by Melody Raven
Bastian turned to Sam and Derek. His voice was back to normal when he said, “Stop the ritual from finishing. I’ll take care of Claudia.”
Sam wanted to insist that she stay with her grandmother, but she knew Bastian was one of the only people Claudia truly trusted. She was in the best hands possible, and Claudia wanted to make sure the darkness didn’t get any stronger than it was already.
She grabbed Derek’s arm and pulled him toward the door. “We need to go.”
Derek reluctantly came with her even as he kept looking over his shoulder where Bastian had now picked Claudia up and carried her toward the elevator. They walked around the now dead sentry and Derek started to shake his head. “No. We need to call this in.”
“Don’t be such a Boy Scout.” Jackson reached the door and held it open. “Your people wouldn’t know the first thing to do with this.” As if to prove his point, a sentry ran inside and stared in shock at the dead man lying on the floor, running a hand over his mouth. But seconds later, he was pulling out his phone and calling people down.
“We have bigger things to worry about,” said Sam. He finally looked back in her direction and she said the one thing that she knew would get him re-prioritized. “Claire.”
Derek gave one more glance to the dead man as the sentry lay a tarp over the body with one hand while awkwardly talking into the phone held to his ear with his shoulder. “Fine,” he said as he went through the door Jackson was still holding. “But I’m going to drive.”
Sam was more than happy to let Derek speed through the streets to get them to the Connecticut property as soon as possible, but Jackson had a major issue as they approached the car. “I’m not riding in the backseat.”
“For fuck’s sake,” muttered Derek. “Get in the car, Benedict.”
Sam went to the backseat door on the passenger side. “Fine. I’ll ride in the backseat. Let’s just go before Heather does something she can’t take back.”
Instead of getting in the car, Jackson looked back at Sam. “Wait. Heather?”
“Drive now,” said Derek as he got into the car and reached through the open window to plant the portable light on the roof.
Sam sighed as she opened the door and climbed into the backseat. She didn’t know what Jackson was so worried about. This wasn’t the kind of cop car that had the partition between the front and back seats.
The second Jackson was in the car, Derek pulled away from the building. There was no siren, but the flashing light was enough to get most of the city traffic out of the way. “There’s a chance, not a certainty though, that Heather is the one who took Claire.”
“Is this some sort of really bad joke?”
“I happened to notice Heather was wearing contacts the last time I saw her. It might be nothing.”
Jackson looked even more confused. “Heather was wearing contacts? Shit.”
“It might be nothing,” Derek repeated again.
“No,” said Sam. “The last time I saw her, she was pissed at Claudia. She was talking about her splitting us up. Saying that I should be working with her instead of Claudia.”
“Which is all circumstantial,” said Derek as he weaved in and out of traffic.
Jackson nodded but still looked concerned. “That explains why he’s here.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“If Claudia’s perfect little family is starting to turn against her, she’s not going to want the rest of the families to know. The less people who know, the better.”
Sam knew Jackson was probably right, but she felt the need to defend Claudia. “She sent us because we can’t trust anyone else.”
“Including you,” chimed in Derek with a pointed look at Jackson before he diverted his attention back to the road.
“Hey. You’re the one who started slamming your fist into my face for no reason.”
Derek tightened his grip on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
Jackson looked back at Sam as recognition dawned on his face. “Ahh. That’s the reason. No wonder Claudia doesn’t like you.”
“Remind me why you’re here again,” snapped Derek.
“I’m here because I’m the one who told you Claire was missing, I’m the one who found her, and because there’s no one else you can trust.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“There’s still time to pull over and drop me off.”
“What makes you think I’d pull over to kick you out?”
“Well, it’s now or never. Do you want to trust me or not? Because I’m not here to make you happy and I’m not here to flirt with your girlfriend. Claire was out there meeting me, and I don’t do guilt. If she gets herself killed, I’d like it to have nothing to do with me.”
“We’re effectively walking into a hostage situation. If we can get a team of trained professionals down here—”
“No one is trained in this,” said Sam. “They will walk in with their guns and armor and think they’re safe. All that will do is put people in danger. If it is Heather, all I have to do is find her. I can talk to her.”
Derek once again tightened his grip on the wheel and Jackson scoffed. “I don’t think either of you are convinced that will work.”
Sam and Derek both were silent at that. Sam was sure Derek was worried. He’d have to be considering how many odds were against them.
But she couldn’t be. She had to be a hundred percent sure that she could get through to Heather. Even if she had been responsible for the deaths of at least ten people.
“You’re not supposed to be awake yet,” said the voice.
Claire’s eyes snapped open. She didn’t even know she was awake yet, but somehow the crazy woman, Sam’s sister, had known.
Claire sucked in a deep breath. The air was cool and crisp. Heather and she seemed to be alone, but they weren’t outside. She tried to turn her head to get a better view through the shadows surrounding her, but she couldn’t manage to move any part of her. There was no telltale burn of rope or metal biting into her wrists or ankles, but the effect was the same as being bound. For the time being, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Claire squeezed her eyes shut. The memories rushed back, flooding her mind and infesting every part of her consciousness. The days she’d spent tied to that table at Tommy’s. Listening to him moving around and hoping he didn’t touch her. And then when he told her what he’d done to the other girls.... What he’d do to her....
“Relax,” said Heather.
From behind her closed eyes, Claire could see some sort of light flaring up and she cracked her eyes open again. A lantern burned in the corner of the room. No, it wasn’t a room. If she tilted her eyes up, she could see the soft silver of the moon shining through. It was wreckage of some sort.
It didn’t matter where she was. If she couldn’t move, there was no getting away this time.
Heather placed a bowl in the center of the room. “Don’t you worry. I’m not Tommy. This won’t be prolonged and you won’t suffer.”
“Remind me to send a thank-you card.” Claire blinked a few times as her voice seemed to echo off the abandoned halls.
“I left you your voice too. You can yell and scream if it will make you feel better.”
Claire was seriously debating taking her up on that offer, but the very fact that Heather didn’t care wasn’t a good sign for its effectiveness. Claire took a few deep breaths and shut her eyes once more, but the memories flooded back and she decided that open eyes were better. She needed to be in the now. This wasn’t the same as Tommy. She wasn’t confused and alone. She knew what she was now. She could control a pen, damn it. That had to be good for something.
“You were the one who helped Tommy. Why? Why me?”
Heather glanced over at Claire. Under the soft flickering light of the fire, the polished and put together woman Claire had met was almost unrecognizable. Her eyes were dark and inhuman. Her blonde hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, but the end was curled as thou
gh she’d styled it.
Well, at least she’d look good while committing murder.
“You’re convenient. A witch who has no idea what she’s doing. I hate to hurt one of my own, but the ritual is very specific. The last sacrifice has to have power.”
That might tell Claire why she was taken by Tommy, but there had to be more to it if she was back here. It wasn’t just coincidence.
She couldn’t worry about the why right now. If she couldn’t move and no one could hear her scream, how was she going to get out? Last time Derek and Sam had found her, but she couldn’t rely on them. Tommy had her trapped for days. From the looks of it, she didn’t have more than a few minutes. Think. What did she know?
It was night. Heather was crazy. What else? Anything.... Wait. The first words Heather had spoken. Claire wasn’t supposed to be awake. Whatever magic Heather used to knock her out was supposed to last longer. That meant either Heather was weaker than she thought or that Claire was stronger than expected.
It had to be the second one. Claire was stronger than she used to be. Heather’s magic didn’t just knock her out; it was paralyzing her. So if she woke up sooner than earlier, maybe she could—
Her pinky finger twitched. Boom. Now all she needed was the rest of her arm and she might actually stand a chance.
The sense of foreboding grew greater and greater the closer they got to the Connecticut property. Sam rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. Not to rest but to try to steel herself for what she might find.
Derek was right. Nothing was certain. But contacts... it was such a small, innocent detail. But Heather was a damn talented witch. She could change her hair and eye color, at least temporarily, with the flick of a wrist, no spoken spell even needed. If she had eye trouble, Abigail and she could’ve fixed that within the hour.
No. The only eye issue she wouldn’t have been able to fix would be if they were permanently dyed darker.
She felt the car slow down and opened her eyes again. They were stopping a good distance from the ruins of the old house, but close enough to walk. They’d need the element of surprise. Her necklace and Derek’s charm wouldn’t protect them if Heather was using the darkness to amplify her abilities.
“Now or never,” said Derek as the car came to a stop.
“You should stay in the car.” Derek was great at a lot of things, but he wasn’t ready for this. Hell, she wasn’t ready for this.
“No,” said Derek unsurprisingly.
“You’re not—”
“This is a three-man operation.”
Well, that was news to her. “What?”
“Jackson is in charge of Claire. The second there’s a chance, he’s going to get her.”
“I am?” he asked.
Derek ignored him. “You’re going to look for your sister. If she is here, you’re going to distract her long enough to get Claire to safety. This is not an assassination. This is not an attack. The number-one priority is Claire. Any questions?”
Sam blinked a few times. A plan. Just knowing there was a plan somehow made her feel better.
Jackson raised his hand. “I have a question. You said three-man job. What the hell are you doing?”
Derek took his sidearm out of his shoulder holster and racked the top back, loading a bullet into the chamber. “I’m here to make sure both of you are successful.”
Jackson’s hand went down. “We have no idea how many people are here or what we’re up against. Are you going to be able to do what it takes?”
“I’m the only person in this car remotely trained to handle this,” Derek pointed out.
“Shooting some thug coming at you with a gun is one thing. This is a cute blonde with nothing but an angry stare. Do you think you’re ready for this?”
Sam stayed quiet. She didn’t want to consider Derek shooting her sister even though she knew that at this point it was a very real possibility. Derek looked back at Sam as though to ask her permission, but she couldn’t bring herself to give him anything. She couldn’t very well ask him not to shoot Heather, especially if she was guilty of doing even half of what they suspected.
But she couldn’t give him the okay either.
“Let’s go,” said Derek without giving Jackson an answer.
Sam let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
They all got out of the car and the silence around them started to sink in. No crickets. No birds. Just the soft breeze rustling through the trees, which was strangely ominous. They’d have to be especially quiet to make sure Heather didn’t know they were coming.
Derek had his handgun out and ready while Jackson took off his jacket and set it in the front seat of the car. Probably making sure he was ready and able for a fight. Sam didn’t have anything to do to get herself ready for battle. All she had was her mind, and she could just hope that the extra energy combined with the fear and adrenaline would give her any power boost she could muster to face whatever was ahead of them.
A cloud shifted with the wind, allowing the light of the half-moon to shine down. If there was going to be a ritual tonight, it was going to be soon. It was too close to the bewitching hour.
Derek stood next to the hood of the car. She could see the concern in his eye as he looked at her and he knew she needed to do a better job of hiding her emotions. She didn’t need him being concerned about her. She needed him focused on finding Claire.
Once Jackson shut his door, they started down the road. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Derek fell back to walk next to Sam and they hung back until Jackson was farther up. “You’re not okay,” said Derek.
“I need to be here.”
“I’m going to have your back, okay?”
Sam nodded. “I know.”
He stopped and looked down at her, the intensity in his gaze enough to have her stopping in her tracks. “Sam, I need you to know that I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She nodded. “I kno—”
“No. I mean I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. No matter what I have to do. You’re my number-one priority. Your safety above all. Got it?”
Sam’s breath caught in her throat as she instinctively reached out and intertwined her fingers with his. “Derek, I need you to know that I lo—”
“Do you two mind if we wait until after we save the world to have this little Hallmark moment?” asked Jackson from the darkness.
Sam and Derek pulled away as though they’d been caught in the act, and Sam pushed her hands into her pockets. “We’re coming.”
“About damn time. I came here to save the damsel, not watch Bella and Edward make googly eyes at—”
Jackson suddenly slammed across the road and into a tree. Sam fell back as she waited for an attack. Derek saw the man before Sam did, and he brought his gun up and fired into the trees to the right of them. Sam heard someone shout and then rustling as whoever it was ran in the other direction. Derek held the gun firmly in hand as he scanned the trees. Sam ran back to check on Jackson, who was pushing himself up gingerly. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he croaked out, not sounding fine at all. “We need to hurry. They know we’re coming.”
Sam put her arm around his back, but he pulled away. If he didn’t want help, she wasn’t going to push the issue. They rejoined Derek, who led the way as they all kept their eyes and ears open, but no one else got close.
Before long, the ruins of her old home came into view. They all stopped at once, as though the magic in the air was tangible.
“I don’t see anyone else,” said Derek.
“I’m sure they’re there.” Jackson moved behind the two of them.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Very brave, Benedict.”
“Hey, you two both have Claudia-level protection. I have a bruised rib already. You two get to go first.”
“He has a point,” said Sam. “It’s why he took flight back there and we stayed grounded.”
D
erek didn’t seem appeased but he didn’t push the issue. “So these sentries... they don’t have the power boost that Heather does? They’re not showing the symptoms, right?”
“There isn’t exactly a lot to go around,” said Jackson. “I’m sure our little sorceress is hoarding it all to herself.”
Sam hated to hear her sister described like that, but now wasn’t the time to defend anyone’s honor. She clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to call all the magic to her she could. Though if Heather was juiced up on darkness, it would take more than she was capable of calling to stop her. Damn, she wished Claudia was here.
“This isn’t going to work,” said Derek as he kept scanning the surroundings.
“Don’t be pessimistic. I’m sure we can—”
“It’s not pessimism. It’s logic. We don’t know how many there are, where they are, and they know we’re here. We need some element of surprise.”
“Like a distraction?” asked Jackson.
Derek turned in a circle, as though looking for anything that could give them some advantage.
Sam didn’t think there was anything that could help them. All the trees around the ruins were dead and decaying. Judging from the silence around them, even the insects and birds knew that life wasn’t safe here anymore.
Derek switched out the magazine in his gun before he faced Sam. “We’re fighting the darkness, right? We need some light.”
The room was flooded with a shock of light and heat, and Claire closed her eyes and winced, hoping Heather was too distracted to realize how much she could move now.
The light flickered on the wall across from Claire, so she could tell it was fire of some kind. But despite the initial burst of heat, it was back to being crisp now and her lungs didn’t burn from smoke, so she hoped she was a safe distance. At the moment, there were already too many things trying to kill her.
But fire was good. It was cold and had rained recently. She was willing to bet that fire wasn’t natural. Stay alive. She just needed to stay alive a little bit longer.
