Devious Magic (#3 Stella Mayweather Paranormal Series)

by Camilla Chafer

  As we reached a bend in the passage, Daniel stopped and we shuffled to a halt. I could just make out his face as he turned to us. “The kitchen is that way,” he whispered, pointing into the dark. “Wait here and I’ll make the guards their drink. I’ve already got the sleeping draught.” He patted his pocket. “I’ll be five to ten minutes, tops.”

  “Be careful,” I whispered as his flashlight bobbed away from us. We switched ours off rather than waste the batteries. Crouching on our heels in the dark, we waited for what seemed like forever, until there was a scuffling in the corridor. Evan swung his flashlight up, the beam lighting on Daniel’s face. He recoiled, shielding his eyes and squinting.

  “How did it go?” asked Evan as he lowered the light.

  “Well, they were kinda surprised to see me, but I was right, they just started their shift. I added a charm so they would drink it and I tipped in the whole vial so they should be out cold in five minutes.”

  Gage leant forward. “Did you see Annalise?”

  “No, but she’s definitely in there. One of the guards was looking through the little hole in the door. I think he was taunting her.”

  “What about the keys?” I asked, trying to ignore the last part because getting angry would only cloud my head more.

  Daniel looked alarmed. “I don’t know. I didn’t think.”

  “They were hung on a hook near the door when I was taken out. Did you see them there?”

  Daniel thought about that for a moment, his mouth twisting in frustration. “Yeah,” he said finally. “I think I saw them. There was a big ring of keys up there.”

  “What now?” asked Étoile.

  “I’ll go and get Annalise,” said Daniel.

  “You can’t go alone,” I pointed out, exposing the first flaw in our plan. “What if someone chances on you? Or Annalise gets scared and attacks you?”

  “We can’t all go. There’s too many of us,” Daniel whispered back.

  “I’m coming with you,” interjected Gage, and no one could possibly refuse him.

  “Me too,” I added.

  Evan sighed. “Then I guess it’s going to be the four of us. Étoile, Anders and Bree can wait here.”

  “Fine by me,” said Anders. His head was bowed as he fiddled with his watch and I saw two short luminous lines spring up. “Sooner we get out of here, the better. We have a diversion going off in twenty minutes, enough to draw everyone out front while we head out back. Be quick.”

  “Okay,” Daniel nodded. “This tunnel takes us to the kitchen.” He paused for a long moment when some voices, somewhere on the other side of the wall came closer, then receded, reminding us how close we were to the enemy. “We cross the kitchen, into the pantry where there is another set of stairs to the cellar. Once we get there, we come out into a little room and we need to cross two more to get where Annalise is being held. The kitchen is the place we’re most likely to be seen. People come and go at all times.”

  “Then let’s get our asses in gear,” grinned Gage. His teeth looked awfully sharp in the gloom, but then, it was the full moon, the time when the wolf pack was at their most primal, and therefore, most dangerous. If we were at home, he’d be out in the woods surrounding our homes, leading the pack on the hunt. Tomorrow, he’d sleep in all morning. No such luxuries here.

  “Be safe,” said Étoile, dropping a kiss unexpectedly on my cheek.

  The three of us followed Daniel and, as we got to the door, he raised a hand, signalling us to stop and keep quiet. Someone was in the kitchen. I could hear whoever it was whistle as they walked around. A few minutes later, they were gone and Daniel was pulling a lever. The door opened slowly and Daniel had to push it the last little bit. When I stepped out, and moved around, I saw the secret door wasn’t part of the panelling, like in my room, but built so that it was part of a cabinet.

  With a quick heave from his shoulder, Daniel shut the cabinet on the passage and we followed him, running across the broad kitchen, our feet flying over the flagstones. He waited until we were inside the pantry and shoved the door closed, just as Gage slipped inside. He pushed a sack of something in front of it, blocking the entrance. “Just in case someone comes back,” he whispered, “If you need to get back into the tunnel, and if, for any reason, I’m not with you, go to the fireplace. The second brick down on the left is the lever, push it and it’ll open; then pull the lever once you get inside to shut it again. I gave your friend Étoile a rough map showing you how to get out.” We nodded and I wondered if I were the only one thinking how hard that must be for Daniel, still helping us escape, even if he weren’t sure he would make it.

  Daniel searched the shelves for a moment and grabbed a packet of chocolate biscuits. We followed him down the winding staircase, pressing our bodies close to the wall where the brick treads were at their widest. The temperature dropped a few degrees in the cellar and I shivered, despite my jacket.

  “You okay?” asked Evan. I nodded quickly and Gage squeezed my shoulder, then pressed a pair of gloves into my hands. I pulled them on gratefully.

  Daniel walked ahead, biscuits in hand, as we followed him through the small rooms he’d mentioned. With a flap of his hand, he signalled us to one side and we fell back, letting him go on alone.

  “Oh hey, man,” I heard him say jovially. “Thought you might want these with your tea. I meant to bring them down before, but forgot.”

  “Thanks, kid. Hey, no dozing on the job.” There was a sound like a kick, then a heavier sound. I saw an arm land across the doorway on the floor, and the top of a head. “What the hell happened to...” The man never got to finish his sentence, because Gage stepped forward just as the man stepped into the archway. Pulling back his fist, Gage planted it firmly in the guard’s face. He stumbled backwards and hit his head against the wall, sliding into a slump on the floor, unconscious.

  “They’re out,” confirmed Daniel, gingerly checking them over. Evan and I moved forwards and I reached for the keys on the hook, bypassing each key until I found what looked like the right one. Holding my breath, I slipped it into the lock and turned. It unlocked and I swung the door open.

  Annalise lay in a heap on the floor. The collar was around her neck again and when she staggered to her feet, I realised she had been hobbled too. Thick iron cuffs were wrapped around each leg, connected by chains that clanked horribly.

  “Oh no,” I sighed as she limped forwards, her eyes lighting up in recognition.

  “Let’s get her out of this,” said Gage moving forward to kneel down and wrap his arms around her in a brief hug. While Evan and Daniel stood watch on the door, Gage and I worked the restraints. The collar was easy but the leg cuffs were a little stiff, rusty with age, and I had to find a very small key on the keychain to unlock them completely. Annalise lay on her side, panting, then springing up when her last leg was freed. She nuzzled her head into me and I crouched down so my mouth was level with her ears.

  “We’re getting out of here right now,” I told her. “Evan is here, Étoile too. The guy at the door is Daniel and he’s helping us. Can you walk okay?”

  Annalise raised a front paw and put it in my hands. Through the light filtering in from the guardroom I could see it was sore and blood-soaked.

  “It’s going to hurt, I’m so sorry, but we’ll be out of here soon.” In the gloom I locked eyes with Gage. He never looked angrier.

  “Let’s go,” said Evan, glancing into the room. Annalise stuck close to Gage’s legs as we walked out. I could tell she was being very stoic as she limped after us as quickly as she could, every whine of her pain swallowed down. Evan and Gage moved the unconscious guards into the cell and locked it behind them. In a moment of pique, I took the key chain with me. See how you guys get out of there now.

  The pantry was exactly as we left it, the sack still blocking the door and, if anyone had tried to open it while we were in the cellar, well, I couldn’t tell. I turned behind me, checking as Evan climbed the last step. Gage appeared a moment later, An
nalise slung over his shoulder. He lowered her to the floor and she lay there. When she moved, I saw bloody paw prints staining the floor. “Ready?” Daniel asked, waiting for us to nod. He pushed the heavy sack out of the way and swung open the door, saying, “All clear.”

  We followed him into the kitchen and made it only a few steps when two men walked into the room, talking quietly to each other. One of them was Nameless and he stopped suddenly, his arm flying out to knock into the other man’s stomach. He looked at Nameless in surprise, then followed his eyes to us.

  “Daniel?” said the second man in surprise, a frown spreading across his face as we fanned out behind. “Who are they?” He spied Annalise, lowering into a crouch, a growl ripping from her throat. “Oh fuck.” Turning on his heel, he went for the door. Gage leapt after him, his body changing as he flew through the air. When he landed on the second man, taking him down, he was wolf; his ferocious teeth snapped at the man lying prone under him, fists thrashing and shouting obscenities.

  “Well, well,” said Nameless, dropping into a fighter’s stance as he edged away. He pulled his fists up in front of his face and circled, bypassing the table and edging close to us. All I could think was, just how stupid is this man? “Looks like we’ve got a little escape party here,” he snickered. Someone had bandaged his nose, a thick strip of medical tape securing it across his cheeks.

  Evan looked at him, then down at me. “He’s the one who tried to attack me,” I confirmed, noticing Gage’s ears flick forwards then back as he snapped at the man he’d taken down.

  Evan turned back to the man, his expression blank. “That so?” he said.

  “C’mon,” said Nameless, motioning to Evan. “Send the witch slut over here and we’ll go easy on the rest of you.”

  “Did you just call my girlfriend a slut?” asked Evan slowly. I could see a glow lighting his hands, not fire but something else, something almost imperceptible. Clearly, Daniel hadn’t thought to protect the house from a daemon; he probably didn’t even know they existed.

  “Slut. Slut. Slut,” repeated Nameless, cackling, proving just how stupid he really was. Behind him, on the floor, his comrade whimpered and I saw him thrashing still, but less so now. He’d stopped shouting too. I don’t think Nameless even realised he was levitating until he slowly rose above us and began floating backwards. When he did, I saw the frustration on his face as he tried to move, his limbs unyielding. “What are you doing to me?” he shrieked, his face contorting in terror under the medical tape.

  “Guys, uh guys?” Daniel’s voice rose above the two guards, panic edging in. “We are making way too much noise.”

  “Help!” shrieked both men at once. Nameless shot backwards, landing hard against the wall, his feet helplessly dangling.

  “Can you shut him up?” I asked, frightened that any moment, the noise would bring countless more guards upon us.

  Evan’s eyes didn’t leave Nameless for a second. “Sure,” he said. A cloth lifted from the counter and flew across the room, jamming into Nameless’ mouth so his voice was just a hum. Evan stepped closer. With a flick of his hand, the man under Gage seemed to sigh and lose consciousness.

  Gage crawled backwards, the front of his fur now mottled with blood. Circling around, he searched the kitchen for Annalise, licking her head affectionately after he found her, then trotting over to press against my leg, while growling at Nameless. I stooped down and buried a hand in Gage’s fur and he turned big, angry eyes on me. He buffeted my shoulder with his head and, when he looked at me again, I knew he wasn’t angry with me, but the situation. “Go back to Annalise,” I told him. “She needs you.”

  “You tried to hurt a defenceless woman,” murmured Evan, stepping closer to Nameless. The cold of his voice seeped through the room. Nameless did nothing but stare, his nostrils flaring as Evan stepped closer. There was a large table running along the middle of the room and, with the barely damp surface and stacks of clean crockery, it looked like someone had recently cleaned up after the evening’s meal. A block of knives sat at the end closest to us. Evan slipped each one out of its slot, lining them up on the table. Nameless watched with wide eyes as he completed the task, and then picked up the biggest, scariest-looking butcher’s knife. He held it in his hand, weighing it. Then, with a flick of his wrist, it flew across the room. I held a hand over my mouth, trying not to squeak as the knife lodged in the wall. Evan repeated the action a few more times, the knives landing with absolute precision, bare inches away from his arms, legs, head. The final knife landed about two inches lower than Nameless’ crotch and I’m fairly certain he wet himself, judging by the growing stain. I couldn’t bring myself to feel one bit of sympathy.

  “We have to go,” said Daniel, tugging at my arm and looking up to where Nameless was pressed against the wall. His voice dropped to a whisper, “But I can’t open the tunnel without him seeing and telling everyone.”

  “Evan, this has been fun, but can you knock him out so we can go?” I asked, my voice shaky.

  Evan glanced over at me and, for a moment, there didn’t seem to be anything human about him at all. His eyes were hard, his face completely blank, then he seemed to shake out of whatever had gotten hold of him. “Sorry, what?” he said, like he hadn’t heard me.

  “Time to go, Evan.”

  Evan looked at Nameless for a long moment, raising his hands. Light seemed to pour from them, brilliant and strong. Nameless struggled and screamed against the gag, then went limp, his chin slumping forward to rest against his chest.

  “Is he...?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” said Evan. “Dead, that is, but he’ll be out for a while. Let’s go.”

  Daniel jogged over to the fireplace, pushed the panel and the concealed door opened. We piled through, leaving the unconscious guards in the kitchen. As I was last, I found the lever and closed the door after us. Evan waited, then reached forward to give the door a tug, when it stuck. Finally, ensconced in darkness again, he grabbed my hand, pulling me after him.

  Étoile, Anders and Bree were where we left them, except now we were two witches, a daemon and two wolves. None of them said anything, though Bree did give a little squeak when she saw the wolves’ eyes. She was probably worried they were going to pee on one of her precious trees. To be fair, they probably would.

  “We’ll just have to hope no one finds them for a while, though we should have put them in the pantry, I guess. Never mind,” finished Daniel. “Let’s go. This way.” We jogged after him as he twisted and turned through the passage. Every so often, I caught the flash of conversation again, my heart leaping as I realised how close we were to the Brotherhood, how easy it would be for them to discover us. I wished there was something we could do to disable them as we left, but in my heart, I knew it was more important to escape than to stay and fight.

  A distant rumble had us stop, bumping into each other.

  “What was that?” I asked, almost forgetting to whisper.

  “Our distraction,” replied Anders. “We called in a few reinforcements and they’re setting off alarms all over the front of the property.”

  Bree added, “The local wolf pack are going to run interference. The terrain will feel particularly hostile tonight.”

  “Let’s keep going,” Daniel urged as feet ran past us on the other side of the wall, and orders rang out. “Everyone will be awake in a few minutes.”

  We sprinted the rest of the way along the passage, descended some more stairs, until I felt we must be parallel with the cellar, as the temperature dropped again. The passage widened a little here and I knew we were going outside the house, somewhere under the grounds; but it felt very disorientating. Daniel and Evan took the lead, the wolves next, then Bree and I, and finally Étoile and Anders.

  Bree grabbed my hand, lurching to a halt. “The earth says something is wrong.” Her hands trailed against the walls where they were crumbling, soil and roots sinking through the cracks. “We’re...”

  Just as I was about to shout
a warning ahead, something barrelled out of the darkness and knocked Daniel and Evan flying. “Go back!” shouted Daniel. “It’s a trap.” I could see Evan grappling with someone, fists flying in the darkness as Evan sprang back to his feet, giving Daniel the chance to scramble to his. Evan and the stranger were pounding each other and I heard a grunt as Evan shot his knee up, connecting with his assailant. A blast of light shot from Evan and his foe was down, at least, but there were more swarming out of the darkness. I could see the whites of their eyes.

  “This way.” Étoile grabbed Bree and me, her fingers tightly closing over our forearms, forcing us to sprint backwards the way we had come, the wolves on our heels. As we reached the junction, I realised she was aiming for the house.

  “No this way! Daniel said there’s another passage but he didn’t get a chance to check it,” I argued as I signalled the turn that would take us towards the untested exit. Daniel thought it would be safe. I thought it was a hell of a lot safer than heading back to the house, especially when we could be discovered missing any moment.

  Bree pushed her hand into the soft floor, springing up quickly. “It’s clear enough, but it’s weak. Let’s go.” She pushed us on. “The others are right behind us. Do not wait,” she hissed at me, seeing my hesitation. A moment later, Anders and Daniel came into view.

  “Take down the shields,” yelled Étoile. “I need my magic!” I half expected her to stomp her foot if she took a moment to slow down.

  “I can’t. Not down here. I won’t be sure the shields are gone until we’re above ground.” Daniel sprinted past us and we followed him, pushing on hard. At first, the passage looked okay, just as stable as the other one. Then I noticed the cracks in one of the supporting struts as I fled past and saw, in the glow of the torchlight, how the roof struts bowed under the strain of the earth overhead. Annalise and Gage were much faster on their four legs and they sped ahead. I held on to Étoile, each of us pulling the other along. Anders and Bree seemed pretty fit. I couldn’t resist looking backwards for Evan, tripping on a thick root and almost falling, pushing off the walls to right myself.