by Jayne Faith
And I could use that to my advantage.
I sent my spy closer to the rip, looking for anything that might be useful. The armored trucks were making their usual circuit of the road around the perimeter of the restricted area. Four additional vehicles were parked in a row near the base-camp area where there was a permanent structure, presumably with a field office, bathrooms, and whatever else the soldiers needed while on shift.
I stuffed my fists in my coat pockets, tucked my chin in against the wind, and followed the nearest hiking trail away from the rip site. I’d spent enough time staring that way, and I didn’t want to draw attention. Besides, I didn’t need to. I had different eyes through which to scan the area, and the minor demon I’d commanded had a fine view of everything below.
I picked up a stick and threw it for Loki, and he gleefully ran off to fetch it while I watched through the eyes of the demon.
There was no way anyone could just saunter over the hills onto the site—or get away from the site, for that matter—without being seen. I had the in-between, but that wasn’t enough. At minimum, I needed a way to get Evan out. And if Lynnette had come up with something that could truly help, I also needed a way to get a handful of witches close enough to do their work. I assumed they’d need to get close, anyway. Many magics could be casted from afar, but complicated work, and especially when under stress, needed to be in close proximity of the target.
Something in the periphery of the demon’s view caught my attention. Movement. It was a new armored truck approaching. I watched as it stopped at a checkpoint and then continued on. It pulled up to the base, and half a dozen soldiers piled out of the back. I squinted, concentrating. The soldiers went inside the building. A minute later, one of the trucks that had been patrolling the circuit pulled up, and soldiers got out of that vehicle, too. But instead of going inside, those ones went straight to the newly arrived truck and got in. The driver wheeled it around and took off back the way he’d come, crossing the checkpoint without stopping and then continuing past the restricted area and away from the site of the rip.
Shift change. There weren’t any barracks at the site, so the soldiers had to rotate shifts. I wasn’t sure how often it occurred, but like everything else with the elite forces, odds were good it was on a strict and regular schedule. Maybe every eight hours, was my guess.
Any time there was a shuffling-around point in a process, there was an opportunity. Was there a way to use it to get the witches near the rip?
I tried to slow my spinning thoughts. There was no point in trying to go too far with the idea before I knew what Lynnette had in mind.
I found a couple more minor demons nearby and sent one to follow the truck that was leaving the site and the other to do some fly-bys past the big gun stations set up on the hills around the rip.
I stayed a bit longer to observe, but when a stiff winter wind picked up, the cold finally drove me to take shelter. I went down into the ravine where the first demon had been looking for water and faded to the in-between. Limbo land felt blessedly numb compared to the hard cold of the bright Boise day. I crouched among the tangled tumbleweeds that had collected around the stream and found a bit of water. My skeletal fingers trailed the surface and took me and Loki back to Rogan’s.
With a few hours until the coven meeting, I was surprised to find my mind and body powering down. Maybe it was the combination of deep healing and being out in the frigid air. Whatever the cause, I set the alarm on Rogan’s phone and then fell onto the sofa and slept.
In my sleep, some part of me remained vigilant, cycling through the minor demons I’d commanded to keep an eye on the rip site. Or maybe it was my brain replaying and processing what I’d observed, it was hard to be sure.
I woke with a jolt and opened my eyes to Loki’s fuzzy face filling my vision. At first I wasn’t sure where I was. The phone alarm was singing a nerve-jangling tune, and the device was doing a vibrating dance over the end table. Right, Rogan’s burner and Rogan’s house.
Inhaling sharply, I blinked around the room and tried to clear the cobwebs of sleep. This was no time to be foggy-headed. Lynnette would be unveiling her big idea for the conflux, and we’d be casting our ballots for the coven officers.
I pushed off the sofa and Loki trotted behind me to the kitchen, where we spirited through the in-between to the downtown penthouse.
Chapter 20
AS I HOPED, I arrived at Becky’s parents’ place before the others. Becky stiffened when I appeared in the corner of the living room.
She pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I’d text you a warning, but I’m trying to stay off-grid as much as possible.”
“Understandable,” she said.
She was preparing a platter of olives, cheese slices, and crackers, typical coven meeting fare. On the counter behind her was a cheesecake, most likely store bought judging by its perfect edges and angles.
“How are we looking for the election?” I asked.
“No one else has come forward for the position of Keeper of Means, so I should be good there.”
I leaned a hip against the edge of the counter. “Out of curiosity, what brought you to Lynnette’s coven? I missed the part where you all talked about that sort of stuff. And apologies if this sounds weird, but you don’t seem to have the dark edge she seemed to have sought out in most of the membership.”
Deb had told me, back when Lynnette had handpicked her coven members and before she’d roped me in, that they’d spent a lot of time doing group bonding exercises. I couldn’t say I was too deeply disappointed to have skipped that stage, but it meant I’d lost out on a lot of insights about the other members.
Becky gave me a shrewd, narrow-eyed look. “What, this cardigan doesn’t say badass witch to you?” She plucked at the thick winter-white sweater she wore over a beige turtleneck.
I cracked a grin and snorted a laugh. “Not exactly. But that’s not what I mean. It isn’t about your appearance. You obviously come from a well-to-do family, to use a stodgy phrase, and that’s not the pattern with most of Lynnette’s recruits. Most of us are orphans, either literally or symbolically, and grew up with very little money, family support, what have you. You don’t seem to fit that mold.”
Damn, it felt good to say those things out loud. It struck me suddenly that there were a lot of taboo topics within the coven. Up to that point, I’d mostly thought of them as things that I shouldn’t mention because I was the one member who’d been coerced into the coven. Many of the forbidden subjects had to do with Lynnette herself and the fact that most of the members were so blindly loyal to her. As I’d discovered with Deb, there was no criticizing the coven leader in certain company. But I’d never even felt it was acceptable to make such an observation about the similar demographics and backgrounds of the members.
“In that way, I don’t,” she said. She gave a nonchalant shrug of one shoulder. “But I’ve got near-mage fire magic, and it’s quite rare. You know how Lynnette likes magical rarities.”
My eyes widened. I hadn’t known about Becky’s fire talent. I easily sensed that she was a high Level II like most of the women in the coven. Occasionally a crafter had a higher aptitude with one element, or even more rare, with two.
“You’re trying to feel it, aren’t you?” she asked.
I nodded. “I can only sense your overall approximate aptitude.”
“That’s one of the perks of an elemental talent. It’s undetectable, so it can stay secret if needed.”
I was on the verge of asking her how Lynnette had discovered her talent when the door chimed. While Becky went to answer it, I poured Loki a bowl of dog chow and set it down on a marble tile of the kitchen floor. He dug in with enthusiasm, scattering a few kibble pieces around the dish.
I straightened to find that Lynnette and Jen had arrived. The coven leader carried a little carved wooden box under her arm.
She
lofted it in both hands when she saw me looking. “For ballots,” she said brightly, tucking it against her body again like it was her high-strung chihuahua rather than an inanimate object.
I gave her a thin smile but eyed the box again. Something about the way she clutched it caused a faint tightness to cascade through my gut.
The other women arrived alone or in pairs, and the overall mood was subdued with an undercurrent of anxious anticipation.
Lynnette called us to order still holding the ballot box. She ran through some minor business from previous meetings and then took a breath and scanned the faces in the room.
“We need to lay out what we’re going to do at the conflux,” she said, giving me a brief nod. “But first we’ll do elections. This is the final step in solidifying our coven, and I for one am thrilled to have reached this point.”
She turned to Jen, who had a stack of half-sheets of paper in her hand. The vampire witch rose and began distributing the sheets.
Deb began digging in her purse. “I’ve got some extra pencils in here. Teachers always have to carry spares.”
“No writing utensils necessary,” Lynnette said. “The ballots will respond to your magic. All you have to do is aim a spark at each checkbox.”
I frowned and glanced around the room. Lynnette was going to try to manipulate the elections, and no one else seemed to realize it. Becky was sitting next to me on the sofa. I shifted my weight and my elbow bumped hers. Her gaze slid over to mine, and I twitched my brows upward in question. She gave a tiny widening of her eyes. She knew something was up, too.
I looked around at the others again, watching for any signs of concern. But everyone was intent on their ballots. I lifted mine and saw the candidates’ names for each position, plus lines for write-ins. Drawing the tiniest tendril of fire magic, I touched it to the box next to each person who had my vote.
As I watched Lynnette start to walk around with the box, it struck me just how desperate she’d become. She must have realized she’d lost her hold on too many of the witches if she’d stooped to this.
With the ballots all tucked into the box, Lynnette went back to her spot as the focus of the group.
“Now, as per protocol, an assistant and I will go through the ballots,” she said. She took a breath to continue.
“Becky,” I cut in before she could say anything more.
Lynnette’s gaze swung over to me. “What?”
“I’m suggesting that Becky should assist you,” I said evenly.
Lynnette’s jaw clenched for a split second. Her attention shifted over to Becky.
“I’d be honored to assist,” she said smoothly.
“Okay.” I could tell Lynnette’s mind was spinning, trying to come up with some reason to go against us. But she failed. “You all can check out the refreshments while we go through the ballots. We’ll reconvene in ten.”
I tried not to gloat as I watched Becky join Lynnette at the coffee table. Deb came to stand beside me, clearly somewhat keyed up about the election. She was running for Keeper of Ritual, which was second-in-command to the coven leader.
The mood of the other women seemed to have split into two or three different factions. I watched the interactions and tried to listen in but couldn’t quite pinpoint which of the women were with Becky and which might be in on Lynnette’s attempt at ballot fraud.
“Ella?” Deb asked, waving a hand in front of my face, her brows pinched in concern.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Understatement of the century,” she said. She touched the back of my wrist. “Have you eaten anything today?”
I passed a hand over my eyes. I’d meant to grab a bite after feeding Loki, but I’d gotten distracted talking to Becky. “No, not yet.”
She turned and quickly stacked up some cheese and crackers in one hand, and then held it out at me. “Eat. After the meeting I’ll go get you some takeout.”
“You nervous about all this?” I asked, mechanically munching on Ritz and sharp cheddar.
“A little,” she admitted in a low voice. “I really, really want the position.”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” I said.
I was fairly certain that Deb would win the vote, but almost equally certain that Lynnette wanted her opponent, Marta, to win and had intended to make that happen with her manipulations. While Deb supported and believed in our coven leader, my best friend wasn’t one of Lynnette’s true inner circle because if that were the case, Deb would have been involved in the scheme to harvest rip magic. She’d known nothing about it until later.
Marta, on the other hand? Her thinly-veiled imitation of Lynnette’s goth-chic style made it obvious that Marta was more than a supporter. Worshipper was more like it.
Some of the conversation around the kitchen island began to die down, catching my attention. Many of the women were openly watching Lynnette and Becky. I turned around to get a full view of the seating area where we’d gathered to cast our votes.
Becky and the coven leader were exchanging quiet but obviously terse words. Lynnette’s cheeks were reddening, a rare outward sign of agitation from the usually cool witch.
Jen walked a few steps toward them. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Lynnette flashed her an irate look. “Nothing, we’re just trying to sort out the votes.”
“Hey, Becky,” I called. “Need some help counting votes?”
I strode toward the pair, my eyes on the box. Lynnette clutched it, but Becky clearly had an interest in it. Ballots were scattered in three haphazard piles on the coffee table.
Becky planted her hands on her hips. “I need help with something because my ballot isn’t there.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, stooping to scoop up the pieces of paper. Lynnette tried to go for them, but she was too slow. I quickly counted them. “This is the right number. Yours has gotta be here.”
“Nope,” Becky said. “I tore the lower left corner off and burned a hole in the upper right corner.”
I had to suppress an appreciative smile. “Really,” I said, drawing out the word.
I knelt on one knee and began laying out the ballots on the coffee table. Even though I’d seen it coming, I could barely believe Lynnette had resorted to something so . . . silly. It was like an episode of a really bad police and lawyer show.
The women had crowded around, watching me spread out the pieces of paper. I got to the last one and then rose and surveyed the table.
“I don’t see a ballot with a tear and a burn in the corners,” I said. I looked around at the faces of the other witches. “How about you guys?”
I looked over at Lynnette with raised brows. Everyone else stared at her, too.
“Well?” I asked. “Where’s Becky’s ballot?”
She stood there frozen for a second, and then her expression broke and she scoffed. “Obviously it’s still in the box.”
She flipped the latch and opened the box’s lid. Before she could stick her fingers inside, I reach for my magic, drawing earth, air, and fire all at once. The fire sparked against her hands, and she let out a shrill shriek and dropped the box. I formed a little curved basket out of earth magic that caught the box before it hit the floor. A swirl of air magic pushed it over to where I stood.
I grasped the box and let my magic go. “Last chance to come clean,” I said quietly.
She just stood there, her cheeks an angry red and her fists balled at her sides.
Chapter 21
IN THE BOX, I found the real ballots. The set on the table was fake.
“This was a set-up,” Lynnette hissed. “Someone tampered with the results, and they’re trying to frame me.”
I snorted. “Really? You think someone framed you? That’s just . . . well, it’s sad. You used to be a lot better at manipulating the coven. This has got to be your most pathetic scheme yet. I almost feel sorry this is how you got caught. It’s like when they caught the Son of
Sam killer on a parking ticket.”
I could easily tell, looking around the faces of the coven members, which ones had been in on Lynnette’s failed trick. Marta looked alternately sick to her stomach and defiant. Elena’s eyes were darting toward the door like she was ready to make a break for it. And Jen just looked resigned and much too calm, which could only mean that the big revelation was no surprise to her.
Adriana, a quiet witch whose dark eyes were flashing as she folded her arms, had to be one of Becky’s affiliates. She and Becky had identical triumphant expressions.
I heard a tiny sound of distress that made me turn. Deb. Her eyes were filling with tears and her expression was a mess of anger warring with sadness.
I started to go to her, but she didn’t even see me. Her attention was trained on Lynnette. My best friend slowly stood.
“How could I be so stupid?” Deb whispered. The tears spilled over her lower lids and trickled down her cheeks. She walked toward Lynnette and stood facing the coven leader. “How could I be so stupid again? Why do I choose to align myself with such awful, selfish, manipulative people? Keith . . . you. What the hell is wrong with me?”
