Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “Now, if you could have done that from the start,” Ruth sneers, rounding on me, “none of this would have happened.” She takes a few steps closer, and something behind her catches my eye.

  It’s Selena’s intestines, arranged in a specific way. A black candle is in the center of the sigil, with fresh blood dripping down with the wax.

  That’s it. That’s the sigil that’s keeping Julian away and is repressing my divinity. It’s fucking disgusting, too, and thinking of poor Selena getting her guts ripped out while she was still alive makes my own stomach twist and rage burn hot inside me.

  I grit my teeth against the pain from the chains. My skin is pinched and bleeding, but I can almost feel the hagstone.

  “Call him forth,” Ruth tells me, eyes blazing. “Call forth Satan and give me power!”

  “He doesn’t like to be called Satan,” I snap. “So call him Lucifer.” I close my eyes, trying to find some shred of connection to my uncle. He’s been bound to the deepest pit of Hell, but if he can lend me some power—just temporarily—then I can get out. I can stop Ruth and put an end to this.

  He’ll help me, I know it. I shouldn’t trust him, but I do, and right now, I need him.

  “Lucifer,” I call. “Lucifer.”

  I wait, hoping to hear a voice in my head like I did when my own father was talking to me.

  “The banishing spell,” I try, eyes flying open. “It’s keeping him away. You have to dismantle it.”

  Ruth laughs. “Nice try. Lucifer is more powerful than a simple banishing spell.”

  She’s right. He is. And my father is, which is how he was able to talk to me. Archangels are much more powerful than other angels.

  Which means I am, too.

  “Lucifer,” I call again and close my eyes. Please, talk to me. I need your help! Uncle Lucifer, please! I wait a moment, chest tight and heart racing so fast it almost hurts. Lucifer doesn’t appear before me. Doesn’t step from the shadows. He doesn’t say hello, niece like he usually does. I don’t see him or hear him anywhere.

  I don’t feel anything at all.

  “What is the problem?” Ruth demands, striding over. I shove my hand down, feeling the rough tree bark bite into my skin. “Where is he?”

  “It’s…it’s not that simple,” I say through gritted teeth. My index finger graces the cool, smooth surface of the hagstone. If I can just get it in my grip… “He only comes to those he thinks are worthy.”

  “I am worthy!” Ruth brings her hands to her chest, eyes wide with madness. She pulls an athame from her belt and lunges forward, putting the blade to my neck. “Maybe you’re the one not worthy and a dark sacrifice is what he’s waiting for. I’ll kill you to prove I’m worthy to sit by his side.”

  “Please,” I huff, trying not to breath too hard and risk the blade cutting into my skin. “You are no match for him. Hell, you’re no match for me. No matter what, I will out-witch you. Dark powers or not, I’ve beat everything you’ve thrown at me. What makes you any more worthy to have the dark gifts bestowed upon you?”

  I shove my arm back, jaw clenched from the pain. But I’ve got it. I’ve got the hagstone in my grasp!

  “There’s only one way to find out.” Ruth raises the dagger. “Call him again.”

  I tug on the hagstone and feel the rope it’s tied to start to pull free. Now if Uncle Lucy could actually do a me a favor…

  “Lucifer,” I chant. “I call you forth from the depths of Hell. Come to me, come to us, bestow your darkness upon the earth.”

  I’m bullshitting everything I’m saying but don’t think I’m doing a bad job. Ruth outstretches her arms, waiting for Lucifer to give her a special blessing. Even if I knew how to call upon Lucifer without being in that weird dream-like state, I don’t know if I can right now.

  My witch powers are bound, and the banishing spell is making me feel so weak. Pair that with the exhaustion and nausea I’ve been feeling for the last week and even I’m starting to doubt myself.

  Something rustles through the forest, and a familiar energy settles around me. Ruth spins, holding out her hands, and draws a line right as Lucas bursts through the trees, fangs bared. Ruth’s puppet demons and zombies rush over, growling and snarling like rabid dogs.

  Lucas crashes into the wall of dark magic, eyes meeting mine for a fleeting second. Ruth extends one hand toward Lucas and sweeps the other through the air, drawing an upside down pentagram.

  “Parere imperio meae,” she says, voice echoing off the surrounding trees. Lucas fights her hold, but the spell takes over. His eyes turn foggy, the dark blue fading to a muted gray as he falls under Ruth’s control.

  Chapter 43

  “Lucas!” I shout, thrashing against the chains around my wrists. I have the hagstone tight between my fingers and give it as hard of a pull as I can. The cord drags across my skin, tearing open my flesh. “Lucas!”

  “Go stand with the others,” Ruth tells him and holds up her hand. Lucas moves stiffly as he tries to fight off Ruth’s control. “Bring another one to me,” Ruth tells one of the other puppet vampires. He steps over the other student’s body and moves behind a thick of trees. Screams erupt in the night, and the vampire comes back dragging another student.

  She looks to be in her last year or so at the Academy. Tears mar her face, and she’s shaking head to toe.

  “Listen to me if you want to live,” Ruth tells her, picking up the athame. “Open the door.”

  The girl looks at me, and I shake my head. Ruth is going to kill her anyway. Don’t open the door and put the others in danger.

  “Open the door!” Ruth grabs the girl’s arm and plunges the dagger into her flesh. The girl screams in pain, and the vampire holds her tighter. “Open it!”

  Ruth stabs the dagger into the ground and turns back to the girl. The vampire shoves her forward, holding her by the back of her neck.

  “Invoco elementum terrae,” the girl starts, voice trembling.“Invoco elemuntum aeris. Invoco elemuntum aqua.” She breaks down, crying, and the vampire bites her on the shoulder, ripping her skin. The other vampires growl and move in, wanting the fresh blood. Ruth holds up her hand, keeping them at bay. “Invoco elemuntum ignis.”

  The door glows bright blue, and Ruth motions for one the demon with my blood on his forehead to come forward. He stretches out his hand and sticks it through the door. Being possessed makes him not react to the pain, but when he brings his arm back, it’s completely unharmed.

  “It worked!” Ruth whirls around, eyes wide with excitement. Fuck! If the demon can get in, then so can the vampires. “You know what to do,” she tells the demon. “Kill them all.”

  “No!” I yell and give my left arm one final tug. The cord with the hagstone around it breaks and falls to the ground. My wrists are still bound against the tree, but I’m able to conjure an energy ball. I feebly flip my fingers, sending the energy ball bounding a few yards into the night, missing Ruth and the demons.

  Ruth sneers, thinking I missed, but the energy ball landed exactly where I wanted it to. The second the sigil is broken, I feel my angel powers swirl up inside me, even stronger than before.

  “Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me. Purge the wickedness!” I shout. The demon with my blood on his forehead falls to his knees, screaming in pain. He madly claws at his face as my blood starts to sizzle and boil. Ruth watches in shocked horror as the demon face plants on the ground, black ooze pouring from his ears.

  “Go!” she shouts to the vampire closest to her. He hasn’t been marked with witch blood. There’s a chance he’ll burn when he tries to walk through the door. He flashes his fangs and speeds forward, disappearing beyond the door. By the look on Ruth’s face, I know it worked.

  He went through and is inside the Covenstead.

  Screams echo from inside, and my blood runs cold.

  “Follow him,” Ruth orders, and the other vampires and demons march through the door. “Not you,” she says, stopping Lucas. She shoves the athame in his h
and. “Kill her.”

  “Lucas!” I yell, risking looking down at my wrists to see if I can conjure another energy ball and break free.

  In an instant, Lucas is in front of me, hands shaking as he tries to break the spell. His eyes are glazed over, and he stares at me, face void of emotions. He grips the dagger and hovers the blade over my heart.

  “Lucas!” I shout. “You are stronger than her!”

  “Kill her!” Ruth yells, but Lucas doesn’t move. Ruth throws a potion at Lucas’s feet, and black smoke wafts up in his face. She’s tightening her hold on him, and his eyes darken from gray to black. “Hit her where it will hurt the most!” Ruth demands, and Lucas moves the blade down from my heart to my abdomen.

  “Lucas! I know you’re in there!” I flatten myself against the tree, heart racing. “You can fight it! I know you can! Do it for us. For her,” I yell, curling my fists and pulling against the chains. Magic sizzles around my fingers, and I can feel the warding starting to break. Lucas is stronger than this, and so am I.

  “Her?” Ruth echoes and looks at the blade posed over my stomach. “No! It’s not possible.”

  “It is,” I say through gritted teeth and turn my head up, looking into Lucas’s eyes. The blue is starting to show through the black, and his hand trembles as he fights against Ruth’s command. “And I’ll be damned before you hurt my family.”

  I curl my fingers around the hagstone hanging from my right hand, and I reach down inside, channeling a source of power I didn’t know I had. Blue light glows around me, causing the ground to tremble beneath us. The hagstone turns hot in my hand but doesn’t burn me. It crumbles into ash.

  Lucas squeezes his eyes closed and steps back. “Callie,” he forces out and then drops the athame. His hand flies to his head, and he grunts in pain as he fights against Ruth’s control.

  “No!” she shouts and throws out her hands, trying to keep her hold.

  “Haec vincula dissolvat!” I yell, and the chains around my wrists break free. “Lucas!” I throw out a hand, sending a small pulse of blue magic through the air. It hits him in the chest, burning his flesh and absorbing into his body. It’s all he needs to come back to me.

  “Callie.” He shakes his head, ridding the rest of the dark magic, and speeds forward. He grabs the chains wrapped around my waist and breaks them away. I fall forward into his arms, breathing hard.

  “No!” Ruth screams. I push off Lucas and conjure an energy ball. I throw it, and Ruth dives through the door. The energy ball hits a tree where Ruth had been standing, burning through the bark.

  “I have to go after her,” I tell Lucas.

  “I know,” he says and takes my hand. We start toward the door when Julian suddenly reappears.

  “Callie,” he says gruffly. “Are you okay?”

  “That’s debatable. Ruth went inside.” I suck in air. “Help them,” I tell him, sweeping my hand out at the students who are still on the ground, bound to trees. “I have to go after her.”

  “Be careful,” he says and then rushes forward. I grip Lucas’s hand, close my eyes, and step through the door. Lucas is right behind me and doesn’t burn when he passes through. I let out a breath only to tense again as a blood curdling screams rings out around us.

  “The vampires! She told them to kill.”

  “I’ll stop them.” Lucas pulls his hand from mine and cups my face, kissing me before turning and speeding off, following the sounds and smell of murder.

  “Ruth,” I say, voice carrying through the foyer of the gathering hall. “It’s over.” Taking a few steps forward, I hold out my hand, conjuring a string of blue magic. “You lost. Again.”

  I stop, trying to get a read on where she is. Fire crackles inside a large fireplace down the hall, casting a warm glow over the otherwise dim hall. Everything looks as it should. The witches and warlocks were carrying on as normal before they got attacked.

  A coffee cup and a book about magical herbs sits on a table near the fireplace, with papers scattered around the ground. I slowly move down the hall, heart still racing. Screams echo behind me, and I pray Lucas got to the school fast enough.

  I swallow hard and notice little drips of blood on the cobblestone beneath my feet. The string of magic intensifies, and I curl my fist, shaping it into a ball.

  Someone screams from inside the gathering hall, and I telekinetically open the doors. A warlock lies dead in the aisle, face down in a puddle of blood. There are a few witches in the pews, huddled together in fear. Ruth is on the alter with a young girl in her grasp and a dagger to her neck.

  “Take one more step and I’ll slit her throat!” Ruth threatens, and I freeze. The girl is crying, and her mother is in one of the pews, begging her to be still.

  “Brooke,” I whisper, recognizing the girl. She hid at my house when Varrador was after me, and she thought it was tragic how Lucas has never tasted pizza. “Let her go, Ruth. It’s me you want.”

  She’s at the end of the road, and she knows it. She won’t be leaving the Covenstead alive. She’s scared and desperate and all the more dangerous now.

  “Get out of my way.” Ruth takes a tangle of Brooke’s hair and shuffles backward, bringing the girl with her. Brooke’s mother screams in protest, and another witch in the pew next to her grabs her hand, keeping her from running to her daughter. Ruth would kill them both; I’m sure of it.

  “Just let her go, Ruth,” I try, mind racing on how I can separate her from the girl. The dagger is pressed against Brooke’s skin. It wouldn’t take much for Ruth to flinch and cut into her throat. “You won’t accomplish anything by hurting her.”

  “You won’t give me what I wanted,” she stammers. “Now I have to take it. I’ll drain every last witch in here.”

  “You’ll still only be half the witch I am.” I take a slow step forward and feel a familiar energy. Binx. He’s in the Covenstead and is on his way here. Shadow between them, I mentally tell Binx. “No one gave me my power. I was born with it.”

  “Bullshit,” Ruth says, shaking her head. “You have more power than all of us. It’s not natural.”

  “Well there’s a plot twist,” I say. “I’ve been told my powers aren’t natural my whole life. Usually, it’s followed with being told I’m a freak or something cleaver like that.” I roll my eyes. “But this is a first. Being told my powers aren’t natural out of jealousy.”

  I take another step forward, sensing Binx drawing near. “And I do have more power than all of you. Which is why you really should let her go.”

  Binx bursts into the room, and I hold my hand up. I can feel the divinity rising inside me, stronger than ever before. Binx flashes forward, moving between Ruth and Brooke. I throw my hand out at the exact second Binx pushes Ruth back, pulling the dagger from her hand. Brooke tumbles forward. Ruth turns to run, but I stop her, shoving her against the wall with magic.

  She fights against me and then starts to whisper a spell as I walk up the alter steps.

  “Enough,” I tell her, sensing blue light glowing around me.

  Ruth looks at me in horror. “W-who are you?”

  “I am Callie, daughter of Michael the archangel, and I sentence you to death.” I twist my wrist, snapping her neck. Ruth’s body goes limp, and she collapses to the floor. I let out a breath and bring my hand to my side.

  The gathering hall doors open, and the witches in the pews scream. I turn and see Lucas speeding toward me. Blood is splattered over his face and hands.

  “Callie,” he says and takes me in his arms. I close my eyes and rest my hands on his chest. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” I nod, giving myself a few seconds to just be in Lucas’s arms. “She’s dead.”

  “Good.” Lucas turns my face up to his, needing to look into my eyes and make sure I’m really okay.

  “And the students?” I ask, almost afraid of the answer.

  “A few were lost, and even more are in bad shape,” he answers softly. “I killed the demons and the vampires. It’s ov
er, Callie. It’s finally over.”

  Chapter 44

  “I think I am going to take you up on that spa day,” I tell Abby, leaning back on the couch and extending my arm. Julian holds his hand over the cut. Yellow light pours from his fingers as he heals the wound. It’s against the rules for angels to heal humans like this, but I’m not quite human, and if anyone deserves an exception, it’s me.

  “Yeah, I’d say so.” She’s sitting on the loveseat across from me. We’re back at my house in Thorne Hill, and I’m ready to pass out and sleep for a week. We lost five members of our coven tonight, and several students were injured. Two were in bad shape and had to be transported to the ER. Tabatha and Evander are still there, and Nicole, Naomi, and Kristy stayed to help.

  I know I have a lot of explaining to do to the members of my former coven. But the next time I appear before them, I don’t think I have to worry about being sentenced to burn at the stake this time. Tabatha sent me home, knowing how exhausted I am.

  “And maybe we can try dinner again and not have it get interrupted.” I take my arm back, looking at my skin. It’s perfectly healed as if Ruth didn’t cut me and steal my blood at all. “Thank you,” I tell Julian.

  “Third time’s a charm.” Abby leans forward, mesmerized by how I was just healed. “When do you want to go to the spa?”

  “The day after tomorrow,” I say. “Which is…Friday?”

  “Saturday.”

  “Oh, well, then Saturday, if you can go.”

  “I’m off Saturday. I’ll see if they have an opening.” Abby gets up to get her phone, and Lucas comes back into the living room carrying a plate of pasta salad with a side of shredded cheese.

  “Thank you.”

  Julian gets up, letting Lucas sit next to me. I mix the cheese in with the pasta, still refusing to call this a “weird craving.” Cheese and pasta go hand in hand; ask anyone.