Crossroads Magic

by TJ Green

  She nodded, and opened up her mind to the crossroads again, desperately trying to keep anchored in Caspian's study, rather than lose herself at the standing stones. Her magic drifted over the map of Cornwall, and then it was joined by Caspian's, both swirling over White Haven, and then they started to snake their way up the country.

  Their threads of magic passed over Bodmin Moor and into Devon, then through Salisbury, across to London, and then northwards, moving back and forth across the country.

  "Why is it moving so haphazardly?" Avery asked.

  "It's not. It's following the path the circus took," Caspian told her. "See how it's lingering over certain spots where they performed? Places where the boundary magic surged for a brief time."

  Avery was impressed with the strength of Estelle's spell. While they watched, Estelle continued to chant, and unbidden the image of the crossroads became stronger in Avery's mind, and she shivered. Caspian's hands gripped hers tighter, sending a pulse of magic her way, and she embraced it hungrily. The farther north they moved, the stronger the image became.

  Avery closed her eyes, almost unwillingly, and suddenly she was there, standing at the edge of the crossroads again. She heard Caspian, his voice almost muffled. "I can see it too, Avery, open your eyes."

  But Avery's eyelids felt as if they were welded shut, and once again the standing stone glowed, its script pulsing with golden light, and the itch in Avery's palm began to burn.

  Then a searing white light flashed into her mind, and Caspian's voice boomed in her head as he commanded, "Avery, open your eyes! Now!" Magic raced through her, and her eyes flew open. She found Caspian staring at her, panic-stricken, and her hands ached through the fierceness of his grip.

  "I'm here. It's okay."

  "You almost weren't," he said, his voice rough.

  Estelle spoke calmly. "It worked. Look." The threads of their magic whirled lazily above a spot in the far north of Scotland. "Don't move." She jumped to her feet, headed to the top of the map, and then crouched, her face close to the surface. "It's by Inverness, a place called Lochend, which is at the end of Loch Ness." She looked smug. "See, I told you it would work."

  "How the hell do we get there?" Avery asked, bewildered. "It's so far!"

  Caspian looked at her, a smile playing gently across his lips. "You forget I've seen it now, too."

  "But how? I don't understand. We're not psychically linked."

  "We didn't need to be. The further north you went, the stronger the pull, the stronger the image. And because my magic is linked to yours, and I am an elemental Air witch, I saw it too, clearly. Fortunately, I am not anchored there as you are, and could pull back. However," he smiled triumphantly, "I can take us there."

  "I'm not sure that's a good idea," Estelle said. "You may be good at witch-flight, Caspian, but it works best when going to a place you know well."

  "To a place I've seen," he reminded her, finally dropping Avery's hands. "I saw it well enough to take us there, especially now that I know where it is."

  Avery hated to agree with Estelle, but... "I think Estelle's right," she said. "Taking me could be a disaster. I only have to creep towards it on a map and I can't think straight. And that's probably where I flew back from the other night. That's why it seemed to take longer than usual, and I was nauseous when I arrived. It was pretty scary."

  Estelle's superior expression changed. "Wait a minute. How did she get you there?"

  "She called me, sort of, in my head. I passed through a gap in the hedge, and I was just there!"

  "No sensation of flight?"

  "None! I can't explain it."

  Estelle frowned, looking interested for the first time all evening. "Fascinating. How did she manage that?" She clearly didn't expect an answer. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at Caspian. "You don't know what links the woman to that place yet. Whatever it is, it's strong, abnormally strong. To break her link, you have to know what it is. If you go there, you need to be fully informed with a clear plan."

  Avery eased away from Caspian. "Let's do some more investigating. If Alex and the others have managed to find Corbin tonight, we may be able to discover more. Or they may even have seen the woman again. She must have something that links her to the boundary magic. They might know what that is. In fact," she said, becoming excited, "we may be able to break her link from here, if we can get close enough. We might not need to go there at all!"

  "All right," he said crossly, "you win. For now. But I have a feeling we will have to go there regardless. Hecate's magic makes her too strong---you know that better than anyone."

  Avery's phone started to ring, and she headed to her bag and grabbed it. It was Alex, and she answered quickly, asking, "Any luck?"

  "Yes, we managed to get Corbin alone, and he's willing to talk, tomorrow morning. No, this morning now, at ten. Neutral ground."

  "That's fantastic," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Where's neutral ground?"

  "Old Haven Church."

  "Excellent, that's nice and quiet. Any reason he's decided to help?"

  "Haven't you heard?" Alex asked, his voice dropping. "There's been another death tonight. They found the body before midnight on the edge of town."

  Avery sank into the closest chair, turning to Caspian to find him watching her. She said, "Are all of you okay?"

  Alex laughed dryly, "Sort of, but I'm knackered. I'll head to yours, meet you there?"

  "Sure, I'll be leaving soon."

  She rang off and looked at Caspian. "There's been another death, outside White Haven. But the good news is Corbin has agreed to help. We're meeting him tomorrow at Old Haven Church."

  "Good. I'll come, too."

  "No, that's a bad idea," Avery told him. "You haven't been to the circus, and no one---as far as we know---knows you. We should keep it that way. You're our secret weapon."

  He laughed. "I've never been called that before."

  "You may never be called it again, either," Avery said, teasing him.

  "All right," he said, softly. "You're welcome to stay here tonight."

  Estelle frowned at Caspian, but Avery shook her head, "No, I'll head home, but thank you, both of you, for tonight. We're one step closer to stopping this. Hopefully I won't end up sacrificed to Hecate after all."

  15

  A fine drizzle was falling by the time Alex and Avery reached Old Haven Church the next morning, and they ran up the gravel path to the large porch that covered the entrance and sheltered beneath it, waiting for the others to arrive.

  After an argument on the phone that morning about who should go and meet Corbin, mainly from Reuben who wanted to meet 'the mad bastard' who had agreed to use crossroads magic, they had finally agreed that for all to show up would be equally mad. The less Corbin knew about them the better, and he had only met Alex the night before. Alex had told Avery how they had waited until the camp had finally fallen silent, and Alex had snuck into his van, using glamour to momentarily silence Corbin while he spoke to him. It seemed Corbin was so shocked about the second death in White Haven that he agreed to help. They had, however, agreed that Shadow should join them. Her knowledge of fey magic might be useful.

  Alex leaned against the thick wooden door of the church, looking out at the increasingly heavy rain. "What if he changes his mind?"

  "Then we got back to plan B, and try to break whatever links the woman to the crossroads."

  "I don't like that option. She seems to have disappeared."

  Avery watched the rain spatter off the bare branches and headstones of the dead, and felt the gloomy day lower her spirits. "Well, she can't have gone far. If the second death is caused by whoever is responsible at the circus, and I guess we're waiting to have Newton confirm that, she must be close by, pulling strings."

  "At least you achieved something last night," he said, watching her. "Even if we never see her again, we know where the crossroads is."

  She nodded. "It was a great spell. I was surprised by how accurate it was, and
Estelle was a pain, but she helped. But it was also a bit too real, again. I don't like how close it is to my reality, and I told you how it affected Caspian, too."

  "He'll like that. It makes him feel closer to you."

  Alex's voice had an edge to it, and Avery tried not to feel annoyed. If he was linked magically to someone she knew fancied Alex, and didn't particularly hide it, she'd hate it, too. She would be scared she'd lose him. "I don't like it any more than you do, but right now, we couldn't do this without him. In fact, I think I'd be dead. I imagine that woman is feeling pretty damn angry I'm still alive."

  "Yes, she is," a deep voice said, making her jump. Avery and Alex raised their hands, and a ball of fire appeared in Alex's palms as Avery summoned what little magic she had available. They hadn't heard Corbin arrive, and he raised his hands as if surrendering. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

  It was the first time that Avery had seen him properly, in daylight, without his costume. He was tall and gaunt, his face long like his limbs, with a thick shock of black hair, greying at the temples, and his eyes were dark, almost black as well. He stared at both of them, taking in their appearance, too.

  Alex relaxed his stance, the fire disappearing. "You came. I wasn't sure you would."

  Corbin glanced at Alex's hands uneasily as he stepped into the shelter of the porch. "How did you do that?"

  "I'm a superhero," Alex answered dryly.

  "I mean it. If I'm to trust you, I want to know."

  "I need to trust you, too," Alex said. "But I guess you're here. I'm a witch, a good one. And so is Avery, when some bitch isn't messing with her powers."

  Corbin swallowed nervously, and despite his height, almost seemed to cower in the corner. "Caitlin is stronger and more dangerous than I realised. I hadn't expected the death toll to be so high."

  "Caitlin is the woman who controls the crossroads. The woman with auburn hair?" Alex asked.

  Corbin nodded.

  "We suspected as much," he said.

  Avery subdued a snort. "But you did expect a death toll?"

  Corbin glanced at her nervously, and then away, looking out to the graveyard. "Not exactly, but I thought there may be. I guess I willingly misunderstood."

  "But you didn't try to stop this sooner!" Avery said, incredulous. "It clearly didn't bother you that much."

  Corbin glared at her. "And just who should I ask to stop this madness? Should I have told the police? I would have sounded insane. I had no idea what to do---until now!"

  Alex shot her a glance and Avery fell silent, knowing now wasn't the time to antagonise him. Before anyone could say anything else, Shadow appeared at the porch entrance, staring intently at Corbin. "Sorry I'm late to the party."

  Alex said, "No, you're just in time. Let's head inside."

  Alex unlocked the church door with a spell, and they headed inside, walking to the rear pews to take a seat. Avery shivered. It was colder in here than outside. Corbin folded himself into the narrow pew, looking around nervously. It seemed that even here he was scared.

  Alex sat next to Corbin. "We didn't have time to talk last night, not properly. Why don't you tell us how this all started?"

  "Last summer, the circus was in trouble. We had returned from Europe with poor sales and little money, despite our performers being excellent. We'd actually cut our tour short because we couldn't afford to keep going. Unfortunately, we looked tired, and weren't competing, and some people were threatening to leave." He smiled briefly. "Fortunately we've been running for years, and most people are loyal. I'm lucky that they wanted to keep trying. We all agreed that we needed to do something new. And then, Rafe and Mairi, my two newest managers, suggested we go to Scotland. They're originally from there, just outside Inverness. They said the place would inspire us, allow us to rebuild and re-think, so that's what we did."

  Alex frowned. "Sounds pretty innocuous."

  "It was, and they were right. We stayed outside Inverness. It's beautiful there, close to Loch Ness. It gave us time to think. And then Rafe suggested something else." Corbin shuffled in his seat. "Rafe and Mairi as well as being managers are also investors, and have sank a lot of their money into the circus. They had been with us for only a year, but they were hard working and ambitious, and everyone seemed to like them, but I guess now I can say they were always odd. Anyway, they said they knew of a wise woman who could help the circus. They reassured me, joking almost, about how old magic would make us rich. I admit, I was desperate. We were running out of money, and I was intrigued, so I agreed to meet her." He fell silent for a moment, staring at the back of the pew in front of him. "I could tell Caitlin was unusual from the start. She had a strange intensity---eyes that saw too much, if you know what I mean."

  "What did she propose?" Shadow asked.

  "She said I should embrace the old ways, the myths and the magic of the wild, and the stories would bring their own reward. We talked about the Raven King and the Green Man, King Arthur, Beowulf, giants, pixies, goblins, elves, so many things, and how a circus based on these would be unique and exciting. l loved it!" He became animated, his voice rising as he looked at them. "I could see it all, and I became excited about our future for the first time in a long time. And then she said that she had ways of allowing the magic of the Otherworld to fuel our performance." He shook his head. "I laughed, initially, not realising she was being literal. She said she could ask at the crossroads for the spirits to join us, and asked if I would give my permission. I thought she was mad, but essentially harmless, so I said yes. Caitlin then explained that she would perform the ritual on the night of the next full moon, and I thought that was that."

  Avery looked at Alex and Shadow. "That explains the full moon over the crossroads, then."

  Corbin looked confused. "You've been there?"

  "Unfortunately, yes." Avery looked at his confused face and sensed he was genuinely shocked. "Don't you know what has happened to me?"

  "No, I don't think I do."

  "I have been marked for sacrifice to Hecate. I should be dead right now---if it wasn't for my friends."

  Corbin blanched. "Hecate? How?"

  "I've been linked to one of the standing stones there. It's draining me of my magic."

  Corbin looked really uncomfortable now. "I've never been. I stayed away from all that. Only Rafe and Mairi went with her."

  "Go on," Alex prompted. "What happened next?"

  "I focused on developing the new programme, with other key performers. No one else knew about Caitlin's involvement, just the three of us. Nothing more was said about the full moon ritual, and I forgot about it, almost, and when I did think about it, I thought it was probably some crazy something she did in her back garden. Anyway, two weeks or so later, I felt a change in the camp, the stirrings of something happening, something I couldn't quite place."

  "Like what?" Shadow asked. "Or are you in denial again?"

  Corbin frowned at her. "I worked out, eventually, that what I felt was the presence of a wild spirit, something bigger than all of us. I called Rafe and Mairi into my office, and asked them what was going on, and they laughed, said the ritual had worked, and wasn't that fantastic? At that point, I knew I'd entered into something I couldn't control, but even then I had no idea of the extent of it."

  "When did you?" Avery asked.

  "Not until weeks later. We were ready to start performing by the end of the summer, and our first performances were for the local crowd. From the start we were a huge success, and that first night I experienced the power of the Raven King for the first time. I felt him, actually felt him!" Corbin looked at them, wide-eyed with surprise. "I felt him fill me up, take over me, animate my costume...it was subtle, but it was there. And the Green Man was on the grounds, everywhere, every night. I admit, for a while I loved it."

  Shadow watched him, her hands in her pockets as she leaned against the pew. "But not anymore?"

  "They exhaust me, and I know it sounds odd, but I sense their frustration. They
are as tied to us as we are to them."

  "Has anyone else noticed?" Avery asked.

  He shook his head. "That's the weird thing---no one else seems to notice that anything's going on. Apart from our success, of course. But the supernatural stuff---nothing."

  "Did you know Caitlin would be travelling with you?"

  "No. It was only when we were ready to leave Inverness that she announced she was coming, too. I was shocked. She's not part of the circus, and I asked why. She said if I wanted to keep our success that she had to, and Rafe and Mairi were keen, so I agreed, and she's been with us ever since."

  "Tell us about the deaths," Alex said.

  "They started as soon as we left Inverness, but I didn't associate them with us for weeks. It was only when I noticed that Caitlin was behaving more oddly than usual that I asked what was going on, and Rafe told me, but not at first. I had to ask again and again."

  Corbin's voice started to rise with panic, and Alex tried to reassure him, keen to keep the story coming, although it seemed to Avery that Corbin wouldn't stop now. He'd had no one to talk to and no one to help him, and now that they were listening, he needed to tell them everything. "It's okay," Alex said. "How odd did Caitlin become?"

  "She became short tempered, angry, distant, odd. Other performers started to complain about her. I knew it had to be bad, she kept to herself most of the time, so if others had noticed---" He broke off, his meaning clear. "Her mood could last for weeks, and then she'd be fine again. I threatened to make her leave at one point when she became so bad. I thought to hell with the success, and that's when Rafe told me I couldn't. Caitlin is tied to the heart of the ritual. She's what Hecate wants most. She carries Empusa."

  "Who?" Alex and Avery asked in unison.

  "Oh, that's bad news," Shadow said, her hands moving to her daggers and resting on the hilts. "You have an Empusa in your company?"

  Corbin looked flustered, "You've heard of her?"

  "I've heard of them. They are shape-shifting females who consume young men. They're a type of Lamia. They're dangerous, violent, slippery, and tricky to kill."