by Deanna Chase
I jerked back and instinctively shot a bolt of my white magic at her. She held her hand up, connecting with my magic, but it just turned her hand back to normal flesh with snowflake-decorated nails.
My magic hadn’t affected her at all. In fact, judging by the pleased smile she sent me, it appeared she welcomed it. “Thank you,” she said, her body starting to shimmer with a coating of my magic. “Every little bit helps.”
Whoa. I’d sent a bolt of magic intending to incapacitate her, or at least zap her enough to make her back off. But it appeared she’d embraced it and used the magic to heighten her own power. I scowled. “Helps what? What do you want from me?”
“Relax, witch,” the elf said. “It’s not our intention to harm anyone. Not if we can help it anyway.”
“Not if you can help it?” I echoed, but the elf had already turned and joined the others in their song.
Their voices rose above the crowd in the square, and suddenly the pressure lifted and my limbs were light. I had the strange sense that if I had wings I could fly.
The elves jumped from the stage and scattered, each of them doing back flips and cartwheels into the crowd. Half of them stopped and kneeled on their hands and knees. The other half ran across the square, leaped off their fellow elves and spun in the air, putting on one hell of an acrobatic show. The crowd clapped and hooted their approval.
“What in the world?” I glanced around in utter confusion. Had that all been about stealing my energy for their performance? But what had she meant when she said they didn’t want to harm anyone if they could help it? The other one had said they wanted freedom. Were they under someone’s control? And what about the demonic appearance of the elf before she’d absorbed my magic? That wasn’t innocent.
Crap on toast. Where were Bea and my coven when I needed them? I whipped out my phone and hit the on button.
Nothing.
I pressed harder.
Nothing.
“Dammit!” The phone was dead. It had been fully charged earlier in the evening. Whatever the elves had done to me, the magic had affected my phone, as well.
“Jade!” Pyper stood in front of the stage. “Get down here.”
Relief washed through me, and I ran down the stairs to her side. Clutching her arm, I asked, “Are you okay?”
“Sure.” She handed me a mug with a candy cane garnish. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
I frowned and pulled her away from the stage. I glanced back at the innocuous structure and stifled a shiver. “Something is seriously off with those elves.”
Her eyebrows shot up as she sipped her drink. “Aren’t all circus-performer type people a little ‘off?’”
“Not like this.” I glanced around and lowered my voice not wanting to attract any attention. “I think they might be demons.”
Her eyes widened as she clutched my arm. “You’re serious?”
I nodded. Demons could take on any form. And hadn’t she said Kane had already gone after a demon in Santa clothing? But they weren’t exactly acting like demons. They’d left me unharmed after they’d presumably gotten what they wanted. And they hadn’t been nearly destructive enough. At least not yet.
Pyper turned and eyed the elves dancing through the Twelve Days of Christmas parade. Then she cocked her head to the side and frowned in concentration.
“What?”
“They aren’t demons.” Her brow wrinkled. “The message is unclear, but I think I’m hearing they are lost souls.”
“Is a ghost talking to you?”
“Not one. More like a dozen.” She grimaced. “They are chattering over each other and fading in and out. It’s hard to get a clear connection.” Shaking her head, she clenched her fists and gave me a pained look. “Sorry. They’re gone. Vanished.”
“All of them?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She turned to stare at the elves again. “They were scared, Jade. Whatever they are, it’s not right.”
More spectators started to fill the square. It was getting harder and harder to spot the elves. “We have to call Bea and the coven.”
She nodded, her expression still troubled.
“Pyper?”
“Huh?”
I held up my phone. “It’s dead.”
“Oh.” She dug into her pocket and handed me her phone.
I pressed the on button and let out a frustrated sigh when nothing happened. “Yours is dead, too.”
She didn’t acknowledge my response. She was too busy staring at the elves. They’d moved on from their acrobatics to partnering with the nine ladies dancing from the parade.
The remaining three elves were standing on a raised platform in front of the tree, singing “White Christmas.” They were using microphones and had captivated the crowd again. Pyper started to move toward them, and that’s when I saw it.
Silver light coated everyone in the crowd, and the elves were siphoning it off one note at a time. Through their singing, the elves had somehow tapped into the auras of the spectators and were stealing faint traces of their spirit.
“No!” I cried and lurched forward, but no one paid any attention to me.
My chest tightened as panic set in. Spirit was a person’s life force. If the elves took enough, we’d end up with a massacre. A real nightmare before Christmas.
“Pyper!” I called, but she was already disappearing into the mass of people, all of whom were clearly under the elves’ spell.
Christ. I couldn’t magic my way out of this one. Not on my own. I needed help and fast.
I had two choices: run home and use my landline, or shadow walk. One of my abilities was to enter the shadow world and reenter this world at another point. The shadows were the world between this one and Hell, where souls roamed who were not destined for either the angel realm or Hell. Only lately, the demons had been stealing those souls for only God knew what. It was one of my jobs to rescue them from such a fate.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t as good at walking the shadows as Kane was. He could’ve walked us straight to Bea’s house. I could get myself to his club, because I knew there was a portal there, but anything else would be iffy. The club it was. I’d call Bea and Lucien, my second in command of the coven, as soon as I got there.
Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on Kane’s club and took a step, willing myself into the shadows.
The world turned to shades of gray and the people in the square shimmered silver. Everyone except the elves.
They were dark shadows, and all of them were decrepit versions of themselves in the form of stone statues.
Horror swept through me, and tears filled my eyes as I realized exactly what they were. They were from Hell, but they weren’t demons.
They were trapped souls.
4
In Hell, souls were trapped in stone statues. Somehow, the elves in the square had found a way to manifest in our world. But standing in the shadow world, I could see the dark bindings of Hell tethered to each of them. Their trip to the streets of New Orleans would be short-lived.
Unless… Freedom. That’s what the elf had said they were after.
And they were going to do it by stealing the spirits of the innocents in the square.
Crap!
No time to mess around. I took another step and concentrated on the club.
I instantly popped into the middle of the strip club, seemingly out of nowhere. A man leaning forward in a blue-velvet chair jerked back, obviously startled. Then he let his gaze travel down my body, taking in my skimpy Mrs. Claus outfit.
“Well, hello there, sweetheart. How much for a lap dance?”
I tugged the teal coat closed and scowled at him while Lady Gaga sang something about her Christmas tree being delicious.
“Hey!” the guy called after me, as I strode off toward the office.
“Jade?” Charlie, the club manager, called after me.
I paused at the office door, waiting for her to catch up.
“I thought you and Kane had a special night p
lanned?” She also did a quick perusal of my outfit and gave me an approving smile as she nodded. “I bet that heated things up.”
“That would’ve been nice. Instead he’s fighting a Santa demon and I’ve got a dozen elves trying to crawl their way out of Hell as we speak.” My heels clattered on the hardwood as I hurried over to the desk.
Charlie shut the door behind her and stared at me, her eyes wide. “Elves?”
I waved a hand as I picked up the phone. “Trapped souls dressed up as elves. Don’t ask.”
“That’s…different.”
“You’re telling me.” Charlie was no stranger to the paranormal happenings we dealt with on a daily basis, but even I had to admit dealing with rogue elves and Santa demons was way out of our norm.
“Merry Christmas!” Bea’s voice rang on the other end of the line.
“I hate to do this to you, but we have a problem.”
“Jade? What’s wrong?”
“I need you and anyone else you can rustle up to meet me down at Jackson Square. I have a dozen elves trying to escape from Hell.”
“Demons?” Her tone was serious now and I heard the squeak of a door opening on her end.
“No. If that was the case I’d know what to do. Or at least who to call. These are trapped souls, and it looks like they’re using the spirit of the crowd to somehow free themselves.”
There was dead silence on the other end of the line.
“Bea?”
“Trapped souls,” she said by way of answer. “Son of a goddess’s whore. This is not good.”
I raised my eyebrows in Charlie’s direction. It was unusual for Bea to swear, not that she’d said anything too outrageous. I just wasn’t used to it.
Charlie mouthed, “What?”
I shook my head. “No, it isn’t. And worse, they seem to be able to feed off my power. I’m not sure what to do.”
“We need the coven. Lucien and Rosalee are here. We’ll round up as many of the others as we can.”
“Okay. Thanks. And hurry would you? Pyper’s under their spell.”
Bea let out a frustrated grunt. “Got it. I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
“Thanks.”
“Meet me at the front gate.” She took a deep breath. “And Jade?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you do, don’t use any more magic until we get there.”
I hadn’t planned on it, but if I was attacked, I wasn’t sure what else I could do. “All right.”
“Five minutes,” she said again, and the call went dead.
I put the phone down and pressed my palms against the shiny desk top as I glanced at the wall clock. Four minutes, forty seconds. I didn’t want to leave just yet, because without Bea and the rest of the coven, I was useless. “Now what?” I muttered to myself.
“Isn’t Bea coming?” Charlie asked, clearly having picked up on at least part of my conversation.
“Oh, yes. But I can’t use magic until I have back-up. So far, nothing I’ve tried has worked. They just end up stealing it.”
“Well, that means there’s only one thing to do,” Charlie said.
“What’s that?”
“Take this.” She opened a filing cabinet and pulled out a small satchel. “Everything you need to fight evil is in here.”
I gave her an odd look. Charlie didn’t have magic. Her talents were in managing the club so Kane didn’t have to.
She smiled. “It’s an emergency stash.”
I took it and peeked inside. There were a couple vials of potions. One was a blinding potion, somewhat similar to pepper spray, and the other was a freezing potion. Defensive stuff. Along with the potions there were a couple of herb bundles and a small dagger with a jewel-encrusted hilt. It wasn’t a demon-hunting dagger. It was too small for that, but there was magic pulsing in those stones. Protective magic. “Where did you get this?”
“Bea. She said they’re already spelled, so even those of us not blessed with magic could use them in an emergency. It’s a mundane’s survival kit for those of us caught in the crosshairs.”
I shook my head, marveling at Bea’s thoughtfulness. Putting my friends in danger was always one of my biggest fears. The items in the satchel weren’t going to stop a demon on the loose, but they could slow one down long enough for someone to get the heck out of dodge. I wasn’t sure what any of the items could do for me back at Jackson Square, but at this point anything was welcome.
“Thanks.” I hugged Charlie. “Put the word out to stay away from the Square, would you? If anyone makes noise about heading that direction, steer them elsewhere for now.”
“Will do, Jade.” She gave me a small smile. “And you be safe, all right? I expect to see your gorgeous face tomorrow for Christmas dinner. And if you’re laid up recovering…again, and I have to suffer through another night of Lailah and Lucien arguing about the state of the witch community, you’re going to pay. I’ll make you suffer. Got it?”
I chuckled, remembering her horrified expression on Thanksgiving after the pair had gotten into an hour-long, technical debate about the magical properties of the incredibly phallic-looking clam, the geoduck. It turns out, there are some rumors it’s the next big thing in treating erectile dysfunction for magical beings. Lailah and her significant other, Jonathon, had been a part of the initial testing.
I grimaced, remembering her tale of Jonathon suddenly being unable to stop himself from making out with an actual troll. A small gray one with yellow teeth. A shudder ran through me. “I hear you. No one wants to suffer that fate.”
“Good.” Charlie smiled, the humor reaching her pale green eyes. “Because it’s all about me and my needs.”
“Obviously,” I said, laughing, and then I sobered. “Seriously, if you see Kane, we could use him and any of the other demon hunters. I’m not sure exactly what is going on, but it’s not good.”
“I’m on it.” Charlie put her arm around my waist. “Let me walk you out so no other customers get any bright ideas.”
“Thanks,” I said gratefully, not blaming the man who’d asked for a lap dance. I had dressed to elicit that very reaction, albeit, from my husband.
Charlie escorted me back into the middle of the club, near the invisible portal. Then as nonchalantly as I could, knowing Charlie would brush off any awkward questions if anyone noticed, I stepped back into the shadows and right back into Jackson Square.
And reappeared sitting on Santa’s lap.
5
“Whoa!” I jumped up, intending to scramble off Santa’s lap, but the man’s—no demon’s—arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back. He wore the traditional Santa suit, except for his hat. It was black velvet. He was Evil Santa.
“Well, well, well,” he said, in a ho, ho, ho tone. “What do we have here?”
“Let go,” I ordered, my body coiled, ready to strike.
“I don’t think so.” He waved a hand at the crowd. “They’re waiting for the show to start.”
It was then I noticed I was back on the stage, both of us sitting in the Christmas queen’s chair. And right in the front row of the audience were the dozen elves, each of them kneeling on one knee as they scowled at us.
“It’s ingenious, isn’t it?” he asked conversationally.
“What is?” A small twinge of magic stirred in my chest. If I used it on him, would it work? Or would he be able to absorb it just as the elf had? I had to pick my moment carefully and be ready for both scenarios, otherwise this could end very badly for me. I couldn’t outmuscle the demon. His strong grip meant he could take me straight to Hell if he wanted to. Getting free was priority number one.
“The way they managed to harness the magic pulsing through the Quarter in order to rise. And then they tapped you and the rest of these parasites to steal your energy… It’s a thing of beauty. History in the making. Really impressive.”
“Parasites?” There was no hiding the disdain in my tone. If anything demons were the parasites. They got their
power from human souls.
He laughed evilly, his talons pressing into my skin, a not-so-subtle threat that he’d have no problem slicing me to shreds if he decided I was no longer of use. “Careful, white witch. Or when I send those elves straight back to Hell, you’ll be first in line.”
The hell I would. But right then was not the time to argue. I was too busy watching Pyper inch toward the stage. What was she up to? I wanted to shout, to tell her to stay away. Or to send her back to the house to wait for us, but I couldn’t without drawing the demon’s attention to her. She wouldn’t anyway. Her loyalty was unwavering.
The demon was too distracted to notice her making her way onto the stage, though. He was eyeballing the souls trying to escape Hell. He raised his hand and pointed at the tall skinny one right in the middle. And once the elf was staring right at him, Santa demon slowly curled his hand into a fist.
The elf’s eyes bulged and the illusion of his flesh stripped away, leaving only the decrepit, decayed skeleton of a lost soul.
Horrified anger exploded in my chest. Suffering in Hell until the end of time as the demons fed off him was the worst fate anyone could suffer. No one deserved that. Not even the worst among us.
Not trusting my magic, I defaulted to self-defense mode. While the demon was busy torturing the elf, I jerked my arm up, and with every bit of force I could muster, I jammed my elbow into the crook of the demon’s arm.
He grunted, more in surprise than pain, but it was enough to break his hold on me. I jumped to my feet and spun, facing him. Magic tingled at my fingertips. I could still feel the echo of his talons on my bare skin, and the desire to blast him with everything I had consumed me. And as the demon lurched forward, I brought one hand up and unleashed a torrent of destruction on him, hitting him squarely in the eyes.
