Elemental Shadows

by Phaedra Weldon

  "Samantha, you either don't know, or you are hiding something. I am reluctant to believe the latter, but until I have proof of such a thing, the Parliament's judgment stands as it is."

  My eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

  "It means you're going down," Fred said.

  And then he wasn't there anymore. Just…gone.

  Emily looked back and shook her head. "Crom, you just removed part of our pentagram." Her tone was conversational, but I caught the quiver at the end of her sentence. The Clerics feared this man as well.

  "Not an issue. Also, I do not trust him when it comes to Eliza's child. He seems a bit more…antagonistic toward her. Do we know why?"

  Mister Air cleared his throat. "We think it's because Eliza Hawthorne had his father warlocked. She apprehended him experimenting with Arcane."

  What?!

  "I see. Then I would instruct you to remove Fred Chadwick from your membership and bring in a new Fire Element Elder." He refocused on me and my Elementals raised their hackles. So did I.

  I'm here.

  I blinked at the voice. It was that woman's voice again. A voice I'd been hearing periodically since Medbh disappeared. Oh shit…was it her? Was she somehow still around and not in that magic necklace Brendi took with her?

  "Samantha Elizabeth Hawthorne, it is Parliament's wish, and that of this Cleric's mission, to investigate the disappearance and reappearance of the children allegedly involved in the Changeling events before Samhain. It is also established that your constant interference in this investigation, including and pertaining to Arden Vervain, has become an impediment. It is my opinion you do not have all the facts, and though you have acted with passion and fortitude for the good of Cowen and Witch alike, you have also left a wake of rubble behind you."

  I did not like the way this sounded. I felt my hands grow warm as my own defenses kicked in.

  "Please do not make this difficult. I sense your exhaustion will make this easier for us, but not for you. I'm afraid for the duration of this investigation pertaining to the Malleus Maleficarum and the validation of your claims of a Leviathan's involvement, I must grant the local Cleric's request for a warlock."

  It took me a second to realize—he meant me. I took a very voluntary step back. "But…I haven't done anything wrong. I haven't committed a crime. Warlocking is punishment for a crime!"

  "You are right, Samantha. But it's been pointed out that you are one of our rare Elemental Sisters and very powerful in your own right, perhaps too powerful for one who hasn't been initiated into any service. Even your mother dedicated her power to Parliament and to righting wrongs."

  "I do right wrongs. I banish anything that doesn't belong in this realm."

  "And who are you to be jury, judge, and executioner? Samantha, you've not given any service. Therefore, your magic could prove to be harmful," he held out his hand, palm up. "If we find that you haven't been party to the theft of the Hammer, or have not plotted or schemed in any way to disrupt this Parliament, then the warlock will be lifted."

  If he wanted me to agree to this, it just wasn't happening. "Are you warlocking Arden as well?"

  "No. She has given service several times, and if we did so now in light of the events tonight, it would look bad on our part politically."

  I got it. Oh yeah…I understood then. Arden just came off smelling like a rose because she 'found' those kids. I'd kept myself out of it. So if they warlocked her now they would look like a pack of jealous old assholes bent on making the heroine look bad. "I'm the scapegoat. I'm your Azazel."

  "That's a strange reference to use, but it is fitting."

  "You can't do this."

  "I can. And I will. If you fight…if your Elementals fight…it is not only you that will feel pain, Samantha."

  This just wasn't happening to me. Me? I'd kept my shit down, I'd made sure not to cause trouble, and the first time I'm anywhere near Arden Vervain…I get warlocked?

  My Elementals looked up and back at me. I looked at each of them. I didn't want them to feel pain. That wasn't our covenant together. I could fight, but I would lose. I was too tired, with no backup and no reinforcements coming.

  I considered making my own Coyote Flame and jumping in…but that was just dumb. And I was pretty sure Crwys would just come after me and berate me.

  Shaking my head at them, they lowered their weapons and fists. Cromwell Drydan stepped toward me, his hand still out. I lifted my own…lowered it. Lifted it… "You promise me when I'm exonerated, I'll be free."

  "Yes. That is why I am here, and did not wish to leave it up to any of the local Clerics. They apparently don't like you."

  "The feeling's mutual."

  This man had power. Tons of it, just simmering beneath the surface like lava in the bottom of a volcano. It burned, bubbled, and hummed along as I put my hand in his.

  The first to go was my Salamander. He vanished and I knew, somehow I knew, Cromwell had him. The second was my Undine and I saw it in the hands of Miss Water, encased in a bubble of water. With each removed Element I felt a piece of me being ripped away like someone stabbing me in the stomach. I bent over as my Sylph was taken by Mister Air and then hidden from me.

  And last I looked at Emily as she smiled and took my Gnome. The Gnome fought and Emily struck her across the face. I reacted as if I'd been slapped and Cromwell pointed at her. "You do that again, and I will warlock you. Permanently. Do I make myself clear? You are each tasked to take care of these Elementals. They are not yours. They are not to be used, forced, or abused in any way. If I hear of it, then you will be disbanded and your own Elementals removed. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

  Each of them nodded, though Emily and Miss Water looked particularly miffed.

  I was barely standing. My knees folded into rubber and as I sunk down and the High Grand Master took me in his arms and lifted me. There was something profoundly familiar about the sensation I had when I looked up into his eyes. He said a few words and I felt something vanish inside, like someone had shut off white noise.

  And there was total and utter silence.

  Pain shot up from my lower back to the base of my skull and I screamed.

  Grey howled.

  When I was eight and my mom didn't come home, I slept for three days. No one knew why and they couldn't explain medically. Dad couldn't wake me up. Neither could the doctors. So they assumed I'd slipped into a mystery coma.

  When I did wake up, it was because Inamorata was there. She came to the hospital room and had my dad step out. He told me later he had no idea what happened, but thirty minutes afterward I was awake. I didn't ask for my mom. I asked for my dad.

  And for my Aunt Ina.

  Thinking back on those stories, I had to wonder if my mystery coma was something my mom induced, or I did to myself because I knew on some level she was gone. Or maybe Ina had done it—or rather Dionysus did—to weasel himself into our world.

  My world.

  That's what I was thinking when I woke up. Was Dionysus still pulling my strings? Was it possible this inevitable destruction of what I was, the bastard's final design? And there was always that question why? I woke that morning with no real knowledge of what my mother had been doing. No understanding of Revenants or Leviathans, Faeries or Ghouls. And as long as I didn't know the past, why would Dionysus insist on punishing the progeny?

  Was there any reason at all?

  When I did open my eyes in the present, the light hurt and I had to blink. My ears felt as if they were filled with cotton and when I was touched, there was this strange delay for me. It was as if I was piloting my body from a little room in my head, and I wasn't truly a part of the whole thing. That feeling slowly faded away as I stared at the fire amber eyes searching my face.

  "Can you hear me? Sam? If you can understand me, please nod your head or something."

  I could hear Crwys. I didn't want to nod my head because it hurt.

  Everything…hurt.

  I saw Kyle behind C
rwys as he put his hand on the detective's shoulder. "She's been like this for twenty-four hours. She opens her eyes, she looks around, and she goes back to sleep."

  Crwys sat back and I saw he was holding my hand. Shouldn't Robin be holding my hand? He was my boyfriend. I opened my mouth and asked them where Robin was. But no one answered. Then I doubted I'd opened my mouth at all.

  "Is this what a warlocking is supposed to be? I want to see them, Kyle. I want to see all of them. Pluck them from their homes and pile them in a room and light it all on fire."

  That thought made me smile. Or at least, I think I smiled.

  "Oh like that's going to win friends," Kyle sighed. "Crwys, I hear you. But Arden said this was a command from the High Grand Master himself. He actually came to New Orleans and—"

  "Effectively destroyed the only chance we have of clearing Arden's name or finding the Hammer." Crwys smoothed my hair and I watched his hand. I thought I saw an image on the inside of his wrist. It looked like a bird…a faded tattoo of a bird on fire.

  At least I think it was a bird. But I knew every inch of Crwys. How had I missed a tat?

  My gaze traveled from his wrist to the wall to my left, then up at the ceiling and to my right. I recognized machines, I saw tubing and I looked at Crwys again. I wasn't at home. I was in a hospital. That explained the smell.

  Crwys stood, leaned down and kissed my forehead. His lips were like fire. "Just…call me if things change." He kissed my hand and turned to leave.

  "Where are you going?"

  "You don't need to know, Kyle."

  "If you do anything that might bring attention to you—"

  There was a pause and I looked down the length of the bed at them. I could see my feet sticking up under the sheets. It looked like an M.

  "I'm not your concern, Kyle. Sam is. They've successfully destroyed her."

  The air pressure in the room changed and I smelled perfume. A lot of it. It made me sneeze.

  "….like a maniac. Never, ever let that boy behind the wheel of a car. But he had to get here. Said he knew what to do!"

  It was Arden Vervain's voice.

  Ivan leaned in close and put his cheek against my forehead. He sighed and I could feel him vibrating. He pressed his lips against my ear. "I know what to do. They took away the Elements, but they can't touch your power."

  I liked what he said, but it didn't really make sense to me. But with his words I felt a heart breaking sadness and started crying. Or I think I did. Ivan leaned back and wiped away a tear. "Crwys…I need you to stand guard at that door. And don't let anyone in."

  "Why?"

  "I can't tell you. You'll have to trust me. Kyle, I need you and Arden to step outside with him."

  "Like hell," Kyle said. "I don't know what you've got planned, but you've got to realize your…brand of magic's not going to undo what they did."

  "No it's not," Ivan smiled. He had such a charismatic smile. That's when I realized he wasn't wearing a t-shirt with his hoodie, but a shirt with a collar. His silver lip ring shown bright under the lights as he turned to them. "Look, you're all going to have to trust me. Please. I can't tell you anything because it's not my thing to tell. It has to come from Sam."

  I looked at them. Kyle, Arden and Crwys looked at each other before they filed out of the room.

  "Sam, you have to listen to me. I can sort of sense what it's like for you. You're disconnected because they took your cord to this world. Well, I'm betting there's a way to give you a new one. But it'll have to be your decision."

  "How are you here?" My voice sounded muffled like his and everyone else's. It sounded like I was talking through a pillow. "You were arrested…"

  "That was two days ago, Sam. Jack Roberts helped clear my name."

  Two…days ago? I'd been asleep for two days?

  "Jack's good at what he does, and he has some pull with the people he works for. Apparently the IP that was reportedly given as being your shop was spoofed. That's the evidence Ronald Kennett sent to the cyber team. But Jack's like a forensic net person. He found the discrepancies and proved Bell, Book and Candle didn't even have an IP."

  "So how do we get Internet?"

  He winked. "Me."

  Oh. Yay. Ivan was a human router too.

  "The agent in charge wasn't happy when I didn't turn out to be their man, but he was good at noting Jack's logic and his skills," he grinned and winked. "I also think Jack's got a crush on Kyle. But just wait."

  Ivan sat back and I watched him as he closed his eyes, held out his hands palms up and then opened his eyes. They were green now, and I knew what he was doing. And somehow…just knowing was enough for me to find the strength to push myself up on the bed.

  The Hammer formed between his hands. Not in the necklace USB anymore, but in a fully formed book. One I'd become intimately acquainted with. And there was something else—

  I saw his magic. How was it I'd seen his magic when I no longer had any magic of my own?

  The book finished assembling and dropped into his lap. He turned it around so that it faced me and with his head bowed, placed it in my lap. "I seem to know the answer is inside this."

  The book swirled with glittering red Arcane. I could still see it! I put my hand on it and the stuff came up in spirals to brush against my fingers. I felt it there, feathered brushes of a spider's web, and with each touch there was a white spark of life.

  I licked my lips. "I…I shouldn't be able to see this."

  Ivan looked relieved as he nodded. "I knew it the moment Arden explained what a warlocking was. It's taking way your Elemental connections, but it's not taking away your power. You've touched Arcane, Sam. I've heard all the stories of how it changes people, and it takes things away and how bad it is, but I haven't seen a single ill effect with you. So I thought…what if you could still use Arcane Magic."

  I clasped the book in my hands. It pulsed as the red magic whirled around me and my hearing didn't sound so cotton-filled and my mind wasn't so slow to comprehend and react. I opened the book and watched as the spells moved and shifted around the printed words, the only words those not anointed with the magic of Arcane would see. "You're saying I should do what I've always done, but use Arcane."

  Ivan shrugged. "Why not? Sam, I've been watching it pulse around your body ever since we found you at Ina's that night with the vampire bite. Whatever it is, whatever gives it its mystical mojo or its forbidden power, it's obvious to me it resonates with you."

  "But it's not supposed to work like that, is it?" My voice was my own again as my mind cleared and the final bits of fog lifted.

  "Who says? The ones that can't wield it?" He put his hands on mine. "When you first told me I had to be careful about what I could do because there would be people who wouldn't understand, the problem was I didn't understand. And since then I've encountered those people and now I do understand. It's human nature to hide or suppress or destroy what they don't know."

  "He's right."

  Ivan whirled around as I looked past him. Crwys stood inside the room, his arms down at his sides. I narrowed my eyes at him. "That door didn't open."

  "No. It didn't."

  I looked at the Hammer in my hands and then looked at Ivan. "You told him."

  "He already knew."

  Crwys returned to my side as Ivan stepped away. "Did you think I couldn't see it, flashing around you sometimes? Did you think I couldn't sense your signature in that Circle? I have a good idea of what happened that night."

  I put my hand to my mouth and fought back nausea.

  "And see that?" He pointed at me. "That reaction right there, that sickness you feel in your soul, that's why I know it was an accident. Arcane Magic doesn't make people into killers. It just gives them the power to kill because they want to kill. But it's not in your nature."

  I searched his face. "So….what? You and Ivan think I need to just use the Arcane? The Clerics will know, won't they?"

  "Don't use it like you've been using magic. Use
it to stay sane until your Elementals are returned. Let the Arcane keep your sanity in check." He glanced back at Ivan. "Did you tell her?"

  "I was getting to it."

  Crwys smiled. "Ivan's traced Ronald Kennett's location."

  I looked at both of them in turn. "He's got a location? I don't understand."

  "The children were tossed into that limbo world through a Coyote Flame. It created a pocket and the children never crossed over to the other side. They stayed right where they came in. They all knew instinctually the door was also the way out. But Ronald and the Elders…their situation is different."

  "You know this?" I stared at Crwys.

  "Don't ask how. I'll tell you one day. They came into the same limbo a different way."

  "Right, they didn't come in through a Flame but through the computers?" Ivan asked.

  "No. Not even that. They came in without bodies."

  I pushed back into the pillows. Oh…damn. I hadn't even considered that. Of course. The kids were put in with their physical bodies. They had vehicles to travel in and out. But Ronald died while in cyberspace. That limbo between living and dying. "Did he lure the Elders to him?"

  "I think he tricked them in some way. He definitely killed them so they could get in the way he did. So when that didn't work and using the kids didn't work when they showed up, I think Ronald started looking or for other means. He learned about the Malleus Maleficarum. He wanted that book. I assume he learned about how entities in other worlds possess human bodies, like Daemons, Revenants, Leviathans, Succubus, Incubus…"

  "And he thought he could do the same. With the old men," Ivan gave a long sigh. "If I were going to possess a body, I would not want an old man body."

  "It was the magic that attracted him," Crwys glanced at Ivan. "The Arcane in them. Those old men had messed with Arcane before." He smiled. "I checked their graves, and the urn one of them is cremated in."

  I smiled at him. "You could see it."

  "And I think, or suspect, Ronald found you somehow, sensed the Arcane and wanted your body."

  Putting my hand to my neck, I thought about the shadow in the shop. "But he never attacked me."