She sighed. “I hope so. I can tell she’s out of sorts.”
“Can you do that with everyone?” I asked, interested.
Dee shook her head. “No. It comes and goes.”
“Careful. You’ll be one of the crazy Deadwood aunts before you know it,” Daniella teased.
“I’d say that was the least of my problems,” Dee responded. “Besides, everyone thinks I’m one of the aunts,” she added.
Which was true. She and DeAnna looked older than the three of us, and the few times they’d been in the shop with us, we’d introduced them as our aunts.
“She is going to be all right,” Deirdre said. “She’ll have the spray soon, and we’ve helped her out by giving her an advantage. Now let’s go kick our squatter out of Deadwood Gulch. I’m tired of zombies rolling around.”
“That makes two of us,” DeAnna said. She patted Dee on the shoulder as she walked by. “What do we need?”
“Any of the spell bags you guys want to bring, and good shoes. There’s no real trails in the gulch.”
It took about thirty minutes, but finally, we were all ready to go. Deirdre drove Daniella, Dee, and DeAnna in her Jeep and Zane and I took the truck. We drove down the CanAm and parked in a parking lot across the highway from where we’d seen the zombie head into the gulch. The popular trail that ran through Deadwood was on this side, and people were used to seeing hikers move back and forth across the highway. We wouldn’t stand out.
Well, not any more than normal.
At the edge of the trees, I looked to my sisters. “Ready?”
“Lead the way,” Daniella said.
“I can’t wait to see this ward,” Deirdre said.
We moved single file, with me in the lead. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been walking, because I really didn’t want to check my watch and see exactly how long—I was worried I’d missed the damn ward.
Given that it had looked to stretch all the way across the gulch, that would really be bad. But just as I was starting to truly doubt myself, I saw the shimmer against the sun.
“There it is,” I said, stopping.
Deirdre and Daniella fanned out beside me, looking up at the shimmer.
“I see what you mean,” Daniella said. “It does look like it stretches all the way across.”
“It’s not as visible as I thought,” Deirdre was eying the section in front of us.
“Well, let’s test it,” Daniella said. She raised her hand and sent out a burst of magic toward the ward.
Like it had with me, the magic hit the ward, and rippled out across the ward. The ward shimmered, but didn’t change.
“Can we break it?” Dee moved next to me.
“We have to,” Deirdre said.
“It’s going to take all of us,” Zane said. “This is a strong ward.”
“Open the way?” I looked to both my sisters.
Daniella nodded. “That will work.” She glanced at Dee, DeAnna and Zane. “We’re all going to say Aperi modo when I count to three.”
“Which means?” Dee asked.
“Open the way,” Deirdre said. “It’s general enough to cover several different versions of a warding spell. We don’t know how this was set, so you want to be general to see if you can hit the right note.”
Dee and DeAnna nodded
“All right, ready?” Daniella asked. At the murmur of assent, she said, “One, two, three!”
“Aperi modo!” We all shouted together.
There was a moment of silence, and then the ward rippled.
“Again!” Deirdre said.
“Aperi modo!” It was louder this time.
There went our stealth mode. I decided I didn’t care. Let whoever this was know that we were coming.
The ward rippled again, larger ripples this time. Then, as though it had never been there, the ward vanished.
“Did we do it?” DeAnna whispered.
“I think so,” I said, moving forward.
“Looking to get knocked on your ass again?” Deirdre asked, amusement in her words.
“I’m always willing to take one for the team,” I grinned. This was where I felt comfortable. Fighting, kicking ass, taking names. It had been too long since we’d done any of that.
We moved forward, the three of us in front with Zane, Dee, and DeAnna in the back. I let my magic flow through me, loving how it felt on my fingertips, ready to go at a moment’s notice.
There wasn’t really a path, but I could tell that someone—or something—had been walking through here, because there was a slightly worn trail in front of us.
“The numbers!” Zane exclaimed behind me.
“What?” We all stopped to look at Zane.
“The numbers, on the note. I think I know what they are.”
“Is now really the time for this?” I asked.
“Give me one minute, because I think now is definitely the time for this,” Zane said. He pulled out his phone, typing quickly.
“What is it?” Daniella asked, sounding frustrated. Which was saying something, because she was the easygoing one of the three of us.
“The numbers may be coordinates,” Zane said, a note of triumph in his voice.”Look. When you line them up, they make sense.” He showed me his phone.
“What kind of coordinates?” I asked, peering down at the screen.
“Latitude and longitude,” Zane replied. “I put them in the map, and what do you know? They point to a spot further down this very gulch, along the hillside,” he pointed to the left. “Right over there.”
“Maybe we’ll keep you,” DeAnna said. “Good thinking, Zane.”
“Well, I don’t know that they are actually coordinates, but it beats just wandering around in here,” Zane said.
“Then lead the way,” I moved aside.
Holding out his phone, Zane strode ahead of us.
“Be ready,” I said to Deirdre and Daniella. “Get your spell bags,” I looked over my shoulder at Dee and Deirdre. “If the boogeyman jumps out, we need to blast him back to whatever rat hole he came out of.”
Zane began walking off toward the left at an angle, following the map on his phone.
We started to move up the hill. After about fifteen minutes, Zane stopped.
I nearly bumped into him. “Why’d you stop?”
“I think I found our zombie maker,” he said as he pointed up the hill.
There was a note I couldn’t identify in his voice.
I stepped around him, and looked to where he was pointing.
It was a small cave opening.
“The cave?” I asked.
“Can’t you feel it?” Zane asked.
“I can,” Dee said. “What is it?”
“That is a hell of a lot of magic. It’s not good to have this much magic in one place,” I said. I had a bad feeling about this, in every way that you could have a bad feeling.
“I didn’t even know this was here,” Daniella said.
“When was the last time we had a reason to be down here?” I shrugged. There were a lot of things to beat yourself up over when you were thinking about what you might have missed in a situation, but this wasn’t one of them.
“That’s true. But did you know there was a cave?” Deirdre asked.
“Nope. Now we do.” I flexed my shoulders, swinging my arms back and forth. “Let’s go say hello.” I stepped in front of Zane, the magic visibly coiling around my hands. I was done with this bullshit.
Even though I didn’t know for sure this was the guy, or that it was a guy, or that this was the place—this was the guy, and this was the place. Bad feelings and all.
“Wait for us, crazy Deadwood aunt,” Deirdre muttered. She and Daniella were beside me in a moment. Together, we walked up the hill.
If I were a magic user hiding in this cave, and I saw us coming, I’d be shitting my pants. I could feel the magic all around the three of us. Even with all the magic he was hoarding up in that cave. Like a shitty dragon, I thought.
Then I felt a
jolt, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that Dee and DeAnna had joined us. Crazy Deadwood aunts, indeed.
Zane came to stand next to Daniella.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We made it up the hill, and at the mouth of the cave, Zane held up his hand, allowing a light to spring up from his palm. He held his hand high.
The cave was dark, and smelled moldy.
“There’s nothing here,” Dee said.
“Wait,” I said.
I could smell something else, something that smelled like magic, and burnt feathers. “Ostende!” I shouted, my words echoing around the entrance.
Nothing for a moment, and then the wall shimmered. The cave stretched back, and in the distance, I could see a light.
“This is an old mine shaft,” Deirdre said. “Clever.”
“Why dig something out when you could just use what’s there?” Zane asked.
“I don’t like this at all,” DeAnna said.
“I’m with you,” I replied. “This sucks. But we’re going to do it anyway, and clean house of whatever the filth is that’s camped out here.”
I walked ahead, magic at the ready. Something moved in front of me and I sent a fire spell shooting toward it.
The light from the fire showed that I’d blasted a zombie. It stared at me dully, unaware that its sleeve was on fire.
“Oh, for Goddess’ sake,” Daniella said. She sent a blast of water toward it, and the cave was darker again as the zombie went out.
“Stand still,” I said quietly.
Nothing moved. Not even the zombie.
“Why isn’t he moving?” Deirdre whispered.
Zane turned on the flashlight on his phone, and we all peered at the zombie. It didn’t move, didn’t look like it had moved since Daniella put out the fire.
“What’s going on with him?” DeAnna asked, leaning over my shoulder.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I sure don’t like it.” Now I knew we were dealing with a necromancer. Mages used what could be termed as dark magic, but not like this. They preferred more spell work, like witches. Necromancers, on the other hand, seemed to view zombies like pets. Disposable pets, which was even worse.
“Let’s keep going,” Zane said, easing out in front of me. He held up his phone, the flashlight shining in front of him. “We’re almost to the end.”
“Hang on,” I said. I sent a spell to the zombie, and there was a puff as the spell hit him. The body crumpled. I knew that the head had fallen to the side, but there was no need to mention that.
I just didn’t want whomever we found in here to have this one more zombie at their disposal.
I wished I could tell everyone to walk a little more quietly. We sounded like a herd of elephants. But finally, we made it back to where we’d seen light flickering.
The cave opened up into a semi-round room. I couldn’t see any more tunnels branching off from the room, which meant that this had started life as a mine, and been abandoned.
There were lanterns around the room, and along the left side, lying in rows, were zombies. There had to be at least ten of them. I peered at them. They seemed to be in some sort of stasis.
Why?
And there was a man. Dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt, he had his back to us. He was tall, but not too tall, and had short hair that looked light brown in the light.
“Did you see the sarcophagus?” he asked. His voice was pleasant, the voice of a man getting his chores done.
When there was no answer, he turned around to look right at us.
“Dad?” Zane’s voice was incredulous, full of disbelief.
Chapter Twelve
“What are you doing here?” Zane was appalled. I could see it written all over him.
But he wasn’t completely surprised.
The man in front of us laughed. Had it been something I’d seen on TV, I would have changed the channel for the overreacting. Jesus. This dude needed to get out more. I looked him over, and revised my opinion. I could smell the grave dirt from here, and he stunk.
Maybe he needed to stay here.
Well, maybe not here.
“Good to see you finally figured it out, boy,” the man said. “Took you long enough, didn’t it? You always were slow.”
“What do you want?” Zane asked, his tone calm again.
“Who are your friends, Zane? Introduce me, please.” The man came forward, wiping his hands on his pants.
While he stank, and we were in a cave with snoozing zombies, this man had courtly manners.
Big ass phony.
“These are the Nightingales,” Zane said.
“I thought there were only three of them,” his dad said, looking around Zane at the five of us.
“Surprise,” I said. My voice came out harsh, and I didn’t care. Mostly because I was wondering what we were going to do with this guy. And whether or not Zane knew this was his dad. His dad!
The man continued to eye us like we were livestock. “They look like fine ladies,” he said, smiling. Like we weren’t standing right here in front of his bananapants self. “My son never was one for manners. I am delighted to meet you at last, for your reputation proceeds you.” He inclined his head. “I am Brian Earl DeGroat.”
“DeGroat?” I looked at Zane.
“When my father threw me out, I changed my name. Why are you here?” Zane ground out.
“Threw you out? That’s certainly an exaggeration.” DeGroat looked at Zane like he’d caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. “Really.”
“What would you call telling your son to get out of your sight and don’t come back?” Zane asked, his voice flat.
“A measure of the intensity of the situation,” DeGroat said.
“The one with Zane’s mother?” I asked. I could feel Deirdre and Daniella look at me, and I realized I hadn’t shared this with them. Shit. It wasn’t like there had been a lot of time. Additionally, I didn’t feel it was my story to tell.
Brian Earl DeGroat let down his mask of pleasantry. “You told her about that, Zane? That time when you killed your mother?”
I heard the gasps behind me. I didn’t turn around. “I’m sure you forgot it was that time when he put her zombie to rest,” I smiled sweetly.
DeGroat narrowed his eyes at me, and then turned his attention back to Zane. “What am I doing here? Well, it’s all due to you, Zane,” the man said. “For which I thank you.”
What? What the fuck? I turned to look at Zane. His father saw me, and started to laugh. Again with the overacting. I had a feeling, however, this was how the guy was all the time.
“I want Deadwood,” DeGroat said, all the laughter gone now.
“What are you doing with the zombies?” Daniella asked.
“Why here?” Zane asked, his hand reaching out to touch my arm.
Like he knew what I was thinking.
I’d been ready to blast the shit out of dear old Dad, but stilled myself at Zane’s question.
DeGroat shrugged. “The ley lines are strong here. They allow me to keep my friends, even those who are a little older, in usable condition.”
“What are you doing with the zombies?” Daniella asked again. DeGroat couldn’t hear it, but Daniella was fast losing her patience with him.
Not to mention that statement, that right there—that’s why I hated necromancers. Such arrogant assholes. Also, Brian Earl DeGroat was lying like a rug right now. We could add liar to his personality traits.
“You can’t have Deadwood,” Zane said.
“Says who? You and the wand waver?” DeGroat asked, his lips turning up in a sneer. “As for my friends, they help me with what I am seeking. These—“ he gestured to the zombies on the floor—“Are resting, gathering their strength.”
“I don’t use a wand,” I informed him. “That’s for amateurs. And we need to talk about your abuse of these people.” I waved my hand toward the zombies that were lying on the floor. Gathering their strength? He was having them do somet
hing that was draining them. Interesting.
If we took out DeGroat, I’d bet we’d have no more zombie issues.
DeGroat cackled again. “Whatever. Be quiet, witch. Let your betters speak, even if my son is a complete disappointment.”
I took a step forward, the magic coiling in my fingers. Zane stuck out his arm, stopping me. “No,” he said quietly.
“Your son just saved your sorry ass,” I told DeGroat. “You should be grateful.” I felt my sisters move closer to me, ready for whatever was coming.
“You don’t have anything to say about this,” DeGroat said.
“Actually,” I stepped around Zane’s arm. “I do. This is my town and you are not welcome.”
DeGroat stared at me for a moment, then laughed. It was a full-bodied laugh, booming and amused. “Your town? A hedge witch? Really?” He laughed again. “I’d heard about the Nightingales, but I’ve been doing whatever I wanted since I showed up. And this is the first time I’ve seen you. So I think perhaps it’s not really your town, but there for the taking.”
I could feel the magic tingling in my fingers, ready to come out and play. This asshole was just the kind of guy I liked to blast into last week. And I was never sure why they always wanted to call us hedge witches. Given the one we were looking for, and not finding, I’d say they were pretty damn powerful. And given our history—we weren’t exactly unskilled.
But that was necromancers. Thank Goddess that Zane wasn’t like dear old dad. He would have been dead and buried by now.
“Yes, really. I’m Desdemona Nightingale, and along with my sisters Deirdre, Daniella, Dee, and DeAnna, I don’t put up with the kind of nonsense you bring,” I gestured at him in a dismissive manner, guaranteed to piss him off. I also found that there was power in names.
I was good like that. I had to work to keep the smile off my face. “It’s not welcome here in Deadwood. And we certainly don’t condone the robbing of our graves,” I pasted a bright smile on my face. “Or putting the departed to work. None of that goes here. So you’ll need to run along,” I made the gesture again.
I was spoiling for a fight, and this joker seemed just the type to give it to me.
“Des,” Zane said low, so low that I almost didn’t hear him.
I ignored him.
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