“You, slave. Come here.” Thiriel’s voice called out and Lily’s head whipped up, seeing Hawkins hesitate before slowly approaching. He had never seen a fae before, but Lily and Sebastian had prepared him.
“Yes…O queen?” Hawkins, a fast study, knelt before the fae.
Thiriel looked at Morgan, blank eyes disturbingly hard. “Behold, doubter. This is the power of decay.”
With a mere gesture, the shadows surrounding her reached out and enveloped Hawkins. He cried out in surprise, but the sound was immediately cut off. When the shadows withdrew, all that was left was a pile of dust on the stone floor of the chamber.
“NO!” Lily yelled, surging to her feet. She couldn’t believe what Thiriel had just done. It had to be an illusion. A trick of fae glamour. But she could see through glamour, and Hawkins was nowhere to be found.
Trying to keep her composure, maintain the charade, she glared at the fae queen. Despite the danger of the situation, she could barely hold back the sudden tears that sought to spring from her eyes. She had liked Hawkins. How would she ever explain this to Mr. Dee?
Catching sight of a whiskered nose poking around the corner of the pedestal and yellow eyes gazing at her with concern, she gave a tiny shake of her head, warning Sir Kipling to stay hidden. “He was mine, Thiriel,” she gritted out to the fae. “My servant. You had no right to touch him. There was no need for—”
“On the contrary,” Morgan cut her off, eyes alight with desire as they remained fixed on Thiriel. “You are my servant, therefore he was mine as well. And such a demonstration was exactly what was needed. Show me, fae. Show me how to use such power.”
Heart burning with anger and grief, Lily remained silent, comforted at least by the knowledge that Morgan had fallen for their trick, hook, line, and sinker. She couldn’t think about anything else right now. The next part was up to Thiriel, and Lily needed to prepare her own spell. She would only have one chance to use it.
Crossing her arms, Lily moved to stand by Morgan’s side, as if positioning herself in solidarity with her mistress. Really, she just needed to be within arms reach of the wizard when the time came.
“Take my hands,” the fae instructed, ignoring Lily. “Now find the fae magic within you, and relinquish it. Push it away, into me, every last drop. Only then can I fill you with my power.”
The wizard and the fae stood, silent. To any mundane, it would seem they were doing nothing at all. But Lily could see the truth. She could see, could feel the immense power leaving Morgan and disappearing into the pulsing, glowing darkness that was Thiriel.
Reminding herself to focus, Lily reached into herself, preparing her spell and hoping Morgan would be too focused on her own task to notice. She needed to be ready…any time now…almost there…
With a gasp, Morgan sagged as the last of her fae magic left her. Lily gripped her arm, ostensibly to help hold her up but making sure she positioned her hands so that they touched Morgan’s bare skin.
“Now, fae…now. Give me…what you promised,” Morgan panted, staying on her feet only with Lily’s help.
But Thiriel simply smiled. It was the first time Lily had seen any kind of overt emotion on the fae queen’s face. “You are a fool, Morgan le Fay. I promised no such thing, only implied that it was possible. You are a traitor and enemy of my people and shall never touch a drop of our power ever again.” With that, her darkness swirled, enveloping her like smoke, then dissipating to reveal nothing but an empty, dusty floor.
As Morgan screamed in incandescent rage, Lily squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated with all her might, thinking what she hoped was the reverse of Morgan’s waking spell. She had to put the wizard to sleep. It was the only way she would survive.
Whether her silent casting failed, or whether her reversal of the spell had been incorrect, she would never know. For instead of collapsing on the floor in an unconscious heap, Morgan wrenched her arm away, throwing Lily violently off her as she began to chant. Lily barely had time to raise her own shield before the spell hit her. She had no idea what it was, but it threw her backward like a rag doll and she smashed against the wall, her head hitting the stone with a crack. Stars danced before her eyes as she slid to the floor in a heap.
Dazed, she vaguely heard the yowling war cry of her cat attacking, and a muffled squeak underneath her as Pip no doubt struggled to extricate herself from the backpack. But the yowls went from defiant to frightened, then silent, and the squeaking from the backpack died.
Lily tried to struggle to her feet, to regain awareness of her surroundings. But before she could gather herself, two icy hands gripped her throat and pushed, pinning her against the wall and crushing her windpipe.
“You vile, traitorous little worm. How dare you awaken me only to steal what is rightfully mine!”
Lily could feel drops of spittle hit her face as Morgan shrieked. But it was only a brief sensation before the screaming pain and desperate burning in her chest became all-encompassing. She struggled, hands scrabbling wildly at Morgan’s grip. But the woman was surprisingly strong, fueled by a fury beyond measure. Lily’s brain didn’t even have enough oxygen left for her to cast a spell in her defense. Any thought she tried to grasp slipped away as her mind slowly slipped into blackness.
She wasn’t supposed to be alone. Hawkins. Hawkins was supposed to be there. Where had he gone? And Sebastian. Where was he? Where…was…
Even her muddled thoughts went dark as her arms dropped limply to her side.
5
Dancing With Death
WHUMP!!!
Lily felt the jolt as something large and fast hit Morgan from the side, tearing loose her stranglehold. Slumping to the floor, Lily coughed and gasped, vision still swimming as she tried to get her breath back. She heard the crackle of magic and yelling voices—familiar voices—but tried to simply concentrate on breathing.
When she finally became aware of the room again and managed to sit up, she saw it wasn’t filled with the people she’d been hoping for. Seeing her movement, John Faust raised his hands, opening his mouth as if to cast a spell and end her.
But before he could, a figure in black filled her vision. Trista stood over her, not exactly shielding her but getting purposefully in the way. “No need, Father. I’ll take care of it.”
Trista knelt, putting Lily in a headlock and squeezing. Not expecting a renewed attack, Lily struggled only belatedly, terrified of suffocating again after her near-death experience at the hands of Morgan. But then she heard a whisper in her ear as Trista bent close under the guise of choking her out.
“Slowly stop struggling, then lie still as if you’re unconscious.”
Lily did as instructed once she realized that, while Trista’s grip was tight and unyielding, it did not block off her airway. Since she was already feeling weak and woozy, she only needed to half pretend as she gave one last feeble twitch, then went limp in her sister’s grip.
The young woman carefully released her and stood. “She’ll be out for a good ten minutes.” Her words sounded flat and emotionless.
Lily kept her eyes firmly shut but listened with all her might, hoping that Pip—in her backpack—and Sir Kipling—wherever he’d hidden to get away from Morgan—were smart enough to lay low until the time was right. She didn’t even try to reach for her magic, afraid John Faust or Morgan might still be scrutinizing her. Better to wait and see how the situation played out. Things might seem bad, but it looked like her wild card had come through.
“She will not need ten minutes. I shall kill her where she lies.” Morgan’s icy voice sent chills down Lily’s spine and she tensed.
“Please, Your Majesty. There is no need for such hastiness. She might still be useful to us.” John Faust’s tone was surprisingly deferential. Lily had never heard him fawn before, but her father was a master of manipulation. She wouldn’t put it past him to suck up to whomever necessary to get his way. Realizing this made him even more dangerous—people blinded by pride and rigid with arrogan
ce were much easier to predict—she listened carefully to every word.
“I do not see how. In fact I am not yet convinced that you yourself are any use. Tell me again why I should not end you where you stand?”
Lily heard a scrape as if John Faust were kneeling. “Because, great queen, we are your true servants. Your true descendants. This girl is but an imposter, one I have been fighting to eliminate for weeks.”
“Which obviously implies you are a weak and useless tool if you could not even find me before that worm.”
There was more scraping. Perhaps John Faust had made his children kneel as well? “You must understand, Your Majesty, that she has had the fae on her side, as well as a crafty witch with demonic allies.”
Well, that was a lie, but it certainly made John Faust seem less incompetent. Of course, she knew the real reason why she hadn’t been “eliminated” was that her father was loath to kill one of his own kind. Sebastian he had no compunction about, but another wizard…it was only when faced with overwhelming threat, as with Madam Barrington, that he had fought with deadly force.
Morgan le Fay, it seemed, had no such inhibitions.
“Very well. She may live for now. But what—
“We are…down the cliffs…hold on…coming.”
Lily was distracted by a faint voice in her mind. They must be so far under the island that it was affecting Yuki’s range, but she heard it all the same. Her heart leapt and she wished she could somehow warn them about Trista’s change in loyalties, or at least make them aware of the current situation. As it was, she had to rely on her friend’s expertise and Trista’s quick thinking to ensure no one was hurt by friendly fire.
Suddenly remembering Hawkins, her euphoria faded into despair. How would she explain the manservant’s death to Sebastian? The two of them had been thick as thieves this past week. The news would be such a blow, not to mention how he would feel toward Thiriel. Lily thought he’d said fae couldn’t kill humans, but perhaps he’d been wrong.
“Stay low. Sebastian says we are coming in fast, as if his pathetic gait is anything compared to the swiftness of a—what?—oh, sorry, you could hear that too.”
Despite the situation, Lily had to lock her jaw to keep herself from smiling at her friends’ ridiculousness. Any moment now they would come bursting through that doorway. She listened carefully for footsteps, only keeping half an ear on the argument between Morgan and John Faust.
“Please, calm yourself, my queen. There is no need for distress.”
“No need? What rubbish is this? I have been robbed. Tricked! Wake her and I will force her to help me reclaim what is rightfully mine.”
“All in good time, Your Majesty. If you would do me the honor, we have a safe place where you can relax and become accustomed to this new era. I warn you, it is quite different from what you are used to and may take some time to—”
“Almost there.”
Lily’s ears perked, straining to catch the sound of approaching feet as she cracked her eyelids the tiniest fraction, taking in the room in front of her. She saw John Faust and Morgan in the center of the room by the pedestal. John Faust, though no longer kneeling, stood in a bowed, deferential stance. Between them and her but to the side, closer to the entrance, stood Caden. His attention was on his father, but he glanced at her every few seconds, a dirty look on his face. Hoping the young wizard didn’t notice her cracked eyelids, she searched for Trista.
Her sister was crouched by the wall next to the entrance, out of the line of sight of anyone coming from the tunnel. She had her head cocked and was listening intently, a sign Caden and John Faust obviously took to mean they had a capable ally ready to warn them of approaching danger.
They were wrong.
Carefully flexing her muscles one by one, Lily tried to prepare herself. She would need to jump up and begin casting on a moment’s notice. Surprise was essential. The problem was, which person should she target first? She had a better chance of taking out Caden, since he was closest, but that would leave her group vulnerable to greater threats. Yet, if she went after Morgan or John Faust, Caden could intercept her before she got to them. She could only hope that everyone’s attention would be momentarily focused on the entrance when her friends burst in, giving her time to attack Morgan—the greatest threat of all.
Decision made, she tensed, hearing the faintest shuffle echoing from the tunnel, the noise masked by John Faust’s deferential persuasion. With both Caden’s and John Faust’s backs turned and Morgan’s attention on her “servant,” only Trista was in a position to shout warning.
She did not.
The moment her brother and father turned toward the entrance, looks of surprise on their faces, Lily heaved herself to her feet, already preparing her first spell. The whole room seemed to move in slow motion as she screamed at her muscles, ordering them to work faster.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement at the tunnel’s entrance, but she couldn’t spare it a glance. She heard John Faust’s cry of surprise, saw him throw up his hands in the involuntary gesture of casting a shield spell, then—
BOOM!!
The gunshot echoed impossibly loud in the confined space, making her ears ring painfully. Something whistled past her ear and struck the stone behind her with a sharp crack, but she ignored it. She didn’t even look down at Caden as she passed—he had somehow fallen to the floor and was struggling to get back up. No, her eyes were fixed on Morgan, and with a grunt of effort she threw her first spell at the shocked woman, still looking dazed from the blast. Lily had sacrificed strength for speed, so the spell was relatively weak. But it struck true all the same, hitting Morgan in the side and causing her to stumble and clutch at the pedestal for support. John Faust didn’t even notice, already locked in a furious battle with Sebastian, Sir Kipling, Hawkins and—what?
Lily did a double take, stunned to see the manservant wielding his sawn-off shotgun like a club and belatedly realizing that, of course, the gunshot had to have come from him.
Unfortunately, her distraction cost her precious seconds and by the time she focused back on Morgan, the wizard had regained her footing and was glaring death at her. Having no time for the calm concentration needed for silent casting, Lily’s overstimulated brain fell back on her training.
In a furious whirl of battle magic, the two of them cast spell after spell, sometimes taking the brunt on their wards, sometimes dodging. Lily focused on wearing her opponent down, still hoping for a non-lethal victory, even though she heard—and felt—some pretty nasty curses flung her way. Miraculously, her otherworldly ward stopped every one, though Lily could feel it growing hot on her wrist from the amount of energy it was absorbing.
With no spare attention to look around the room, Lily was clueless as to how her friends were faring. She could hear Sir Kipling’s yowl and Sebastian’s angry shouts, and something else…was that squeaking coming from her backpack?
Knowing she didn’t need her hands to cast—they were more of a physical aid than necessity—she barely managed to keep concentration on her spells while struggling to remove her backpack. It finally fell to the ground and she left it where it lay. Now that it was stationary, she hoped Pip could crawl out without getting slung from side to side.
Sure enough, just as she was trying to find another opening to attack, a tiny green light soared over her head and dove at Morgan like a falling star of pixie wrath. Apparently the tiny creature hadn’t gotten the memo that “fae don’t fight humans.” Morgan screamed in anger as the pixie attacked her face, and the shield she’d been maintaining flickered, giving Lily an opening. As the enraged wizard focused her spells on this new assailant, Lily took a deep breath, gathering her remaining strength for one final effort. She tapped her ward’s reserves for extra power and flung the stunning spell at Morgan, screaming the words of power as she pushed with all her might.
Dropping to one knee in sudden exhaustion, she watched the spell hit, bowling the woman over as its kinetic force o
verwhelmed her passive wards and laid her out flat. Lily waited several seconds, did not see her enemy rise, and so turned, stumbling, to assess the rest of the room.
Hawkins was down, probably stunned. Caden still lay where he’d originally fallen, possibly also stunned or perhaps knocked out by the butt of Hawkins’ gun. Sebastian, Trista, and Sir Kipling were circling John Faust, dodging in and out, attempting to get past his shields. Sebastian was bleeding from a large gash on his forehead, the blood getting into his eyes as he swung at his enemy’s defenses. Each blow of his glowing staff weakened the shields, and Lily could tell John Faust was tiring. Especially since Trista kept him between herself and Sebastian, forcing him to constantly turn and whirl to protect himself from all sides. She spotted Cyril at the tunnel’s entrance, attention laser-focused as he kept his defensive wards strong against John Faust’s attacks.
Taking another deep breath, Lily drew on that hidden reserve of strength you found only after you thought you could go no further. Standing tall, she moved toward the remaining fighters.
“STOP!” she bellowed, adding a bit of magic to magnify her voice.
All activity in the room ceased, everyone looking stunned that such a noise had come from her.
“Surrender, Father. We have you outnumbered. There is nothing more to be gained by fighting.”
John Faust turned to look at her, swaying as he did. But before his eyes met hers, they fell on Caden, to the left and behind Lily.
John Faust screamed. “NO!”
Whirling, Lily peered through the dim light and finally noticed the pool of blood still spreading around her half brother’s crumpled form. It came from a small hole in the side of his neck, and Lily realized he must have been hit by a bit of ricocheting buckshot. Because it was iron, it went right through his barrier-field ward.
“No! No, no, NO!” John Faust was wild with grief, lurching toward his son, but then whirling on her, his face a twisted mask of fury.
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Legends Page 25
