughed harshly. “You will suffer. I’ll see to that. You owe me, Finn McCloud.”

  “For what? You trapped me in a bloody tree for six months.”

  “Out of interest, how did you escape?” Maeve’s voice softened. “I know the girl had something to do with it.”

  “She had nothing to do with it!” Finn snapped, picturing Maeve taking her anger out on Zoe. He swallowed hard and added, “It was the lightning.”

  “You’re lying. I know the girl has some power. I can see silver sparks in her aura as she sleeps.”

  “You stay away from her!”

  “Or you’ll do what? Come barging into my garden again and try to take her back?”

  “I got Cat out!”

  “Indeed. But you were the greater prize. My Beltane sacrifice.”

  “Then let’s end this. Where and when?”

  “Oh, I’m not going to make it that easy for you. When it’s time, I’ll let you know.”

  Finn blew out a long breath as he tried to hold on to his anger. “You’ll tell me now.”

  “I’ll tell you when I’m ready. But know this, if you don’t come I’ll take the girl as consolation. Those silver sparks of hers will keep me going long enough to track you down.”

  “Oh I’ll be there! And if you’ve done anything to hurt her I swear I’ll kill you!”

  “Don’t make threats you can’t keep, Finn McCloud. It makes you sound weak.”

  The line went dead.

  Swearing loudly and profusely Finn kicked at the unresponsive tree trunk. Then sucking in a deep breath he sprinted back to the cottage.

  Chapter 32

  In a service station outside Salisbury Maeve dropped the phone onto the passenger seat and smiled. The druid’s call was a gift from the goddesses. A sign that her plan couldn’t fail.

  She’d intended to ring the druid sooner. She’d wanted to pile on the emotional pressure, to play on his wonderfully predictable sense of responsibility. Unfortunately Zoe’s mobile phone had proved as uncooperative as its owner. The damned thing needed some kind of code before you could use it and unlocking spells only resulted in the battery shooting out. Maeve had been ready to throw it out the window when unexpectedly it’d rung.

  She looked over her shoulder at the girl sleeping across the back seats. The blanket had slipped, revealing the gag that obscured half of the girl’s face. She’d given her another dose of the tincture before they left London. It should ensure that she slept for another couple of hours. Maeve twitched the blanket back into place. It hid the bonds at wrist and ankle. There were spells that would have done the same job but using physical restraints would help to preserve her energy.

  She sipped the remains of her cup of earl gre
y tea – served in one of those paper cups that ruined the taste - and consulted the map. Not wanting her backseat passenger to be seen she’d decided to avoid the motorways. The route was slower but she was in no hurry. They had half the night to get there.

  She needed him at the stone circle an hour before the sun rose at 5.30. If she called again at around 2.30am that would give him sufficient time to get there and no time at all to prepare anything that could disrupt her plans.

  She’d get the girl to make that call. An obvious tactic but it would serve a useful double purpose. It would, in case he doubted, convince him that she had Zoe. And any sign of distress in the girl would turn the screw tighter and deeper.

  A little later, Maeve tossed her empty cup out of the car window and took another look at her passenger. Reassured that she still slept deeply, she started the engine and re-joined the A303 heading west.

  * * *

  At first there were only dreams. Dreams that were too vivid, the colours psychedelically bright. Finn screaming as bark crept over his skin. The doll resting in the palm of her hand as lightning flashed overhead. Maeve wearing her crone’s face, laughing and laughing. Finn in the centre of a stone circle plunging his staff into the earth. A dragon opening its mouth to roar. A line of light racing towards him through St Michael’s Mount, a wooded hill fort, the shell of a church on top of a hill, Glastonbury Tor, Avebury, a ruined abbey. All of these places somehow connected by the light that surged across the country to converge on Finn.

  Something filled her mouth, making it difficult to breathe. Pain in her arms, her wrists, her shoulders. A dull ache in her left temple. Dryness in her throat. Eyelids that were heavier than lead.

  The drone of an engine. A sensation of movement. She was lying down, her legs uncomfortably bent. Something covered her head. Slowly she prised her eyes open. Saw nothing but blackness. Her hands flexed against their bonds and her fingers touched fabric. Straining painfully against the roughness binding her wrists, she grasped a handful of the material and it slid off her face. Blinking, she saw the interior of a car, dimly lit by the dashboard. Visible around the headrest was Maeve’s blonde hair.