Garden of Bone: Book 6, page 34
With a shrill, primal scream, Eleri raced forward. Unlike Donovan, she did not go at the sisters’ backs.
Instead, she dove between their feet, imagining she opened a hole in the wall they had made.
She slid smoothly under the table—although she had no idea whether that was because she’d found an unprotected pocket of their magic or because she’d opened the barricade with power of her own.
Under the table, the air zinged and buzzed. She saw only their feet and couldn’t tell what was going on over her head, but she knew what she had to do. She had to disrupt the spell. She could not let them bind her. What would Grandmere say?
From under the table, Eleri watched as Donovan’s feet turned. Then she saw a set of dark, bare feet in the corner near the boy.
Holy shit, Eleri thought. Grandmere had arrived.
She did not see the little boy's head or the top half of her great-grandmother, but she saw the older woman grasp his hand and hold him tightly.
In her peripheral vision, she watched Grandmere move the child behind her, much the way Alesse had done when they entered, but for entirely different purposes.
All at once, the four sisters seemed to realize something was going wrong. Donovan's shout alerted her to the fact that the door had opened again and Eleri watched as Grandmere placed herself directly between the boy and the opening door. Wolves burst in, more of them than Eleri could count from the feet alone. More than just the Salzani brothers.
Now, even she could smell the wolf on them, but she was under the table and she remembered why she was there. Slamming her hands upward, she rocked the table. She tried rock it toward Donovan, but she had no idea if she succeeded.
She watched as the sisters jumped back and she felt the air clear a little, as if perhaps their bubble had burst.
Donovan shouted, and she saw feet turn toward him. Even as she crawled out the other side, toward Grandmere and the child, she came upright to standing. In a flash, she turned back and saw the table rock twice, settling flat onto its feet. But Donovan had already reached into the middle and grabbed something.
It took a moment to recognize that he held the chalice of all the blood—hers mixed with the Dauphine sisters. The four of them screamed at him. Eleri wasn't sure the exact words they yelled. She couldn't tell if it was French, English, incantation, or something else—but none of it stopped Donovan.
Eleri held her hands out toward him as though she could protect him and watched as he spun and flung the blood across the shelves. It dripped in red spatters along the walls and down the faces of the poppets. As she listened, Alesse looked up to the ceiling and screamed a rage that turned the air red.
Eleri felt the oldest sister’s voice course through her. It felt as though the blood in her veins was freezing and cracking. Pain shot in bolts along every limb and into her heart. She felt the beating slow … two … three … and then her heart stopped.
Her muscles felt like sludge and she knew she was dying. She noticed Darcelle flash a wicked smile and then turn to one of the wolves. Only he wasn’t a wolf. As Eleri’s vision went dark, she heard Darcelle tell Caspian Salzani, “You owe me.”
Then Caspian stood as a guard in the door while Darcelle ran past him and out gleefully into the night. Eleri blinked again, her chest heavy, her vision fading.
Caspian held them as long as he could, but it was only three more blinks by Eleri’s count. Then the wolves tore at him and ran out the door after Darcelle.
70
Eleri stood in the corner of the shop, stunned and unmoving. Though she felt as though she couldn’t breathe or move, she’d not yet fallen. She watched as Donovan's fingers went lax and dropped the chalice, letting the very last of the red blood spatter and then run into the boards of the floor, seeping into the long cracks in the wood.
She watched the three sisters register shock and confusion as they began to understand that Darcelle had run off. It took only a moment for Gisele and Lafae to let their confusion turn to anger. But, for Alesse it turned to pure rage.
"What did you do?" she yelled at Eleri.
Her hands were out in front of her, pulses of energy flying from the oldest sister’s palms. Though Eleri didn't see them, she saw the chairs rock with the blasts. She saw Donovan stumble backward as one of the blasts hit him. Even the other Dauphine sisters reacted to the waves Alesse was putting out.
In her anger, she spun around the room, coming to Eleri last. But Eleri found Grandmere stood beside her, the little boy still tucked behind her skirts and cowering. For the briefest of moments, Eleri wondered what he would do in the years to come with what he had seen here today.
Unable to even lift her arms as a shield, Eleri was unsure if she would survive this—and if she didn't, Grandmere would have to be the one to save the boy.
Grandmere moved slowly, calmly—ice in contrast to Alesse's fire—and raised her hand as the shock wave came around. It bounced off Eleri. She saw it but did not feel it. Instead, she felt warmth, and the cold fear that had cracked in her veins slowly thawed. She felt stronger, and her hands clenched into fists.
"My sister is gone!" Alesse’s anger seemed uncontainable now that she realized she had been thwarted—by an inexperienced witch and an old woman.
Eleri found her own rage in return. "So is mine! Yours ran away because of the way you treated her. Mine was stolen."
Where was Darcelle? Eleri wondered. Even as her anger was directed at Alesse, she knew she was not being a good witch because she couldn’t seem to focus. Focus was required for spells. It was one of the few things all the witchcraft sources agreed upon. She didn't have focus right now because she couldn’t help wondering: Where was Darcelle?.
As Alesse charged at her, Eleri knew she needed Darcelle. Darcelle would tell her where Emmaline was buried. That was our deal! This angry beast of a sister would not. Alesse’s lip curled up as she spat at Eleri.
"Fuck you! You set my sister free."
Eleri had not been sure until now that Darcelle was truly free. She had seen that Darcelle had left the door wide open and disappeared, but that didn't mean that she had been able to escape the narrow path she was cursed to walk. Only Alesse's words let Eleri believe Darcelle had achieved her goal.
Eleri wanted to scream, What about our deal? Darcelle had promised to tell Eleri where to find Emmaline. But something pushed her useless anger aside and she felt a renewed strength. It had to be coming from Grandmere. Standing like a solid mountain behind her now, Grandmere let Eleri move forward and control the scene. She did not see it, but she felt Grandmere's hand reaching out toward her, giving her strength to her great-granddaughter even as she sheltered the boy.
Eleri turned and looked at each sister in turn as she decided to play the one card she had that was superior to theirs. There was every possibility they would laugh her out of the room, but she was going to try it.
Alesse moved her hands in a threatening gesture, and she seemed confused as nothing happened. Eleri reasoned that must be due to Grandmere. Gisele and Lafae closely watched the older woman, as though wondering how she had accomplished this.
But it didn’t really matter how. It only mattered that they—at least temporarily—seemed powerless.
Eleri took advantage. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her badge.
“Federal Bureau of Investigations,” she said. “You're all under arrest.”
Donovan, too, whipped out his badge, a slow grin forming on his face as he moved about and seemed to see that, finally, the witches held no power over them.
He was not gentle. He grabbed Gisele's hands, though she fought him, and this time his physical prowess worked. Gisele’s witchcraft seeming to have been halted by Grandmere's presence. The old woman stood silent and still, almost as though she wasn’t really there. She let everyone else control what happened, though Eleri guessed Grandmere was truly the most powerful presence in the room. Through all of it, and without moving, she kept the boy tucked safely behind her, her hand still raised, palm out, toward the sisters, apparently rendering them powerless. Eleri had never been more grateful in her life.
Lafae fought until Donovan pushed her head toward the table, yanking her hands up behind her. It was a move that nearly pulled the shoulders out of their sockets, and it made the perpetrator want to comply. Donovan had no compunction about using it on the youngest and smallest sister.
When she was on the ground, he tucked Lafae aside and went after Gisele. She had tried to run out the door while Eleri manhandled Alesse. Despite her larger size, Eleri managed it, though eventually she had to push the woman face down on the floor, with a knee in her back to get the job done.
Behind her, Gisele was struggling with the door, as it seemed to be locked, and she—for once—seemed unable to work the knob.
Grandmere again, Eleri thought, as she and Donovan stood up and went after Gisele in tandem. Once they were on her, she went quickly, snapping her jaws together and refusing to make any noise. She acted as though this was an interrogation and she was a hostile witness. Only they hadn’t asked her anything.
Darcelle was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Eleri didn't even remember anyone shutting the door behind her, but right now, everything was closed and bolted. Must have been Grandmere, she thought.
At last, all three sisters were cuffed, and Donovan looked to Eleri first, but issued the command. "Let’s take them outside. They have way too much power in here. We need them on the street, even across the street. I don't know how much distance will do, but we have to try."
Eleri nodded, once again thinking of people outside with cell phones and such. It was dark, and that would work in their favor. But still, the idea of being so conspicuous made her shudder.
"Back door," she said in response—the same direction that Gisele had been running when she’d tried to escape, and the same direction that Darcelle had seemingly fled into the night. One by one, they led the sisters out, parking them behind the shops across the way, sitting them on the curb.
Donovan was calling Westerfield as he stood watching over them, and Eleri went back inside for Grandmere and the boy. She found only the little boy who sat, tucked into a small ball, by the bookshelf.
Eleri frowned. "Where's the old woman?" she asked.
When he only stared in response, she remembered his name.
"Brandon?" she said, reaching out her hands, and waiting a slow eternity while he finally found the trust to put his in hers. "We're going to get you home," she said.
She spent a good three minutes talking to him in soft tones until he stopped shaking so hard his teeth rattled. She thought about those teeth, and his little skull, and the fact that they would remain in his body. His arms would remain uncut. Only when she had him by the hand and she had looked around the remainder of the shop did she again ask him, "Brandon, did you see where the old woman went?"
He shook his head, and then he whispered, "She disappeared."
71
Donovan was exhausted. It was not Agent Westerfield who had appeared in the alley at the back of the shop, but Agent Almasi.
Eleri recognized him on sight, which at least made Donovan feel better. They wouldn’t be working with just anyone in the New Orleans branch office. This was the man who had been on the case of the missing children.
Donovan kept his eyes roving up and down the street for the eternity that they waited for the other agents to show up. He'd been searching for Grandmere, whom Eleri said had disappeared.
She'd brought the little boy out to him, and he'd worked as best he could to keep the boy in his sight, at his side and away from the sisters. It was problematic though, watching the boy and the women. Donovan was guarding the Dauphine sisters with his gun drawn. He wondered if their witchcraft was good enough to stop a bullet and hoped he didn't have to find out. But while watching them, he’d not been able to spot Grandmere.
Eleri had searched the shop thoroughly and had not found her great-grandmother there, either. Donovan had also been keeping an eye out for Darcelle. In fact, when he spoke to branch office on the phone, one of the first things he requested was that they check the Dauphine home. Donovan rattled off the address, saying he had three of the sisters in custody, but the fourth had fled. It was the first place they should look for her.
Five agents eventually showed up. They could not have looked more like feds if they had been wearing mirrored sunglasses. Donovan almost laughed. Their suits and their telltale gaits gave them away.
He was more than grateful to hand over his prisoners, and he wondered what would happen next. Would the sisters regain their powers when they were put into interrogation? Would they walk out? What would happen? He had no idea.
He shook hands with Almasi and got the names of the other four agents. Eleri asked them, "Did you find Darcelle?"
Almasi shook his head. "The agents who checked said the house was empty. It didn't look like anyone had been there.”
“Are they tracing the roads between the house and here?" she asked. They didn't know the exact path that Darcelle took. Donovan shook his head.
Almasi reassured them. "I do have an agent driving it. He should be here any moment."
The other agents were busy reading the sisters their rights and ducking them into the backs of cars. Luckily, they had as many cars as there were sisters, so they could separate their new prisoners.
Donovan felt his exhaustion come over him in a wave, and Eleri once again took the little boy's hand and introduced him. "This is Brandon. He's from California. Alesse showed up with him tonight."
Almasi took it all in stride, and for that, Donovan was grateful. It was obvious to the feds that he and his partner had been neck-deep in what should have been a federal investigation, and that they'd been running it on their own.
"Show me the inside," Almasi suggested. Eleri nodded toward Donovan, as though to ask, Can you take point on this? He supposed he could. His was the only blood not spattered on the walls. Well, his and the boy's.
Almasi whistled as he stepped into the large back room.
The walls were still lined with trinkets for sale, spells, and candles. Donovan looked around, following Almasi's gaze, trying to see it with fresh eyes, but he found he couldn’t. It was impossible to erase his memories of what had happened in this room.
Almasi rubbed the short hair on his head and said, "Well, this is a shit show."
Donovan could only agree. Almasi pointed. "Is this the normal state of the shop? Do you know?"
Donovan told him, "I've only been coming here for about a week, but as far as I can tell. I mean the dolls and the items and the quantity of stock, yes. The blood on the walls is from tonight.”
Almasi stared at him. “They were doing some blood shit when you two arrived?”
Donovan nodded and let it stand at that. There was every possibility the Dauphine sisters would tell a different tale when they were questioned. There was also the possibility they would disappear from custody before they were questioned. Donovan was not going to write his own ticket on this one. Silence was the better part of any valor he could find.
"That’s creepy as fuck," Almasi muttered, rubbing his hand across his head again.
Donovan tried then to be helpful, pointing to the table, the contents of which had scattered when Eleri tipped it. It took a moment to see that the knife was on the floor.
"That knife," he said. "Don't touch it.”
Almasi was reaching for it, but Donovan’s words stopped the man from even using his gloved hands. Instead, Almasi squatted and shone his light on it.
Donovan couldn't quite bring himself to get that close. "That handle," he said, “is made from a human bone."
Almasi raised his eyebrows, and Donovan continued. "Eleri identified it.”
That should be good enough, he thought, and Almasi seemed to agree. "It's possible," Donovan added, "that there are several more on the shelves, though I know for a fact that at least one is just a resin cast, so the knife itself doesn’t contain any real bone."
He watched as Almasi frowned, and he explained their theory that it was placed on the shelves to discredit what they’d seen before.
"You'll want to check behind the cash register and in the back office," Donovan mentioned—though to be fair, Almasi would have probably done those things out of rote inspection, anyway.
He let Almasi walk to the edges of the room and shine his flashlight on the blood that was now congealing in spots on the walls. Some had been thick enough to drip. Most hadn't. It looked like a murder scene, and Donovan was grateful, at least, that it wasn't. He'd seen plenty of those, too.
He wondered how to phrase this and whether or not he should, but in the end, he decided to go for it. "I know you're from around here," he said, "so you may know more of this than I do. The Dauphine sisters were in the middle of some kind of spell work tonight. I don’t know exactly what kind of spell they were casting."
It wasn’t really a lie.
Almasi nodded, apparently not having been put off by the scattered and abandoned altar in front of them.
"What are you saying?" Almasi asked. His hands were on his hips, and with the lights now fully on, the shop had at least a slightly less evil cast.
"I'm saying, they believe they can cast serious spells. You might want to watch out for them at the station."
Almasi chuckled. “You think their spells are going to get them past me and my guys?"
Donovan also laughed, trying to pretend he didn't believe what he had seen with his own eyes. "I'm saying that they believe they can, and it might make them try things you would never expect."
Almasi nodded, seeming to accept that definition. "I don't know what's going to happen with you and your partner,” he told Donovan. “That's between you and your SAC. But you should be aware that I have to contact him and file this."
