Sacrifice

by Heather McCollum

  “It better be soon else Drustan will get here and find Anna inside the keep,” Bechard grumbled. The demons had waited for days outside Kylkern castle, hoping to catch her after Drustan left. They would have influenced her to leave Drustan or kill her trying, although the latter could cause an unfixable rift between Semiazaz and Drustan, something the wizard wasn’t willing to risk.

  “Put the rabbits outside the stable doors where Drustan can see them,” Semiazaz instructed. “There must be a justifiable reason he smells death. Our stench is hard to mask.”

  “We don’t stink,” Bast said with a pout.

  “Perhaps demons are so accustomed to smelling death, it doesn’t register, but to humans, the tang of death sticks to us,” Semiazaz said and motioned to the horned demon. Trill sent the pointed limb hurling into the pebbly soil, the rabbits hitting against one another, nearly falling off in their rotting state. “Now to wait,” the wizard said. “Be ready to thread from here if Drustan isn’t fooled.”

  Semiazaz watched the night, his senses alert. A caped woman slinked out of the keep to hurry from shadow to shadow on her way to the stable. “According to plan.”

  “I can’t possess her,” Bast said. “Not with Drakkina’s mark on her. She’s warded.”

  “Murdock will be the one possessed,” Semiazaz said. “And here he comes.” The wizard nearly laughed. He was a genius. He turned to Elathan. “You will invade the doctor; use your seductive wits to convince the girl to give him what you want. Bend the doctor’s mind to think of Anna while you’re taking her.”

  The lean, muscular demon smiled and tipped his head. “It will be my pleasure.”

  “But Drustan will know it is not Anna,” Bast said. “He will be able to read her mind, and he will see she looks different.”

  “You will block her thoughts,” Semiazaz said. “And since you cannot possess her body, cloak her in a glamour so that she looks like Anna Pemberlin from a distance. Can you do that?” His eyes shifted to the other demons briefly but came back to Bast. She really had the most power besides Bechard. And she hated Anna for usurping the position she’d been coveting since Drustan was a child.

  Bast’s mouth curled into a coquettish grin. “Of course I can.”

  Megaira’s snakes coiled around her head as she spied down through a crack in the thatched ceiling. “They are only talking. The doctor is too timid.”

  “I can change that,” Elathan said and faded into a wisp of dark smoke to slide through the crack.

  “Drustan’s coming,” Daria said, her low voice rushing like a breeze as she let her body dissolve into the shadows. The rest of the demons followed except for Bast. Semiazaz looked from the image of Drustan walking through the town to the feline demon and nodded. She smiled and turned into a coil of smoke. Semiazaz felt the tug as the demons stretched down into the barn, but he watched, holding his position. The timing had to be perfect in order to fool Drustan, and he must fool him. If Drustan continued to pursue Anna Pemberlin, all could be lost. And Semiazaz had plotted too long to let his plan slip through his fingers because the boy had found someone to love.

  He heard a gasp from below and a masculine groan. Elathan hadn’t wasted any time taking over the doctor’s body. The noises of ravishment were a whisper through the eves, a whisper Semiazaz could easily amplify with a simple directing of the sound waves.

  “Oh, Winston,” the girl breathed and gasped on a moan. “Yes, there. By all that’s holy,” she choked out over the sounds of oral pleasure delivered by the very skilled demon. Perhaps the timid doctor would learn a trick or two.

  Drustan strode through the gates, nodding to the guard with the red beard. The bailey looked fairly deserted since it was time for the evening meal. The real Anna must be inside dining. Semiazaz couldn’t let Drustan get past the stables. With a tendril of magic, Semiazaz pushed the sounds into the bailey.

  “Turn around, darling,” Murdock said. “Spread yourself for me.”

  “Oh yes,” Matilda answered.

  Drustan stopped in midstep, turning abruptly to stare at the stables. The wind blew away from Semiazaz, carrying the stench he knew followed the demons. If any reached Drustan’s nose, the sight of the rabbits would release his focus back to the loud rutting going on in the shadows.

  “Anna?” Drustan said and turned toward the closed doors. Excellent. Elathan was encouraging thoughts of Anna inside Winston for Drustan to pick up on. Semiazaz condensed into a ribbon of smoke and slid into the dark stables.

  Torchlight lit the interior just enough for Drustan to witness Winston Murdock bent over what looked like Anna kneeling on a hay bale. The doctor pumped in and out of her while she panted, his hands pinching her breasts as they swung out from her untied bodice. Elathan groaned through the doctor’s open mouth, cursing and whispering loudly about all the erotic plans he had for her. Just watching aroused Semiazaz and made him wish that he’d possessed the human instead of letting Elathan handle it. Soon. Soon he’d have a body again. Soon he’d have a young, loving Drakkina again.

  Semiazaz turned his focus to Drustan as he stood at the door, watching and listening. Drustan’s face was cut with shadows and firelight that grew, filling the stables with an orange glow. Maybe he’d set them all on fire.

  Semiazaz’s gaze shot back to Matilda and he smiled. Bast was doing well. The Scottish woman looked to have Anna’s long wavy hair instead of Matilda’s wild curls. Her breasts looked fuller, like those on Anna, and her throat was a long column of pale skin when she tipped her head back for Murdock to lick and nibble.

  The risky plan was working. He had fooled Drustan. The air around them crackled with his enormous magic. If the two humans weren’t so enraptured with one another, surely they would have noticed, felt the danger. Kill them, Semiazaz thought. He smiled at the possibility. In so doing, Drustan would cut off all the new friendships he’d been trying to forge. He’d isolate himself completely, and Anna Pemberlin would hate him. Yes, he should definitely kill them.

  Say Anna’s name out loud, Semiazaz instructed Elathan silently. Drustan could have no doubt that he was watching Anna Pemberlin betray him.

  “Oh, Anna, you’re so wet and tight,” he said and if Matilda noticed, she was too far gone in her orgasm to care. “I’m going to ride you until you can’t walk.” More erotic babble came from Elathan as he neared his own peak, his poetic talent seeming to push Matilda over once more.

  The magic Semiazaz felt emanating from Drustan pulsed through the stables, making the horses whinny and shy toward the back of their stalls. The look on his face was a mix of fury and pain. For a split second Semiazaz felt transported back to a time when he’d worn a similar expression, the day he’d come across Drakkina entwined with Eògan. And here he was creating the same devastation in another’s life. If his conscience hadn’t shriveled to dust, he might consider a different way to bring Drustan back to his fold. Luckily his conscience was long dead.

  With a deep breath, Semiazaz shook off the remnants of remorse. For his plan to work, there would naturally be casualties, sacrifices. Drustan’s heart would be one.

  Buckets vibrated until they banged against the planks making up the walls. Harnesses and bridles jingled, the cacophony finally penetrating the girl’s sexual haze. She screamed, turning into the doctor’s arms. “Winston!” Semiazaz was pleased to see that Bast continued to work her magic, cloaking the chief’s niece in Anna’s mask. He could tell the moment Elathan left the doctor’s body as the man slumped forward, blinking as if clearing his vision.

  The wind shifted, and Semiazaz held his breath for a moment. Would Drustan recognize their scent, realize that it was he who orchestrated this farce? Death would certainly follow.

  But instead of peering into the shadows, searching for him or members of the coven, Drustan continued to stare at the scene before him. Matilda huddled against the London doctor, breasts bared and skirts twisted.

  “Drustan,” Matilda said and covered her chest with one splayed hand. She
still looked like Anna, only her accent was different. Drustan seemed beyond the ability to discern fantasy and truth.

  “Anna?” Murdock asked. “What? This cannot be.”

  Semiazaz watched in fascination as Drustan’s magic snuffed the very air in the stables, pushing out the oxygen. Yes, he would suffocate them.

  Matilda began to cough, then Winston. The man grabbed his chest as the flame died without fuel, but before it went dark his gaze connected with Drustan. Murdock’s eyes opened larger than seemed possible. Any words he tried to release came as impotent gasps.

  Semiazaz watched Matilda sway and slowly fall to the ground, but a sudden gust of wind made Semiazaz spin around. Drustan had turned and walked out into the growing night, leaving the two humans very much alive. Hell!

  They both breathed deeply, Murdock kneeling down to help Matilda in the darkness.

  He’s gone, Semiazaz thought, and Bast left the woman.

  “Did ye call me Anna?” Matilda asked, the last blue in the darkening sky showing her crouching silhouette.

  Semiazaz caught the shake of the doctor’s head. “You looked…” Murdock started. “I don’t know, I mean no, I would never.”

  He helped her stand. “Drustan was here. I couldn’t breathe,” he said.

  Matilda nodded. “We need to tell William. And Anna. This must concern her.”

  No. Semiazaz’s word echoed through their heads. Matilda clasped her hands over her ears while Murdock jumped.

  Semiazaz lifted his arms, his body still hidden in the shadows. The horses neighed wildly as gates on the back side of the stables opened, allowing them to escape. No doubt Trill was giving the animals a chance to live. His heart, though forged in Hell, had a deep respect for horses, and he could sense what Semiazaz was about to do.

  Semiazaz filled his palms with power, gathered from the coven around him. With a quick release he slammed it against the two thick timbers holding up the building. It would drain their powers, such force, but it was necessary.

  Matilda screamed as the roof shook and tumbled inward. To his credit, Semiazaz noted that the doctor threw his body over hers, shielding the woman. But it wouldn’t matter, except he might be remembered more favorably when they uncovered their corpses. With the ceiling collapsed it didn’t take much to shake the walls at their rock foundations. A large plume of dust billowed up as the log walls landed on top of the rubble.

  Semiazaz and the demons lifted high into the sky as the Maclean soldiers condensed on the scene, yelling in their guttural language. Drustan’s name was mentioned.

  Semiazaz smiled in the darkness. Come, he called his brethren. Let us go comfort our Lord Drustan.

  ****

  Patricia, William, Anna and the Blacks paused in their meal, spoons frozen at lips and bites quickly gulped. “What was that?” Patricia asked as William and Jackson leapt up.

  Hamish met William at the entryway with a few words in Gaelic. William spun on his heel, his eyes connecting with Jackson Black. “Have ye the Orb of Life?”

  Jackson glanced at Kailin. “No, but it is close,” Jackson said. “Kailin can call it here.”

  “We need it now,” William said.

  “What’s happened?” Anna insisted.

  William’s sharp gaze connected with her. “Drustan collapsed the barn on top of the London doctor and Matilda. They are close to death.”

  “This can’t be,” Anna whispered, her hand covering the pounding against her breast bone. She felt rooted to the floor, unable to move or breathe.

  “Good Lord,” Patricia screeched, which set them all in motion, running toward the entryway out into the evening.

  Anna grabbed Patricia’s arm. “Quick, my doctor’s bag is under the bed in my room. Get it.”

  Anna followed Kailin and Jackson out into the gray evening air. They dodged more clansmen as they ran through the bailey. Thatching and mud encrusted logs lay scattered.

  Kailin stood by the barn and slowly raised her hands. The two remaining beams rose off Winston’s back where he covered Matilda in the middle of the stone foundation. Torches cast sharp, flickering light across them.

  “Where is Drustan?” Anna asked, her gaze searching the night. “He could help.” He would help. She knew he would. Tears sat in her eyes, giving halos of glow to each flame about the bailey, further distorting the scene.

  “He walked out as he did this,” William said, his gaze hard on Kailin. “Call the orb.”

  Kailin stood, breathing through her nose. Her brow furrowed in concentration. “I am trying. It is not coming quickly.”

  “It must come quickly,” William said.

  “By the Earth Mother, what is going on?” Drakkina’s image faded into the middle of the commotion.

  Patricia squealed as she nearly ran right through the image, pushing the leather doctor’s bag into Anna’s arms.

  “Drustan collapsed the stable on Matilda and Anna’s doctor friend,” Patricia said.

  A scream ricocheted between the stone walls of the bailey as Alicia ran out of the keep, Sarah in her arms. “Oh God, Matilda! No!”

  “Mama!” Sarah called.

  Patricia ran to them, catching them so they couldn’t come closer. “We are helping her,” she said, her voice calm. “Let us take Sarah inside.”

  Anna ran into the rubble, holding her skirts at mid-shin to high-step over the logs. How could Drustan have done this? Did he know they were inside? The smell of death wafted up with a buzzing of flies. Anna side stepped a dead rabbit that sat under one of the logs. The smell reminded her of the dark wizard.

  “Get the orb,” William repeated behind her, spurring her forward.

  She dropped next to them as several men lifted Winston. “Careful,” she said. “Lay him flat. Watch his head.” His head was bleeding, and she could see a flap of skin nearly sliced off the back. A quick glance showed a badly cracked skull.

  “I need clean strips of cloth and water,” Anna yelled to one of the clansmen standing nearby, and he ran off. But what could she really do if Winston’s brain was smashed? Anna pulled the torn, bloodied bodice up to cover Matilda’s breasts.

  “We buried the orb where the demons couldn’t get to it,” Kailin said behind her. “In the blackberry bramble in England. It is hard to dig up from here. I knew you had a healer, so I didn’t think we would need it except in the final battle.”

  Blood dripped from the edge of Matilda’s mouth, her skin pale. The only indication of life was the slight lift of her breast on a fragile inhale. Anna touched her stethoscope to the woman’s chest. The rasping sound indicated at least one collapsed lung. Why would Drustan do this? She shook her head as she leaned over Matilda, lifting each of her lids to try to see her pupils. No, he wouldn’t do this. He was so against harming people.

  “I’ve brought someone,” Drakkina’s voice came from behind Anna. Anna felt a cool sensation, like the brush of silk, against her arm and pulled back. Beside her was a woman with dark hair, pulled back in a long braid.

  “I can help,” the woman said, and Anna realized she could see through her. She nearly fell on her backside as she scooted away and stood. Drakkina hovered nearby.

  “The woman first,” William said.

  “Who are you?” Anna asked, her voice soft.

  The woman looked over her shoulder. “I am Merewin.” Her dark eyes studied Anna as if she wished to ask the same, but she turned back, placing slender fingers over Matilda’s chest. “She is severely injured.” She pulled several colored stones from a bag tied to her waist. Her robes looked ancient, and a brooch clasped pieces together at her shoulder. A wrought piece of metal encircled and ran up her arm like a spiraling bracelet.

  Merewin placed her hands beside the stones along Matilda’s body.

  “It is here,” Jackson said from behind them, moving forward, clasping a glowing rock the size of a large grapefruit. He knelt beside Winston, touching the rock over his chest. The glow intensified as Jackson whispered over it, his eyes closed
. Kailin knelt beside him.

  Around them, the activity of the clansmen calmed as they all watched. Anna heard some whispering prayers, probably for Matilda. Anna added her own for Winston. The man hadn’t asked to get tangled in this mess. He should have stayed in London. Perhaps she should have stayed in London, too. But then, who would be here to talk with Drustan, to make him see reason? She closed her eyes, suddenly weary. Who would be here to stop him from destroying the world?

  A murmur rose up from the small crowd and Anna’s eyes snapped open. Matilda’s eyes blinked, and Merewin sat back on her heels. “There now,” the ethereal woman said, her voice soft and slow.

  Anna could barely believe her eyes as Matilda sat upright, clasping her ruined gown to her chest. “The stable,” she said and gasped. “Winston!” and grabbed onto him.

  The orb dimmed, and the doctor pushed up onto his elbows. Anna knelt down, touching his shoulder to look at his head. The blood sat matted in his hair, but the tear in his scalp was healed. And since he was conscious, perhaps his brain was also. “Winston, can you speak?” Anna asked.

  “Yes. The barn,” he said, looking around at the rubble. “It fell inward.” His gaze went to Matilda. “Good Lord, are you all right?” He pulled her into his arms.

  Anna found the ancient woman talking with Kailin and Drakkina. They all turned to look at her. Drakkina nodded and spoke close to Merewin’s ear. She hovered over to Anna, her form fading somewhat.

  “You are a ghost,” Anna said.

  The woman smiled cautiously. “I am Kailin’s sister, Merewin, daughter of Gilla from a different time.” She reached forward, her long fingers tingling along Anna’s arm. She remained still. “And you are my brother’s mate.”

  “So I’ve been told,” Anna said.

  “She is strong,” Merewin said, her smile turning genuine. Drakkina came closer, and Merewin looked to her. “She contains more power than Drustan.”