Blood of the Sorceress

by Maggie Shayne

  “He’s not going to win this time. Dammit, he’s not,” Indira said. Then she shot Lilia a searching look. “Is he?”

  “No,” she said, simply and confidently. “No, he’s not going to win.” Not even, she thought in silence, if it cost her everything. Her second chance. Demetrius’s. Everything.

  * * *

  Demetrius leaned over the journal, side by side with Tomas, managing to translate a symbol here and there as his memories of his ancient past life became steadily more and more vivid.

  Tomas read what they had so far. “‘And if the demon refuses his final soul-piece by the High Holy Day that marks the halfway point of the Sun God to His power, then shall he die, and then shall the time of the witches expire. But they deserve far worse than death and renewal. They deserve far worse than crossing the Veil to bliss and returning again as all human souls must.’”

  “Wait, wait,” Demetrius said. “If I don’t accept the rest of my soul, I die?” He looked up from the journal to meet Tomas’s eyes. “Why the hell didn’t Lilia tell me that?”

  Tomas looked at him steadily. “She wasn’t allowed. You’re supposed to decide based on wanting to live rather than not wanting to die.”

  “It makes little difference,” Demetrius said, lowering his head. “I can’t accept it now.”

  “Demetrius, maybe you’re not seeing the point here,” Ryan said.

  “You’re not seeing the point. If I accept my soul, I will lose my powers. If I lose my powers, how am I going to fight Sindar and get your daughter back?”

  “So that’s why he took her.” Lilia’s voice came from the doorway, and she was clearly stunned to the bone. “Truly the man is far more conniving than I gave him credit for being.”

  Demetrius went toward her, intending to fold her into his arms, but she held up a hand and lifted her chin. “We have to find a way to rescue Ellie.”

  “And Bahru,” Ryan put in.

  “Before the deadline.”

  “When the Sun God reaches the halfway point to his power?” Demetrius asked. “What does that mean?”

  “Beltane is halfway between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice, which is the longest day of the year, the sun’s point of maximum power. At the moment of Beltane, the sun is halfway to its strongest point,” Indy explained.

  “But isn’t that...tomorrow?” he asked.

  Lilia looked at the clock on the wall. “Given that it’s after midnight, no. It’s today. 9:05 a.m.” Blinking, she turned to Ryan. “Lena needs to pull herself together enough to try scrying again. She’s got the strongest bond to Ellie, and she’s got the most skill at divination.”

  “If it didn’t work before—” Ryan began.

  “Demetrius, we’ll need your chalice.”

  “I’ll get it,” Demetrius said, jogging out of the room and down the stairs.

  “And I’ll get Lena.” Ryan followed him.

  Lilia nodded at Tomas and Indy, who entered the room just then. “We’ll cast a circle. Scrying within the circle will give it added power.”

  Indy moved to the cabinet with a sharp nod, taking out incense, herbs, candles. Soon Demetrius was back with the chalice, which he handed to Lilia. His hand brushed hers, and their eyes met. She wanted to whisper, “I love you,” but she was afraid to. Goddess, if he opened to her now, all would be lost.

  Amazingly, he closed his hand around hers and whispered, “Don’t worry, Lilia. I would rather die myself than risk the life of an innocent child. I know what this means. I’m choosing to remain as I am, but this time for the right reasons.”

  She closed her eyes. He did not yet know that she would die with him. And she wasn’t going to tell him, because that might change his mind. She, too, would willingly give her life to save Ellie’s. And crossing the Veil with him by her side didn’t seem all that much of a sacrifice to her. She’d died before. It wasn’t so bad.

  Noisy footsteps pounded up the stairs, and then Ryan and Lena were coming into the room, holding hands. Lena looked stronger, with a new determination in her eyes. Perhaps a new hope. She’d seen the power of the chalice before, after all.

  Lilia nodded, then glanced at the window, at the stars dotting the midnight sky. “Your abilities will gain more power from nature. Let’s go outside.”

  * * *

  Lilia walked a circle with her hand held palm-down as the rest of them waited and watched. Demetrius could not takes his eyes from her. She’d donned ritual robes, golden and flowing, and they moved in the breeze with her silvery-blond hair. She was slight and fairylike, and yet so very powerful.

  “I conjure thee, oh, circle of power. Three times ’round I walk this hour. Once to draw thee on the ground. Twice to raise the ring around. Thrice to close, above, below. Stomp to seal, and make it so.” She stomped her foot at the end of her third circuit and declared, “The circle is sealed.”

  Then she used her forefinger to trace a “doorway” in the invisible sphere of energy she’d created and gave her sister a nod.

  Indy was holding a conch shell filled with smoldering sage leaves in one hand and a vulture feather in the other. As each of the others approached the circle, she wafted the smoke over them, head to toe, front and back, before allowing them to pass. They entered and then walked clockwise, far enough around the circle to make room for the rest. Indy wafted the smoke over herself last of all, then entered and took her position. Lilia then traced a line over the ground where they’d entered, closing the door.

  The stars twinkled above. Demetrius watched Lilia, mesmerized, even though her sisters were taking over some of the action now. On the eastern side of the circle, Lena raised her arms and called out, “Powers of Air, winds of change, elemental energies of the east and all those in the fairy realm, I summon, stir and call thee forth.” She paused, eyes closed, then with a nod said, “Hail and welcome.”

  Everyone repeated the phrase. All the women, at least, and Ryan and Tomas, who seemed to know what was expected.

  Indy’s short blond hair riffled as she opened her arms. “Powers of Fire, flames of passion, elemental energies of the south and all those in the fairy realm, I summon, stir and call thee forth. Hail and welcome.”

  This time he repeated “Hail and welcome” with the others.

  “Powers of Water, waters of transformation, elemental energies of the west and all those in the realm of the fay, I summon, stir and call thee forth.” Lilia said from the western side of the circle, her voice like a song. “Hail and welcome.”

  Almost before the answering echo died, Indira walked across the circle and called out, “Powers of Earth, foundation and strength, elemental energies of the north, and all those in the fairy realm, I summon, stir and call thee forth. Hail and welcome.”

  “Hail and welcome,” said the others.

  The three sisters then moved to the very center of the circle, facing one another, palms pressed one to the other. “Powers of Spirit,” they said in unison. “Energies of the great below, all that’s come before, ancestors, beloved dead...” Slowly they raised their hands high overhead, palms still touching. “Energies of the great above, enlightened beings, angels and guides, we summon, stir and call thee forth.” Their hands parted like a starburst, out and down to their sides again. “Hail and welcome.”

  They all repeated it. Then Indira and Lilia backed up to resume their places in the outer ring of the circle, leaving Magdalena alone in the center. She rose, opened her arms wide, feet apart. But she didn’t speak. Perhaps she couldn’t. Her tears were flowing. Slowly she crossed her arms over her chest, lowering her head. Again, no words. Then, nodding in apparent satisfaction, she whispered, “Hail and welcome.”

  The echo was melancholy this time. Magdalena sought out Lilia and whispered, “Water.”

  Lilia nodded, picking up the tiny jug that sat on the ground beside her and carrying it forward. Uncorking it, she poured water into Demetrius’s chalice, and then the two women knelt and looked into the water together for a very lo
ng time. Indy began to hum a tune that was somehow mystical, somehow magical, yet short and repetitive. She nodded at Tomas, and he joined in, followed by Ryan. And when they all looked at him expectantly, Demetrius added his own voice, an octave lower.

  Finally, after a great many minutes had ticked past and the humming had lulled his brain into a sort of a daze, Lilia and Magdalena looked up from the chalice and into each other’s eyes. It seemed to Demetrius that they exchanged some silent message. They were both crying, tears streaming, and then they hugged hard and long before finally getting to their feet.

  “What did you see?” Demetrius asked.

  Lilia looked at him, then at her sister, who spoke for her. “Nothing,” Lena said. “The chalice showed us nothing.”

  Lilia started to turn away, but Demetrius stepped forward, gripped her upper arms and held her, gently but firmly, so he could search her face, her eyes. “You saw something.”

  “There is nothing we can do right now, Demetrius. Sindar will contact us when he’s ready.”

  He frowned, wounded to the core. “You told me once that you couldn’t lie. Has that changed, Lilia?”

  She lifted a palm to his face, sliding it over his cheek, and he closed his eyes at the gentle touch. “Then believe me when I tell you that I love you like no human being has ever loved another. Believe that. Because it’s nothing but the truth.”

  He wanted to kiss her, but the moment he thought it, she stepped away, picked up the cup and emptied it onto the ground. “Close up the circle, Indy. We’re finished here.”

  He knew, with everything in him he knew, that she was lying. They had seen something in that chalice, and it terrified him that she refused to tell him what.

  13

  “I don’t want to let you go,” Magdalena whispered.

  They were in the kitchen, cleaning up dishes. No one had eaten, but the coffee and tea had been flowing all night. Lilia and Lena were alone together, but only for the moment.

  “Watch what you say, Lena. If Indy or, Goddess forbid, Demetrius finds out, no one is going to let me go. But you know and I know that this is the only thing to do.” She was scared. Hell, she was terrified. She had no idea why he wanted her; she’d assumed Demetrius was his quarry. Her plan could be terribly dangerous. But he had Ellie. She had no choice. “Sindar said I had to come alone.”

  “How did he manage to send a message through the chalice, anyway?” Lena asked, keeping her voice very low.

  “He’s a powerful magician. You know that.” Lilia put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “At least we got a glimpse of Ellie. Enough to know she’s okay, and that Bahru is with her.”

  “Thank the Gods.” Lena brushed tears from her eyes. “It’s not fair that I can’t tell Ryan even that much.”

  “You can—just as soon as I get out of here and have enough of a head start.”

  “You could tell where it was?” Magdalena asked.

  “You couldn’t?” Lilia returned, surprised.

  Lena shook her head slowly, left then right, her eyes probing her sister’s.

  Lilia only nodded. “Then you must not have been meant to know.”

  “Lil—”

  “Shh.” The others were coming into the kitchen now, bringing more dirty cups to be washed. The two sisters parted almost guiltily. Indira’s sharp gaze didn’t miss it, but she didn’t ask.

  There wasn’t a person in the house who wouldn’t do anything necessary to save Eleanora. Not even Demetrius, Lilia thought.

  Demetrius. If she went to Sindar, surrendered to him, he was undoubtedly not going to let her live. Demetrius had to ask for the last piece of his soul before she died because if she died before Beltane and could not revive, his soul would die with her. As would he. And then, if he died, it would be a true death. He would cease to exist. There would be no afterlife, no reincarnation, no blissful release. And that, she suspected, was Sindar’s goal. Keeping Demetrius from accepting his final soul-piece, so that he died and went to the afterlife, was not good enough for him. He wanted to destroy Demetrius utterly.

  That meant, she realized, that he had to kill her in a way that would not allow her to revive. Which meant either destroying her body entirely, or killing her just before the moment of Beltane, so her time would run out.

  But either way, it wasn’t up to her. To receive his soul-piece, Demetrius had to ask for it. Deep down in his heart ask for it. He had to want it. But not too soon. His powers might be the only chance any of them had, and he would lose them when his soul was restored.

  “Are you all right?” His deep voice came from close behind her and sent a shiver down her spine.

  She turned to face him, nodding once. “Fine.” Her hands started to rise, and she stopped them, realizing she’d been about to slide them up his chest, around his big neck, to thread her fingers into his hair.

  He saw it, she knew he did by the reaction in his eyes. Fire flared up, but he forced it back down. She had to be at the meeting place at sunrise. That was less than six hours away. And it might very well be the last sunrise she ever saw in this life. It might be the end of her physical existence. More than anything, she wanted to spend those six hours wrapped in her true love’s arms.

  “It’s 2:00 a.m.,” Magdalena said, closer to them than Lilia had realized. “I’m going to be up pacing all night. No one in this house is going to get any sleep tonight. You two might as well bunk in Bahru’s cottage. In the morning we’ll pick up the search.”

  Indy rolled her eyes. “No one is sleeping. We’re gonna work the night through if that’s what it takes.”

  “It won’t matter,” Lena said. “Look, I didn’t see anything in the chalice, but I felt something. I felt a knowing. Ellie’s all right. She’s with Bahru. She’s not in immediate danger. And this thing will not be over until Beltane, just over five hours from now. That’s when it all has to happen, whatever it is. We should get some rest, so we’ll be ready.”

  Indy frowned at her, then snapped her gaze to Lilia’s. “Did you get any of that from the chalice?”

  “All of it,” she said with a nod. “I’ve just been trying to...process it. Figure out if it was real. It was much more subtle than a vision would have been.”

  “So we should get some rest, even just an hour or so,” Magdalena said. “We’re going to need to be sharp and on our toes for whatever tomorrow morning will bring.”

  Indy looked from one of them to the other, then slid her gaze to Tomas’s. “Are you buying this?”

  “I don’t think it matters who’s buying it,” he told her. “It’s Lena’s baby. She wouldn’t do anything to put her at risk. This whole thing has to be her call. If she says we sleep, then I suggest we sleep.”

  Indy clearly didn’t like it. She drew a breath, pursed her lips as if to keep harsh words from escaping, then turned and headed out the door, grabbing Tomas on the way. “Fine. We’re quitting for the night.”

  He let her tug him in her wake.

  Lilia took the stack of bedding Magdalena had brought out for her, then hugged the woman who had once been her sister and, in every way that counted, was her sister still. She inhaled the scent of Lena’s hair and wondered if this would be the last time she would see her in this lifetime.

  Lena hugged her back just as hard, and then Lilia and Demetrius went out the door together. He looked down at her as they walked along the driveway side by side. It was late, and the sky was a deep purple, as dark as it would get before beginning to lighten again. Night birds called; an owl hooted three times. Not a good omen. Crickets, a sure sign that spring had arrived, were singing a noisy chorus. The air smelled rich with the earliest of the apple trees already beginning to blossom, and some hyacinths, as well. It was beautiful. It was romantic. It was heartbreaking. Because it was, in all likelihood, the end.

  “Your sister presumed we would want to spend this night alone together,” Demetrius said softly.

  “Not such a leap of logic, really. You were the love of my life.”


  “I was?”

  “You still are, and you know it. Everything I’ve done for the past three thousand years has been for no other reason than to bring you back to me again. I’ve defied death for you. I’ve defied nature, commanded it to do my bidding, just so I could be with you again.”

  “I know,” he whispered. “I know that now. And I’m grateful, more grateful than I’ll ever be able to express. You freed me from that Underworld prison, gave me a chance to know life again. But, more important, Lilia, you gave me a chance to know you again. To remember what we had.”

  She smiled, tears leaking onto her cheeks. “You remember.”

  “Enough to know that it was something far too precious to forget. But, Lilia, I can’t take the rest of my soul-piece back from you now,” he said. “You have to know that. As much as I might want to, I—”

  “Shh. Don’t say you want to. Don’t even think it, or it will be done. You need to keep your powers a little bit longer. Rescue the baby. And then, if we’re lucky, there might still be time.”

  “And if we’re not?”

  “Then you and I will pass into the afterlife together, my love. And it will be all right.” She prayed it was true, feared it might not be, but told herself it wasn’t a lie. She wouldn’t let it be a lie.

  He stopped walking when they reached Bahru’s cabin, turning her to face him, his eyes delving into hers so deeply she could feel them like a physical touch. “You saw more in the chalice than you’ve told me.”

  “I only know it will all end by the hour when Beltane begins.”

  “And when is that, exactly?”

  “A little after 9:00 a.m. An hour after sunrise.”

  His eyes widened. “That’s just over seven hours. We can’t sleep.”

  “No. But we can make love. And then we can face whatever it is we must face.”

  He stroked her hair back from her face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you to begin with. It wouldn’t have come to this.”