Emmit cupped his hand under her chin.
Mira narrowed her eyes at him when she realized she couldn't move her head. Since he seemed to be looking into her instead of at her, he didn't seem to notice.
After a few moments, he let go and looked at the shelving as though nothing had happened. "Can I help you find anything?"
"I doubt it." Mira put as much testiness into the words as she could manage. "I'm looking to see if Chris might have some spell ingredients around."
"Chris isn't a witch," Emmit said.
"Have you met him?"
"No, but I've seen enough here to know he wasn't a witch."
"But he deals with witches. Maybe he keeps more than just books for them."
"What kind of spell are you wanting to create?"
"I don't know," Mira admitted. "Something that could help us out."
"We both still have spells. Those should assist us on our way to Lance's."
"To Lance's? I thought we were taking care of this thing?"
"No. It will have to be done here, in the presence of the creature in the city."
"So it's easy to do?"
"Surprisingly, yes," Emmit said.
"Great, so we can do it and go."
"No."
"We have to come back again?" The idea made Mira feel tired all over again.
"I will come back again."
"What? Why? If it's easy, why can't we just do it now?"
"The ritual requires four people."
Mira looked at him like he was crazy. "We have that."
"People that I trust."
Mira felt affronted. "Gabriel and I are your friends."
"This ritual deals with a lot of power. Perhaps more than we can handle."
"Perhaps? You mean you don't know?"
"It is quite possible that it will kill everyone involved."
"Oh," Mira said, feeling less excited by the idea. "But you don't know."
"I know the risks."
"What is the ritual, exactly?"
"Gabriel only skimmed the book to get an idea of what we might face. The thing in the city is a parasite of sorts. A magical parasite. The book calls for several ways of killing it. The first, is to take away its food source."
Knowing what the creature ate made Mira shiver.
"To do that, every beast that roams this world would have to be moved into ours."
"Those things wandering around in the real world? I'm pretty sure banishment would be the least of my problems if that happened."
"Another way of killing it is to cause it to expend all of its energy. It won't survive if it uses all the magic."
"What does it use the energy for?" Mira asked.
"Growing and getting food. It also seems to be trying to access our world. Although the magic is weak there, it is a fresh source."
"We definitely don't want it to grow anymore. How else can you get the magic out?"
"Absorb it."
Goosebumps raised on Mira's arms. "Absorb the thing itself?"
"Only the power. That's the third ritual. It takes three people and a conduit."
"That's what you’re planning on doing, then?" Mira asked.
"Precisely. I will connect to the creature, and the other three will be able to pull the energy through me."
Mira unconsciously took a step back. "Connect how?"
"When I remove the necklace you gave me, it should want to come for me."
"That only hides you from witches."
"With the amount of witch energy that the thing has collected through the years, it is almost as much a witch as you are."
"That's not funny."
"It wasn't meant to be," Emmit said solemnly.
"We know John has been feeding it witches. Are you saying someone else has been too?"
Emmit shifted. "It fed on them all on its own, though probably not well through the years. I think my ancestor was able to put it into hibernation. Fresh witch blood woke it."
"Because John sacrificed them? No, wait. He didn't do that, though. They were other supernaturals at first."
"The others were a change of diet that didn't work. No, it wasn't John, but the creature inside him that caused this. When they tricked Sybil into this world, they woke the parasite. It wanted more witches and this world's hell grew rapidly after that."
"So they came to our world and brought back witches to feed it." Mira pressed a hand to her stomach. "That's sick. Why couldn't they just starve it again?"
"John brought the fresh witches to take the place of the people here."
"But it only eats..." Mira stopped. "That's not possible. All of those things… they're monsters, not witches."
"Most have forgotten what they once were. A few of the stronger ones, like the one living inside John, still felt the pull of the hibernating creature. They remember that many, many years ago, they were witches."
Mira shook her head. "You’re saying that witches lured Sybil here."
"Through John, of course."
"Why him? Why John?" Mira asked.
"I think he disliked supernaturals. He had no problem killing them, and when that didn't work for the parasite, sending witches here was just the next step. Of course, by that time it wasn't really John."
Mira rubbed her temples. "Why did they take me? In the beginning. They said I sided with you."
Emmit sighed. "I did my best to make the path between worlds stronger. When you helped me, they felt that they had been betrayed by one of their own."
Mira wasn't ready to believe Emmit. The monsters here were cruel and vile. If they were witches, the amount of bad karma they must build...
Was enough to keep them trapped in the Ether.
She shook her head to dislodge the thought. "You can't know all this."
"I assure you that it is the truth."
"They don't look like people."
"The parasite has twisted them, keeping them alive, but continuously feeding off them. They've probably been encouraged to breed—"
"Stop!"
"Mira?" Gabriel was at her side in an instant. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Mira snapped, glaring at Emmit. She stalked back to the rugs and fished through Emmit's bag for the water.
"You have such a way with people," Gabriel said, clapping Emmit on the back.
Mira rolled her eyes but didn't look up.
Emmit sighed. "It's a knack. Did you find anything in the book beyond those three rituals?"
"Those three are the only ones that have anything to do with the thing in the city."
"What else does the book say?" Emmit asked.
"Nothing relevant."
"I guess that leaves getting details for the ritual we discussed. Let's make sure this can be done."
Mira had inadvertently woken Jean up. They all listened to Gabriel read the text.
To Mira, it sounded like the text droned on forever. From the glazed look on Jean's face, it looked like she might be feeling the same. Emmit, however, was soaking up every word.
The part where the conduit connected to the parasite sent shivers down Mira's spine. If the person was connected and the other three didn't do their part, the creature fed off the conduit. Mira pulled her knees up to her chest when the book started to go into detail about what feeding the creature does.
The book told them that the parasite grows, changes, becomes more powerful, and although it takes time, it would eventually leave a husk of a person behind.
Mira tuned out as much as she could. Even Emmit appeared uncomfortable. Jean hid her face, and Mira could hear her unsteady, raspy breath.
For the ritual, when the three completed their part, they would pull the power through the conduit. It was a blood ceremony, of course. The three connected themselves to the conduit by blood once the creature made contact.
"We should look again at making the creature use its own energy," Gabriel said when he was done. He flipped through the pages of the book.
"That won't be
possible with a parasite of this size. No," Emmit said. "We have what we need."
"We don't have anything," Gabriel said. "What are we supposed to do next?"
"Go back to Lance's," Emmit said. "That's our next step."
"The ritual to remove all other creatures from this world sounded complex," Gabriel said. "But maybe we should go through it again to see if it’s possible."
"We don't have anything we need for that," Emmit said. "Even for the small part you read."
"There has to be some way to kill this thing," Gabriel said, growing frustrated.
"Why don't we perform the ritual?" Jean asked.
"Even Harker doesn't deserve to be served up like that," Gabriel said.
"And to be willing to do that, I have to trust that everyone else will do their part," Emmit said, looking at Jean.
"If we kill the creature now the other witches will be safe,” Jean said. “My kids will be safe."
Emmit frowned.
"I know you don't trust me, but believe me when I say I'll do anything to keep my kids safe," Jean said.
"Gabriel," Emmit said, not taking his eyes off Jean. "Is she lying?"
"I will do my part," Jean assured him.
"It doesn't matter," Gabriel said. "This thing will feed off you. None of us know what we're doing. We need to try something different."
"Do you have any other ideas?" Emmit asked.
"Hack it to pieces," Gabriel suggested.
Emmit raised an eyebrow at Gabriel.
"Okay, maybe not that," Gabriel said.
"If we kill the creature, this ends," Emmit said. "Once the ritual is done, everyone is safe."
"You don't know that," Gabriel said, but he sounded like he was caving. "Do you really trust me for something like that?"
Emmit looked at Gabriel as though the angel was slow on the uptake. "You are trust personified."
"You can't count on me for something like this," Mira said. "There's no way I could let that thing feed off you."
"I trust you more than Gabriel," Emmit said.
"Do you really think I could watch something like that?" Mira asked, internally cursing Emmit for not seeing the obvious. "You think I could be a part of that ritual?"
"I think you, more than anyone, will do whatever you can to make it stop," Emmit said.
Mira shifted uncomfortably and grasped at straws. "There are hundreds, if not thousands of other creatures here, ready to kill us. Do you think they're just going to sit idly by while we do this?"
"Actually, I have a plan for that," Emmit said.
***
Knowing that all the dark and twisted creatures that roam the Ether were witches made Mira's stomach churn at the thought of them being killed. Sending Emmit alone into the city didn't sit any better with her, but he was determined to do both.
Emmit disappeared, heading toward the church. He planned on luring the creatures out, and then devastating their population, leaving the remains to provide a feast for the rest.
Mira tried not to think about it.
She went with Gabriel and Jean to a park, deeper within the city. Parks in the Ether just meant a space not covered in concrete. A strange mold grew in patches, but there was no other vegetation.
Using his sword, Gabriel carved a large circle onto the ground. Mira and Jean took the yarn Emmit brought and walked in opposite directions around the circle, creating a shell meant to keep creatures out.
Gabriel dug out three other circles—much smaller than the first—a triangle connecting the three, and then drew a line to the center.
Mira felt exposed, especially this close to the tendrils that had wrapped themselves around the buildings of the city.
"Are you okay with this?" Mira asked.
"Not even a little," Gabriel said.
"Then why are we doing it?"
"Because as much as it pains me to admit it, Emmit is right."
"Before you woke up, he said the power would be too much. That it could potentially kill us."
Gabriel looked toward the mammoth roots rising through the towers in the city. "I don't think he'd go through with it if he thought it would kill us."
"He's already given me up for dead once."
Gabriel looked hesitant. "If we don’t do this, I'm not sure there's anyone else he could bring back here to perform the ritual. His sister maybe, but there's no one else around strong enough to help." Mira bit her lip and Gabriel took her in his arms. "You'll survive this. You'll be fine."
She shook her head and pulled away. "I'm not worried about that." She was having trouble putting into words how she felt about Emmit having to endure that creature. "He just shouldn't have to do this."
"Nonsense," Emmit said, appearing in the field close by. "This is what I'm here for. This is what Harkers do."
Mira put her hand on her hip and glared at him. "You'd let your sister do this?"
Emmit's look faltered slightly. "If I go back and leave this behind, that's exactly what she'll do. Nothing anyone could say would stop her. I'd really rather avoid having to make that sacrifice."
It was Mira's turn to feel unsure. How would she feel if it was between her and Robin?
"Let's do this, then," Mira said feeling defeated.
Emmit walked around the circle and inspected their work. He said nothing but examined every inch before moving to his spot in the center.
"Mira and Jean, when you're ready," Emmit said, facing the city.
Mira looked at Jean and nodded. They both leaned down and charged the outer circle.
"That—" The ground started shaking, cutting Emmit off short. In the city, tendrils seemed to flex and the big tower crumpled under the creature.
"My sister was in there," Emmit said.
"Our world is reflected here," Mira reminded him, "not the other way around."
Frowning, he stared at the city, then studied the symbols Gabriel had carved into the ground. Despite the shaking, they were still aligned correctly. Then he looked critically at Mira.
"Drop the circle," Emmit snapped.
"What?" Mira said. "No!"
She didn't see him move, but he was directly in front of her, in her face. "Drop it!"
Mira looked for Gabriel, whose confusion mirrored her own. Then she shrugged and dropped her circle.
She folded her arms and glared at Emmit.
The ground stopped shaking and Emmit turned toward the city. "Jean," he called, "hold your circle."
He stalked back to his spot.
The ground erupted below Mira. A root the size of her wrist jumped up, sprouting tiny shoots along the way. The roots spread out encircling her entire body.
She was sure her heart stopped. Her entire body froze, realizing before her mind did that she was well and truly screwed.
Before Mira could scream, the roots began to wither. She felt them fall away and she was yanked forward.
Gabriel had cut the root.
The scream that erupted from the beast in the city reverberated through Mira, who answered the wail with one of her own. Another root sprung up, grabbing her. This one didn't matter. Every cell in her body already radiated the agony caused by the creature’s feeding.
There were yells around her.
It could have been moments or an eternity—they were both one and the same. The pain dropped away, and numbness took her. Looking down, she saw the root was still attached to her. She was bleeding in several areas and was beginning to feel lightheaded.
Looking around, she saw Gabriel standing back in his spot for the ritual, gripping his sword for all he was worth. His gleaming white feathers looked gray in her hazy brain.
Jean was there on her spot, with something behind her. Looking the other way, Mira saw Emmit. At least she thought it was Emmit. The shape was shrouded in shadow, and the inky blackness seemed to send out red waves of static.
It should have scared her, but she knew it was Emmit. She could feel him.
The lightheaded feeling stuttered and she w
as filled with excruciating pain once again. It was like a pulse that reached into her marrow and lit a fire along the way.
Mira felt that she was on the ground. The root was there. She wanted to hack it away. When she grabbed it, new shoots danced across her hand.
The pain was gone, but Mira wasn’t sure how long that would last. She reached into her pocket and grabbed the hard piece of wire. She knew something had gone wrong—there was a push and pull of energy going on inside and around her. The shifting made her ill.
Of course it had gone wrong. The moment the creature came for her it had gone wrong.
Jean was no longer doing her part. That part of the triangle felt absent. The others weren't going to be able to drain the creature, although they were still pulling. Mira could feel the struggle of Emmit and Gabriel working—unwilling to give up.
Laying on the ground, Mira watched the sky for a moment. It was time for this to end—before her friends hurt themselves. Before there was nothing left of herself.
When the flow eked back the other direction the flourish of pain was less pronounced. There was a battle of energy raging around her.
Ignoring it, she jammed the little wire which held Fire into the thick tendril. She slammed her hand down on it, ensuring to pierce the skin her skin fueling the spell with her own blood. Then she let Fire roll away from her, sending it into the creature, much the same way it had sunk itself into her. She gripped the thing root for all she was worth.
The pain rose again. The scream that came from the city made her twist and writhe on the ground, but even when she felt the fire inside her, she didn't let go, shoving Fire deeper into the creature.
If you want magic, choke on it.
Stars danced across her vision, but she bore down. Her body wanted to quit though pure determination kept her gripping the thing.
Her bindings began to slacken. When the creature tried to drag itself back into the ground, she wouldn't let it go.
She could smell smoke. Looking down, she saw that she held the fire. It felt no different than what the creature had filled her with, so she ignored it.
At least until she was pulled away.
Blinking up into Gabriel's face she smiled fuzzily at him before the world went black.
Someone squeezed her hand, and she yelped and sat up, smacking heads with Gabriel along the way.
Spellbound Murder Complete Trilogy (Spellbound Murder Box Set Book 1) Page 73
