Somewhere on that other side of the conservatory, she half-witnessed Philbert dragging his baby daughter out of Natalie’s hands, magically willing her across to his rather-unsteady-looking young partner and then shooting the pair of them across the room in a bubble of magic—although whether it were for her and their daughter’s protection or merely to keep them under his control was as yet unclear.
Certainly, Randolph Spear was completely ignoring his own partner to try to fight his way over to Hester, although Emma’s magic seemed to be holding him at bay for now. That was good, because, for all her obvious pain, that evil woman was still putting up quite a struggle.
Emma witnessed all of these other battles only peripherally, could focus and worry over nothing more than her beloved, still in the grasp of a woman who thought bringing a demon to earth was a lovely way of granting her own personal whims.
Still, Frederick was now back with her enough to be actively pulling the lume-noirs out of himself, battling any control the woman might ever have put in place. It was an epic struggle but one he was obviously determined to win.
With that thought, she realized she loved him even more, could only watch, eyes glowing, as she aimed her will at his great-aunt. Maybe with all of their efforts, they could destroy the woman’s evil at last.
Certainly, Frederick did his best to assure this. With one last, screaming gasp, he pulled free a compulsion from somewhere deep inside himself, one he hadn’t even seemed to be aware was there, previously. It left a large, bloody gash in his clothes—and she feared even more for what it had done to his body.
Still, his voice in her head when he ground out his mental, Hold her, was firm.
Watching him take all the evil, the pain, and the orders of his family in his hands, closing his eyes a moment to focus, as he fashioned them into a glowing spear, she followed his orders, holding Hester still. Then, she gasped, watching his gaze glowing golden, as he turned around and stabbed his great-aunt neatly in the heart.
It was a shocking act of violence to witness—not that Hester hadn’t been planning several for all of them—left the woman screaming, as she writhed.
The sounds rose into ear-piercing wails, as he watched her calmly, before forcing and tucking into her body every ounce of evil she had left in him before.
Although everything around them had stilled, as though time itself were stopping to witness, this wasn’t the end.
Frederick had backed up but was still aiming his hands toward the woman so that even the last, tiniest fraction of evil light disappeared inside her. He answered Emma’s shock, as well. I only return what she has given, nothing more. Had she spread good, nothing I did with her magic could have damaged her.
As Emma knew it was true, she also realized that she would have done the same thing herself, if it had come to it. Still, she was rather relieved to see the rainbows glowing brightly through his irises when he turned toward her slightly, coming back to her side. She was glad to feel, somewhere deep within, that he had not changed the man he was at all.
Their attack had been fierce, but their enemy was not entirely vanquished. Still, the intensity of her own, returned evil was clearly poisoning Hester badly. Emma continued to aim her magic toward the woman to be certain she wouldn’t hurt any of them again.
Hester’s next enemy came from an unexpected direction, as well. Completely ignored, as he so often was, Reginald had taken the strands of the compulsions which had finally been retrieved from himself and his brother and sister. Now, he stood behind Hester, his eyes glowing, the compulsions fashioned into a sword.
“Hester, my dear,” he said in a terrifyingly-quiet voice.
His sister writhed around vaguely to look at him, still fighting the poison of her own evil returned.
“None of us gave you permission to control our souls.”
And then, in one frighteningly-smooth stroke, he used the compulsions to slit his sister’s throat.
There was a shriek which rose to the heavens after this—though it came more from Hester’s departing spirit than from her ruined throat and now-limp form. Randolph Spear added to it his own scream of rage, but he was held back—surprisingly—by Philbert.
Reginald ignored them, catching his sister’s body neatly before looking at Emma, his gaze apologetic. “I’m sorry. It’s gone too far to be undone without finishing.”
Then, before any of them could stop him, he dumped Hester into the boiling cauldron, completing the spell she had started.
Of course, this was exactly what they had been trying to avoid.
The man seemed not to notice, tossing the demonic sword in after her, then watching, expressionless, as the cauldron bubbled in a most disturbing, and almost stereotypical, way.
“Grandfather, what did you do?” Frederick screamed, although the man simply stood, watching the concoction, saying nothing.
That was when they all realized that something was starting to rise.
Emma’s magical attack might have ended with the death of their enemy, even if it had not been at her hands. But all of them now stood there, in shock, as a much greater terror was born.
Mostly, everyone looked horrified, although Randolph Spear seemed utterly gleeful. It was quite a switch from his rage of a moment before over Hester’s death.
Breaking away from Philbert with a nasty blast of magic, he screamed, “Yes! Now, he’s mine alone to control!”
And then the terrible thing rose from the cauldron at last.
Emma could still hear both her friend and her beloved’s thoughts, knew that this creature appeared different to each of them. For Natalie, he was an extremely attractive blond man with a huge becoming smile, the type she had never trusted. For Frederick, he was an older, distinguished-looking man with a white beard, which—if they survived—she might ask him about the origins of someday. But to her, it was a traditional demon with glowing red goat eyes, horns and all. Its teeth had a terrible needle sharpness.
“Who calls me forth?” it demanded, in just the earth-vibrating voice such a creature should have.
She wasn’t certain how to even attack it, was waiting, building the power within her, to see what it would do—which, she feared, might be just the wrong way to handle such a creature.
Still, Frederick’s grandfather stood up tall, answering. “I have presented the sacrifice to you, Lord.”
Emma started to greatly fear where this was going. Had they destroyed the wrong enemy?
Looking down curiously, the demon towered above him.
Randolph Spear surprised them all, actually having the temerity to rush forward. “Now, hang on, I’m the one who commands him!”
The demon hadn’t broken eye contact with Frederick’s grandfather, the rest of them too stunned to move. “Did he take part in the sacrifice for my favor?”
“Not at all, my Lord.” Reginald didn’t blink, seemed to be terribly in command. “He only wishes to receive the reward.”
Apparently, whatever the demon saw there convinced him.
The punishment for this affront was quickly given. He didn’t even look around, just reached out a hand and made a crushing gesture with his fingers.
To the horror of everyone in the room, the effect on the man was immediate—and gruesome. He was simply crunched down more and more, his shrieks rising ever further, until there was only a bloody puddle left where he had once stood.
Hideously, this took care of one of Hester’s conspirators but not in a way anyone had wanted to witness.
There were screams, many of the women, and some of the men, turning away to shield themselves from the remains. Even worse, Randolph’s partner—Emma’s mother—simply dropped to the floor, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She lay there on her back, dark blonde hair spread along the stones of the floor, arms spread, wide eyes on the ceiling, utterly unmoving. For all any of them knew, she might never move again.
Terrified for the woman, even without her new knowledge about their connection, Emm
a wanted to go to her, but there were far more immediate problems.
“What do you wish from me?” the demon wondered, never letting his attention stray from Reginald.
“Not I, Lord,” Reginald answered calmly. “I may have brought you forth . . .”
To Emma’s horror, he pointed toward her.
“. . . but it is she who gets to command you.”
Everyone, including the demon, looked to her.
Overcome by horror for a moment, Emma felt herself nearly freezing, wanting nothing to do with this creature of ash and pain. She would never have knowingly allowed him near anyone on earth.
It was only with great will that she managed to step forward, her determination to shield others from evil all that moved her.
With every step, she heard both Frederick and Natalie screaming in her mind. Em, no! Emma, stay! but she moved toward him, nonetheless.
As soon as the demon turned away from him, she saw something in Reginald Everly’s eyes, as well—a subtle, desperate plea to save them all.
Her gaze glowing, the will and magic firmed further within her. She was going to live up to who she was, or die trying.
Drawing herself up, then, using her magic to hold everyone else back—especially Natalie and Frederick, who might otherwise have tried to shield her—she suddenly understood their one way out.
“I have one wish,” she stated calmly.
She felt Frederick reaching for her, heard Natalie gasp.
“Once you have completed it, you may never return, and you may not touch, bargain with, or influence anyone else here, either. There will be no communication with or retribution on anyone of this community without my express orders, either now or in the future.”
Nodding, the demon seemed ready to comply with its end of the deal.
Good.
She felt her eyes glow.
Drawing all her magic into her, a summoning of everything she was or could be, she focused.
Holding its breath, the entire world seemed to be watching, and she felt her eyes glowing even more wildly, knew the magic flared around her brightly.
Finally, she made it to the side of the cauldron, which the demon still had one hoof inside. Meeting the dreadful creature’s eyes fully, she stood still and calm, ready to give her wish and her command in no uncertain terms.
A moment later, her echoing voice made the room vibrate: “Go away.” And then she watched his surprise, as he started to vanish from this realm.
The action happened with a strangely comic sound which started like water circling down a drain and ended with a noise like “parp.”
Ignoring the shock of the room, she barely noticed, pointing at the now empty cauldron. “Frederick, please help me put this where it shall never harm anyone again.”
Her beloved stepped up behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder. His voice was soft, as though speaking to someone who had just used their last ounce of will. “That is my job to do alone, beloved.”
Pushing her gently to the side, he then floated the cauldron in the air in front of him and simply disappeared from this world.
She felt Natalie come over to her rather timidly, felt her hand on her shoulder. Her voice, too, was soft. “I didn’t even see a portal.”
Emma was looking off into the distance, staring into the worlds she couldn’t really see. Everything seemed just slightly unreal.
“He is a portal now. He can go where he wills.”
Turning to her friend, she put her head on her shoulder, even as they heard running feet nearing the house. That only made sense.
“Here comes Grandfather. I suppose I should ask Frederick to go get his Aunt Penelope when he gets the chance. Benjamin will want to see her.”
Then, very slowly, she collapsed.
Chapter 22
Emma
Emma awoke sometime later to find a great deal going on. As she groggily opened her eyes, everything she saw was slightly confounding.
Reginald Everly—Everly Spear now, she supposed, although possibly tiny Olivia should technically be Everly Distaff—was speaking to some strangers. He seemed far less distracted than she could ever remember him being, the absence of the compulsion clearly changing many things.
Philbert Spear still wasn’t in anyone’s custody, stood nearby with Jane and Olivia, the child’s great-aunt and uncle fussing over her. Emma supposed that bore out some of her guesses about him, although she still wasn’t exactly a fan.
At least Olivia seemed happy, bouncing and bubbling, letting out little rainbow sparks of clair-lumes from her fingers.
Somewhere else, Benjamin was trying to comfort Lily, who was conscious but still looked incredibly dazed. Her long hair was frizzed and out of place, and she didn’t seem capable of holding herself upright. All around her, the man’s cats clustered, mewing desperately.
At least a dozen other people were here, as well—some she recognized and some she didn’t. It was nearly enough to make her want to pass out again.
Uncertain how long she had been unconscious, she realized finally that her head was on Natalie’s lap. Looking around, she saw that Frederick sat near them, watching her lovingly.
Still, that was also when she noticed the claw marks on his neck, the blood on his shirt. Terrified for him, she sat up—and regretted it instantly, a horrible pain throbbing through her head. Grabbing onto it, feeling nauseous and shaky, she swayed slightly, as Natalie held her shoulders still.
When Emma finally discovered her voice, it was a croaky understatement. “Ow.”
Frederick was on his knees in front of her instantly, calm and reassuring. “Ssh.”
His fingers replaced hers on her temples.
“Look at me. Look into my eyes.”
She wanted to make a joke about his next words probably being “you are getting sleeeeepyyyyy,” but she absolutely didn’t have the energy—and she suspected he predated the stereotype. There was still a lot he had to learn—and even more she had to learn about him.
Following his instructions, she pondered this happy prospect, his voice soothing.
“That’s it. Calmly now.”
He was still converting, she could see, the rainbow lightning bright through his irises. His touch quieted her mind, the pain receding a little.
“Focus on me.”
She did. Even if she had wanted to, she didn’t have the energy left to fight.
Besides, he was very nice to look at.
Smiling at him, she realized that, over the course of one, very long, day, he had earned her trust completely—to say nothing of her love. She could see in his gaze those other realms he had shown her briefly, the ones he now had total access to. His ministrations were helping, too, as she felt the pain and illness going, started to breathe better.
“Good,” he smiled.
And then he kissed her.
Sadly, it wasn’t their best kiss so far, as he clearly had other things in mind. As he pulled back, she saw him take a small lume-noir from his mouth.
Emma hadn’t been aware till that moment that there was anyone else near them. Having Frederick close could do that.
Now, she could see that the entire roomful of people had gathered around. Brandon was apparently here, as well, accepted the malignant light from her beloved.
“I’ll take care of it, Brother.”
He moved away, giving the light to his daughter, who was hanging back in a corner. The centaur girl spent half a moment just staring at it interestedly before Brandon’s look sent her on her way.
Emma felt a little steadier now but could remember much too clearly just how nasty the last few seconds had been.
“Well, that was . . . unpleasant,” she finally summed up. Then, her mind turned, looking quickly to Frederick. “I didn’t mean . . .”
He just chuckled, rising, kissing her on the temple. “I know what you mean, love.”
Taking her hand, he sat on her other side, and she was comforted by his simple presence.
> Still, her other companion got her attention, Natalie squeezing her hand. “Em.”
Emma looked at her, as Natalie let out a sigh.
“I thought so. You’ve finished your conversion.”
“Have I?”
It was news to her. She looked around at the mass of people staring at her.
“Then, why do I feel as if I’ve been hit by a truck?”
Granted, she would have to go to the mundane world to find one, but she already felt like she had been wandering through the unenchanted parts of the world for hours.
For some reason, she focused on a stranger, a beautiful Indian woman who seemed self-assured, kind, and amused. Not for the first time, it occurred to Emma how ridiculously lacking in diversity magical Salem was.
The woman was wearing the emu flower as a corsage, the sign in magical communities that she was pregnant. As magical pregnancies tended to last longer—sometimes far longer—than mundane pregnancies, women would wear them to let others know their status and to avoid the embarrassment which apparently happened frequently in the mundane world, where someone might congratulate a woman who wasn’t pregnant on her forthcoming child. This species of the emu bush was one which only grew in high-magic environments, and its flowers would wilt if those who weren’t pregnant wore them. Somehow, it seemed to thrive on the presence of such hormones.
The woman only appeared to be partway through her term, as she was still rather elegantly thin, but magical pregnancies could fool you sometimes.
Leaning down, her long, dark hair flowed like a waterfall, and Emma knew there had to be magic in it to keep it that perfect. She was smiling at Emma like a patient aunt, answering her question.
“Because you’ve had an Event Conversion, silly.”
Standing up, she looked around to Philbert Spear.
“Don’t they teach these children anything?”
As often happened in the magical world, the woman only appeared to be about 35, but, then again, so did Emma. Given her confidence and the quiet aura of power which surrounded her, it was easy to accept that she might be much older.
Philbert Spear answered with a smile, looking far more human and caring than Emma had ever seen him before. “I did report how bad things had gotten. Did you really think I was joking?”
A Wild Conversion Page 22
