by Sam Cheever
“That will take you to her. But you’ll have to find your own way back to this spot.” Mandy and Brock shared a look that I couldn’t quite read.
“I’m not comfortable with him going alone…” I started to argue.
Deg stood up, shrugging into his pack. “We all have a role to play, LA. Brock’s perfectly capable of surviving in this climate. In fact, he’s better equipped for it than we are.
“Besides,” Mandy said. “None of us can fly.”
That seemed to be that. I clamped my lips together and accepted that I was outnumbered. “Be careful,” I ground out as Brock took off running. Several yards away he leapt off the ground and rose into the black sky, his enormous wings beating the air in a rhythm so powerful I could feel it in my bones.
“Don’t look so worried, LA,” Deg said softly. He squeezed my shoulder, his touch sending warmth spiraling through me. “He’ll be fine.”
I nodded, forcing my doubts away. I had bigger problems. Turning to the Witches, I took a deep breath. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
Deg’s brows rose. “Oh? About what?”
“I didn’t exactly come here to save Trudy from Reginald. Although that’s definitely part of my plan.”
Mandy frowned, crossing slender arms over her chest. “Then what?”
“I want to find Star.”
Silence beat between us for a moment, the air filling with tension.
“And you didn’t think that was something we had a right to know?” Mandy finally ground out.
“I did. And I’m sorry. But I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”
“You’d be right, cat!” Mandy spit back. “That creature nearly killed all of us. Why would you think that here…of all places…we’d come off any better against her?”
“She’s dead, LA,” Deg interjected. “And she’s not connected to this. Why would you want to find her?”
“Are you sure she’s dead?” I asked him.
He started to respond and then stopped, expelling air. “No. I guess I can’t prove… I just assumed…”
“So did I. But all of this…” I waved a hand to indicate our current situation. “—has made me wonder. What if Star was the first foray into our world? What if she was sent to test how vulnerable we are?”
“You’re bat crap crazy, cat!” Mandy growled. “I’m going back.” She turned and started toward the passage.
“Two things, Witch…” I said softly. “One, the barrier is closed until morning.”
She skidded to a stop, her back ramrod straight. “And two, I’m begging you not to go. I need your help.”
My plea hung between us on gossamer strings. I’d never given Mandy the kind of power over me I was offering her. I’d thought I never would. I was the last person who ever wanted to subjugate myself to a Witch.
But desperate times and all that… “Please?”
“Why are you so sure she’s part of this?” Deg asked.
I shrugged. “I just am. I can’t explain it. Can’t you trust me?” I asked him.
He held my gaze, his attractive silver eyes filled with questions. But to his credit, he didn’t ask them. Deg nodded. “Of course I trust you.”
His trust met an answering emotion in me. Something that felt like the beginnings of tenderness rose up, making it hard to breathe.
“Tell us what you have in mind,” he urged.
I looked at Mandy and she slowly turned, her expression angry. But the anger didn’t fill her gaze. There was curiosity there. She inclined her head and I breathed deeply for the first time in moments. “I need to tap into my tracking magics and I’ll probably need your help.” I told her. I glanced at Deg. “Mandy and I connected with her that one time, a direct magic channel.”
Mandy nodded. “Yes. And I was nearly killed, but the kitten intervened.” Her eyes widened. “Ah…that’s what you want with the Nephilim.”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking about it and I realized that Mabel has the ability to neuter dark energy. She’s like a buffer between us and evil magic. If we can draw Star here…”
Deg threw up a hand. “Wait…you want to bring her to us?”
“I think that’s best, don’t you? We’re on relatively well-known ground here. We’re close to Trudy and the demonic realm. And the Heavenly realm is near enough to reach in a few hours.”
Something like respect danced through Mandy’s expression. “You’ve thought this all out haven’t you?”
I nodded.
“And Trudy?”
That part of my plan was the murkiest. It was complicated by the imminent arrival of the council, led by my mother.
She was going to kill me. But, at least I was in the right place if she did.
“I’m hoping we can draw Reginald away from Trudy and Mother and the council can protect her. But if worse comes to worse…”
“You’ll whisk her into the Heavenly realm,” Deg finished for me.
“Yes.”
He thought about it for a moment. “Okay, say we manage to draw Star to us. What then? Are we going to bitch-slap her into telling us who’s behind the breaches?”
“That didn’t work out so well for us last time,” Mandy mumbled.
“If I’m right, she had some help from Axismundi the last time,” I told them. “Hopefully that won’t be the case here and now.”
“You think Reginald was feeding her power?”
“Somebody was,” I frowned. “It could have been him.”
“I don’t understand, cat. Are we back to thinking dear old Auntie is evil?”
I really wasn’t. But since I had no idea who was behind the current problem, I hesitated to rule Trudy out. “That’s what we’re here to find out.”
“The Nephilim seems to trust your aunt.” Deg reminded me.
“How do we know we can trust her?” Mandy arched an inquisitive brow. “Yeah, it seems like she’s been helping us, but what if she’s just been leading us down a path?”
I had to admit the question was a valid one. “Okay, you’re right. I shouldn’t trust Mabel just because my perception is that she’s on our side. The truth is, we really don’t have any idea who’s on our side right now.”
“We’re going to proceed assuming everybody’s out to get us?” Deg asked, frowning. “That’s a much better strategy.”
“Sorry?” I offered in an apologetic tone.
“No, you’re right. But I don’t have to like it.” He gave me a crooked grin that made my heart go pitty-pat.
I smiled back. “Which brings us back to Star. At least, we know for sure we can’t trust her.”
“I’ll cling to that with both hands,” groused Mandy. “So, let’s find that evil critter. Brock’s going to be back with the Nephilim soon.”
I nodded, pulling off my pack. “I brought some things we’ll need.”
Mandy slipped a hand into her back pack. “I have my tracking magics. I made some that are keyed to finding demonic entities…” She looked up to find Deg and I staring. The Witch shrugged. “What? I didn’t like losing the big lug before. If we lose him again I want to be prepared.”
Deg tugged his pack off his back. “I brought something too.” He reached inside and pulled out a folded square of fabric. Shaking it out with a snap of his wrists, he carefully spread it on the ground.
I clapped my hands in delight. “It’s like my rug!” The large square of black fabric had a protective circle painted on it, the paint infused with Rosemary. “I smell lavender and coconut. But there’s something else…”
“Myrrh,” Deg told us.
“Ancient protective herb,” Mandy said, nodding in approval. “You added the oils to the paint, I assume?”
“Yes. The fabric is woven of thin bamboo fibers for additional protection and banishment of evil.” He pointed to the four small bags sewn to the corners. “Those hex bags contain rosemary, thyme, salt and cumin.”
“I love this,” I told him. “Pure genius. The only bad thing about my rug is it’s not r
eally portable.”
He smiled. “I made one for all of us. It’s a handy thing to have around.”
“Clearly,” Mandy said in her snotty voice. “Since we’re already using it.” She was glaring at the fabric but her eyes were sparkling. She loved it. But she wouldn’t tell Deg that to save her life.
Pulling two of my three jars out of the pack, I set them on the cloth. “Exorcism spell. I’ve altered it to pull dark energy from a demonic force and weaken it.”
“What’s the other one?” Deg asked.
“A special tracking spell. If she does manage to get away, this will make it easy to follow her.”
Mandy placed a thick, white candle in the center of the cloth, settling a crescent-shaped, blade next to it. The ceremonial knife had a white bone handle, carved with spells to enhance magic. She dug around in the pack again until she came up with a small jar filled with silvery green magic. “At least now I know why you asked me to bring this.”
The stalking spell was identical to the one we’d used the last time we’d tracked Star. The blade was something new. If we were going to use the spell to track the demon a second time, we’d need a drop of blood that would recall the spell to our previous attempt.
Mandy placed the spell jar at the center of our protective circle and opened it. The magic inside began to swirl with expectation. The Witch looked at me and then at Deg.
We all stepped inside the circle at the same time. Deg lifted his hands and danced his fingers on the air, speaking the magic to close the circle. A beat later it snapped shut with a sizzle. Mandy reached for the Boline.
She quickly sliced the curved blade over the tip of her index finger and squeezed a drop of blood into the potion. It surged up in a froth that reached the top of the jar and hung there, just at the edge of the glass. Mandy spoke the Latin word for seek. “Quaerere.”
I extended my hand and she made a short slice across my palm. I said the word follow in Latin. “Sequitur,” as I allowed a drop of my blood to fall into the spell. The potion bubbled up, oozing thickly over the lip of the jar. It didn’t dribble down the sides, but rather clung to the atmosphere above the jar, boiling as if over a flame.
Deg placed his hand over ours and Mandy made a slightly longer slice across the back of his hand. He opened his mouth and spoke, “inveniet!” which meant find in Latin.
Our hands still joined, we moved them over the potion and allowed Deg’s blood to join ours in the jar. A bubble shot up and popped around the drops of blood and the roiling mix burst into the air, the particles turning to mist as we began chanting the spell. The green-tinged mist rose above our heads, more vibrant and aggressive with the addition of Deg’s magic and our blood. It spun so rapidly I started to be afraid that it might spin away, escaping the protective spell and evading our control.
But Deg’s circle held. The mist rose up to fill it, creating a circular column of silvery green that rose several feet above our heads.
Magic filled the circle, its sulfurous scent making my nose twitch and calling to my own energy, which throbbed against my skin in time to my rising heartbeats. Mandy’s fingers were cool in mine, her grip loose. Deg’s touch was hot and dry.
The feel of the tracking magic was as recognizable as it was different. Deg’s protections were a buffer that made the swirling magic slow and calm, the combined scent of the herbs he’d used in the cloth filling the air to ease the stinging sulfur stench.
Within its embrace the elemental building blocks of stalking energy formed a passage through the layers of time and space.
If it worked the way we’d planned, the magic would create a portal that allowed us to visualize Star’s location. Then it would be up to me to immobilize her before she got the upper hand.
A swirling black hole opened in the air beyond the circle’s influence.
There was no sign of Star. But I knew from before that she could be hidden behind a curtain of obscuring magics.
I felt her presence within the portal.
Fortunately, there was no painful warding like the last time when we located her. Only a thick resistance, like steel fibers trying to block out our stalking energy.
Slowly, the mist lightened, turning charcoal gray, and I could see the outline of a slender face through its opaque surface. We chanted faster, our words merging so completely I couldn’t tell one voice from the other. Our voices rose, spinning louder and faster as the magic spilled from our throats and danced within the mist surrounding us.
The magical energy lightened another shade. Until I could make out the thick fall of golden hair and, finally, a pair of wide blue eyes filled with murderous hate.
Star!
The blue gaze widened. The finely shaped brows rose. Our quarry recognized the magic and knew that we’d found her.
Excitement pulsed in my throat. I risked a glance down toward the immobilizing spell. I would need to grab it soon…
The magic shifted, wobbled, and the portal started to shrink.
We were going to lose her.
Our voices rose in the night, lifted higher, and sank more deeply into the fabric of the atmosphere, throbbing in my head.
The portal stopped shrinking, began to grow again, and the hate in those blue eyes deepened. The last of the haze within the portal disappeared with a hiss and I saw her face.
Beautiful and cold like polished marble. I realized she’d been hiding her true beauty behind a mask when she was in the human realm, creating a persona that no one would notice. Just another drone moving through the motions at Familiar, Inc.
She’d played us like a Witch’s fiddle. With a master’s practiced touch.
I grudgingly accepted her dominance, even as I swore it would never happen again.
Then she smiled.
And in the next moment I knew things weren’t going to go as planned.
The silvery green mist inside the circle began to spin with agitation. The stalking magic sped and sped until it became an impossible force that swelled and battered against the restraints we’d given it.
With nowhere else to go, the energy turned on us, pounding against my skin until all I knew was pain and the hypnotic swirl of silver-green light.
Our warding wasn’t up to the attack.
The circle gave way with a sound like fire grabbing oxygen just before it exploded, and we were all blown away from the circle.
I sailed through the air, flailing and helpless against the crushing momentum.
I hit a spiky tree with a bone shattering crunch. Bright misery swept through me in a wash. I slid down the prickly trunk and hit the ground hard enough to crack the bones in my lower back.
I lay there whimpering, pain turning me limp on the blackened ground.
Despite my dire condition, a sense of imminent danger brought my head up and made my eyes widen. Someone stood in the center of the protective circle.
She was tall and slim, with fingers that were like claws and legs set wide in a battle stance. Her eyes glowed a deadly blue, energy boiling behind them.
I recognized her hated face behind the haze.
Star.
Knowing it meant my life, I tried to shove off the ground. But I was as weak as a kitten and my arms gave out beneath me. When I tried to move again I realized that one arm was completely numb.
My gaze scanned the ground looking for the immobilizing spell. I couldn’t see it. My heart pounded as panic swelled. The thing I’d counted on to stop Star was gone.
I spared a moment to wonder if Deg and Mandy were okay. I prayed they were. A horrible sense of déjà vu slid through me. Axismundi was back to ripping my friends away.
I tried to push to my feet again, finally managing to climb to my knees. Agony radiated through my shoulder and I looked down, finding a spike as long as my forearm speared clean through my flesh.
I wobbled, dizziness swamping me, and thought I might pass out.
Instead, something worse was waiting for me.
Star lifted a hand.
As if savoring the moment, she slowly squeezed it closed, her lips curving upward.
A horrific pressure filled my chest.
She closed her fingers a little more, her smile widening.
I fought to stay upright but my chest felt like it was buried under a pile of boulders.
My heartbeat slowed beneath the pressure and my head pounded. The feeling of compression was so horrific my screams were locked behind it, unable to escape my gasping lips.
Star’s hand tightened more and the agony in my chest deepened. She was literally crushing my heart.
I gasped out a cry. Desperation giving me strength, I shoved to my feet and stumbled toward her. I tried to wrap my mind around a magic word to stop her but I couldn’t think through the pain.
She watched me come, the smile never wavering.
My feet felt like lead. As if they belonged to someone else. I took a step and something gave. My ankle twisted and I slammed to the ground mere feet away from Star.
Her laughter was like razors against my ears.
Thoughts skittered away. My limbs turned nerveless and I realized I wasn’t getting up again.
Star moved closer, bending to look down at me. Her hated face filled with malicious pleasure. “We meet again, Familiar.”
I opened my mouth to curse her.
And the world exploded in a sea of golden light.
Chapter Seventeen
The light burned my eyes and I had to close them. Heat slammed into me under the searing radiance. For a moment I thought I was on fire. The pain was a living thing, digging into my chest and flowing through my bones like liquid flame.
Fortunately, it quickly started to recede and, when the last of it had eased away, my heart no longer felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing it. I shoved to my feet, realizing that my bones didn’t hurt anymore either.
My shoulder was healed.
I looked around, finding Deg and Mandy and reassuring myself that they were okay. Then I sought out the source of the light. Because once I’d figured out what was happening, I knew who had to be behind it.
Mabel.
She was standing next to Star, one hand resting on the other creature’s arm and her gaze focused on Star’s too-pretty face.
