by Jayne Faith
He patted my back and gave an awkward laugh. “No shoes, I’m afraid, sir,” he said to Lorenzo, and then turned to me. “You sure did cause a stir in town, Victoria.”
I inhaled through my nose, pulling myself together, and nodded. “Thank you for coming,” I said. “We aren’t done yet. We’re going back in for another try at the Demon Lord, and this time we’re going to succeed. Please tell me that Amy was able to get the witches out of the House of Light.”
He gave a smile that was only visible by the weakening bit of light left in the sky, and my knees nearly buckled. “It was quite a job to make them disappear, but the Hunters haven’t found them yet.”
I licked my dry lips. “And my girls? Do you have any idea if they’re okay?”
“Henrietta sent someone to your flat, but they were gone.”
My heart dropped straight down through my stomach.
“But we’re sure the Hunters don’t have them,” he continued quickly. “Someone would have seen them get taken.”
I tried to mentally scrape my emotions together. “They’re smart girls. They probably found somewhere else to stay.”
I couldn’t let myself consider any other alternative, so I didn’t.
“If you don’t mind, we need to get on with things,” Lorenzo said with only about half of his usual impatience.
“Oh yes, of course,” Erlich said with deference, giving a little bow.
Right. I knew Lorenzo was a shellhead pain in the arse, but Erlich was obviously still at least a little in awe of the angel.
The warlock lifted the leather pouch on his belt and reached into it. He walked around me, sprinkling something on the ground. Salt, most likely. He began chanting under his breath. I vaguely remembered the first time this spell was fixed on me, back when I was a young girl, but then I’d been so focused on catching my magic before it spun out of control that I’d had little energy left to pay attention to the actual casting of the charm.
But Erlich’s spell had a familiar feel to it, and I suddenly had the memory of the moment my original charm had clamped down around me, so stifling at first, as if large hands held a bird’s wings tightly to its body when all it wanted was to take flight. The whirl and buzz of my full power muted, fading and settling to a faint sense of its presence. I couldn’t help a stab of disappointment at the absence, but if things went the way we planned, soon there would be no need for magic-hiding charms anymore.
After the warlock stopped speaking and I felt the charm firmly in place, I reached for my magic. I let out a little sigh of relief. It was still there. I could still touch it.
“Thank you,” I said to Erlich.
Lorenzo made a rolling motion with one hand. “Let’s be off, then.”
“Not yet,” I said. “I need to speak to Erlich alone. It will only take a moment.”
Without waiting for Lorenzo’s response, I took Erlich’s arm and led him around the side of the rise, carefully picking my way over the dirt in my bare feet. When I stopped, I turned to him and saw him glance back at where the angel was grumbling.
“I need your help,” I whispered quickly. “Lorenzo is hell-bent on the straightest path to breaking the curse, but doing it his way will kill all of the Hunters in the Watchtower. It would mean hundreds of senseless deaths, and I can’t stand for that.”
The moon had risen and by its light I saw the warlock’s brow furrow.
“What would you have me do?” he asked.
“I need you and the Underground to organize something, to do something that will draw all of the Hunters out before the curse is broken,” I said.
“And you have an idea for accomplishing this?”
“You must gather all of the witches,” I said. “Coordinate the removal of their charms, and then have them command magic all at once. It must be such a swell of magic, and near to the Watchtower, that every Hunter comes running.”
“I’m not sure we can do such a thing with such short notice—” Erlich started, his tone thick with caution.
“You must,” I cut in vehemently. I drew myself up taller. I couldn’t afford the slow bureaucracy of the Underground. “You have to find a way. I understand why the Underground has been so cautious up until now. It was a necessity. But now is the time to act boldly. Hesitation will cost us everything.”
“Doing as you say could cost us lives,” he countered.
“Yes, but not doing it will certainly cost lives.” I gripped his meaty forearm. “I’m charging you with this task. Find a way. You can persuade them, and you can do this.”
I could tell he was still unsure, but finally he nodded.
“Do it as soon as Lorenzo and I go into the Watchtower, and do whatever you have to in order to keep the Hunters outside,” I said.
Lorenzo came marching around the rise. “Let’s go,” he said shortly. “Now.”
I gave Erlich one last hard look, trying to discern his level of determination, but he turned toward The Colony and his face fell into shadow.
“I’m ready,” I said to Lorenzo.
“Oh, well, isn’t that convenient. But please, don’t let me rush you,” he said with heavy sarcasm, turning and bending down so I could climb onto his back.
“I shall accompany you to the edge of town,” Erlich said. “If I may?”
He looked at Lorenzo for agreement, but the angel only grunted in response as he shifted my weight up a little higher on his back before starting off.
“That would be nice, thank you,” I said pointedly, rolling my eyes in the dark at Lorenzo’s lack of manners.
In spite of my anxious anticipation about what lay ahead, the world seemed dulled somehow, now that my magic was muted. Would I even have enough power to pull a tidal wave up and over the Watchtower and the House of Light? I had no idea. I’d never pulled that much magic before. Without the charm, I thought I could do it, but there probably wouldn’t be time to find a warlock to remove the spell before I had to act.
“How many free witches are there in The Colony?” I whispered to Erlich as the three of us moved swiftly but quietly in the dark toward the border of the dump, making our way back to town.
I asked the question partly to try to get an idea of how big a disturbance the Underground community would be able to make, and partly to distract myself from my own nerves.
“I don’t know the exact number,” Erlich said. The large brewer was already huffing a little with the effort of keeping up with Lorenzo’s pace. “As you know, we keep knowledge divided among the groups for the sake of safety.”
“But if you had to guess?” I pressed.
“In the hundreds, I’d say.”
My mind started spinning, trying to work out the logistics of organizing that many witches and getting warlocks to remove the women’s magic-dampening charms. Would the witches be harmed, or accidentally hurt others, when they suddenly had a level of power they weren’t accustomed to? I gave my head a shake, stopping my thoughts. That was not my problem to solve. I’d had full power for a couple of hours and I’d dealt with it, more or less. I had to trust the others would manage, too. As for the task I’d put to Erlich, all I could do was hope he could convince the Underground and act in time.
It dawned on me that if Erlich and the Underground failed, I’d have to finish the breaking of the curse anyway. Armand, Dane, Peter. . .all the other men.
I pushed out a slow breath.
So many uncertainties.
When we neared the edge of town, an area of shanties that lined the part of The Colony facing the dump, Erlich stopped.
“I must part ways with you,” he said with a small bow at Lorenzo.
The angel set me down on the pavement.
“The Hunters’ lives are in your hands, Erlich,” I said, silently pleading with him to do everything in his power to succeed.
“Yes,” the warlock said. “I will go immediately to the leadership.”
He hurried off, nearly running, with a sense of purpose that brought a small mea
sure of relief to my heart.
Lorenzo pointed at my feet. “Next: boots.”
He didn’t bother offering to give me a lift as we stole through the mostly quiet streets. The pavement was safe enough to walk on, and we couldn’t go too quickly anyway. Occasionally we passed people who were probably going to or from jobs that kept later hours, or groups obviously going out drinking for the night.
A man and a woman rounded the corner, arm in arm, coming toward us. They were absorbed in each other and their conversation, likely on their way out to dinner.
“Think she’s about your size?” Lorenzo asked.
I turned to him. “What?”
“I’d say so.” Suddenly a disc of light appeared in his hand. “Close your eyes.”
I slapped my hands tightly over my eyes, but still caught a bit of the bright flash through my fingers. When I lowered my arms, I blinked in shock as I took in the couple, crumpled against Lorenzo like two sacks of rocks.
“Lend me a hand, why don’t you,” Lorenzo grunted at me as the man sagged in the angel’s grip.
I rushed forward to keep the man from falling to the sidewalk.
“What did you do?” I shrieked.
“Keep your voice down,” Lorenzo hissed. “They’re not dead. What do you take me for, a complete barbarian?”
In light of his seeming willingness to let all of the Hunters die, I wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“Get the lady’s shoes, and be quick about it,” Lorenzo said. “Hurry before anyone comes around.”
I gave an outraged huff. “You expect me to just steal from her?”
“We’re short on time, missy. You got a better idea? Besides, a pair of boots is a small price to pay to the witch who will free this woman and everyone she knows and cares about from the Watchtower’s tyranny.”
Feeling like the worst person in the world, I unlaced the woman’s boots, slipped them off her, and quickly pulled them on and tied them. I tried not to notice how they were molded to someone else’s feet.
I shot a glare at Lorenzo, though I knew it wasn’t his fault I’d lost my shoes.
“They’ll wake up in about thirty seconds, so we’d best be off,” he said curtly, turning on his heel and setting off down the street.
Wishing I had some money to leave with the woman, I cast one last regretful look at the couple and then hurried after Lorenzo.
Distracted by my unexpected new role as boot thief, I didn’t hear the clank of the shackles until the Hunters were nearly on top of us.
“I’m going to take you into the Watchtower,” Lorenzo said in a low voice. “We don’t want any of these goons doing it. Just keep calm.”
I nodded, and every muscle in my body screamed at me to run as the group of half a dozen Hunters stalked toward us. The one in the lead reached out and grabbed my shoulder, and I squeaked in fear and surprise. He roughly angled me toward the streetlight. When he caught sight of my orange hair, he let me go.
“Not the one,” he said, and he and the others continued.
Twice more as Lorenzo and I walked through The Colony toward the Watchtower, we were stopped by Hunters. Both times, they dismissed me when they saw my hair. Lorenzo would have worked his angel magic to prevent them from arresting me, but even so, by the time we reached the edge of the walkway that led to the House of Light and the Watchtower next to it, my nerves were ragged.
We paused exactly where I’d stood only hours earlier with Eduardo, when the warlock had removed my charm and I’d allowed myself to be taken into the House of Light. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me as Lorenzo took my arms and pulled them behind my back, and began steering me toward the dark spire.
“We just need to get into the presence of the Demon Lord,” Lorenzo said. “Then you shoot him with the venom. Keep quiet and let me do the talking.”
I slipped my charmed ring onto my finger, turning my hair from its natural color back to medium brown.
A patrol of four Hunters emerging from the Watchtower noticed us right away.
“Who goes there?” the one in the lead shouted.
As they approached, I recognized him—it was Gerard, the one who’d nearly attacked me. Would have, if not for Amy.
Recognition flashed in his eyes too. “Well, well. I see you’ve captured our runaway. The Sorcerer and the Demon Lord will be so pleased she didn’t perish in the sea.”
The Hunters came at us with the obvious intent of taking me.
“NO!” Lorenzo’s voice thundered.
There was a sharp cracking sound in the air and a flash like sheet lightning, as if he had called down a little sample of God’s wrath for his own use. Maybe he had, for all I knew. The Hunters all stopped and drew back with wide eyes as if the angel had smacked them across their faces and they were still in the moment of shock afterward.
“You will not take this woman. I found her, and I will escort her to your Lord.”
I had to hide a smile as Gerard’s brow furrowed in confusion and doubt shadowed his eyes. Finally, something had brought him pause. He took one tentative step forward. Lorenzo stomped his foot, and there was another loud crack in the air as a narrow, jagged crevice snaked from his boot to the Hunter’s forward foot.
“Take another step, and I’ll open it up and let the earth swallow you,” Lorenzo said. His voice was strong, but his tone was almost casual. “But you may escort us into the Watchtower.”
Gerard scuttled to the side away from the fissure, and the others moved away, too. The four Hunters exchanged glances, and seemed to come to some silent agreement.
Gerard nodded. “We will escort you,” he said, as if it had been his idea.
The men probably figured that by serving as our attendants they might get some small partial credit for apprehending me.
After the men turned their backs, I rolled my eyes. I was sure of it now—Gerard had been a bad man even before the Demon Lord had claimed him for service.
Gerard turned to us again. “But she must wear shackles,” he said. “And you must as well.”
“Fine,” Lorenzo growled. “But you will bind my hands in front of me, not at my back, and I will still be the one to take her to the demon.”
I threw a horrified look at him. Why was he allowing this? I couldn’t shoot the Demon Lord with my hands tied behind my back.
Lorenzo winked at me as Gerard cuffed the angel, and another Hunter pulled my arms behind me and snapped the metal rings around my wrists. Lorenzo took my arm with his bound hands, and slipped his fingers down to my shackles. A moment later, I felt a faint snap and one of the metal rings loosened. The angel had picked the lock. I held the loose ring so the Hunters wouldn’t notice.
As we marched toward the Watchtower, I slid a long look over at the House of Light. The doors were closed, and I could only hope that all the women truly had escaped.
The Watchtower was built just off the promenade, in water close to shore but in an area where land dropped off sharply. The only access from the mainland was a very long drawbridge. During my previous visit, I’d been unconscious during my entrance and so had missed this part. Guards in high small windows on either side of the drawbridge looked down on us. Our Hunter escorts each raised a fist in the air.
I’d never been close enough to the Watchtower—with my eyes open, anyway—to notice the emblem on the drawbridge. At first glance, it looked like an infinity symbol. But the detail revealed it was a snake eating its tail, twisted in the middle to create a sideways figure eight. A serpent in the shape of infinity was a fitting emblem for the Demon Lord who sacrificed witches to feed his own immortality. I could only pray that the Lord’s gluttony would be his end, like the snake consuming itself.
My heart punched against my rib cage, as if it had its own sense of peril at going into the Demon Lord’s lair.
The four Hunters leading us still had their fists up, and in unison they each slanted their arms forward in a hail posture with their index fingers extended, from which flew small
sparks of lightning magic into the infinity snake crest. It must have been some sort of confirmation of their right to enter the Watchtower because the drawbridge began to lower. Two of the men moved behind me and Lorenzo, and Gerard and the fourth Hunter stayed in front, forming a square of guards around us.
The bridge made contact with the mainland all too quickly, and then we were walking over its planks. The unfamiliar boots on my feet pulled my attention downward. The wood of the drawbridge was damp and swollen from centuries of ocean spray. The Watchtower itself was made of some dark metal or stone that resisted the corrosive caress of the sea. It was rumored that the material was forged from Hell itself by the original Demon Lord. I believed it. Nothing of this world could survive the caustic effects of seawater unmarred for so long.
Lorenzo’s grip on my arms tightened slightly, and my blood chilled as we passed over the threshold into the dark tower.
I sent up a prayer that Erlich had managed to organize the witches to create a diversion that would draw out all the Hunters. The next several minutes would be critical.
I glanced over my shoulder at Lorenzo as we traversed torch-lit corridors. His face was stoic, his eyes faraway. No reassurance there. At least the Hunters at our backs were still shooting wary looks at the angel.
We reached a wide spiral staircase that twisted upward. The shackles on our escorts’ belts clanked softly as we made our way up. After the first full turn, a smell hung in the air. It reminded me of the blood mist, but it was somehow more sinister—faintly sulfurous and dank in spite of the draftiness of the tower. Brimstone mixed with violence.
“How much farther until we reach your demon?” Lorenzo asked impatiently.
“The Demon Lord resides in the heart,” Gerard said over his shoulder.
“Real helpful, you mindless servant of a. . .” Lorenzo muttered under his breath, his words dissolving into faint annoyed curses.
I held back an unexpected grin at his bad-tempered mumblings. But at the same time, my pulse quickened. We had to be getting close. Where was that big burst of magic outside? I shifted my hands slightly so I could touch the miniature crossbow that was still strapped to my wrist.
