Annie's Song

by Cate Dean

  “There has to be a counter spell.” Anguish flared in his eyes. “Without it, I can do nothing.”

  “Then I’m gone.” She stopped at the door, forcing down her own fear. “Keep her alive, Marcus.”

  She ran down the stairs, not wanting to wait on the elevator, wracking her brain for a way to find Zach. Claire never saw him leave the standing stones, and God only knew where that crackpot took him. Annie could start there—and search that field for days, while Claire slipped away from them. There had to be something—

  She fumbled for her phone when the answer slapped her.

  Shaking fingers tapped out the number. Annie leaned against the side of the hotel, sliding down as the phone on the other end rang.

  Please be there. Oh, God, please be there.

  THIRTEEN

  The phone startled Simon out of his thoughts. Thoughts of Claire, and how damn much he missed having her in his life.

  “St. Mary’s Church, this is Father Simon. How can I—”

  “Simon? Oh, thank God.”

  “Annie.” He heard the panic edging her voice, almost felt it humming through the phone. “What is it?”

  She told him. He clutched the edge of the desk, each word ripping across his soul. With an ocean between them, he was helpless, useless. But maybe—Annie had the power. If he could get her to understand what he did, she might just have a shot. “Do you have your ring with you?”

  “My engagement ring? Yeah.”

  “Claire told me once it’s your focus. You can use it, track Zach’s energy. He has a very specific signature. You shouldn’t have trouble finding it, once you know it.”

  “And how the hell am I supposed to do that?”

  He smiled, enjoying the fact she didn’t apologize for swearing to a priest. She simply never thought of him that way. Another part of his life he missed; the chance to just be. “It will be on anything he touched. The closer it was to his body, and the longer it was there, the better. You may not see his energy—I’d be surprised if you did. But you’ll sense it. Use the focus, Annie. Use the power you’ve been honing these past months. You are a strong and talented witch.”

  Silence roared across the line. After an endless minute, she cleared her throat. “Okay—who are you, and what did you do with Simon?”

  He laughed, and it felt good. For the first time in months, he felt a weight lift off his heart. “I had my own epiphany, you might say. Claire came to see me, to invite me to your wedding.” Annie let out a distressed sound, and Simon wished he’d accepted, that he was there right now to help save the person who mattered most in his life. “Focus on this, Annie. I’m on my way, but you need to move now.”

  “You’re coming?”

  “I’ve spent too long fighting with my own heart. You are my friend, and Claire is the closest I’ve had to a partner in a long time. Can you get something of Zach’s while we’re talking?”

  “Yeah—just give me a minute.” He heard rustling, and her voice fading as she obviously put the phone down, swearing. That was his Annie. God, how he’d missed this, missed them. “Okay. I have the baseball cap he was wearing when he got here.”

  “Good. That will work just fine. Now, this is what I need you to do.”

  *

  “There is nothing more I can do.” Marcus pushed hair off his face, looked over at Eric. He had been monitoring Claire’s vital signs while Marcus did all he could to keep her alive, keep her tied here until Annie returned. “The spell is killing her. And there is nothing I can do.”

  “She’s strong, Marcus.” Eric sat back, flinching when his leg shifted. Marcus knew he would refuse any offer to check the ankle. “Stronger than anyone I know. She managed to come back from Hell in one piece, bringing a soul with her on top of it. She’ll beat this—”

  “Not this time. The spell must be countered, or it will eat at her. Until she is gone.”

  Eric rubbed his face. “Then we better keep her alive until Annie gets back with the counter spell. She’ll kill us if we don’t.”

  Shaking his head, Marcus smiled. It eased the grief weighting his heart. “Truer words.”

  “Marcus.” He met Eric’s eyes. “Whatever you need from me, don’t hesitate to ask. I love her, too.”

  He swallowed, leaned over Claire. “Thank you, my friend.”

  If love could keep her alive, Claire would be glowing. With a shaky breath, Marcus reached in, deeper, willing to scrape every last bit of his power to tie her life to her body.

  To keep her with him.

  *

  Diana understated her preparations—she didn’t just prepare a space. She turned it into a set designer’s dream.

  What would have been the main hall of the castle was the only part with four intact walls. It opened to the sky, but those walls were at least thirty feet high, and the single staircase built into one wall had crumbled a long time ago. No chance of escape there. And power brushed over his skin, the spell clumsy, but effective. Diana had a blocking spell on the open roof. Despite himself, Zach was impressed.

  She dragged him with her to the center of the huge room, let him go as she dropped her luggage sized bag and moved to a pedestal draped in red velvet. Like she was handling a baby, she settled the box on the pedestal. Zach started to back away.

  “Come here, boy.”

  “My name is Zach.”

  She let out an impatient snort. “Very well. Come here, Zach. I need you to open the box for—”

  “Hell, no.” He kept moving, praying he didn’t trip over some piece of the castle before he hit the doorway. “And you shouldn’t even be thinking of it. Can’t you feel it?”

  “I know what I am about. Boy. This power has been calling to me for months. Waiting for me to find it, make it my own. If you want that counter spell, you will march yourself over here. Now.”

  Zach closed his eyes, clutched the amethyst pendant. It felt cold, the pulse so weak his heart stuttered. “Okay.” He joined her, every step ratcheting up the dread, the underlying horror of touching that box again. “Wait—what if this goes horribly wrong?” Like he expected it to. “How will I get the counter spell if you’re dead?”

  Her laugh scraped over him, loud and almost desperate. “It’s written on a piece of parchment, inside the hilt. So if the unthinkable happens, your darling mother will be safe.”

  “Show me.”

  Muttering, she jerked the knife out of her bag, unscrewed the handle. A rolled length of parchment rested just inside the hollow hilt. “Satisfied? Or would you like to read it? Assuming, of course, you read Latin.”

  Zach ignored the sarcastic tone and held out his hand.

  With a curse that raised his eyebrows, Diana yanked out the parchment and opened it. When he reached for it, she turned the knife, the blade aimed at his chest. “No touching.”

  “Fine.” He scanned the fine, cramped lines, recognizing a spell to counteract the poison. How he understood Latin, or recognized the spell, were facts he put away for later, when he had the luxury to panic over them. “Thank you.”

  Diana looked surprised. “Well, you earned that much. Now, let me put this in a safe place and we will open the box.”

  He nodded, waited for her to lean over her bag, and in a move so fast he surprised himself he tackled her.

  *

  “Sweet lord.” Annie stared at the shimmering line of energy that led out of the hotel. “Is this what you deal with every day, Simon? I’d hide myself in a church, too.”

  She followed the energy line, the rich, deep blue screaming Zach. It swerved into Penn and Michelle’s store, then a second line headed out, stopping abruptly in the alley next to the store.

  ‘Damn it.” She walked a few feet down the narrow alley, looking around her. She knew Zach had gone to the standing stones; it was where she and Marcus found Claire. Annie pushed her grief back down and focused. “How could it just disappear like . . .” Her throat closed up when she found it. His energy had been buried under the pale grey
of another person. What scared her senseless was the force laid over that energy. It carried a taint of ancient, ugly power, like a smear on the concrete.

  Careful not to touch it, she followed it down the alley, sure that Zach would be with the owner of that energy. Something about the power was familiar, but her mind kept pushing the memory out of reach. Annie knew what that meant. Nothing good.

  She headed for the standing stones, following the lines. The circle was empty, but that power amped itself the second she stepped inside, and she knew who trailed it behind them. Patchouli coated the air. “Son of a bitch.”

  Diana was the asshat carrying that ugly power. And she had Zach, only God knew where.

  Annie crouched next to the fresh hole, the taint so strong it almost knocked her backward. Her ring sparked, the stones heating against her skin, telling her what she already knew. That power, that ugly, tainted energy, had been unburied, and it followed Zach out of the circle. She had to stop whatever Diana had planned. And she didn’t need a crystal ball to tell her it would be deadly.

  Annie laid both hands on her stomach. For the first time, she couldn’t run blindly into danger. And she had to.

  “Already the worst mom ever. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I can’t let this thing get away.” She let the tears go, needing the release. God protect them both, she didn’t have a choice.

  Time was running away from her.

  Touching her ring, she whispered a protection spell, knowing the sapphire would enhance it.

  “Okay, baby, Mama’s got to go to work.”

  Fists clenched, she sprinted across the field, headed for the castle ruins. She may not have what it takes to stop—whatever Diana was crazy enough to dig up, but she wasn’t about to give up on Claire. Or the boy she claimed as her son. The boy Annie had fallen madly in love with. That wasn’t going to happen. Not on her watch.

  *

  The small hand resting in Marcus’ palm twitched.

  “Zach—” She tried to push herself up, and let out a harsh gasp when her shoulder convulsed.

  “Stop, Claire. You need to rest.”

  “We have to find him, stop her,” she took in a shallow breath. “Stop her from releasing it.”

  “The woman who has him—”

  “Diana.” Claire clutched his hand, her breathing ragged. “She’s harmless, but what she’s after—I couldn’t touch it, Marcus, but I could feel its presence. And it was locked away for a reason. I recognized it, just before she stabbed me.” The fear that leapt into her eyes stilled him. “It is a fire elemental.”

  *

  Zach and Diana hit the ground—and her elbow dug into the shallow knife wound in his side.

  Fighting for breath, he rolled off her, pain clawing at him, and crawled toward the doorway. The knife struck dirt, an inch from his outstretched hand.

  “You ungrateful child.” Diana’s breath wheezed out of her, but she used that same unnatural strength to jerk him up to his knees. He stilled as the knife followed, the tip biting into the base of his throat. “If I did not need you—” She took in a long, shaky breath, her hand tightening on the hilt. Zach didn’t even dare to breathe. “I will stand first, then you. Slowly, hands in sight, or this blade will happily send you to Death’s door.”

  She struggled to stand, and he paid for it. The blade nicked his skin, more than once by the time she got to her feet. Pain burned across his chest, making it hard to breathe. He got to his feet as slowly as he could, hands raised. The knife followed him, nicking him a couple more times before she finally pulled it away, tucking the blade in a wide belt around her hips.

  “Now,” Diana said, pushing him. “Move to the pedestal.”

  Zach obeyed, staying as far away from the pedestal as he could and still be in arm’s reach of it. That seemed to satisfy her.

  Diana kept glancing at him while she spread some sort of oils around the base, throwing crushed herbs on top of it. Part of him recognized the scents, the meaning, what they were intended to do.

  Somehow, he knew there was a binding spell on the box. A strong binding, meant to last. Every time he got too close, the edge of the spell brushed over his skin, snagged at memories he didn’t know he had. Memories of the life he didn’t remember. And they left him angry, restless, like a stranger in his own body.

  Taking a deep breath, he pushed them to one side, to be dealt with later. Right now, he had to survive this. And he wasn’t sure that was a possibility.

  “Now, hand me the wand, boy. That one, in my bag, yes.” He pulled the carved length of willow out of the front pocket—and almost dropped it as a vivid image flashed in his mind. An image of him. But not him. God, what was happening? “Clumsy child. I never did see the advantage of children.”

  She snatched the wand up and stood in front of the pedestal, the key he found for her in one hand. Carefully, holding her breath, she slid it into the lock, and clicked it over.

  Zach flinched, waiting for the box to burst open. Diana looked disappointed when it did nothing.

  “I thought that would . . . never mind, I have a spell to free it. Hold on to something, boy. This is one powerful spell.” She stepped back, arms spread, the cloak floating around her.

  “By air and earth, by water and fire,

  So be you unbound, as I desire.

  Your power is found, your power I unbind.

  By moon and sun, my will be done.”

  Zach backed away with every word she spoke, until the crumbling stone wall trapped him. His heart pounded so hard he felt it in his throat. He tried to swallow, but all the spit in his mouth dried up.

  He knew that spell—no, not that spell. A binding that held him like invisible rope, keeping him from escaping—he couldn’t remember what. But he did remember it was a fate desperate enough to do harm.

  Diana moved around the pedestal, her voice louder and higher with every word.

  “Sky and sea keep harm from me.

  Cord be unwound, power be unbound,

  Light revealed, now be unsealed—”

  That light appeared, wrapped around the box. The metal vibrated—so violently Zach expected it to explode. Air swirled around the box, lifting it, catching the light in a whirlwind that spun it so fast the light looked almost liquid.

  Zach slid along the wall, away from what he knew was about to happen. The light moved faster and faster, wind screaming around the box. Then everything went quiet, like they stood in the eye of a storm, the box hovering in the air.

  With an ear-shattering blast the box split open. The light broke apart, brilliant shards flying out of the mini whirlwind.

  Zach covered his head, bits of heat slapping his arms. Feeling the power of the binding fade, he swallowed, lifted his head. And waited for Hell to pour out.

  FOURTEEN

  Annie felt the spell halfway across the field.

  “Holy shit—”

  An unbinding spell.

  She ran faster, terrified she wouldn’t make it in time, more terrified of what she’d find when she got there.

  Whatever they dug up in the circle was a big ugly, and the idiot woman was trying to set it free.

  She made it to the outer gate when she felt the binding unravel. And the power that rolled over her nearly buckled her knees.

  A fire elemental.

  “God, no.”

  The last time she faced an elemental it tried to burn down her apartment, with her in it. Only Claire showing up saved her and her neighbors from fiery death.

  “Angel, elemental—” She remembered the connection Claire told her about, the hold angels had over elementals, and the rage it sparked in the ones who wanted to stay when they manifested. “God, Zach—”

  She bolted for the main doorway.

  *

  Diana stood in front of the pedestal, arms over her head, cloak billowing, shouting over the unnatural wind that poured out of the box. In its wake came the real occupant.

  A column of fire surged out, reaching as high as t
he castle walls. Diana stumbled backward, letting out a shriek that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

  The column narrowed, compacting until it was eye level with Diana. She stared, mouth open, dropping her wand as it moved closer. Zach watched it move, like a glowing snake, red and gold flames snapping out.

  He shouted, knowing he’d draw attention. “Get away from it!”

  The column of fire swung toward him, and he stilled. Without thinking he gripped the amethyst at his throat. The result was explosive.

  The fire recoiled, an inhuman scream tearing through his mind. Zach hit the ground, clutching his head. He felt the heat before he saw it, hovering over him, twitching and—angry. How did he know a column of fire was angry? No, not angry. Enraged. And scared.

  When he moved the fire whirled away, like it was afraid of him. He didn’t have time to think about it. The column threw itself at Diana, engulfing her in flame.

  “No—” He scrambled to his feet, running at them. “Get off her!”

  The fire screamed again, leaping away from him. He crouched next to the smoking figure, eyes on the column, expecting it to soar up through the open roof. It tried, and halted in midair, hitting up against the blocking spell. Instead of recoiling, it hovered, and he swore it glared at him.

  Keeping it in sight, he touched Diana’s shoulder. She gasped, scaring him. He thought she would be dead.

  “Diana?”

  She flailed, throwing off her cloak. Zach realized it took the brunt of the attack, leaving her with just minor burns. “Get away—what have you done? I nearly had the power to myself—what have you done!”

  Her fist smacked into his jaw, hard enough to knock him backward. His shoulder slammed against the hard ground, the impact jarring him. He got his arm under him, pushed up, and saw Diana, arms outstretched, calling to the fire.

  “Come to me! I am the one who found you, set you free. Infuse me with your power!”