Witch's Sacrifice

by Emma L. Adams

  The beast’s destructive magic was still active even though it was dead.

  Echoes of pain pulsed through my body as I caught my balance, avoiding the thin tendrils of magic, which inched towards the place Evelyn had vanished. The hole that had once led into the Hemlocks’ cave. Swirling currents of magic surrounded the gap, the last remnants of the binding spell which had once held these gods captive. I quickened my pace and emerged through the gap, finding myself hovering above Edinburgh’s peaked roofs.

  Whoa. I must be inside the spirit line.

  I looked up at the sky, and my blood turned to water. Above the spirit line, threads of shadowy magic extended into the sky. The Devourer’s power.

  The forest had gone, and with it, the last shield between Earth and the void. Without the Hemlocks’ magic keeping the beasts locked out, the Devourer’s magic was escaping through the gap. Killing the beast hadn’t destroyed its power, and now no defences remained between our realm and the infectious magic of the Devourer.

  “You might have told her that, Cordelia,” I said, to the empty spot where Cordelia had once been. “Hell, maybe you did, but she didn’t listen. Evelyn! Get back here and clean up your mess.”

  To no surprise, Evelyn didn’t answer. She’d disappeared, leaving the spirit line open to the Devourer’s magic. I have to find my friends.

  The summoning circle surrounding the spirit line had vanished along with the necromancers and witches. People ran through the streets, but I’d floated too high up to see anyone up close. The trees that had once sprouted through the streets and buildings along the spirit line had vanished, too, though the destruction remained behind. That’s not a good sign.

  I turned on my spirit sight in search of a familiar face, and found Keir not far away, holding someone in his arms. Holding… me.

  Shit. I’d floated out of my body, and he must think I’d been pulled into the void.

  I blinked back into my body with a gasp like a drowning person pulled from the ocean, lurching upright, sucking in painful breaths.

  Keir dropped my arm, exclaiming. “Jas! I thought—damn, don’t do that to me again.”

  “Where have you been?” The world spun around, and everything felt raw, tender. I looked down at my hands. No marks. No curse.

  And a hole in the universe above the spirit line, leaking destructive magic into the world.

  “Ran into some trouble with the vampires,” he said. “Jas—what the hell happened? Did the curse—”

  “Don’t worry, the curse is gone, and I’m going to live.” I struggled into a sitting position, relieved to feel my magic flowing through my veins, untainted. “Evelyn killed the Ancients. Unfortunately, their magic is…”

  “Killing everything,” he finished. “Yeah, I thought so. Kinda hard to miss that.”

  The hole in the sky spanned the length of the spirit line, a crack in the universe leaking threads of shadowy magic. The spirit line’s currents of energy flowed sluggishly, tainted with darkness.

  “Please tell me nobody was on the line when that happened,” I said. “Where are the witches and necromancers?”

  “Everyone backed away from the circle when Evelyn broke out,” he said. “I was too far off to reach you, but I saw Agnes pull you out of the forest.”

  “Where is Agnes?” I asked. “She picked a fine time to drop yet another bombshell on my head and then disappear.”

  “I think she went through the mirror,” he said. “I only saw her through the spirit realm. The others were too busy fighting to notice her run through the mages’ place.”

  “Fighting who?”

  “I did say the vampires were causing trouble, right?” He straightened upright. “Are you okay to walk?”

  “Yeah.” My body ached all over, but that was mostly the aftermath of being able to feel my body again after the curse’s abrupt departure. “Where are the others? Ilsa, Lloyd, Isabel? Are they okay?”

  “Last I saw.” He looked up at the sky. “That’s what your Hemlock curse was keeping out, huh? It’s ugly as hell.”

  “The irony is, I’m not even a Hemlock, by blood at least.” I forced a laugh. “We all got what we wanted in the end, except we’re going to die anyway.”

  Threads of darkness whipped out from the spirit line. In a short time, the darkness would spread to the other spirit lines and devour any other magic in its way. Where the hell is Evelyn? Looking for the other gods, maybe—or at the wellspring, to claim what was left of her magic.

  “Whoa.” Keir backed up a step as a tendril of magic lashed out at the road. “The others are at the mages’ guild. I don’t think they’ve realised how fast that thing is moving.”

  Another spike of darkness cut through a nearby house, leaving a trail of shadows in its wake. From the shadows, two furies emerged, wings unfolding.

  “And it spawns monsters, too?” Keir grabbed a knife from his pocket and threw it, spearing a fury in the eye. “There’s something you don’t see every day.”

  “Lucky I still have this.” I conjured a whipcord of magic, but the second fury disappeared into the shadows out of reach.

  Then a scream rippled through the spirit realm, knocking the shadow fury sideways into the path of my magic. Mackie appeared a moment later. “I knew you weren’t really dead, Jas.”

  “Don’t speak too soon.” I ducked a swipe from the shadow fury, which flew to the side, impaling itself on Lloyd’s knife.

  “Hey, Jas,” he said. “Knew you had an extra life in there somewhere.”

  “You seriously all thought I’d survive that?” I whipped yet another fury out of the sky, dashing out its brains on the cobblestones. “I’m disappointed. I hoped I’d come back to all of you pledging your undying love for me.”

  “Goes without saying,” said Lloyd. “C’mon, let’s get somewhere more sheltered. Jas, you look like… actually, you look better than you have in a long time.”

  “No Hemlock curse.” I lashed another fury around the talons, slamming it onto the pavement. “Not a Hemlock at all, in fact. Long story. Has anyone seen Evelyn?”

  “Not since she slipped out of our summoning circle and disappeared through the spirit line after you. We tried to chase her, but—”

  “Good job you didn’t, considering.” I decapitated the struggling fury. “We have to warn the others not to go near the spirit line.”

  “Nobody in the city with a scrap of sense would go near that thing, Jas, trust me.” Lloyd hurled another knife into the shadows. A bolt of darkness lashed out, and I threw myself on Lloyd, knocking him out of the line of fire.

  “Ow.” I released him and let him climb to his feet. “Everyone’s at the mages’ place?”

  “Last I checked,” said Keir. “Isabel was with her coven, but I didn’t see where they went.”

  I ducked another bolt of shadow, backing down the road. “This is the monster whose magic killed her last coven leader, so Isabel at least knows the risks of going near it. Let’s run.”

  We sprinted towards the mages’ place. Shadowy furies continued to spawn where the Devourer’s magic struck, while the wards to the mages’ headquarters lay in ruins. I halted outside the gates to catch my breath. Broken witch spells littered the ground, along with blood and shattered brick.

  “She’s not here,” said Lloyd. “Is Evelyn in the other realm?”

  “I think so,” I said. “She still wanted the wellspring, if there’s any magic left in it.”

  Not to mention she’d want to hide from the collapsing spirit line. Even she wouldn’t be safe from its destructive powers, immortal or not.

  Keir caught up with me, breathless. “There are vampires in there.”

  I ran to the mages’ doorstep, and the oak doors blew inward. Throughout the lobby, teams of necromancers did battle with the shadowy forms of the vampires. Holy shit. There are dozens of them.

  The enemy hadn’t come through the mirror. They’d come through the spirit realm. Had Evelyn called her army to do her bidding after al
l?

  “You.” The outline of a vampire appeared before us. “You abandoned us to our fate.”

  “Don’t look at me,” I said. “It was Evelyn who bound you.”

  “We’re dying because of you.” He lunged forwards, and Keir slammed into the vampire, knocking him off-course. One quick drain and he vanished into the spirit realm—then an instant later, he reappeared, brighter than before.

  “Shades.” I cursed. “I bet Evelyn went looking for the ones who escaped from the lab and convinced them it was my fault she abandoned them.”

  Worse, only a true spirit drain could finish them off, and not every necromancer knew that skill. How could I fight an army of vampires and track down Evelyn at the same time? The only way through was to run through the flood of voracious vampires, and every second I spent fighting with them, the Devourer’s magic ate through the fabric of the world.

  I turned to the others. “I have to get to the mirror, or there won’t be any of us left for the vampires to feed on.”

  “We can handle things here, Jas,” Lloyd said.

  “Damn right,” Morgan said, grabbing one of the vampires. To his surprise as much as everyone else’s, he drained the spirit’s life in one second. “Whoa. Didn’t expect it to be that fast.”

  “Please don’t go trying that on any novices who annoy you.” Ilsa ran up to us, gripping the Gatekeeper’s book in one hand, the symbol on her forehead glowing silver-white.

  “Nah, I won’t,” said Morgan. “Not even certain annoying apprentices.”

  “Hey!” Mackie cut off in a scream that sent three vampires fleeing for cover. “Vampires are cowards, aren’t they?”

  “Some of them are.” Keir drained another of his fellow vampires, a knife in his free hand. “I like to think most of us have a good sense of when to fight and when to run away.”

  “Keir, you wouldn’t run away if a fury was literally chewing your leg off.” I spirit-drained another vampire. “Where’d they put the mirror?”

  “In a free storeroom.” Ilsa ducked as one of the windows shattered. “Is Evelyn in the other realm?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I need to go after her, but please—as soon as that spirit line’s magic reaches here, evacuate the place. It’s coming on fast, and no magic is immune.”

  “I’ll spread the word,” Lloyd said, standing back to back with Morgan to fight against the vampires.

  “The mirror’s through the third door on the right.” Ilsa ran to engage the sprawling fury which had crashed through the window. “We’ll hold the fort here.”

  “I’m going to the mirror,” I told Lloyd and the others. “Be careful.”

  “When have I ever listened to that advice?” Mackie said a heartbeat after Morgan said the same. Then she grinned. She stood strong and proud, confident in her abilities. She and the others would survive this.

  “Let’s give those vampires one hell of a headache,” said Lloyd.

  “With pleasure.” Mackie screamed, directly at an oncoming vampire. He screamed, too, hands pressed to his transparent ears. Behind her, the demon puppy jumped at every ghost he could reach, biting and tearing.

  Trusting my friends had the situation in hand, I ran through the crowded lobby towards the door Ilsa had pointed out.

  Before I reached it, the sound of terrifying screaming came from the neighbouring room. Closed and warded, the wooden door didn’t open when I pushed on the handle. “Why’d they lock themselves in a room with a monster?”

  Keir ran to my side, then his gaze zoned out. I joined him in the spirit realm, floating through the door. Then I saw the problem. A group of younger mages, children, faced a vampire who eyed them with his hungry stare.

  “Hey!” I snapped. “Leave them alone.”

  The mages must have assumed the children would be safe in a warded room, but no wards could keep out ghosts.

  “Leave them alone, vampire,” said Keir, and grabbed the spirit around the neck, draining him.

  Several people screamed. A younger girl, maybe eleven, watched me with wide eyes. “Are you a ghost?”

  “Not exactly. I’m Jas. I’m a necromancer.”

  “Oh.” She gave me a wary look. “I’m Annabel. I’m going to be a mage.”

  “That’s great,” I said. Some of the other kids had stopped crying by now, looking at Keir and me with awed expressions.

  “Are those the bad people who killed my dad?” asked Annabel.

  Oh. She’s Vance’s cousin. I hesitated, unsure what was the best response in this situation.

  “They’re on the same side, yes,” I said. “We’re going to deal with them. Please stay in here, okay?”

  “Give me a shout if any more ghosts get through the wards,” Keir added. “I’ll take care of them.”

  The two of us returned to our bodies, and the clash of the battle surrounded us once more.

  “That’s their safe house?” I said. “I give it an hour before that monster’s magic reaches this place. Maybe less.”

  Keir stepped away from the door. “I hope your friends have a backup plan.”

  “I have a feeling that was what the mirror was supposed to be for.” Another crash came from outside the building. “Why the hell would the vampires come here?”

  “They think this is the safest place in the city,” said Aiden, appearing in front of his brother. “Now the necromancer guild has gone, anyway.”

  “They realise they left their bodies behind, right?” I pushed through the crowd, grimacing at the icy sensation of touching dozens of vampires at once. “Dammit, I need to get to that mirror.”

  “We’ll stall them,” said Aiden. “Right, Keir?”

  “You’re not supposed to be here,” he admonished. “You should be with Clancy.”

  “Like I’m going to let you have all the fun.” Aiden joined several necromancers in bringing down another vampire, while Keir grabbed a second spirit by the throat.

  I ran to the door to the mirror’s room and pressed my hands to it to undo the wards. Then an icy sensation slithered down my spine as cold hands grabbed me from behind.

  “It’s her,” a vampire growled. “She bound us.”

  “I didn’t. Ow. Let me go.” The coldness deepened, burning through my skin. My hands fumbled the door. “If you don’t let me through this door, we’re all dead.”

  “We need your spirit essence.”

  I gritted my teeth and pushed my Hemlock magic into the door. The wards cracked, but the vampires’ icy hands pushed me back, seeking my spirit essence, leaching the life from me.

  “Let her go!” Keir grabbed for the vampires, but they swarmed me, an endless pile of spirits seeking my life force. Voracious. Deadly.

  Deadly to vampires, Keir had once called me. And now the vampires had turned that same power on me, leaching out every trace of spirit essence left inside me.

  Keir’s hand found mine, and his familiar touch brushed against me. I gasped in shock as he drew some of my spirit essence into himself, before giving me enough of a boost to push me closer to the door.

  “What the—?”

  The icy sensation lifted from my back as the vampires turned to him. They sensed my essence in him, and now they had a new target.

  “Keir!”

  A smile curled his mouth as he faced the oncoming horde. They smothered him, drawing out his life essence.

  “No.” I stared, coldness flooding me, bitter and endless. “Stop—stop!”

  “Get away from him, you bastards!” Aiden’s voice rang out, and he positioned himself between the vampires and his brother. “Want his spirit essence? You’ll have to go through me. Jas—run.”

  The door burst open under my touch as the vampires turned from me to Aiden, their hands reaching, drawing him closer. Draining his life force.

  “Aiden!” Keir’s voice was faint, frantic. “Stop—stop it!”

  Turning my back tore me apart from the inside, but if I didn’t make it to Evelyn, their sacrifice would be for nothing. />
  I took Aiden’s words to heart, and I ran through the mirror.

  23

  I didn’t land on the hillside, but in front of the wellspring, in the spot where I’d dropped the Moonbeam piece the last time I’d been here. The hill had cracked open, and in front of the wellspring stood Isabel and Asher.

  “Isabel, what the bloody hell are you doing here?” I stared, momentarily distracted from the horror of watching the two vampires facing down an army.

  “This idiot decided to run in here alone. “She indicated Asher. “He claimed he could stop Evelyn single-handedly.”

  Because he’s dying. He knows it, and so do you.

  “The blood curse offers me a little protection,” he explained. “The wellspring still contains some power, but it’s fading.”

  “Also, we have this.” Isabel held out her hand, the rust-coloured bell hanging from her fingertips. “Ivy once got rid of a talisman by tossing it into the same abyss as the Devourer. I figured this thing deserved the same fate.”

  I took it from her. “Not sure it’ll do any good now. The gods are awake already. Unless it has an off switch.”

  “I figured if anyone could figure it out, it’s you.” Isabel nodded to Asher. “We’re prepared to defend the wellspring if Evelyn comes here, and I reckon she will.”

  “That was my thinking, too.” Careful not to ring the bell, I slipped it into my pocket, peering at the faint traces of magic lingering around the wellspring. Little power remained, but Evelyn wanted every last drop.

  No curse tainted my magic now. It flowed through my veins like a long sip of rich wine, heady and intoxicating. I could tread from one world to another in a heartbeat, follow Evelyn every step of the way, but I didn’t doubt for a second she’d come to find me first.

  She wanted more than the Hemlocks’ power. She wanted to be unchallenged, and as long as I existed, I would always stand in her way. I wasn’t a god, an immortal. I was only a human, with a rapidly shrinking number of extra lives—but I would never give in. Not to her.

  I touched the wellspring. Threads of magic swirled out, wrapped around my hands.

  “Stop that, Jas.”