After a moment she felt a soft furry face nuzzling her hands. She looked up and Beau sniffed her face and licked her chin.
‘Hey boy,’ she whispered dropping her knees so he could climb up into her lap.
He padded over her thighs with soft paws and rubbed his face against her chest and neck, nuzzling her lovingly as if he knew she need the contact.
‘Hey baby,’ she wrapped her arms around him stroking his soft body.
Her eyes filled with tears as he rubbed his face against her cheek. She stayed there for a few moments just absorbing the simple uncomplicated love of her dog. She looked up as the door opened slowly and Mac appeared in the doorway. He pulled the door to behind him and sat down on the cold floor next to her.
‘Was wondering where you got to.’
Olivia loved the sound of his voice, the low gravelly quality of it that just washed over her.
‘Needed some space,’ she explained quietly.
‘You and Theo have a fight?’
‘Something like that,’ she shrugged.
‘It’s more than that though isn’t it?’
Olivia sighed and laid her head back against the wall as Beau circled and settled comfortably in her lap.
‘What is it Olivia?’
‘Everything and nothing,’ she sighed and ‘everything in between.’
He sat silently, waiting for her to organise her thoughts.
‘I didn’t want this, I didn’t want any of it. All I wanted was a quiet life. I wanted to settle down and maybe one day have a family of my own. But my life since I’ve come back to Mercy has been some horrific, never ending nightmare of murders, bodies, ghosts and demons and don’t even get me started on the issues with my parents. Everyone looks to me as if I’m supposed to solve all these problems, but why me?’ she muttered, ‘I’m no one special.’
‘I think you’re wrong about that Olivia,’ his voice was low and soothing. ‘I’ve seen the things you can do, but putting that aside, people naturally gravitate to you because you just have this quality. It’s like you’re the calm at the eye of the storm. You exude strength and courage and that’s what people reach towards.’
‘I don’t feel very strong, I feel like I’m flying apart at the seams and nothing is going to be able to hold me together.’
‘I think you’re wrong about that too,’ Mac smiled.
‘It’s so unfair Mac,’ she frowned, ‘this is not what I want my life to be.’
‘When destiny comes calling we rarely have a choice Olivia.’
‘Destiny?’ she scoffed.
‘You don’t believe in destiny?’
‘If I believed in destiny that means are lives are already planned for us, there is no such thing as free will and nothing we do matters.’
‘Everything we do matters,’ Mac looked at her with piercing dark blue eyes. ‘Okay let’s simplify, sometimes bad stuff happens and someone needs to deal with it, so ask yourself this.’
‘What?’
‘Would you trust anyone else to do it?’
She frowned thoughtfully and then sighed. ‘I guess not,’ she replied wearily.
‘We can’t always have what we think it is that we want,’ he told her softly, ‘but sometimes…just sometimes, we end up with something better.’
She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, there was something about Mac that she found so soothing. It was like everything in her calmed and she felt safe. Maybe it was because he had been the one to hold her, back in Philly, after she thought her mom was dead and her father had just been arrested. Ever since then she’d unconsciously equated him with being saved.
‘I’m glad you’re here Mac,’ she whispered.
‘I’m glad I’m here too.’
The door opened once again spilling a bright light across the pair of them. Charles stood in the doorway looking down at them, his expression unreadable.
‘Louisa and Tommy are getting ready to leave,’ he told them.
Mac stood, slowly pulling Olivia up with him as Beau leapt from her lap.
Olivia nodded and passed her father, following Beau out of the kitchen and back towards the library.
As Mac moved to do the same Charles stopped him.
‘Problem?’ Mac asked coolly.
‘Not at all,’ Charles responded. ‘I just thought I’d let you know you’ll be partnered with me at the South end of the lake.’
‘Why?’ Mac replied as he studied Charles’s guarded expression, ‘why me?’
‘Tommy will be protecting Louisa and Danae will be with Davis, that leaves you and Miss Mason. She is better off with Jake at the North end, as it should be one of the quieter spots.’
‘Maybe, but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?’ his eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘The South end of the lake is closest to the Boatman isn’t it? You need someone to protect the circle once it’s cast.’ ‘God damn it’ he realised, ‘you’re going after her aren’t you? You’re going after Isabel?’
‘That’s not your concern,’ his gaze hardened.
‘The hell it’s not,’ Mac growled. ‘She’s a murderer and in case you haven’t noticed I’m still a cop. If anyone is going to be dealing with her it’s me.’
‘She’s my wife, my concern, my problem.’
‘No way,’ Mac shook his head. ‘You said, once the circle is cast it’s protected?’
Charles’s jaw clenched but he remained silent.
‘I thought so,’ he replied. ‘Once the circle is cast we both go after her and we take her alive. You may be pissed as Hell and I don’t blame you, but taking her alive and letting her stand trial for what she’s done is the only way to clear your name. We go together or we don’t go at all.’
‘Fine,’ Charles answered coldly.
‘I mean it Charles, you try to double cross me or leave without me and I’ll put a bullet in you. Nothing you won’t recover from of course,’ he smiled nonchalantly.
Charles turned abruptly on his heel and headed out of the kitchen.
‘What do you mean you’re my partner?’ Jake frowned.
‘Charles said I’m to partner up with you and cover the North bank,’ Veronica told him.
‘No way in Hell.’
Her eyes flashed dangerously.
‘You’re not going,’ Jake insisted stubbornly, ‘it’s too dangerous.’
‘Louisa’s going and you’re not having a hissy fit about that.’
‘I am not having a hissy fit,’ he replied indignantly, ‘and that’s different. She is going to be inside the circle and she has Tommy to protect her. I’m going to be trying to cast a goddamn spell which I have never done before in my life. I’m not going to be able to protect you.’
‘That’s why I’ll be there, to protect you.’
‘Are you kidding? Roni you trip over your own feet half the time.’
‘Well then,’ her eyes narrowed, ‘if I trip I’ll be sure to take some of them with me.’
‘You think this is a joke?’ he shouted.
‘Do you see me laughing?’ she snapped, stepping closer to get right up in his face, despite the fact she only stood as high as his chest and had to tilt her head up to look at him.
‘You’re not going and that’s final,’ he crossed his arms stubbornly. ‘I’ll be just fine on my own.’
‘Well that’s not going to happen; I’m going whether you like it or.’
‘She’s a fiery little thing isn’t she?’ Danae murmured to her brother.
‘He’s right though, she is clumsy and inexperienced. She probably wouldn’t last two seconds out there. You saw her when she came across the Janns,’ he replied quietly.
‘That’s because she wasn’t prepared and it was a shock; my money’s on her.’
‘Twenty says he wins this one,’ Davis murmured under his breath.
‘Done,’ they slapped palms lightly.
‘No you’re not,’ Jake hissed,
‘I’ll handcuff you to the damn chair if I have to.’
‘As fun as that’d be,’ she returned sarcastically, ‘I’d just get Charles to let me back out again. Four teams of two, one to cast the circle, one to protect. You think Charles is going to risk one of the corners not being called while a Hell hound is busy using you as a chew toy?’
Jake’s eyes flashed dangerously and his jaw ticked in anger but he remained silent.
‘You think I’m not scared?’ Veronica told him ‘well I am, I’m terrified. Right now I think I would actually prefer being struck by lightning then face those creatures. But I’m still going and you know why? Because it’s the right thing to do, because if they get loose everyone suffers. So I’m going to take my shotgun and I am going to march out there and protect the people I care about, protect the town I’ve chosen to call my home and god damn it I’m going to protect you too, even though you’re thick-headed, stubborn and a royal pain in my ass. If they want to hurt you they’ll have to go through me first, whether you like it or not.’
She finished up, her eyes blazing with anger and flounced out of the room in righteous fury.
‘Oh I like her,’ Louisa murmured.
‘Jake,’ Tommy slapped him on the shoulder, ‘you need to marry that girl, she’s a keeper.’
Davis rolled his eyes and sighed, silently handing his gloating sister a folded up twenty.
‘What’s all the shouting about?’ Charles walked into the room and picked up his bag of supplies.
‘The children were playing,’ Davis replied dryly.
Charles turned to look at Jake, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
‘Don’t ask,’ he muttered.
‘Alright does everyone know what they’re doing?’ he asked and a murmur ran around the room followed by nodding heads. ‘Alright then, Mac and I are leaving now as are Louisa and Tommy, next its Olivia and Theo, then Jake and Veronica, Danae and Davis will leave last. Any questions ask now.’
The room remained silent as Charles picked up a two-way radio and tucked it into his bag.
‘Davis has radios for all of you, make sure you take one before you leave and stay in touch.’
He picked up his bag and headed out into the hallway to where Olivia was talking quietly with Mac.
‘We’ll take Mac’s truck.’ He pulled his keys from his pocket, ‘you take mine, your car will never make it through the snow. Be careful once you leave the perimeter; that spirit is still out there and she’s none too happy.’
‘We’ll be careful,’ she took his keys, watching silently as both he and Mac slipped out of the front door.
Louisa and Tommy headed into the hallway.
‘Be careful,’ Olivia wrapped her arms around Louisa.
‘I will,’ she grinned, ‘besides you need me. I’m still the only doctor in this little Scooby gang.’
‘You be careful too Tommy’ Olivia told him, ‘Theo will be real mad if anything happens to you.’
‘Please,’ he scoffed, ‘what’s going to happen? I’m gonna bag me a couple of deer while you guys play make-believe.’
Louisa rolled her eyes and dragged him out the door.
‘He’s in for a bit of a shock,’ Davis smirked from the doorway to the library.
‘Yes he is,’ Olivia murmured as she walked past him into the library where Theo was talking to Jake. She retrieved her bag, shoving a small first aid kit, a couple of flashlights and a bottle of water into it.
‘Theo can you get down the Maledictionem chest?’
He raised an eyebrow questioningly but did as she asked anyway. He reached up and brought it down from the top shelf, laying it carefully on her desk. She turned the key with a quiet click and felt rather than heard a hiss as she opened the lid and retrieved the mirror she had placed in there. Carefully so as not to disturb the cords wrapped around it she placed it in her bag.
‘What are you going to do with that?’ he asked.
‘Hopefully give it to Charon to deal with,’ she answered. Finally, she grabbed Charon’s staff which had once again folded in on itself and shrunk to a third of its length. Tucking it into her bag she zipped it closed, and although part of the staff still extended beyond the zip, most of it was covered.
‘Okay then,’ she pulled her coat on zipping it up and hooking her arms through her backpack. Yanking a dark coloured wool hat over her ponytail she turned to the others.
‘Take this,’ Davis handed her a two-way, ‘and be careful.’
‘We will,’ she nodded and with one last glance she and Theo headed out into the dying light.
Chapter 23
‘Lou this is ridiculous’ Tommy complained, dragging a shovel behind him as they trudged through the woods towards the West bank of the lake. ‘I’m freezing and my head is pounding, all I want is to curl up in front of the TV with a beer. Why the hell are you playing along with the others?’
‘Tommy shut up,’ Louisa snapped. ‘You want to leave fine, go ahead, just don’t complain when you find my mangled corpse in the morning.’
‘Do you hear yourself, this stuff isn’t real. You’ve just let your imagination run wild. Those things that Olivia said attacked them in the woods just before Christmas were probably just wolves or a pack of stray dogs.’
‘I think Olivia would know a wolf if she saw one,’ Louisa breathed out heavily as the tree line opened up and the frozen lake came into view. ‘This should do I think, any further and we’re going to hit sand instead of soil.
‘Louisa.’
‘Get digging soldier,’ she smiled.
Letting out a deep sigh of resignation he dropped the bag containing his weapons and ammo and began to clear away a large circular patch of snow so that they could get to the ground beneath.
Her eyes softened as she watched him, cursing yet still digging. Even though he didn’t believe a damn word they’d been trying to tell him for the past several weeks, he was still here indulging her in what he liked to call their ‘mass hallucination’. He was a good guy and she knew it. He’d have her back right up to the bitter end, even if he didn’t agree with her.
‘I love you,’ she said impulsively.
He looked up at her and his expression softened. ‘You always say that when you’re getting your own way,’ he smiled.
‘It also happens to be true.’
He went back to his digging, ‘well I’m sure you can think of an appropriate way to thank me later, when all my appendages are frozen.’ He glanced up and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
‘I’m sure that I can,’ she laughed as she began to pull the various items out of her bag. ‘Don’t forget to dig a hole at the centre for this thing,’ she wrinkled her nose as she pulled the smelly damp burlap ball from her bag.
He nodded and continued to dig, and after a few back breaking minutes he stood up.
‘Okay done; should we build a small fort next?’
‘Very funny,’ she rolled her eyes, ‘widen it a bit more. I’ll use that as a guide to cast the circle and no matter what happens do not step outside the circle.’
‘I love it when you get all bossy and domineering,’ he smirked.
‘Tommy I’m serious’ she looked up at him, her eyes losing their light-hearted playfulness. ‘No matter what, do not step outside the circle. I didn’t worry through two tours of Afghanistan for you to get hurt now.’
‘Hey,’ he dropped to his knees and took her face in his hands, realising that she was genuinely concerned. ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me.’
‘I wish that were true,’ she sighed shaking her head. ‘I really am sorry about this Tommy. If I could keep you out of this I would, but you’re in for a very serious shock tonight.’
He frowned at her expression and the tone of her voice and for the first time he began to have doubts.
Louisa glanced up at the sky.
‘It will be sundown soon we’re running out of time,’ she pulled the rest of the i
tems from her bag. ‘You’d better get prepared, I’m almost ready to start.’
He nodded and began to pull the weapons from his bag, laying them out on the hard ground.
Louisa grabbed her Athame and scraped out a circle surrounding the hole Tommy had just dug, then she plunged her knife in and drew a pentagram into the frozen earth. Placing one of the five white candles at each of the five points she lit them, murmuring words Tommy couldn’t quite make out. She placed the five blue candles in between each of the white ones but left them unlit. Placing the burlap bag within reach she also placed the jar of seawater within the confines of the pentagram. Taking the salt, she poured it around the edge of the outer circle making sure it overlapped and encased them both in the smaller spell circle.
The still air was suddenly split by a deep wet growling.
‘What the hell was that?’ Tommy’s eyes widened as he picked up the shotgun.
‘Get ready they’re coming,’ Louisa breathing nervously she stood as close to centre as she could and spread her arms.
‘I call upon the old gods, upon Hecate and Herne to be with us, to watch over us, to guard, guide and protect us, during these rites.’
She crossed her arms over her chest.
‘Blessed be.’
The snarling was getting closer. Tommy raised his weapon, training it on the tree line. His gaze sharpened, his protective instincts in overdrive as his training kicked in. The light was dying, the sky was ablaze with pink and purple, and as the sun slid inexorably towards the horizon a curtain of blackness followed in its wake.
Several pairs of white eyes appeared between the trees, the accompanying sound like no dog or wolf he’d ever heard. It was deeper, louder and somehow wetter than it should be. He glanced down to the ground, mentally taking stock of how much ammo he had and how many of them were appearing in the woods.
‘You’d better hurry Louisa.’
Trying to calm her pounding heart Louisa focused on the circle. Extending her hand she started at the North East and began to turn clockwise. As she did an electric blue light seared the ground around them.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 80
