The person she was avoiding snuck up on her as she neared the gazebo.
“Sarah Jennifer! There you are!”
As always, wherever Linda was to be found, Adrien was two steps behind her.
The young man nodded tersely. “Major Walton. Thank you for inviting us. This, um, ancestor blessing is interesting…” His voice trailed off, his tone implying Salem’s most sacred celebration was less than civilized.
Sarah Jennifer summoned her diplomat face. “Linda, Adrien, I’m so glad the two of you could make it. How are you enjoying the festival?”
Linda’s eyes danced over the crowd. “It’s beautiful. I love visiting Salem, especially during Samhain.”
The question hung in the air between them.
“Ezekiel isn’t here.” Sarah Jennifer hated to see the crestfallen expression on the young chancellor’s face.
“Oh. I was hoping…”
You and me both, Sarah Jennifer thought but didn’t say.
Adrien put an arm around Linda’s shoulders. “I saw some people playing a game with apples in a barrel of water,” he told her. “I’m sure the major has her duties to attend to.”
Linda looked from Adrien to Sarah Jennifer. “Yes, of course. Sorry to keep you, Sarah Jennifer.”
Sarah Jennifer resisted the urge to switch to wolf form and tear Adrien’s throat out. “We’ll catch up properly after the blessing,” she told Linda earnestly. “I really am glad you came.”
Linda didn’t look sure she believed her.
Sarah Jennifer smiled. “Really. Come by HQ if the night gets away from either of us. I want to hear how everything is going in the valley.”
Brutus joined Sarah Jennifer as Linda and Adrien melted into the crowd. “So, no Ezekiel again. You want to talk about it?”
Sarah Jennifer shook her head. “Nothing to talk about. Ezekiel won’t come home just because I get in touch with my feelings. I need to get ready to do magic. I’ll catch you later.”
The gazebo had been draped in diaphanous fabric for the night and adorned with holly, ivy, and yew.
Sarah Jennifer slipped inside without stopping to speak to any of the pack and took her seat on one of the dozen cushions ringing the arrangement of candles in the center of the bleached wood floor.
To access her magic, she had to clear her heart and mind, a monumental task since her heart was full of Ezekiel. Every thought of Samhain led to a memory of the two of them laughing, working together, or, toward the end, their arguments.
Sarah Jennifer would have taken an argument over the silence between them. However, she had a duty to the people who needed her tonight. Everyone on the council had to put their magic together to assist Esme in the ancestors’ blessing.
Sarah Jennifer thought back to her first Samhain when the grief she’d been holding onto had been released by the ceremony. This was different. She had no clue how to let go when Ezekiel was still alive and separated from her by choice.
She worked to push her feelings of abandonment aside and focus on the need to provide catharsis for everyone who had lost their loved ones to the Madness in the last years.
She closed her eyes, filtering out the sounds of the feast going on outside the gazebo as she concentrated on accessing the source of magic deep within herself.
Breathe in. Take in the will to let go.
Breathe out…
She couldn’t let it go.
Esme entered the gazebo. Without a word, she put her elaborate headdress down, sat on the cushion next to Sarah Jennifer, and took her hand.
Sarah Jennifer bit back a sob as a wave of warmth and love from Esme washed over her.
This is the hardest time of year for you.
Sarah Jennifer nodded, unable to deny it.
It’s okay. You’ve been here before, and you’ll get through it again. Feel the pain. Accept your loss as part of life.
I don’t want everyone else to know that I’m feeling…
The same as them? Esme’s mental voice was full of empathy. You are just as entitled to your grief as anyone else, Duckie. Ezekiel may still be living, but the Madness took him from you just like it’s taken loved ones from everyone who has come here tonight to experience the blessing.
Sarah Jennifer pushed aside thoughts of Ezekiel. He didn’t want her in his life; that much was clear. Knowing he was alive had to be enough.
Yet…
I feel so alone, she admitted.
A series of explosions outside marked the beginning of the ceremony as Dinny, Linus, and Reg set off the fireworks. Multicolored lights bled through the gauzy fabric separating Sarah Jennifer and Esme from the feast occurring outside.
Sarah Jennifer pulled her hand back and wiped her eyes. “Time to put on my big girl panties,” she told Esme.
Esme shook her head. “If you say so. Time for me to get out there. You’ll do fine, Duckie. When this is over, we’re going to track that boy down and… I suppose giving him a good hiding is out of the question, but I sure feel like it right now.”
The council members came into the gazebo, ending the conversation. They formed the circle as Esme drew back the curtain.
Projection screens around the park showed identical celebrations all over the Protectorate.
The celebrants filled the trestle tables, which were still laden with food despite the hours they had been feasting.
The youngest children sat in their parents’ laps while the older ones ran wild, full of sugar and adrenaline.
Esme, wearing green and gold, stood on the steps of the gazebo holding her athame and the silver chalice that had been used in the blessing since she, Annie, and Lenore had founded Salem after the battle of New York.
Her appearance caused silence to ripple outward from the gazebo.
Esme hoisted the chalice and began the ritual. “We honor those who came before us and those who laid down their lives in the last year by raising a cup in their name. Merry meet!”
“MERRY MEET!” came the thunderous reply.
Esme drank deeply from the chalice, and everyone followed suit. “The Matriarch’s blessings upon us all. We are gathered tonight to celebrate the passing of this year into the next. The Protectorate grows with each new year, and the good people are blessed to have this bounty to share with all who come to us for succor. We have lost, but we have also loved greatly.
“As the year hinges and the world moves toward the darkness, hold the light inside your hearts high so that the world can be guided through the Madness and into an era of magic for all.
“This is the two-hundredth anniversary of Salem, and it has been twenty-one years since we opened our doors and our hearts to the UnknownWorld. Founders, please join me in the ancestor’s blessing.”
Esme’s eyes glowed golden as she gathered the Etheric energy freely given by Sarah Jennifer and the witches inside the gazebo. The heady rush hit her, but she didn’t hoard the energy, and the feeling passed as she extended her senses to the witches leading the celebrations in towns and cities all across the Protectorate.
She began the ancient Gaelic chant that was as familiar to her as the lines on her face. The speakers placed around the park relayed the harmonious voices of the witches chanting with her.
The golden light from Esme’s eyes grew brighter and lighter, surrounding her in a ghostly nimbus as the mind magic expanded and unfurled.
The people’s belief added to the magic, the energy entering their subconscious minds. Everyone there had lost someone, someone they wished to see with all their heart and soul.
The first shades appeared, compounding that belief. More and more ghosts materialized, filling the park. If anyone had been looking at the screens, they would have seen the same thing occurring at the other locations. Those in the know were aware that the apparitions were not really the spirits of the departed. Esme’s gift was to create these projections in return for the energy the people gave. Energy she and the other witches used to replenish the barrier hexes around the cities.
>
Esme lifted her hands, exulting in the connection she felt to every living being attending the festival.
She reached out beyond the borders of the Protectorate, searching…
And found him, sitting on a rock.
Potato Creek State Park, IN
Ezekiel sat on his meditation rock, considering the path that had led him here.
He missed Enora. He missed Esme and Linda, and as much as he tried to ignore it, he missed Sarah Jennifer.
His chip was still switched off. At first he had remained hidden, afraid Sarah Jennifer would come swooping down in the airship to take him back to Salem.
She never came for him.
As the years passed and the Defense Force spread across the world, then withdrew to Salem, he’d let his unreasonable anger at her fester to the point where even the thought of her made his stomach churn.
He had spoken to Lilith on a few occasions when his weakness overwhelmed him to the point where reaching out was preferable to isolation.
He’d been blocking her since he’d met Helena.
His fascination with the elderly vampire had overridden all the emotions he’d bottled up. Someday he would have to deal with them, but today was not that day.
He left his meditation spot and returned to their home.
Ezekiel sensed trouble as he approached the cabin where he and Helena lived and worked together. He loved Helena enough to trust her with the secrets of his past. She loved him enough to not make him confront it. He wished his blood was sufficient to cure her. However, short of her draining him—something neither of them would allow—there was no cure to be found there. He was able to provide small donations, which she mixed into the herbal concoction she took to stave off the change.
His vampire companion needed something to contemplate during her more lucid periods. Together, they spent their time working on keeping her alive until Esme and Lilith figured out how to reverse the corruption for everyone on Earth.
More often than not recently, she spent her days strapped to the bench they’d rigged to control her when the Madness surged within her.
He checked the traps out of habit. His barrier hex usually kept the Mad away from the house, although he had never managed to get it to stay up or make it as strong as Esme’s.
Helena’s cries came filtering through the trees, driving Ezekiel into a run.
He burst into their home, finding she had worked one of the straps loose and was clawing at her chest in an attempt to rip out the corruption she felt taking over.
“Hel, it’s me.” He took the six steps to the cabinet where her serum was stored and took the jar and a spoon.
Helena moaned, her voice eerie in the enclosed space. She lashed out as Ezekiel approached with the medicine, almost dashing the precious jar out of his hands.
Ezekiel jumped back and set the jar down before taking another approach. He held out his hand, pushing a wave of calming energy at the tortured vampire.
“Shh, it’s all right. I’m here,” he soothed, capturing her arm and pressing it down so he could retie her bonds.
With her restrained, he was able to spoon a little of the medicine into her mouth. “There…see? Doesn’t that feel better?”
Helena’s eyes darted around wildly for a few moments longer, then the dull red light brightened as her vampire nanocytes overtook the Madness.
She fell into an exhausted sleep.
Ezekiel watched her for a short time, opening the windows to let out the Mad scent she’d emitted during her attack.
He cleaned up the mess she’d made while thrashing around as a distraction from the traitor thoughts inside his head.
The attacks were coming more frequently. The time was coming when the medicine would no longer be enough. Taking her to Salem was out of the question. Even if he was willing to face Sarah Jennifer again, they both agreed that there was nothing that could be done for someone who already had the Madness, and Helena was vehemently against risking the innocents who lived there.
The reasoning did little to assuage his guilt. Helena’s work in decoding the secrets of the corruption kept them both sane.
When she awoke, Ezekiel had a pot of soup ready, knowing she’d be starving from the expenditure of energy it took to stave off the Madness.
“Ezekiel…” Her voice was weak.
“Hey, you’re back.” Ezekiel forced cheer into his voice as he walked to the bench. “Let me see you.”
Helena turned her head to look at him, and he checked her eyes before releasing her.
Ezekiel offered her a bowl of the thick, meaty broth he’d made. “This will help.”
“I need blood,” Helena admitted. “Perhaps we could hunt this evening?”
Ezekiel wasn’t sure about the wisdom of her being left to roam free. They lived far from any human habitation for the simple reason that Helena forgot her vow to only feed on animals when the Madness came over her. A Mad vamp could wipe out a city with no compunction, and he wasn’t fast enough to keep up with her if that happened.
Helena read his doubts as clearly as if he’d spoken them. “You don’t believe it’s safe.”
Ezekiel shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. I will hunt at dusk. You should stay here, where it’s safe.”
For everyone. Neither of them needed to say it.
Helena nodded. “You’re right. I have my work to occupy me. You’ll put a hex around the house so I can’t get out?”
“Yes.”
His hunting trip was postponed when Helena felt another attack coming on just as the sun began to set.
“BLOOD!” she screeched as he strapped her to the bench.
“I’ll get your blood,” Ezekiel promised, knocking her out with a pulse of Etheric energy.
He raised a barrier hex around the house as he left with his sword strapped to his back. He was too worked up to create anything lasting, but it would hold for the next few hours, at least.
It was too late to find deer by this time, but he knew where he could find a herd of wild pigs. He slipped through the forest, making no noise. His senses extended, he searched for the minds of prey animals as he followed the game trails, as Esme had taught him.
There were Mad out here. A lot of Mad.
Ezekiel knew he could escape them if they swarmed him. He resigned himself to the knowledge his hunt would take him farther from the house than he felt comfortable with. Helena needed blood, and since his was not on the table, he had to find an animal she could feed from.
The night stretched on, the stars that appeared overhead lending their light to the landscape through the gaps in the canopy. That vanished an hour later when the clouds swept in and it began to rain.
Ezekiel slogged on as the dirt turned to mud. He was relieved when he finally sensed the minds of the pig herd he was seeking. He veered in the direction he’d picked up the piggy thoughts, swerving to avoid a cluster of Mad approaching from the northwest.
An almighty crash somewhere up ahead broke his concentration and scared away the pigs.
Torn between his desire to find out what had caused the noise and his need to get back to Helena, Ezekiel stopped dead.
He sensed humans, vampires…and Weres.
He had turned to head home when the sounds of battle split the night.
That was enough to make up his mind.
Chapter Four
Salem, MA
Sarah Jennifer sagged onto a bench, feeling as drained as all the witches except for Esme, who was dancing with Theor as the band played a lively waltz.
Brutus brought her mead and food, which she gratefully accepted.
Esme and Linus joined them at the table, shortly followed by Linda and Adrien.
Sarah Jennifer could tell Esme was holding something in. However, the witch wasn’t giving anything away just yet. Her eyes flicked to Adrien, her smile dimming for a split second. She took a deep draught of her mead, giving Sarah Jennifer a look that told her she would tell her in good time.
Adrien was well on his way to being drunk. He dominated the conversation, his focus on complaining about the difficulty of maintaining the protections against the Madness they’d had in Bad Salzig since the rising sea levels had forced them to relocate the city’s inhabitants inland. “We need to get the cure for the Madness,” Adrien continued, oblivious to everyone’s dislike of him. “Which would be a whole lot easier if Ezekiel hadn’t stepped out on his responsibilities.”
Linda was quiet, picking at her food. Adrien quaffed the rest of his drink and looked around for one of the townspeople who were acting as servers for the night.
Spotting Dakota, he waved his empty cup to summon her over. “Girl, I need a refill!”
“Rude,” Brutus commented, but Adrien didn’t hear him and Esme shook her head, mouthing, “Let him drink.”
Dakota didn’t appreciate Adrien’s demanding tone, but he was a visiting dignitary, so she came over and refilled his cup. Esme winked at her.
Adrien put his hand on Dakota’s arm to stop her from leaving. “Just leave the jug,” he demanded.
Linda dropped her head, mortified.
Dakota’s eyes flashed yellow as she pulled her arm away. “I'd say you’ve had enough.”
Everyone except for Linda and Adrien noticed Esme’s eyes glowing.
Adrien suddenly put his hand on his stomach. “I feel sick.” He got up from the table, swaying slightly.
Sarah Jennifer kicked Linus under the table.
Linus got the message and got up to steady Adrien. “Here, I’ll get you back to HQ. Looks like you need to lie down.”
Adrien glanced at Linda.
“Good idea, Linus,” Sarah Jennifer interrupted before Adrien could demand that Linda go with him. “See you tomorrow, Adrien, when you’re feeling…better.”
Linus hooked an arm through Adrien’s and steered him away.
Linda covered her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry. He can handle his alcohol just fine, usually.”
Sarah Jennifer shot Esme a glance. Subtle.
End of the Line Page 3
