Demon Witch (The Ternion Order Book 2)

by Daniel R. Marvello

  Blackstone raised his hand in a checking gesture toward Jonathan. “Something odd is going on here,” he said.

  An unpleasant pressure pushed against Amanda’s magical senses, alerting her that the wolf was about to transform. She sighed in frustration, knowing that the dark magic that was being unleashed within the room would set her back days in her project to restore the moon shrine.

  When the transformation was complete, a naked Skyler Arpin stood where the wolf had been. The wound from Amanda’s knife had already closed to a thin red line. Lithe and toned, Skyler seemed unembarrassed by her nudity. When she gave Kyle a challenging smile, he gulped and stepped back to stand alongside Amanda.

  Amanda noted wryly that Kyle had been perfectly willing to stand between her and a deadly wolf, but a naked woman had him backpedaling to her side. Maybe she should encourage that behavior.

  “I don’t have much time,” Skyler said, keeping her voice low. “If I don’t catch up to the others soon, they’ll become suspicious.”

  Jonathan raised his weapon to his shoulder, sighting down its length. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

  Skyler ignored him, focusing her attention on Blackstone. “I stayed behind to deliver a message.”

  “Go on,” Blackstone said, nodding slightly.

  “Marcella has taken over the Foundation, but some of us are not happy about that. We’re looking for a way to stop her, and we’re willing to work with the Order.”

  Blackstone looked at her askance. “You would betray your own kind?”

  Jonathan took a step forward. “She’s a demon. We can’t trust her.”

  “I’m not asking you to trust me,” Skyler said. “I’m asking you to let me rejoin the others and continue to prove I’m telling the truth.”

  Amanda connected a few dots in her mind. Someone from inside the Pack had warned Lucille about Marcella’s intent to go after the entire Gold Ridge Coven. Was it Skyler?

  “You’re the one who called,” Amanda stated. Her announcement was purposely vague, in case her guess was wrong. The demon could prove it was telling the truth by filling in a few details.

  Skyler nodded. “Marcella had already begun to stalk your coven. I knew Ms. Hayworth could get the word out quickly.”

  Amanda was satisfied that Skyler had either made the call herself or was working with the person who did. Either way, that call had probably saved the lives of her coven mates.

  Blackstone seemed unconvinced. “That call could have been a trick to gather everyone in one place for easier disposal. And here you are, participating in this raid.”

  “She was the prime target of the raid,” Skyler said, waving a hand toward Amanda. “I could have torn her throat out, but I didn’t. I could have turned and fought Kyle when he entered the room, but I didn’t. I let him throw me against the wall and pretended to be unconscious until the others left so I could talk to you.”

  Blackstone’s eyes narrowed. “You did not kill Amanda, but you were ready to do so. You were waiting to see how we would fare against the dark witch.”

  Skyler shrugged. “If Marcella had defeated you, there wouldn’t have been much point in defying her. She would have killed Amanda herself, and the Order would assume the whole Pack supported her.”

  Amanda’s mind froze as she realized how close she had come to death that evening. The wolf could have killed her a dozen times over. If not for Blackstone’s unusual powers, everyone in the house would probably be dead.

  “What exactly do you want?” Blackstone asked.

  “I want you to know that Dr. Rutlinger and I will continue to work against Marcella as much as we can. We want things to go back to the way they were. We’ll continue to give you advance warning of her plans when we can.”

  “Like you warned us about the raid tonight?” Jonathan scoffed.

  “We didn’t have the opportunity,” Skyler insisted. “We didn’t even know about it until earlier today. She was spooked by something her little captive said, and it made her react hastily.”

  “What captive?” Noreen and Amanda demanded simultaneously.

  Skyler leaned back and raised her eyebrows. “I thought you knew. Marcella is holding your air witch in the basement at the Foundation.”

  “Dammit!” Noreen exclaimed. “That stupid girl. Now they have a hostage.”

  Amanda wanted to be angry too, but she was thinking about how scared Cara must be. “We’ve got to get her out of there.”

  “What spooked Marcella?” Blackstone asked.

  Skyler took a step forward, looking him over in an assessing manner. “You’re Blackstone?” He nodded. “Then you are what spooked her.”

  “Explain.”

  “You probably know more than I do. She said she’s been running from you for a long time, and it was time to put an end to it.”

  Blackstone seemed confused. “She’s had much better opportunities than this in the past. Why here? Why now?”

  “Because she’s a werewolf now,” Kyle answered. “She threw me off too easily when I tried to grab her.”

  Blackstone blinked several times in stunned silence. “Then the witch I knew as Marcella is gone. The lupusdaemon who took her has somehow mastered her powers. How extraordinary.”

  “Not extraordinary,” Noreen disagreed. “Impossible. Demons can’t use mortal magic. If they could, they’d summon more of their kind and overrun us.”

  “She’s right,” Skyler confirmed.

  “But that means …” Blackstone mused in a disturbed tone, “Marcella has chosen to share her body with a lupusdaemon.” It was the first time Amanda had seen him shaken by anything. He looked sharply at Skyler. “Cyrus Fleming as well?”

  Skyler nodded and stepped back to the space where she had transformed earlier. “I need to go,” she announced.

  A shot rang out in the room, making everyone jump. Skyler doubled over with a screeching cry, clutching the side of her thigh. Everyone looked at Jonathan as he lowered his weapon back to a rest position. “That will make your story more convincing when you return to your pack.”

  He glanced around at the incredulous expressions of the others in the room. “What? It’s just a flesh wound. She’ll heal.”

  Leveling an angry glare at Jonathan, Skyler transformed back into a wolf. She loped off toward the stairwell with a limp, leaving a trail of blood spots. She leaped through the broken window and disappeared.

  A few sniffling sobs caught Amanda’s attention, and she turned toward Tanya. The young woman was curled up in the corner of the room with her legs drawn up and her hands holding her head. Amanda went over to her and knelt in front of her. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

  Tanya shook her head.

  “It’s okay now. It’s over.”

  Tanya looked up, her eyes filled with tears and panic. “It’s not over,” she said. “We’re all going to die.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Noreen’s voice said from behind. “Look around you. We’re fine.”

  Amanda knew without looking that Noreen’s hand was dripping blood from holding the rip on her arm, but if she didn’t think the wound was worth mentioning, Amanda wasn’t about to contradict her.

  Amanda stepped back when Blackstone came over to the corner. He extended a hand for Tanya to take. At first, she just stared at him. After a moment, she accepted his silent offer and stood, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  “What are you afraid of, Tanya?” he asked gently.

  “The dark witch,” she replied almost in a whisper. “She’s a demon who controls dark magic. We can’t fight her.”

  “But we did fight her,” Blackstone said. “And we won.”

  Tanya shook her head. “We didn’t win. She’ll come back.”

  “And we’ll be ready for her.”

  Tanya exhaled and let go of Blackstone’s hand. “She’s too strong. I couldn’t stop her from coming in. I failed us all.”

  “Nonsense,” Blackstone said. “She got lucky. You can blame me if you
like. I interrupted Amanda and Noreen.”

  Tanya obviously wasn’t buying his arguments. Blackstone put both hands on her shoulders and waited until her eyes met his. “You’re only looking at what went wrong. Think about what went right. We successfully repelled an all out assault of four werewolves and two dark magic users.”

  Amanda sent a surprised glance toward Kyle, and he nodded in confirmation. She’d get the details from him later about what had happened downstairs.

  Meanwhile, Blackstone went on. “You’re being too hard on yourself. What makes you think you failed?”

  Tanya’s gaze dropped toward her feet. “I lost my grip on the spell.”

  “Why did you lose your concentration?”

  “I … I was scared.”

  “You were shocked,” Blackstone corrected. “Combat magic is nothing like the orderly rituals most covens perform. The Order trains its witches to work under conditions of duress and distraction. Fear is natural and can’t be avoided, but you can learn to work around it. How many times have you fought another witch who was seeking to do you harm?”

  “N–Never.”

  Blackstone dropped his hands from her shoulders. “Then you can’t blame yourself for not being an expert duelist.”

  “But I could have gotten us all killed!” Tanya insisted.

  “But you didn’t. Do you know why? Because you are part of a team. Whether we succeed or fail is not up to you alone.”

  Tanya blinked a few times while she considered Blackstone’s remarks. He seemed to be getting through to her at last.

  “I’m sorry you’ve been caught up in this little war of the Order’s, but we really need your help. I suggest you work with your coven mates to learn some of the skills you’ll need going forward. The only true failure today would be if you walked away having learned nothing.”

  Tanya gave Noreen a questioning look, and the coven mistress nodded her head in agreement with Blackstone’s suggestion. “Okay,” Tanya answered. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Of course you will,” Blackstone said in a tone of finality. “Now, I suggest we all go downstairs and see if anyone other than Mistress Thornquist needs medical attention.”

  Chapter 20

  Aftermath

  For privacy, Blackstone had suggested that Noreen and Jonathan join him in the back of his highly customized SUV for a strategy meeting. It had become almost impossible to find a quiet and secure spot in the farmhouse. His guests sat in the second-row passenger seats, swiveled to face the rear of the vehicle while Blackstone sat on a long bench that doubled as a bed in the rear cargo area. His left leg was resting up on the padded upholstery so he could face his fellow team leaders.

  “It’s a bit cramped, but we should be able to speak freely here,” Blackstone commented. “After the attack, emotions are understandably running high. We need to plan our response, and I don’t want to be interrupted by passionate cheerleaders for any particular course of action.”

  Noreen and Jonathan both nodded in response.

  Blackstone had another reason for meeting privately with his team leaders that he didn’t share: he wanted to assess how the attack had affected their states of mind. Could he rely on them as matters progressed?

  “I think it’s pretty clear what we need to do,” said Jonathan. “The farm is not working out as a sanctuary. The first thing we need to do is move Jessie and Tanya somewhere safer so we can focus on dealing with the Pack.”

  Blackstone couldn’t blame Jonathan for worrying about his wife. Jessie had suffered only a mild concussion and a few scrapes in the attack, but her injuries could have easily been much worse.

  “You think Jessie will go along with that?” Noreen asked doubtfully.

  “It’s not her decision to make,” Jonathan said with a shrug.

  “I’d like to hear you say that to her face,” Noreen retorted.

  Technically, Jonathan was right, but Blackstone was inclined to agree with Noreen’s appraisal of how Jessie would feel about abandoning her husband in the middle of the conflict. Throughout every crisis so far, she had remained stable and competent.

  “With two dark witches in the mix, Amanda and I could definitely use their help,” Noreen added.

  Jonathan rounded on Noreen, his face set in a stubborn frown. “Tanya is terrified, and Jessie doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into. Neither of them is in the Order, so they don’t have the training or experience they need. You’ll get them both killed.”

  “No amount of training could prepare them for what happened here,” Noreen argued. “As for experience, every one of us started without it. Besides, now they do have experience. Tanya is learning to overcome her fear, and you know better than I do how strong Jessie is.”

  “But this isn’t their fight,” Jonathan almost pleaded.

  “It is now,” Noreen said. “The enemy has Cara, and the coven has the right to defend itself. Less than an hour ago, Tanya asked me how we were going to get Cara out of the Foundation. If we give her and Jessie the choice to leave or stay, which do you think they’ll chose?”

  Blackstone had already made his decision on the subject. He could have stopped their argument at any point, but he thought it prudent to let them make their cases to each other. It would be best if Noreen could convince Jonathan that splitting up the coven was a bad idea, or at least a futile one. The man would accept the reality of the situation more easily if it weren’t forced upon him.

  Jonathan took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. “They would chose to stay,” he admitted, looking down at his hands.

  Blackstone smiled. “Great. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move on to where we go from here.”

  “I say we call in an air strike and turn the entire Foundation into a giant crater,” Jonathan said bitterly. “Let’s see what dark magic can do against that.”

  The callous brutality of his remark seemed to stun Noreen. “But … Cara,” she objected.

  Blackstone sensed that Jonathan wasn’t being serious although his proposal held a certain appeal. It would quickly solve several difficult problems even if the political ramifications would generate new ones. And then there was the innocent captive to consider. Not for the first time, he wondered if Marcella had abducted the girl specifically to prevent the Order from employing drastic measures like the one Jonathan suggested.

  Noreen’s accusing stare made Jonathan blink in surprise. “I’m kidding,” he reassured her.

  “We understand your frustration,” Blackstone interrupted. “We’d all like a quick solution that minimizes the potential for casualties. But let’s focus on practical solutions for the moment. The hostage does indeed complicate matters.”

  “I’m concerned about Cara,” Noreen said, “but she can be surprisingly resourceful when she wants something. We have a much bigger problem to consider.”

  “Marcella the demon witch,” Blackstone supplied.

  “Yes. Or is it witch demon? To work magic, Marcella must be in control. To shape change, the demon must be in control. They can’t have been … is there even a word for this? … cohabitating for long, so I can’t imagine the handoff between two powerful egos is easy or fast. I’d sure like to understand more about the motivations behind this arrangement on both sides. To our knowledge, a lupusdaemon has never willingly shared a body with the original human owner beyond First Moon.”

  “First time for everything,” Jonathan suggested.

  “Maybe,” Noreen allowed. “But even if Marcella is the one in control most of the time, we’re in worse trouble than I imagined.”

  Jonathan nodded. “Lupusdaemon speed and strength are hard enough to fight without adding magic to the mix.”

  The haunted look in Noreen’s eyes drew Blackstone’s attention. “There’s more,” he prompted.

  Noreen raised an eyebrow and sighed. “Isn’t there always?”

  “Tell me,” he demanded gently.

  “It’s a matter of power,” she answered. “W
e witches draw our power from the spirits. Our rituals are designed to draw light spirits to us and push dark spirits away. Dark witches do the reverse. Working together and using a casting circle allow a coven to call more spirits and strengthen the spell. Any one of us can cast spells independently and with minimal ceremony, but those spells are much weaker by comparison.”

  “But that’s good news, isn’t it?” Jonathan asked. “The dark witch attacked on her own. Wouldn’t that make her weaker?”

  “It should have,” Noreen answered. “But she cut through our defenses almost effortlessly. She didn’t even need the help of the warlock who was keeping the rest of you busy downstairs.”

  When the attack began, Blackstone had been downstairs with Kyle, Jonathan, and the tactical team, ready to defend the house. As soon as he understood that they were dealing with an all-out attack of both werewolves and dark witches, he anticipated their enemies’ true objective and fell back to the moon shrine to protect Amanda. Marcella and two of the werewolves had followed him upstairs, but Cyrus and the two other werewolves had remained on the ground floor fighting the defenders.

  As Blackstone had entered the moon shrine, he’d passed through the protective shield the witches had raised and judged it sufficient to repel their attackers. He had been shocked when Marcella tore it down within seconds.

  Noreen’s description of how witches derived their power hinted at an explanation. “You’ve formulated a theory?” he asked her.

  “It was something Tanya said, actually. She feared we were doomed because Marcella is a demon with dark magic. That’s backward, but close enough. Demons are the most powerful of dark spirits, and they attract other dark spirits. A dark adept like Marcella with constant and immediate access to a substantial pool of dark spirit support would have nearly as much power as a full coven.”

  “Nearly?” Blackstone asked hopefully.