Grim Rites

by Bilinda Sheehan

  “The power you draw on doesn’t come from a god, not in the way you believe it does, anyway. It comes from the world around you, just like a witch’s power does…” Victoria continued.

  “You’re wrong,” Jason said. His voice had dropped and I half expected to watch his eyes roll back in their head as they had back in the Elite office.

  “Unless there’s an angel on Earth to draw your power from, you’re pulling it from nature just like the rest of us,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

  I’d never seen her so argumentative. I knew she had a short temper, but this was getting ridiculous—at this rate they’d start facing off to each other like prize fighters any second.

  “How do you know there isn’t one?” Jason asked, all trace of confrontation gone from his voice.

  “I’d feel it. There’s not much on this earth that you can hide from the Fae—we see all, know all, feel all. Our connection to the earth and its inhabitants is the strongest you’ll come across, and an angel on earth would feel like a meteor strike.”

  Jason nodded and turned away from her and back to the table; his shoulders had dropped and the tension that had tightened every muscle in his body just moments before was now gone. How was that even possible? And what had Victoria said that had made him so relaxed? It just didn’t make any sense, but then, even by my standards, what part of the last twenty-four hours made any sense?

  “He was investigating St Anne’s Church over on Trinity,” Jason said, scooping up one of the singed pictures and studying the outside of it.

  “Why?” I asked, my curiosity overwhelming me.

  “Demonic activity. He suspected one of the priests there had been possessed. It’s highly unusual, but I suppose if the Shadow Sorcerers are back, possessed priests aren’t exactly a huge leap of the imagination.”

  “Crap,” I said, the word slipping out as I turned to leave.

  “You know something, don’t you?” Jason said, grabbing my arm once more.

  “No, I left my oven on,” I said with the sweetest smile I could muster.

  “If any of your little friends are caught up in this place when I go in, they better stay out of my way,” he said, the warning in his voice implicit.

  Without answering him, I stalked away to the door and paused before I hit the hall.

  “What did he think the priest was doing?” I asked.

  “I guess what any lower level scum demon usually does,” Jason said, his face devoid of all emotion. “Raise Hell.”

  Groaning, I stepped out into the hall and slammed my fist into the wall. How had I not seen that the priest was possessed? And if he was, then why hadn’t he known what I was? For a demon, recognising a witch shouldn’t have been a problem, and yet I’d watched both priests look at me as though I was no more interesting than any other human who wandered in off the street.

  “What was that about?” Victoria asked as she followed me out into the hall.

  “I’ve been to the church,” I said, gesturing for her to follow me down the hall and away from the apartment. “That friend I was helping out, well, she left a message on my voicemail begging me to help her and some babbling about the church.”

  “And when you went to see her?” Victoria asked, pulling open the door to the stairs.

  “There was a dead body of some woman in her house and she was down at the church. She wanted nothing to do with me, told me to leave her alone and never come back … but the priest didn’t feel like he was possessed. There was something weird about him, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “That mark is clouding your judgement,” she said, flicking a finger in the direction of my shoulder.

  “That’s not possible,” I said, ducking away from her touch.

  “I’ve seen it happen before. Those who are marked by a demon find it difficult to recognise friend from foe,” she said.

  “Great.” I huffed out my cheeks as we jogged down the seemingly never-ending flights of stairs.

  “It works both ways; you cannot see the evil hiding in plain sight, but they cannot see what you truly are either. How do you think you hid your true self from the Saga Venatione?”

  I’d wondered how I’d managed it, but I’d been so busy with everything else going on around me, I hadn’t thought to sit down and really contemplate why he’d overlooked my Shadow Sorcerer side, especially considering how sure he’d been that I was a witch.

  “How do you know all of this?” I asked.

  Victoria shrugged and said, “When you’ve been around as long as I have, you pick things up.”

  She looked young, late twenties at most, but there was something about her air that suggested she’d seen things no other twenty-year-old could have seen.

  “Just ask me,” she said, staring at me pointedly as though she knew exactly what thoughts swirled in my head.

  “How old are you?”

  “A few hundred, give or take…” she said coyly.

  I’d known vampires could live to great ages, but I’d never really contemplated just how old the Fae could be, and Victoria had a fantastic grip on the modern world surrounding her. For someone who’d been alive for several centuries, she’d obviously adapted remarkably well.

  “What are you going to do regarding Lily?” she asked, her question catching me off guard, and I stumbled on the steep steps—only Victoria’s hand wrapping around my forearm prevented me from tumbling head first down the cement stairs.

  “I have to do what he wants, I can’t run the risk of exposure,” I said, biting down on my lip.

  Lily was dangerous and she wanted me dead, but the thought of handing her over to someone like Jason just didn’t sit right with me. But I couldn’t see a way out of it. I knew from the cold look in his eyes that if I didn’t hand her to him on a silver platter that he would take my head instead.

  “I agree, but I sense your reticence, and he will too,” Victoria said, the softness of her tone surprising me once more.

  “Well, I don’t suppose you’d want to hand anyone over to him either?”

  Victoria smiled, a small sly smile creeping across her lips. “I know a few I wouldn’t have any hesitation over,” she said. “But that is not the point, it’s what you’re willing to do….”

  Was I really going to go through with it? Lily was willing to help someone like Sonia, and if that were true, then was she really so evil she deserved to end up in the hands of a Saga Venatione?

  If I was really honest with myself, it just didn’t feel right.

  Stepping outside, I sucked in a deep breath. If anyone was going to take her down, then it would have to be me.

  “Are we going to the church first?” Victoria asked. “Or are we paying a visit to your friend?”

  “Neither, actually, there’s something I need to do first, a loose end that needs tying.”

  “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the strange message left on Jon’s answering machine, would it?”

  Halting, I spun around to face her, my mouth hanging wide as I stared up into her face. How the hell had she known about the message? How could she have known unless…. My heart sank and sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

  “How do you know?” I asked, staring at her.

  “I called by his house to do a little damage control and happened to hear the message….”

  “Did he hear it?” I said, fighting to keep the panic from my voice.

  “I deleted it before he could.”

  Scrubbing my face with my hands, I swallowed back the bile that raced up the back of my throat. “Are you sure he didn’t hear it?”

  “More than positive, he was a little busy at the time.” Victoria trailed off and a look of distaste crossed her face.

  “Wait a minute, you said ‘damage control’—does that mean what I think it does?”

  I just couldn’t imagine someone like Victoria agreeing to have sex with Jon, especially as she seemed to despise his very existence.

&nbs
p; “No, I did not have sex with him; I merely reminded him that keeping my secret could be a very beneficial arrangement.”

  Even that sounded seedy, and I tried to keep my expression neutral. Evidently, I failed by the wrinkling of Victoria’s nose as she stared down at me.

  “What is with humans and your belief that your bodies should be used as currency? There are other things much more valuable than just the exchange of mutual pleasure.”

  “I don’t need to know,” I said, raising my hands in mock surrender. The thought of finding out what a Changeling might consider to be intrinsically more valuable just didn’t appeal to me.

  “Shit,” I muttered, glancing down at my watch. “I really need to get going.”

  “I’ll give you a ride,” Victoria offered.

  Nodding, I followed her across the road to where the car stood. I’d already been away too long and the faster I could get back, the faster I could help control the situation brewing in my apartment. Sonia was going to be pissed that someone had beaten her to the punch on the message on Jon’s answering machine, and Lily didn’t exactly strike me as the patient type—if I took any longer, she’d probably kill Sonia out of sheer spite, and there had already been enough killing.

  Chapter 19

  Victoria didn’t ask me why I was in such a rush to get home, and for that I was grateful. The journey passed in blissful silence, silence that allowed me to wrap my head around what was really happening.

  I’d been so consumed by fear that I’d missed out on the danger Mia was in. Not only that, but I’d screwed up and hurt Sonia, I’d stolen something precious from her and nothing would restore it, no matter how much I wished I could turn back the clock.

  Of course, I’d done it for a good reason, but as the saying went, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. It didn’t matter what I’d been trying to do; I’d messed up and Sonia and her unborn child were paying the price. I couldn’t change it, but I could try to make amends….

  Victoria drew the car to a halt and peered up at my apartment building.

  “You want me to come and help?” she asked.

  “No, I’ve got to do this myself,” I said; “but thanks,” I added.

  Victoria didn’t respond and part of me wondered if she’d even heard me. Climbing from the car, I waited for her to drive away, but she didn’t budge, sitting perfectly still behind the wheel as though waiting for something only she knew was coming.

  Closing the car door, I made my way up the steps to the front door and pushed it open. The building was eerily silent and I paused. It had never been this quiet before…. Letting my magic roll outwards, I felt along the walls, but I couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary.

  Shrugging off the feeling, I started up the stairs, my long stride forcing me to take two at a time, and I reached my floor in record time for me.

  My apartment door stood ajar and energy prickled along my skin. Someone had beaten me back here and they’d obviously not been interested in hanging around outside.

  Reaching the door, I paused and pressed my hand to the wood, letting the door swing inwards.

  “Took you long enough,” Lily said, her voice causing my heart to sink as I stepped into the room.

  Deep down, a part of me had known it was her. I’d ordered her out, but there had been a part of my mind that had known she’d return; she was just the type.

  Moving into the room, I paused as my eyes took in the mess surrounding me. Books littered the floor, my furniture stood upended, and there was now more than one hole in the wall.

  “What did you do?” I asked, searching for Sonia.

  “Boyfriend has quite the temper…” Lily said, sounding utterly disinterested as she thumbed through a book in her hands.

  “Who?” I asked, but the second the word left my mouth, I instantly regretted it. I knew who she was talking about and my heart crawled into my throat as I realised just how stupid I’d been.

  “What have you done with Nic?” I asked, fear causing a tremor to start in my knees and work its way up my legs.

  “He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she said, jerking her hand in the general direction of the kitchen. “I just wanted the book and he was very insistent you be the only one who have it.”

  Without waiting for another word, I hopped over a fallen chair and skidded into the kitchen. Nic’s eyes were wide, his colour an unhealthy shade of puce as the vines that had sprouted from the kitchen wall tightened around him like boa constrictors.

  Climbing across the sparking and broken fridge, I grabbed the nearest branch and tugged at it. But the more I pulled, the tighter it grew, and Nic gurgled noisily.

  Reaching into my core, I pulled a cord of my magic from within and let it flow from my hands into the branch I held. The vine withered away from my touch, a black tar-like substance spreading up through and outwards across the other branches.

  Nic dropped from the wall, his body heaving as he sucked in one breath after another.

  “How sweet, you saved him!” Lily said from behind me and I spun around to face her.

  Lashing out with my magic, I let it flow through my body as though I was nothing more than a conduit for it. My skin danced with blue sparks as I let the energy gathering in my core go.

  Lily didn’t even scream as my power slammed into her, throwing her backwards into the living room the way a child might throw a rag doll in a tantrum. Pushing onto my feet, I moved after her, energy flowing beneath my skin, and I was suddenly aware of the other people in the building. It would be so easy to take their lives and use them for what needed to be done.

  Why were there so many people in the building? And why the hell hadn’t I felt them before? The thoughts popped into my head, but I brushed them aside as I spotted Lily on the opposite side of the room, dragging herself to her feet.

  Blood tricked from one side of her mouth, but instead of looking angry, she actually looked pleased. What kind of crazy was she? If someone had just tossed me across a room like trash, there would be no way I’d be standing there looking happy about it.

  “Amber,” Nic called out to me, the breathlessness of his voice sending another bolt of rage through my core. I let go with my power once more.

  Lily didn’t budge. This time, my magic hit her but it just slid away from her body as though it was nothing more than water across an oil slick. Drawing more magic from my centre, I pushed it against her but still she stood, a maddening grin fixed on her face.

  Nic wrapped his hand around my arm, jerking me backwards. My knees buckled beneath me, but still, I couldn’t break the focus I had on Lily.

  “Amber, she’s draining you,” Nic said, his words snapping my attention back to him.

  My power faltered as I sucked in a deep breath. He was right, I felt weaker. I’d been so busy running around chasing people and getting caught out by those who wanted to see me dead that I hadn’t stopped to consider the consequences it might have on my power. On the very energy that kept me alive.

  “Crap, crap, crap,” I muttered, drawing another shaky breath into my lungs as I fought to reorient my body. I’d lost way too much to Lily, throwing myself into a fight I really wasn’t capable of winning.

  “Can you stand?” Nic asked, and I began painfully aware of the fact that it was his warm, hard body holding me upright, while I felt like a jellyfish.

  “That was quite the show, Sis. I didn’t know you had such a fierce loyalty to those around you,” Lily said, sauntering across the room.

  I pushed out of Nic’s grip in a pathetic attempt at standing but my knees buckled beneath me and I hit the floor, anger sending my heart rate into overdrive. Get up, you have to get up. If you let her see weakness, then she’ll use it against you, the voice in my head urged me on, and it was right, I needed to get up. Lily would chew me up and spit me back out if I let her. And that was the very last thing I needed to have happen.

  “Sonia, bring him out here, please…” Lily call
ed out, and my heart sank. It seemed Nic hadn’t been the only one to get caught out by Lily.

  The sound of Steve’s body hitting the floor caused my stomach to flip, and the sound of it as Sonia dragged it across the floor wasn’t something I would forget in a hurry.

  Sonia appeared in the bedroom doorway, her arms wrapped around Steve’s upper body as she tugged him out into the middle of the floor. His smell was really not getting any better and if Lily didn’t hurry up and resurrect him, he was going to hit the point of no return pretty soon.

  “I keep my promises, unlike Amber here. I said I’d bring him back if you deleted the message and, well … you didn’t, but the message was deleted nonetheless.”

  I fought my way to my feet, every instinct in my body telling me that what was about to happen would not be good. Lily had a plan, and whatever it was, it didn’t involve keeping her promise.

  Power floated on the air, the smell of damp earth and electricity dancing across my skin as Lily closed her eyes and started to chant in a language I didn’t recognise.

  It was wrong, it was all wrong. I wasn’t sure how I knew but there was a part of me that understood that what she was doing wouldn’t bring back the Steve Sonia was looking for.

  “It’s voodoo, Nic, she’s using Voodoo!” I said, forcing my body to react.

  I lumbered across the room. My lungs were on fire and every joint and muscle my body ached as though I was the one who’d just been newly raised from the dead.

  I reached Sonia just as Lily reached the crescendo of her chanting. Her hand whipped out lightning fast; the flash of the silver blade in her hand caught me by surprise, and I half expected Lily to bury it in my chest. Instead, she sliced Sonia’s arm from elbow to wrist, the blood dripping down onto Steve’s bloated body.

  Heat slammed into me and I had just enough sense to wrap my arms around Sonia and take her with me to the floor and out of Lily’s reach. I choked on the power Lily had called forth, the magic causing goose bumps to lift on my arms and down the back of my neck.

  Was this how frogs felt when you boiled them alive in a pot?

  Sonia fought against my grip, her elbow catching me in the ribs and driving the scalding air from my lungs. She clawed her way back across the floor to where Steve lay and I let her go, my body refusing to cooperate beneath the weight of Lily’s power.