Witch's Soul

by Emma L. Adams

  “Sure.” She dug in the drawer and handed a box of drawing pins to me, while Lloyd sat on the edge of the desk to watch. “Need me to look anything up?”

  “If there’s a historical reference for ‘Ley Hunters’ or the ‘Soul Collector’, it would help if we knew,” I said. “Maybe the perpetrators are taking inspiration from an old scheme.”

  “What, you think it might have happened before?” Ilsa obligingly walked to the book-lined shelves.

  “Maybe.” The soul-sucking device wasn’t a new invention, or so Lady Montgomery had implied, anyway.

  Ilsa started pulling books off the shelves, and Isabel went to help her. I wasn’t convinced we’d find anything in the archive, though sticking pins into a map didn’t seem much help against an elusive vampire, either. To complicate things, the spirit line itself fluctuated like they all did, so a few years ago, the key points wouldn’t even have been in the same place as they were now. Not to mention the Ley Hunters seemed to be moving at random. How was anyone meant to predict what they’d do next?

  “Ley Hunters,” said Ilsa, already neck-deep in a book. “I haven’t found the name, but people have been tracking the spirit lines for centuries. The first maps of the spirit lines were drawn by hand.”

  “This one is, too.” I traced the lines on the map with my fingertips. The spirit lines divided Earth from Death, but they might also contain an infinite number of liminal spaces. The humans being sucked into this scheme didn’t have a clue what they were messing with.

  “Any recorded cases of humans tapping a spirit line?” I asked.

  “There wouldn’t be,” said Ilsa. “Humans can’t touch them. Necromancers, though—too many to count.”

  I thought so. “And vampires?” Lloyd put in.

  “Vampires, I’m guessing, would fall under the same category as early necromancers,” said Ilsa. “It’s only since the guild’s inception that they existed separately.”

  “Yeah, they aren’t fond of rule-following,” said Lloyd. “Maybe using those spirit devices gets them more souls to feed on. That’s got to be why there’s a vampire behind this, right?”

  “Maybe.” I squinted at the map to find the local key points. His theory was plausible, but didn’t explain the enemy’s efforts to take out the other vampires. Much less why they’d used furies to do so.

  The furies had come from another dimension. The spirit lines divided the realms…

  “They only want that spirit line,” said Isabel, walking to my side and sticking another pin on the map. “If you look. All the attacks have taken place on the same line, including today’s.”

  “Except yesterday’s,” I said, indicating the pin I’d stuck at the top of the map. “It broke the pattern.” It had also targeted the Hemlocks’ line, which I would have thought would be a more alluring target than the other one. But the attack in Glasgow had hit the original spirit line, the same one that would have been a target if I hadn’t intercepted the meeting in Birmingham.

  “So are they trying to wipe one spirit line?” asked Lloyd. “Or just hit a bunch of places at once?”

  Ilsa didn’t answer. She’d stuck her head in the book, skimming through the pages.

  “Who knows,” said Isabel. “The mages in Glasgow weren’t able to get any conclusive answers from the humans they questioned, either. Some subtle brainwashing was going on, but the humans didn’t take much convincing.”

  “Why, though?” said Lloyd. “I think even if I wasn’t a necromancer, I’d have a few questions if someone tried to recruit me to a death cult.”

  “Not if it’s billed as giving humans access to magic,” said Isabel. “Or self-defence against supernaturals, like the one we ran into before. A lot of humans would want that.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “Lloyd, didn’t the boss ask you to poke around yesterday and ask whereabouts they’re recruiting these humans from?”

  “Funny you should say that,” he said. “I was just waiting on a text from my sister. She wasn’t on the university campus yesterday, but she said she’d take a look around today and see if anyone was handing out fliers with the Ley Hunters’ name on it again. They’ll be more careful now, but broke students are an easy target. Make some spare cash in exchange for your soul.”

  “I seriously doubt that’s what they’re telling people,” said Ilsa, looking up from her book. “I asked my housemates if they’d seen anything, but they hadn’t. They’re supernaturals, though. The vampire behind this is targeting humans.” Worry underscored her voice. She’d lived among humans for a few years. And most of Lloyd’s family was human, too.

  “Hey,” he said, suddenly, as his phone pinged with a message. “There she is. She found a flyer.”

  “Let’s see.” I moved in behind him, looking at the cracked screen of his second-hand phone. The photo showed a flyer, embossed with the following words: “The Society of Ley Hunters is looking for volunteers. Want some extra cash? Come to the church on Frey Street.”

  “That was yesterday,” I said, spotting the date on the flier. “But the location is wrong. Where’s Frey Street?”

  “Let me look.” He took his phone back, while I turned to the map, searching for other key points near Edinburgh. If we intercepted another meeting… this time, with Mackie out of harm’s way, we might be able to pin down the enemy. Literally.

  Lloyd held out his phone. “Check that.”

  I looked at the map on his phone screen showing the designated address, then at the spirit line map. “We need a zoomed-in map.”

  “On it,” said Ilsa, moving behind the shelves. “Did the flyer your sister saw definitely say yesterday’s date?”

  “Yep,” said Lloyd. “There weren’t any other attacks on the spirit line yesterday.”

  “Check that out,” said Ilsa, holding up a book depicting a map of the city with the key points highlighted. “Yesterday’s meeting was meant to be at that church on Frey Street. But it wasn’t. It was at the house on the other spirit line instead.”

  “They moved meeting locations?” asked Isabel.

  “Apparently.” Lloyd lowered his phone. “Why?”

  “Because Mackie came along?” I said uncertainly. “Or because they had that device? That can’t have been planned. I only stole the thing two days before.”

  “The fliers were put on campus last week,” said Lloyd. “So yeah, last-minute change of meeting place. Weird.”

  Why change the meeting place at the last minute? Because they’d found it easier to lure Mackie to a location closer to the guild?

  “No, you’re right,” said Isabel. “But did the fliers say there definitely wouldn’t be a meeting at the church at all?”

  “Good question,” said Lloyd. “Do you think it’s worth checking the original address out?”

  “Worth a try,” I said. “The enemy might have hidden another of those spirit devices at the scene.” I doubted we’d get that lucky, but the location was at a key point north of the one they’d switched off. It was as likely a target as any.

  “I reckon it’s worth scoping out the place,” said Lloyd. “Before they drag innocent people there. Leave a booby trap.”

  “That’s our area.” I nodded to Isabel. “Might see if they left anything. I know the spirit device was only left in the house in Birmingham because the guy had rented the place, but you never know.”

  “And he was an idiot,” Isabel added. “Yeah… getting ahead of them might be a good plan. Unless they anticipate it.”

  “This time we need to capture one of the vampires alive,” I said. “The necromancer I met in Birmingham hopped over the veil without giving anything away, but there’s got to be a way to lock them down. The Soul Collector… I don’t get why he doesn’t directly get involved. He’s hiding in the background, letting his vampires do all the work. Yet he’s powerful. I sensed it.”

  “This guy needs to collect human souls… why?” asked Lloyd.

  “Soul Collector.” Ilsa’s mouth twisted with distaste. �
��I can’t find any references to him in these books, at all, but vampires aren’t that different from necromancers, except for their ability to extend their control beyond the usual limits. Otherwise, their link to the spirit realm works the same as ours does. And their souls are worth twice as much.”

  “Is it vampire souls he’s collecting, then?” asked Isabel.

  “If it was, he wouldn’t have killed them.” I stared at the map as though hoping the lines would reveal the truth. Furies didn’t just materialise out of thin air… but that spirit device’s explosion had unleashed a blast of kinetic energy intense enough to shake the spirit line. Maybe rip open a rift… in which case, there might not be any witches involved at all.

  Leila Hemlock was gone, while Evelyn hadn’t surfaced, except in those odd moments. If the Soul Collector and his band of vampire minions wanted to open a way into the Hemlocks’ forest, surely they would have targeted that spirit line from the start.

  Unless that wasn’t their initial goal, but their end goal.

  “Jas?” said Lloyd. “Something up?”

  “I…” Damn. I still couldn’t voice the Hemlocks’ secrets with Ilsa there, even now. “I think they’re building it up,” I said. “Each attack gets bigger. Until they have enough energy massed to go after a major node.”

  “The Ley Line?” said Ilsa, her eyes widening. “Shit. That would break open a way into Faerie, if they hit hard enough.”

  Damn. I didn’t even think of that.

  “Why would a vampire want to get near Faerie?” said Lloyd.

  Everyone remained silent. It didn’t make any sense. There were no faeries involved in this scheme, after all. But if their end target was the Hemlocks’ spirit line… that would open another realm entirely.

  “Isabel, can I have a word outside?” I said.

  Lloyd gave me a curious look, but the geas stopped me mentioning the Hemlocks in front of Ilsa, and it’d look suspicious if I asked just her to leave.

  “Sure.” Isabel joined me, and we left the room.

  “Isabel,” I said, lowering my voice. “I know what they’re trying to do.”

  “I know,” she said. “That’s why I came. It’s not the Ley Line they want.”

  “Did you speak to them in the forest?” I asked. “Face to face?”

  “No. I heard Cordelia spouting her usual line about how you’re the heir and it’s your duty to help protect the realms, et cetera. She wanted you to come and speak to her.”

  “I do need to speak to her. Later. I think yesterday was a test run.”

  “And… the other spirit line?”

  “Haven’t a clue, but if the Ley Hunters are planning anything at that address, we need to intercept them first.” I re-opened the door and walked back into the archives, addressing the others. “I think we should head to that church.”

  “You sure?” said Lloyd. “I really think they’ll be onto us. They usually are.”

  I closed the door behind me. “Keir has already offered to help the guild. He’s capable of piloting zombies from a distance, so convincingly that they look like real people. If he sends a couple of vessels to scope out the place, he can watch through their eyes as though he was there. Then if they get caught, they’re only zombies, it doesn’t matter.”

  “Not a bad plan,” said Ilsa, “but wouldn’t a vampire pick up on another one being present?”

  “Yes, but we don’t know for sure if they’re still planning to go ahead and blow up the place,” I said. “Checking it out through the spirit realm is more reliable than using disguises. I don’t think the last guy was a powerful vampire either, so he might not even notice.”

  The person orchestrating this was a different story entirely, but with luck, the Soul Collector wouldn’t pop into the meeting until the last second. If we scoped out the place first, set up a trap or two and set things up so that we’d be able to capture the vampire or necromancer in charge before any humans got involved, we’d finally have a live prisoner to question. I hope.

  “I’ll get the props,” I said. “This time, we’ll stop the Ley Hunters before they even get started.”

  16

  “If you’re sure,” said Keir, when I’d finished explaining our plan. He’d arrived immediately after I’d messaged him, looking much more awake than he had yesterday. He’d shaved the stubble from his face, though his hair was still a little longer than before. “I can certainly help out, but the vessels I’m currently using aren’t trained. That means I’ll have to drop them if things get too rough in there.”

  The rest of us had agreed that our best bet was to watch the show from a distance while Keir sent his vessels to booby trap the place. Ilsa and I could project ourselves directly into the church to have a look around if it turned out to be deserted, but I sincerely doubted we’d get that lucky.

  The small group of us waited in a deserted street a short distance from the proposed meeting place for Keir’s undead to show.

  “It’s no big loss,” said Lloyd. “They’re only zombies. Better than any of us getting blown up in there.”

  “That was a one-off,” I said. “I’d like to know how to turn off a spirit device in a way that doesn’t blow up in the face of the person carrying it, but I doubt they’ll leave another one unguarded. They’re smarter now, and they know we’re on their tail.”

  I doubted they’d expect zombies to show up, though. To be honest, I envied Keir’s skill at manipulating his vessels. I could raise undead, but they lumbered around in a very obviously dead way. Keir had them walk around and interact like living humans and made it look easy.

  Keir turned to me, his mouth lifting at the corner. “Here they are. Three dead people, at your service. Their van went off the bridge last night. They might need a little drying.”

  Three slightly damp male zombies walked towards us. Aside from their sopping wet clothes, I wouldn’t have picked any of them out of a crowd.

  “It’s lucky I have some quick-dry charms on hand,” said Isabel, passing Keir three spells.

  I dug into my own spell collection to pass a few among the three vessels. Keir seemed confident he had enough control to order them to use the spells to booby-trap the Ley Hunters’ meeting place without any of us having to show up in person. That way, if any humans came nosing around, they’d be frightened into running off. Meanwhile, the vampires would run right into a trap.

  On paper, it almost sounded simple.

  “It’s not that far off the guild’s standard approach,” I said. “We want to minimise conflict. Not to mention the casualty numbers.”

  “Because it’s bad for the guild’s reputation?” Keir asked.

  “No, it’s to stop people from panicking,” I said. “Humans blow things out of proportion when supernaturals go bad. Most of them are already terrified of us as it is.” My mouth moved, and for an instant, it was as though someone else spoke in my place. “Nothing in this world is scarier than being human.”

  Everyone stared at me. Huh. Where had that come from? The words… didn’t sound like me. They sounded like Evelyn. Maybe she was rubbing off on me. Or maybe I hadn’t imagined feeling her presence last night. I was far from in the mood for another foray into the spirit realm, but I wouldn’t leave Keir to face the enemy alone. Even if his vessels would be the ones to take the hit if we failed.

  Lloyd pushed a spell onto the nearest vessel’s wrist, then jumped a foot in the air when it moved. Keir’s voice came from its mouth: “Want me to shake your hand?”

  “Fuck off,” said Lloyd, giving Keir the finger from where he stood innocuously at my side. The vampire grinned at him.

  “If you do that to me,” Isabel said, handing a spell to another vessel, “I’ll unleash my coven magic on you.”

  “Not to worry,” said Keir. “I’ve had my entertainment for the day. And we’re running out of time. The vessels can only move at human speed.”

  Isabel stepped back from the vessel, and the man turned away. It felt seriously weird to be gi
ving orders to people who weren’t technically people in the usual sense. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but those vessels were creepily convincing. Hopefully they’d fool the vampires, if they ran into any.

  “Farewell, my friends.” Keir gave an exaggerated wave to the three zombies as they wandered off down the street.

  Ilsa rolled her eyes. “Are you sure they won’t get caught?”

  “They’re well-trained,” said Keir. “They’ll walk as fast as they can without drawing attention. Then it’s on us.”

  “Yeah.” I pulled a candle from my pocket. “Ilsa and I can go ahead through Death, but we should probably use candles. Since we’re not on a spirit line at the moment.”

  “Good. I’m not so keen on watching you float off again.” Lloyd moved in to help me set up the candles. “I’m also not expecting this to go without a hitch.”

  “Nor me,” said Isabel. “Keir’s zombies can still be detected for what they are by necromancers.”

  “Yes,” said Ilsa, setting candles in a circle of her own. “But our main goal is to get any curious humans out of harm’s way, right? It doesn’t matter if the zombies get caught afterwards.”

  “No.” At least we were nowhere near the Hemlocks’ spirit line this time around.

  “It doesn’t feel right, sending off a bunch of zombies with no backup,” said Isabel. “I know we’re supposed to be the backup, but we’re too far off.”

  “That’s the point,” said Lloyd. “Jas and Ilsa are way too recognisable as far as the spirit line goes. And Keir, too.”

  “It’s okay, they have our spells,” I said. “And we can fight just as well in the spirit realm. Better, probably.”

  “Ivy’s rubbing off on me,” said Isabel. “She’s always favoured an all-guns-blazing approach, and it’s weird hanging at a distance rather than charging in and making a racket.”

  “I think there’s plenty of time for that later,” I said. “Does she know you’re here?”

  “Of course she does,” answered Isabel. “She and the Mage Lord were the ones who told me about the latest attack.”