Loch Nessa

by Clare Kauter

  “It helped a little,” I said. “But Daisy told me it would take time for her magic to come back in full force. She said they’d need to heal and that crystals and potions weren’t going to speed that up much.”

  Henry pursed his lips, obviously trying not to get angry. “And why exactly didn’t she tell me this?”

  “I don’t know. I think she thought you were a little, uh, irate at the time.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Oh really? She thought I was irate that she killed the three of you and rendered you completely helpless for days afterwards? Why on earth would she think that would make me cranky?” He placed his hands over his eyes, breathing deeply, before sliding them down to his cheeks, stretching the skin of his face. “So you mean to tell me that they went in there while their magic wasn’t working and got themselves captured?”

  With a grimace, I nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

  “Idiots.”

  “I think they thought they were doing us a favour,” I said. “Going in there alone.”

  “Some favour,” Henry scoffed. “Now we have to rescue three witches instead of one.”

  “Do you have a plan?”

  He sighed. “Nope. I haven’t got a clue,” he replied. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any ideas?”

  “I’ve got one,” I said, “but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

  CHAPTER 22

  HE CRINGED. “Oh no, who is it? Death? Satan?”

  “Now, Henry, that almost sounded like you didn’t want to spend time with me,” came Satan’s voice from above.

  I fought back a laugh as Henry visibly paled.

  “It’s not Death or Satan,” I said to Henry. Turning my head skywards, I continued, “But thank you for the offer.”

  “Always, my dear.”

  An idea struck me. “Actually, Satan,” I said.

  “Yes, darling?”

  “You don’t know anything about this death cult of werewolves, do you?”

  “What would you like to know?”

  I peered across at the island. “The way they’re moving tables and chairs into that cemetery and setting up light orbs and stuff, it looks like something’s about to happen.”

  “Of course it is, my dear,” she replied. “It’s full moon. The ritual’s tonight.”

  “And what exactly is the ritual?”

  “Ooh, it’s not pretty.”

  I grimaced. If even Satan thought it was ugly, that did not bode well.

  “It involves human sacrifice, doesn’t it?”

  Satan didn’t respond. I sighed helplessly. The dragon had already told me as much, but I had hoped he’d been exaggerating. Silly of me, I know. Of course it involved human sacrifice. Of course it did.

  “Do you know what it’s all about?”

  “I do.”

  I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. “And?” I prompted.

  “I’m afraid I can’t really tell you, dear.”

  “What do you mean you…” I trailed off. “Oh, hell. It’s got something to do with me, doesn’t it?” I’d been hoping for once it had been about a different king.

  Her silence was confirmation enough.

  I rolled my eyes dramatically. “Why do people always have to sacrifice someone in rituals that have to do with me? What do they think I am?”

  “To be fair, you have sacrificed a few people yourself in your time.”

  I glared at Henry with such force that he took a step back.

  “What’s wrong, Henry? Afraid that I might murder you?”

  “If looks could kill, I suspect that I’d already be dead.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much, Henry,” said Satan. “If it comes to that, Nessa is a very gifted necromancer.”

  Henry’s eyes widened. “I knew it!” he hissed at me.

  Necromancy was hugely illegal and generally frowned upon (except for the government-approved type performed by the coven). From the moment I’d met Henry, I’d wondered if he’d been sent to ‘audit’ me because rumours of my past exploits in raising the dead had reached The Department’s ears. Now my suspicions were confirmed. I didn’t think Henry was likely to turn me in this late in the game, though. Otherwise I could dob him in to Daisy and Hecate about his plan to search their bags.

  Satan continued, “Of course, that would only be good until your body began to rot. And you’d be stuck in one form inside your slowly decaying corpse while Nessa held complete power over you and dictated your every move.” She paused. “Perhaps there is something to worry about.”

  Henry looked slightly ill as he listened to her words.

  “Play nice,” said Satan, and she left us to our conversation.

  “Anyway, as I was saying, I think we might need to call someone in.”

  Henry stared at me blankly. “Right.”

  I frowned. “You don’t need to be so panicked. I’m not going to murder you.”

  “Maybe not on purpose.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Look, do you want to rescue the others or not?”

  For a moment he seemed to be really considering leaving them to die. Finally he sighed. “I guess.”

  I raised my brows at him. He shrugged.

  “To be honest, this constant danger thing is wearing a bit thin.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I said, “Welcome to my life.”

  He nodded. “It’s a wonder you’re as sane as you are.” He sighed. “Fine, what’s this idea that I’m going to hate?”

  Rather than answer, I decided just to perform a quick summoning.

  When Ed popped into the clearing, Henry threw his hands into the air. “Why am I even surprised anymore?”

  “If it’s any comfort, Henry, I have to admit that I’m surprised too,” said Ed. He looked at me. “What are you doing?”

  “Daisy and Hecate have been captured and they’re going to be sacrificed by a werewolf cult tonight.”

  “Well, thanks for heads up. I guess I can finally stop worrying about them tracking me down. Not that they were having a lot of luck, seeing as they’re still so focused on tracing the Doomstone.” He glanced at Henry. “So, is Henry part of our little criminal gang now?”

  “No,” spat Henry.

  “Pity. Would have been nice to have a mascot.”

  “Children, please,” I said. I turned to Ed. “I didn’t call you here to tell you that all your problems were solved.”

  “Of course not. You called me here to use me.”

  “Are you really shooting for the moral high ground, Ed? After everything you’ve done?”

  “Hey, at least I didn’t try to make poor Henry think he was crazy to save my own skin.”

  “No, if it had been up to you, you would have just murdered him to get him out of the way.”

  Ed shrugged. “You shouldn’t rule it out, that’s all I’m saying.”

  “You need to help us rescue them.”

  Ed laughed. “Oh, wow. That’s amazing.” He gave me a slow clap. “Brilliant.”

  “I can see why you always call him for help,” said Henry.

  “Jealous?” said Ed.

  “Ed, you are going to help us.”

  “Why?”

  “The wolves are going to try to summon me tonight.”

  “And?”

  “And that means they have one of the companion items.”

  “And so do Hecate and Daisy,” said Henry.

  “And?”

  I frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

  “Why would I care?”

  “Because – because – what?” I was confused. Ed had always wanted to be involved in this sort of thing before. Why wasn’t he jumping at the chance now?

  “Those witches want to lock me in a tower for eternity,” said Ed. “I’m sorry, but my loyalty to myself is stronger than my loyalty to you.”

  Anger spread through my body. Every part of me, from my toes to the tips of my hair, sparked with fury. When I spoke, my voice didn’t sound like my own. “If you don�
��t help me now, Ed, I swear to you that I’ll make you regret it later.”

  Both Ed and Henry stood staring at me for a beat, mouths agape. “Uh…” said Henry.

  “OK,” said Ed with a gulp. “What do you need me to do?”

  “You’re in?” He’d agreed a little faster than I’d expected for someone who’d been so adamantly against helping a second ago.

  He nodded. “You look like you might eat my soul if I don’t do what you want immediately, so yes, absolutely, I’m in.”

  “Good.” I turned to Henry, who was still staring at me, eyes wide open. “Are you OK?”

  He jumped and shook himself at the sound of my voice. “What? Yes. Good. Fine. Wonderful.”

  I sighed. “What happened?”

  “What do you mean?” Ed asked.

  “When I got up you. What happened?”

  He spent a few seconds choosing his words. “You just, um, were very regal.”

  “It’s too late to get on my good side, Ed.”

  He shrugged. “It was worth a try,” he said. “You just looked really scary. And the air started to crackle a little. And there was, like, a mild earthquake.”

  “Really?” How had I not noticed that?

  He nodded. “It was a bit terrifying. But hey, I’m in now. No need to resurrect and then kill me again or anything.”

  Inhaling deeply, I decided to ignore him. “We need a plan,” I said.

  “You could probably walk in there and do what you did just now,” Ed said. “I don’t think anyone would defy you.”

  “I don’t even know what I just did, much less how to replicate it.”

  “I’m happy to annoy you again if you like,” said Ed.

  “I wouldn’t suggest it,” I said.

  He put his hands up in front of himself. “Of course not. No more annoying you. Got it.”

  I thought for a moment, trying to come up with some sort of plan. A thought occurred to me.

  “Can you shift into a wolf that looks like the ones we saw last night?” I asked Henry.

  He frowned at me, clearly not liking where I was going with this.

  “I don’t like where you’re going with this.”

  “Can you do it or not?”

  “I could,” he said slowly.

  “Excellent.”

  “But they’d sniff me out in an instant. I smell like a shifter, and even if we could somehow disguise that, my magic is light type. How exactly are you planning on masking that?”

  “Well, Gladys managed to hide her dark type magic from you,” I pointed out. “Clearly there’s a way.”

  Henry sighed. “I don’t know why you think –”

  “Ed, am I right about Gladys?”

  “You’re right about Gladys,” he confirmed.

  “See?” I said to Henry.

  “He’s just saying that because he’s scared of you.”

  “Ed, are you just saying that because you’re scared of me?”

  “Nope, I’m not just saying that because I’m scared of you.”

  Henry tried again. “Why do you think she’s evil?”

  “She was hiding her magic from you. Don’t you think that seems evil?”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “She has goat feet,” said Ed.

  Henry turned towards him sharply. “What did you say?”

  “Goat feet. Feet of a goat.”

  Henry bit his lip. “Oh.”

  “Oh?”

  He sighed. “If what you say about her feet is true, you could be right about Gladys.”

  I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to elaborate.

  “The Department has been searching for a creature for years – half woman, half goat. Apparently she…”

  “Yes?”

  “Lures travellers off course and kills them.”

  “I knew it.”

  Henry sighed. “It’s not necessarily her.”

  I rolled my eyes. He and I both knew perfectly well that it was her. “We need to stop arguing,” I said. “They could start the ritual any moment and we have to get there before they murder anyone.”

  “Why?” asked Ed. Henry and I glared at him. “I’m just saying, it would help me out if they were dead.”

  “Ed?”

  “Yes?”

  “Unless you have a plan, shut up.” He shut up. “OK, now maybe if I cast a ward around you, Henry, it will obscure your magic enough for the other wolves not to notice that you’re a shifter.”

  Henry’s face told me that this was about the worst plan he’d ever heard.

  “Shut up, Henry.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Your face said enough. We’re kind of on a tight deadline, and unless you have a better idea –”

  “We should call someone in.”

  “Who – Gladys and Fach?”

  “OK, no, but –”

  “Will the local magical police get here in time?”

  He sighed and shook his head, looking defeated. “OK, your terrible plan it is.”

  “Good. Now, Henry is going to shift into a wolf, I’ll ward him, and Ed, you tell me if you can sense his energy.”

  Ed nodded and Henry did as he was told. Once I’d cast the spell, I turned to Ed, eyebrows raised in a question. He shook his head. He couldn’t sense anything beyond my dark(ish) energy.

  “They’ll still be able to smell me.”

  “I could just cloud your smell,” said Ed. “In fact, I could just cloud all of us and we could walk in.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to rely too much on clouding spells.”

  “Why?” they asked in unison.

  I just looked at them and raised my eyebrows. They caught on at the same time.

  “It took weeks for mine to start cracking,” said Henry. “It seems unlikely that you’ll break the spell in the time we’re there.”

  “I agree,” said Ed. “The risk is negligible. Besides, you’ve spent plenty of time with those witches and their clouds haven’t broken.”

  “Yet.”

  Ed gave me a slow grin. “Rethinking rescuing them now?”

  “I can see through clouding spells now,” I said, ignoring him because he was annoying and definitely not because he was right. “I’m getting stronger. And if they start the ritual while we’re over there, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  “I don’t think it’s anything to worry –”

  “We can cloud his scent. Other than that, we’re sticking with my plan. The pack is big enough that Henry will be able to blend in – the other wolves will just assume he’s from a different part of the forest. As long as they don’t sniff him out we should be safe.”

  “Should be,” Henry murmured.

  I ignored him. “Henry is going to take me in and pretend he captured me.”

  “What?” said Henry.

  “I second that what,” said Ed. “That’s a terrible idea. Why the hell would you –”

  “Because then they’ll take me to the dungeons or wherever it is they’re keeping the others and I’ll be able to get them out. Ed, you’ll cloud yourself and look for the chest.”

  “Uh…”

  “The others won’t see you. Only Henry and I will be able to. And even if someone else does spot you, you can just pop back to Hell.”

  “What chest?” Ed asked.

  “It has another companion item in it.”

  Ed raised his eyebrows. “So that’s what you’re doing now? Going after the companions?”

  “No, I’m just –”

  “So you’re going to hand it over to The Department.”

  I glanced at Henry, who raised his eyebrows at me. “Um, I…”

  “Obviously she’s not going to hand it over,” said Henry. “It would be better if we could get it before the witches see it, so they don’t know it’s missing.”

  “They don’t know the wolves have it?”

  “They might suspect, but unless they see it with their own eyes th
en they have no way of confirming it,” said Henry. “It would be best if we didn’t let that happen.”

  “And that’s my job?”

  “I guess so,” said Henry. “Personally I’m not thrilled about our plan relying on a bank robber and murderer who’s on the run from the very people we’re trying to rescue, but needs must.”

  “Ouch, Henry,” said Ed, pressing his hand to his chest as though Henry’s words had hurt him rather than just been one hundred percent true.

  “Ed won’t let us down,” I said with much more confidence than I felt. Of course Ed would let us down. Had he ever done anything else?

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Because I’m the king of something, and he needs me to light up his magic rock and destroy the world or whatever he has planned.”

  “He nearly bailed on us once already.”

  “And he’d better not try it again,” I said, giving Ed the side-eye.

  “I won’t,” he said. “I’ll help. Just as long as you don’t arrest me afterwards.”

  “Don’t screw up and I won’t have to.”

  CHAPTER 23

  HENRY and I waited under the cover of the trees by the side of the water while Ed headed over to the island to scope it out. The sun had disappeared completely now and the moon was rising, bathing the entire forest and lake in blue light. The wolves were still bustling around in the graveyard, setting up orbs for lighting and putting out chairs. Judging by the number of seats, this was shaping up to be quite a party. I wondered who the chairs were for. It wasn’t like wolves needed them.

  My question was soon answered when I noticed a number of boats approaching the island from all sides. While the guests were too far away for me to see them properly, I could feel their energy radiating out across the water, which wasn’t covered by the same oppressive cloud of darkness as the forest. Whoever was going to visit the wolves, they had the same strange energy about them.

  “Can you see who they are?” I asked Henry, who was in owl form.

  “All kinds of creatures,” he said.

  “They have the same magic as the wolves.”

  “I know.”

  “Something to do with the ritual?”

  Henry morphed back into his human self. “That would be my guess.”

  “Is that what’s causing the dark cloud over this forest? Whatever this ritual is?”