Samantha nodded. “Agreed. All right, everyone, get in position, because I’m about to summon her.”
Ed stared at her for a long minute as everyone else began to scramble for cover. His thoughts were transparent to her and she could tell that he was afraid, but not of dying. He was afraid of letting her down the way he felt he had in Salem.
It will be okay, Ed, she told him silently.
He nodded, turned, and left with Anthony and the agents that were going with them.
The others were still scrambling for cover, trying to conceal themselves on and around the floats. She didn’t know how long they’d actually be hidden, but at least she knew it made them feel better, more courageous. That was important, because she couldn’t have anyone freaking out on her now.
She waited until she knew for certain that Anthony and Ed were both outside the building. Everything grew quiet. She said a quick prayer for the safety of all involved, particularly Anthony and Ed, and then she focused herself. She took deep, cleansing breaths and tried to clear her mind, preparing for what she was about to do.
“How do you plan to get her to come to you?” Thomas asked.
“Simple,” Samantha said. “She attacked me and she kept the connection open, trying to be the thorn in my side. She injured my shoulder and she has something of mine that is allowing her just enough control to keep me injured. But there’s something she hasn’t thought of.”
“That door swings both ways,” Thomas said.
“Exactly.”
Samantha reached up and touched her shoulder. She closed her eyes. And through the distance she could feel Lilith and the cross that she was carrying on her body. She was using it to stay connected, to keep agitating the wound. And that thin thread of connection was all Samantha needed. She reversed the flow of the energy and then yanked as hard as she could.
She felt a flurry of activity but realized within seconds that Lilith had no idea how to break the connection now that it was flowing the other way. It was her own arrogance, her own need for control that would be her undoing. All she would have had to do was get rid of Samantha’s cross.
“She’s coming,” Samantha said, opening her eyes.
Thomas nodded. “Well played. Before things get crazy I just want to say that it is an honor to stand beside you. You have become an amazing woman.”
She turned and looked at him, really looked at him. Each encounter with him had been strange, almost as if he was watching her, sizing her up. Now the sound in his voice, the pride, was disproportional to what you’d feel for a stranger.
Unless she wasn’t a stranger to him.
She stared at Thomas and suddenly in a flash she knew. “You’re my father,” she whispered.
He inclined his head, a sad smile playing over his lips. “Not exactly how I planned on telling you, but you’re right, and you deserve to know the truth before whatever comes next.”
All these years of never knowing and now he was standing next to her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She hadn’t thought herself capable of being surprised anymore, but this did it.
“I never thought I’d meet you,” she said simply.
He smiled at her. “Whereas I dreamed of seeing you again every night. When you showed up in my city, I couldn’t believe it. But when I saw what was happening to you, I was afraid.”
Lilith was on her way, but it would take several more minutes for her to get there.
“I’m ready for this battle. I don’t need to prepare anymore. We have a few minutes.”
“And you have questions,” he filled in.
She nodded.
“Your mother and I met and fell madly in love. She was a beautiful woman. You have all her best features. And some of mine,” he said, touching her red hair. “Alas, you can’t tell that one anymore,” he added, referring to his own gray.
“What happened?”
“Magic never came easy to your mother. She had to work hard at it her whole life. For you, from the moment you were born, it was as natural as breathing, and that scared her like nothing else. I kept telling her that she had nothing to be afraid of, but she became obsessed with the idea that someday you were going to kill her. So she wanted to change you, force her structure on you, try to control and manipulate you more and more.”
Samantha nodded. “And the more she did all that, the tragedy is she never realized that she was turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Thomas looked more closely at her. “I always suspected, but I never knew.”
Samantha nodded. “I finally remember what happened the day the entire coven was slaughtered. I let the demon we raised kill her. I wanted to be free of her and the fear and the pain so badly.”
“I’m not surprised. You mustn’t blame yourself,” he said, touching her shoulder.
“I know. So, what’s your story? Until recently I didn’t even know that you were there for any part of my life. Now I remember that you apparently gave me the name Samantha.”
“Your grandmother’s name. Your mother and I went round and round about it. Desdemona Samantha or Samantha Desdemona. While I hated the name Desdemona, I personally thought that Samantha Desdemona O’Donnell had a nice ring to it. It was what was on your birth certificate until your mother destroyed the record.”
“O’Donnell?”
“Yes, that’s my last name.”
Samantha shook her head. “So my real birth name was Samantha O’Donnell?”
“Yes.”
“So even Desdemona Castor is a lie?”
“I will admit you’ve got more names than anyone I’ve ever heard of.”
She took a breath. “Knowledge is power.”
“And names are power. Hopefully this will help you a bit, knowing this. And hopefully it will slow Lilith down as well.”
“I’ll just be glad to leave Desdemona behind. It’s a horrid name.”
“I must admit, ‘of the devil’ or ‘ill-fated’ never seemed to suit you. Well, except for the time you set fire to the new drapes. Oh, I’d never seen your mother that mad before. She was claiming you were of the devil that night, and I was sure you were fated for a very short life.”
“Why did you leave us?”
He looked at her with so much sadness in his eyes it was hard to keep looking at him. She had to know, though. All her life she’d assumed that whoever her father was, he never even knew she existed. As it turned out, not only did he know, but he’d left her with her mother, knowing what the woman thought of her.
“I didn’t want to,” he said. “I know that sounds like a stupid answer, but it’s true. When your mother and I were married, we both had the power. I came from a Druid upbringing. She was Wiccan—well, in name only really. She didn’t believe in anything, no higher power, nothing beyond herself. But she was funny and passionate and before I knew it I was in love, we were married, and you were on the way.
“I’m not sure if she started to change at that point or if I just started to notice things that I hadn’t before. You know how they say love is blind? Sometimes that can be true. She was very greedy and obsessed with power. She kept wanting more and more even though there was no good reason for it. We were happy, comfortable, and we had an adorable little girl.”
He closed his eyes as if reliving the memories, and for just a moment Samantha felt she could see the images, too, the young happy family. Although clearly not so happy as he had thought.
After a moment he continued. “The more power she had, though, it seemed the more she wanted. It’s always a slippery slope and it’s especially dangerous for those who don’t have a strong moral code, an authority other than themselves that they’re answering to. She met a few other people and joined their coven over my objections.
“She became more and more paranoid about your powers, about the ease with which you used them, like breathing. Then, one day, I met her high priestess, a woman named Abigail, and I knew she was evil. I told your mother straightway after
ward, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Mom never listened to anyone, except maybe Abigail,” Samantha said softly.
He nodded. “That’s when I began to sense those currents of danger flowing around me. I knew it was only a matter of time before she decided I was in her way. I decided to take you with me. I was sure she would agree, given her paranoia, but she refused. There was a fight, and she won. I refused to harm her and I barely escaped with my life.
“A few weeks later I tried to come back for you, to take you, but Abigail was waiting for me. She knew how much power you had, and she was intent on using it. By the time I woke up in the hospital, four weeks had passed. I still don’t know why she didn’t kill me or if she thought she had and I miraculously survived. When I got out, you, your mother, Abigail, and the others had all vanished. I searched for months, but they had powerful spells to hide you all and eventually I had to give up. I didn’t learn until years later that they’d taken you to Salem.”
Samantha blinked. “So, where was I born?”
“Right here in New Orleans. So was Lilith. Her father was part of that coven from the start.”
Samantha took a deep breath. It felt as if her entire life was a house of cards that had been crashing down around her the last couple of days. Everything she had known or thought she had known about her life was either an outright lie or a distortion of the truth.
“I’m sorry. I really am. By the time I found you, you were with the Ryans and you seemed happy. I wasn’t about to interfere with that.”
“Thank you,” she said. She was truly grateful that he hadn’t. The Ryans had helped her find God and build a semblance of a normal life. She could only imagine what would have happened if Thomas had come to take her away at that point.
“It seemed the best thing I could do for you. I tried to keep tabs on you from afar, but it was difficult to do because I didn’t want to pull you back into the world of magic when it was so clear that you wanted nothing more to do with it. I resigned myself to what little I could glean. I was proud that you became a detective, that you were building something with your life.”
“So, what else is it I should know that I don’t?” she asked.
He shrugged. “It seems like you’re pretty well caught up.”
“So, that day in the alley, you knew who I was?”
“Of course. It wasn’t exactly how I’d wanted our first meeting to go. Then there was the dead body, and I could tell that there was something seriously wrong with you. Glad to see that’s been taken care of.”
“Good as new,” she said. “Actually, better, I guess.”
“Fantastic. So, nothing like I’ve been planning, but, yes, hi, I’m your father,” he said with a sheepish grin.
Samantha stepped forward and threw her arms around him. She was going to need a bit of time to process how she felt about everything he’d told her, but it sounded as though he’d truly done his best. And she remembered how much her two-year-old self had loved him and wanted to go with him. That was enough for now.
He hugged her back and she could feel his surprise and gratitude. His emotions were threatening to overwhelm him and they started to get to her as well.
“Hey, I’m your daughter,” she whispered.
She could feel his tears on her cheek and that was just fine. After a long minute she finally pulled away, wiping at her own eyes.
He cleared his throat. “I have to admit. All the times I thought about this moment, I never imagined it going that well.”
“I guess it’s your lucky day. If we live through this, maybe I’ll even introduce you to my boyfriend.”
“That guy with the dark hair, no powers whatsoever? Not the cop, the other one.”
“That would be him.”
“Seems nice enough.”
She thought of how compassionate and forgiving and patient Anthony had been with her. “You have no idea,” she said.
He nodded. “Good to know. Although somehow I have a suspicion that he’ll be the one giving me the ‘hurt her and I’ll kill you’ lecture.”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”
“Understood,” Thomas said. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get down to it.”
Samantha nodded. As much as she wanted to spend time with her father catching up, getting to know him and learning more about the rest of her family, if there was one, there was business at hand that couldn’t wait. Lilith was almost there.
“Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it,” he said.
“I’m so glad you said that,” she said.
“I mean it.”
“Lilith has my cross necklace. It’s what’s connecting her to me. It has a few drops of my blood that I placed in it the day I turned my back on magic.”
“Then that necklace has to be retrieved so the connection between you can be broken.”
“But only once she gets here, which is soon,” Samantha said. “Who knew? The thing that she meant for my harm will ultimately work for my good and be her undoing.”
“Put another way, ‘The Lord works in mysterious ways.’”
She glanced at him.
“What? I’m Irish. You think I grew up and didn’t go to Sunday school?”
She shook her head. So many questions, so little time. Hopefully they’d both survive this for there to be answers to those questions.
“I’m proud of you,” he whispered.
“Thanks for being here,” she said.
Around her she could feel the others, their nerves strung tight, nearly to the snapping point. Everything hinged on what happened in the next few minutes, because as Lilith drew closer, as Samantha felt the connection with her more strongly, she became more sure that she knew the other witch’s plan and if they didn’t stop her now, tonight, the whole world would burn.
She threw back her head and waited. That was all that was left to do. Around her the crazy Mardi Gras floats stood, eerie in their size and stillness with their macabre depictions of people and creatures, a symbol of all that was wild and decadent about the city.
And if tonight didn’t go as planned, there would never be another Mardi Gras ever again. Somewhere on one of the floats somebody coughed. The sound echoed like thunder through the warehouse and she could feel the tension ratchet up another notch.
Just what they all needed.
In the silence that followed she could actually hear Thomas’s heart pounding. He was terrified, but he was standing his ground. She should be frightened, but she wasn’t. Instead, an unnatural calm settled upon her. Maybe it was her accepting her destiny. Maybe it was reassurance from God that she would be victorious.
Or maybe it was the relief of knowing that the waiting was finally over.
Because just then a wave of energy rippled through the building, strong and powerful.
Lilith was there and she had brought hell with her.
19
The front door of the warehouse flew off its hinges and Samantha felt the ground shake as it crashed somewhere outside. It was an impressive use of force. Lilith had to be really ticked off. Samantha smiled at the thought.
Lilith stormed into the warehouse. “How dare you summon me!” she shouted.
“Oh, hello,” Samantha said. She lifted a hand into the air and suddenly all the moisture in the air condensed and baseball-sized hail pelted the witch, who fell to one knee, startled.
Samantha followed it with a dozen fireballs, which flew off her fingers effortlessly. Lilith worked hard to extinguish a couple and was forced to deflect the rest. One landed on a parade float and set some of the decorations on fire.
Samantha stomped on the floor, sending a massive tremor through it to Lilith, knocking her off her feet.
Samantha ran forward just as she heard the sounds of many feet running. She looked past the witch and saw people coming out of the darkness, racing forward, eyes wide with terror.
Lilith had compelled those with power to come, just as Samantha had feared she
would.
The first dozen streamed into the warehouse, flowing past Lilith.
Then several shapes hurtled out of the darkness, tackling others to the floor before they could make it inside. Ed, Anthony, and their team.
Samantha hissed, wishing they weren’t as close to Lilith as they were.
The witch leaped in the air, twisted, and made a yanking motion. Ed came sailing into the room and ricocheted off one of the floats before hitting the floor with a grunt. Samantha made a similar yanking motion to pull Lilith to her. Lilith laughed and hit herself in the shoulder, sending shock waves of pain to Samantha’s injured shoulder and driving her to her knees.
From all around her, agents began to drop from the floats and were literally tossing the people arriving inside the warehouse up onto the floats as requested. Thomas leaped forward and sent fireballs at Lilith, which she deflected.
Samantha reached up and pulled lightning out of the sky and through the open warehouse door. Lilith spun out of its path and it hit the giant jester on top of one of the floats right in the middle of the forehead.
Suddenly a familiar figure staggered through the open door. It was Martin. Samantha blinked in surprise. “You have to stop her! I saw what she’s going to do!” he was shrieking. She couldn’t tell if it was him or his demon.
Before she could react, Lilith snapped his neck. Something black and foul began to slither out of his nose and ears, and Samantha rained fire down on the body, destroying it and the demon as well.
More people came streaming in. Anthony and the three agents were losing the battle outside to keep them there.
And then Samantha felt the energy suddenly being sucked out of her. Lilith was pulling energy so hard and so fast that it nearly sent Samantha to her knees. She’d worried the witch would use them all as human batteries, but she was so much better at it than her lackeys in Salem had been. As everyone else grew weaker, she visibly grew stronger. The witch laughed and walked past her with a little wave until she was a few steps beyond her in the warehouse.
Circle of Blood: A Witch Hunt Novel Page 22
