Witch's Sacrifice

by Emma L. Adams

  I hope.

  “There’s no use leaving me behind, either,” Keir added. “I can possess any vessel I like from a distance, and I think you’d rather have me there in person than be followed by one of my zombies.”

  “Fine,” said Vance. “It’s your choice. The rest of you should prepare for a potential attack, in case this is a diversion.”

  I trusted Ilsa and the others to defend the guild. Whatever interest Evelyn held in the bones of a deceased Ancient, I’d rather not be blindsided.

  Vance’s teleporting power could only take a few people at a time, but it was enough for our small group. Several dizzying jumps later and we landed on an unfamiliar country lane. The road cut through unkempt fields which gave way to rolling hills, covered in patches of woodland.

  “The Ley Line goes right through shifter territory,” Vance said. “We’ve had problems here before, but Ivy and I dealt with them before they got out of hand.”

  “Then where’s this giant god buried?” I scanned the hillside but didn’t see any holes in the ground. Or dragons.

  Vance led the way through a gate into a field, surrounded by low fences.

  “Are we trespassing?” I asked.

  “Yes, but it’s the only way to reach it. Look.” Vance gestured at a giant heap of overturned earth, covering an area the size of a large house. Above, the Ley Line was visible as a current of shimmering white-grey light.

  “Why bury the god on the Ley Line?” I looked at the heaped earth, imagining the giant skeleton beneath. What does Evelyn want with a long-buried god?

  “Because the currents of magic help to stop ordinary people stumbling across it,” said Vance. “Ah—and there’s my uncle.”

  An older man walked through the gate and approached our group. He had a sturdy, muscular form, slate-grey hair, and an unfriendly expression on his otherwise fairly handsome face. I hadn’t known Vance had any surviving family, but given the strained relationship between mages and shifters, it was unsurprising that this Wyatt Colton harboured a grudge against him for choosing to join the mages and throw his shifter heritage aside.

  “What,” he said, “are you doing on my territory?”

  “I thought you didn’t live there anymore.” Vance pointed to a pile of bricks some way off from the heaped earth, which had clearly once been a house.

  “This land still belongs to me,” his uncle said.

  “To our family,” Vance corrected. “Have there been any disturbances on the Ley Line lately?”

  “Disturbances aside from yourselves?” said Wyatt Colton. “No. I thought you were away on business.”

  “I didn’t know you kept up with the latest council events,” Vance said.

  “Uh, you haven’t had any visitors today, have you?” I asked.

  His gaze cut to me. “Who are you?”

  Good question. What was less likely to piss him off, saying I was a witch, a necromancer or a mage? All were true, and yet none of them showed the full picture.

  “Jas is part of my family,” Vance said, to my surprise. “We had a tip-off that there might be an attack on the Ley Line today, so we came to warn you. We have reason to believe someone is planning to use the beast buried under the ground here in their scheme.”

  Wyatt tapped a foot on the upturned earth. “The beast is dead, you told us.”

  “As far as I’m aware, it’s true,” Vance said.

  “Was there anything else buried down there, do you know?” I asked. “That beast isn’t alone. There are others, and you might be able to help us stop them.”

  Wyatt scanned our group, his gaze landing on Keir. His nostrils flared. “I’ve met your sort before.”

  “Who, me?” said Keir. “I’m a vampire. Don’t worry, I’m not here to attack you. I got on the wrong side of some zombies earlier, that’s all.”

  Wyatt’s eyes narrowed. “Get out.”

  Keir didn’t move. “I’m not the first vampire you’ve seen, am I?”

  All eyes turned to Wyatt, who seemed to take in our group for the first time, realising he was outnumbered. “Believe it or not, I don’t want to have to call my people to chase you off, Vance.”

  “Who came here?” Keir repeated. “If you’ve seen another vampire, several attacked me earlier. They’re not all on our side.”

  They were, in fact, pissed off at Evelyn for reasons unknown.

  Oh, shit.

  “Yes,” Wyatt ground out. “Someone like… you came to my door this morning and insisted on speaking to me. He threatened Annabel.”

  “He what?” said Vance in a low, dangerous voice.

  “He demanded I hand over this trinket I found in the ground years ago, when they were digging up that… thing, under the hill there.” He pointed to the heaped earth with a trembling hand.

  “You mean, when you were hypnotised into digging up the ground,” Vance corrected.

  Hypnotised? I looked between them, unease prickling along my spine.

  Wyatt lowered his hand and spat on the upturned earth. “It was just an old relic, nothing important.”

  “Then why not tell me?” Vance’s words were measured, calm, but I sensed the storm brewing beneath the surface. “What did you find?”

  “A mouldy old bell,” he said. “The thing is useless. Not worth threatening anyone over.”

  “A bell?” I frowned. “That’s all?”

  “Yes, it is. Will you leave my family alone now?”

  “I will,” Vance said, “if you allow me to send someone to guard you. For Annabel’s sake.”

  Wyatt’s mouth pulled. “No funny business.”

  “Of course not,” said Vance. “I’d advise you to stay away from this area until we’ve confirmed the threat has passed.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.” The older shifter turned around and walked away from the mound of earth, through the gate into the neighbouring field.

  “Believe it or not, that’s the friendliest conversation I’ve had with him since before my parents died,” Vance said.

  “And I thought I had family issues,” I remarked. “I’m sorry Evelyn came here, Vance. I didn’t know she’d contacted vampires up and down the country before she left.”

  “The ones in Edinburgh weren’t her friends,” Keir said. “What did she do to convince them to help her?”

  “Haven’t a clue,” I said. “I don’t know about this bell, but if the vampire came to visit Wyatt this morning, they must still be in the city. Or their vessel, if they sent a zombie rather than coming in person.”

  “I know,” said Keir. “I’ll scan the locals and see if any of them might be hiding an extra soul.” He stilled, his gaze turning distant.

  “What’s he doing?” Drake said. “Vampire stuff?”

  “Vampires can possess zombies,” I explained. “Even miles away. Keir once hopped from Edinburgh to London. If the zombie who visited Wyatt is still around, Keir might be able to track the vampire who sent him. I’m assuming this bell is a corporeal item, so if the vampire wasn’t in the city in person, he’d have to devise a way for the zombie to hand it over to him. Or rather, Evelyn.”

  “Damn,” said Drake. “Useful power. Almost as much as Vance’s teleporting. I’ll laugh if that’s the mage power Annabel ends up with.”

  “Annabel is Vance’s… cousin?” I asked.

  “Yeah, she’s eleven,” he said. “About the age where her mage powers are due to show up, not that her father intends to encourage them. Wyatt and Vance argue about it whenever he comes here to visit.”

  A burst of light sparked on my right, then my Hemlock magic flared to life. I tapped into the spirit realm to find Keir grappling with a vampire. Evelyn faced both of them, her palms glowing.

  Glad I’d kept the shielding rune on, I moved in front of Evelyn, a whipcord appearing in my own hand. “Get away from him, Evelyn.”

  Keir got the upper hand on the vampire, his grip tightening on his throat.

  Then the vampire vanished—as did Evelyn.
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  Keir swore. “I didn’t see where he went, but he’s alive.”

  I blinked back into my body to find Drake peering at me. “Whoa, Jas. Where were you?”

  “The vampire disappeared, but the zombie he gave the bell to is still somewhere close by.” I turned to Isabel. “They can’t have gone far.”

  “I’ll hop around and find him,” Keir said, his mouth tight, his eyes angry. “Slippery bastard. Not local, either.”

  “Why in hell are the vampires working with her?” I scanned the spirit realm, but Evelyn remained hidden. “Considering whatever she did to the ones in Edinburgh?”

  Keir stiffened. “Wait. Now you mention it, that vampire… he didn’t feel right.”

  “In what way?”

  “When I drained him, I’m positive it felt like… well, when I was dependent on feeding on you.” His mouth turned down at the corners. “Like it wasn’t just him I was feeding on. He had someone else’s spirit essence tied to his.”

  Oh, shit.

  That was how Evelyn had ticked off the vampires and convinced them to work for her… she’d bound their souls to hers.

  “She gave them her spirit essence.” Dread bloomed in my chest. “So they have to feed on her. She’s blackmailing them into helping her out, because they’d die otherwise.”

  It was just like Evelyn. How else could someone with no regard for other lives inspire loyalty in her followers?

  Keir swore. “They’ll have no choice but to either stay out of her way or help her, if they want to survive.”

  That meant I had to undo the hold she had on them, or Evelyn would turn every vampire she encountered into part of her army.

  “If they’re dependent on her spirit essence, then it would have the same effect if they fed on me instead,” I said. “I can help them, but not all at once.”

  “The vampire’s not dead, either,” Keir added. “And—there’s someone over there, coming this way.”

  Three men walked through the gates. I turned on my spirit sight and saw only one soul, piloting all three bodies at once.

  “Hey!” Wyatt’s voice jerked me back to reality. “That’s mine.”

  I turned off my spirit sight and focused on the three approaching figures. One held something palm-sized, metal and rusty. A bell.

  “Wyatt,” said Vance. “I’d advise you to step back.”

  “That’s mine.” Wyatt advanced on the zombies, oblivious to their undead state. The vampire expertly steered them like living humans. The central man held the bell up in the air, and when he did so, the light of the Ley Line grew brighter.

  Evelyn appeared at my side, a winning smile on her face.

  Vance raised a hand and the air split, sending the zombies flying into the air. The bell rolled over onto the bare earth, spinning to a halt inches from the Ley Line. A resonant sound vibrated along the line, and the threads of energy in the air hummed, turning from white to silver to blue.

  Then the world split in half.

  17

  The Ley Line shimmered along its rippling edges as the bell rose into the air as though pulled by invisible strings. The ringing noise echoed up and down the Ley Line like a chorus of faint voices, and I felt my spirit slip out of my body, drawn by the resonant vibration in the spirit realm.

  Vance’s shout jolted me back to reality, and I stumbled forward on the grass. Wyatt Colton hovered above the Ley Line, held suspended in mid-air with the vibrating bell in his hands. Vance ran towards him, as did I, and Wyatt fell in a crumpled heap, the bell rolling free of his hand.

  The vibration along the Ley Line continued, though muted. I turned on my spirit sight, finding no bright spark where Wyatt’s body lay. He was gone.

  “The vampire is dead,” said Keir, indicating the bodies of the zombies. “We’re lucky we didn’t join him.”

  “Evelyn.” I picked up the bell, grimacing at its icy cold touch. “What is this?”

  “I’ve heard of that bell,” Vance said, his eyes fixed on his uncle’s unmoving body. “It’s another shifter legend… but it’s said that the bell’s sound can awaken the god. As he’s dead, it had no effect on him.”

  “No effect?” I echoed. “We’re lucky it didn’t kill us, too. And it would have been nice if you’d mentioned it earlier.”

  Vance shook his head. “I didn’t know it was real, much less that it was buried here.”

  Keir turned to him. “Does the legend specify which god it awakens? Because that sound went through the whole Ley Line and probably the spirit lines, too.”

  Isabel swore. “My coven members live right on top of the Ley Line.”

  “Dammit.” I stepped backwards, horror coursing through me. “If Evelyn kills just one of them, she becomes immortal. And if the bell got through to the Devourer…”

  “We’re fucked,” Drake finished. “Vance, I’ll stay with you. You guys, do whatever you have to do.”

  “We will,” I said, already mentally rehearsing what I’d have to say to convince Keir and Isabel to leave me in the forest. They didn’t deserve to suffer the Devourer’s wrath. Evelyn and I would face it alone.

  “I’m right behind you,” said Keir.

  Isabel nodded, her expression grim. “I’ll send a warning to my coven. I was going to check in with them anyway—I stayed in Edinburgh for too long already.”

  I blinked. “You mean you’re staying behind?”

  Without Asher? Maybe it would take her a while to forgive him, but I of all people knew how little time we had left.

  Her expression was torn, her eyes shining. “Jas, just… please try to stay safe. Please.”

  “I’ll try.”

  We parted ways near Isabel’s house, while Keir and I took off in the direction of half-blood territory. All around, heads popped out of houses, whispers filled the streets, and the air above the Ley Line shimmered with mesmerising light.

  I didn’t see any signs of the Devourer or his companions when we reached the space where the forest used to be. An empty swathe of land cut through fields beyond the houses where the half-faeries made their homes, and the currents of energy running above the line suggested the spirit line was still in working order.

  I halted before the line. “I think we’re okay to cross over. Hang onto me.”

  “Will do.” Keir took my hand, and I stepped over the spirit line.

  This time, the two of us landed in the Hemlocks’ cave, which seemed much smaller than the last time I’d seen it, its craggy walls closing in.

  “The gods are waking,” said Cordelia. “You failed to stop Evelyn.”

  It’d be nice to get points for trying, for once.

  “She had this planned before she ran off,” I told her. “Is the Devourer…?”

  “It’s taking all our magic to hold the beast back,” she said. “We can’t last much longer.”

  No. It can’t end now.

  Magic sparked to life in my hands, mingling with the power already in the cave. Green light shone above my hands, turning into glyphs for binding. Binding magic, amplified by the blood runes on my arms, filled the cave, pushing against the forces trying to break free.

  The power swept me up like a wave, leaving my body behind, dashing my spirit against the dark shapes of the stirring beasts—

  Then with a jarring thud, I fell to my knees on Waverley Bridge.

  “Jas?” Keir held my arm. “Is that you?”

  “Yes.” My teeth were chattering, shocked at the sudden absence of the endless power I’d held in my hands.

  “Good,” he said. “She took over. Evelyn. I think she was trying to stop you from getting trapped in the forest.”

  Shit. I’d almost walked headfirst into the curse. No wonder Evelyn had intervened and dragged me out of there.

  “I don’t know whether to thank her or punch her in the nose,” I admitted.

  “Likewise,” he said. “I’m not ready to lose you yet, Jas.”

  I opened my mouth to reply, and a bolt of magic shook the worl
d. Metallic fear coated my tongue, and my veins sparked with Hemlock power.

  An Ancient was close by.

  Keir hissed out a breath, pointing to the hills shadowing the peaked roofs.

  A great crack had split Arthur’s Seat, and standing on top of it was a human figure. Ivy. I might not be able to see her face, but I’d recognise the glowing blue light of her sword a mile off.

  Crap. That’s the Ley Line.

  I’d never reach her on foot, so I flew out of my body, angling towards the hills. Beyond, the coastline glimmered, but the rippling Ley Line glowed brighter than anything else.

  “Jas!” Keir floated through the spirit realm behind me. “Slow down.”

  “I doubt Ivy went up there to look at the nice view.” Worryingly, there was no sign of Evelyn, either.

  Ivy stood at the cliff’s edge, her eyes closed and her hands bound to the hilt of her sword. Oh, god. Evelyn killed Vance’s family and then brought Ivy here where he can’t reach her.

  “You know, Evelyn,” I said loudly, “you could have tried to reason with me rather than threatening my friends.”

  “She’s perfectly fine.” Evelyn appeared, hovering at my side. “As for those shifters, they hated Vance Colton and the feeling was mutual.”

  “Wyatt Colton has an eleven-year-old kid, you self-centred wannabe-tyrant,” I exploded. “You don’t get to make those decisions for other people. I thought you wanted your own freedom back, not to take it away from others.

  Ivy’s eyes opened. “What the fuck?”

  “Don’t move,” said Evelyn.

  “Not like I can do anything else.” Ivy tried to raise her sword, but thick ropes bound her hands together. “What’s this for, then?”

  “The Ancients are waking,” said Evelyn.

  The hillside trembled. Ivy swore, gripping her sword’s hilt. “There’s an Ancient buried under here?”

  “So the shifters say,” said Evelyn. “There are many such things buried beyond sight, banished by our predecessors, and now they rise to threaten the world again. I alone will stand against them.”

  “Evelyn, they’re coming back because you woke them up,” I told her. “They’d have stayed happily sleeping away if you hadn’t decided to provoke them.”