“Did the angel try to hurt you?” Tommy asked, speaking up for the first time. The boy was always quiet, but rarely idle. Tommy was very observant, something that could be troublesome for him eventually.
“Not physically. Now, hear me out on this before any of you get mad, because whatever this angel was offering me, it was going to come with serious strings attached.” Amber waited for everyone to nod before continuing. “The angel offered to erase Kadrithan’s mark.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line, waiting for the pack’s reaction.
Ceri was the first to speak, but she didn’t look angry, only confused. “They can do that?”
“After a fashion,” he answered for Amber. It was time to explain a few things to the pack, despite the risk. He couldn’t share everything of course, but now that an angel had threatened their alpha, they were ready to hear some of the truth. “They can shift it to someone else, who will agree because the angel has manipulated them into it. That person would immediately be killed, of course. Unless he was offering simply to kill Amber, which is possible.”
“That’s horrible,” Ceri said, confusion shifting to disapproval.
“Hardly the most horrible thing Zelas has ever done, I can assure you.”
“Zelas? That was the angel’s name?” Ceri asked.
He nodded. “Zelas is an envoy of one of the five archangels.”
They didn’t need to know that archangel was Raziel just yet. Names had power, and he needed to preserve as much of his own as he could.
“You said you would explain what the angels are,” Amber prompted, impatient for him to get to the point.
He sighed and summoned a chair, sitting in front of the pack. His power filled the room, dimming the sunlight. It was a strain still but holding their attention was worth the effort.
“Angels and demons. Light and darkness. Everyone has accepted this for centuries. However, it was once the opposite. Demon is a name given to us by our mortal enemies, the parasites that now feed on the human race without repercussion.”
With a wave of his hand, he summoned a weak illusion of an angel. Beautiful. Artificial. An angel could have made this look real. Feel real. This was the best he could do.
“Angels are incubi and succubi. Masters of illusion and manipulation. They feed on humans, and humans alone. Magic users can be manipulated or tricked, but the magic that flows through them protects them from being fed on.”
Amber stared at the illusion silently, taking in everything he was saying. This reveal was important. If he struck the right note, then she would be on his side, once and for all. If he didn’t…he could lose them.
“I’m sure you felt it, Amber. He would have been like the sun, warming you and drawing you in. He would have tried to touch you as much as possible, and you would have craved that touch.”
She nodded, anger burning in her eyes. “He tried, I shoved his hand away.”
“They’re feeding off what, sexual energy?” Genevieve asked.
“They feed off your soul, your life force, whatever you prefer to call it, in order to extend their own lives,” he said, tearing his eyes away from Amber for a moment. “Seduction is simply the easiest way to gain enough physical contact to do so efficiently. Lust also further clouds their victim’s judgment, making the task even easier.”
“What are demons then?” Ceri asked, a challenging tone to her voice still.
“We are the fae.”
Tommy’s head snapped up. “What? I’ve never heard of them.”
He chuckled and spread his arms wide. “Now you have. Our name and true nature has been lost to history.”
“But you act like a demon. The fire, the smoke, the deals in exchange for a chance at someone’s soul,” Amber objected. “Why?”
“A very, very long time ago, the incubi made the final move in a long war. With the help of some witches they had entranced, they cursed every living fae, and every fae born from that moment forward.”
Ceri’s face paled. “The size of the coven needed…”
“Three hundred seventy three witches combined their power with the five archangels.”
The witch sat down heavily on the couch. “It’s an insane thing to do, but it’s possible.”
“What was the curse?” Tommy asked, ever perceptive.
“You saw the effects of it in Evangeline,” he said, meeting the boy’s eyes. “We will die without someone wearing our mark. Painfully and slowly. They sought to make us parasites as well, and they succeeded.”
His eyes flicked back to Amber, taking in her reaction. Her elbows were resting on her knees and her hands were clasped tightly together. Her lips were pressed into a thin, disapproving line. Good. She was angry –– and that meant she believed him.
“What does Evangeline have to do with the curse?” Tommy asked, his dark eyes boring into him. “That’s why you’re protecting her, isn’t it?”
“Nothing,” he lied easily. “She’s my niece, and despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding her birth, I will always protect my family.”
Tommy sat back and crossed his arms, looking unconvinced. That could be a problem but as long as he could put off more questions about Evangeline until the right time, perhaps it could be avoided.
“The fae have been fighting with the angels since the time of the curse. They attack our lands just often enough to keep us from growing in power enough to challenge them. Recently, these attacks have increased. Most of us agree that we are running out of time. At some point, we have to fight back or the angels will utterly destroy us. These areas where magic is being destroyed are an even more worrying sign.”
That caught the witch’s attention. “Why?”
“The angels want to destroy magic in this world. Completely.”
Color drained from Ceri’s face. “Is that possible?”
“Apparently, it is. They’ve only been testing the spell so far. Since they haven’t eradicated magic yet, I can only conclude that they cannot. They are missing something.” He sat back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. “Along with breaking this curse, I have been searching to discover an answer to what they are missing so I can make sure they never get it.”
“Do they want to destroy magic because it keeps them from feeding on magic users?” Amber asked, glancing at her friend with worry.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“We can’t let them do that. Any of it,” Amber declared, a familiar, stubborn look coming into her eye.
And just like that, he had them.
Chapter 61
Ceri
Ceri sat on the front porch watching the sun go down. Kadrithan had left them with questions. Fear. Disbelief. Tommy had insisted he was still not telling them something, and she agreed, but what he had told them was enough. There was a war coming.
They would have to fight. Everyone would. It didn’t matter if they were a witch, a werewolf, or an elf. The angels wanted to take magic away from all of them.
The front door opened and Amber walked outside. “Thought I’d find you out here.”
She gave her alpha a wan smile. “It’s our spot I guess.”
Amber walked over and sat down on the swing next to her with a tired sigh. “I suppose so.” She pushed them into a gentle rock before pulling her feet up underneath her. “Are we doing the right thing by helping him?”
Ceri pulled her cardigan a little tighter around her. “We can’t sit by and do nothing. That’s all I know for sure.”
Amber snorted. “The last time I decided I couldn’t stand by and do nothing I ended up getting bitten by a werewolf on a full moon. We all know how that turned out.”
“I think it turned out pretty well, minus the various trials and tribulations,” she said, nudging Amber with her shoulder.
“There will be more of those if we do this. Worse ones, probably.” Amber looked back through the window. “We’ll be risking everything.”
“I think we’re too far in to back
out now, to be perfectly honest.”
“That seems to be how it goes.”
They lapsed into silence as the sun dipped below the horizon. Reds and oranges stretched across the sky like watercolors over the jagged, dark silhouette of the forest. Her mind strayed to the spirit realm and to the tarot card. To her own darkness.
“Amber,” she said hesitantly, all the emotions she hadn’t wanted to face bubbling up inside her chest. “I’m sorry.”
Amber looked at her with genuine concern. “What for?”
“I should have known better. I left that night by myself, ignoring common sense, and the entire pack paid for it. It’s my fault you ended up stuck with another demon mark. It’s my fault you nearly killed Derek and Genevieve. It’s all my…” Her breaths started coming in gasps as tears poured down her cheeks. “All my fault.”
Amber leaned over without hesitation and pulled her into a tight hug. “I never blamed you for that, but if you need to hear it, then I forgive you.”
“I almost used blood magic to track down Selena and Deward,” she said, all the dark things tumbling out of her at once. “I think about it all the time. About killing the other pixies and cutting out their hearts. Sometimes, I can even justify it in my head.”
“You didn’t go through with it,” Amber said, arms tightening around her.
“Because I’m weak,” she whispered.
Amber pulled back and looked at her very seriously. “Because you aren’t.”
“I have a way to find them and I haven’t, I just––”
“No. There is a line, Ceri, and there has to be. There are some things we cannot do no matter how important the cause is.”
She took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic that had her whole body shaking. “What if I step over it?”
“Then I’ll pull you back, just like you would do for me. That’s what the pack, what family, is for.”
“I need your help. There is something in the spirit realm and I can’t get it alone. I think I know why now, but….I’m not strong enough on my my own.”
Amber pulled back slightly and brushed away her tears. “What do you need?”
“I need the pack to come to the spirit realm with me. There’s this…darkness there. I think it’s what the tarot card has been trying to warn me about.” She hesitated, not wanting to think about it’s meaning, much less say it aloud. “This is going to sound kooky, but I think the darkness is something within me. The spirit realm can manifest terrible things if you go into with evil intent.”
“Is there anything you can do to clear your intent before we try again? Meditation? Stick sage in your hair?”
She smacked Amber on the arm. “Don’t mock me.”
“I’m not! I just don’t know how it all works.”
Sighing, she hopped off the swing. “Come on. If we’re going to do this, I need to get everything ready and tell the rest of the pack.”
Ceri finished the circle and surveyed her work. Since the sun had already set, they’d parked Amber’s truck in the yard and were using the headlights to illuminate everything.
Normally, she’d do this inside, but with the pack it felt right to be outdoors under the moon. Satisfied everything was in order, she turned around to find Tommy standing right behind her.
“Derek said you took him to the spirit realm the other day.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
He lightly punched her shoulder. “You could have asked for help sooner! I would have gone with you too.”
Crossing her arms, she stared him down. “Well I’m asking now.”
Amber jogged up. “We ready to do this? It’s getting late.”
“Yep. Alright, everyone inside the circle.” She’d made it way bigger than normal. Everyone needed to be able to lay down, toe to toe, and still be inside it.
Genevieve, who had been quietly arguing with Steven, seemed to come to some sort of agreement. They hugged and Steven took a seat on the steps to the back porch, ready to keep watch over them while they did this.
Woggy, along with the whole swarm of pixies, were also gathered on the back porch watching curiously. There was a pile of leaves in front of them that looked like their version of popcorn. They signed to each other, sporadically, mixing squeaks in with the signed words. The pixies really were making it their own.
Amber was the last to step inside, and when she did, Ceri felt something change. Clarity filled her, giving her a sense of purpose. Red bled into Amber’s eyes and her sense of the pack bond heightened.
“Whoa, are you guys feeling that?” Genevieve asked in a hushed whisper, as if afraid to break the spell.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Is that a good sign?” Amber asked.
“I hope so. Everyone lay down.” She settled herself on the grass, her toes bumping together with everyone else’s. “Remember, don’t panic and stay together. No matter what happens.”
There were murmurs of agreement from around the circle. She stared up at the crescent moon and let its soft light give her warmth.
A flap of wings startled her slightly as the owl settled at her head. It hooted in greeting.
“Can you take all of us?” she asked quietly.
Its head appeared in her line of vision, the luminous orange eyes drawing her in like gravity had been reversed. She took that as a yes.
A breath later, and she was standing on the cliff above the clouds. Snow was drifting down from the heavy clouds overhead. Lightning cracked, followed by the distant rumble of thunder.
She turned around to check on the others but stopped in shock. Derek was there, appearing human just like last time, but the others…were wolves. And they were way bigger than normal.
Amber’s stooped her head to meet her eyes, cocking her head to the side as if to ask, what’s next?
“Can you guys still understand me?” she asked, looking curiously at her pack.
Genevieve yipped happily, while Amber and Tommy nodded. Tommy’s attention was mostly on the storm brewing overhead, his tail twitching nervously.
Derek joined her at the edge of the cliff. “We have to jump again, don’t we?”
“Yep. Want me to hold your hand?” she asked with a smirk.
He glared at her. “Maybe I’ll just push you instead and stay up here enjoying the view.”
“Push me and I’ll turn your pillow into a spider nest.”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Geez, you didn’t have to take it there.”
Rolling her eyes, she turned to the others. “We have to jump. You’ll float to the bottom, so just try not to think about it too hard.”
The wolves approached. Amber looked at her once for confirmation, then huffed and leapt off the edge. Before she could hesitate, Ceri jumped after her.
They floated down slowly. Cold turned to warmth, and the strange jungle came into view. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it looked more menacing than she remembered.
Derek let out a sigh of relief as they landed, finally opening his eyes. “I can’t understate how much I hate that.”
“Hopefully after today, we never have to come back. It’s not really my favorite either.”
Fur brushed against her arm as Tommy pressed himself lightly to her side. His ears were drawn as he looked warily around them.
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel very welcoming here, does it?” Ceri said, patting his side. “Let’s go.”
Amber took point, leading them deeper into the dense jungle. Their footsteps were muffled by the heavy air.
The slightest breeze stirred her hair, carrying a hint of a whisper. She paused, looking around for the encroaching darkness, but it hadn’t shown itself yet.
Genevieve stopped abruptly, stepping out of the line they had formed. Her ears swiveled as if she were searching for a noise.
“What is it?” Ceri asked, unconsciously stepping back into Derek.
Genevieve ignored her, glancing at Amber who must have given her some kind of approval becau
se she moved away from them.
“What is she doing? We need to stay together!” Ceri objected, torn between running after Genevieve and staying with the others.
Genevieve, however, didn’t go far. She stopped a few feet away and lifted her head, growling at something above her. Ceri followed her gaze. The darkness that she had been looking for on the ground flowed above them, sliding from tree to tree.
“Get back!” Ceri shouted, grabbing the totem hanging around her neck with one hand as she began chanting.
Still weak. Still afraid, the darkness whispered in her mind. Still alone.
Before she could finish her spell, the darkness fell over them like a net.
Chapter 62
Ceri
“Keep chopping like that and you’ll fail before we even get started.”
Ceri looked down. Her eye of newt was half-squished and the edges where she had cut were jagged.
Her grandmother placed a fresh eye in front of her. “Start over but don’t fall too far behind.”
“She might as well quit now. She’s never been able to keep up with me,” Siobhan quipped from the other side of the room, smirking at her over her grandmother’s shoulder. She flipped her long, red hair over her shoulder. “Ceridwen is weak.”
Ceri narrowed her eyes at her cousin. “Shut up, Siobhan.”
She could make this potion in her sleep. Her stupid, stuck-up cousin would be sorry once she had control of this coven. It was her birth right. Grandmother had chosen her.
No one could stop her. Especially not Siobhan. This was everything she’d ever…
Her vision blurred for a moment and she blinked in confusion. Why was she here? It felt like there was something she was supposed to be doing…something important.
“Back to work!” her grandmother barked.
Shaking off the unease, she gently held the eye of newt in place, careful not to crush it this time. The razor sharp knife cut through it like butter. Thin, even slices, just like she’d been taught.
She pushed her board forward for examination at the same time as Siobhan. Grandmother walked over to her board first and inspected it without expression, then moved to Siobhan’s work table to do the same thing.
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