Descended from Shadows: Book of Sindal Book One

by D. G. Swank

“Are you crazy, Phoebe? He’ll see me disappear.” She paused. “It has to be you. Ask Margaret Abbott for help shifting into an animal.”

  “Brandon will notice if I’m gone too.” Especially me.

  “I have a plan for that. Get down behind the car and shift already.”

  I dropped into a squat behind the license plate, and Rowan stared down at me, saying, “I can’t believe we have to deal with Brandon Cassidy. He treated everyone like crap back in high school, and now here he is, treating us like crap again.”

  “It could be worse, I guess,” I muttered, remembering how he’d complimented my magic. Then again, he’d only seen me skinwalking because he was creeping on us.

  I hated that we had no idea whether we could trust him or not, or with what.

  I was a quarter mile from Margaret’s grave, but she was so used to lending me her magic, I barely had to ask. I needed an animal with great hearing, and I briefly considered an owl, but the sun had risen, so I shifted into a small dog instead. I usually stripped first, so I ended up buried inside my clothes.

  Rowan squatted down to help get me out, talking the entire time. “Phoebe, stop crying. It’s not going to help anything.”

  Great. Rowan’s plan for diverting attention from me was to talk to my pile of clothes as though I was still wearing them, having a nervous breakdown.

  I usually gave myself several seconds to get used to my animal form, but I didn’t have that luxury. I ran around the passenger side of the car—out of Brandon’s view—and promptly fell on my face as I tripped over my front feet. I waited for Rowan to snicker, but we were both too nervous. Once I got my feet back under me, I bolted to the house, sticking close to the siding as I followed Brandon’s voice.

  “It’s like that investigation in Pittsburgh,” he said. “The hooded mages… the magic feels exactly the same too—” He paused as if listening. “Yeah, yeah, it’s possible they’re all connected. Lincoln, Pittsburgh, and now this. I suspect we’re dealing with the same group here, but this is different than Lincoln, different spells. We’ve got more to go on with Pittsburgh. And it’s more recent, so there’s that.”

  There was another long pause before he said, “I haven’t decided about the sisters yet, but I’m sure the youngest is involved. Her magic has been erratic for several months, and I can’t help but wonder if someone approached her and offered to help. Her mother tried to get her help before the car accident, but as far as I can tell by sorting through the records, no one has tried since.”

  Mom had tried to get Celeste help? Did Rowan know?

  “I made an initial quick sweep of the property when we arrived, but I plan to see if I can find traces of this magic out by where the sisters kept the book. After that, I plan to head to Pittsburgh and talk to the witness. Go ahead and send the team to do a more thorough search and set up a guard duty to keep an eye on the sisters after I leave. I’ll keep you updated.”

  Who was he talking to? Lucia?

  Who did this guy think he was, ordering us to be watched now? It felt like a violation of our privacy. Hell, I was still pissed they’d been watching us so closely—particularly Celeste—before anything happened. But at least we’d agreed to that oversight, if only because we were young and stupid. But guard duty? Gods. Now I was livid. Not that I was surprised, but still. It made me feel like we were still young and stupid.

  I glanced at Rowan, who was still watching the window in between glancing down at my pile of clothes. “I have to pee too, Bee. Maybe the butthead will let us in now.”

  I heard the squeaks of the wood floor inside, heading closer to the front door.

  Brandon was coming out. There was no way I could get dressed before he reached the back of the car, so there was no point in trying. Besides, I was also curious what he’d find in the woods.

  Which meant I needed to follow him.

  I shot across the yard to the edge of the woods and waited as Brandon walked toward Rowan.

  He paused and glanced around. “Where’s Phoebe?”

  “She couldn’t wait any longer to pee, so she went into the woods.”

  He shot a glance in my direction. There was no way he could see me hidden in the trees. Even if he did, all he’d find was a rusty-tan, eighteen-inch-tall mutt. “When she comes back, make sure she stays out of the house. Protective Force agents are nearly done cleaning up the accident in Galena and they’ll be headed here next.”

  Rowan snapped an impertinent salute. “Yes, sir.”

  He started to walk away, then turned back to her. “I know you never liked me, Rowan—”

  “Correction. I still don’t like you.”

  He sucked in a deep breath and pushed it out. “I never planned to hurt her, you know.”

  “Who? Celeste?”

  “No.” He hesitated. “Phoebe… back in school. I genuinely liked her.”

  “Well, we’re all grown up,” Rowan spat out. “You can leave all of that in the past.” She took a step closer and pointed her finger at him. “Let me make this perfectly clear: if you hurt either one of my sisters, I will hunt you down and cut off your balls.”

  “I’m just doing my job, Rowan. I’m trying to find the Book of Sindal before the wrong people get a hold of it and wreak havoc. Isn’t that what you’re trying to do?”

  Her hands fisted at her sides and her chest heaved with anger. “Of course.”

  He held his hands out and plastered a smart-ass grin on his face. “Then we’re on the same page. Stay put. I’ll be back.”

  Having achieved the last word, he turned around and headed toward the area where Celeste performed her part of the ritual.

  As soon as he reached the edge of the trees, I bolted toward Rowan and shot her a quick glance, then ran after him. I hadn’t gone very far when I forced myself to an abrupt stop. Brandon would notice a mangy dog following him in the woods, but he’d likely never pay attention to a squirrel. I considered changing back to my human form before shifting, but he already had a head start on me.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d shifted from one animal to another.

  Closing my eyes to concentrate, I searched for Margaret and asked for her help. I was farther from her grave, so my transformation was slower and more painful, but it still only took a matter of seconds. After I allowed myself several seconds to recover, I scampered across the dried leaves on the forest floor, searching for Brandon.

  I caught up with him sooner than I’d expected. Truth be told, I hadn’t been to Celeste’s special place for nearly a year. I’d forgotten that it was closer to the house than the graveyard. Three large boulders surrounded the twenty-foot space, directly in the center of our triangular swatch of land.

  Brandon was already examining the area, particularly a large tan lump in the center. I scampered up a tree and out onto a limb before sitting on my butt and using my bushy tail to balance. I’d chosen the perfect vantage point.

  Brandon had his phone out and was taking photos of the area while cursing under his breath, and taking a closer look, I could see why.

  I had a dead-on view of Celeste’s work area, and it took me several seconds to realize two things. One, a twenty-foot circle with a five-pointed star had been burned into the earth, and two, a dead bobcat was directly in the center, staining the ground dark with blood.

  Horror flooded my head.

  Someone had made an animal sacrifice, a nearly unpardonable sin.

  I’d heard an animal die while I was walking the perimeter of the land the night of the fortification ritual, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it had been this animal.

  The muscles of my tiny body were tense, ready to flee in response to my fear and horror.

  A tiny voice inside my head whispered my sister’s name—the animal had been killed during her fortification ritual, but I couldn’t let myself address the question of who had perpetrated this sin against nature. Not yet. For all I knew, she could have already been abducted by the time it happened.

&n
bsp; Brandon slipped his phone back into his pocket and took the same stance he’d used in our living room, ready to suss out lingering magic.

  Which meant he’d be able to sense my magic.

  I considered running back to Rowan and telling her everything I’d learned, but I wanted to find out what he discovered.

  Trusting my animal instincts, I ran across the tree branch and jumped to the neighboring tree, positioning myself on a branch that was hopefully far enough away to escape detection.

  Brandon lifted his hands. I was too far away to see his eyes glaze over, but I could feel the edges of his magic, even this far out, which meant there was a chance he sensed me.

  Thankfully, he didn’t look in my direction as he dropped his stance. Less thankfully, he pulled out his phone and sent a text.

  Dammit. How was I going to find out what he’d written?

  Another squirrel appeared on a tree branch of the tree next to mine, giving me an inquisitive stare. I cursed myself for my shortsightedness. Why hadn’t I reached for Samuel’s magic and his ability to communicate with animals when I’d called to Margaret’s? I could have asked the animals what they’d seen that night and why they hadn’t sounded an alarm.

  I tried reaching out to Samuel now, but as I suspected, I was too far from his grave. Fear for my little sister and possibly fear of her made my heart race as I ran down the tree and bolted toward Rowan.

  I considered shifting to tell her what I’d found, but I wasn’t sure how much time I had before Brandon came back. I needed to use Samuel’s magic and get answers.

  Rowan looked alarmed when I stopped next to her and didn’t shift, but I sent her a message through our coven connection, hoping she could understand since my squirrel brain was filtering what I sent.

  Found something bad. Animal sacrifice. Need Samuel.

  Horror filled her eyes, so I knew she’d at least gotten the bad part.

  I called to Samuel, worried he’d be too shy to respond. His magic usually came to me through his sister, but he sensed my urgency, and I felt his magic flow into my veins. Suddenly, as though a switch had been flipped, I could hear the animals in the forest repeating the same word—or more like a feeling—over and over.

  Evil.

  Chapter Eight

  I shot a terrified glance up to Rowan, then raced back in the direction of the pentacle.

  “Phoebe!” Rowan whisper-shouted.

  I stopped and turned to face her, and she sent me a message of her own.

  I put your clothes in the woods.

  I dipped my head, then took off. I didn’t know how much time I had until Brandon finished his investigation and came looking for me.

  The closer I got to the pentacle, the louder the animals’ refrain became, until my head was aching with the noise.

  Brandon was still in the ritual space, walking around the bobcat’s body with upraised hands, so I stayed a ways back and searched for an animal to communicate with.

  Another squirrel stopped in front of me, sitting up on its butt and eyeing me with open curiosity. While we couldn’t communicate in actual words, I could understand phrases and feelings by using the animal’s magic and connection to the earth.

  When I asked the squirrel about the evil, it dropped to all fours and sprinted for the nearest tree in terror.

  Great.

  I sent out a message that told the animals I was there to help them, and I needed to know what had happened to the bobcat. Even though they recognized my soul, they were still frightened to tell me.

  What in Hades had they seen?

  Finally, two deer approached, a mother and her fawn. The doe told me she’d seen evil enter the forest. When I asked her for more information, she said evil had been in the sacred space where Celeste performed her part of the fortification ritual. Magic had been used to block off the circle, so none of the animals could see or hear what was going on inside. When I pressed her, asking if she could tell me how many people were present for the sacrifice, she told me one other person had been on our property. They’d wrapped themselves in magic and hidden any identifying features, but she was sure of one thing—Celeste and the book had left with this person.

  Did Celeste go willingly? I asked.

  Even as the thought left my head, I was overcome with guilt. How could I entertain the idea that our sister would not only betray us but also witchkind?

  The deer stared down at me but kept silent. Did she not understand the question? I’d chosen to go down this path. Now I needed to know.

  Did the witch go with violence? I pressed.

  The doe took a step backward, nudging her fawn with her nose. One word, or more like a feeling, filled my head.

  Evil.

  Then she took off running, her baby stumbling to keep up.

  I caught movement to my right, and realized Brandon was headed back. With a running leap, I darted ahead of him, keeping a good twenty feet to his left. There was no way I could get to the other side of the woods, get dressed, and meet Brandon at Rowan’s car, but right now I just wanted to get to my clothes and shift without making him suspicious.

  I raced across the open lawn, sticking close to the house, and then headed into the patch of trees where Brandon had thought I was peeing. Sure enough, my clothes were in a pile about fifteen feet from the opening. I tried unsuccessfully to relax as I changed back to human.

  Shifting from such a small animal to my human form was harder than shifting to a larger animal. The pain was more intense than either of the last two shifts, and when I finished, I lay panting on the forest floor, whimpering. Realizing I could be heard, I covered my mouth with my hand and waited for the ache in my bones and muscles to ease. A half minute later, I pushed to a sitting position—and cringed when I heard Brandon calling my name.

  “Phoebe!”

  I quickly put on my panties and yoga pants, then my camisole and wrap sweater, my fingers shaking. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten, and I’d just done three consecutive shifts, which took a massive amount of energy. I was going to have to eat soon or I’d likely pass out. After shoving on my shoes, I hurried out of the trees, toward my sister and Brandon, who were arguing as they stood next to the passenger side of Rowan’s SUV.

  “See?” Rowan said, flinging an arm my direction. “There she is.”

  Brandon propped his hands on his hips, keeping his gaze on me as I sauntered toward them.

  “What? Can’t a girl pee in peace?” I asked with plenty of attitude. I felt a little dizzy, but I braced my feet to keep from swaying.

  “That had to be the world’s longest pee,” he said sarcastically.

  I gave a shrug as I stopped in front of him. “I have performance issues. What did you find?”

  An amused grin lit up his eyes as he lifted a hand to my hair.

  I flinched, and he pulled his hand back slightly, splaying his fingers as though to reassure me that he wasn’t going to hurt me. When I didn’t protest, his eyes twinkled as he reached into my hair and pulled out a four-inch twig. “Do I want to know?”

  Rowan’s eyes widened.

  “When I squatted to pee, I fell over.”

  “Huh.”

  “Phoebe has a point,” Rowan said. “Not the peeing part, the other. What did you find?”

  His amusement fell away. “Nothing of importance. The Protective Force agents are on their way, and when they get here, I’ll leave you both in their capable hands and head east.”

  “What happened to us working together?” I asked, still in shock he was planning to leave us in the dark.

  “What’s out east?” Rowan asked.

  But I knew exactly where he was going. He was headed to Pittsburgh.

  “The logistics needn’t concern you,” he said. “What matters is that I find Celeste and the book.”

  He’d just lied to us about not finding anything important in the forest, which meant we’d never know the truth about what he found next.

  “I’m going with yo
u,” I said as though I were issuing an order.

  Rowan couldn’t have looked more surprised if I’d told her I planned to go skydiving.

  “You don’t even know where I’m headed!” Brandon protested.

  I shrugged. “Okay. Where are we headed?”

  His nostrils flared with his irritation. “I am going to Pittsburgh. Alone.”

  “Awesome. How long will we be gone?”

  A scowl crossed Brandon’s face. “I’m conducting an official investigation, Phoebe. This isn’t a biology class field trip to the zoo. There’s likely to be actual danger.”

  The reminder of our freshman biology field trip only added fuel to the fire in my gut. Who wouldn’t have been terrified to see a two-foot-long escaped iguana waddle up next to them while gazing into an alligator pit? But he and the other boys in our class had gotten a lot of mileage out of my hysterical reaction. It was time he discovered I wasn’t that girl anymore.

  “We know there’s actual danger, Captain Cassidy,” Rowan snapped. “Our sister is missing. Our house has been ripped apart, and two SUVs full of cloaked minions tried to kill us on the way to the Small Council meeting. We’re fully aware of the danger.”

  To his credit, Brandon looked embarrassed.

  Pulling together a regal pose—not exactly easy when I could feel the leaves in my hair and the dirt ground into my cheek—I gave him a deathly cold stare. “I am the daughter of Xavier and Linnet Whelan,” I ground out. “My ancestral talent is one of the finest our community has ever seen, and my family has roots all over the Northeast and Midwest. I used that power to destroy one of those SUVs your task force is cleaning up now. Not only that, but the Whelan sisters’ coven bond is one of the strongest in the country. You can’t do this without us, and if you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn’t want to.”

  His dark gaze held mine for several seconds—he clearly didn’t appreciate being dressed down—but then his face softened. “I hadn’t thought about your coven bond.” He paused, eyeing me with new interest. “If I agree to bring you, do you agree to tell me if you sense your sister?”

  “Of course,” I lied. “We all want the same things. We want to find the book as quickly as possible before innocent people are harmed. We want to catch and punish the person or persons responsible for its theft, and we want to find my sister, who is likely with the book. If we achieve the first goal, I believe we can achieve them all.”