Demon's Dance

by Keri Arthur

  He frowned. “The force of our combined spells around the jerry can might be waning, but they still should have been enough to stop the original from sensing the other.”

  “My gut says otherwise.” I hesitated. “I really think we need to take the time to reinforce—”

  “We haven’t got the time,” he cut in. “Not if we want to stop her killing someone else.”

  “Yes, I know, but—”

  “Liz, I won’t have the strength to track down and kill the original soucouyant if we reinforce the contained one.” His expression was grim. Determined. “If for any reason we can’t find her, then we’ll reinforce. The magic should hold up until that point.”

  If it didn’t, we were all in trouble. But there was no point in saying that or arguing any further.

  Ashworth squeezed my shoulder in sympathy but didn’t say anything as we moved back to the truck. Once the jerry can was retrieved from the lake, Monty wrapped a tracking spell around the container—something I felt rather than saw, thanks to my rather basic perch in the back of the truck—then started spitting out directions.

  Trust me, Belle said. You’re probably better off where you are. Drenched men lead to drenched seats, and my ass is getting wetter and wetter.

  I smiled. What are the restraints around the jerry can looking like?

  She paused. Not good. The heat is becoming quite fierce.

  But Monty’s having no trouble tracking her?

  Not at the moment. She paused. I’ve got a bad feeling this is all going to go to pot, though.

  It’s usually me getting the bad feelings.

  I know. Her unease drifted down the line, stirring mine to life. But the soucouyant’s actions when she saw you suggests she’s not afraid of witches, and a whole lot cannier than Monty is giving her credit for.

  Most older spirits are. That’s how they get old.

  She chuckled softly. My spirit guides may or may not have just said something very similar.

  I don’t suppose they also offered any advice when it comes to dealing with either soucouyant?

  Yeah, don’t get in the way of their flames, because they’d hate to see us crisped.

  Helpful. Really helpful.

  Belle’s amusement deepened. They did say that the reversal spell we have wrapped around the café might be put to good use in a personal charm.

  I blinked. I hadn’t thought of that.

  So they noted. They suggest you need to up your game.

  Hey, I’m not reservation witch. I don’t need to up anything.

  Also noted. But they also suggested it never hurts to practice such things in the eventuality the impossible happens.

  I don’t like the sound of that. Especially given it gelled with my own nebulous feeling that the future I didn’t want was screaming toward us.

  The truck slowed. I peered through the closed but not locked bars of the containment area but couldn’t really see anything out of the reinforced rear window. What’s happening?

  Monty thinks we’re close.

  Where are we?

  On the outskirts of Castle Rock, in some place called Golden Point. It’s a mix of acreage properties and forest.

  I grabbed the bars as the truck bounced off the road. Which is a nice, semirural place to go hunting if she’s looking for skin replacement.

  The truck came to a halt and then doors slammed. A second later, Aiden opened the rear of the truck. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I swung the containment door open. “I’d like to know how you get less-than-compliant arrestees in here though—it’s not the easiest place to get in and out of.”

  “In the case of the less than compliant, I order in other vehicles.” He caught my hand and steadied me as I jumped to the ground.

  Immediately in front of us was a long gravel drive that meandered up the hill to a brick farmhouse. Lights shone through a couple of windows, but I had no sense of the soucouyant.

  I did have a sense of death.

  I glanced at Monty. “Are you sure she’s here?”

  “Yes.” He hesitated. “Though I can’t be 100 percent certain she’s in that house. The tracer spell is becoming spotty.”

  No surprise there, given the heat radiating from the jerry can. “I don’t think she’s there. Not now.”

  He frowned and motioned toward the still-bound soucouyant. “The tracer spell says otherwise.”

  I glanced at the container. The connection between the wild magic and me allowed to see what otherwise wouldn’t be visible. The spell binding and immobilizing the soucouyant had frayed even further, and the dead spots in the wild magic now accounted for at least half of the spell. That it was still holding together and active was rather amazing, but that didn’t mean the faltering state of either spell remained capable of preventing contact between the two soucouyants. And the long tracking thread that had been inserted into this soucouyant’s energy was now little more than half its size. It obviously was still working, but the loss of length would have altered the spell’s reliability.

  I rubbed my arms and returned my gaze to the house. “I’m not liking the feel of this, Monty.”

  “Neither am I, but we really have no choice if we want to stop this thing.” He hesitated. “But just in case, maybe Belle needs to go back to that lake we passed, and shove the jerry can into it. At the very least, she’ll still be confined by the water if our spells fail.”

  Plus it keeps me out of harm’s way and more able to help you if the soucouyant attacks. I like this plan. Belle retrieved one of the water pistols and then handed me the backpack and her phone. At my raised eyebrows, she added, The phone is new. I’m not risking it slipping into the water when I’m trying to drown the soucouyant.

  Aiden tossed the keys to her and then said, “I’d rather we approach the house from different angles. That way, if she is there, she’ll have to split her attack.”

  Monty handed Belle the jerry can. As she jumped into the truck and took off, he added, “Splitting her energy isn’t going to be a problem if she has fed, but it’s worth a shot.”

  “Eli and I will head right,” Ashworth said. “You three go right up the center to the front of the house. If she’s in there, we’ll all feel her before we get too close.”

  “And have that fire spell of yours ready, Monty,” Eli said. “It’s your tracer spell that led us here, and she’s likely to have some sense of your presence because of it.”

  He nodded and immediately began weaving the spell around his fingers. Ashworth and Eli walked through the old wooden farm gate and then quickly disappeared through a grove of olive trees. The three of us jogged down the gravel drive until it started a sweeping curve around the hill and then cut straight up it.

  The closer we got to the old farmhouse, the more convinced I became that the soucouyant wasn’t there. But that didn’t mean she’d fled the area.

  She hadn’t.

  I began twining a repelling spell around my fingers, and almost ran straight into Monty as he stopped abruptly.

  “Can you feel that?” He wasn’t looking at the house. He was looking at the hill that rose steeply on the other side of the road.

  “Define that.” My gaze swept across the dark gully and the trees that lined the hill beyond it. There was no light, and no fire, and yet... and yet energy was gathering.

  Dark energy.

  “I think she’s—”

  The rest of my comment died as a huge ball of flame erupted from the earth itself and thrust skywards. Monty swore and immediately cast his spell. It fell around us like a cloak, a fierce net of energy that neither looked nor felt strong enough to protect us from the sheer force of that fireball.

  But it didn’t turn. It didn’t come at us.

  Instead, with an inhuman scream, it spun and raced away, trailing flames behind her like a comet.

  Dread surged as I realized where it was going. I had no way of getting there, no way of helping her.

  Belle, get out of the truck and
run like hell. Out loud, I added, “Monty, it’s going after Belle and the jerry can!”

  He hastily cast a second spell and then threw it after the soucouyant. The glowing threads of red and gold spun through the night, an arrow that lodged deep in the tail end of her flames. She screamed again and began to barrel roll, obviously trying to dislodge the spell. It didn’t work but she didn’t retaliate. She just continued to flame away from us.

  Belle?

  Running as fast as I can.

  How far away from the truck are you? Because the older soucouyant is coming in fast.

  Probably because I killed the other one.

  What?

  Had no choice—the spells containing it utterly broke down. It’s just lucky I had the water gun handy or I would have been toast.

  Shit, Belle—

  Oh, I said a few harsher words than that, I can assure you.

  But you’re okay?

  A little singed around the edges, but yes. She paused. Not sure the same can be said about the truck’s cabin though. The water may have killed the soucouyant but boy, did she go out with a bang.

  My gaze rose to the skyline. The soucouyant had dipped below the hill line. Are you in the water yet?

  Diving in now. And I still have the water pistol with me.

  Keep under as much as you can. I pushed through Monty’s net and began to race down the hill. I’m coming.

  Don’t—

  It’s a witch’s duty to keep her familiar safe, I bit back. So just keep your head down until I get there.

  Nothing like having your own words used against you, she muttered, with a slight edge in her mental tone. Just be careful, okay?

  I ran across the road and up the hill, slipping and sliding on the rubble in my haste. A hand grabbed mine, at first steadying me and then sweeping me up into his arms and racing on.

  “Aiden—”

  “Shut up and let me concentrate.”

  I did. Even with my weight, he was getting up the hill far faster than I could.

  But as we neared the top, there was a huge whoosh of energy and a fireball of heat lit up the night sky.

  Belle? I silently screamed, my heart going a million miles an hour.

  Safe, still safe, she said quickly. But the bitch is now hunting me.

  Keep under the water as long as you can. We’re not far away.

  I’m a familiar, not a goddamn fish.

  We reached the top of the hill. The valley below rolled out before us, a dark expanse lit by two fires—one the burning wreckage of Aiden’s truck, the other, less bright fire the soucouyant.

  Over the water and hunting Belle.

  “Quick, put me down, Aiden.”

  Even as he obeyed, I began adding to the spell already twined around my fingers. I threw in everything I could think of, making it a combination of the fire spell that protected the café, wild magic, and the repelling spell. Then I took a deep breath and cast it, with as much force as I could muster, at the soucouyant.

  The effort had my knees buckling, and I would have fallen had Aiden not grabbed me. I didn’t say anything; I just watched, my heart beating so fiercely it felt ready to tear out of my chest. The fierce, pulsing ball of red, gold, and silver rocketed toward the soucouyant, but at the very last moment, she seemed to sense it and spun around. The ball hit the middle of her fiery form and then exploded. The force tore a scream from her body and sent her spiraling at speed away from the lake, away from Castle Rock.

  It wasn’t until her flames winked from sight that I in any way relaxed. Belle, she’s gone.

  That was some fucking spell you hit her with, she said. Where’d you drag that one from?

  Desperation is the mother of invention. I glanced at Aiden. “The soucouyant is down for the night, but not dead.”

  “And Belle?”

  “Safe.”

  “Does she want me to arrange someone to come pick her up?”

  I silently asked the question and then shook my head. “She said it’ll be quicker and easier if she simply walks back.”

  “Good.” His gaze went to his burning truck for a second and then he touched my back lightly. “We’d better return to the house and see what sort of mess the soucouyant has left behind.”

  I turned and headed down the hill. Aiden called in his troops but kept close, touching my elbow and holding me steady the few times I slipped on the stony ground.

  “We tried knocking front and back, but got no response,” Monty said, as we neared. “Is Belle okay?”

  “Yes, but the second soucouyant is no more.”

  His eyebrows rose. “The explosion destroyed her? I wouldn’t have thought that possible.”

  “It wasn’t. Our spells gave way and Belle super-soaked the soucouyant before it could crisp her.”

  “Shit.” Monty thrust a hand through his hair. “How are we going to find the other one now?”

  “That’s your problem, not ours,” I bit back. “And I’m sure Belle will appreciate your concern over her safety.”

  Surprise, and perhaps a bit of contriteness, crossed his expression. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

  “Argue about that on your own time,” Aiden said. “We’ve a crime scene to investigate. Ashworth, Eli, can you two keep watch out here? Just in case that bitch comes back?” He glanced at Monty and me. “Ready?”

  I flexed my fingers to ease some of the gathering tension and then nodded. Aiden pulled a set of gloves from the apparently endless supply in his pocket and then spun and walked to the door. Monty and I followed.

  The door wasn’t locked. Aiden pressed it open but didn’t immediately enter. The short, somewhat dark entrance hall beyond intersected with a second hall that ran at right angles to it. Light glimmered from the left end while a TV blasted away to the right.

  The sense of death I’d felt earlier hit like a hammer. I rubbed my arms and said, “There’s someone dead to our left.”

  “Yeah, I can smell it. Follow me, and try not to touch anything.”

  He moved cautiously into the house, his footsteps making little noise on the old floorboards. We walked to the end of the hall and swung left, through a wide doorway that opened into a large kitchen-diner.

  Lying in the middle of the floor was an elderly couple. They were both half naked and bore the love-bite-like bruising that had been evident in the very first murder, but neither of them had been stripped of their skin.

  Aiden squatted next to the man and felt for a pulse. He grimaced and then moved across to the woman. “Both dead,” he said, looking up.

  “That’s not what’s so surprising here,” Monty said. “But rather the fact they’re both intact.”

  “Maybe she didn’t have the time to strip either of them,” I commented.

  “She had time to feed,” he replied. “And she wasn’t in the house when we rocked up, remember. That suggests she had no intention of skinning either of these two.”

  I frowned. “But why not? It would have been a whole lot easier to steal a skin and then head out into the unknowing population.”

  Monty hesitated. “Maybe it has something to do with her skin.”

  I glanced at him. “But she can’t reclaim her skin—it’s been salted.”

  “Yes, but maybe the fact her skin is still out there rather than destroyed means she can’t claim another, however temporary.”

  “Which means she might try to either reclaim or destroy it.” I glanced at Aiden. “Where’s that skin being kept?”

  “I had it moved to the tank around the back of the station, just in case she decided to retrieve it.” He grimaced. “Of course, given her willingness to blow things up, that might not help.”

  “I doubt she has the same sort of connection to her skin as she did the other soucouyant,” Monty said. “If she did, she would have hit it by now.”

  “At least that’s one bit of good news in an evening filled with bad.” He rose as the sound of sirens began to approach. “I’ll get Jaz to
take you both home.”

  Monty frowned. “The possibility of the soucouyant returning tonight is low, I know, but I’d rather stay, just in case.”

  Aiden shrugged and touched my arm lightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.”

  I nodded and left. Belle had returned and was now standing next to Ashworth and Eli under an old eucalypt tree. The left leg of her jeans had a handful of burned patches, and there were a couple more on her T-shirt. The skin underneath was red but didn’t appear to be blistering—probably because she’d jumped into the water not long after the soucouyant had escaped. I tugged some of the holy water out of the backpack and handed it to her. It had stopped Anna’s more serious burns from causing permanent damage, so it would certainly take care of Belle’s.

  “You know,” I said, as she started dousing the burns, “considering the explodability of gum trees and the fact we’re dealing with a fire spirit, standing under this tree isn’t the brightest of moves.”

  Ashworth’s grin flashed. “Nothing like a bit of danger to spice up life. What’s it like inside?”

  “Two dead people with skins intact. Monty’s theory is the soucouyant can’t claim another until hers has been destroyed.”

  “That’s more than possible,” Eli said. “What’s being done to protect her original skin?”

  “It remains in salt water.”

  Ashworth grunted. “It should be safe enough, then.”

  “I hope so.” The noise from the sirens sharpened; I glanced around and saw three ranger vehicles crest the hill and race toward us. “Aiden’s asked Jaz to take us all home.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Eli asked. “The soucouyant might return to finish what she—”

  “Which is why Monty is staying.”

  Ashworth snorted. I raised an eyebrow and added, “I get this feeling that you’re not overly impressed with Monty.”

  “I’m not overly impressed with his lack of experience,” Ashworth said. “He certainly has the power, but he hasn’t anything more than basic knowledge when it comes to the dark forces in this world, and that could be dangerous for us all.”

  “All?” I raised my eyebrows. “You’ve definitely decided to settle here then?”