Spellbound Murder Complete Trilogy (Spellbound Murder Box Set Book 1)

by Amanda Booloodian

  Mira held her leg out and watched Gabriel closely as he pulled back the wrapping. When he tried to block her sight of the leg with the bloody cloth, she took his hand and eased it away.

  A mass had formed over the puncture wounds and the darkness had spread.

  It was impossible for Mira to stop the small whimper that escaped her, but she held back the remaining ones.

  It was enough of a response to cause Emmit to sit back up and move to Gabriel.

  Mira folded her good leg up to her chest and grabbed, before hiding her face. This isn’t happening. She mentally repeated the mantra again and again.

  Gabriel began wrapping her leg. “It’s okay. Your potion will heal your leg.”

  Mira lifted her head up and looked at Emmit. “If it doesn’t, I can’t go home, can I?”

  Gabriel answered. “Of course you can. We’re getting out of here.”

  “The choice will be yours,” Emmit said.

  “But whatever this is, it might spread to others. Or…” She couldn’t finish it, but in her mind, she was worried that whatever she had, it would do worse than only killing her. “It might spread,” she repeated.

  “It will,” Emmit said.

  Mira looked down.

  “Let’s just make the spell,” Gabriel said, as he secured her makeshift bandages. “There’s no use inviting the worry in, if the spell works.”

  Without looking at anyone, Mira used her chair to push herself up and back into her chair. She stared blankly at her books for a short time, before beginning to flip through, not really seeing the pages.

  “I found the blood stone,” Gabriel said.

  Mira nodded numbly.

  “What should I do with it?” Gabriel asked.

  “It needs to be crushed up somehow, but by itself. I usually use a hammer, but I doubt we’ll find one here,” Mira said.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Gabriel said. “What else do we need?”

  Mira shook her head.

  “We’re missing several other ingredients,” Mira said uncertainly.

  “What are they?” Gabriel asked.

  “Lavendar, medical-grade water, olibanum, and several other things…” Mira trailed off as she thought about the missing items. “We can use what little water we have, but I can’t think of replacements for the others.”

  “So, you can’t make it?” Emmit asked.

  “Usually I have Tyler to bounce ideas off of when I’m stuck. Can you think of anything that may have a purifying kick to it?”

  Emmit looked around the room, then stared at Gabriel for a while.

  “What?” Gabriel asked after too long under scrutiny.

  “It’s not something I would normally suggest, and nothing that I would ask for,” Emmit said. “But in this case, I don’t think we have much choice.”

  “Just spit it out,” Gabriel said.

  “Help me up,” Emmit said.

  When Gabriel dragged Emmit to his feet, Mira was unsettled by the amount of assistance Emmit required. Even after Gabriel sat him in a chair, Emmit had to lean against the table to stay up.

  “If we can find your lightest colored feather, it might help,” Emmit said. “One that’s pure white certainly would.”

  “They’re pretty gray,” Gabriel said, twisting around as best he could.

  “Which may make things worse instead of better,” Emmit said.

  “I’ve screwed things up, haven’t I,” Gabriel said, studying his wings.

  “If things settle down, they’ll return to normal with time,” Emmit assured him.

  “We don’t have time,” Gabriel reminded him.

  Mira pulled out a rather grubby feather. “I guess I’m the one who messed things up.” Even holding it, she could see that she was contaminating it further.

  Emmit leaned closer to her, examining the feather. “The dirt won’t hurt the quality, but how did you end up with it?” He held his hand out, silently requesting the feather.

  Mira started to hand it over, but stopped and glanced at Gabriel. “Is it okay?”

  “Anything to help,” Gabriel said. “At this point, I don’t think Harker’s going to do anything to it, or me. Not while we’re here.”

  Nodding, Mira handed over the feather and told Emmit about her enthusiastic grip on Gabriel their first time in the Ether.

  Emmit smiled weakly. “This will work as a substitution.”

  “Good,” Mira said.

  “We will want to make sure that it has nothing from this world on it. No blood from any of those creatures. I’m not sure what it might do if you took anything that held their blood at this point in time.”

  “What about adding blood to the spell?” Gabriel asked.

  Emmit passed the feather back to Mira. “I just said…”

  “I mean, from us. It amplifies the spell, right?” Gabriel asked.

  “It might not hurt to have the extra boost. Let’s try without first. We can see how well it helps and go from there.”

  The actual casting took another few hours. Emmit had what was needed for the circle, but there were no shortcuts this time. Several times, she heard shouting but dismissed it. With Gabriel and Emmit in the same room for any length of time, it was expected.

  Mira fell deep into her magic. It was stronger than she remembered, but the Ether always seemed to make things that way.

  Despite having the Awake still in her system. Mira began to falter before the spell was complete. She was cold, which was something that she wouldn’t expect while in the Ether. By the time she was done, she was swaying where she sat.

  Once again, she made a paste, enough for all four of them. She sat unmoving for a while, taking some small comfort in the flow of her own power, then she broke the circle.

  When the magic stopped, she began to shake and vertigo set in. Before she said anything, she pushed the paste away and laid down.

  Emmit was once again on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Gabriel had moved Jean into the room as well. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the angel himself was absent.

  The little jolt of adrenalin that Gabriel’s disappearance caused, allowed Mira to sit up. “Gabriel!” Too late, she realized that this might not be the best place to yell.

  Gabriel appeared in the room, sword and shield in hand. He rushed over to her and sat down before pulling Mira into a hug.

  “I think we’re okay for a minute,” Gabriel said.

  Mira leaned against him. The angel was breathing hard and he was sweaty. She took note of the fact that his sword and shield were right next to them.

  “How’s your leg?” he asked

  “It doesn’t hurt,” Mira said.

  “We should check.”

  “Later. I think it’s done.”

  “Have you taken any yet?”

  Sat up a little straighter so she could look him in the eye. “I wanted to see you first.”

  Gabriel pushed back a few stray hairs from Mira’s face, then he pressed his hand to her cheek, then forehead. “You’re burning up. You need to take this now.”

  “If this doesn’t work. I’m not going back.”

  “This will—”

  “I want you to let my family know what happened, and that I love them. Will you do that?”

  Gabriel looked at her for a few moments, looking as though he wanted to argue further. “We’ll ask Harker. He can pass on the message. If you stay, I stay.”

  “No way. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

  “You didn’t ask. My choice, remember. It’s your choice if I’m inside with you, or waiting around outside.”

  Mira sniffed. “Inside—always with me.”

  There was a noise in the other room.

  “Shit,” Gabriel quickly moved Mira and jumped up. “Take the potion. Give some to Emmit as well. We’re going to need him.”

  Gabriel dashed out of the room. Moments later, Mira heard a growl and then Gabriel ordering something away. Now that she was listening, there were other noi
ses as well, but they all remained below them. The basement door had stuff pushed against it to prevent it from opening.

  The front door slammed shut and she heard Gabriel shifting stuff around in the other room.

  Mira grabbed the Heal and scooted across the floor over to Emmit. If things were bad enough that Gabriel admitted to needing Emmit, then it was past time to get Emmit back on his feet.

  Shaking Emmit did nothing, so Mira lifted his head and set it on her lap.

  “This would be so much easier if you would wake up,” Mira said, hoping to get some sort of response. She took a minuscule amount of the paste and rubbed it inside his mouth.

  Gabriel came in, but stayed in the door frame, keeping an eye on the living room and kitchen together. “Is it working?”

  “It’s too early to tell. I don’t want him to choke.”

  “And you?”

  “I wanted to get Emmit up, so he could help you.”

  “Take it,” Gabriel said. “The sooner you’re feeling better, the better for everyone.”

  “What did you give me?” Emmit asked. He looked like he was barely awake.

  Mira looked down and smiled weakly. “Heal. At least a version of it. You need to take more.”

  “Perhaps you could help me,” Emmit suggested.

  “Stow it, Harker,” Gabriel said.

  Emmit smirked.

  “You’re obviously feeling better,” Gabriel said. “Now take the rest of your part.” His head jerked to the living room. “She hasn’t taken any yet, so make sure she does.” Gabriel disappeared.

  Emmit was sitting before Mira even noticed he moved. “Was I your guinea pig?”

  Mira started to protest, but then saw his smile. “No. I think Gabriel needs help.”

  A screech sounded in the living room and Emmit sighed. “This place is beginning to wear my temper thin.”

  “That’s my job,” Mira said.

  “One in which you are very skilled at. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you ended up here.”

  “Sorry.”

  The look on Emmit’s face softened. “We couldn’t have succeeded without you. Now, you take your medicine, and I’ll take mine so we can get out of this wretched place.”

  “I’d like that.” Mira wanted to put off taking the potion. She was sure the outcome would mean that she would have to stay in the Ether. She wanted to keep hope alive for as long as she could.

  Emmit, however, wasn’t going to let her stall. Under his watchful eye, she took the Heal and Emmit followed suit.

  Once the spell was out of her hands, Mira leaned against Emmit without thinking. She felt cold, tired, and her mind was fogging over from exhaustion and fever.

  They heard Gabriel clash in the other room.

  “I made some for Jean and Gabriel as well,” Mira said.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Emmit said.

  Mira felt him move but fell asleep before giving him instructions for the Heal.

  Chapter 30

  Mira was plagued by nightmares, the worst of which was when she was turned into one of the creatures. When she did, Gabriel didn’t recognize her and killed her. The dreams of fighting and arguing were almost a relief compared to the others.

  At one point, someone poured something foul down her throat. It was worse than the Heal had taken and her dreams shaped around it, implying that she had drunk the tarlike black blood.

  When she woke up, she had no idea how much time had passed. It took her a while to realize she was awake, because a black cloud hovered around her, blocking much of the ever present light of the Ether. It didn’t help that she had no idea where she was.

  At the center of the inky fog, there was a form. It radiated thin strands of red static. She knew it was Emmit, but she said nothing for a while, and simply watched him, amazed at his difference in appearance.

  The black haze stretched into the sky, but it was also as though the rest of the world dimmed around him. If the Ether had a sun, Mira was sure the shadowy form would block it out.

  Emmit seemed to realize she was awake and in the center, his more solid form shifted away.

  “How long have I been asleep?” Mira asked.

  He stopped moving away. “For quite a while, but it’s good to see you awake now. I don’t want to cause you any distress so I’ll wait outside until Gabriel returns.”

  “The only thing that would upset me, is if you leave.”

  Emmit seemed to hesitate. “I don’t worry you?”

  Mira felt weak, but pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. “You don’t worry me, Emmit. I know you’re not going to hurt me.” And the fact that your accent remains doesn’t hurt. Mira grinned at the thought.

  “That’s true.” He was silent for a while, and Mira knew he was watching her. “How do you feel?”

  Mira thought about it. “Better.” She looked at her hand and saw that the burns were almost gone. Fresh cloth—or at least unbloodied cloth—was wrapped around her leg, but she couldn’t steel herself enough to check under it.

  “Is that the truth?”

  Mira grinned. “I thought I was a bad liar?”

  It was amazing how exasperated an almost shapeless form could seem.

  “It’s the truth.” Mira held up her previously burnt hand and inspected it. She had thought it was going to be useless, but even now it seemed to be healing further. “I’m tired and hungry. Starving really. But I feel much better. It looks like the Heal worked.”

  “Gabriel earns some credit to that. Once Jean broke a spell he could sense you once again. It looked as though the shock might kill him. Once we had him on his feet again, he took the Heal, added his own blood and mine along with more blood stone and gave you the new potion.”

  “Where is Gabriel?”

  “He’s scouting around Lance’s house. He looked unsettled, so I asked Jean to join him.”

  “He’s okay, though? And Jean?”

  “They are both okay now. We all are.”

  “And my leg?” Mira asked.

  “It’s healing.”

  It felt as though a huge weight was lifted from Mira. “I can go back home, then?”

  The cloudy form shifted around. “We haven’t checked your leg in a while. I’m sure it’s healed by now.”

  Mira started to pull at the cloth, trying to unknot it.

  “Careful,” Emmit said, leaning forward. “We don’t want it to start bleeding again.”

  “Can you help me?” Mira asked, feeling frustrated when the ties would budge.

  “If you’d like me to.”

  He seemed to drift forward, but slowly—slower than she’d ever seen him move.

  “I’m not going to run away,” Mira said, starting to get agitated.

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

  “I would. I take it the magic of the necklace wore out again.”

  Emmit closed the gap between them. “It did.”

  “I’ll have to work on the spell. It should last for much longer.”

  “Even with the parasite dead, magic still seems to leak out here.”

  While Emmit worked on the knots, Mira took the chance to study him in this state. She could see his eyes. They were dark, but with hints of red. The red static appeared to be just that. A thin, constant, red electrical charge radiating out and dancing around his cloudy form.

  This close, she could also see that he wasn’t solid at the core. Despite what he appeared at a distance to look like, she could see his inner self swirl as though caught in a breeze.

  Emmit cleared his throat and she came back to her senses. She couldn’t help but think he was beautiful in the Ether. Strange and uncanny, but he held a rare beauty that she knew she’d never see again.

  She turned her attention towards her leg.

  “It looks even better than it did before. I’m sure that you’ll be fine in no time.”

  It did look better. The black was starting to turn green in her veins. The color also didn�
�t run as far away from the wound as it previously had. Even around the punctures, the skin appeared to be healing and the dark color appeared more fleshy toned than it had before.

  “How much more time do we give it to heal?” Mira asked as Emmit covered the wound again.

  “As long as it takes.”

  Mira sighed.

  “It don’t expect it to be too long,” Emmit added.

  “Where are we?”

  “I think Gabriel intends to take you back as soon as the way is open. We are at the closest house to Lance’s that is still standing in this world.”

  “How do you feel about that?” Mira didn’t want to say it herself, but she hoped Gabriel would take her home immediately. It sounded like a bad idea in every way, but she longed to be back in her own world.

  Emmit drifted back a little. “Magic is stronger here, which has its advantages. If you went back without being fully healed, we would want to keep a close eye on the damage.”

  “If it doesn’t heal, would I have to come back here?”

  “With nothing pulling our worlds together, I’m not certain the pathways will be easy to travel for long.”

  “That, at least, is a relief. If it’s harder for us to get here, it will be harder for anything else to come into our world.” Mira reached for the backpack lying not far away.

  “There’s no food or water left,” Emmit said, beating her to the bag.

  “What’s in there, then?”

  A loud bang sounded somewhere in the house and Mira jumped. Heart pounding fast, she scrambled closer to Emmit, forgetting the bag.

  It was a surprise to Mira that Emmit still had a hand. It was a little warmer than she anticipated, but he felt solid when he squeezed her reassuringly.

  “Time to go!” Gabriel yelled.

  Mira relaxed a little, but she still felt anxious when Gabriel opened the door to the room and froze.

  It looked as though he was shocked to see her there, although it was equally possible that he was surprised to see her awake. It didn’t take him long to recover. He strode across the room and scooped her up in his arms.

  Emmit gave them space the moment Mira dropped his hand. Mira and Gabriel held each other. Time was almost impossible to track in the Ether. They could have held each other for hours, though, and Mira wouldn’t have thought it was long enough.