“This where they set up,” Amanda said, kneeling next to the evidence. As she watched, one of the droplets sunk into the ground leaving behind a wet spot. “But this liquid is strange.”
Avoiding the prints, Kyle leaned over and touched his fingertip to one of the droplets. Raising his finger to his mouth, he tasted it.
Amanda looked at him incredulously. “Kyle! Yuck. We don’t know what that is.”
Kyle ignored her as he contemplated the flavor. “Salt,” he concluded. “The crystals are absorbing moisture and liquefying. Then they soak into the ground. I’ll bet you’ll find a few whole crystals below the surface.”
“That makes sense.” Amanda pointed to the circular indentation. “They set up a small casting circle here and filled it with salt.” She stood up. “Well, now we know how they got close enough to launch a magical sneak attack. I just wish I knew how they got past the wards.”
Kyle pointed toward the boot prints and then toward more wolf prints inside the gate. “They left behind more evidence this time. Maybe the Order’s forensics team can positively identify the attackers.”
Amanda let her tone go cold as she glanced toward Jonathan and his unfortunate team member. “Maybe. But if we catch up to whoever did this, I doubt they’ll ever see the inside of a courtroom.”
“I thought the Order had a tribunal or something to handle cases involving the supernatural.”
“They do,” Amanda confirmed with a nod. “But remember who we’re working with: Mr. High Body Count.”
“Good point.”
Two vehicles speeding up Farm-to-Market Road caught Amanda’s eye. As she watched, they slowed and turned onto the driveway to the farm. The hunter who was guarding the entrance to the farm opened the gate for them. From the opposite direction, Blackstone’s Suburban roared into view and followed the others onto the property.
“Speak of the devil,” Kyle said.
The Suburban stopped near the house, but Blackstone didn’t get out. Noreen went to the driver’s side, and after a brief conversation, stepped back to let the vehicle roll forward. Amanda shielded her eyes against the headlights as it rounded the side of the house and headed toward her and Kyle.
Blackstone cut his lights as he approached, but then a bright spotlight split the darkness and lit up the trees in the horse pasture. Blackstone scanned the trunks slowly while Amanda squatted next to Kyle to stay below the beam. The spotlight went out and Blackstone finally emerged from his rig.
“Have you found something?” Blackstone asked.
Don’t worry, we’re fine, Amanda thought. Thanks for asking.
Suppressing her annoyance with Blackstone, Amanda pointed at the ground. “Here. It looks like the remains of a casting circle.”
Blackstone came forward and knelt next to the area she indicated. He tasted one of the few drops of liquid that remained. “I concur.” He stood and sniffed the air.
“Checking for brimstone?” Amanda asked in a wry tone.
Blackstone seemed to take the question seriously. “Not literally. However, the workings of a dark coven leave behind a singular residue. Not really an odor so much as a sensory impression. I find that taking a deep breath through my nostrils improves my ability to detect it.” He turned his head to Kyle. “What about you, Kyle? Does your extraordinary vision reveal any lingering magical energy?”
“No,” Kyle answered, shaking his head. “The fire was infused with dark magic, but I haven’t seen anything like that out here. I think the auras only work with active spells.”
“Interesting,” Blackstone said, turning his attention to the copse of trees. “Let’s go see how they managed to get this close.” Without another word, he strode toward the trees, drawing a deep breath through his nose and adjusting his trajectory every few yards.
Amanda ran to catch up. “Are you sure this is a good idea? We don’t really know that they’ve left. The whole Pack could be waiting for us in there.”
“I know exactly who was involved and where they are,” Blackstone answered. “After completing their misdeeds here, they returned to the Rutlinger Foundation, which is where I suspect they’ve been hiding all along.”
Amanda’s eyes widened at Blackstone’s revelation. So, the Selkirk Pack was out for vengeance after all. Perhaps it had taken them a while to find and hire the magical support they needed. However, Amanda still found their wrath puzzling. After putting so much financial energy and time into building their foundation, and after decades of mostly peaceful coexistence with the human community, they had gone off the deep end because she took advantage of a once-in-a-century opportunity to save Kyle?
Or was it about something more? Did they know she intended to exorcise her brother? It wouldn’t be a stretch for them to connect Kyle’s exorcism with her desire to get her brother back, but the Pack knew better than anyone that Kyle’s and Reggie’s situations were different. Kyle’s lupusdaemon had been exorcised during a brief period of weakness between initial possession and First Moon. For Reggie, possession was complete, and the demon’s consciousness had replaced the human’s. Game over. At least, according to theory.
Her research had turned up dozens of attempts to exorcise a lupusdaemon after First Moon by people who were far more qualified and powerful than her. It had never worked, and the Pack had to know that.
Had her success with Kyle spooked them so badly that they feared she’d succeed with Reggie? The idea was both encouraging and disappointing. Her chances of getting close to Reggie dropped to near zero if the Pack had truly joined forces with a dark coven and declared war on her. It was unlikely that both she and Reggie would survive to the conclusion of such a conflict, regardless of who was victorious.
Blackstone slowed as he entered the dark understory beneath the spreading pine branches. The trees were trimmed up to about seven feet, so there were few obstacles to avoid other than the tree trunks themselves. Amanda’s hands had reflexively clenched into fists when Blackstone had arrived, blocking the light her ring projected. She stretched her fingers and cupped her hand again, feeding more power into the ring. A half-circle of light illuminated Blackstone and most of their path.
Blackstone looked over his shoulder and glanced at her hand. “That’s helpful,” he said, increasing his pace.
Upon reaching the corner of the property, they all stopped and stared at the compromised section of fencing.
“Well, that answers one question,” Blackstone said.
Amanda stepped forward and inspected the ward charm tied to the corner post. Although the feedback sensations she received from the wards pulsed in reaction to the presence of so many visitors at the farm, the network of charms seemed intact. “I can’t see how they tampered with it.”
“Maybe they didn’t,” Blackstone said.
“Then how did they get past it without alerting me?”
“I’m sure there’s more than one way to defeat a ward. What would you have done if presented with the same obstacle?”
“Some kind of cloak or shield, maybe?” Kyle interjected.
Amanda stared at Kyle, considering his suggestion. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, but I suppose it’s possible. Personally, I’ve never tried to defeat a ward.”
“Then your education is lacking,” Blackstone said. His remark would have been offensive if it hadn’t been delivered in such a matter-of-fact tone. “All defensive measures have weaknesses. Understanding those weaknesses allows you to layer defenses that work together. Knowing how a defensive measure has been defeated also gives you valuable intelligence about your enemies’ capabilities, even if you never need to apply the skill yourself.”
Amanda glanced at Kyle who shrugged and was smart enough not to look smug about Blackstone’s agreeing with him. Blackstone was right. Her education was lacking. In her defense, dark-magic practitioners were rare, and she’d never had to defend against one.
“The Order needs to do a better job of mixing tactical training into all disciplines,” Bl
ackstone went on. “Crisis teams, which are a fairly new practice, are a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the experience you gain from serving on a crisis team is hard won and sometimes too late to save you. Personnel should be regularly rotated into training teams and pitted against each other.”
Blackstone’s argument sounded well rehearsed, and Amanda guessed that he had delivered it on more than one occasion. The plan he proposed would be expensive, particularly since the Order were rarely faced with a crisis serious enough to benefit from it. But that didn’t mean she disagreed with him.
“What you’re saying makes sense,” Amanda said, “but I can’t wait around for the Order to implement a training program that may never happen. I need to up my game now.”
“Excellent!” he responded with a grin. “I shall try to help you do that. We have a perfect opportunity right here in front of us.” He spread his hands toward the fence opening. “Given what we know, how did our enemy penetrate your ward without triggering it?”
Amanda thought for a moment about the problem. “I like Kyle’s cloaking idea best. Causing a distraction elsewhere along the fence might have also worked, but I didn’t detect anything like that.”
“What else?”
Amanda figured they’d covered the best options, but for academic purposes, she gave some thought about what else might have worked. “They could have done something to disable this ward while maintaining the continuity of the network around the farm.”
“Like spray-painting the lens of a surveillance camera,” Kyle added.
Amanda nodded. “Right. But I’m fairly certain they didn’t physically tamper with the charm.”
“Very good,” Blackstone said. “We don’t know exactly how, but they slipped through the fence and moved around within the ward without disrupting it or triggering it. Now, tell me more about how this ward works.”
Amanda explained that the ward was mostly psychological. It deflected attention and made the farm appear unappealing from the outside. The protection aspect resisted the intrusion of anyone with bad intent toward the farm or its occupants. After a bit more back-and-forth discussion, they concluded that the intruders had shielded their minds somehow.
“Starting with that supposition,” Blackstone said, “we can reinforce your protections, magical and otherwise.”
Amanda pursed her lips dubiously. “But won’t they try something different next time? They’ll have to assume we figured out how they got in and have done something about it.”
“Now you’re thinking like a tactician,” Blackstone approved. “We could patch the weakness or leave it in place as part of a trap, but either way, we must rethink the protections around the sanctuary. We are dealing with an unusually aggressive and capable opponent.”
“You said you know who they are?” Kyle asked.
“Yes,” Blackstone said. “I’ve been tracking the members of a dark coven called the Red Claw Coven. I believe that at least two of them are involved in this: their Mistress, Marcella Pedroso, and a warlock named Cyrus Fleming.”
Deep in thought, Amanda followed Kyle and Blackstone back toward the farmhouse. They passed by the forensics team huddled with Jonathan over the body of the fallen guard. The guard Jonathan had identified as Mike was the first casualty of the war she’d started with the Selkirk Pack. She fought off a wave of nausea as they neared the farmhouse and entered a miasma of burnt wood and wet ash hanging in the air. A man was dead and Lucille had nearly lost her home.
Amanda frowned and bowed her head with guilt. This was all her fault. Her mission to save her brother was putting everyone who was close to her at risk. Her only consolation was that Kyle would have also been lost if she hadn’t tested the exorcism on him. Of course, none of that would matter if he were killed in the aftermath. There was certainly no comfort in Blackstone’s revelation that the last person to benefit from a lupusdaemon exorcism hadn’t survived the ordeal for long.
Meanwhile, the conflict was escalating. Was there any way to put an end to it before more people were harmed? Reggie was probably already dead, for all practical purposes. She couldn’t ask others to keep sacrificing themselves for her or her not-so-secret mission. What would it take to appease the Pack and end the hostilities?
She looked up to find Blackstone looking at her.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she answered quickly. But she needed to distract him with a more satisfying response: “Just thinking about ways we can reinforce our defenses.”
His gaze lingered on her face in an assessing manner. He said nothing and finally looked away.
Kyle squeezed her shoulder gently. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”
Sure they would. And then their opponents would come up with a fresh attack that they hadn’t anticipated. Being on the defensive sucked. They were always reacting. Always one step behind. They had to go on the offensive if they wanted to take control of the conflict, but then even more people would die.
Amanda couldn’t stand the idea of losing more friends. She had created this mess. Cleaning it up was her responsibility.
Chapter 14
Gone Girl
Amanda slid out from under the warm bed covers at 2:12 AM and waited silently by the bedside. Kyle didn’t move, and his breathing remained steady.
Reaching under the bed, she slid out the change of clothing and shoes she’d hidden behind the dust ruffle earlier in the day. With a farmhouse filled with guests and Kyle sharing her room, it had been difficult to find a time when no one was around to observe her subterfuge.
As quietly as possible, she dressed herself. She froze when Kyle made a noise, but it was only the beginning of a soft snore. She sped up her preparations using the noise as cover. Slowly sliding open her nightstand drawer, she gently extracted her keys and wallet. She’d always hated carrying a purse.
Once she left her room, she had to sneak out of the house and get off the property as quickly as possible. She hoped she wouldn’t run into anyone along the way because it would be hard to explain why she was dressed and had her keys in her hand.
Amanda stopped at the bedroom door with her hand on the knob, listening. The hallway outside was quiet. Gritting her teeth, she turned the knob slowly until the door unlatched. The old hinges groaned each time she pulled to widen the opening a little farther. Pulling faster would only make them squeak more loudly and at a higher pitch that would carry. If only she’d oiled them one of the hundreds of times she’d considered doing so.
She watched Kyle over her shoulder as she made her escape. She wished she could kiss him on the cheek or give him a hug since it might be the last time she would see him. As soon as the opening was wide enough, she slipped into the hallway and closed the door just as carefully as she’d opened it.
The house was strangely silent as she crept down the stairs. During the day, the place was endless noise and chaos. The house had seemed enormous when she had lived there alone with Lucille. Filled to capacity with her coven and the Order personnel, it had gone from spacious to cramped.
Guilt tugged at Amanda’s heart when she thought about Lucille. After everything that had happened recently, her disappearance would be especially worrisome for her friend and mentor.
Kyle would be furious. He would feel betrayed that she didn’t take him with her, and he’d believe she’d given up on their plans. In a way she had, unless going to the Foundation miraculously gave her access to Reggie as well as all the other things she needed to perform the exorcism.
Fat chance. Amanda already had a target painted on her back, and she was about to give whoever was hunting her a clear shot. But that was a risk she’d have to take if she wanted an opportunity to negotiate an end to the fight.
There had to be some kind of concession the werewolves would be willing to accept. She could promise that she’d never use her exorcism again and that she’d leave Reggie alone. She didn’t believe her death was all they wanted becaus
e it would have been relatively easy to kill her before they put the Order on alert. Something else was going on, and she needed to find out what it was.
Amanda stepped off the stairs onto the ground floor and paused. A radio crackled in the living room, and a male voice asked for status. While the guards reported in, Amanda took advantage of the night commander’s distraction to slip out the front door.
The next part would be the hardest. She had to reach her car and leave without causing a stir. The guards would want to know why she was leaving and might even try to hold her back until they received confirmation from someone in charge. If she could get to her car and start it, the rest wouldn’t really matter. Once she was rolling, they wouldn’t be able to stop her. She’d be long gone before anyone could follow.
But luck wasn’t with her that night.
Of all the vehicles parked at the front of the house, one of the guards had chosen hers to rest against. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself to deliver the story she’d prepared.
When she was only a few steps away from her car, the shape leaning against it resolved from a vague silhouette into the tall dark form of Nathaniel Blackstone.
“Good evening, Amanda,” he said. “You’re up late. Or should I say early?”
Amanda suppressed a moment of panic. Talking her way past a guard was one thing. Getting through Blackstone was quite another. Her mind struggled to think of something that would convince him to let her go.
As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, he interrupted.
“Save it. I appreciate your noble willingness to sacrifice yourself for the greater good, but you would waste your life for nothing. Frankly, I expected better judgment from you.”
Amanda’s face heated with embarrassment and anger. How had he known her plan? And how the hell could he know she’d be wasting her life?
Demon Witch (The Ternion Order Book 2) Page 10
