As she’d discussed with Henry, the LeFay Estate gate was left open for them, though it swung slowly shut once they passed. Turning off the car lights, Lily navigated by the light of the moon filtering through the branches that overhung the driveway. She pulled off the driveway and parked just on the edge of the estate’s expansive yard. They all clambered out, checking pockets and shoelaces to make sure everything was secure. Lily had finally bitten the bullet and gone out to purchase some stand-in “adventure” clothes. They weren’t at all fashionable, but at least they were sturdy and quiet—a black turtleneck, black jeans, and sturdy black boots. She promised herself that as soon as this was over, she’d design an outfit that was both utilitarian and fashionable. Of course, she knew it was silly to worry about looks at a time like this. But appearances could be very important. They affected morale, after all, and if she had to bother with saving the world, she darned well was going to look good while doing it. She finished checking herself over, giving her shoelaces one last, savage tug, distinctly irritated at her father for causing her so much grief. She tried to focus on that anger. Better to be angry than scared out of her mind.
Finally, Madam Barrington motioned them over and they gathered in a tight knot.
“Remember, the goal is to overpower and stun him, but if things take a turn for the worse…” She sighed and pursed her lips. “We must think of our own safety and that of the people who have and will suffer at his hand.” She looked at Lily while saying this, and Lily gave a small nod of assent, expression grim. She didn’t want her father dead. In fact, the very idea made her heart ache with grief. But he’d already dug his own grave, so to speak. A phrase she’d once read summed it up nicely: Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
“Right, so shoot, but only after you’ve tried clubbing him over the head.” Sebastian said, a bit sarcastic as he fiddled with the newest addition to his wardrobe—a ward ring. It had once belonged to someone in Madam Barrington’s family and so wasn’t personalized to him. But it was powerful and certainly better than no protection at all.
Lily pursed her lips, deciding against a biting response. They were all tense. There was no need to make things worse. “Just leave my father to me and Ms. B., Sebastian. I doubt he’ll be alone, so I’m sure you’ll have plenty to keep you busy.”
He nodded mutely, rubbing the tattoo on the back of his right hand. She kept meaning to ask him why he didn’t hide it anymore. After the first time she saw it when the demon attacked them in the museum, it hadn’t gone away, though it only glowed green when he held the staff it summoned in his hand. Perhaps it was related to the strange things her sight was doing these days, like when she could see Grimmold but Madam Barrington couldn’t. Another question for another time, she reminded herself. One of these days she really did need to nail Sebastian down and have an in-depth talk with him about the fae.
There wasn’t much else to say, so Lily and Madam Barrington went to work casting invisibility glamour on them all. It wasn’t true invisibility, of course, at least not the sort of thing you read about in novels. Using the personal wards as the anchor point, it was a temporary spell that mimicked the surrounding scenery. When perfectly still, you were nearly invisible. While moving, an observant person could detect your outline. Yet, without a permanent anchor, it would only last thirty minutes or so until it started to fade, so as soon as they finished they hurried across the dark lawn toward the twinkling lights of the manor house.
Mr. Fletcher was expecting them and opened the front doors without a word at Lily’s soft knock. He couldn’t really see them, but he nodded gravely as they passed in a quiet shuffle of footfalls. Henry and Ursula were nowhere to be seen—as requested, Henry had not informed his wife of their plans, simply retired upstairs and taken her with him. All these precautions were, of course, necessary, since they had no idea what other listening or seeing spells John Faust had left behind, beyond the ones in his workroom.
The workroom door had been left open, and they filed through it in a silent line, tiptoeing up the landing stairs to gather in front of the boarded-up door to the rest of the second story. They were about to find out if Lily’s theory was correct, or if they’d gone to all this trouble for nothing. Madam Barrington, being the more experienced wizard, took the lead. While Lily couldn’t see her expression in the darkness, she could faintly see the outline of her hands tracing the lines of the doorframe, made of newer wood whose lighter color contrasted with the darker paneling of the rest of the house. After a few long moments, she stepped back and nodded to Lily, confirming her suspicions: The newer wood wasn’t just a random renovation project. It was covering active runes infused with magic. The traces were faint, and Lily wouldn’t have known to look for them if it weren’t for the differing color of the wood. But Madam Barrington confirmed what she’d guessed, that the hidden runes controlled a portal which, they believed—hoped, really—led to wherever John Faust was hiding away. It was the same sort of spell as the portal to the Basement hidden in the library’s archive broom closet. While they wouldn’t know where it led until they stepped through, it made sense that John Faust would want a way to get back and forth to his base of operations easily and without detection. Perhaps he’d left it in case he wanted to return to his family estate undetected, or needed an escape. All they had to do was activate it, since its destination would have already been set into the magic when it was created.
Madam Barrington did the honors, though she wouldn’t be the first to step through. They’d argued for a long time about that. Sebastian had wanted to go first, claiming he was the “most expendable,” though Lily suspected it stemmed from his swiftly developing overprotective streak. He’d had the temerity to suggest she stay behind to “guard their backs,” a badly disguised attempt to keep her out of harm’s way. She’d given him the tongue lashing he deserved—not only was she better able to protect herself than he, but John Faust was her father and therefore her responsibility. Madam Barrington backed her up, and he’d let it go, though not without a grumble and a dirty look at Sir Kipling, who he seemed to think should have taken his side. It quickly became obvious why he hadn’t, since the cat then proceeded to explain to Lily why he should go first: he would be the last thing John Faust would expect. When Lily related this to the group, they’d grudgingly agreed that it made sense. If John Faust had set up precautions, it would most likely be to protect against other wizards, not cats. By that same logic, Sebastian had finagled a place second in line—being a mundane, not a wizard—with Lily third and Madam Barrington bringing up the rear to ensure that the portal spell functioned properly.
With their plans already made, no words were needed as Madam Barrington quietly activated the magic and stepped back. Just like the Basement’s broom closet, the portal wasn’t visible to the naked eye, but Lily could sense its magic. She bent down, feeling around until she found her beloved feline’s silky back. She picked him up and gave him a gentle squeeze, putting her ear to his chest and stealing a moment of peace as his purr vibrated through her body. Then she set him down and watched in silence as his outline trotted to the doorframe, looked back at her, then seemed to disappear into the solid wood door.
The plan was for him to scout what was beyond the portal and report back after a few minutes. In the event that he didn’t reappear they would have to simply follow and be ready for anything.
Lily’s heart pounded in her ears as the seconds ticked by. If anything happened to him…the mere thought made her eyes sting.
After five minutes, he hadn’t reappeared, and Sebastian touched her shoulder, indicating it was time to move. He gave her an awkward side-hug. Not the most satisfying farewell, but under the circumstances, she was grateful all the same. She felt the warmth of his body disappear as he moved past her and through the portal, his shape appearing to melt into the door just as Sir Kipling’s had, hand raised in readiness for whatever would greet him on the other side.
Lily took a deep breath, sudden
ly shaking. She closed her eyes and took a slower breath to steady herself—she had to be calm and focused, or her spells would suffer. Madam Barrington’s bony hand settled on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Lily nodded and stepped forward, defensive spell ready as she moved toward the door.
Since she was used to walking through the back of the broom closet to get to the Basement, stepping through what looked like a solid door didn’t bother her. But what she found beyond did.
Lily emerged from the portal to find herself in a wrought iron cage. She stopped dead in her tracks, body trying to cope with the shock of her surroundings as well as the uncomfortable aura of so much iron. Her invisibility glamour fizzed and faded, the spell disrupted by the iron—the only known material able to repel magic. Surrounded by such a cage, she would be hard pressed to cast any spells, though it wasn’t as bad as if the iron were touching her bare skin. Fortunately, its dampening ability was less effective on spells anchored by dimmu runes, so her personal ward should still work.
Looking around, her formerly bungee-jumping stomach sank like a rock into her boots. Sebastian stood to the side, fists clenched and body shaking as he glared through the bars of the cage at her father’s disgustingly smug face.
Well, she thought, this was just as lovely as a field of daisies in summertime. They’d walked straight into a trap. Yet, since nobody was shouting or flinging magic, she took a moment to glance around, taking stock.
They were in a large room with low ceilings, brick walls, and no windows—most likely the basement of a building. There was one door across the room from them and the space between was filled with tables, books, boxes of clutter, vials, papers, and various strange-looking devices, including the chair from the landing in John Faust’s old workroom. This was obviously his new magical laboratory, and Lily felt a sense of ironic relief that at least their guess about the portal had been correct. Turning to look behind her, she saw the runes for the portal set into the brick wall, but the magic was weakened by the iron. She had no desire to find out what would happen should she try to step back through. Even as she watched, Madam Barrington emerged, taking in the situation with a swift look and turning back as Lily had, as if to retreat.
“I wouldn’t try that, if I were you, Ethel. Your death would be an incalculable loss to wizardkind. Besides, you’ve only just got here, and we’ve been expecting you. It would be quite rude to put all my hard work to waste.” He grinned at them. “You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to lug that blasted lump of iron down here.”
“We?” Lily asked, genuinely confused but also hoping to keep her father talking. The longer he talked the longer they had to figure a way out of their dire predicament.
“Ah, forgive me, I remember now that you’ve not been properly introduced. Caden, Trista, come here.” At his words, a tall, young man stood upright from where he’d been crouched behind some boxes, fiddling with something. It was the same wizard who’d fought Madam Barrington at Allen’s house, though he now sported a trio of scratches across his fair cheek. As Lily puzzled over this, she noticed a shadow detach itself from the wall and come over to stand by John Faust. The light revealed it to be a young woman, lithe, muscular, and most definitely mundane. Lily started, realizing that this must have been the black-clad, ninja-like fighter who had tried to ambush her in her room. She’d assumed it had been a man.
“You both remember Lilith, don’t you?” John Faust said, putting an arm around Trista’s shoulders as he held out a hand, beckoning Caden to come closer as well. “I’ll admit, the last time we all met we were rather distracted by unnecessary squabbling.”
“Squabbling?” Lily exclaimed in disbelief, ignoring her fellows as she stepped forward, only stopping as the nearness of the iron bars made her flinch. “You broke into our house, assaulted us, and kidnapped my uncle!”
“All of which would have been entirely unnecessary if you’d listened to reason in the first place instead of running around like a spoiled child thinking they know better than their parents,” John Faust said, annoyance showing through his smug expression. “Caden and Trista, on the other hand, know better. You would do well to learn from your siblings’ example.”
Lily snorted in derision, opening her mouth to retort when the implication of his words stopped her brain like a car hitting a brick wall. “My what? What did you say?” she said, voice wobbling and body going cold. Unthinking, she grabbed the bars of the cage, straining forward for a better look at the two young people. It only took a few seconds for a dull ache to spread through her hands as her fingers went numb, but she ignored it.
“Lilith, meet your half brother and sister. While I certainly wish I could have had more children with your mother, you can’t imagine I was going to let her foolish betrayal stop me from doing my duty, can you? None of the others had your mother’s pedigree, of course, but, as I’d hoped, my genes were strong enough to carry the weight. My children are a credit to the LeFay name. Some of them, anyway,” he said, eyeing her critically.
Lily had no words. Literally no words. She didn’t even know what to think. She was almost grateful for the iron bars she clutched so hard her knuckles and fingers had turned white. The ache distracted her from the sharper, piercing pain inside. Yet another knife her father had stabbed into her and twisted with abandon. She wasn’t even sure if she had any heart left to break. How could he? Had he ever loved her mother at all, or was she simply a tool, a piece of breeding stock? What did that make her? She’d never felt so degraded, so ashamed of her very existence.
With a new shock of horror, she suddenly realized her father hadn’t been kidnapping wizard children all these years, he’d been breeding them. The realization made her recoil, stumbling back to be caught and steadied by her mentor. As her mind reeled, she searched her siblings’ faces, trying to see into their heads, their hearts. How did they feel? Were they loved and cherished by her father as she had never been? Or did he treat them as tools, too?
“You, LeFay, are the most contemptible creature I have ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on.” Madam Barrington’s cold voice came from behind Lily, who couldn’t tear her eyes away from her half siblings, their resemblance to John Faust and each other now all too clear: the same dark hair, the same chiseled, patrician features. “I am ashamed that I ever taught you, and I will forever wonder where I failed in my instruction, as you obviously never listened to a word of it.”
“Oh I listened, dear Ethel,” he sneered. “‘Wizards are a noble breed,’ ‘it is our duty to use our gift to benefit wizardkind,’ ‘mundanes can not be trusted.’ Any of that sound familiar?”
Lily felt Madam Barrington sigh wearily behind her, her proud stance sagging as her shoulder stooped.
“Everything I do, I do for us. For our future,” John Faust continued, spreading his arms to encompass his children, his prisoners, the whole room. “The power and knowledge I seek will save our race. A far worthier goal than you ever strived for with your quiet, passive, worthless life among those who would see us extinct. Mundane laws are meaningless except to keep their own kind from anarchy and self-annihilation. They don’t apply to us. We have a higher calling, and it is extremely vexing that you insist on disrupting it.” His last words were said with contained savagery, the anger showing only briefly before he resumed his mask of smug triumph. “But we are done with such unpleasantness. Now that you are here, you can either join me, or watch. Either way, you’re going nowhere any time soon.”
In the ringing silence that followed his words, Lily heard a muffled yowl.
“Shut your face you worthless pile of dog droppings and let me out!”
“Kip!” Lily exclaimed, straining forward, trying to see where the yowl had come from.
“Ah, yes, the cat,” John Faust said with a sour look. “That thing is much more trouble than I have time to deal with. Caden, take it out and dispose of it.”
“What? No! Stop! Don’t you touch my cat!” Lily screamed, beating against t
he metal bars and rattling the door.
Caden didn’t look at her, simply returned to the boxes and picked up a solid metal container shining with complicated spells. As he lifted it, it rattled, swaying while violent hissing and spitting came from within. Lily could now see that his hands and arms were covered in scratches, and she wished Kip had managed to scratch out his eyes in the process.
Trista eyed her brother, her face unreadable as she leaned toward her father and spoke quietly. Lily could only just hear them.
“Is that really necessary? It’s only a cat, after all.”
“It is a pest and will be dealt with like one. But what does it matter to you? You sound as soft-hearted as your sister. It’s unbecoming.”
Trista withdrew, face as stony as it was before. She moved away to lean against a table, once more taking up her watchful stance. John Faust flicked his fingers at Caden, who had hesitated, awaiting his father’s command. Now the young wizard headed for the door.
Lily renewed her clamor, yelling after him and threatening unspeakable things if he so much as touched a hair on her cat’s head. She even tried to throw bolts of energy at him, not caring if they burned him to a crisp. But they withered and sizzled to nothing mere feet from the bars, her grasp on the Source severely limited within the iron cage.
When the door closed on his retreating form, Madam Barrington took hold of her shoulders, half holding her back, half holding her up as she broke down sobbing.
“Please, Father, call him back,” she cried, humbling herself to plead for Sir Kipling’s life. “I promise, Kip will be no trouble, I’ll tell him to behave. Please!”
John Faust moved away and to the side of the room, returning to his stool and whatever task he’d been attending to at his table. Back turned to them he said: “Daughter, you must learn that actions have consequences. You have defied me at every turn, and so have only yourself to blame. Perhaps you’ll learn not to cross me in the future.”
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Allies Page 25