by Sarah Piper
Asher nodded once, then headed off, leaving me to it.
Taking another deep, steadying breath, I shucked off my clothes and folded them into a pile behind another tree. The air was crisp, the chill breeze raising goosebumps all over my body and turning my aforementioned nipples into stiff peaks, but any discomfort was quickly overridden by the absolute rightness of the moment.
Beneath a pile of dried leaves, a thick layer of moss carpeted the ground, soft and welcoming under my feet. I closed my eyes and curled my toes into the earth, shedding everything that stood between me and this pure, uncorrupted connection. My mind stilled. My fears, my obsessions, my worries, my thoughts… All of them melted away until there was only this. Only now.
Kneeling on the ground, I got comfortable and got to work, laying out all the supplies I’d brought.
First, I poured a circle of sea salt around me, enclosing myself inside the ritual space and asking for protection from anything that sought to do me harm.
There were no sage bundles at the house, but I’d found some dried sage in the pantry, and now I poured it into a stone bowl and lit it, visualizing the smoke carrying away any negative energy. I’d also brought two taper candles—one white, one black, representing the forces of light and dark—and after clearing away a few leaves and sticks, I stuck them in the ground inside my circle and lit them.
Aside from tonight’s impromptu scrying, I hadn’t been able to access my magic since we’d come to the safe house, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it now.
But I had to try.
Picking up the book of shadows, I passed it back and forth through the sage smoke, cleansing away the negativity, the fear and hatred I’d felt toward my magic after losing Calla, the secrecy, the neglect.
“Release,” I whispered. “Release, release.”
The book felt instantly lighter.
After the sage cleanse, I set the book on the ground before me, pressing one hand to the cover. With my other hand, I drew a pentacle into the air, then closed my eyes, visualizing the moonlight on my skin, bathing me in her pale blue beauty.
I called upon my magic, remembering how it felt when it swirled low in my belly, its embers sparking to life inside me.
And then I waited.
And waited some more.
When I finally felt called to open my eyes, the scene before me remained static, but the familiar heat of my magic swirled, gently stirring to life. It yawned and stretched, and then it ignited, filling me with a tingling warmth.
It’s working!
I closed my eyes again and pressed my hands to the earth, the moss plushy and cool on my palms. Patiently I waited again, sending pulses of my magic deep down into the ground.
Seeking.
It wasn’t long before I felt the earth’s energy—her heartbeat—pulsing beneath my hands, connecting to my own magic and sending up waves of strength that spread up my arms and across my back, recharging me from the inside out.
It wasn’t imagined or metaphorical or new age dreaminess. It was real, and so beautiful it made me ache.
The earth’s innate magic was fueling my own, bonding with it and creating some new, powerful whole so much greater than the sum of its parts. It filled me completely, expanding inside me until I feared I wouldn’t be able to contain it.
Slowly I leaned back, breaking the connection and moving my hands back to the book. The energy still flowed into me though, ropes of glowing green that wrapped around my hands and crept up my arms, similar to the black tendrils I’d so often encountered with my own magic, only this kind was pure and incorruptible and good.
I’d brought Sophie’s blade—a connection to my best friend, a witch who I’d always carry in my heart—and now I used it to slice the tip of my finger. I squeezed a few droplets of blood onto each candle. The flames flickered at first, then surged brightly.
I’d rushed out of the house so fast I hadn’t stopped to prepare a dedication, but now I thought of Calla and Sophie, of all the witches that had walked this path before me, and the words flowed out effortlessly.
“By light of moon, ‘neath shadow of tree
Let all I once was join all I shall be
Open this channel so that I may see
And come to embrace this destiny
By blood and by fire, I bind you to me
Above and below, so mote it be.”
The book heated at my words, its own energy warm and buzzing.
A grin stretched across my lips, butterflies rising in my chest. It was coming alive again. Waking up after its long nap.
“Thank you,” I breathed, wishing now that I’d brought an offering to leave behind—bread and wine, or maybe something sweet. I’d have to come back out later and give my proper thanks.
I sat back on my knees, clapping once to dispel the lingering earth magic. But instead of dissipating as it should have, the green light intensified, undulating across my skin in eerie waves.
I tried again, clapping harder this time.
The waves pulsed brighter. Faster. Deep inside me, my own magic began to swirl and spin.
High overhead, thick clouds skated in front of the moon, blanketing the woods in darkness. A stiff breeze blew into the circle and extinguished both candles.
Everything stilled. I cupped my hands in front of me, energy flaring into a blinding indigo flame between my palms. It didn’t burn.
Of its own accord, the opalescent shield I’d first seen in the alley and in Sophie’s bedroom the night of her murder appeared again, encasing me in its protective bubble.
Fear crept into my chest, spreading its icy fingers up and down my spine, but I took a deep breath and held my ground.
This was my magic, strengthened by that of the earth. There was nothing to fear. No harm would come to me.
The magic flared in my hands, and the book flipped open at my knees, pages shuffling so quickly all I saw was a blur.
It came to a dead stop at the first blank page.
By some invisible hand, words appeared across the top, glowing the same indigo blue as my magic.
The handwriting wasn’t mine.
What are the consequences of messing with a demon’s soul?
What are the consequences of messing with a demon’s soul?
What are the consequences of messing with a demon’s soul?
The line repeated a dozen times, faster and faster, then a dozen more, consuming the entire page before moving on to the next.
The dam inside me burst, my confidence crumbling beneath a wave of fear, unleashing a desperate scream.
I caught a flash of Asher’s red sweatshirt. He was moving toward me, but when I tried to call his name, something cut off my words. My head snapped backward, and my eyes opened wider, staring up at the bare branches as the world began to spin. I felt the ground beneath me come alive, sensing rather than seeing hundreds of nightcrawlers and centipedes churning through the dirt, wriggling toward me as if I’d compelled them.
“Gray!” Asher called, but I couldn’t respond. Couldn’t move my head. Couldn’t even shift my gaze to see him.
Calling on my meditation lessons from Liam, I took a deep breath, attempting to slow my heartbeat and stave off the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Focusing on the dark sky and the ground beneath my shins, I counted backward from a hundred, anchoring myself to this place. This time.
Above and below, so mote it be…
Slowly, the world stopped spinning. The force that had taken control of my body released me. Everything was still, just for a moment.
I tilted my head down and found Asher staring back at me across the distance, my magical shield keeping him at bay.
I was certain my own expression mirrored his.
Shock was the only word for it.
Where moments ago the woods had been quiet, now it hummed and chittered with life, animals of all kinds slinking out from burrows and hollowed logs and shadows.
After a beat, Asher’s eyes widened, a
nd I turned my head to find the source of his new concern.
A gray wolf loped toward us, her eyes milky white. Her once-gray fur was dingy and matted, her skull caved in at the top. One of her legs was caught in a rusty metal trap, the teeth of it embedded deep in her bone, the chain dragging behind her.
Too small to be a shifter, she looked like a regular wolf, once majestic and awesome, brought down by a human hunter’s greed.
I didn’t even think there were wolves around here. I wondered where she’d come from.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only unexpected visitor.
The stench of rot and ruin filled my nose, making my eyes water.
Behind the wolf, a coyote and her pups followed closely. The pups were bloody and mangled, the mother’s head bent at an odd angle, her neck obviously broken.
I whipped my head back around, trying to take it all in. Raccoons. Mice. Ground squirrels. Deer. There must’ve been two or three dozen animals encroaching on us, each one more mangled and decayed than the last.
They should’ve been dead.
By the looks of things, they had been.
Until now.
The realization slammed into me, forcing the air out of my lungs.
“Oh my God,” I gasped.
Pain split my skull, and I grabbed my head, trying to alleviate the pressure. Asher pounded on the shield, his eyes wide with horror, but there was nothing he could do but wait.
My vision dimmed. Blood trickled from my nose and into my mouth, dripping onto my book, the pages still glowing with that eerie script.
What are the consequences of messing with a demon’s soul?
I didn’t know if it was related to Asher’s soul, but it was clear I’d brought these poor creatures back from death. And unlike what I’d done to Bean—and what I’d tried to do to Sophie—the animals appeared to have been dead long enough that their souls had already moved on.
I’d simply reanimated their empty, rotting corpses.
I slammed the book shut and jumped to my feet, willing the connection to break. To end this magical nightmare.
Finally, the protective shield dropped away.
“Gray!” Asher charged forward.
“No! Don’t!” I held up my hands to stop him, but he ignored my feeble attempt at a barricade, crashing right through the perimeter of salt I’d poured.
Right through the very last thing that might’ve kept us safe.
Five
GRAY
Shambling.
That was the only word to describe their disjointed, unnatural movements.
Ignoring the pet cemetery unfolding before our eyes, Asher whipped off his sweatshirt and wrapped it around my nude body.
“Remember when I said I’d haul you home the minute I sensed anything even remotely fucked about this?” He pulled a bandana from his back pocket and shook it out, then pressed it to my nose, squeezing gently. “Pretty sure this qualifies.”
I nodded, but a bloody nose and a bunch of mid-sized, half-decayed animals were the least of our worries.
Ten feet away, a pair of cougars emerged from the shadows. Unlike the others, their bodies were sleek and muscled, their eyes alert. If they’d been dead at all, it hadn’t been for very long.
“Fuck me,” Asher whispered.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“Get behind me.” He reached for my arm, but the movement caught the cougars’ attention, their heads following the motion of his hands.
Together they stalked toward us, the dead October leaves crunching beneath their paws.
Taking a cue from the cougars, the rest of the animals crept closer. Some of them didn’t even have eyes—just dark, rotting holes crawling with maggots.
“Don’t make a sound,” Asher warned, keeping me at his back. It was just as well; I wasn’t sure I could’ve screamed, even if I’d wanted to.
I dug my nails into his forearm, frantically scanning the woods for an easy escape.
There was no easy way out of this.
The female cougar growled, a wheezing sound that fell somewhere between a hiss and a moan and made every hair on my arms rise.
“Ash,” I whispered. “I think she’s—”
“Move!” He shoved me backward just as she lunged for him. She bit into his thigh, clamping down hard.
“Asher!”
He howled in pain, shouting at me to stay back, but fuck that.
I got looked around for something heavy, finally settling on my book of shadows—the only thing within reach.
The cougar came at him again, but I wasn’t about to let her hurt him this time. Magic surged through my arms, and I smashed the book down over head, feeling the power of that hit. She yelped and slunk backward into the shadows, but her retreat was short-lived.
She came toward us again, slower this time, her head based in at the top. I didn’t think she could do much damage now, but unfortunately, her companion was right behind her. He dove at Asher, catching him around the calf, tearing out a huge chunk of flesh.
I hit him, too, twice before I was convinced he couldn’t attack again.
Still, the animals didn’t leave, pawing at us even as they lost steam.
“I hate fucking cougars.” I dropped to my knees and grabbed the bandana he’d pressed to my nose earlier, wrapping it around the top part of his thigh and tying it extra tight, hoping to slow the bleeding.
“Have you ever actually tried?” he grunted out. “Older women can be quite… delightful.”
Clearly, the blood loss was already affecting his cognitive abilities. “How can you think about sex when you’re bleeding out?”
“Hi, I’m… Asher O’Keefe,” he said, his breathing becoming more labored, despite his devilish grin. “Friendly neighborhood… incubus. Maybe you’ve... heard of me?”
“You do realize you’re probably going to turn into a zombie cougar shifter now, right?”
Asher forced another smile I knew was for my benefit, the pain evident in his eyes. “No such… thing,” he panted.
“Says the incubus to the witch.” I grabbed the salt and tried to reform the circle around us, but there wasn’t enough, leaving the area in front of us totally exposed.
Ditching the salt canister, I sat back on my heels, scoping out the situation. The cougars were severely weakened, but the rest of the animals were still shambling around us, their bodies twitching.
The smell was ferocious. I bit back another gag.
Asher let out a soft groan.
I checked on his wounds, struggling to keep my expression neutral. The beasts had done a number on his leg, shredding flesh and muscle. The bleeding had slowed, but only a little.
“We need to get you home.”
“Don’t bother,” he said, gritting his teeth against a fresh wave of pain. “Unless you’re… in the mood… for a quickie… I’m not strong enough.”
The cougar swiped at him again. I smashed the book down on its paw, flattening it.
Damn it, we couldn’t keep this up all night.
I couldn’t believe I was about to say this, but… “How quick is a quickie?”
Asher cocked an eyebrow. “You serious?”
I rolled my eyes and reached for the zipper on my borrowed sweatshirt, telling myself I was only doing this to save our lives. “You’re saying this will work, right? That if I give you my… energy… you can juice up in time before something else attacks us?”
“Oh, hell no.” Asher coughed out a laugh, the bastard. If the animals didn’t maul me first, that bad-boy grin was going to be the death of me. “But at least I’d die a happy man.”
“Great.” Not sure whether I was more relieved or flustered, I zipped back up, getting to my feet. Looked like I was in for a solo fight. “I’ll be very happy to facilitate your demise later. Right now, I’ve got other priorities.”
Something seemed to be riling up the other animals. The wolf wobbled toward me, unsteady but no less menacing. The coyote nudged her pups c
loser, trailed by a half-dozen mice, a nightmare formation of tiny skeletons striped with patches of matted, sticky fur.
A flightless seagull, way out of his element here in the woods, stared at us from the sidelines. With one wing and a smashed beak, the poor thing looked wasted.
“Get the hell out of here, Gray,” Asher said. He was fading fast.
“I’m not leaving you, dick.” I jumped in front of him just in time to stomp on two coyote pups. Their skulls collapsed like wet papier mâché under my bare feet.
God, I really hope they can’t feel anything.
“I’ll buy you some time,” Ash said. “Get back to the house.”
“No way. You’ll die out here.”
He shrugged, but his brave face was slipping fast. “Come back later… Give me another one of your… magical kisses.”
“Forget it, O’Keefe. That was a one-time deal.”
The milky-eyed wolf lunged for me, and I jumped out of the way just as it snapped its jaws. I leveled it with a swift kick to the side of the head, but it shook off my attack and circled back for more.
Asher cursed. “They’re… everywhere.”
He was right. The mice swarmed over his legs.
“Gray!”
I spun around, and the wolf leaped on top of Asher’s chest. Gripping my book of shadows, I swung with everything I had, caving in what was left of its skull.
Its skull. Not hers. I could no longer think of this abomination as a once-beautiful wolf.
After a last crushing blow, the wolf finally stumbled backward, dropping into a heap next to Asher.
I wondered how she’d gotten to this place. My throat tightened.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to her.
But there was precious little time for guilt. Mama coyote was nosing the ground where I’d smashed her babies, and another group of coyotes emerged from behind the sugar pines—three adult males, big and ferocious.
“Ash?”
No response. His eyes were half shut, sweat beading across his forehead. His skin was so pale he looked blue.
Fuck. Fuck!
