The cold heat of silver mixed into the charms it carried should have left burn marks on her flesh. Her movements under its thrall were slow and ungraceful. Her vision jerked from one beacon to another, blurred at the edges. Her hands looked strange to her. Not that they were any different than normal. The problem was her normal was transforming. She expected to see paws instead of fingers.
The people around her were no better. Too tall, they loomed above her. Their shadows danced on the ground. Her senses threw surprising and jarring sensations at her too fast and too hard. The details etched so fine they couldn’t be real.
An old man with a braided beard and loose salt and pepper grey curls turned a leather-bound key in the barred door. It creaked as he opened it. Zoe took in another heaving breath. Her eyes wide, she swallowed almost comically.
There were too many people. Their gazes were too heavy to hold. It was worse from the ones locked in here with her. Whenever Johnny talked about them, he delineated them Folk. And it wasn’t until now that Zoe understood why.
She had nothing in common with them. Not anymore. She accepted what they told her. She was bitten. Johnny talked about the difference of being born and that she got. She knew what it was to be human. It was this new-found knowledge glutting into her veins with every inch the moon traveled across the sky, that she couldn’t deny.
She was no longer human and the Folk locked in this cage with her were nothing more than meat.
A woman dressed in a thirties neckline and floral print stared at her unafraid. A few others clumped together. A middle-aged woman put her arms around a few younger women. One of them sobbed. The other stared desolately at the crowd. Plucked from every facet of life. Two men moved to separate sides of the cage to reveal a boy.
Zoe bit her lip at the sight of him. Ten years and not a moment older. His big green eyes darted around at all the people just standing there spectating this. Cargo pants and a layered t-shirt, he had brown hair but what Zoe saw was blond. And of course, he wore glasses. Tate never took them off. Her little brother hated how blurry the world was without them.
She hadn’t thought a lot about him over the past couple of weeks. Cruel as that sounds, she was afraid of what his memory might scream at her. And turns out she was right to run from thoughts about her little brother. His loss punched her in the gut. But that assault was nothing compared to the idea that it was her fault he was gone. And now, she was about to do it again.
Zoe begged the universe that the spell worked. She prayed for control. Begged the fates to cast in her favor.
She turned to face the other direction. Zoe couldn’t even look at him. She searched the crowd for Johnny’s face. Another of those things she hoped for. She swore she heard a wolf howl but she didn’t see any in the crowd. Funny, as much as the werewolves talked about their furrier sides, she didn’t see them very often.
Zoe blinked. She was having a difficult time keeping her thoughts on a single leash. Distracted by every shiny bauble her eyes fell upon. She fought the urge to chase after them. To catch them like the fluttering butterflies they were.
Buried beneath her sensations she paced back and forth in front of the bars. Didn’t matter how Johnny warned, she didn’t believe him when he said words like madness or spoke of two brains screaming things at you. She made a mental note to apologize if she survived all this because that was exactly what it was like. Flooded by a million sensations her brain couldn’t fathom but her body worshipped. She was lost to the song.
69
Chapter
Abel shut the truck door. He adjusted the knife at his boot and touched the one on his belt. A physical count of his weapons helped to calm his nerves. And what that couldn’t banish the smooth cascading beat of Riders on the Storm put death too.
He was sure to mark the location of the scarier Kin in the gathering crowd. Picking out whom he thought he would have to take out and those select few that would force him to kill them. This was the night he’d been dreading for the past nine years. It spiraled out in front of him and all he had left was to walk the path.
His eyes lingered on places where memories took place in happier times. He touched his fingertips to the hanging chimes woven into the branches as he passed beneath. Abel said goodbye to all the things he once loved about this place. Before tonight they were his reason for staying no matter how hard it got.
Now they were bittersweet and cast behind him in the shining newness of the love he found. Not to mention the love of a brother. Johnny spent too long tangled in the roots of this place. Bleeding from ancient thorns and devoured by the weight of secrets. If whatever happened tonight freed him, Abel would count it as the price owed.
Abel considered yet again picking up the phone and letting John in on his plan B. But Sparrow promised only they could answer. Magic wasn’t something he asked for details on. He trusted her. John would be safe until they got back to him.
It was Zoe they had to worry about. He was certain Izobel would prove distraction enough should the spell fizzle. All he had to do was get there in time. But the trick of it all was getting out of here alive. He kept doing the math again and again in his head. They were outnumbered ten to one and that didn’t count the Folk.
Anticipation threatened to drown him. He rolled his shoulders turning his jaw this way and that. The moon brushed against him thick as fur being rubbed across his spine. The howl was a song on the edge of his hearing. It wasn’t just the Lunatics who the moon seduced on nights it was full to bursting. The two halves of his soul danced the same steps on opposite sides and he couldn’t get enough.
***
Izobel swallowed past a swoon. Werewolves aren’t the only creatures swayed by the moon. The Primordial races had more than a few that could hear her cry and even more that swallowed it whole and swam with the flow.
The trunk moved. Closer inspection revealed the curves of a woman. Her legs marched with the trunk and her hair climbed it like ivy. A dryad. She’d read about them. Come to watch the spectacle.
She wasn’t the only spirit hovering at the edges of this world. Anywhere blood is spilled attracts such creatures. Izobel could taste it on the air. The coppery tang had a voice of its own in a place like this. How many had been sacrificed over the centuries?
Not that witches didn’t have their traditions.
Savagery was a staple among the Kin. They were built for it. Bred to it. It colored everything about their culture. It created Abel, she reminded herself.
The strung lights shook and clacked with the wind. The sky was clear for a thousand miles. A trillion stars glittered like diamonds on black velvet. The air was crisp just on the edge of a frost. The thing Izobel hated about this place was just how well she could fit in here. Abel made these people beautiful. He shined a light on the Kin that inspired her fascination. And if they hurt Zoe she would kill every one of them.
Nora came out of the crowd with a smile for Deklan. Izobel thought it was kind of sweet. She hoped Deklan followed Nora right into a happily ever after.
“Get as far away from the dais as you can get,” Nora said in hushed tones. She looked right into Izobel’s face and she couldn’t keep her tongue lashed a moment longer. “If this spell doesn’t work and you set her free…”
“The spell will work,” Izobel pantomimed sounding confident.
Nora and Deklan shared a glance that wasn’t exactly lost on Izobel. Her sister was all she cared about. Everyone knew it. She never equivocated. They knew exactly what to expect from her and never once did she consider apologizing for that.
“They’ll spill out of the building behind the dais. Some in the crowd will fight and we are on the full moon,” Nora warned.
Izobel nodded. “Yeah.”
Nora hesitated. “I’ll do what I can from up here.”
She took Izobel’s hand. Whatever her preconceived and jealous notions used to be she considered Izobel a friend. Nora certainly had a soft spot for her baby sister. It was good to see John he
ad over heels in love. It was a little harder to watch on Abel, but Nora was getting by with the help of every one of the smiles Deklan shared with her.
“Good luck.”
70
Chapter
Johnny hugged his knees to his chest rocking back and forth. He considered his options carefully. Every moment since he first saw her smile focused down into glowing spirals that played like home movies in his head. He moved his knuckles up and down staring at the far wall.
He laid these bricks himself. Soldered the bars together out of the strongest steal he could find. That door could withstand an elephant stampede. It had always been strong enough to keep him bound before.
Johnny twisted the key in his hand and looked at it. He took stock over every detail. The color and the oxidization were saturated and contrasting. The grooves and cliffs cut into its side had sharp lines. All he had to do was turn this piece of metal and he was free.
Zoe really did make him believe in magic.
The hows and whys of how he came to have this legendary treasure played out for him yet again. And every time Conner pressed that piece of metal into his hand and smiled left him asking the same questions.
“I owe you this. Maybe a few apologies too,” he admitted flippantly. “If you’re going to do something stupid anyways, be smart about it.”
That’s what Conner said to him. He wrapped one arm around his neck through the bars and held him like Conner did when they were kids. Johnny blinked at him then. He was stunned by the tenderness Conner hadn’t shown him in years. Struck dumb, Conner walked away before he had a chance to ask.
It tasted like goodbye.
Johnny sucked in a breath that swelled his chest just to blow it free. He hopped up and moved toward the entrance. The bars of this door represented everything John had been scared of since that full moon. Afraid it couldn’t hold him. Worried his monster would lay waste to everything in his path.
He’d been locked away behind this door and for a while that was okay. But something had changed. Zoe was on the other side. She shifted the axis of his world. He didn’t have to be afraid of himself. Because what he was really afraid of was losing her.
Johnny slipped the amulet Abel gave him out of his pocket, running his thumb over the rough surface. He slipped the chain on over his head praying that it worked. Johnny opened the door.
***
Conner huffed out a derisive snort. Kye had vague down to a damned science. Whatever it was, it was happening tonight. Just be ready. Conner wasn’t stupid. Kye didn’t trust him not to spill to his brothers. Abel hated, and he had reason too. Isaak took from him. Frustrated and victim to Isaak’s plans for years Conner felt he didn’t deserve blame for not being able to trust the man.
Still, this was his one portal out of this. And boy, did Conner welcome the idea of something new. Exhausted from the machinations between lords, denied the one thing he had always wanted. Conner was ready to cut ties with this and see the world outside their realm.
Connor moved through the crowd. Kylen paralleled him on the other side of the cage. They would have to be in perfect position for this to have even a tiny chance of working. And even then, Connor had his doubts.
He nodded at Nora and Izobel as they passed. He tipped his hat to the witch. She definitely pulled her own sorts of strings. Connor didn’t like to admit the fear that yanked everyone else’s emotional finesse. He had not one problem admitting he was afraid of the witch. She had not only power but the will to use it. He would skirt her good side for now.
The raised dais was empty. Connor opened the double glass doors and spun, whistling his own tune. He skipped down the three steps and dragged his fingertips along the jagged line of the painting hung so close on the wall. He took the first door he came too.
A minute or two later Kylen came through the double doors and shut them behind him. He took the hall all the way down to the end and disappeared into the last door on the right.
***
Johnny moved through the woods. Grabbing a branch here, and kicking off the side of a Sycamore trunk there. He didn’t have much time. The moon was climbing, swimming ever onward through the blackness of space.
He wasn’t sure what lunacy led him to believe magic would be enough to save Zoe. He had to be there. He would give his life to protect hers. They could run. He didn’t know how they would make it but he was sure they could.
The trees grew so close in the forest it was more like weaving than running. Up the incline, Johnny burst from the wall of trees onto rolling hills landscaped and manicured as any multimillion-dollar property. The manor as the clan called it dominated the growing shadows. Stacked stone and high priced hunting lodge mentality came together to form a luxury home tucked neatly into the woods around it. Nearly deserted, a few windows glowed gold.
He skirted the house and took the path on the right side past the empty stables. He could hear the crowd from here.
71
Chapter
Izobel frowned. If this went wrong, there would be an awful lot of dead bodies. Abel asked for her trust. Still, she ran a growing list of ways to run. Her charms were prepared, foci at the ready. It was her version of a loaded gun.
She followed Nora winding her way through the jeering crowd. Even she could feel the presence of the moon. It beaded up and rolled down her back. The hairs on the back of her neck stood like needles.
Deklan flashed her a look of wide eyes and high eyebrows. It said so much. She didn’t blame him one bit. This many werewolves would choke many a witch.
She was glad he was here. She trusted Abel. But she knew how Deklan’s magic worked. It was easier to plan for eventualities. And she’d be lying if she didn’t see the test she was about to put Abel to. If the enchantment didn’t hold, she’d be asking him to turn against his people for her. She understood the heights.
Stronger relationships have splintered under lesser circumstances.
Izobel’s palms itched. Nora broke off headed for the dais. She promised to throw as many monkey wrenches as she had into the King’s men should it all go wrong. Izobel pushed to the front of the crowd.
The bars of the enormous cage were still five feet out of arm’s reach. She wasn’t allowed any closer. Izobel’s eyes rolled upward. The moon was sliding into place for the Lunatic cry. A heavy drumbeat brought an abrupt silence over the crowd.
***
Zoe wrapped her hand around the amulet. The Folk huddled near the door of the cage, like it would do them any good. The piercing howl threatened to drive her to her knees. The sound so loud and grating that she held her hands over her ears. Her muscles locked, shoulders hunched.
The moon was a physical weight pressed against her skin. A pressure she felt in her bones. Her blood boiled, seething and fizzing in her veins. A prick in her fingertips spread to a sharp burn as the pointed curve of her black claws oozed through her skin.
That was the straw. It snapped her free and sent her hurtling into the here and now. She looked up and shoved both hands in her pockets.
Zoe flinched. It hurt so bad she yelped.
Reaching back in a tad more gingerly, she produced the red tiger’s eye beads Johnny gave her just in case. Wrapped in the center was a silver dream catcher. She moved her hand and hissed. She’d uncovered part and it touched her flesh. Sizzling she dropped them both to the ground.
Zoe examined her hand expecting to see burns. She looked down at the necklace lying in the dirt. The pain brought with it clarity. She was suddenly hyper-aware. She sucked in a steadying breath.
“Whatever else. There’s still me,” she whispered the words and then said them again a little louder.
It built her confidence giving her the strength to rise to the occasion. Zoe wrapped the string of Tiger’s eye pearls around her wrist. The way Johnny normally wore them. She swallowed hard. The anticipation of pain had her shying away. But with shaking hand she seized the silver circle.
It seared into her palm chasing eve
rything else away. No impulse could stand in its way. A faltering breath fell out of her. She was living in the aftermath of the snap of a violin string. But she couldn’t quite believe it was over. Paranoia tugged her gaze to the right of her field of vision. The world held its breath.
A distinct POP sounded in the distance. It was followed by a shout and then a scream. Confused murmuring highlighted the crowd. It moved and flowed breaking the ring to look out at the trees that surrounded them on all sides. The rattling clack of automatic gunfire spooked them.
Flashing lights and the jarring roar of a truck burst out of the trees. A hail of bullets shaved bodies of the fleeing crowd. Men on foot advanced from those shadows. Most of them had automatic weapons. Some of them, though, destroyed everything in their path with tooth and sharpened claw.
Jack jumped off the end of the dais and rushed to meet one of the hulking creatures. Three bullets preceded him. He kept firing as he and the unstoppable object collided. A muzzle full of teeth ripped at his throat.
Jack dropped the spent gun, his body shifting. Thick black claws sliced at the stomach of his monstrous opponent.
Two trucks came barreling out of the underbrush. The one on the left had two men crawling on it. One was nearly inside. They fought over who controlled the door. It meant the future of who controlled the steering wheel. That vehicle swerved dangerously close to the other a time or two.
The first truck slammed on its brakes parking a skewed line across that corner of the dais. The other plowed into the cage failing to pin anyone but itself. The bars bent in odd shapes. Everyone on the inside was on this side of the area.
People boiled out of the back of the truck. They were met with fierce opposition from the few guards there. Nora grabbed her Grandfather and called to Deklan. Someone grabbed hold of Alex and dragged him off where she couldn’t see him anymore. She rushed Worthington to the double doorway at the back of the stage.
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