Mildred started to say something but then looked away and shrugged her shoulders.
We were about to rush into uncharted territory and work spells no one had tried in a hundred years. And we could all die in the attempt. I felt tears begin to swell in my eyes. “Mildred, how do we stop it once it’s here?”
Mildred didn’t answer me. She kept looking off into the distance.
Why was she only just now telling us information about demons that I’d begged her to tell me back when we were under Gage’s control? Was she telling us everything she knew? Was she still withholding information? The old thoughts came back—could I trust Mildred? She’d saved me, but she’d also turned on me. Could I believe her? I looked at her closely.
By now Mildred should have been showing her odd eccentricities. Talking to herself, dancing, listening to music that wasn’t there, and speaking in riddles or rhythms. The Mildred that had shown up tonight was clear-thinking and lucid. Was it just a fluke, or had the old woman been faking insanity all along? How could I trust her when everything in my being was telling me to be cautious? I couldn’t shake the feeling that the old woman had an agenda other than saving my life.
Luke reached out and took my hand in his. “We can kill the demon. I have darker, stronger magic now. Between all of us, we’ll be a match for the creature. And a match for Gage. He’s not back to full strength. We can get the dagger and the spell from him. Colina, we can do this.”
“You did want to find Gage,” Dean said.
I turned and looked at him in shock. “The only reason I want to find Gage is because I want to save Wendy. I can’t leave Wendy in that madman’s hands.”
But what would happen when I came face-to-face with Gage again? He put a spell on me that made me swoon whenever I was in close proximity to him. I felt heat rise in my cheeks even as his image flashed in my mind. My heart started beating faster. I knew going after Gage was a crazy thing to do. Gage wanted to find me, wanted to get me in his bed. If he ever got ahold of me and “consummated” the relationship, the spell he put on me would be impossible to break.
“Wendy is still with Gage, I’m sure of it.” Mildred looked up into the sky. “The only way to free her is to go after him.”
Luke gave my hand a squeeze. “We have to try. If we don’t, the demon poison will kill you.”
“He’s right, child. You won’t last much longer.” Her eyes took in my appearance slowly. “I’m surprised you’re still on your feet. I’ve seen the poison take down a full-grown man in half the time you’ve been walking around with it in your blood. But I’ve always known you’re strong, stronger than you realize.”
Dean was watching Luke and my intertwined hands with a frown on his face.
Self-conscious, I pulled my hand out of Luke’s and asked Mildred, “How do we find Gage?”
“She finds him for us,” Mildred said.
“Who?” I asked.
Mildred’s eyes narrowed as she looked over to where Jamie slept. “The child has powers. Hasn’t she shown them to you yet?”
Chapter 8
Luke, Dean, Mildred and I stood in a circle around Jamie. I studied her sleeping face. She looked so innocent, so young. When Mildred declared that Jamie had powers, I didn’t want to believe her.
As if she could sense us all staring down at her, Jamie’s eyes popped open.
Mildred looked down at her. “Aren’t you a tricky one?”
I made a move to go to Jamie, but Mildred put out a hand, stopped me, and gave me a hard stare. “I’m guessing she was worried what you might think of her if she showed you.”
I know the astonishment I felt at this announcement showed on my face. “What are you talking about?”
“Ah, you didn’t think she knew the creature she was before. She knows all about it. Don’t you, little one?”
“That’s impossible,” I said, feeling as though the world had suddenly turned on its axis. I looked closely at Jamie. Her face was void of expression. Had I been deceived this whole time? Had Darla been right that my emotions were colored by the fact that Jamie looked like my family?
She looked at Jamie and demanded, “Are you evil?”
The child was sitting up, a look of fear on her face. “No,” she whispered.
Mildred looked deeply into Jamie’s eyes. Then she turned and gave my arm another pat. “See, she’s not one of them, one of those that has a darkened heart, but you still need proof of the child’s powers.” Mildred turned and pointed at Dean. “Boy, fetch me some water.”
By the look on his face, I didn’t think Dean was going to do what she asked, but he went over to one of the backpacks and pulled out a canteen before walking back over to us. I swear he flinched when Mildred reached for it.
I wondered if Dean feared Mildred because of the two occasions when she had hit him with her lightning magic. Whatever his reasons, he’d seemed leery of her ever since she handed us over to Gage. She had once walked with demons. She had hidden her true self from us. What magic did she have besides teleportation and the ability to control lightning?
Dean’s fear seemed to amuse Mildred. She gave him a half smile. Mildred walked over and sat down cross-legged in front of the fire. She looked over her shoulder and said, “Come, little one, don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you.” From the pocket of her dress, she pulled out a small black bowl.
Jamie didn’t move at first. And then she slowly slid out of the sleeping bag, walked over, and sat down next to Mildred.
“Jamie, hmm? That’s a fine name. I promise they won’t be scared if you show them what you can do.” Mildred poured the water into the bowl and set it down in front of the child. “Now I need you to empty your mind. I need you to focus all your attention on the surface of the water.”
Luke came up next to me. “She’s making a scrying bowl.”
I had heard of them. They were a sort of magic mirror. I had never seen one used, but it was said that if someone with the right power stared into the bowl they could see visions on the surface of the water.
I walked over and stood next to Jamie.
Mildred reached out and gently touched the child’s arm. “Take a deep breath. That’s good. Now another. Concentrate on the water. We are looking for a man named Gage. Focus on the name.” Mildred crouched down and picked up a small stone off the ground. She carefully dropped it into the bowl.
I watched as small ripples raced across the surface of the water.
Jamie’s whole concentration was on the bowl. Was it true? Did she possess magic? And if she did, why hadn’t we felt or seen any of it? A demon had made her. If she did possess any magic, it had to be dark.
Jamie whispered, “I see people standing around a house.”
“That’s good. Just keep concentrating and tell us all you see,” Mildred said.
I held my breath as Jamie whispered again, “There’s water all around. They’re floating on it. No… The house is floating on the water.”
Mildred let go of the child’s arm and let out a long sigh. “He took them to an island.”
Jamie’s voice suddenly took on a lower, more adult sound. “The house is made of stone. It’s a castle. There’s a man standing at the window. He is calling out Colina’s name.”
I felt my pulse begin to race.
“Gage.”
Luke’s hand reached out and took mine. I hadn’t realized I said his name out loud.
Mildred leaned in and looked over Jamie’s shoulder. “I see it. I see where they are.” She put her hand on Jamie’s head and gave her a pat. “I knew you could do it.”
Jamie looked up and gave Mildred a tentative smile.
And at the smile a chill ran down my back. Why did Jamie hide her magic from us? And what other magic did she have? A demon had made the child. That same evil creature had possessed her mind and her body. An Archdemon, according to Mildred. I had watched Wendy slowly come unhinged after being possessed by a portion, just a tiny piece of a demon’s soul. What had all tha
t evil power, all that evil energy done to this child?
A part of me had started to think of her almost as a sister. My family’s DNA was used to make her. Her expressions, her gestures, were all too familiar and comforting. But now, as I watched her with her head bent next to Mildred, both of them whispering away—I had to ask myself who Jamie really was? What was she capable of? Mildred seemed satisfied that the child wasn’t evil. I honestly wished I could believe the same.
* * *
I sat by the campfire and watched the flames. Was Gage right? Would I be responsible for crossing over a legion of demons into our world? I had let one out, and now Mildred wanted us to release another. How could I justify doing such a thing? Mildred said Gage had a magical dagger full of dark souls and a spell. He had always wanted me to do his bidding, and now we were heading straight for him. When we found him, I was going to do the very thing I’d sworn I’d never do. And what if, when we tried Mildred’s crazy plan, instead of releasing one demon, we let them all out? Was saving my life worth risking everyone else’s?
“I think Mildred’s plan might work.” It was Luke. He stood in the shadows.
“I swore I’d do everything in my power to kill the demon, and now you want me to bring forth another one?”
“I want you to live.”
“What if everyone is right? Your sister, Gage, everyone else foresees a scenario where I let the Legion out.”
“You would never do that.”
“How do you know?” The last word ended in a sob.
Luke moved forward and wrapped his arms around me. “Because you aren’t doing this alone. I’ll be there with you and so will Mildred. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.”
I leaned my head against his chest. “I can’t risk it.”
“There’s no other way.” His hand came up and brushed through my hair. “Colina, I’m not going to lose you. Not after all we’ve been through.”
I closed my eyes and listened to his heartbeat. “But what if I…”
He interrupted me. “I promise I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
I pushed myself back and looked into his face. “Once we release the demon, do you really think we can cut off its horn and then destroy it?”
“Mildred thinks we can. She’s a powerful woman. She’s been around a long time. I trust her judgment.” There was such certainty in his eyes.
“You trust a woman I met in an asylum.” I put my head back on his chest.
“Mildred is someone who dances to her own beat, but I don’t think she’s crazy.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I don’t think she’s completely unhinged.”
I was tempted to stay in his arms forever. I gave a long sigh and moved out of his embrace. “Do you believe everything she told us about the demons?”
“I don’t have a reason not to trust her. Look what she did for me.”
“She handed us over to Gage.” By the look on his face, I knew that no matter what I said, I wasn’t going to change his mind. Could we really trust her? There were no records left from the great mage war. There were a few spells that had somehow escaped being destroyed. Macaven, Gage, and Darla had found them. But what if Mildred was telling us a pack of lies? What if she wanted me to release the Legion of demons? What if she was actually on Gage’s side? My temples were throbbing with all the thoughts swirling around in my head.
“What we need to do now is sleep,” Luke said. “Then tomorrow we’ll start to make our way to the island.”
I looked over to the other side of the clearing. Dean had gone off to find more wood for the fire. Jamie was back in her sleeping bag, fast asleep.
While I sat watching the fire, Luke and Mildred had been talking. Now Mildred was lying down on a bed of pine. She had no blanket. Her shawl was wrapped closely around her. Apparently she wasn’t affected by the cold like the rest of us. What was the old woman? I’d seen her throw lightning, I’d seen her teleport at the drop of a hat. What other things could she do that she hadn’t shown us yet? And why was she always so mysterious? She admitted to willingly going with Gage after the battle. She'd said it was to save Wendy’s life, but could we believe her? And now we were about to follow her to some island with a pack of death dealers on our trail.
“Did she tell you where this island is?” I asked Luke in a hushed whisper.
“The island is on the coast, within a huge network of small islands. Some are resorts, some are small towns, and many are private residences. Someone built a castle on one.”
“An actual castle. The kind with knights?”
Luke moved close to me again. “That’s what Mildred says. She’s been there before.” His arm slid around my waist. “She says the man who built the castle was an eccentric millionaire. It was a castle from England that he transported over here stone by stone and had reassembled. The whole operation apparently took years to complete. He died a decade ago, and the place has been abandoned ever since.”
“Why is Gage there?”
“Mildred says the place is a power source,” Luke said.
“Is that why Gage wants to set up residence there, so that he can amplify his magic?”
Luke nodded. “That’s part of it, but also because one of his associates set up shop there. A guy named Fintan? He has some kind of operation on the island.”
The image of a fat, redheaded man gleefully watching me create zombies slid across my mind. “Fintan.” I shuddered as I said the name. The man had given me the creeps. “I met him in the mining town. He wanted me to come and work on a ‘project’ of his.”
“What kind of project?” Luke asked.
“He didn’t say.” Another shudder went through me. “Project” was the word that Gage used to talk about making a zombie army. What kind of project was Fintan running?
I turned until I was facing Luke. “We go to the island and storm the castle.”
He pulled me closer. “It’s the plan of the moment.”
“And what if your sister finds us before we get there?” I whispered.
His body tensed, but he didn’t say anything.
“If she finds us, she might try to kill me again.”
After a long moment of silence, he said, “My sister is doing what she thinks is right. She has seen so many of our people hurt. She’s only trying to keep them safe.”
“She wants me to die, Luke.”
He was silent again.
I fought down a flash of resentment. His loyalty to his sister was blinding him to what she had done. How could I make him believe me? “You were there. You saw what she tried to do to me and Jamie.”
His eyes filled with sadness. “I don’t want to believe it.”
He loved his sister. She’d been the one that had convinced her brother to hear me out. She’d done her best to help me. She was the only reason Luke hadn’t thrown me out into the street. And when we’d saved her, she’d tried her best to stop me from going into the mansion after Macaven. Darla believed in her heart that I’d killed her brother. She wasn’t wrong—my thoughtless actions had been responsible for Luke’s death. And when Darla had stood atop the hill on the day of Luke’s funeral, she’d told me she would kill me the next time she saw me. I’d seen the anger in her eyes. There was a deep hatred for me burning in her soul. I knew what it was to hate that much. How much it ate away at you.
“Darla went through so much,” Luke said.
“So did I, so did you. You don’t see me trying to slit her throat.” I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice.
“I won’t let her hurt you. Do you believe me when I say that?”
“I do.” He had fought against his people trying to save me.
“I know if I can talk to her I can make her see reason.”
I knew he believed it, but I didn’t.
“Darla and I have always been close,” he said. There it was again that sadness in his eyes. “There’s a bond between us. I know I’m different now, and so is she, but if we can get a chance to
really talk to one another, away from all of this, I know I can make her see what she’s doing is wrong.”
I pulled away from him. “But what if she’s right? What if killing Jamie, killing me, is the only way to keep the demon from coming back? What if it’s the only way to ensure the Legion never crosses into our world?”
He reached for me.
I took a few steps away from him. “We’re talking about bringing another one of those evil things over into our plane of existence. You saw what the demon did to Macaven and his dark mages. They were powerful mages. Their magic couldn’t stop the demon. How can we stop one?” I know my voice had taken on an edge of hysteria. I felt the panic, the fear race through me.
Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. “Mildred says we can control the demon. She says we can kill it, and I believe her.” When I tried to wiggle away, he held me tighter. “We haven’t come this far to stop fighting. We’ll cure you and then we’ll find a way to banish both demons back to hell.”
I wanted to believe that everything would work out. We had survived so much together. Beaten impossible odds. It was not in my nature to give up. I took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, let’s storm the castle.”
“That’s my girl.” He leaned in and kissed me.
And that’s how Dean found us. Standing by the fire, kissing passionately in each other’s arms.
Dean dropped an armful of wood on the ground. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.” Without another word, he spun on his heels and stormed off.
“Dean.” I started to go after him, but Luke reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Let him be.”
“I should talk to him,” I said, watching Dean melt into the shadows of the woods.
“Colina, we haven’t been fooling anyone. He knows how we feel about each other. He can see it in our eyes every time we look at each other.”
“I didn’t want it to be like this. I wanted to take him aside, tell him in my own way.”
Legion Page 19
