Children of Poseidon: Rann

by Carr, Annalisa

  Her head spun, and she felt as though she had lost one of her senses. It might have been a residue from the drugs, but she knew deep down that the nullsilver separated her from the world’s magic. She sat on the bench Alberic had placed her on and tried not to think about what they wanted with her and Seawitch and why now. A shudder of apprehension rippled through her body and sent her mind straight back to her teenage years. Her mother had made her feel just like this on the rare occasions she noticed her—fearful and expectant. A tiny seed of anger took root in her.

  What right do they have to treat me like this?

  A high-pitched scream from somewhere in the basement jerked her out of her introspection. She shifted forward, her head tilted to catch any sound, but the air remained still, and the cry was not repeated. She collapsed back against the wall and waited, focussing on her breathing.

  Footsteps approached the door. A key rattled in the lock, and Kara stepped into the cell. “Hello Jewel.”

  Jewel scrambled to her feet. “What do you want with me?”

  “Alberic will be down in a moment. He’ll explain.”

  “Mother, you can’t just—”

  “Be quiet.” Kara’s voice was sharp. “You are going to do something useful for us. You should be grateful to have the opportunity.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “We’re going to perform a power ritual.” Kara took another step towards her. “You will play a vital part in it. Alberic says you are a huge bonus, and fate must have brought you back at just the right time. I can’t say that I’m glad to see you, though.”

  “Fate.” Jewel sat down again. She wanted more information than that. “If you think I’m going to play any part in your black magic ritual, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  A smile spread across Kara’s face. “You won’t have any choice.”

  Jewel’s eyes narrowed. “What are you planning?”

  “You know you’ve always been a disappointment to me?” Kara folded her arms. “Now you have a chance to serve your family. That’s what I’ll remember you for.”

  Jewel studied Kara’s face.

  Remember me?

  She didn’t like the sound of that. “Tell me.”

  “You wouldn’t understand.” Kara’s expression conveyed contempt. “It’s an esoteric form of magic. Beyond your scope, I’m afraid.”

  This sounded worse by the minute. She glanced around. There was no sign of Alberic yet, so she took a chance and launched herself at her mother. She thought maybe she could get past her and escape from the mansion. Kara staggered and fell back. Regaining her balance, she hissed some words under her breath, and a shooting pain shot through Jewel’s head, blinding her. She hesitated for a moment.

  “Sit down.” Her mother used the power of her voice.

  Jewel found herself sitting before she had time to think about it.

  “If you try that again, I’ll really hurt you.” Kara glanced at the bracelets round Jewel’s wrists. “And you couldn’t be a threat to me even without those.”

  Jewel took a couple of deep breaths while the pain in her head faded. She knew her mother was right. If it came to a straight fight between them, Jewel was toast. She wasn’t giving up, though. She figured Kara would drop her guard at some point, and Jewel could wield a blunt instrument as well as anyone else. She looked down at her hands, then up again as her mother’s attention wavered.

  “Alberic?”

  The dark mage walked into the room. He wore formal robes; a long, dark, hooded cloak hung open over them.

  “Jewel.” He smiled with satisfaction, as he inserted a note of concern into his voice. “You’ve recovered from the sedative then?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Have you told Jewel what her role is, tonight?” He glanced at Kara.

  “Not yet. I thought you could do that.” Kara gave him a besotted smile.

  “Your unborn sister must be given every opportunity we can find for her,” Alberic said. “I’m sure you’ll agree with that?”

  Jewel stared at him.

  “There is a ritual which will practically guarantee that she will be born with superior magic powers,” he continued. “It takes a life force, though.”

  Jewel’s stomach cramped, and she fought not to hunch over and hug herself.

  “We thought we’d use Gwen.” Alberic frowned. “But your appearance in London gives us much better material to work with. You are a blood relative. Your blood will call to the child’s. Do you understand?”

  Jewel shook her head, although she was afraid that she did understand, and she didn’t like it at all.

  “Gwen—” She started to ask what had happened to the other witch.

  “Gwen’s pregnancy was very fortuitous,” Alberic said. “She was very glad to help Kara with the ritual.”

  “Did she realise it would kill her own baby?” Jewel meant to keep him talking as long as possible, hoping she could find a way out of the situation. She couldn’t think otherwise or she’d turn into a screaming wreck.

  “She never knew.”

  For a moment Jewel felt sorry for Gwen but realised that her own situation was as bad, if not worse.

  “The problem,” Alberic pursed his lips, “is that Gwen’s baby’s death fuelled the life of our child, but any magic she has will be purely chance.”

  “We need better odds than that,” Kara interjected.

  “So we can use your magic to gift the child,” Alberic explained.

  “You’ll take my magic?”

  “And your life will amplify the gift.” Kara told her.

  Jewel felt the warmth drain away from her face. Her mother planned to kill her. “You can’t do this.” Her voice trembled. “You do realise that, don’t you?”

  Kara looked puzzled. “Why not?”

  “It’s forbidden. Every coven member would rise against you.”

  Kara gave a snort of contempt.

  “And the other covens would move against you as well.”

  “They won’t,” Alberic said with certainty. “Your coven members are a bunch of sheep. And I have Meryll locked up down here.” He smiled. “My secret weapon.”

  “What?”

  “Her store of death magic. It’s enough to deal with anyone who tries to mess with us.”

  “You can’t—”

  “We can. I’ve tested it, and I can release and direct it without harming myself.”

  Jewel felt herself hyperventilating. She inhaled slowly and counted to ten. It didn’t help much.

  “Once the Dark Master had filled her, I saw what an asset she might be,” Alberic continued. “That’s why I risked freezing her and taking her with me when I left the Dark Coven.”

  “Dark Coven?”

  “All the Dark Master’s acolytes died or went insane,” Alberic explained. “I escaped when I had the chance.”

  Jewel thought he was probably much too late, if he’d hoped to escape madness. At least she knew roughly where the Dark Master might be hiding now. Although whether she would live to pass the information on was a question she didn’t want to explore.

  “Mother, you don’t want to do this.” She hated the note of pleading in her voice, but surely her mother didn’t hate her enough to kill her.

  Kara’s eyes shone like polished marble. “Shouldn’t we be starting?” She spoke to Alberic.

  “You’re right. There’s no reason to wait.” He took Jewel by the arm and led her out of the cell. She pulled back. No way was she going quietly to her death. Alberic jerked on her arm, and she staggered forward.

  “Let me go.” Her voice sounded weak and squeaky. She cleared her throat.

  “Don’t make this hard on yourself,” Alberic said. “You have a cen
tral and honourable role in this. Don’t spoil it with tantrums.”

  Jewel was so surprised she let him pull her forward a few steps.

  Tantrums? Honourable? He really is mad.

  She slapped at his head and kicked out.

  His expression darkened. “You are making me angry.”

  He pulled her to him and wrapped one arm round her throat, gripping a handful of hair with the other. He pushed her ahead of him, kneeing her in the spine whenever she struggled. It hurt, but it didn’t stop her. She wriggled wildly, and he tightened the arm round her throat. There was no air, she couldn’t breathe, and her vision went dark. A few red spots flashed past her eyes before he loosened his grip. While she drew in a huge lungful of air, he pushed her forward. By the time they reached the large meeting room, Jewel was almost unconscious, and her back and throat hurt so badly that the deep breaths she took when she had the chance almost had her blacking out from the pain. As they passed the end of the hallway that led to the cells, she thought she caught sight of someone sprawled on the floor.

  Gwen?

  She had far too many other problems to think about it much.

  “Prepare the circle.” Alberic held on to her as he told Kara what to do. His grip on her throat tightened enough to keep her short of breath and unable to fight back or even to think. Jewel had a blurred image of her mother moving about, making marks on the floor, and adding things to the marks. A foul smell forced its way into Jewel’s limited air supply. She gave a strangled sob. Alberic guided her forward and spun her round so that he stared into her eyes. Red strands in black swirled as he breathed orders into her mouth.

  “Move not.” Her body went still. He lowered her until she lay flat on the floor. Bending over her, he snapped off the nullsilver bracelets. Jewel felt the magic slam back into her, but in her paralysed state she could do nothing with it.

  This must be how he immobilised the seawitch.

  Alberic stepped away, turning to face Kara. She handed him a knife with an ornate handle and a long narrow blade. He knelt beside Jewel’s prone body and carefully cut her clothing away, removing it bit by bit and tossing it aside. Jewel strained to move, but her body wouldn’t even twitch.

  I’m going to die.

  She didn’t want to die. Her island home formed a picture in her mind.

  I’ll never see it again.

  An image of Rann’s face, relaxed and seductive, drifted across her consciousness.

  I’ll never see him again.

  She concentrated on her muscles, her body screaming with effort, but she still couldn’t move. She couldn’t even weep.

  Once she was naked, Alberic took her arms and stretched them out at right angles to her body, then pulled her ankles apart. He surveyed her with a satisfied expression. Her pulse rate leapt from rapid to manic, and again she tensed every muscle in her body in her urge to escape. She wanted to scream, to be sick, to turn the knife on the mage, but the only parts of her body she could move were her eyes. Alberic rose to his feet and raised the knife. Kara began to chant.

  The ornate iron gates were closed and padlocked.

  Maya spoke into the intercom. “Maya Redcar. Let me in.”

  Rann hovered behind her, waiting for the gate to be opened. Kara’s mansion was securely locked up, the gates sealed, the brick walls towering above his head. It wouldn’t stop him if he wanted to get in, but he was prepared to wait if the guard would open the gates for a couple of seconds at least.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Redcar.” The guard did sound genuinely sorry, but a note of fear lay at the back of his voice. “Miss Vargas said no one was to be admitted tonight.”

  “Oh did she?” Maya sounded grim. “Lila?” She lowered her voice. “Can you persuade him?”

  “I’ll try.” Lila stepped up to join her sister.

  Rann pulled her back. “We haven’t time for this.”

  He stared at the gates and the wall. His power came from the sea, but he wasn’t entirely helpless. He took a deep breath. Lykos touched his arm, and he turned on him in annoyance. Thunder rumbled round the neighbouring mansions.

  “Let me help.” His brother’s eyes narrowed as he assessed the barrier. “The rest of you? Step back. Stay out of the way.”

  “Concentrate on the hinges.” Rann glanced at Lykos, who nodded.

  A slight wind stirred, and the wire on top of the fence began to vibrate. Dust rose from the ground in small swirls and flew towards the gates, which rattled ominously. With a strident howl, one of them came free from its moorings, toppled sideways, and flew across the grounds, coming to rest in a tangle of metal bars.

  “There.” Lykos urged the others forward. “We can go through now.”

  Rann led the way. The guard was foolish enough to step out in front of them. Rann seized his gun and broke it in half.

  The guard stared. “Who are you?”

  He followed them for a few steps. “She’ll kill me.” His skin paled. “If I’m lucky.”

  Maya turned round. “Why don’t you wait at your post? And give me your phone. Please.” She put a note of command into her voice. The guard had obviously been selected for his ability to resist vocal suggestions, because he frowned at her. He shook his head, hesitated, but handed the phone over.

  “Thanks.”

  Rann waited for Maya to catch up. She knew the coven headquarters better than anyone else. She’d been mentored here by Kara, and she’d attended meetings before Kara had stopped communicating with her council. He hoped she could lead them to wherever Jewel was being held.

  She has to be all right. What does Kara want with her? She’s her mother. Surely she won’t harm her.

  “What’s the quickest way in?” Rann knew he could easily break into the house, but it would probably be best to be discreet about it.

  “We’ll go in at the back,” Maya told them, “where the servant’s entrance is. It leads directly into the kitchen.”

  “Do you know where they’ll be?” The mansion was huge, and Rann didn’t want to have to search it, or alert the occupants to the arrival of the rescue party.

  “I should think they’ll hold them in the cells.” Maya strode round the side of the house. “That’s in the basement, where the meeting rooms are. Remember where Micael’s trial was held?”

  Rann remembered the trial but had no clue how to get to the place where it had been held. He just had to hope that Maya knew where to go. He glanced round. Damnam was at his elbow, uncharacteristically silent. Lykos, Lila, and Fergal weren’t far behind.

  “Through here.” Maya pushed a door open into a small utility or cloakroom. She opened a door from there into a hallway and bumped into a maid.

  “Miss Redcar?” The maid sounded flustered, as well as frightened. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t—”

  “What’s going on?” Maya grabbed the girl’s shoulder. “Tara? You’ve got to tell us?”

  “I don’t know.” The girl’s face was pale and her eyes red rimmed. “They’re going to do some sort of ritual. Miss Kara is acting really strange. I think they’ve got the daughter.” She grabbed Maya’s arm. “And Gwen . . .” Her voice trailed off. “Miss Redcar? I think she’s dead.” She started to cry.

  Rann pushed Maya aside and took hold of the girl’s shoulders. He gave her a small shake, and she hiccupped, but stopped sobbing. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and looked up at him.

  “Where are they keeping Kara’s daughter.” He felt her tremble under his hands, so he injected a soothing tone into his voice. “No one’s going to hurt you. But you must tell us.”

  “I think they’ve got her in the cells. Both of them.”

  “Both?”

  “The daughter and the spooky one.” The girl shivered. “The mage brought her out, and Gwen just fell down.”<
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  “Seawitch.” Maya glanced at Rann. “Looks like he took the nullsilver off.”

  “My seawitch?” Damnam’s eyes flashed blue fire.

  The maid jerked loose from Rann and backed away. With a terrified glance at Damnam, she spun round, pulled a door open, and disappeared through it.

  “Well done.” Maya rolled her eyes at Damnam.

  “Maya?” Rann took her arm. “Come on. Let’s find those cells.”

  Maya set off down the corridor. Rann followed closely. A door at the far end led into another corridor, concrete underfoot and lined with doors. She touched one. “I don’t know what’s inside. They’re impregnated with nullsilver. I don’t want to walk in on an unbound seawitch.”