To Darkness Bound Box Set

by Zandria West

  I step into the centre of the clearing, which is also the central point of the symbol. Graciela smiles and anoints my forehead with an oil which smells smoky and sweet.

  ‘Close your eyes, child,’ she says, placing her hands on my shoulders. Then she begins the chant – a low murmuring of words that I don’t understand. The words seem to swirl and flow around me. It feels… strange, like some essential energy within me is being twisted and knotted. My Bondmarks pulse with power, and my head pounds with the beginnings of a migraine. Graciela’s voice rises like a growing storm, dangerous and wild, and I hear the rustling of wind in the leaves as a breeze picks up. I sense that the ceremony is almost at its apex when there’s a sudden, loud crash and Graciela cries out.

  ‘Lana!’ Gabriel yells. I jolt my eyes open, stunned by a sense of dislocation. Just outside the circle stand three terrifying creatures.

  ‘Hellhounds,’ Gabriel murmurs, stepping forward to place his body between me and the demonic monsters. I recognise them from the visions I’ve had of the demon invasion. They’re dark and slavering, with eyes that flicker red like flames, and huge, powerful bodies. They’re straining, ready to leap at us and tear us apart.

  Is this part of the ceremony, I wonder? A final test?

  But then I see Graciela lying too still on the ground beside us, her body twisted at an unnatural angle. I drop to my knees beside her.

  The hellhounds growl, low and deadly.

  Gabriel raises his hands. ‘Go!’ he cries, then begins to chant.

  The light in the symbol flickers and flares higher, rising to a wall of brilliant fire, forming a barrier between us and our enemies. I can sense the strain the magic is causing Gabriel though. I don’t know how long he’ll be able to keep this up. I stand, half-blinded by the intensity of the flames, and take my place beside him. He glances across at me for just a moment, without breaking the chant. As I listen, it’s as though I can see the symbols associated with the words, shining and glowing. Tentatively, I begin to join in, adding my voice to his. I don’t know if I can help, but I have to do something. Gabriel reaches across and takes my hand and a shock of power rushes through me. The walls of flame grow higher, rising almost to the level of the tree-tops. I look across to where the hellhounds wait. Narrowing my eyes, I concentrate every inch of my effort on one of the hounds. There’s a sudden flare and the creature squeals with pain as a tendril of fire leaps and touches it. An acrid smell of burning hair and flesh fills the air and the animal howls, a desperate, unearthly sound that echoes through the forest. Finally, it backs away a few staggering steps and runs.

  I turn to the next of the creatures. Again, I focus my concentration on the hound, and visualise the spreading flame, reaching it, consuming it. It happens faster this time, a sudden conflagration, a hot howling wind that rushes through the forest and then dies away a moment later. The hound does not even have a chance to cry out before it is incinerated. I turn to the final hound. It scrabbles back a few steps and then flees.

  I raise my hands to send a blast of flame after the creature when I feel Gabriel grab my arm, breaking my concentration.

  ‘Lana, stop,’ he says urgently. The wall of flame dies away and the forest is filled with an eerie silence. I look around, confused, unsure if what just happened was real or some illusion visited on me by Graciela’s power.

  Graciela –

  My mother lies unmoving on the ground. Gabriel is kneeling beside her, feeling her forehead, checking her pulse, listening to her breathing.

  ‘Quickly, we must get her back to the house,’ he says.

  ‘Is she dead?’

  ‘Not yet,’ he says grimly, then lifts her in his arms. I follow him out of the symbol, a emptiness settling inside me as I do.

  We never finished the ceremony, I realise. The Sealing was meant to protect me from the magic I must cast. It has not been completed.

  12

  LANA

  I cradle the mug of sweet tea between my hands and breathe in the steam, feeling the adrenalin rush of the fight gradually beginning to fade. Gabriel keeps shooting me looks across the kitchen table: concerned, appraising, uncertain.

  ‘I helped, didn’t I?’ I say finally. ‘I got rid of them for you.’

  ‘You did,’ he says. ‘But the magic you used…’ He frowns.

  ‘It was the same magic you used. I said the same words.’

  He shakes his head. ‘It’s not that simple. You brought something else to it, Lana. My spell was purely defensive. Yours killed two hellhounds, nightmare creatures powerful enough to easily take on a witch as formidable as your mother.’

  I still don’t understand what he’s trying to say. ‘Maybe it was just because I was scared. It triggered something in me…’

  ‘Maybe,’ he says slowly, though I can see that’s not what he’s thinking.

  ‘Or maybe it’s like you said, all the training I’ve been doing is working?’ I smile, but his frown just deepens.

  ‘Can I see my mother now?’ I ask.

  ‘Soon,’ he says. ‘She’s sleeping. We should let her rest a little longer.’

  ‘Will she be alright?’ I ask.

  He nods. ‘Graciela has survived worse than this. The question is, how did the hellhounds know we would be there?’

  ‘Graciela said that it’s a place that’s always been used for the Shielding ceremony. Maybe it was an opportunistic attack – creatures from the demon realm are finding gaps in the Barrier that they can pass through. They might be drawn to the residual magic of the spot. They might have just been waiting for someone to come…’

  I trail off. I can see the sceptical look on Gabriel’s face and as much as I’d like to argue with him, I can’t. The attack didn’t feel opportunistic, it felt targeted. At me. And if it was, whoever set loose the hellhounds achieved the result they were seeking. My magic was never dedicated to the Goddess. The Shielding ceremony was never completed.

  ‘Can we go back when Graciela is better? Can we try again?’ I ask.

  Gabriel’s expression darkens. He shakes his head. ‘The ceremony cannot be performed at just any time. It requires the full moon and particular planetary alignments. There won’t be another suitable opportunity for months…’

  I swallow as the implications of what he’s saying hit me.

  ‘So, we won’t be able to complete the ceremony before I meet with the Circle of Witches? Before I have to attempt the Barrier spell?’

  Gabriel looks away. ‘Graciela will seek the advice and assistance of the Circle. It may be that there is some precedent they can draw on that might offer another means to achieving the Shielding.’

  I look away, crossing my arms over my chest, feeling a sudden leaden hopelessness weighing me down. ‘That sounds like a lot of maybes.’

  ‘It is. And I am deeply concerned. I will not lie to you, Lana. Not for your comfort. Not ever.’ Gabriel’s voice is fierce.

  I take a breath. ‘Righto, thanks for that.’ My attempt at cheerfulness falls utterly flat.

  I run my fingers over the signs on my arms. They’re aching still and glowing faintly after the outpouring of magic that repelled the hounds. Alex, Grayson and Reuben had known instantly that something was wrong. Alex had run so fast to find me that he’d been by my side only seconds after the final hellhound had bolted, and the others hadn’t been far behind. Even though I protested that I was fine, Reuben had insisted on carrying me. I wouldn’t admit it, but I was hugely relieved once we were back within the safety of the protection spell that Gabriel and Graciela had woven around the perimeter. We may have defeated the hounds, but the memory of their glowing eyes, the rapacious fury of their attack, won’t quickly leave me.

  Now that they’ve found me, who knows how many more might come, and what other demons in what terrible forms will follow?

  ‘You’re safe here, for now,’ Gabriel says, taking one of my hands in his, running his fingers over the skin of my palm. ‘There is nothing to fear.’

  ‘Saf
e for now,’ I repeat. ‘In the longer term, not so much…’

  ‘Isn’t that true of any of us?’ Gabriel gives me the first, crooked, sad smile of the day. ‘Nothing is assured to us, Lana. You should know that better than anybody…’

  I turn away. What he’s saying is true, of course. But there’s a difference between having the general sense that you should make the most of each day because you don’t know what tomorrow holds, and actually knowing that you will soon have to attempt the most powerful spell cast in the history of Witchdom, with neither the innate ability nor the ceremonial protection needed to give you any likelihood of surviving it.

  ‘Lana,’ Gabriel raises my palm to his lips and kisses it, then places another kiss on my wrist, and another on the sign of the crow on my forearm. His kisses are slow, gentle, deliberate. ‘Would you rather this have never happened?’ he asks, looking up at me.

  I know he doesn’t just mean tonight: he means all of it. Graciela. My men. The knowledge of who and what I really am.

  I shake my head. ‘I was nothing before you walked into the bar and found me.’

  He frowns. ‘That’s not true.’

  ‘Where was my life going? What was I going to do, keep working at Hell on Earth, not knowing why I felt the need to be there? How long would it have been until a demon decided to tear me apart for fun, and managed it before the guards could stop him?’

  Gabriel squeezes my hand and lets it go.

  ‘And besides, I wouldn’t have met you,’ I say more quietly.

  ‘Maybe that would have been better?’

  I shake my head. ‘How could that possibly have been better? I never…’ I trail off, tears filling my eyes. I swallow, taking a moment to find my voice again. ‘Before I met you, I never knew what it felt like to be loved, to be understood and accepted. If I hadn’t met you, I could have gone my whole life only half-alive…’

  In a moment, Gabriel has wrapped his arms around me and pulled me across to him, so I’m sitting on his lap. He holds me close, his face buried in my hair, his hands stroking my back.

  ‘I promise you, Lana. I will do everything in my power to help you and protect you. Do you understand that? Everything.’

  I nod, though the fear is cold as a blade.

  I don’t doubt Gabriel for even a moment. I just don’t know that everything will be enough.

  13

  LANA

  The day after the demon attack, Graciela is up and about, doing her best to act as though nothing untoward ever happened. Gabriel spent hours working healing spells on her, and they seem to have worked. I can tell the whole thing has shaken her though. She’s even brusquer than usual when she speaks to me, and she can’t entirely disguise the fact that she’s in pain. When Jamie asks her what happened, she brushes him off like it’s nothing. He asks me too, and I just ignore him and look out the window. It’s stupid and petty and childish, I know, but my whole approach to my brother still being alive is to pretend that he isn’t.

  I don’t particularly expect a thank you from Graciela for saving her life, but still I wish she’d say something about what happened, and what it means – both what I was able to do in fighting off the hellhounds and the worrying fact that we weren’t able to complete the ceremony – but she doesn’t. She says nothing at all.

  My training recommences as usual, though I can’t help but feel that the men are holding back a little now. They’re not pushing me as hard as they had been. The thought that they might go easy on me makes me angry. I have one week until the Circle of Witches meets. After the failure of the Sealing ceremony, it’s even more important that I do everything I possibly can to prepare for what is coming. Reuben even gives me a break so I can take an afternoon nap. When I shake my head in disbelief and start to argue, he growls at me.

  ‘Respect authority,’ he says. ‘That is the most important rule of werewolf life. I am your teacher now. I am the authority. You do as I say.’

  I roll my eyes and give up. Truth be told, I feel drained. I’m moving towards a future that I know I can’t avoid. Nothing I do to prepare will be enough.

  To my surprise, I drift off almost as soon as I lie down on the bed. I wake to the jarring sound of a phone ringing. I hadn’t realised Graciela even had a phone.

  ‘Hello?’ I hear her answer curtly. ‘Yes? Alright. We’ll be there.’

  I sit up groggily. A moment later she’s standing in the doorway to my room, glowering like a volcano.

  ‘They’re ready for you,’ she says.

  I swallow. ‘What? Who?’

  I already know exactly who she means but this is so far from how I imagined it happening that my mind is unwilling to catch up with the events taking place.

  ‘The Witch’s Circle is convening today. Now. We’d better get moving.’

  ‘I thought you said we had a week?’ I say, a fluttering panic rising in me.

  It’s too soon. I need longer.

  ‘What can I say? They changed their mind. Come on child, we haven’t got all day.’

  ‘You mean they’re meeting now?’

  Graciela gives me one of those withering looks that makes me feel about three centimetres tall. ‘Apparently so,’ she says drily. ‘And they’re waiting for you.’

  I stand, my legs wobbling beneath me. ‘I need to tell Gabriel. Can the others come?’

  ‘No, you don’t, and no they can’t. There is a certain code of secrecy to be respected in these matters, as Gabriel himself well understands.’

  I swallow. In all my imaginings, I never thought I’d have to go alone. What is the purpose of the Binding if not to protect me? I’ve never felt more in need of protection than now.

  As if sensing the sudden shift in my mood, the door opens and Alex peers through. He looks to my mother and then to me. ‘Everything okay?’ he asks.

  Graciela mutters something colourful under her breath about damned psychic vampires, then shakes her head and throws her hands up in the air.

  ‘Lana and I are popping out for a little while,’ she says, like we’re just going down the road for cake and coffee.

  ‘Riiight…’ Alex tilts his head and studies me, his blue eyes suddenly hard and brilliant as diamonds. ‘May I come?’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I say hurriedly. ‘Graciela says we shouldn’t tell you anything else right now, Alex. And apparently this is something I have to do alone.’

  I swallow again holding his gaze. He can read my mind. He knows exactly what’s about to happen.

  I love you. I send the thought as hard as I can. I’ll be back soon, I promise. A huge lump seems to have materialised in my throat.

  Is this it? If I go to the Witch’s Circle now, will we attempt to re-create the Barrier now, today? I try to shield Alex from the fear I feel, but we both know there’s no guarantee that I’ll survive the magic required to cast the Barrier spell.

  The door opens again, and Reuben looks in, frowning as he looks from Graciela and Alex to me.

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ Graciela cries. ‘Reuben, please go and get the others. It’s against all protocol but we clearly need to talk. And quickly.’

  In an instant, Alex has moved from the doorway and is by my side, an arm tight around my shoulders.

  ‘This is what we’ve been preparing for,’ I tell him, trying to bury the fear that I feel growing in me. ‘You’ve all helped me so much. I think I’m ready now Alex. I’ll be back soon, I’m sure.’

  ‘Oh, there’s no need to be overly dramatic, this will just be for introductions,’ Graciela says lightly as Grayson and Gabriel follow Reuben into the room, their expressions dark with suspicion.

  Graciela looks around, then shakes her head. ‘I’m absolutely not supposed to tell you any of what I’m about to tell you. But seeing as how half of you can read my daughter’s mind anyway, I don’t really feel I have much choice.’

  The door opens again, and Jamie peers around the corner. ‘Am I missing something?’ he says and I groan.

  ‘Come in,
you may as well, everybody else is,’ Graciela mutters.

  Jamie throws a cautious glance at my men, then clears his throat and walks in, making his way to the far side of the room and crossing his arms defensively.

  ‘The Circle of Witches has convened,’ Graciela says, without preamble. ‘Lana and I are expected. We must leave immediately.’

  ‘Lana can’t go without us,’ Reuben says fiercely. ‘I won’t allow it.’

  ‘She will be safe,’ Graciela says firmly. ‘And you absolutely may not attend. The proceedings of the Circle are confidential.’

  ‘What’s going to happen?’ I ask. ‘You’re sure I won’t have to do the spell today?’

  Graciela laughs. ‘Oh, my Goddess, no child. The Circle hasn’t met in almost two decades. They’re not going to decide on a new course of action in a single day. They will drink gallons of tea. Ask you questions. Test you. Consider the options. Argue amongst themselves. I expect we will hear what is to happen soon enough, all things considered, but it most certainly won’t be today.’

  ‘You will not let them harm her,’ Grayson says, his voice hard and cold. It’s a command, not a question.

  ‘Of course not,’ Graciela snaps.

  ‘How will you get there?’ Gabriel asks.

  ‘The old way. In fact, I may need your assistance now I come to think of it,’ she says, glancing at Gabriel and then back at me, and then nodding as though agreeing with whatever idea she’s just had.

  ‘I am at your service, as always,’ Gabriel replies, inclining his head.

  It’s all happening fast. Too fast. I look around and feel a sudden surge of dread. I could lose them, I realise. I could lose these men I love.

  ‘Can we have a moment please?’ I say turning to Graciela and then to Jamie. Jamie snorts. Graciela sighs and nods.

  ‘Be quick. Witches don’t like to be left waiting.’

  Once they’re gone and the door is closed, I look around at Gabriel, Alex, Reuben and Grayson.

  ‘I just want you all to know –’ I start.

  Alex shakes his head. ‘Nope. Don’t want to hear it, angel. It’s going to be fine. You’ll be back in no time and we’ll all be here waiting for you. Don’t make this into something that it’s not.’ His expression is fierce.