[Mystic Caravan Mystery 05.0] Freaky Places

by Amanda M. Lee

  “How do you expect us to smash it?” Kade asked. “I didn’t bring a sledgehammer.”

  Naida was blasé. “No, but we have a dwarf who carries an ax. Something tells me we’ll be fine.”

  Something told me she was right … and we were finally getting somewhere.

  23

  Twenty-Three

  “We need to unravel the wards.” Naida was singularly focused as Nixie stepped up to the plate. “That means attacking them one at a time. Go for the strength line first. Once we break that we can easily topple the others.”

  I had never seen Naida so determined. Whatever she heard inside was enough to propel her into action. It might not be smart action, or even mildly intelligent action, but she was going for it. I couldn’t help being impressed.

  I was also a little worried.

  “Even if we manage to break the wards, there’s still not an opening for us to enter through,” I pointed out. “You said Nellie could use his ax, but I don’t think that’ll work. It’s not big enough.”

  “Oh, it’s plenty big,” Nellie intoned, his grimace pronounced as he returned from his sojourn on the other side of the formation with Luke in tow.

  I ignored him. “We’ll need something bigger.”

  “You let me worry about that,” Naida said grimly. “Break the ward first.”

  I pursed my lips, but fell into line, positioning myself with Raven and Nixie as Naida oversaw the work from behind. Kade and I exchanged a quick look – he clearly sensed that Naida’s urgency had ratcheted up and didn’t look any happier about it than I felt – and then forced a smile before taking a step back. Nellie and Luke stood next to him and waited for us to create an opening.

  “Please tell me there’s something inside that needs a good beheading,” Nellie said, rubbing his hands together. “I haven’t beheaded a witch in ages.”

  “You’re truly frightening when you want to be.” Kade made a clucking sound with his tongue as he shook his head. “I mean … truly frightening.”

  Nellie was blasé. “I’m fine with that.”

  “Here we go,” Nixie announced, furrowing her brow as she lifted her hands and muttered something I couldn’t quite make out. The ward, an angry red line, lifted from the rock, and Raven and I attacked at the same time, shoving all our energy at the ward in an effort to break the string.

  We were strong and expected it to crumble quickly.

  That didn’t happen.

  “I was afraid of that,” Naida muttered, shaking her head. “Either a coven put this up or the witch in question is more than just a witch.”

  Raven and I kept firm hold on the ward line. “What do you want us to do?”

  “Hold it tight,” Naida instructed.

  Raven and I looked at each other, dubious, but did as she asked. The pixie was the most powerful of the four of us when it came to things like this, so we had no choice but to bow to her wishes.

  “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” Raven barked. “The ward is reverberating. I think that means it’s using our power against us and is about to attack.”

  “Don’t worry,” Naida gritted out, focusing. “It won’t get that far.”

  I opened my mouth to ask what she was going to do, but it was already too late. Naida lifted her hands, a cold blue magic racing out of her fingertips and colliding with the red ward. The reaction was instantaneous … and loud. It sounded like a train collision, and when Naida’s power slammed into the ward the red magic held for what felt like the world’s longest second and then shattered into a million pieces.

  Kade instinctively covered my head from behind as the red magic glittered and fell around us. It was a sweet gesture, but completely unnecessary.

  “This is freaking interesting,” Raven muttered, catching some of the magic in her hand and watching as it turned to dust. “I need to collect some of this.”

  “Collect it.” Naida was back to being proactive. “Poet, we need to take out one of the astrological wards. If we do that, the others will falter. That should be enough to allow me to punch through the wall.”

  “Okay.” That seemed easy enough. “When you say you’re going to punch through the wall, do you mean that literally?”

  “Yes.”

  Hmm. That would be interesting to see. For now, though, I had other things to focus on. I pointed toward the left. “That Virgo rune is the weakest.”

  “Then let’s attack that.” Naida moved closer to me, tilting her head to the side as she regarded it. “Nixie, hit it with a dose of pixie dust. Poet, the second she does, we’re attacking together. She’s built a web and it’s meant to hold as long as each strand remains. We can shred it if we take out one symbol.”

  I tried to concentrate. Naida sounded more certain than I felt. “Okay.”

  Nixie reached into the pouch secured to her belt and grabbed a handful of dust. “Get ready.” She took a deep breath and then flung it at the rune. The moment it hit, the Virgo sign ignited into a green flame.

  “Now!” Naida ordered.

  I focused my energy, doing my best not to dwell on the fact that I felt drained. I pulsed out a purple beam, allowing Naida to catch it and shape it before she flung it at the ward. Initially I thought the magical burst would flare out and the ward would hold. Naida was in no mood to let that happen, though. She added a bit of her magic to the stew and when the symbol flared to life a second time it illuminated lines between the other astrological symbols. I could clearly see the lines breaking.

  “It’s working.” I let out a relieved sigh. “You did it.”

  “We did it,” Naida corrected. “Now it’s my turn to do something.” She cocked her head to the side and closed her eyes, her lips curving after a few seconds. “The wards are weak enough to get through now.”

  “Then let’s get through them,” Raven suggested. She looked tired, circles under her eyes. I wasn’t the only one feeling drained thanks to the amount of magic we were expending. “I believe you said you could create a door.”

  “And that’s what I’m going to do.” Naida gestured for us to take a step back. “Give me some room to work here.”

  I gladly stepped away from her, pressing my back to Kade’s chest when he moved behind me and slipped his arm around my waist.

  “What is she going to do?” Kade asked, worry evident.

  “You know how she can control the weather?”

  Kade nodded.

  “I believe you’re going to get a chance to see a tornado up close and personal.”

  Kade widened his eyes but didn’t protest. “Well, I can’t say you guys aren’t interesting.” He tightened his grip on me and took a step back. “Do your thing, Naida.”

  Naida needed no further encouragement, screwing her face into a mask of concentration and ignoring the wind as it whipped about. She chanted under her breath, words I couldn’t make out and knew I wouldn’t understand even if I could, and as the winds built to a crescendo, Naida’s eyes flashed with power.

  “Go!”

  Naida yelled instructions for the storm, forcing it forward. I tried to watch, but the blowing sand was too much as it pelted my face and eyes. All I could do was bury my face in Kade’s chest and wait it out. It seemed to take a long time, and when I heard rock shifting I thought for sure the bluff might tumble into the ocean, but as the wind started to die and I finally risked opening my eyes, I found Naida standing in the same spot she’d inhabited moments before.

  She looked triumphant.

  “You are a terrifying piece of work,” Raven announced, running her hands over her hair to smooth it. “That was freaking awesome.”

  Naida offered up a half-smile. “We have a door.”

  “We do,” I agreed, leaning closer so I could peer inside. “It looks dark.”

  “It looks dirty,” Luke corrected, wrinkling his nose. His hair stood up in thirty different directions and his new shirt looked as if it needed a long trip to the dry cleaners. “I’m not going in there.”r />
  “You don’t have to go in there.” I flashed him a smile. “I’ll take it from here.”

  “Not without me you won’t.” Kade was adamant as he moved to my side. “We’re doing this together.”

  “Oh, you’re sweet when you want to be.” I tapped his chin and smiled. Taking a moment to bask in what felt like a triumph before turning to the business at hand. “Okay, we need to go inside. Let’s hope whatever we find isn’t too terrible.”

  Naida’s hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, her fingernails digging in as I widened my eyes.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  Naida opened her mouth, but no sound initially came out. It was as if she wanted to tell me something and had no idea how to do it. Instead, she opened her mind and allowed me to get a gander at what she sensed while beneath the water. It didn’t take long for me to realize the truth of what we faced, and the realization was enough to make me sick to my stomach.

  “Oh.” I broke away from her and bent over, momentarily worried I’d vomit in front of everyone.

  “What was that?” Kade was furious, his eyes flashing as they locked with Naida’s. “What did you do to her?”

  Naida’s face flooded with sympathy. “Do you understand now?”

  Unfortunately, I did. “Melissa.”

  Kade jolted. “What about her?”

  “She’s inside,” I replied as I fought to come to grips with the vision. “She’s inside and … she’s crying.”

  Kade’s fury erupted. “Why didn’t you say something before this?” he exploded. “Why not mention this while we were screwing around?”

  “We weren’t screwing around,” Naida replied evenly. She wasn’t afraid of Kade, and they both knew it. “I needed Poet to focus to get through the wards. If she knew Melissa was inside, that wouldn’t have happened.”

  “I don’t understand,” Nellie interjected, all traces of mirth gone as he gripped his ax tighter. “Is Melissa dead?”

  “I don’t believe so,” Naida replied. “I don’t think she’s herself. There is something else at play here. We won’t know until we go inside.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Luke said, stepping forward. “Melissa needs us.”

  “I thought you weren’t going into the cave,” Raven challenged.

  “Things change.” Luke’s eyes met mine. He was resigned and determined, and it was an impressive combination. “Let’s get her.”

  THE CAVE WAS DARK at the start, but grew lighter the deeper we traveled. Someone installed lighting, which was eerie and odd, and the farther we explored inside the cave the more we realized it was a dwelling of sorts.

  “Does anyone sense anything?” Nixie asked, her eyes keen as she scanned the walls. “By the way, these aren’t electrical torches. They’re real ones that have been spelled with endless flame.”

  “Oh, really?” Raven challenged dryly. “Are you telling me the witch behind this didn’t get an electrician to trick out her cave? I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.”

  Nixie shot her a withering look. “That’s not what I mean, jerkface. There’s open flame in here. We provided the door, and the other entrance appears to be underwater. Shouldn’t the oxygen in this cave run out if fire is burning?”

  She had a point. “Hmm.”

  “Thank you.” Nixie puffed out her chest as she turned a corner. She was so proud of herself I didn’t notice the shift in her demeanor until an image from her mind slammed into mine, causing me to lose my footing and stumble.

  Kade caught me before I could hit the ground. “Are you okay? Did you twist your ankle?”

  “I … .” My mouth went dry. “I think Nixie found what we’re looking for.”

  Kade made sure I was secure on my feet before pushing forward. He wasn’t magical – or at least he didn’t think he was magical – but he was head of security. In his mind that meant he should be the first through the door even though the rest of us had stronger weapons in our arsenals.

  I didn’t put up a fight because I knew it didn’t matter. We were all about to walk into a horror movie, one I wasn’t sure we could escape.

  “Oh, my … .” Nixie’s mouth dropped open as we stepped into a larger room, this one lit with at least five lights.

  There were alcoves carved into the stone, at least fifty of them. In each alcove stood a young woman. The missing girls, I’m sure, although they were altered. Each was dressed in an outfit straight out of a doll catalog – lacey skirts, ridiculous collared shirts, colored bloomers poking out from the bottom hems – and it looked as if someone had been playing dress-up with the women because they all had flowers in their hair and extreme makeup on their faces.

  “Are they alive?” Kade rasped out, his eyes busy as they bounced among faces.

  “They’re alive, but they’re in some sort of stasis or something,” Raven replied, leaning in closer to a blond woman … or, rather, human doll. “They’re breathing, but their minds are on lockdown.”

  “Can you read their thoughts?” Naida asked, moving closer to a brunette doll with pigtails. “Is there anything there or have they been emptied out?”

  That was a very good question. My heart pinged when I recognized Melissa in an alcove. I headed in her direction, instinctively reaching out to touch her. Kade grabbed my hand before I could.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “I … .” I wasn’t sure of anything. “Shh.” I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift into Melissa’s head. On a normal day I’d never attempt anything of the sort. This was far from a normal day.

  Melissa’s head was a mess. It was as if the interior designer from hell stopped by for a visit and segregated everything.

  “She’s disconnected,” I supplied. “She’s here, but … she’s confused. She can’t see outside of herself.”

  “What does that mean?” Luke asked. He stood in front of a red-haired woman in pigtails and a checkered dress. The woman’s makeup made her look as if she stepped straight off a horror movie set and into our nightmares. She was so pale she almost looked as if she might disappear, yet the flame-red hair was alive with … mayhem. That was the only word I could think to describe it.

  “I don’t know,” I replied after a beat. “She’s not aware of what’s happening. She’s not in control of her faculties. In fact, she’s drifting. She’s here but not really here.”

  “Can you get her out of there?” Kade asked.

  “I don’t know. We might need the witch to do it.”

  “That means we have to find her,” Naida said. “I’m not sure what we should do here. Moving them might not be in their best interests, and we can’t sit here until the crone returns. This is … new territory.”

  “I say we take them,” Kade argued. “We can call back to the circus and get transport, use the trucks we pretend are for the animals. That way no one will see them, but they’ll be safe from whoever did this.”

  “Unless they won’t be,” Naida argued. “Poet, what do you think?”

  “I don’t know.” I focused on Melissa’s face, my heart twisting. “I guess we should at least try to get them out of here. Leaving them makes me sick to my stomach.”

  “Okay. You’re the boss.”

  “I … .” Whatever I was about to say died on my lips as I widened my eyes. Melissa, who only seconds before stared off into glazed nothingness, focused her full attention on me. The thing inside her, the thing in charge, coursed through her with black thoughts and deeds, forcing Melissa’s arm to shoot out and slash at my side. I saw the order whip through the wind moments before Melissa reacted.

  What I didn’t see was the knife in her hand. The blade was small, and Melissa moved fast. Much faster than she should’ve been capable of moving.

  I grabbed at my side as I stumbled back, quickly losing my footing as blood gushed between my fingers.

  “Poet!” Kade hurried in my direction.

  I noticed the blond in front of Raven reach out in an attempt to grab R
aven by the throat. Raven was ready for it, though, and wrapped her fingers around the woman’s wrist.

  “Well, this is fun,” Raven groused.

  “Poet!” Kade made to kneel next to me, but Melissa was on him before he got the chance. Kade’s instincts took over. He slammed his fist into Melissa’s face to keep her back, violence tempering his expression as his mind turned to survival rather than rescue.

  “Don’t hurt her!” I screamed, clutching my hands to my side to stem the flow of blood.

  Kade’s reflection expressed doubt, but he grabbed Mellissa by the shoulders and shoved her away from me, bending over and sliding an arm underneath my legs in a fluid motion as he hefted me into his arms.

  “Out,” Kade ordered, his voice allowing no argument.

  “Are you sure?” Raven, who was doing her best to fight off the blond foaming at the mouth, looked as if she was ready to continue the battle. “We can take them!”

  “We don’t want to take them.” I felt weak as I flicked my eyes to Melissa. She sat on the floor, Kade’s shove enough to cause her to tumble, her gaze malevolent. “They’re still people.”

  “Fine.” Raven slammed her forehead into the girl’s and watched with satisfaction as she reared back and stumbled. “But I’m not sure they’re still people.”

  “We have to try.” My head lolled against Kade’s shoulder. “I think I might pass out.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Kade snapped, his temper getting the better of him. “I need you conscious!” He lowered his voice. “Please.”

  “I’m sorry.” The darkness poked at the edges of my mind. “Listen to Naida. She’ll get you out. I … we’ll have to come back for Melissa.”

  Kade knew trying to force me to stay awake was a wasted effort. “We’ll definitely come back for her.” He brushed a kiss against my forehead. “I promise. I’m getting you out of here right now. We’ll come back when we have a better plan.”

  24

  Twenty-Four