A Cold Day in Spell, page 11
I raised an eyebrow. “I hope he’s not that stupid. Your sisters are just waiting for a reason to tear him limb from limb.”
“And that’s why I’m out here target practicing and yammering on to you about it instead of them. Besides, all they’d give me is a big, fat We told you so, and frankly, I’m even less in the mood for one of those than I usually am. At least they don’t blame Kin for your current debacle, otherwise you might have found him flayed and on display in the front yard.”
“You’re probably right.” I said, lobbing an arrow straight through my poppet’s heart.
Vaeta put her bow back down on the ground and surveyed me thoughtfully. “So, explain about the problem with Kaine. I’ve rather begun to like that slippery little Snodgrass witch, and her son is pretty adorable as well. What’s going on, exactly?”
“I have no idea, to be honest.” I sighed. “Serena thinks because I’m a Fate Weaver I must have all the answers, when in reality I don’t even know the secret knock to get in the clubhouse. Hell, I’m not even sure there is a clubhouse. Kaine’s already matching couples, and everywhere he goes, an entourage of adoring fans pops out of the woodwork. If you could bottle charisma, it would have that kid’s face on the label. If we’re not careful, he could grow up to be some shady huckster bilking people out of their money, and they’d be happy to give it to him.”
Picking up three arrows, I fired them in rapid succession to form a downward pointing triangle on the target. With my eyes closed, no less.
“What’s the plan,” Vaeta asked. “I know you have one, or at least an idea of one brewing in that little head of yours.” I wasn’t sure if little head was a euphemism for tiny brain, but I let it go and tried not to smile when she picked up her bow, and tried to emulate my performance with less than stellar results.
“The only option I can think of is to find a Fate Weaver with more experience and see if they can fill in the gaps. I’d like to get Serena the answers to all of her questions. Mine too, while I’m at it. Delta says she’s heard there are still some out there, but she needs something to use to track one down. Like a personal item that belonged to the Fate Weaver. As if I know where to find something that belonged to someone I don’t know and have never met.”
Vaeta’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a sharp clap of what sounded like thunder and a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, Flix and his boyfriend Carl were standing in the middle of the backyard, right in front of the dummies Vaeta and I had been shooting at.
“If you’d popped in five minutes ago, you might have lost a very important appendage.” Vaeta said dryly, pointing to the arrow she still hadn’t removed from its target.
Chapter 15
“What are you two doing here?” I asked, a little snarkier than I’d intended, but men—any men—were on my unwanted list. “Is everything all right at FootSwept?”
I expected Flix to whip a quick retort at me, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze and answered quietly, “Yes, everything is fine there. But Carl has something he needs to tell you.”
Carl looked as though he’d walked into the den of a lioness, and cast a nervous glance between me, Vaeta, and the dummy while shifting uncomfortably. My hackles went up, since the whole gesture smacked of dishonesty. I could tell Vaeta was thinking along the same lines, because her smoky eyes narrowed to slits. A rush of anticipation washed the effects of the Twinkleberry wine from my veins and suddenly I was completely sober.
“Should I sit for this?” I asked, keeping my voice calm even though I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
“Let’s go inside.” Flix said quietly.
I led everyone into the parlor, where the Balefire flickered cheerfully and warmed my toes, and looked expectantly at Carl. “Am I dying or something?” I asked dryly.
“Lexi,” It was Flix who spoke next, though he sidestepped my sarcastic question, “I know you’ve always had a suspicion that there was more to Carl than meets the eye. You were right, but he wasn’t trying to deceive you. Please listen to him with an open mind and remember that he’s important to me.”
The Academy should have given me an award for keeping my composure, because it took a fair amount of effort not to snap at Carl. If Flix felt the need to preface whatever I was about to hear with a plea like that, it meant nothing good. “I’ll do my best,” was what I offered in reply, “but if someone doesn’t tell me what is going on here, I’m not making any promises.” Even though I liked Carl well enough, and Lexi and Flix had a history, they’d picked the wrong night to show up and try my patience.
Carl sighed, “Flix, love, it’s okay, it’s my story to tell and it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. At least I hope you’ll see it that way, Lexi.” Leaning forward, he made eye contact and cleared his throat before launching into his story.
“I wasn’t surprised to learn that Flix had Fae blood, and even if he hadn’t filled me in, I would have pegged you for a witch from the moment I laid eyes on you. I’m human,” he hastened to add when my eyes narrowed, “but there’s something inside me—maybe it’s in my DNA—that recognizes supernatural beings. Some kind of radar, I don’t know.”
If I hadn’t been on the edge of my figurative seat—my actual butt remained firmly seated—the analogy would have made me giggle. At least, for a moment, before he said what he said next.
“My ancestors were witch hunters.” Carl nearly whispered. His face flushed a dull red. “I know I should have told you before now, but I’m not like them.”
Vaeta began to swirl at the edges, the wind she commanded whipping into a howl that could have stripped the flesh from a mortal’s bones if she’d infused it with the intention.
“Relax, Vaeta.” I implored, but added for good measure, “Give him a chance to speak.” She sat back down, but revealed her true face for a split second to snarl menacingly at Carl.
Carl nibbled at his lip before continuing, “I swear to you, Lexi. The Jagers have been out of that world for generations. I’m deeply ashamed at having to admit to it at all, and I promise I mean you no harm. I want to help, and that’s why I realized I had to come and talk to you.”
“He speaks the truth.” Vaeta said simply, letting the mini tornado she’d summoned die down into nothing, but she needn’t have bothered. I could feel Carl’s misery from across the room.
“When you showed me the mark on your shoulder, I recognized it right away. I should have told you then, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I was afraid. You see, I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to figure out the hows and whys of my heritage. That’s why I became an anthropologist—to get answers.”
Hands balling into fists, I worked to keep my tone level. “I could do with a few of those myself, but it’s nice of you to show up now, at least.”
Carl ignored the hint of sarcasm and continued. “The Balmorrigan, the riders from your dream—they’re a whole different level of evil. They cut a path across England, Scotland, and France, and then came here to continue their reign of terror. Until, at least, sometime in the late 18th century, around the 1770s to be exact. They fell off the map for almost a hundred years, popped up again in the late 19th century, and then disappeared. Again. Unfortunately, my ancestors, save for one die-hard historian, stopped keeping records. The last recorded sighting was about a hundred years ago.”
I tried to put the pieces together, but they didn’t make any sense. Something niggled at the back of my subconscious, but was interrupted by Lexi’s thoughts. Cut him some slack. Please.
We might not always see eye-to-eye, and I might consider her a sniveling pile of emotional baggage, but I’d come out of my closet in order to, ultimately, protect Lexi. I wouldn’t do anything she wouldn’t be able to forgive me for later. I raised an eyebrow but kept my mouth shut until he was finished.
Carl squirmed a little under the silence. “There’s more. The Balmorrigan aren’t working alone. There was a third presence. I could feel it…in the dreams.”
“What dreams?” For Lexi I could keep my temper in check, but I had to force the question out from between clenched teeth.
“Our dreams. I’ve been there, too. Seen them chase you. Or not really. I was chasing you. Inside the rider. So much hate, it was hard to think. And the fear coming off the lanterns,” he shuddered. “So many lost souls. The lanterns capture the soul of a Fate Weaver. And, the Balmorrigan, I think someone’s controlling them. They have orders. They won’t be free until those orders have been carried out.”
Carl stopped talking, looked at me as if he were deciding whether to stick around and hear my response or run for the hills before I did to him what I’d done to the archery dummy.
“Who? Who is controlling them?” Only one person came to mind, and if my instincts were on point, it would answer several of the questions I’d been asking myself since this whole thing began.
“I don’t know for sure, but I heard a woman cackling in the nightmare. Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, and it scared me to the bone.”
“Diana Diamond. The Darkest Heart. She’s the only one with a motive, and the laughing you heard was definitely her. I should have known.” I grew quiet while the implications set in, and Carl looked like he was about to make a run for the front door.
I sighed, “It’s all right, Carl. If anyone understands being ashamed of where they come from, it’s me. It’s not your fault, and I know how hard it must have been for you to come here and explain yourself. But, I expect complete honesty from here on out. Understood?” He’d shown up with valuable information, so how mad could I be?
“Of course.” Carl was more than happy to oblige.
“Now,” I clapped my hands together, ready to get down to business. “Have you, during the process of your research, come across anything that might lead us to another Fate Weaver?”
Flix answered my question. “What do you think we’ve been doing with all that equipment at the office, Lexi? I know you didn’t ask for my help, but I’ve been paying attention to the subtext. Those Fate Weavers of yours are either exceptional at hiding their tracks, or there are very few left to find. I’m guessing it’s a combination of both.”
“That’s what I figured.” I said, my frustration showing through as I began to pace the room.
“What about your friend Delta?” Carl asked. “Isn’t she a supernatural bounty hunter?”
“I’ve already asked her, and she’s doing her best. But so far, she’s come up empty. The last time we spoke, she said she needed an object belonging to a Fate Weaver in order to track one down, but all I have is the bow, and I’m certainly not going to hand it over after everything I went through to get it. Not to mention, that would only lead to my father, and it’s a stone I’m not willing to turn over.”
Vaeta’s eyes widened and the look that crossed her face could only be described as sketchy.
“What?” I demanded.
“Well, I have a lead on the type of object you’re referring to. But you’re not going to like it. It involves your mother.”
Chapter 16
Sylvana
All hope of getting a private moment with my daughter collapsed when she strode out of the house ahead of Delta and the air faerie. Apparently, someone subscribed to the notion there was safety in numbers.
“We’d probably draw less attention if it was just the two of us.” My helpful suggestion earned me a scornful glance and nothing more. “I’m just saying, portals to the underworld can be dangerous.”
Lexi spared me a sentence. “Delta’s packing heat and Vaeta has an in with a demon; we’re not in any danger on that front. We’d probably be safer if you’d tell me what to look for and stayed behind.” She waited for me to make the offer and when I didn’t, she turned her back on me and climbed into the driver’s seat with Vaeta taking shotgun. That left me in the back with Delta, and I didn’t trust the Fiach much past the end of the blade she carried on her back.
I paused a few seconds. Unless I rolled over, they couldn’t do this without me since I was the only one who knew where the wand had fallen or what it looked like. I could probably throw my weight around and refuse to go unless it was on my terms, but doing that wouldn’t gain me any goodwill with my daughter. I did, however, drop my backpack full of supplies into the space between me and Delta. Just for insurance.
The drive was tense with silence that I felt compelled to break. “Once you get to the city, I’ll give you directions to the portal.”
Lexi didn’t even bother to turn around. “Unnecessary, I know where it is.”
I gave Vaeta’s seat a kick, and when she turned her head, I mouthed the word how. All I got in return was a head shake, so I shut my mouth, focused my attention out the window, and wondered what else I didn’t know about my daughter.
Not that anyone cared, but I’d rather have eaten a scabby Band-Aid than return to the place where I’d spent a quarter of a century hating my mother and railing at my fate. Vaeta had asked how much danger I’d put Lexi in with my loose lips, and the truth was that I had no idea. I’d ranted and raved even before I’d known there was another presence nearby.
A sympathetic listener, Diana encouraged me to spill my guts while keeping fairly quiet about herself. I’d been too caught up in my own drama to realize how skillfully she’d drawn details out of me. She knew things about my relationships with my mother, and with Cupid. Oh, I’d complained plenty about both of them.
Still, I hadn’t told her much about Lexi, other than to describe my daughter as a beautiful baby. I mean, what more could I say? She’d been barely out of the rolling over on her own stage when I made the worst decision of my life. I’d been trying to exert my independence when I picked the fight with my mother, not blow all our lives to smithereens.
Lexi turned down a street in the formerly-abandoned industrial section of town that once fell under the pall of the Darkest Heart’s influence. At least someone had benefited from Diana Diamond’s release back into the world.
Delta let out a whistling breath. “Busy spot for a nexus portal. Don’t you think people will notice four women disappearing off the sidewalk in broad daylight?”
The grin Lexi exchanged with Vaeta softened her features enough to show me a shadow of her former self, and it gave me hope. The softer side of Lexi was what I needed.
“It won’t be a problem.” Vaeta assured her. “Just find a secluded spot to park.”
Easier said than done, or so I thought, but Lexi made two turns, spun the car into reverse, and whipped into an alley between a pair of long, many-windowed factory buildings.
“Perfect. Now just let me—” Concentrating, Vaeta made a pulling motion with her fingers, then flipped her hand over and completed the spell by rotating both hands as if stirring the air. Which, I realized when a whirl of wind settled over the car, had been an accurate assessment.
A cone of circling air gently enveloped us, car and all, and the world around us turned to a watery shimmer. “There,” Vaeta dusted off her hands with satisfaction.
“I don’t get it.” There went my intention to remain silent.
Lexi rolled her eyes, but didn’t explain. Taking their cues from her, the others ignored me as well. Fine. If they wanted to play it that way, I could do the silent treatment, too. It wasn’t like I was just tagging along for the ride. We wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have something to offer, but if they wanted to act like children, so be it.
Vaeta’s cone of air gently lifted my hair, but didn’t carry any extra chill, which I appreciated given the near-zero temperature of the day. When I turned to look back at the car, I saw nothing but a brick wall.
“Nice magic.” My mouth and my mind are not always connected, and so it ignored my decision to just shut up. But, since Delta echoed the sentiment, I didn’t feel quite so left out.
With Vaeta’s efforts filling in our tracks and keeping us from view, we stomped through pristine, calf-deep snow to the center of a clearing between buildings. Snow-covered park benches clustered around a mermaid fountain marked the edge of the portal. A good look at her face made me think the faeries had had something to do with this bit of urban beautification since she looked an awful lot like Evian.
Power slithered up from where it lay curled inside of me, tendrils of it snaking out from my fingertips to test the portal. The last time I’d passed by here, I was in such a hurry to escape, I hadn’t bothered to check the barrier for origin. It had been open and I was free. That had been enough for me. Now, I sensed witch, faerie, and my beloved Cupid. Essence of demon provided the dark element to seal the portal since the nexus it contained led to the underworld.
“We’re wasting our time. We need a demon to get through unless the Fiach has a dark history.”
Delta rounded on me and drew her sword so quickly I saw nothing but a blur. “What did you just imply about me?”
Crap. I hadn’t meant to piss her off, but I’d managed it quite handily. The woman had a hair trigger and an itchy sword hand. Dark fire crackled between my fingers like sparks of lightning flickering between the clouds during a summer storm. Shadows filled my vision as the desire to feed the flame built inside me. Along with great power comes great temptation. I felt the weight of Lexi’s gaze and let the magic trickle into the snow even as I enjoyed the mental image of the Fiach racing away with her hair on fire.
Sucking in a breath to wash the satisfying but inappropriate image out of my head, I held up empty hands in surrender and tried to look sincere enough to be believed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” It was the truth anyway.
The tip of the sword, so close I went cross-eyed looking at it, wavered and then disappeared as quickly as it had come. I heard the snicking sound it made against the hidden scabbard as Delta sheathed it. Her eyes burned into me the whole time.
