by Faith Hunter
Twins stopped spinning power. Carmen’s power blew away like mist in sudden breeze. “That’s Jane,” she said. “What is she, if she isn’t a were-cat?”
Molly tilted head. Looking into Big-Cat eyes, wanting to hide Jane secret. To hide Beast.
Inside head, Jane sighed. Crap, crap, crap.
“Sorry,” Molly whispered. To sisters she said, “Jane is a skinwalker. And she has magic of her own.” To Beast, she asked, “Did you stop that thing?”
I hacked and sat down, backside on porch floor. Retracted claws, front paws crossed like housecat. Beast is no pet, I thought. Is not owned. But I closed lips on killing teeth. Looked safe to prey. Twin witches stepped back, opened hands. Power blew away like dust and shadow.
Heard roar from far away. Loud. Tilted head. Car coming. Noisy engine.
Molly looked at her watch. I looked at sky. Much time had passed. Looked at road.
Molly whispered, “Evangelina. She must have felt it when we disrupted her garden circle. She’s home early.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
If He Moves, You Can Eat Him
I trotted to edge of house, under plants and herbs, more rosemary like Molly’s, but bigger. Smell was hot, spicy, green. Earth was warm under paws. Hunger clawed at belly. Needed food. Needed to hunt.
The car Jane called sports roared around corner. Back of car swept back and forth like fish’s tail. Sounded alive and angry, charging bull. But car was not alive. Jane said so. Wheels shot small rocks like weapons into trees. Good car for hunting. No roof. Good for chasing prey and leaping out of. Could chase bison in car.
Evangelina sat in car, face in snarl. Witch energy was like thick cloud around her, pink and black, like sunset and rain clouds. Angry power, racing with red motes. Car roared toward witch sisters, coven master coming. I growled in warning, hunger twisting belly tight.
Time did not change for me, as it does for Jane when she fights. Fight or flight. Body reacted, instantly. Claws came out. Pelt stood up across shoulders. Snout opened, pulled back to show killing teeth. I growled.
Molly smelled of fear, fear of sister, fear of coven master. Reached out with both hands. Pulling power from garden, from trees and plants. Rosemary shriveled and dried, leaves stinking, falling on big-cat in brown rain. Liz dropped hands to earth, to draw from minerals in dirt and stone, her face white. Cia reached to sky, to draw from moon; moon far away, not in sky until dark. Carmen closed eyes and laughed, drawing in air. Wind swept through trees, growing strong. But not fast enough.
Sports car growled, slowing, tires blacking road, squealed like prey, bumped into drive. Many small rocks flew from tires. Car rocked. Stopped. Many things happened fastfastfast.
Evangelina gathered ball of pink and black energies in hands. Stood on car seat. Threw energies. Pink light and black shadow flew through air. Scarlet motes flying with ball, trailing it. Carmen mouth opened in shock. She pushed at air. Wind flew from her.
Liz picked up stones.
Pink ball of energy wobbled through witch wind. Hit Carmen in chest. She made strange sound, grunting, and fell back. Landed in bushes. Bounced to ground.
Molly threw small ball of light at Evangelina. It spread like web, like net. Landed over her. Evangelina screamed. Stabbed at net of light with fingers. I crouched. Hissed. Evangelina made same sound as Beast. Tore hole in net, blacked edges stinking like burned bodies. Charred.
Carmen made mewling sounds like hurt kit. Pink energy spread over her. Scarlet motes sank into her. Her clothes smoked. Flamed. Her skin was red and blistered beneath it. Burned. Body started to twitch, red motes flashing under skin.
Liz threw stones. First one hit Evangelina in hip hard. Angry witch caught second one. It was white, a stone from witch circle. Stone grew in her hand. Liz mistake, to spell Evangelina’s rock. She heaved it back at Liz. Harder. Faster. It grew in the air, like boulder. Molly formed another net, hands working fast. Liz dove to side. Threw handful of spelled sand into air. Big white rock crackled, passing through sand. Followed Liz. Hit her. Threw her across dirt.
Molly tossed new net of light and life, this one green. Flowers in garden, fruits and vegetables, trees and shrubs withered, browned. Died.
Molly is stealing life, Jane shouted inside head.
Molly’s net landed over Evangelina. Net was bigger than last one. Liz fell to ground. Lying under big rock, heavy. Molly’s net wrapped around angry Evangelina witch, like arms of octopus on TV. She screamed. Hurt.
Carmen rose onto elbow. With one burned hand, pointed at sports car. Air swept up. Gathered dust and dirt and stones and dead plants. Whirled like tornado. Hit car. Air wrapped around Evangelina. On top of Molly’s net of light. Carmen lay back. Chest heaving. Smelling broken. Singed, burned blood.
Pink and black energy gathered around car. Scarlet motes flashed through mist of power. Grew thicker. Shadows formed spears, black and cold as iron, dark as night sky. Spears tore at layered nets. Burned holes in magics.
Cia held hands together, clasped. Spread fingers and separated hands. Moonlight, soft and glowing, filled space between them. Stones in her necklace split and broke as power came from it. She was making a net. But moon was far away. Slow magic by day.
More dark spears gathered. Facing at sisters. Spears narrowed. Grew barbs. Sharp.
Witch sisters were trying to trap Evangelina in cage of magic. Evangelina was trying to kill sisters to take their power and blood. I gathered limbs tight. Shoulders high. Raised head. Screamed challenge. Shoved off with all paws. Leaped.
Molly shouted, “Jane! No!”
Long leap through air. Paws passed through spears. Burning. Burning. Hurt. Hungry. Angry! In midair, I snarled. Hit Evangelina in chest. Claws hooking into witch flesh. Witch body falling. Out of car. Rode body to ground. Killing teeth locked on witch throat. Tasted blood.
Jane wrenched at body. Tried to be alpha. Something touched Beast-mind.
Everything in world went silent. No noise. No sound. No sight except for angry fearful witch eyes. No smells except for witch blood. No taste but witch blood. But did not bite down. Did not tear out throat of enemy prey. Wanted to. Was stopped.
Felt heart of prey beating fast under paws and chest. Panting breath of terrified prey. She was afraid. Smell of fear was good. Tried to bite down. Could not. Blood taste was delicious. Hunger clenched at belly. Needed to bite down. Needed!
Hand touched my head. Human hand. Little. I tilted eyes up. Angelina stood beside us, one hand on Beast head, one on Evangelina chest. Little witch moved dress and found necklace on Evangelina. Pink diamond, gold chain. Angie wrapped blood-diamond in little fist. Black sparks flashed out between stubby fingers. Dark life, black lightning. Sparks landed on Beast pelt, burning. I growled. Black sparks were sign of Angie-magic. Had seen them before. Bright sparks did not burn Angie Baby’s hand. Scarlet motes flowed up Evangelina’s skin. Almost as if alive. Like mites racing, like rats running from floodwaters. Flowed up and out of her. Into gem.
I looked at Evangelina’s eyes. She was angry. Was stopped like Beast.
Frozen, Jane thought. She froze us.
Am not cold, I thought back. Stopped. Not frozen.
Molly and Cia knelt on either side of downed witch, Cia holding ball of moonlight. Molly unhooked Evangelina’s necklace and left it in Angie’s fist. Cia lay glowing ball on Evangelina’s chest and opened fingers. Net spread out from them, wrapping angry witch. Glowing trap like spider’s web. Breath eased in angry witch’s chest. Heart slowed. Her eyes closed.
“It’s okay, Aunt Jane. She’s asleep now,” Angie Baby said. “I’ll let you go, but you can’t bite her, okay?” I growled. Angie made small fist and thumped my head, between ear tabs. Jane laughed deep inside and I growled again. “You can’t bite her,” Angie said, “biscause I won’t let you. And that might hurt you.”
I hissed again, but lips covered teeth. Relaxed body. Showed submission. Unhappy. Wanted to kill witch. Wanted to. Felt Angie Baby let me go. Felt Beast-pow
er flow into body. Narrowed eyes at little witch. But let go with teeth and pawed away from fallen angry sleeping witch. Sat near Molly-van, grooming pelt and burned places on paw pads. Licked away flavor of witch. Tasty. But Beast not happy. Jane not happy. Jane couldn’t shift into Jane until night. Part of Jane skinwalker magic—unless death threatened, could not shift until night. Beast was alpha in daylight. Felt happier at thought. Could sleep in hot sun. Maybe could hunt bear!
Looked at witches. Still unhappy. Molly crying, trying to get phone to work, but magic had ruined phone. Cia trying to roll stone from Liz. Carmen trying to breathe, breath from lungs smelling burned. Scarlet motes still raced under her skin. I/we had seen this before. Was magic of pink diamond, magic of witch vampire who Jane killed with sliver of BloodCross.
Padded to stone lying on top of Liz. Braced paws into dirt. Shoulder onto boulder. Pushed. Stone wobbled. Cia called, “Molly! Help here!” I waited until Molly was at stone. “On three,” she said. Which was good. Beast could count to three. “One. Two. Three!” We all pushed. Stone wobbled. Liz made broken sound. Rock rolled off of her.
Sisters were crying. Silly kits. I padded to Angie Baby and sat beside her. She was still holding pink diamond. Red motes ran fast over her fist like bugs on burning ground. I dropped head and nudged her toward Carmen, witch with burns. Witch with red motes under skin. Angie looked at me, prey eye to predator eye, unafraid. “What, Big-Cat?” she whispered. I huffed, amused. Big-Cat was grown up name. Angie Baby was not allowed to use it. I nudged her again.
Jane peered out of cat eyes and saw red motes and burned Carmen. Molly, still shaking phone, trying to fix it, was holding hose, as if thinking about washing burned Carmen with cold water. Cia was hugging Liz, crying. Crying loud. I nudged Kit witch, but she did not understand.
Oh, Jane breathed. Of course. But, crap. I can’t tell her.
I opened mouth and placed killing teeth around Angie’s wrist, close to fist holding gem. Teeth gentle. Careful as with own kit, not to break skin. Pulled. I led her to Carmen. Lowered head and placed fist onto Carmen chest.
Red motes raced across Carmen’s flesh and dove into the diamond. Carmen gasped. “Coolio!” Angie said. “Mommy, look! See? I was smart to hide in your van!” I bent over hurt witch, smelling burned flesh and burned breath from her mouth and lungs. Carmen was in danger. She had no beast to shift into to heal. I huffed. Carmen might die. Jane made sound as if her kit or mate were injured. I walked away, tail low. Sad. Hungry. Jane was grieving.
Went into house of sleeping angry witch. Hooked burned paw around door handle of cold-food-place. Pulled. Inside, found many clear plastic dishes, some smelling of cooked pasta, cold and slimy. Cooked brown rice, cold and sticky. Cooked beans. Cooked fish! Using killing teeth, I pulled pasta and fish from cold-place. Tore into dishes, spilling food to floor. Settled to eat. Not hot witch blood. Not fresh blood of prey. Not bear or deer or rabbit. But enough for hunger clawing at stomach. Good fish. Lemon sauce and capers, Jane said. Oh. My. God . . . this is so good. Jane looked at kitchen floor. And this is such a mess.
Back outside, I groomed pelt and claws and watched witches pull injured sisters into shade. Molly talked to Angie about healing. About how body worked. Angie was too little. Was confused. Molly should just draw on Angie’s power to heal them, Jane thought, watching, intent.
Kill kit, like she killed garden, I thought back. Take too much life.
Jane looked around garden with cat eyes and said word for sex. Didn’t understand why dead garden made her think about sex. Bruiser and Leo and Rick made Beast think about sex. Humans were confusing. Lay head on ground, tilted so sun would warm ears. Closed eyes.
Time passed. Heard familiar sound. Raised head and huffed warning at Molly. She looked up. I huffed again and stood, turned head to road. Old car came down road, old car with rattling insides, not alive, but near death, black smoke for breath. Stinky. Big Evan’s old car.
“Thank God,” Molly said. I snorted. Big Evan was not god. Evan parked dying car and got out. Took Molly’s and Cia’s hands and put them on hurt sisters. Burned smell began to go away. Mewling sound from Liz stopped. Evan was good healer with air magic.
Long time in sun later, injured witches were better, enough to take to hospital. Boadacia—Cia twin—drove Molly-van to hospital. Big Evan carried Evangelina into house and I raced to follow, curious. He dropped her onto rug. She landed with bumping thuds. I hacked, amused. Big Evan looked at me and shrugged. “Oops.” But looked satisfied. Angry. Witch Evangelina was once leader of coven. Was zeta bitch now. Least in pack-coven.
Evan put Molly and kits down for nap on Evangelina’s couch and went into basement. Beast followed big male witch, mate to Molly. Stepped over Jane-clothes and claws. Evan stood at bottom of stairs with hands on hips, studying room. Saying things low, under breath. More sex talk about mothers. Humans think of sex at strange times. Jane laughed. I did not understand.
Evan pulled things from pockets and threw into room. His magic was dust on air. It smelled like bee sting, hurt nose. But magic of summoning the two-natured faded. Gone. Big Evan had good magic. Wanted to watch Evan. He studied salt circle and hedge and things inside it. The wolf blood in circle was gone. Demon looked hungry. Smelled dead wolf death-stink under bee-sting-magic-smell. More of small wolf was gone, eaten. Alive wolf looked sick. Afraid.
Sitting as far from hedge as silver chain would allow, Lincoln Shaddock was awake. His flesh smelled sick where silver touched him. Big Evan went upstairs to stinky, dying, rattly car and got rattly metal box. Beast followed like dog. Don’t like dogs, but curious about Big Evan. Stayed by his leg, full of many questions. Back in basement, Big Evan took things from box and put metal square with teeth against shackle. Said to Shaddock. “You try to bite me when I set you free and I’ll use one of Janie’s little knives to make sure it’s your last meal. I made her this one.” He lifted knife sheath that Jane had worn. Pulled vamp-killer; held silvered blade to light. Handle was made of carved elk horn. Jane’s favorite knife. “And I know how to use it.”
Evan pulled wooden handle back and forth across shackle. Made ugly sound, loud. I lowered ear tabs to protect ears. Hacksaw, Jane thought. Now why didn’t I think of that? Except that I thought the shackle was spelled. Big Evan used big hands to bend shackle open. And pulled Shaddock to corner of room. The two males talked softly, but Beast heard.
“Why didn’t she put you in the circle with the wolves?”
“She did. Most scared I’ve been since I died the first time. Woulda crapped my britches if I still did that kind of thing. It bit down with its beak, took a taste, and spat me out. Told her I tasted like spoiled milk and rotten cheese.” Lincoln was watching Big Evan’s neck where pulse beat. But he didn’t bite. He put the back of hand over his mouth and pressed. I smelled vampire blood. Did not smell like bad cheese; smelled tasty. I did not understand demon and cheese. Was confused.
Lincoln took a breath and said, “It’s looking for something it can possess. It wants something capable of being two-natured, which it plans to kill, and possess just at the moment of death. Bring it back without the occupying soul. But the weres are already two-natured, and they don’t die like it wants. Every time it brings them to the point of death, they shift instead of dying. It doesn’t want a maimed host, but it’s getting frustrated. Impatient.”
“Go on,” Big Evan said, his voice rumbling, like a growl.
“Humans are single natured, useless to it. And as far as it’s concerned, I’m dead.” Lincoln grinned up at Big Evan, who was staring at demon in circle. “So it wants a witch.”
Big Evan’s hands curled into fists bigger than Beast-paws. He looked at Lincoln with death in his eyes. Big Evan would be good hunter. Was good strong mate to Molly and kits.
“Don’t re-kill the messenger,” Lincoln said. He laughed. “Actually it wants Evangelina.”
“If it wasn’t for Molly fighting me every step of the way, it could have her.”
�
�Maybe not. It wants to possess someone with power, power that can be used in this world with no cost to itself—possession without the fight against the resident host soul. Witch magic to burn. Evangelina feeds it with her blood.” The vampire pointed with long finger to the hedge. “Look close. That thing has a tail tethered to the floor in the middle. That’s where she put her blood. When she wants in or out, she cuts her hand and drips some into a bowl. Holds it in front of her and crosses over the salt ring into the circle. The thing stands in the back of the circle until she’s done whatever it is she wants to do. Then she pours her blood onto the middle of the floor, and the tether gets bigger, stronger. And she leaves.”
“The demon talks?” Big Evan asked. “Can it be killed?”
“Evangelina understands it. I can make out some words here and there. Ain’t English. Not exactly. And it’s immortal, or so I’ve been led to understand.”
“So we have to find a way to bind and banish it again.”
The demon trilled a challenge. It did not want to go back to its place of darkness.
“You should ask my angel, Daddy.”
Big Evan whirled. Was suddenly holding Jane’s claw, her knife. And was standing between hungry vampire and kit. I hacked. Amused. Big Evan was nearly as fast as vampire. Good, good hunter. I padded slowly between Big Evan and Angie Baby. Sat on bottom step, on Jane clothes, that had ended up there, during shift. Flexed claws out and in and out. Showed Lincoln killing teeth. Will kill you like liver-eater. Will kill you like deer. Will kill you like male big-cat that killed my young, if you try, I thought at him. I let him see his death in my eyes. Growled low.
Lincoln looked at Molly’s mate. Looked at me. Thinking. “I have enough control left to not make a meal out of your little girl. Or out of the witches outside. Or the baby and your woman upstairs,” Lincoln said. His head tilted, like a snake. He looked sly. “Even poisoned and drained, I can wait until dark to hunt and feed.”
