“Let’s go around,” he said in a hushed tone.
We crossed through a doorway into the next room that looked as though it once housed water plants. The stone fountains had dried long ago, and whatever plants resided there had since turned to dust. In the center of the room was a well, which I thought was oddly placed.
“Who puts a well in a greenhouse?” I asked.
“It’s likely the greenhouse was built around the well. If this was a section for water-based plants, it would take a lot of work to haul water in from outside.” He looked up at the window-latticed ceiling that was caked with years of grime. “They probably opened up that section of the roof when it rained so that the well could fill up. I’m quite impressed, actually.”
“Cool. Now where are the witches?”
Felix shrugged. “Through the fox hole.”
I went back into the other room, looked at the location of the hole, went back to the aquatic plant room, and stood at the wall on the other side of the hole. Staying in a straight line, I walked forward until I reached the well.
“If that hole is a straight shot, this lines up with it,” I said, peering into the well. I bent down and picked up a small chunk of stone from one of the crumbled fountains. Felix joined me, and I dropped the stone into the shaft. We heard nothing.
“There wouldn’t be water in there anymore,” he said.
“But what if it leads to the hole?”
He cocked his head and raised his eyebrow. “Do you really want to find out?”
I sheepishly shrugged. “Guess not.”
It was near dark outside, the light fading quickly. It was getting harder to adjust my eyes. I was relieved when Felix said, “I hate to think this trip has been in vain, but we don’t want to be here at dark. We can come back another time, with reinforcements.”
When we crossed the threshold into the other room, we startled a silver fox that was coming our way, mostly likely headed for the fox hole. It froze when it saw us.
“Don’t move,” whispered Felix, and then he addressed the fox. “We come in peace. We only wish to talk.”
The fox lowered its head and barked like a small dog screaming. Seconds later, four more foxes bounded out of the hole and surrounded us. The fox near the entrance jumped into the air, twisted around in an explosion of black smoke and came out looking human, a young woman with fair skin, blue eyes and golden hair, wearing no clothes.
“Take them!” she ordered the foxes, in French.
The four foxes replicated the other, turning into women, all of them fair skinned and golden haired. The fox hole enlarged to a human tunnel. They grabbed us, their delicate hands an illusion for their brute strength. Felix and I struggled, pushing them off of us. Felix raised his hands to use his ability, and so did I, but the witch near the entrance flew toward us and said something that resembled French, but in a demonic voice.
“Binding spell!” said Felix, as we tried to escape from their restraint.
One witch leaned toward me and whispered into my ear, “Vous ne pouvez pas voir.”
It felt like shadow had engulfed my eyes. Blinded, I pushed and shoved, but it was no use. Even if I could break free, I couldn’t see where to run. “Felix!”
“They’ve blinded us,” he said. I could hear defeat in his voice.
The witches led us down into the tunnel. I supposed darkness was naturally drawn to earth and shadows and the hidden. I had never felt more claustrophobic.
It was perhaps fifteen yards or so, the ground leveling off after the first six feet. I felt a small breeze at one point, and I guessed we had passed under the well. Our march ended shortly after this. I felt there was light here, like the way you can sort of see light through your closed eyelids. My ears jumped as a door was closed and bolted behind us. I felt a source of heat.
“Voir,” one of the women whispered in my ear.
Whatever shadowy veil that covered my eyes was lifted. Felix was beside me, and I could tell he could see now as well. We were in a sort of cave lit with torches. An altar covered in black cloth rested in the middle. The five witches were now in black cloaks with hoods atop their heads. All had blonde hair, pale skin, impossibly blue eyes. I was sure they were sisters. The witch in the center—she looked a little older than the other four—came forward.
“We did not mean to intrude,” said Felix in French. “We only wanted to talk.”
She eyed him for a moment and then turned her attention to me. “I will speak in her native tongue so that you can both understand me,” she said in English. “You are not welcome here.” As she spoke, I was horrified to see a tiny black spider crawl out from the corner of her eye and scurry down her cheek to the back of her neck. “We want what is rightfully ours, what was promised. Give it back to us.”
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Felix.
“Our book! Give it back!”
“What b—?”
“Enough! I will allow one of you to live to tell your friends. And one of you will not survive long enough to betray us again.”
“What do you mean? We didn’t betray you,” I said.
One of the other witches giggled, and a small black snake slithered out of the corner of her mouth.
“Quiet, Elsa!” scolded the head witch. She lifted her hand, a bolt unlocked, and a door to the right opened to reveal a demon hound. It jerked its head toward us, cocking its ears, and then caught us in its sight with those horrifying silver eyes.
The door behind us unlocked, and the door opened. “Now, to determine who lives, one of you will just have to outrun the other,” said the head witch.
Felix raised his hands to attack, but couldn’t do anything because of the binding spell. “Run!”
I had just enough time to see the creature charge for us and hear the witches laughing.
We shut and locked the chamber door and heard the demon hound crash into it just as we stepped away. It roared and banged on the other side of the door. The wood started to splinter. We continued up the tunnel until we reached the greenhouse and out into the garden, where there was barely enough light to see. By this point, we heard the hound charging again.
Felix held out his hands, and little sparks of electricity emitted from his fingertips. “We can fight here,” he said.
We stood our ground, ready. Rapid footfalls approached from inside the greenhouse, and in no time, the beast leaped from the doorway.
Felix shot down it with a bolt of electricity. It howled with the most horrific sound I had ever heard, like a wolf but with distinctly human intelligence.
To our surprise, we saw another hound approaching and two more behind it. And they were coming fast.
Felix zapped the two out in front, and I got one to stop when I started concentrating on draining its life force. The problem with this is that it took too long, and we heard more on the way. Felix killed another as I finally finished draining the one I had.
“I’m tapped out for the moment,” he said, and he noticed how long it took me to finish off one hound. We saw four emerge from the tunnel and charge across the greenhouse.
“Run!” he shouted.
We found the trail and raced through the forest, dodging rotted branches and shrubs. Behind us, we heard the snaps of dead tree limbs and the quick crunch of leaves coming at us faster and faster as the demons howled with rage.
I suddenly noticed Felix wasn’t beside me. I turned around to see he had fallen. One of the demon hounds was nearly upon him. And I froze. My mind didn’t want to work. I was petrified.
“Help!” he yelled.
Just as the hound jumped on him, I raised my hands and drained it. He finished it off by frying it. He staggered to his feet, his brows drawn together, scowling at me. “I could’ve been killed! And you were just standing there!”
“I’m sorry!”
We broke out in another run. More hounds were coming our way. I saw Felix’s car in the distance. “Can you take a couple of them out?” I
said.
“Maybe one.”
I stopped, and when Felix noticed I wasn’t at his side, he stopped, too. “Are you crazy?! Hurry! They’ll be here any second!” he said.
“We won’t make it to the car in time. Take down that tree!” I pointed to a massive hornbeam packed with long branches.
Felix smiled in the corner of his mouth, raised his hands, and aimed for the trunk of the tree. His powerful bolt cut through it in a matter of seconds. A thunderous crack shot through the forest as the great tree toppled over right in front of the charging demons. We could no longer see them, but they roared with fury.
Felix looked exhausted, but we hurried to his car, got in and drove away.
11
The Devil’s Hour
Felix hadn’t said a word to me all the way back to Charmagne’s. I knew he was angry with me for hesitating to help him, and I couldn’t blame him. I don’t know what got into me, but I hated it. I couldn’t even bring myself to look him in the eyes, but more than that, I was afraid of myself, of my power.
When we got to Charmagne’s, she, Miles and Noah were in the living room. I heard Miles yelling before I saw them.
“How could you have let her go out without my consent?!”
“I didn’t let her, Miles! She took off with Felix and–”
Charmagne stopped when we entered, and everyone’s anxious eyes turned toward us. Ridge, gravely quiet, stood at the foot of the staircase.
“We were about to go looking for you,” said Miles. He took in our disheveled appearance—Felix’s dirt-streaked clothes and my wild hair—and he said, “Are you both okay?”
“Barely,” said Felix, taking a seat beside the fireplace. “The witches unleashed some demon hounds on us. We did have a small conversation before that, however. They said we betrayed them and they wanted their book returned. We said we didn’t know anything and asked them what book. They accused us of lying and being thieves, and then they unleashed hell. The only reason we’re alive is because they let us live. They wanted us to pass on their message. But they certainly didn’t make it easy. All they needed was one of us to get out alive.”
“Good job getting out of there,” said Noah, impressed.
“It was harder than you think,” said Felix, staring at me. I gazed into the fire and said nothing but felt everyone’s eyes on me.
“Well,” said Miles, “We should find out more about this book. Did they give any indication what it’s about?”
“Just that it belonged to them. They said it was rightfully theirs, and they want it back,” said Felix.
“Rightfully theirs,” repeated Charmagne, lost in thought. “What book would belong to them?”
“They’re witches, so they’re descendants of Anseis. It could be something related to their blood line,” said Felix. “Or it could just be a book of spells particular to their coven. It could be anything, really.”
Miles’ jaw slackened, and he and Noah shared a look. “Surely they can’t mean …” said Miles.
“What is it?” said Charmagne.
Miles looked at her. “You don’t suppose they mean the Book of Avelina, do you?”
She looked as dumbfounded as he did. “That could very well be. But why would they think we have it?”
“Maybe they think Gretchen took it,” I said.
“What use would Gretchen have for it?” said Felix. “She’s a fire paladin. I don’t believe for a second that she would have taken that grimoire.”
“But all signs point to her going to the Garden of Hecate. She was there for a reason,” I said.
“No,” said Charmagne, resoundingly shaking her head. “If Gretchen went to them, they were luring her there for some reason. To take her power, perhaps.”
“Can witches do that? Take another paladin’s ability?” said Noah.
“It’s possible they found a spell in the grimoire that could do such a thing,” said Charmagne. “Maybe she … came to and made off with the book?”
“Just the same,” started Miles, but he was interrupted by a loud thud coming from upstairs.
Ridge ran toward the noise, and we all followed. It came from Danielle’s room, and when we entered, it was ghastly how frail and sickly the girl had become. Her face was as pale as the moon, except for the dark circles under her eyes. Locks of sweaty hair clung to her head and neck.
Ridge picked her up off the floor and put her back in the bed. Her room looked off somehow, like it needed a good cleaning, or things weren’t as bright as before. I supposed it was just the dim lighting coming from the hallway.
Charmagne sat beside Danielle and pushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. She looked at Miles. “They’re killing her. I want them dead.”
***
I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of glass breaking downstairs and feet running in the hallway. I staggered out of bed to see Miles and Charmagne heading downstairs. Noah and Ridge had run into the living room ahead of us, and there we found an injured barn owl flapping around on the floor near some broken glass next to the fire place. Its wing was bleeding, and there was a note tied to its leg.
“You guys see that?” I said, pointing at the note.
Noah wasted no time in scooping up the owl, turning it upside down and taking off the note. He was about to toss the owl back through the window.
“Wait,” I said. I placed my hand on its wing while Noah kept it from squirming too much. In a few moments, it was healed. The owl thanked me by biting my finger.
“Damnit!” I hissed, sucking on the tip of my finger.
Noah chuckled and carefully tossed the bird out the window.
“What does it say?” said Miles.
Noah unfolded the note. “It’s in French.” He handed it to Charmagne.
Her face dropped as she read aloud: “When the devil’s hour comes upon you, one will turn against the others. Give it back.”
“What’s the devil’s hour?” I said.
“Three AM,” said Miles, looking at his watch. “That’s a little less than an hour from now.”
Charmagne put her hand to her throat, her eyes wide with fear. “Ridge. Bring Danielle here. We must all stay together.”
As he left, Miles said, “Yes. Stay together. Everyone be on high alert.”
“How can they make one of us turn on the others?” said Noah.
“They have ways,” said Charmagne. “They’ll do whatever is in their power to get what they want.”
“We need to find what they want, then,” I said. “We need to find that book.”
“We need to find Gretchen first,” said Miles.
Noah and Ridge kept watch at the windows, staring out into the night like silent guards. Charmagne, Miles and I sat and waited, hardly speaking to one another. I kept glancing at the clock over the mantle. I’d think twenty minutes had gone by, but it would only be two or three minutes.
After what seemed an eternity, it was one minute until 3:00. The second hand on the clock painfully glided past the numerals, finally reaching the twelve. The clock struck three. We all faced each other. Charmagne was on the sofa with Danielle, holding her hand. It was too quiet. I was barely aware of my own breath.
Miles was the first one to notice it. He pointed a finger toward the window the owl had crashed through. Seeping in through the hole was a white fog. It crept in through the other window, too.
“Nobody move,” said Miles.
As the fog filled the room, I recognized the smell right away: wet earth. My heart beat harder in my chest. My tongue was dry. I couldn’t swallow. Before the fog consumed the whole room, I saw Noah coming toward me. I felt his hand grab mine and squeeze it reassuringly.
“Everyone all here?” said Miles. I noticed his voice was slightly panicked.
“Danielle and I are here,” said Charmagne.
“Here,” said Ridge.
“Here,” I said.
Noah did not respond. I squeezed his hand but realized it didn
’t feel like a human hand. It was slick and scaly. I let go and looked over my shoulder through the white blanket of fog. There were two monstrous gray eyes staring back at me, moving closer.
I screamed and jumped up, edging my way toward the foyer. The whole house was consumed by the fog. “Miles!”
The only response I got was a snarl and growl, unlike any animal I ever heard. It was something not of this world. There were two of them, and then a third. I shrank back against the doorway between the living room and the foyer. I saw several figures heading for me, all with horrible eyes and sharp teeth. They were smelling for me in the fog.
I raised my hands and tried to drain one. It fell to the floor. I would have kept draining to kill it, but two of them rushed toward me.
I felt my way to the front door, opened it and took off running. There was no fog here, just the dark forest with enough moonlight for me to see.
I heard them behind me, and I thought of the demon hounds Felix and I faced. These were different. They stalked after me with humanoid bodies, green and black scales and those demonic eyes.
I tore through the woods, dodging brush, kicking up leaves. They screamed at me with their inhuman voices, gaining on me. I finally found a place where I thought I lost them. I hid behind a grove of large trees with thick trunks. My heart was about to pound out of my chest. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and listened. I couldn’t hear them.
But there were other sounds. Tiny rustling in the leaves, and small, gravely voices that laughed in whispers somewhere in the trees. And as I stared at the trunks, I realized they had eyes that stared back at me. They moved with me as I shifted my head. The branches bowed lower and lower, reaching out for me.
I crawled backward in horror, trying to gain my footing to run away, but slipping on the dead leaves. I heard a baby crying behind me in the rotting hollow of an ancient tree trunk. I peered inside to see it wasn’t a baby, but a barn owl, the same one that crashed through the window. It bit me again and flew away.
Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 03 - Dark Legacy Page 20
