by E G Bateman
They descended the stairs. Kate held onto him tightly and he felt her shaking.
The moment they reached the bottom of the staircase, several of Stan’s pack launched at Edward. He managed a couple of good swings before they surrounded him. It took several men to hold his arms back and force him to his knees.
“Now, let’s see what you’re hiding.” Caleb placed his hand on the shifter’s head.
As the man strained, Edward saw Dolores in his peripheral vision. He dared not turn toward her.
Caleb removed his hand, having been unable to access the shifter’s thoughts. “Unfortunate. No matter. I can still manipulate you and through you, your pack as well as Kate. As soon as Kate is under my control, I can get what I want from her.”
“Not likely,” the woman retorted before Stanley smacked her across the mouth.
Edward growled. Caleb looked at Kate and smiled, and the shifter took the chance to glance at Dolores. He could see she wanted to help him but knew that would destroy any chance of stopping their quarry in the long run.
“This might hurt a little.” His captor placed his hand on his head again.
The shifter looked directly at him. “Don’t mind me. You do what you’ve got to do.” He wasn’t speaking to him, though. Dolores stepped into the crowd.
Edward closed his eyes and released Jess and Kate from the pack, which was his right as alpha.
It’s up to you now, Jess.
Chapter Nineteen
The three teammates didn’t stop running. Jess didn’t shift into human form until they were on the other side of the fence at the car. They scrambled into the little vehicle.
“Fucking go in!” she shouted at her key as she tried to jam it into the ignition with a shaking hand.
Lexi leaned closer, placed a hand on top of the woman’s, and made eye contact. The shifter’s eyes were golden, an indication that she might turn again. “Breathe.”
Jess leaned back, put her hands in her lap, and breathed slowly in and out. After a few seconds, she opened her brown eyes and nodded at her, then slid the key in and started the engine.
They rounded the corner and Scott shouted from the back of the car, “Wait. The door of the flower shop is ajar.”
“Are you sure?” The shifter tried to glance at it as they passed.
“He’s right.” Lexi pulled a shuriken out and placed it on her vest. “Scott, can you shield us?”
“Done.” He nodded once.
She looked up and down the road but didn’t see anyone watching. Of course, they were dealing with a sorcerer so that didn’t mean they weren’t being watched by a dozen of Stanley’s brainwashed wolves.
“Oh!” Jess stopped outside the store with her hand on her chest.
Lexi glanced at her.
Scott turned to face her. “That’s being caused by whatever’s going on underground. It got me the first time. Try to ignore it.”
“I’m not usually sensitive to this kind of thing. It’s weird, I feel…kind of lonely.” Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them away and looked embarrassed.
Lexi glanced at her. “Magic hits people in different ways, especially bad magic.”
They crept into the store and found a young woman removing flowers from buckets. She stopped what she was doing and turned slowly. Her eyes and nose were red, and she appeared to have been crying. Looking around, she narrowed her swollen eyes and frowned.
She removed a short, nasty-looking knife from her pocket. “You seem to be trying quite hard to remain unseen. Should I start waving this around indiscriminately?”
“Would you unshield me, please, Scott?” Jess asked.
He did as he was asked.
“Hi, Kira.” The shifter gave her a little finger wave.
“Holy shit, Jess!” The tension dropped from the other woman’s shoulders.
“Sorry. We didn’t know who was in here. Are you okay?”
“My allergies are playing merry hell in here. Speaking of ‘we,’ I know you didn’t do that yourself. Perhaps I could meet your friend?”
Scott took the rest of the shield down.
“This is Scott and Lexi. Kate called them to help with the problems she’s been having.”
He peered at Kira in her bridesmaid’s dress and glanced into the box she was filling with flowers. “I guess you’re picking a bridal bouquet.”
She nodded, then looked at Jess. “What’s going on? I got a five-second call from Kate, then you called about my protection runes. It’s all a little sudden.” She pulled out the bodice of her dress and took a deep breath, then sneezed.
Lexi glanced at one of the runes, which seemed to move slightly as though there was a breeze. There was none, however, and she returned her gaze to the young woman.
Kira focused on it too. “Something bad’s going on here. Those have been vibrating since I walked in.”
“Yes, you might want to get out of here. A sorcerer is up to something awful underground. Do you know Caleb Linden?”
The girl shuddered. “I’ve met him. I knew he was something, but I get that vibe quite often from people who don’t know they have latent abilities. I tend to ignore it. It’s none of my business.” She continued to pull flowers from buckets.
Scott rubbed the back of his neck. “The vibes here are incredibly strong.”
“I know! I almost didn’t come in. There’s always been something here. Previously, it was residual and connected to Zoraida, but it’s stronger today than I’ve ever felt it. There’s supposed to be work going on at the storage place in back of here, but it feels as though it’s right beneath my feet. I thought they might have disturbed something.” Kira turned to her task.
Lexi walked around to face her. “Caleb has a group of brainwashed people there, and they’re digging a giant pit. Daisy’s there and some nasty lower-level demons. The pit’s almost the size of the block.”
The woman dropped the flowers in her hand. “Demons? What’s he doing?”
Scott shrugged when his teammate looked at him. “He’s opening a portal to hell.”
Jess rubbed her forehead. “Hell isn’t below us. That’s bullshit. I’ve seen subways deeper than that.”
He turned to her to explain. “There are different dimensions and certainly more than one hell dimension. They move in their own orbits and occasionally move through the earth, but it’s very rare that one coincides with when the veil between the dimensions is thin.”
“Like now, on the solstice.” Kira nodded as the significance came to her.
“So Caleb has decided this is the best time and place for a breach.” Lexi glanced at the runes again.
Scott turned to Kira. “Do you have much more to do? You shouldn’t hang around. They’re making a nautilus portal. That means something’s coming through—something very bad.
The woman nodded. “Okay, I need a length of white ribbon, then I’m done. I’ll have to contact the coven.”
She yanked flowers out of various buckets while he walked to a reel of ribbon on the wall and tugged it. The ribbon cascaded from the reel, and he gathered it quickly. He looked on the surface of the desk, tried a drawer and found it locked, then stretched to the shuriken on Lexi’s vest. He picked it off and sliced cleanly through the ribbon. It left a fine line of red blood on the fabric. “Oops.” He turned it to a different blade and cut again.
Noticing Lexi’s raised eyebrow, he said, “Thanks.” He moved to replace the shuriken onto the vest, then seemed to think better of it and handed it to her.
“You’re welcome.” She rolled her eyes, took it, and returned it to its position.
With another smirk at her friend, she turned to thank Kira and leave when a loud crack drew everyone’s attention.
One of the willow-twig runes had split down the middle. They remained silent and watched as half of it fell to the floor.
“I’m getting out of here.” Kira picked her box of flowers up and headed to the door with Scott and Jess directly behind.
Kira looked into the box of flowers. “I hope these are okay. I can tell you the magical and healing properties of any herb but I don’t know a thing about flowers. I have no interest, not with my allergies.”
Jess stared at the store. “What happened to the rune?”
“A portal to hell would require very strong magic. It’s encroaching on the store. I think it would be best if I forget the wedding and call the head of my coven.” The woman shook her head and turned to the others.
She put the box on the ground, then found a tissue and blew her nose before she retrieved her cell phone.
Lexi touched Scott’s arm. “Can you do anything to bolster the protection in the remaining rune?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It would interfere with what’s already active. The rune could end up useless.”
“Have a look through the window at the bar. How do they look?”
In response, he jogged to the front of the bar and looked through the window. He gave a thumbs-up and ran back. “They’re fine. Still hanging and not moving.”
She looked at the flower shop again. “So, it looks like the portal will be directly under the flower shop. This might explain why it’s all so last-minute with Kate’s property. It’s merely Caleb’s bad luck. He dug up the rest of the block and the thinnest point is under the one piece of land he doesn’t own.”
Jess took her keys out. “You think ownership’s a factor?”
“It’s all guesswork, but yes.” She nodded. “Did Edward get back to you yet?”
“Not yet.” The shifter shook her head.
“Can you contact the pack and let them know what’s happening?”
The beta gave a curt nod and stepped away.
“Shit!” Lexi rubbed her face.
“What?” Scott looked worried. He could probably sense her conflict.
“This is huge. Are we even equipped to deal with this? We might need to call Kindred.”
His jaw dropped.
“We’ve got a low-level demonic invasion going on down there. Something must have already aligned enough to let them through, and it looks like these are nothing compared to what’s coming.”
Jess began to cross to the other side of the street.
Kira put her cell away and turned to her. “The coven is coming here. We’ll shore up the defenses in the store. They’ll start getting here within ten minutes. The farthest is half an hour away. I assume you’ll go to the wedding.” She picked the box of flowers up. “Here’s your invitation.”
Scott opened the trunk and moved aside for her to put the box into it.
“Thanks.” The woman smiled at him but looked away when his teammate closed the trunk much louder than necessary.
The two women glared at each other.
Lexi rolled her eyes. “Portal to hell?” she reminded them and headed to the front of Jess’s car.
Scott followed her, completely oblivious to the interaction.
Jess joined them again. “I can’t reach Edward or anyone through the pack link.”
He thought for a moment. “Caleb might be blocking your communication with magic.”
Kira was standing across the street from the flower shop when Ulla, a coven member, arrived. She parked and joined her on the pavement.
“I’m here. I had to lie to get out of work. If this is some kind of joke, I’ll sue you for an hour’s pay.”
“Let’s cross. I didn’t want to go back alone.” She led the newcomer across the street but Ulla froze halfway, obviously feeling it.
The woman took a step backward. “What is that?”
“It’s why we’re here. Come on, we need to get started.” She tried to encourage her to move forward but she wouldn’t budge.
Ulla shook her head. “I’m not going there, just the two of us. What the hell is it?”
“We need to strengthen the protections to counteract some very dark magic.”
The woman’s eyebrows raised in alarm. “No shit, there’s dark magic.”
Kira nodded. “Okay, let’s wait for the others.”
“Are you two trying to get yourselves killed? Get out of the street,” called a voice from the sidewalk.
They looked up as Demeter, the leader of their coven, locked her car door and began to walk toward them. She stopped abruptly. “Oh!”
Standing in the middle of the street, she yanked her cell phone out and typed. Kira felt her phone vibrate and heard Ulla’s do the same.
“Come on, girls, we’ve got work to do.” Demeter ushered them to the sidewalk outside the flower shop.
Kira retrieved her cell to find a WhatsApp from their leader to the coven. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Ulla scratched her arms as though the creepy feeling could be removed.
The three of them were silent for a few moments, then Demeter took their hands and began to sing.
“The earth, the air, the fire, the water,
Return, return, return, return,
The earth, the air, the fire, the water,
Return, return, return, return.”
Over and over, they sang the chant. Three voices, then four, then seven, then ten crowded into the little store and everyone held hands in a circle.
The door opened and another witch entered. Gaia had a five-pound bag of salt and began to pour a circle around them on the floor.
Kira stared at her and decided the woman had watched way too much Supernatural.
She noticed a tub containing willow branches intended for floral displays. Quickly, she grasped it and a reel of twine and moved to the center of the circle. As the women continued to chant, she fashioned a new protection rune.
Chapter Twenty
Dolores moved out of sight but continued to watch.
“Edward, call your pack in. I want them here.” Caleb sounded tired and she wondered what was keeping him going.
“I’ve called them.” The shifter sounded like he was in a dream state.
“Finally! Edward, tell Kate to sign her land over to me.”
Obediently, he turned to the woman. “Kate, sign your land over to Caleb.”
“Screw you!” she shouted.
The sorcerer was furious. “Hit her.”
She tried to duck out of the way of Stan’s hand but the slap came from Edward.
“That should have worked.” Caleb’s eyes were wild. He stepped forward, grasped her head, and muttered a few words. His face was strained as if he tried to break through a psychic wall.
“Those witches! I’ll kill the lot of them.” He paused as though listening to something. “Yes, if you like. Entrails, the works.” He stepped back and took a breath to compose himself.
Dolores wondered who he had been talking to.
“Edward, since I can’t read your memories, we’ll have to go the long way around. Where’s William?”
The shifter responded with no emotion in his voice. “He’s at my house.”
Caleb’s eyes lit up. “Splendid! Are any of your pack members with him?”
“Yes.”
“Tell them to kill him.”
Edward paused for a moment, then nodded. The command had been sent.
“Okay, boys and girls. On with this charade, then. Edward, you wanted to walk the bride down the aisle. Go ahead.”
He took Kate’s arm and pulled her roughly into the room set up for the wedding. The minister stood at the end of the aisle with Tommy. The shifter dragged her down the aisle and stood behind her.
The minister began, “Dearly Beloved—”
“I don’t think so. Skip to the necessary parts,” Caleb snapped.
Dolores ducked out and walked into the foyer. She stood for a moment before she felt eyes on her and knew instantly who it was. She strode to the nearest table, picked up champagne glasses, and placed them on her tray.
; “I haven’t seen you before,” the sorcerer said to her back and his voice dripped with suspicion. She ignored him and moved to another table and more glasses.
Suddenly the pull on her mind was strong and the glasses fell, rolled from the tray, and shattered on the floor. He turned her without laying a finger on her.
“I was talking to you. What’s your name?”
The compulsion to tell the truth was so strong, there was nothing else she could do. “My name is Dolores, sir. May I get you a drink?” She managed to recover a little and smiled in the same vacuous way the hypnotized people had.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m doing my job, sir. May I get you a drink?”
“Why haven’t I seen you before?”
“I’m from the agency, sir. May I get you a drink?
He turned to the other room. “Are they married yet?”
Dolores took the opportunity to sidle away and pick glasses up until she was sure he was no longer watching her. She sighed. All her answers had been truthful. He’d merely asked the wrong questions. She headed down the hallway and darted into the billiard room, then closed the door behind her and tried not to hyperventilate. When she turned her back to the door, her gaze was met by a scene of pure horror.
Todd was seated in an armchair in the corner of the room, covered with blood. He inflicted tiny cuts all over his body with a razor. Betsy stood in front of the chair between her son and one of the demon creatures and brandished a billiard cue menacingly. To her credit, a pile of goop with another cue laid in the middle of the table. She’d already eliminated one of the beasts.
This woman is in her eighties.
The fae was impressed but noted that the old woman had cuts on her face and arms and looked like she was on her last legs.
“That’s enough of that.” She approached the demon from behind. With its many eyes, it saw her coming and flipped one of its arms toward her. She put her hand up. The moment its claw touched her palm, the creature shrank to the size of a bug and she stamped on it and ground the goop into the carpet.
Betsy darted instantly to Todd and wrestled the razor from his hand.
