whiskey witches 02 - blood moon magick

by blooding, s m

  When she touched his shoulder, though, electricity coursed up her arm, making her hand more numb. Her head throbbed.

  Alma had taught her how to shield, but she’d never taught anyone else before. What was she supposed to do?

  Her spirit animal had no suggestions.

  Paige pulled on her center, her connection to the All Mother. She didn’t see life as anything more than the living. No good. No evil. Just the circle of life. Birth. Death. Eaten. Birth. Death. Eaten.

  She needed advice on what to do in the death cycle.

  A tendril of curiosity pinged her like a sonar beacon. What is overwhelming him?

  That was an easy answer. The light.

  What is the light?

  Paige reached with her mind and tentatively touched it. Voices and images assaulted her.

  An old woman holding a little girl’s hand.

  A boy cradling a dog.

  A woman, bloodied and hanging upside down from her seatbelt, reaching for her husband.

  Paige pulled her mind away and blinked. Information.

  No. That’s not quite right, the All Mother said. Think past that. Dig deeper. What is overwhelming him?

  Paige reached out again, bracing herself this time.

  Sorrow.

  Fear.

  Anger at having a life cut short.

  Images. A car accident.

  A child on the street, her bicycle not far from her.

  An old man on his bed, the smell of rot filling the room.

  Sounds.

  Screams of a mother.

  Unrelenting sobs.

  What is overwhelming him?

  The idea that death was bad.

  The All Mother gave an empathic nod of approval, and disappeared.

  Paige loved the All Mother, but there were times when the higher being thought, perhaps, that Paige knew more than she did, or understood more than she could, or could do more than was possible.

  What was she supposed to do with this information? If Nick, her brother, was there? Maybe. As the empath, he could change people’s emotions. Or so she’d heard. She barely knew him.

  The numbness in her hand abated as a dull pain radiated up her arm instead. She bit her lip and tried. She pushed her thoughts and emotions at him. She sent him images, tying the emotions from the All Mother with it.

  Death was death.

  It wasn’t something to be feared.

  It wasn’t something look forward to.

  It wasn’t something to run away from.

  It wasn’t something to run toward.

  Jack raised his head, his eyes black, his expression ragged.

  Maybe it was working.

  She cupped his face in her hands and kept at it. Human words couldn’t fully capture her message. She kept shoving those messages toward him.

  Something flitted inside her mind, foreign, not belonging to her.

  A child in a hospital bed, bald head, pale, lethargic. Sorrow and desperation distorted the image as if the emotions were heat waves in a parking lot.

  Her heart twisted, but she knew the All Mother’s answer. All living things die. She changed the image. The child no longer suffered. She’d found peace.

  Jack shook his head.

  It’s something you have to come to terms with, Jack, Paige thought as loudly as she could. She wasn’t a telepath, so she wasn’t sure how he was going to get that message. Then again, she wasn’t an empath either and seemed to be doing a fair job at communicating with emotions. Death will teach you things about life you’ll wish you never knew—like how unimportant they all were in the great cheese maze—but this is what you are. You accept it. Or you don’t.

  The light stream fluttered, flickered, and dimmed as it was absorbed into him.

  The pain radiating up Paige’s arms stopped. She released her hold on his face and sat back.

  Jack straightened his back, his eyes closed, his hands palm down on his legs.

  Paige massaged her hands. Fire shot through them like a limb that had fallen asleep.

  “Are you…” Dexx paused as he took a step toward them. “Okay?”

  Paige was tired. It had been a long day. Lots of discoveries, taxing phone conversations, the whole animal spirit thing, Dexx being bitten, getting her gift back, and now this. Saving Jack from being overwhelmed by his own damned gift.

  Where were the other reapers when they were needed?

  Jack opened his eyes, the black receding into his irises. “I know where the others are.”

  “Others?” With everything that had happened, Paige’s brain scrambled to figure out what he was talking about.

  “The other shifters.”

  Tony came within view. “Where?”

  If Jack the Reaper saw them, that couldn’t be good. “How much time do we have before they’re all dead?”

  He glanced at her. “Not a lot.”

  That wasn’t quite as helpful as she’d hoped. “Where are they?”

  “Coming here.”

  That was, maybe, more helpful. “What are they doing?”

  “Nothing. They think they’re coming home, but Sven’s using them as bombs.”

  What? Why?

  Because he didn’t get what he wanted out of them. So, they were nothing more than collateral damage.

  “It’s the chip,” Jack said. “It’s also a bomb.”

  “In their head.” Fuck. “Great.”

  Tony walked toward the door. “I’ll tell Karl to round them up and call John. We need to get as many of those chips removed as we can.”

  Thank goodness someone was thinking. “Jack, do you know where they’re going? ‘Here’ is a pretty vague location.”

  He tipped his head and looked up at her with tired, drooping eyes. “I know where all of them are going to be.”

  Paige took in a deep breath. “Find some paper. Something to write with. Dexx. You got anything in that bag of yours?”

  He was already searching.

  Gummy Bear rang out in the church, bouncing off the walls. Paige pulled out her phone and answered. “Go, Les.”

  “Busy?” Leslie asked. “Got it. On it. Treaty. Found it. Not good. We’re not supposed to be talking to them.”

  Already knew that. “So, I was led here to what?”

  “Start another war.”

  “For what purpose?” Paige knew what purpose.

  It suddenly clicked. Sven needed power and he’d failed to gain that power by removing the animal spirit from the shifters. So, he was going to watch as the shifters syphoned the power from a witch to see if he could replicate the process.

  But she was the only witch in Nederland at the moment. So, had he intended to sacrifice her? After all the messages and cryptic guiding?

  What if this whole ploy had been nothing more than to gain power for himself? What if there wasn’t a great, grand plan? What if the only reason he’d tried to open the Gate was to gain access to the power on the other side, to recharge? What if the murders in Louisiana had been to syphon power from the witches?

  That still didn’t add up. Not really. Yeah. Some of the pieces fit together. The shapeshifter parts.

  Leslie was still talking.

  “Sorry,” Paige interrupted. “What?”

  “Distracted?”

  “Kind of. Have the ability to save people who haven’t died yet.”

  “Got a psychic?”

  “Better. A reaper.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yup.”

  “Treaty? Now or later?”

  “We’re trying to save the shifters right now, so, later. Once I’ve saved them, we’ll talk treaty and figure out how to clear this up.”

  “No problem.”

  “Question.”

  “Answer.”

  Paige stared around the walls of the church, recalling her blood oath. “Was this treaty signed in blood?”

  Leslie paused, then said softly, “Yes.”

  “Find out which line, if you can.” />
  “You’re talking as if we’re noble.”

  “We kind of are. The Whiskey line is—well, look at it. Every single one of us has gifts. Every single one. What other witch family has that?”

  “None.”

  “At least none that we know of. Just see what you can find out?”

  “Will do. Save lives.”

  “Have a baby.”

  “On it.”

  “Bye.”

  She hung up the phone.

  “Paige.” Tony walked back into the church, his expression stormy. “They’ve already started arriving. They’re mostly downtown, tearing up the place.”

  What did she know about shifters from the lore she’d been reading? Fiction often got a lot of stuff wrong, but there was still a lot of stuff they got almost right. “How many alphas do you have in town?”

  “Fewer than you might think,” Tony answered. “Not all alphas get along.”

  She worked with men who thought they were alphas almost every day. She understood that. “Tell Sheriff Karl she needs as many of them as she can get.”

  “Wait,” Dexx said, raising his hand, his head lowered, his face folded up in pain.

  The moon. The sun was falling. The moon was rising. Was Dexx turning? “What?”

  “Remember—” He interrupted himself, pinching his eyes closed in pain. “The station,” he panted.

  Aaron and Rory had been chipped and something about Aaron had caused the other shifters to go against their better judgment.

  “Are any of the other chipped shifters alphas?”

  Tony shook his head. “Only Aaron.”

  Paige shook her head at Dexx. “Then, they should be safe.”

  “The moon.”

  Yeah. The super moon. The power of it thrummed through her as it rose in the sky. Soon, the moon would claim power over the sky, over the shifters.

  Over her.

  Would the animal spirit within her help or hinder?

  “Come on. Jack, with me.” She rummaged through Dexx’s pant pockets and took the keys. Her heart twisted, wanting to stay and help him, but there were too many others out there who needed her help. She didn’t know if she could help them, but she had to try.

  Dexx didn’t complain. He just sat there, doubled over, his body tense.

  “Tony, take Dexx. Find John. He’s taking a turn for the worse.” She gathered up Dexx’s guns and other tools, shoving them in the bag as fast as she could. “Jack, tell me you have that list handy.”

  He nodded and walked quickly to her side. “I have the list. But you need to get to this one.” He pointed to one in particular. “Hailey is going to be attacked by demons.”

  Excellent.

  “Pea?” Dexx was on his feet, sweat pouring from him. His face was ashen. He looked gaunt.

  Shit. What could she do?

  “Be careful.”

  Tony wrapped his arm under Dexx’s armpits to support his weight. “We got this.”

  Paige couldn’t watch Dexx die all over again. She just couldn’t. “Survive.”

  He nodded, his lips cocked to one side in an exhausted smile. “Sure. No problem.”

  Her animal spirit growled and Paige let it erupt from her mouth. She slammed her right palm onto his chest, forcing her will and the will of her animal spirit into his soul. She whispered fiercely against his lips, “Survive.”

  His green gaze caught hers. Surprise shown through them. He nodded once, twice, three times.

  She spun on her heel, grabbed Jack, and left.

  Paige drove to the center of town, her headlights providing little assistance in the near-dusk light. Nederland down town was like a lot of older towns with buildings that reminded a person that the past wasn’t so long ago. She parked Jackie in front of the old mercantile store.

  People ran all over the streets, half of them shifting, most of them fighting. Trash, debris, cars strewn across the lanes, doors still open, music blaring. The mercantile was the furthest Paige had been able to make it.

  Jack stared at Paige.

  Paige stared at Jack.

  What the fuck were they supposed to do?

  Paige swallowed, twisted to reach bag of weapons in the back, and pulled out two knives. “The chip is at the base of the skull.” She handed him one.

  He gave her a look of what-the-fuck.

  “If we’re going to save them, we have to remove their implant.”

  “How do we know which ones have it?” He looked out the window, his face twisted with incredulity. “They’re all mad.”

  Paige caught a glimpse of Sheriff Karl. She stood tall in the center of a circle of shifters who were all on their knees. “Not all of them. Just…I don’t know. Feel for it.” She opened the door and got out.

  “Great.” Jack got out as well, slamming the door closed behind him.

  “Also,” Paige said as the information re-pinged itself against the insides of her skull, “you know how each one is going to die. Which ones are going to explode? Those are the ones with the chip.”

  He winced. “Right. Shit. Fuck. Crap. Ah, hell.”

  Two shifters, one a bird of some sort and half formed, the other still mostly human, turned to them, their eyes yellow, their teeth bared.

  “Just remember,” Jack shouted, gripping his knife. “You need to get to the bridge and you’re running out of time.”

  She scanned the immediate area, but all she saw were old buildings and people and chaos. The bridge was on the other side of town, but more than that, she just didn’t know.

  Jack set upon the two shifters, gripping the mostly human one by the neck. He shoved the half-bird man to the side.

  We have to move, Paige’s spirit animal said.

  I need to give you a name.

  Names can wait.

  Paige walked into the melee.

  The shifters turned away from her, some flinching as if stung.

  Now’s a great time for this, Paige thought. How could she tell if they had the chip or not? She didn’t have Jack’s list. All she had was Hailey who was about to be attacked by demons. Paige switched on her witch vision.

  All she saw were souls. Lots of souls in differing shades and colors.

  “The bridge,” Jack shouted.

  She didn’t glance at him. Paige switched her witch vision off, not tempting the fate of blurring it with her normal vision, and jogged through the press of fighting shifters.

  Karl looked up at Paige as she ran past. The sheriff’s face was laced with fright and fear that she was barely keeping at bay. She held a knife in one hand, the head of one of her shifters in the other.

  Paige gave the sheriff a curt nod and kept going. Do you have a name?

  Why are we discussing this now? Her spirit animal demanded.

  Because I need the distraction. Paige wasn’t on the verge of freaking out. She’d survived worse. A warehouse full of demons with a gift that left her wide open for possession. She recalled that instance, compared it to this one. Yeah. This one was much, much better.

  I go by many names.

  Really unhelpful. Paige slipped past a group of hyenas. They attacked a horse shifter who was mostly formed. Her human head and torso protruded from her brown speckled equine body like a centaur, but she was losing the battle. Eight hyena shifters to one horse.

  Paige grabbed one of the hyenas by the scruff of her neck. All the hyenas were mostly human. Their skin had changed and they had the snouts of their animal, but the rest of them remained human. Paige searched for the implant.

  The hyena bucked.

  Paige’s animal spirit sent power coursing down their shared arm. You may call me Cawli.

  Great. Paige gritted her teeth. Does this thing have a chip or not?

  She is chipped. Cawli pressed his power deeper into her hands, guiding them. Do you feel it? Just there?

  There had to be an easier way. Paige felt what Cawli pointed out. She brought her knife up, the hyena woman tossing herself about, trying to get free. She
kicked wildly.

  Another of the hyenas screeched as the horse shifter kicked his face.

  Paige kicked the hyena’s knee forward and brought the woman to the ground. With the shifter on more stable ground, she cut a slit at the base of the hyena woman’s skull and rooted around until she found the small chip. The woman nearly bucked her off several times before she found the damned thing.

  It was tiny.

  The hyena stilled, her spots receding, her black hair shortening.

  Paige got off of her, crouched.

  The woman pushed herself to her feet, reaching for the back of her neck. Her fingers came away with blood.

  The woman’s pack turned on her, crouched, their human fingers clawed, their eyes glowing a bright red. They bared their fangs.

  The woman looked at Paige and narrowed her eyes. “Thank you.”

  Paige nodded and turned her attention to the rest of the pack. What others? They can’t all be chipped, right?

  They are not, but they are not in control.

  The woman pulled back her head, her mouth wide open, and breathed.

  Only this breath made Paige’s chest rumble. Her animal spirit ears picked up a roar.

  The woman lowered her face, her eyes shining a bright, fierce blue. She turned to the rest of her pack.

  The horse shifter completed her shift, fully horse, and ran in the direction Paige needed to go. On the other side of town. To the bridge.

  “You got this?”

  The hyena woman nodded once.

  Paige shook herself and ran. Within a few steps, she was breathing heavy, but her body was in fight or flight mode. She knew if she’d been running for sport, she’d have died already. But in this case? She didn’t have time to flail. She didn’t have time to fail.

  So, Cawli, Paige said to keep her mind off the fire burning in her lungs. Is there a better way to tell if a shifter is chipped?

  Yes.

  You want to share because that could be, you know, kinda helpful about right now.

  You have something else to concentrate on.

  And this isn’t important?

  Trust me, Paige. It’s not important right now. Get to the bridge.

  Paige ran faster, pumping her arms harder, running only on her toes. She felt like she was flying, her hair streaming behind her. Actually streaming behind her.

  Having the power of the animal spirit was amazing!

  She dashed past several groups of packs attacking packs. Big cats attacking wolves. Wolves attacking a bull. A convocation of eagles attacking a bear.