by J. E. Cluney
Lucas’ thoughts were jumbled as he tried to figure out a way to fix this.
At the rate he could feel it, the barrier protecting the house would fall quite soon.
Shit.
Skip shot to his feet and hurried down the hall, and Trish and I followed quickly as he went to the front door.
Trish yelped as her phone sounded off, and she cursed as she fumbled for it in her pocket before answering it.
“Brad? Now’s not a good time,” she said breathlessly as her worried blue eyes settled on me, the faint light from outside illuminating her through the front door’s stained glass.
I heard his concerned muffled voice, and Trish frowned.
“He says he’s outside, he was coming up to surprise me for a dinner out. Says he’s been struggling to get through town, as things are chaotic. He wanted to check on me. But there’s people around the house outside. Witches,” she hissed as she covered the receiver on her phone.
“I can see them,” Skip growled, looking out through the stained-glass window of the front door.
“Why are there witches here?” I whispered as I rubbed my arms. Why would they want to get to us?
Trish held the phone back to her ear as Brad started talking again.
“He says they don’t seem right. They’re acting…odd. Their auras are all funky too,” Trish noted.
“What do we do?” I asked Skip softly.
He turned back to me, his face set as he stared hard at me, his mind whirring.
‘I’ll be home as soon as I drop off these last few people. We’ve cleared out the area and most of the shadow creatures are gone too now,’ Marcus informed us, but he was stressed. He wanted to abandon his duties and come straight home, but those people could die if left there.
He was torn, and I reassured him that he was doing the right thing.
‘Lucas said the house will hold a bit longer. Help them first,’ I said firmly.
He grumbled, but obeyed.
‘Witches. But they’re stronger than they should be. This doesn’t feel right. The magic attacking the house, it’s old,’ Lucas said, his voice starting to pitch with panic.
Crap. If he was panicking, then so should we. From his mind, I gathered we were running out of time. The magic on the house was already beginning to fail.
It would fall in mere minutes now.
“Skip?” Trish hissed.
“I don’t know,” Skip murmured as he glanced back out the window. “If we make a run for it, we’ll get caught. Even in shifted states, at the level of their magic, those witches will take us down. If we stay, we’ll be caught too once the magic fails. Marcus won’t be able to get back here in time, even if he flits as fast as he can from the edge of town. None of us have any magic we can use. Except you and your banshee magic,” Skip said, going over everything that was flicking through his mind.
“I don’t want to kill them!” I shot back. Killing those witches? We didn’t even know who they were or what was going on. Then again, if it was my only choice, then maybe I’d have to.
“Wait, that’s Vincent,” Skip exclaimed as he narrowed his eyes and peered out the front door.
“Vincent?” I questioned.
“I used to play football with him. He’s a good guy, a wildlife carer. Why would he be doing this?” he muttered.
“Considering you’ve got zombies, shadow monsters, and God knows what else, I’d say it’s safe to assume they’re likely being controlled?” Trish mused.
“What?” I gaped. Joseph could control the witches?
Then I definitely couldn’t use my power on them if they were doing this unwillingly.
What did we do?
My chest squeezed as my heart thrummed, and I rolled over all the thoughts in my mind.
I had no options, and reaching inside, not even my banshee knew what to do.
‘I can try to hold the magic up? Push my magic through you?’ Walter spoke up, although he sounded still drained and exhausted from earlier.
‘Do you even have the power and energy for that?’ I asked. Technically, Walter was a spirit, and going off what Emma had told me, depleting their power wasn’t exactly a good thing.
‘Do we have any other choice?’ he said sadly.
He was right—we were out of options now.
The house shook and groaned, and I clung onto Skip’s arm as Trish dropped her phone and cursed.
A few photos that lined the hall smashed onto the floor, and I winced. I’d loved the few photos of the boys all smiling in a group, all from years ago.
But right now, I was freaking out.
We all were.
“Fuck,” Trish growled as she leaned against the wall for support while the house shook once more like an earthquake was ripping through it.
‘Time for me to try,’ Walter hissed into my mind, and I felt his magic struggling to surge through me.
An explosion went off outside, the boom rocking the house and the fiery light illuminating us through the stained glass of the door.
The house ceased shaking, and I took a step back as Walter’s magic withdrew while he waited to see what was going on.
Skip moved away from me, his hand holding mine tightly as he peered back out the window.
He back-peddled quickly, nearly knocking into me as the door swung open.
Trish swore like a trooper as she lashed out, her teeth and claws elongating as she prepared to fight.
“Relax!” Brad caught her arms, and Trish slumped against him in relief.
“You’re okay, thank God,” she mumbled.
“I was so worried, seeing all that magic being used. Then this one came along,” Brad said as he gestured to someone behind him.
I let out a breath of relief as Charlotte sauntered into the house, looking stoical.
“Well, looks like I got here in the nick of time,” she mused as she smacked her lips and tossed a look over her shoulder. Her brown, nearly black hair was done up in a tight, high ponytail, and she looked like she was ready for a fight in her jeans and grey tee with a leather jacket.
Super badass.
“We need to get somewhere safe. This house is no longer so,” Charlotte said, her voice ringing with authority as she stood tall before us.
“How’d you stop them?” Skip asked as he peered out the front door to where the witches were strewn across the street, looking like they’d been knocked out.
“Tool of the trade. Powerful warlock bomb that knocks out those in the immediate vicinity and locks down magic for a short time in the area. No one can use any magic,” she answered quickly, her brown eyes alert as she focused on me. “You are our main priority. We’re taking you to the safest place for you right now. The town is in chaos, and reinforcements are still trying to break through the wardings around the town. We’re on our own for now, so we need to bunker down and hold out,” she barked, sounding awfully like she’d once served in the military. Considering how she was keeping her cool so well, it wouldn’t surprise me if she had.
“Where’s the safest place?” Skip asked as Charlotte stormed back out of the house, pausing only to arch a brow at us over her shoulder as she waited for us to follow.
“The Brady household. It has the magic of numerous warlocks and witches protecting it, which has been built up over the years. Being an area Enforcer, Mr Brady has had to take extra measures to keep his home safe,” Charlotte stated as she briskly crossed over the lawn to her parked car on the street.
It was a fancy, black SUV, and I wondered if black was just how the Council rolled, like all government bodies in movies.
I stared down at the witches by our feet, knocked unconscious by the bomb, as Skip dragged me after him.
Emma. Was she okay? She wasn’t amongst those here from what I could see, but if witches were at risk, then I needed to check in on her.
We all clambered into the SUV, my grandmother taking the passenger seat as the rest of us took the back.
We’d barely had a c
hance to strap in before we were screeching away, the wheels spinning hard as Charlotte quickly put our home in the rearview mirror.
“Joseph must be controlling the witches,” Trish said as she shot Charlotte a look for confirmation.
“From my understanding, all the witches being controlled are psychic witches. This must play a part of it,” Charlotte said as she sighed in frustration while swerving around an abandoned car on the road. The driver’s door was left ajar, and I wondered where the occupants had gone.
Emma. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, dialing her number and waiting out the ringing with bated breath.
I ground my teeth as it reached message bank, and I called George instead.
It rang out as well, and I sent them both texts begging to know if they were okay in all this chaos.
I wanted to go to them, to make sure they were okay, but right now, I needed to focus on my mates and myself.
“So, from what I’ve learned, Mr Brady and some Council reinforcements are stuck on the east side of town trying to get through the warding. I’ve left Claire and her parents at the police station, where they should be safe. Most officers have gone out for damage control, but there’s two who will remain at the station at all times,” Charlotte shared as she dodged a zombie that was rushing at us.
I shuddered as it hit the side of the SUV and went down, and Charlotte cursed under her breath.
“Can they be fixed?” I asked softly.
“The undead? No. We can work on stopping Joseph’s power to halt the reanimation, but those people are dead. They’ve fallen at the hands of this wretched warlock,” Charlotte growled out as another one ran out from behind a parked car.
This time, she revved hard, and Trish swore as we hit him hard, sending him tumbling up onto the bonnet.
“Fuck me, never thought I’d live to see the day a zombie apocalypse happened!” Trish exclaimed as Charlotte threw the car into reverse, and the moaning zombie rolled straight off the bonnet.
She then zipped around the zombie now sprawled on the road.
“You seem to be handling all of this quite well. Did you serve time?” Brad asked from my other side. I was squished in the middle seat between the two men, although I took comfort in Skip’s presence beside me.
“I served in Iraq. I moved to Australia ten years ago at the request of the International Council and came onboard here. I’ve worked all sorts of ground ops since then. Believe it or not, there are plenty of supernatural terrorists around. We work on dealing with them. Joseph has now been classed as one, hence the Council finally getting their arses into gear and sending us more support. A little late though, considering they’re stuck outside the wardings.” She muttered the last part in annoyance.
“How can Mr Brady and another warlock plus a heap of witches be struggling to bring down the wardings?” Skip shook his head in disbelief as ran his thumb over the back of my hand.
“I believe that Joseph is siphoning magic from supes and using it to feed the wardings, keeping it fueled. With all the power he’s siphoning, and already being a necromancer, he’s easily capable of fighting off a large group of witches and a few warlocks. We can only hope that he loses his fuel and the wardings power down a little bit,” Charlotte said, explaining her thinking.
“He’ll kill the whole town before we can get help,” Brad mumbled as he sat back in his seat, the reality of it all hitting him hard as his face dropped.
I bit my lip as I thought about it.
This only came into pass because I’d struck down the wendigo after me.
If I’d not been here, if I wasn’t a banshee…
‘Don’t think like that,’ Skip snapped at me as he tightened his grip on my hand, those stunning, fierce blue eyes gazing at me with such belief and love, it made me quiver.
‘None of this is your fault. Like Walter said from Mabel, this was planned and put into action long ago. Joseph had the ability to foresee things, so he set all of this up. You are not to blame at all. Don’t you dare ever think that,’ Skip said, growling the last part, and I could feel Marcus agreeing wholeheartedly with him.
I couldn’t feel Lucas and Ollie anymore. They were too far away. I could still sense them, but their thoughts and minds were now blocked from me by the distance.
I swallowed down the dryness in my throat as Skip kissed my forehead.
I couldn’t help but feel guilty about it all, despite his words.
‘I felt the same with Claire. But this is out of our hands, Bee Sting,’ he murmured.
I nodded as I averted my gaze, and Skip pulled me into his side, nuzzling my head as the car lurched again to dodge another abandoned car.
The town really was in disarray, vehicles abandoned all over the streets.
How many people had died so far too? Marcus had dealt with a number of zombies while rescuing people, and we’d seen a few already.
My banshee stirred within me at the thought.
The fatalities were only rising.
All I could do now was wait for Ollie and Lucas to pull through.
I just hoped they could cross back over the wardings once they found the dagger.
‘Allison, we need to speak in your void,’ Walter’s voice rose up in my mind, and Skip shot me a look.
I pursed my lips as I allowed myself to fall into my void, the welcome darkness engulfing me as Walter materialized before me.
I frowned as two women appeared with him, a black woman and a fiery red-haired woman.
“This here is Mabel,” he said as he indicated to the dark-skinned woman in a stylish white blouse and purple skirt. Her hairdo and general style made me think of the sixties.
“Nice to meet you,” I said with a nod, and Mabel gave me a small curtsy.
“And this is Cheryl,” Walter said, introducing me to the redhead, who gave me a thin-lipped smile as she struggled to hold my gaze. Her light brown dress looked to be from the 1800s with its long sleeves and ankle length material. It was puffy in areas and buttoned up right around her neck to keep her modest. Her hair was done up in a high bun, and she clasped her hands as she gave me a curtsy as well.
“I think we can help out, all of us,” Walter said as he held his hands out wide to include the two women.
“How?” I asked, baffled by this.
“I’m a psychic witch with many powers, and Walter and I can work together to provide you with our magic where needed. I’ve already allowed Walter to siphon some of my own so that his could be restored. Using his to extend your touch of death reach was quite draining on him, but with me to help replenish him, you no longer need to worry,” Mabel said with a thick British accent.
Her dark brown eyes were wise and all-seeing, and I wondered if she’d seen the outcome of all of this.
“Sadly not. I’ve only glimpsed bits and pieces. Joseph saw ahead long ago and made sure to push things into motion to achieve the outcome he desired. Many parts had to be carefully thought out and used over the years, but he was able to use his magic to lay the path to this day. He knew of you and your mates long before you were even thought of, let alone conceived. As your mate said, none of this is your fault. If it hadn’t been you, he would’ve found another. This was inevitable,” she said with a firm nod of her head.
That eased my mind a little from my guilt, but it still didn’t make it any easier to deal with everything that was going on.
“I’ve also learned that Cheryl is a banshee, like you,” Walter said after a moment of silence.
I turned to Cheryl, my eyes widening in shock. How had he not known this earlier?
“I’m sorry, m’lady. I’ve been in this spirit world for so long, and my tragic death…well, it affected me. I was not in my right mind many of the times Walter sought me out, but he has used his magic to stabilize my spirit as best he can. This was when I told him the truth of my nature,” she said softly, her voice awfully quiet as she stepped forward, her honeyed-brown eyes catching mine.
“Joseph stole
my powers in his experiments. I harbored the incorporeal ability and, of course, my scream, but my special, rare ability that he wanted was my power over spirits. I could control them, bring them forth from the spirit realm to assist me. I only discovered it when I was attacked in an alley. I went to scream, but got strangled. The next thing I knew, my banshee had taken over and a spirit appeared, rescuing me before vanishing,” she explained.
I just stared at her astonishment.
I’d never heard of such an ability. Sasha had never mentioned it either.
“It is indeed one of the rarest abilities out there, much like your touch of death,” she added, and I shook my head.
“Wait, you said he stole your powers?” I murmured in shock.
“Yes. Specifically, the power to control spirits. Walter and I believe this is how he’s controlling the psychic witches. They’re more open to the spirit world than others. Perhaps he found a way to harness their spirits through their link with the spirit world,” Cheryl said, sharing her thoughts.
I just blinked slowly as I went over it in my mind. It certainly made some sense. How it worked was beyond my understanding, but it sounded possible.
“Could he steal my power too?” I asked quietly, and she nodded sadly.
“He’s learned how to, although I imagine he’ll want you alive, as your banshee is incredibly strong. I can feel it. He’ll want to siphon your power without killing you. The stronger the supes he siphons magic from, the more powerful he gets,” she said with a sad shake of her head.
“I’ve been going over it in my mind. I’m worried he’ll find a way to link your touch of death to his spirits and shadow creatures, using them to easily wipe out people. He needs to be stopped, and more importantly, we can’t let him get his hands on you,” he said with absolution.
“I’m not the only banshee here, my teacher is one,” I murmured.
“Does she live in Maple Grove though?” Walter asked.
I frowned as I tried to remember. She’d once mentioned her commute from the coast each day was a pain. So no.
“Well, good then,” Walter said with relief.
“I want to offer you my powers. Well, I want to teach your banshee side everything I know about controlling spirits,” Cheryl interjected. “I hope it can be useful in your battle with him, to help lower the fatalities if possible.”
