Souls of Three: Book Two of the Starseed Trilogy

by Ashley McLeo

  “Should we grab something as a weapon?” a wizard asked, glancing at Sylvia, who had yet to display any form of magical prowess.

  “If you’re not already armed that’s not a bad idea. Make sure it’s something small, and preferably iron if you can identify it, but only if you can still use your wand. Lily, you take this,” Aoife said, shoving a rusted trowel into Lily’s hands.

  Lily ran her thumb over the wooden handle as she stared down at the trowel. The common tool she had used many times when assisting Em and Annika in the garden was now something else. A weapon. An iron weapon. She recalled Gwenn stating iron, a metal deadly to fairies, was hypothesized in the folklore to also be lethal to the ancestors of all magical beings on Earth, the fata. Aoife thinks Noro is up there, too. While Lily had thought the same thing many times, she hadn’t dared to broach the question out loud. It seemed too crazy to think they might run into a magical alien at any second.

  “You alright, Lily?” Alfred asked. He was glowing again, having picked up a little magical energy on their run to the door.

  She nodded and followed Aoife up the winding staircase.

  The kitchen was huge, silent, and spotless save for the dust that lay thick on the marble countertops. Have we stumbled upon a wing of the house that no one uses? Does that mean the other squads are being bombarded while we explore? Aoife must have had the same idea because she flew up the next flight of stairs.

  “Aoife. Should we—?” Lily stopped short when she found Aoife circling the gardener’s room.

  This room, too, was empty and larger than any other bedroom Lily had seen in real life. Unlike the kitchen the bedroom appeared lived in. Plates of half-eaten fruits and vegetables in various states of decay dotted side tables and the naked mattress nestled in a canopy frame. Piles of paper covered the floor along with a rumpled sheet and a dozen decorative pillows.

  Lily bent down to examine a sheet of paper at her feet. Small dots, lines, and words she recognized as astrological names covered the paper’s surface. “What is this place?”

  “I’m not sure . . .” Aoife said, pausing in her examination of a star chart at her feet. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s someone’s room. Someone who presumably has an obsession with astronomy and astrology.” She held up a handful of astrological charts.

  “And has magic,” Alfred said and Lily noticed his hands cracking and popping like the flash of a camera. “I can sense a residual power, though it’s like nothing I’ve come across.”

  Lily’s eyes met Aoife’s, and she knew they were thinking the same thing. This was a fata room.

  “Alfred, pick up as much power as you can from here; we may need it. You two,” Aoife pointed to Jo and a wizard, “stay with Alfred while he collects power. Lily and everyone else will come with me.”

  “But I thought we weren’t supposed to split up,” Lily said glancing at Alfred.

  “Plans change, Lil. We may need whatever energy Alfred can collect more than we need three extra people right now. We’ll be searching this floor for Evelyn. Alfred, just make sure your group finds us when you’re done.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Alfred said taking Lily’s hand and squeezing it with a devilish wink that made her head swim.

  What has come over me? Lily wondered, squeezing Alfred’s hand in return before rushing out the door behind Aoife. A clatter of metal, shouts, and cracking of wood hit her ears as she entered the hallway.

  “This way,” Aoife said, sprinting toward the commotion.

  Lily raced after her aunt, her breath tinged with panic. Closer, closer. The word repeated over and over in her head as the screams, yells, and moans grew louder.

  And then they were there, looking over the edge of an enormous spiraling marble staircase at the fighting below. Lily spotted Brigit and half of Beta Squad, though not the flashing red hair she’d hoped to see, battling their way through two dozen hairy, half-transformed men.

  “Should we help?” Lily asked watching Roger, in a surprising show of power, slam a werewolf against the wall with a blasting spell.

  “Do you need to ask?” Aoife asked and shot a ball of fire at a werewolf. Flames ate at the were’s fur and he rolled to the ground to put it out.

  “Mahasoka,” Lily murmured and vines shot from her fingertips to bind the same were’s feet and legs together.

  “Nice! That spell’s a favorite of Gwenn’s, too. I’ll stun the rest and you clean up with the vines? Quinn, you help, too. Everyone else, watch our backs.” Sylvia, Eros, and the rest of their group turned to face opposite sides of the hallway, guarding the witches as they sniped.

  Within thirty seconds they had a dozen weres bound on the floor.

  The moment the last were fell, Brigit glanced up, mouthed her thanks, and waved them on.

  “Now that they have that lot under control, let’s search the rooms for Evelyn,” Aoife said.

  “Down there!” Sylvia said, her usual soft-spoken voice projecting despite the chaos. “The first door on the right, someone opened it and poked their head out.”

  “You’re up then, Sylvia,” Aoife said, as they approached the door Sylvia had pointed out.

  Sylvia nodded, widened her stance and readied her wand.

  “Cover your ears, Gamma Team,” Aoife instructed.

  “But why—?”

  “Do it, Lil,” Aoife said, and Lily turned to see everyone else already had their hands over their ears.

  Okaaay, Lily’s brows furrowed as she covered her ears.

  Without further explanation, Aoife planted her hands over her ears, kicked open the door, and jumped back.

  An otherworldly shriek sounded, shaking the entire hallway. Lily’s legs buckled. What the hell?

  Then she saw Sylvia, wand raised and mouth open, projecting a soul-shattering scream. Visible sound waves shot from Sylvia’s lips, creating a rippling effect in the air into the room beyond the door.

  “Brilliant, Sylvia,” Aoife said as Sylvia’s mouth closed and the vibrations in the air ceased. She stepped over the threshold and examined its occupants. “Witches, fae, and daemons. No vamps or other. Someone should wait in the hall so Alfred can find us and come mop up. It looks as if they were ready to pounce on us.” She gestured to a man who’d fallen to lay half on, half off a luxurious day couch. “There’ll be loads of wayward power in here.”

  “One step ahead of you, Aoife,” Alfred said, running into the room his skin a luminous yellow-orange. He shot Lily a lopsided grin and a sigh of relief escaped Lily’s lips. He's safe . . .

  “Alright, you two, there’ll be time for flirting later. Alfred, make it snappy. Lil, bind this lot up and we’ll keep moving. I’m going to check the attached room.” Aoife approached the door on the opposite side of the room, arms extended, only to find two more passed-out creatures on the other side of the door. “And don’t miss in here, Alfred and Lil!”

  Lily stuck out her tongue at Aoife then performed eight vine-rope spells in rapid succession. Alfred was still collecting energy when she’d finished so Lily fell into step beside Sylvia. “What kind of supe are you?” Lily asked, trying to pry her mind from Alfred’s deep dimples as the squad moved on.

  “Half banshee, half witch. Shame is I got the weaker half of both. I’m shit at magic without a wand and have only got three good screams in me before I’m toast,” Sylvia shrugged, “Ma always said use what you got, though.”

  “Are they dead?”

  “Knocked out. Witches, fae, weres, and daemons can’t handle the high vibrations. If there’d been a djinn or vamp in here, they’d have been fine more or less. It depends on how close the creatures are to humans. That’s why the rest of you had to cover your ears. We can’t be hauling around our passed out squadmates.”

  “That would be a problem.” Lily agreed.

  “Alright, Gamma Team, it’s time to divide and conquer that maze of rooms we talked about. If we clear them all and don’t find Evelyn, we move up to the top floor. Alfred, Sylvia, Lily, and Eros, yo
u stay with me. The rest work your way down the rooms on the other side of the hall. Quinn, you lead your half. We’ll meet you at the end of the hallway.”

  Though Lily knew it made sense given the awkward layout and size of the manor, her nerves jangled at the idea of being separated from her squadmates. She hoped that despite their lackluster performance thus far they would surprise her. Like Roger. Yea, they’re all super secret ninja witches like Roger.

  As they moved on, Lily was both relieved and sick to find that while all the rooms on their side appeared lived in, they were also empty. Have we wasted our time on this floor? What’s happening on the other levels? I hope everyone is safe.

  “All clear on this side,” Aoife said, sweeping through the final back room on their side of the hallway unimpeded. “Let’s go check on the others.”

  They arrived in the hallway just in time to see Quinn scramble out of a door, blood pouring from a gash on her arm and a pair of clawed hands reaching out to pull her back in.

  “Lotu!” Lily cried.

  Her charm hit its mark and the arm flew backward to bind against the body of a muscular man.

  “Shut it!” Quinn screamed.

  Aoife shot the man back into the room with a spell and slammed the door while the rest of Gamma Squad raced to help Quinn.

  “What happened?” Lily asked, pulling the zipper on her healer’s fanny pack open and assessing what she had that could help.

  “It was a massacre.” Tears shone in Quinn’s eyes. “Felix and his pack were in there.”

  “Are they all dead?” A lump rose in Lily’s throat as she dabbed Quinn’s wound with disinfectant.

  “Not all of them. Sally and Todd died fighting, but they captured the rest. Took them upstairs—there’s a servant’s stairway on the far side of each room on this side. They could be anywhere by now.”

  “So there’s no one in there?” Aoife asked.

  “Positive.”

  We’ve lost almost half of our team already. Tears sprung into Lily’s eyes as she recalled the joy and subsequent spark Jo, the enerkinesis witch she’d met only hours ago, expressed when they’d shook hands. She wouldn't have been so happy if she knew what was coming. Lily wiped her eyes and turned her attention resolutely back to Quinn’s arm.

  “I can’t stitch that up, it’s too large and the stitches won’t hold if you move anyhow, but it’s clean now and I can place a benda charm over it so nothing can touch it. A real dressing would probably hinder your ability to defend yourself. I also administered a strong tincture of Shepherd’s Purse and yarrow so the bleeding would stop. Try not to hit it on anything,” Lily sighed and her hands dropped to her side.

  “Let me help.” Eros bent down to kneel by Lily. “Elf healing differs from a witch’s. I can seal the wound but you won’t be healed on the inside and it may still hurt when you move. Is that something you want, Quinn?”

  Quinn nodded, her face set into hard lines, “As long as I can fight, I don’t care what you two do.”

  The skin on Quinn’s arm puckered and bubbled like a stew over high flame before growing and stretching taut over exposed flesh. Lily glanced at Eros whose hands stopped moving as soon as the skin sealed. Wish I could heal wounds that quick.

  “Are you fit, Quinn?”

  Quinn grimaced but nodded.

  “Good. I want us all to stick together until we get up that staircase. We’ll reassess once we see what’s happening on the next floor.” Aoife knelt and helped Quinn to her feet. “Alfred, you look ready to explode; you cover Quinn. Lily, don’t leave my side.”

  Screams and the tinkle of breaking glass grew louder as Gamma Squad neared the staircase. Lily peeked over the banister, her eyes sweeping the first floor for a hint of bright red hair but finding none. Brigit and Mary, too, were absent, indicating that Beta Squad had made it to the top floor. So far, so good, Lily thought turning and bounding up the stairs with her squad.

  Ten steps from the top a strangled scream sounded. Lily started and crashed into Aoife, who had stopped dead in her tracks. Aoife whirled about, righted them both, and extended her hands to fight.

  “A fireball.” Sylvia shook out a smoking sleeve and pointing to the right, eyes wide with terror.

  Lily followed Sylvia’s finger to find a spell fly straight for her. She ducked and a stream of magic flew over the banister grazing the end of her ponytail with a sizzle.

  “Arma!” Aoife yelled, throwing her arms in a wide circle to encompass them all. “Stay behind the shield. Those were just loose spells. No one’s actually seen us yet, but as soon as we crest the staircase, they will. We move forward together until we have to fight.”

  A clamor of crashing metal, shattered glass, shouts, and mangled screams rushed forth with each spell that hit Aoife’s shield. Still, the shield held strong as Aoife pushed more power into it so that it could absorb enemy magic and heal itself in an instant.

  As they summited the top of the staircase Lily’s eyes widened at the scene before them. They were in a ballroom of sorts.

  A ballroom transformed into a battlefield.

  An uncountable number of bodies sprawled out across the polished marbled floor, some tied up while others lay gutted or with their eyes wide open. My tying up and leaving my enemies days are over. Her healer’s fingers curled in instinctive revulsion at the thought and she shook her head. Toughen up, Lil! It’s fight or be a pawn. I can do this!

  A cascade of fireballs sparked in Lily’s peripheral vision. She swiveled her neck to see Brigit flinging fire at a vampire so covered in blood, it made Lily’s heart seize. She found Mary next, her white camo popping out of the mayhem and her blonde hair whipping around her face as she dueled another witch. A few witches Lily recognized from Jane’s group had made it to the top floor, too. She was still searching for Sara when a bright ball of light across the room caught her attention.

  “What is that?” Lily asked pointing to the neon ball of light.

  “No freaking way,” Alfred’s eyes lit up. “Looks like I have a date with another daemon. This should be fun. I don’t get to practice with daemons at my level often,” he said, walking toward what Lily now realized was a glowing man with a vicious smile on his face.

  Aoife lifted her shield, allowing Alfred to pass under before resetting it.

  “Should someone—?”

  “No. Let Alfred do it, Lil. That daemon over there has absorbed too much energy. Fighting him would just give him more. It’s best that another daemon handle him. Alfred knows what he’s doing and if he’s as good as Jane says he is, Alfred can absorb whatever the daemon gives off when he defeats him.” Aoife squeezed Lily’s hand.

  Lily nodded, not entirely convinced as she forced her eyes off Alfred’s back and into the raging crowd, searching for the smallest hint of red or flashing copper.

  And then she saw her. Sara, all the way on the other side of the ballroom, was like a phoenix, alive with fire, and battling two witches at once. Three huge stained-glass windows framed her small form, the colors within them dancing and flashing with the fire Sara flung about.

  “Lift the shield. I have to help Sara,” Lily said.

  Two more spells hit Aoife’s shield precisely where Lily stood and she winced. Bad timing . . .

  “We’ll help her, but you must stay with me. You two are far too important to lose, and we still have to find Evelyn. We’ll run to Brigit, grab her, then on to Sara. Everyone else, join the fight where needed!”

  Lily nodded. Having Aoife and Brigit with her could only help her chances of saving Sara.

  “Shield down on three, two, one!” Aoife released her shield and they all crouched low as a dozen incoming spells flew at them, missing them by inches. Aoife grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her into the fray, straight toward Brigit, who like her youngest daughter was now battling multiple adversaries.

  “Impingo,” Lily cried, deflecting a spell destined to hit Brigit straight in the chest as Brigit went on the offense shooting a stunning spell s
o strong at one wizard that he fell to the ground like a log.

  Aoife tossed a shield between Brigit’s back and a black-haired vampire who was creeping up behind her. The vampire launched himself into Aoife’s shield and Lily pumped a fist in the air. They were at Brigit’s side seconds later, shoulder to shoulder.

  “Ahh,” a vicious voice hissed at Lily’s back and she whirled about to see a blur of motion come to a stop, revealing a vampire more feral in appearance than Empusa or Amon. The vampire smiled, blood dripping from his cheeks and hands. “Noro will be pleased to see you here. We may get a three for one special tonight.”

  Noro is here! The hair on Lily’s arms stood up.

  “Not if we can help it,” Aoife said, summoning a massive flame gate around them to close the trio in with the vampire.

  The vampire’s face fell and Aoife constricted the circle, closing them in tighter and tighter. “Let me out. You’ll regret it if you don’t. I’m Empusa’s favorite son,” he begged, all bravado gone as the end of his life flashed before him.

  “Somehow I doubt that,” Aoife said with a smirk as twenty balls of fire flew effortlessly from her outstretched palms.

  Lily’s mouth gaped as the flames incinerated the vampire. No wonder the Acolytes had sought other creatures as reinforcement. She hadn’t seen her aunt in action last time.

  “Nice one, Aoife,” Brigit said, slapping her youngest sister on the back with a smirk.

  Aoife released her flame gate to reveal the witch whose spell Lily had deflected minutes earlier waiting behind it, her wand pointed straight at Lily.

  “Aber-, a . . .” Lily, surprised at the witch’s sudden appearance, faltered with the spell.

  But Brigit was on it, “Volavari.”

  The witch’s wand dropped from her hand as she flew to the top of the rafters.

  “Yea, Brig!” Aoife cheered, grinning as the witch scowled down at them.

  “Didn’t mean to take that from you, Lil. It was a mom reflex,” Brigit said, shooting Lily a sheepish glance.