Eternal Fires

by Ally Shields

  She slid into the backseat and pulled out her phone. By the time they reached the hospital, she’d arranged for Lilith to bring her witchcraft supplies from home, she’d spoken with the Chief of Police about their plans, and she’d placed the jet on standby. Walking down the hospital corridor, she made reservations for eight in Las Vegas, charging it all to Andreas’s credit card. What was the good in having a rich husband if you didn’t use it when you needed it?

  When they reached Ryan’s room, the other wizards were already waiting. “It will take us a few minutes to prepare,” Merlin said. “Just be ready with the protection spell.”

  Ari gave a short nod. “Count on it. I’ve had plenty of experience. I’ll seal the hospital room up tight.”

  The wizards disappeared through a door across the hall.

  Ari explained the hurried activity to the family. There was some resistance when she said Andreas would be picking up the tab for a couple of weeks in Las Vegas, but when she framed it in terms of what Ryan needed, they finally agreed. Ryan’s brother and wife rushed home to collect their children and pack for everyone.

  Ari had no illusion Ryan would cooperate without protest, but she had a plan for that. A little prevarication and female solidarity. If she pointed out his family could be targeted next, and Mrs. Foster and Claris refused to leave town without him, what else could he do? Of course, everything hinged on Ryan waking up.

  By 7:20 Ari had her candles and all the ingredients set out for her spell. The police had blocked access to the hospital floor except for those involved, and the doctors had agreed that Ryan could leave as soon as he was fully awake and stable.

  She stood at the end of Ryan’s bed and watched his immobile face. In a few minutes, he might open those steely blue eyes again. She had faith in Merlin…yet the elders were so unpredictable. Neither Porbius nor Volucris would be in the deep portion of their sleep cycle, one at the beginning, the other at the end. Would the wizard’s magic wake one or both?

  Claris broke the silence. “Do you think this will work?”

  “The wizard believes it will. That’s good enough for me.” Ari gave the two women a serious look. “You’ll have to be tough if we’re to get him out of here afterward.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Mrs. Foster said. “Ryan might be bullheaded, but where do you think he learned it?”

  Ari flashed her a smile to cover her nervousness. She wished Andreas was there. He was always her port in a storm.

  The four wizards walked in and closed the door. Each wore a long white robe with a sash that designated their family colors, pale yellow, green, blue, and Merlin’s was purple. Every sash bore the silver lightning symbol of a level five wizard, masters of their craft, and had at least a silver star or two to indicate advanced learning. Merlin’s symbol was surrounded by a full circle of stars.

  Ari’s spirits rose. Merlin looked splendid. While she settled in and closed the witch’s circle she’d already drawn in one corner of the room, he spoke briefly with Mrs. Foster and Claris, explaining what would happen.

  “While we are lifting the thrall, I want you to continue to call Ryan’s spirit back to you. Only this time I’m going to give you the words to silently repeat until the ritual is complete. Can you do that?”

  Both women nodded. “Anything,” Mrs. Foster said. “What are the words?”

  “Spirit of Ryan, no more may you roam. Wandering spirit, return to your home.”

  “That’s it?” Claris asked doubtfully.

  Ari swallowed a laugh. Leave it to Claris.

  Merlin smiled. “Did you expect something profound? Simplicity is often best.”

  Claris blushed. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t know what to expect.”

  “Shall we get started?” Merlin looked at Ari. “Are you ready to invoke the protection spell?’

  She lit the four candles before her. “Ready.” She silently began her supplication to the Goddess for wisdom and guidance. She kept one eye on the wizards as they began their own ritual. She needed to time this just right. Too soon and she might interfere with their work, too late and they’d all be vulnerable to attack.

  After fifteen minutes, Ari stirred nervously. Her candles were dripping; the wizards’ process was taking longer than she’d expected. Of course, she didn’t know a whole lot about how their magic worked…and nothing about exorcism. The wizards droned on with a quiet chant, their inflection changing from time to time. Claris and Mrs. Foster both had their eyes closed and seemed focused on the words the wizard had given them.

  The lights flickered and goose bumps danced across her skin. Ari sat up straight and scanned the room.

  “The vampire’s waking,” one of the wizard’s said, his voice sharp.

  “Focus!” Merlin ordered.

  The exchange sent Ari’s heart rate into overdrive. She stared at Merlin’s back, willing him to give her the go-ahead to raise the barrier. The floor trembled; one of her candles tipped, and she snatched it before it fell.

  A sudden surge of power threw Merlin across the room. “Now, Arianna!”

  Claris shrieked, “What’s happening?”

  Ari raised the shield in time to intercept another surge of power, and the room shuddered with the force of the impact. Lights flashed, and the hospital alarms wailed.

  She concentrated on holding the barrier in place, dimly aware of voices shouting in the hallway and movement around her. The wizards crouched over Merlin’s body. Mrs. Foster yelled Ryan’s name and threw herself across the bed. Were the two men dead or alive?

  The room shook again, and Ari shut out everything to focus on the barrier. Porbius was throwing a tantrum, pounding his magical fists against the bonds that sealed the room. But she’d expected it, counted on it. Porbius was fueling her shield with his reaction. The magic she’d invoked fed on rage and violence.

  The sounds of gunfire from the street broke her concentration. The barrier wobbled and failed with the abrupt cessation of Porbius’s attack. Ari snatched a capsule from her ritual cloth, smashed it, and invoked the backup barrier. It wasn’t as strong but would alert her of another attack. When it snapped into place, she leaped to her feet, shoved the metal sheeting from the window, and looked outside.

  Porbius was in the street, draped in a hooded cloak to block the worst of the sun’s rays. He was backing away from a handful of police officers, spinning from side to side to avoid the barrage of silver bullets. He seemed disconcerted but finally shook it off and stalked toward them. Ari drew in a sharp breath.

  Before he reached the police line, additional officers poured into the street. Steffan and his wolves appeared, and the wolf leader opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle. Porbius broke off his advance, raced across the street, and vaulted to the nearest rooftop.

  “No! You don’t get to escape.” Ari smashed the windowpane with her fist to throw a bolt of witch fire. But it was too late. Porbius vanished over the peak of the roof. Police poured into the yard in pursuit. Ari swore softly. They’d never catch him.

  “What’s going on?” a familiar voice asked.

  She whipped around. Ryan was sitting up in bed, his expression puzzled. Claris and Mrs. Foster started crying.

  “Why am I in a hospital bed? Why are you crying?”

  Relief washed over her, but she let Claris and Mrs. Foster deal with the bewildered cop while she hurried to bend over Merlin. The wizard’s face was ashen, but his eyelids fluttered. He was alive.

  “We need to get him to our healer,” one of the wizards said.

  She gave him a questioning look.

  “Not good,” he said. “The ritual took a lot, and then…” He shook his head.

  Merlin opened his eyes. His lips moved, but she had to lean forward to hear him. “Did we get him back?”

  “Yes, your ancestor would be proud.”

  Merlin released a long breath, and his eyes closed.

  Ari clasped his hand. “We need help over here,” she shouted.

  Several offi
cers responded. Someone located a stretcher, and Merlin was rushed away to the healers. Still on her knees, Ari stared after the departing procession, wondering if she’d ever see the old man again. She got slowly to her feet. Their relationship had occasionally been one of “tough love,” but he’d been a constant and steadying force. She swallowed her fears and turned to look at Ryan.

  In typical alpha male fashion, he was already demanding his clothes. In this case, that was a good thing since they needed to get him up and out of there.

  They’d never been big on hugging, but Ari threw her arms around him. “Welcome back, partner. You had us all pretty scared.”

  “Geez, Ari.” He awkwardly patted her on the back. “It must have been bad for you to act like this.”

  “Blame it on the baby. But right now, we need to get you to the airport. The jet’s waiting.”

  “What? Wait just one minute. You need to slow down and explain.” He gave her cop eyes. “From the beginning.”

  “We don’t have time for that.”

  “Yes, we do,” he said stubbornly. “I’m not budging until you tell me.”

  “I’ll give you the condensed version. You can get the details in the air.” She looked at the cops crowding around. “You’ve got three minutes to say what you need to say, then we clear the room. Where’s the doctor to release him?”

  Once the officers had departed and the doctor was on the way, Ari gave him the basics of the current situation, with his mother, Claris, and Steffan filling in some of the holes.

  “The hell you say.” He attempted to smooth his tousled blond curls with one hand.

  “Ryan,” his mother scolded.

  Ari hid a smile. No wonder Ryan often apologized for his blue language. He was used to his mother correcting him.

  The doctor arrived and shooed them out while he checked his patient. Ari fidgeted in the hallway with Ryan’s friends and family until the doctor came out and announced that Lt. Foster could leave whenever he wanted. “I would have preferred to run a few tests. He refused…rather adamantly. It’s amazing, but he looks fine.”

  Ari grinned and started toward the door.

  “I wouldn’t go in there just yet. He’s getting dressed.” The doctor walked away shaking his head. “Miraculous recovery.”

  The phone in Ari’s pocket rang. She widened her eyes when she saw who it was, then she hit connect. “Don’t you guys ever sleep?”

  “What have you done?” Bastian demanded. “Volucris is up, stomping around and throwing things. In fact, he has us all up, but refuses to enlighten anyone.”

  “Our wizards broke the thrall. Ryan is free and will soon be far beyond his reach.” Ari couldn’t keep the pride from her voice.

  “What happened to Porbius?”

  “He woke up too, but he’s smarting from several loads of silver bullets. Unfortunately, he’ll recover. He fled over the rooftops when confronted by stiff police resistance.”

  “He’ll be back.”

  Ari’s voice lost its enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’re right. Probably more dangerous than before.”

  “Perhaps not, if he has lost Luc’s support. I tried to talk to Luc but he kept muttering about a stupid bastard, interspersed with a string of very colorful words. I can only assume the object of this diatribe was Porbius.”

  “Well, he was right about the stupid part,” she said.

  “I take it you no longer need my help,” Bastian said.

  “Nope.” She frowned. It seemed awkward, even inappropriate to thank him, but she did it anyway. “Thanks for the offer.”

  “Have a good day, Arianna.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It was midmorning before Ari, Steffan, and Jena watched the jet depart carrying the Foster family out of harms’ way. Ryan had continued to protest, but his mother and Claris played their parts. Ari rubbed her tense shoulder muscles and watched the plane turn into a speck in the distance, leaving nothing but a white trail behind. “I don’t think Porbius will find them.”

  “He won’t bother to look,” Steffan predicted, as they walked back toward the cars. It had taken Andreas’s Lexus and Steffan’s new Jeep to get Ryan, his mother, brother and sister-in-law, their three kids, and Claris, to the airport. That didn’t include the luggage Russell had brought out earlier. “Ryan was just a means to get to you.”

  “And our child.”

  “Yes, but the two of you are inseparable at the moment.”

  “I hope that changes soon.” Ari sighed. “I’m ready for this to happen. More than ready.”

  “I can hardly wait myself,” Jena said. “Your baby’s going to be so cute.”

  “It’s time to lay off the baby talk.” Steffan rolled his eyes toward his fiancée. “Jena will be getting ideas.”

  “Too late. I already have ideas.”

  By the time they were back at the Magic Hall, the conversation had grown serious again. Merlin was still with the healers, his condition remained critical. Steffan, Ari, and Jena hung around the hall most of the day, waiting for news. When Ari heard her husband’s footsteps outside her office around 3:30, she hurried to meet him. Steffan was at his side.

  The tension of the day came out in a flood of words. “Have you heard the news? Ryan’s fine. The wizards did an exorcism and it worked. But Porbius woke up, and now Merlin’s in critical condition. I sent the Fosters and Claris to Las Vegas in the jet, and you’re paying for it.”

  Andreas nodded tersely. “Yes, I’ve heard.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her roughly against his chest. “You will be the death of me yet.”

  “But I wasn’t the one in danger,” she protested.

  He gave her The Look. “You don’t even understand the concept. I’m relieved you’re still in one piece.” He turned his head toward Steffan. “If you don’t mind, I’m taking Arianna to the cabin. It doesn’t sound as if there’ll be news on the wizard for hours or perhaps days. Porbius is bound to be in a foul mood, and she needs to be someplace he can’t find her.” He looked at Ari. “Before you say anything, it’s well after 2:00 p.m. You did promise me.”

  “Yeah, OK.”

  Steffan looked almost as guilty. “We kind of got caught up in things. Jena and I will meet you there in an hour or two.”

  On the way to the cabin, Ari frequently glanced over her shoulder, half expecting to see Porbius. Andreas was moving quickly too. It wasn’t until they were inside the cabin that they both relaxed.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you that Bastian called.”

  “What?” Andreas sighed. He sat down on the couch and held out his arms. “It seems as if we have a lot to talk about, madam wife.”

  When Jena and Steffan arrived, Ari and Andreas were still talking. The wolves readily filled in the details they knew, and the discussion went on most of the evening. A large amount of time was spent analyzing the behavior of Porbius, Lucris, and Bastian and trying to predict their reactions in the coming days. Very little was decided.

  Exhausted by events, Ari fell asleep in Andreas’s arms, waking only when he left just before dawn. She walked him to the door, then got dressed and ate breakfast with Steffan and Jena. At six thirty they left for the Magic Hall to check on Merlin.

  They’d almost reached Olde Town when Steffan pointed to the sky. “Crows. He’s got his watchdogs searching for us. I only see a few, but let’s hurry and stay under cover.”

  “Doesn’t he ever give it a rest?” Ari muttered.

  The crows didn’t spot them until Ari and her friends were a block from the hall and did nothing except shadow them from tree to tree, pole to pole. A dozen or more were already perched outside the Cultural Center. One of the elven guards saw the trio coming and held the door open.

  “Isn’t this a bummer?” he said disgustedly. “I hate the filthy critters.”

  “Don’t we all.” Steffan frowned as he walked beside Ari on the way to the council chambers. “I’m not sure you should be here. If the birds come back in force you won’t be as sa
fe as we thought.”

  “I’ll stay inside until I can talk with Andreas, but if Volucris has backed off, then Porbius only has the shard.”

  “Only? The Mahmo magic is legendary.”

  Their conversation died as they pushed open the chamber doors and found a solemn group inside.

  “The wizard…how is he?” Ari asked, fearing the worst.

  “No change.” Eryndale, the elven representative on the executive council, came toward them. “The healers haven’t given up hope. Your friend, the officer, is he safe now?”

  “Yes, out of town. What can we do to help the president?”

  “It’s in the hands of the healers. We can only wait.”

  Not something she was good at. Her time would be better spent searching for Merlin’s would-be killer. If they could find Porbius while he was asleep… So where would he be? He loved his creature comforts, which ruled out the woods or parks or alleys. He’d want a roof over his head. Somewhere protected.

  While Steffan stayed to talk with the other reps, Ari invited Jena to wait in her office. They’d just gotten settled when the phone rang.

  “I figured you’d be in early,” Ryan said. “What’s the wizard’s condition?”

  “He’s still critical. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, but God, Ari, I hate this. He saved my life only to lose his?”

  “It hasn’t happened yet. Why aren’t you soaking in the pool or losing your money in the casino? Does Claris like the hotel?”

  “It’s a swanky place, but I haven’t seen her yet this morning. It’s only six o’clock here. She and Mom were exhausted and went to bed early. We’ll be having breakfast in an hour, then we’ll think about the pool or exploring the strip. I’ll tell Claris to call you.” He hesitated. “I can’t believe she sat by my bed all that time.”

  “She was worried. We all were.” Ari didn’t want to discuss Claris with him, not until the two of them settled things themselves. She wasn’t going to encourage anything and risk one of them getting hurt. “Jena and I are having coffee—don’t lecture me, it’s decaf—and brainstorming. If you have time, maybe you could help us.” She put him on speaker. “Where haven’t we looked for Porbius? Someplace upscale.”