Claiming Chaos, page 11
“Could it have been a dream?” I stepped into the bathroom and grabbed my hairbrush before raking through my tangled locks. “I’ve had dreams that were vivid enough to make me swear they were real.”
Chaos joined me at the sink and squirted toothpaste on my toothbrush and then his. “It’s possible. Or I could have felt him the moment he passed through the veil, and then her shroud concealed him. She is powerful enough to hide his aura from me.” He jabbed the toothbrush into his mouth and scrubbed.
We spit and rinsed and made ourselves presentable before heading down the hall to the empty living room. I turned on the lights and strode to the kitchen for breakfast. Chaos stood in the center of the room, confusion tightening his features. If we weren’t in crisis mode, I’d have said he looked adorable. But we were counting on his ability to sense his brother.
“Still nothing?” I grabbed a fresh carton of eggs and cracked them into a bowl.
He sucked in a breath. “No. Shall I wake the others?”
“Not yet. Let them recharge fully so we’ll be in top shape for whatever’s about to go down.” I beat the eggs and set a large frying pan on the stove to heat. I couldn’t find any bacon in the fridge, but Patrice had bought ham, so I added the thick slices to another pan to heat them up. They popped and sizzled, making the kitchen smell so savory good that my stomach growled.
“Can you start the coffee?” I dumped the scrambled eggs into the pan and stirred them around. “Ten scoops in the filter and a full pot of water.”
He smiled softly, a small chuckle emanating from his throat as he poured in the grounds. “This domesticity is quite…quaint. I could get used to it.”
“You’d get bored so quickly. Our lives aren’t usually this fast-paced.”
“I could never be bored with you by my side.” He added the water to the machine and turned it on.
Ember strode into the room, dressed in her fighting yoga clothes, and settled onto a stool at the counter. “How’s your vim?
“Completely full. You?” I took six plates from the cabinet and set them next to the stove before popping four slices of bread into the toaster.
“Good, because we’re all going to need sigils before we go after Chrys.” She locked her gaze with mine. “We need protection.”
I blinked, my go-to response of you know I don’t do those threatening to cross my lips. Old Ash would have blurted it out in a nanosecond, but I was new Ash now. “Protection, speed, and strength for everyone. I can do that.”
She lifted her brows. “Five sets. You’ll be okay?”
“I’m Ash effing Holland. Ink is in my blood.” The coffee maker beeped, so I poured a cup and set it in front of her.
She cut her gaze between Chaos and me. “I like this newfound confidence.”
I smiled. “Me too. Soup’s on.”
We filled our plates, and the others joined us in the kitchen. Coffee, eggs, ham, toast, my demon by my side… I could get used to this domestic life too. Patrice sat next to Ember at the counter, and the rest of us settled at the breakfast table and dug in.
“Do we have a plan?” Miles shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
“Has she summoned Mayhem yet?” Shade asked.
We all looked at Chaos, who flattened his palms on the table. “I’m not sure. I sensed him this morning while I slept, but it only lasted a few seconds. She is either shrouding him, or I dreamed it.”
“Did you get a sense of his location when you felt him?” Ember sipped her coffee, watching him over the rim of the mug.
“Sadly, no.” Chaos cut a piece of ham and put it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before he continued. “If she knows anything at all about summoning demons of our level, she will do it in a secluded place, not far from her home.”
“We’ll have to scry for her.” I set my fork on my empty plate and folded my arms on the table.
“We already tried that,” Miles said. “We can’t cut through her shroud.”
“Chaos can.” I placed my hand on top of his. Their gazes flicked to where we touched, but nobody bristled at my suggestion. Yay for progress. “He’s the reason we found Shade.”
“We’ll have to do it together,” Ember said. “We share the vim so no one gets wiped out.”
“So we’ll share his magic too?” Patrice bit her lower lip, her forehead creasing.
“It’s the only way.” I stood and carried my plate to the sink. Chaos joined me, and the others sat silently for half a minute before Shade slapped his hand on the table.
“I’m in.” He brought his plate to the sink. “Chrys manipulated me. All of us. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop her.” He caught my gaze and nodded. “Teamwork.”
That was a word I never thought I’d hear Shade utter.
“I’m in too.” Miles took the last gulp of his coffee and brought his dishes to the sink as well.
Patrice stacked Ember’s plate on top of her own and slid off her stool. “This is crazy. You know that, right?”
“You probably won’t even feel him,” Ember said. “I didn’t know he was helping Ash when we scried for Shade until I came out of the trance and saw his hand on her shoulder.”
Patrice rubbed the back of her neck, her gaze bouncing to each of us before she nodded once. “Okay. Let’s do this thing. I’ll take care of the dishes while you and Ash set it up.”
I grabbed the biggest copper bowl we had and filled it with water. “Here we go…”
12
ASH
Our scrying bowl sat on the floor in the middle of the living room, and the five of us sat cross-legged in a circle around it, so close our knees touched. We’d tried putting everyone at the table, but we couldn’t see into the water unless we stood. Sometimes witches passed out during a scrying session, and we couldn’t take any chances.
With our luck…my luck…someone (me) would fall and smack their head so hard they’d be down for the count. We needed our entire team in top shape if we were going to succeed in our mission. We had twenty-something other coven members and the entire city of Salem counting on us, even though they didn’t have a clue what was going on.
Chaos sat behind me, outside of our circle. Another chance we couldn’t take was his magic driving someone mad in the process, so I’d absorb whatever he could give and keep it to myself.
Ember took my left hand, and Shade took my right, which was weird as all get out. I expected him to stay as far away from Chaos and me as possible, but with Patrice still wary of what we were about to do, he’d volunteered to hold my hand just in case Chaos’s magic seeped through. Miles and Patrice completed the circle, and we centered ourselves, preparing for the biggest scry of our lives.
I looked each witch in the eyes and started my prayer. “We call on the goddess Hecate to watch over us and keep us safe from harm. Please aid us in finding Chrys and Mayhem so we may right what we’ve put wrong.”
“As we will it, so mote it be,” we all said in unison.
We stared into the water, letting our gazes soften. Relaxation washed over me as my vision lost focus, the water turning from clear to inky black. The hardness of the floor beneath me and the warmth of the hands holding mine slipped away, the hum of the furnace and the bustle of tourists outside silencing. The world became still, empty.
I focused on Chrys’s energy, picturing her face in the blackness of my trance, searching for signs of her aura.
I felt nothing.
When we scried for Shade, we found him easily. The shroud had kept his location hidden, but his essence still registered in the abyss. With Chrys, it was like scrying for Cinder. Like she’d dropped off the face of the earth.
“Can anyone sense her?” Ember asked in our minds.
“No,” Miles said. “Not at all.”
Patrice and Shade confirmed. Chrys was nowhere.
“Do you think Mayhem took her through the veil?” I asked.
“Goddess, I hope not,” Ember said. “I’m pulling us out.”
My senses returned, jerking me out of my trance, and I inhaled sharply, opening my eyes and squinting against the living room light. Chaos’s hand rested on my shoulder, and I placed mine over his. “It didn’t work.”
“I felt as much.” He pulled his hand away.
I scooted back to sit next to him. “If she summoned him without a containment circle, would he have taken her to Hell?”
His expression darkened. “Without hesitation.”
“Well, crap.” I extended my legs, letting my boots thud on the floor. “What do we do now?”
“You’re sure you don’t sense him anywhere in this realm?” Ember grabbed the chair behind her and hauled herself into it. “Could he have killed her?”
Four seconds passed before he replied. “He would owe her a debt, but if her request was too high…” He clamped his mouth shut and screwed his lips to one side.
One second, two, four, seven. “Demons have a code, a set of rules we follow to keep the balance between worlds. When we are summoned, we can do a mortal’s bidding in exchange for a price. Releasing him from prison would be enough compensation for nearly any request, but…”
We all stared at him, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, I clutched his arm. “But what?”
He let out a slow breath. “Mayhem has never cared much for rules. Lucifer has threatened to exile him on multiple occasions, and, quite frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t yet.”
Ember stood, ready to pace, but Chaos and I sat in her path. I tugged him up, and we moved to the couch while the others took the chairs and loveseat.
“You’re saying that even though he owed her a debt, he might have killed her anyway?” My sister took up her usual post, passing back and forth in front of the television. “And now he could be roaming free, wreaking havoc all over the place.”
“I would sense him if he were in this realm.” He clasped my hand.
“So Chrys is gone, and Mayhem is back in Hell.” Crappity crap. There’d be no love lost over Chrys getting tortured for all eternity, but we needed Mayhem. We needed them all.
“Great.” Shade clapped his hands together. “Problem solved. Send Chaos home, he can send Cinder back, and we’re done with the demon infestation.”
Ember clenched her jaw. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Uh, hello.” I raised my hand. “I’ll still be cursed to murder the entire coven, and killing me is not an option.”
He held up his hands in a show of innocence. “I wasn’t going to suggest that.”
“There’s one more possibility.” Chaos scooted to the edge of the cushion and rested his elbows on his knees. “Perhaps Chrys simply hasn’t summoned him yet. My sensing him before could have been nothing more than a dream.”
“But all five of us joined to scry for her,” Patrice said. “We would have sensed something with that many witches working together.”
“Maybe not.” Ember dropped into a chair. “Chrys is powerful beyond belief. She knows light and dark magic, and she could be in cahoots with Boston. Maybe five of us couldn’t find her because she had help with her shroud.”
“It makes sense.” Pain etched lines on Miles’s forehead. “It’s too much of a coincidence for their people to show up here right when Ginger…” He sucked in a shaky breath. “They must be involved.”
“She was able to control our guys.” Ember shrugged. “Why not Boston witches too?”
I rubbed my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut, willing my brain not to explode. “We need to scry again.” I looked at my sister. “We need to look for the skull this time. All six of us.”
Shade snapped his head toward me, his lips scrunching like he was about to send me a giant eff you. Instead, he nodded once. “I agree. We can’t sit here speculating all day. Let’s search for the skull.” He lowered to the floor and sat cross-legged in front of the bowl.
“No.” Patrice shook her head. “I want to end this as much as you all do, but light witches shouldn’t channel demon magic. There has to be another way.”
“She’s got a point,” Miles said. “He’s scrambled our brains before. If we invite him in, he might do permanent damage.”
“That aspect of my power won’t be utilized.” Chaos squeezed my hand before sitting across from Shade. “I’ll simply heighten the magic you’re already using.”
I moved to sit next to Chaos. “And I’ll take most of it. My magic counters his chaos power. I’m sure I can neutralize it if anything leaks through.” I hoped I could at least, because we were out of options. Chrys was hell-bent on destroying our town, and we had to stop her…no bones about it.
Ember sat on the other side of Chaos. “I’ve channeled him before. It’s not that bad.” She rubbed her hands on her pants, no doubt remembering the electricity running through her when we set up the ward on the building.
Shade scooted around to my other side. “I’ve survived his brain scrambling multiple times. I’ll chance it.”
I gave him the side eye. Where was this sudden sense of comradery coming from? I didn’t have a clue, but I wasn’t about to question it. We needed to work like a team now more than ever.
Miles plopped down next to Ember and patted the space between him and Shade. “They’re right. We’re doing it for the greater good. Who’s going to defeat the darkness if not us?”
Patrice swallowed hard, her gaze flicking to Ember. She opened her mouth on a big inhale, pausing and holding her breath. I pleaded with my eyes, begging her not to give us all the bird and walk out the door.
She looked at me. “You trust him?”
“With every fiber of my being.” I slipped my hand into his.
She glanced at the others, who nodded their encouragement, and she let out a sigh before dropping to the floor. “I trust you, Ash. If you say this is okay, I believe it.”
My shoulders slumped with my relief, and I took Ember’s hand. “Remember, we’re looking for Mayhem’s skull. Don’t focus on Chrys at all. She won’t be far from the skull.”
I said another prayer to the goddess, and we all fell into the scrying trance. My senses of sound, smell, and sight slipped into the abyss, taking touch with them, save for Chaos’s hand in mine. His skin heated, a slight prickling sensation making my fingers tingle before a surge of energy washed through me.
“Whoa,” Ember said in my mind.
I held onto the magic, letting it fill the core of my being as I focused on finding Mayhem’s skull. Chrys’s stellar shrouding skills kept it hidden, so I slowly let the magic go, sharing Chaos’s power with Shade.
“Holy crap,” he said as I let it trickle into him.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
“It’s a rush,” Miles said.
“I don’t feel any different,” Patrice said.
“Shade, let some go.” Now was not the time for his ego to kick in.
“Oh,” Patrice said.
“Okay. Everyone is channeling, and we’re all connected. Let’s find the skull.” I sent out my feelers, picturing a skull in my mind and focusing on the vibrations in the abyss. Chaos sent another pulse of power into me, but I held onto this one, afraid to overwhelm the others.
“Chaos, do you sense him?” I asked, but he didn’t reply. I searched the nothingness for his essence, but he wasn’t in the trance with us. “Looks like we’re on our own.”
We sat silently, searching, feeling, sensing, until Ember drew us toward her. “There. That has to be it.”
I focused on the space she guided us to, and a low vibration hummed faintly in the darkness. As I drew my consciousness nearer, it intensified until it penetrated to my bones. “That’s him.”
Chaos’s hand tightened around mine, and I searched for him again. I felt Shade, Ember, Miles, and Patrice. Mayhem was unmistakable, but Chaos was nowhere to be found. He must’ve been reacting to my quickening pulse.
“Can anyone sense where he is?” Shade asked.
Another burst of magic surged through me, and this time, I shared it. An image of the skull came to my mind. Then the sensation of coarse fabric against my skin. “It’s in a bag. Do you feel it?”
“Is it burlap?” Miles asked. “It’s scratchy.”
“It’s softer than burlap.” I allowed the sensation to wash over my entire body. “I think it’s wool.”
“Pull back,” Ember said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of sack it’s in if we can’t see where it is.”
I let the coarseness of the fabric go and focused on the area around the bag. It sat on a slab of thick wood, worn smooth from decades…maybe centuries…of use. A wooden panel stood behind it, and another rose to its right. Was the skull in a bag, inside a box?
“It’s a shelving unit,” Ember said. “Where are we?”
I pulled back further in my mind to take in the scene. A massive antique wood table, a prayer bench, and a four-foot-tall crucifix made the location unmistakable.
“It’s the basement of the big church,” Miles said. “I’ve been there before.”
“Gotcha,” Ember said. “Let’s end the session.”
I focused on Chaos’s hand holding mind, allowing my physical senses to return. Patrice gasped, and I opened my eyes to find her panting, her hand pressed to her chest.
“Everyone okay?” Ember rubbed her palms together. “No one went crazy?”
“I’m good.” Shade released my hand and rubbed his thighs.
“Me too.” Miles shuddered and rolled his neck.
“That was…weird.” Patrice rose to her feet and paced to the kitchen. “I’m going to make a restorative tea to return our psyches to their normal, nondemonic, states. It should help recharge our vim as well.”
“Where is my brother?” Chaos stood, tugging me up with him.
“His skull is in a church basement.” I went to the kitchen to help Patrice with the tea. “I guess what you felt this morning was a dream because, unless she made a decoy, his skull is still just a skull.”
“It’s not a decoy,” he said. “I felt his vibration through our bond when you located him.”
“Yeah, but you’ve ‘felt’ him before.” Ember made air quotes. “She fooled you once.”
