by Eve Langlais
I should leave town. Right now. Just keep on driving away from here and never look back. Only, while I’d made so many damned mistakes, there were two things I didn’t regret. My kids.
I focused on them. I couldn’t let them down. I noticed the headlights behind me followed me onto the road that ended in a cul-de-sac. Could be the driver was visiting Jace or lost.
Would a lost car have been following me since I left Orville’s place? I gripped the steering wheel as they got closer. My windows frosted. I sped up. I wasn’t far from home.
Almost there.
I pulled into the driveway, and the other car shot past. My instant relief had me slouching as I parked.
I’d made it home. Winnie was there with Geoff, the two of them in animated argument until I walked in.
My daughter appeared wan, my son determined. They both shut up at the sight of me.
“Glad you’re both here. Pack your stuff. We’re leaving,” I announced.
“Mom, where have you been?” Winnie exclaimed. “We were worried sick about you.”
“I’m a grown woman. Pretty sure there’s no need to panic if I slip out for a few hours.”
“You should be resting,” my son insisted. Was it me, or did he appear a tad pale? They both were visibly nervous.
“What’s up with you guys? Cat got your tongue?”
“I wish,” Grisou grumbled, sauntering into view. “It’s delicious when fresh.”
Disturbing but not as much as the fact they obviously didn’t hear my cat.
“It’s nothing, Mom.”
“All good,” Geoff said, trying to be cooler.
“How are you, is the real question,” Winnie said, leading me to a seat.
“Fine.” I stared at them and tried to find a lie in their appearance. Surely, I’d have known Martin wasn’t their father. Didn’t they share a nose? Eyes?
I noticed the slight up tilt of their ears, not enough to make a big issue. The more I looked, the more I realized they barely had any of me in them. Two strangers in bodies I’d helped create.
They sat me down and fussed over me. Still much too nervous.
“What do you say we order in tonight? Meat on a stick with grilled vegetables.” Winnie sounded way too enthusiastic.
“Delicious.” My son rubbed his tummy for emphasis.
“Would you both just stop and tell me what’s wrong?” I wanted to slap away their well-meaning hands.
“We were worried about you. You left and didn’t tell us where you were going.” Geoff placated me.
“Sorry. Next time I’ll leave a note. But enough of me, we need to pack.”
“Why?” my son asked.
“Because there’s something wrong with this town.”
“You’re being silly,” Winnie replied with a high-pitched laugh.
“Am I? Ever since arriving, it’s been bad luck after worst luck. I’m tired of it. Tired of these games being played by the locals. Tired of the history weighing down our name. We need a fresh start.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“No, it’s not.” This time I wouldn’t stay in a toxic environment. I’d not suffered to make the same mistakes again. “Pack your shit. We leave in twenty minutes.”
“We can’t leave.”
“Why not?” I yelled. “There’s something wrong in this place. Wrong with our family. And if we stay…” I didn’t say it, but I heard it in my head. Felt it in my bones. I would die.
My son and daughter exchanged a glance before Winnie hesitantly said, “If you want to leave, then fine. But not tonight. There’s this thing we need to attend.”
“Not going,” I declared without hearing any details. I was emotionally wrung out. Stick me with a fork done.
“You kind of have to.”
“No, I don’t.” I didn’t have to do shit.
“You can’t refuse, Mom. It’s important,” Winnie insisted.
And I was doing my best to avoid it. But my children? “You know, don’t you?” My kids at least had the decency to not look at me as I went on softly, “I die tonight, don’t I?” I’d figured it out on the way home when the radio channel boasted about some kind of super moon. A good night for magic I’d bet.
“It’s not what I want, what either of us want,” my daughter exclaimed, confirming it.
I jumped to my feet. “You know someone wants to kill me and you’re okay with it?” Shouldn’t loving children be hustling my ass out of the door?
“No, I’m not okay with it. Especially since the new you is so great and stuff.” Winnie snotted, finally looking like her mother.
“We don’t have a choice, apparently,” Geoff muttered. “It’s you or us.”
“And you chose me.” A better mother wouldn’t have sounded so sarcastic.
“No,” Winnie cried out. “It’s not like that. The thing is, if you won’t participate in the ceremony, then they’ll still kill you and either Geoff or I will take your place.”
What kind of sick bastards would threaten my kids?
The kind who thought my family betrayed them.
Technically true. The witches in my line smacked down the Orgh’kks, rendered them powerless, then hid the secret to getting that magic back. They guarded it not only with spells of concealment, but a lake monster, and a witch guardian.
It occurred to me that my grandmother had tried to do something about it. Sent me away in the hopes of giving me a life. And failed.
The curse, that had gone on for much too long, drew me back. It ended now.
But only after I had a bath.
If I was going to my doom, then I’d damned well be wearing clean underwear and my second nicest dress. They could use the first one to bury me in after I’d told them where to go and fought my damnedest.
29
Only once I got to my room did I contemplate escape. I had a window. I could climb down, hop in my car, and go. Fuck my kids. Apparently, it was okay to toss me to the orcs.
Ungrateful brats.
I sobbed in my bath. Let myself have a good pity cry. Then I got calm. Not the calm of a pond on a windless morning, but that electrical moment of stillness before a storm crashed.
I was so centered and calm that the ice rimming my water shattered as I stood. For a moment I stared at myself in a mirror.
I glowed blue. Literally. Blue. It was kind of freaking me out because I looked like Orville with his pointy-eared demon, except, with me, it was truly inside my skin.
The house had taken on a somber cast, none of the lights getting bright. I could sense its melancholy as it helped dress me, the pants warm white wool, the short-heeled boots cute and perfect fitting. The turtleneck cashmere and soft. I’d never dressed so stylishly, or in so many light colors. What if I spilled something on it? Usually my stains ended up on my boobs and food in my cleavage—a snack for later.
To complete my ensemble, Winnie appeared, bearing a massive fur cloak, done in shades of white, gray, and cream.
“It’s cold outside. This will keep you warm,” she said, holding it out as a peace offering.
I almost slapped it out of her hand.
She saw my expression and her lips trembled. “I’m sorry, mom.”
“Sorry, you’re sacrificing me to some fucked up group of people?” I didn’t soften the accusation.
“They left me and Geoff without any choice.”
I didn’t point out they could have volunteered in my place. In truth, better me than them. I appreciated the fact she at least looked upset about it.
“What was in those pages you cut out of the book?” I asked, not that there was a spell that would help me now.
“A spell to see the truth.”
“And did you find it?”
She bit her lip. “I did, and wished I hadn’t, which is why I cut those pages out and burned them.”
She didn’t elaborate on what she saw, and I was distracted by the watch on her wrist chiming.
Time was up.
“You need to get ready.” Winnie bit her lower lip.
“Where is it happening?”
“The lake.”
Big surprise. A part of me had always known I’d end up there. After all, wasn’t this where my mother tried to kill me? It was why my father wanted to take me away. Why my grandma hid me so I wouldn’t have to face my doom too soon. Once my grandma died, the magic concealing the source failed, the lake monster protecting it died, and the Orgh’kks ended up finding it. Now, they would sacrifice me to get it back.
But at least I’d look fashionable.
I ran my fingers over it. “It’s soft. Absorbent.” The blood would soak into it like a sponge.
“Mom, I—”
I interrupted her. “Don’t apologize. I don’t blame you. If the roles were reversed, I’d do the same. It’s for the best.” I placated her like I’d placated my miserable husband for a good chunk of my life.
She never suspected. I appeared docile on the outside. Cooperative, if politely refusing offers of aid in getting ready. As if I wanted help readying myself for my own funeral. I was pretty sure a turkey would say no thanks if a person asked it to give a wing/hand with the plucking.
I sent everyone away because it gave me time to think. Surely there was a way out of this madness.
A spell. I dug out everything I had. The oddly inert ring my grandma left me. It felt like cheap metal on my finger.
With an eyeliner I dug out, I wrote sigils on my body that might protect me. It couldn’t hurt. I slipped chalk into my bra, just in case. Sent up a small prayer to the two people I knew loved me most. “Grandma, Dad, if you’re listening…” What could I say? “I love you.” Might see you soon. Because how could I fight this alone?
Even a superhero would be hard-pressed given everyone around worked against me.
As I went down the stairs it was to see the main floor lined with people in cloaks, the hoods drawn up, hiding their features in shadow. Except for Geoff and Winnie. They stood side by side, also in black with voluminous cloaks, looking anxious. No mistaking the big shape standing possessively by my daughter. Jace. A man who’d convinced her it was in her best interest to sacrifice me. Was he that good in bed?
Outside, more robed figures awaited, forming a path down to the lake. The cold proved brisk, but I welcomed the sharp bite. As long as I felt it, I lived.
We marched to our destination with Geoff on one side of me, Winnie the other. A few paces behind, Jace and Helena.
Partners in crime? They felt more like hostage takers than lovers. Had my children yet realized they’d had their hearts fooled?
And for what?
I still had to wonder what they thought killing me would do. Whatever they’d lost, I had no idea how to find it.
At the edge of the lake sat a sledge made of a marble-like material that sucked in the light of the rising moon. I didn’t want to get in. Getting in meant accepting my fate. Getting in meant I’d die so my kids would live. Was there really any other choice?
I couldn’t run. But maybe I could—
Before I’d managed to hit the ground, reaching to trace, my arms were grabbed. Hard. Painful enough I gasped more in shock at who held me.
“Geoff.” He didn’t look at me as he marched me to the sledge.
No apology as he thrust me in. I huddled on the seat. Stunned. Sad.
Despite there being no animals tethered to it, the sledge slid amidst an eerie silence broken only by the hiss of the blades over ice as magic dragged me to my doom.
Toward the hole. The very same spot my mother tried to drown me in.
It wasn’t glowing. Not anymore. The light came from the people who’d gathered. It lit them from within, and I felt an answering tug. As if I knew that light.
Wanted it.
As I passed the watching crowd, I saw the bottles of mud, packaged in the mill, lying on the ice. The contents smeared on skin—face, hands, clothes—glowing for some reason.
I faced forward again as the sledge managed a graceful turn and stop. There were nine people standing, waiting. Some I knew like Orville and Trish—fucking Trish was possessed? Since when? Or had she been like this since my return and I’d not noticed?
Did Jojo know?
The question had me glancing to the watching crowd and spotting Marjorie in the front ranks, her expression beatific. Not a care in the world. Obviously in cahoots with the bad guys.
Back to the nine, it also included Jace and Helena—who I’d bet was the one whispering in Martin’s ear, getting him to snap. And now, she’d moved on to my son.
There were faces I didn’t know, nor would I find out because Darryl, the one I wanted to see least, stood by the sledge and offered a hand.
I could see the demon clearly atop his body. A much bigger and more handsome version. Pointed ears and horns. He grinned. I didn’t let him see my shudder and avoided his help as I stepped out.
My super-sized cat sat among the nine, not demon possessed but also not my friend as I’d thought. Part of the plot against me. The final dagger in my heart.
It left no one to care how scared I was. No one to fight for me.
I could do this. Be brave. I wanted to be, but I dared the strongest people to face certain death without some kind of regret. I bowed my head as tears welled.
“That’s no good. She’s like a fucking martyr,” muttered Helena. She stood beside Orville, her red hair peeking from the hood.
“She won’t be feeling sorry for herself for long. Bring him out,” snapped Darryl.
The crowd shifted, and someone was carried over, the hood over their head covering their face, their limbs bound in chains.
My heart stopped.
I knew even before they dropped him by my feet. I fell to my knees. “Kane?”
The person jerked and yanked their wrists hard enough to snap the chains. The hood came off, and a bruised Kane stared at me.
Number eleven.
“Ah fuck, sweetheart.” Such reassuring words to match his bleak expression.
Boom.
Like a thunderclap, the noise drew attention so that in the quiet that followed I clearly heard Darryl say, “Dearly beloved, and most hated enemies, we are gathered here today to finally put an end to our curse. To regain our magic. Today, the Orgh’kks rise again.”
Combine that speech with the dagger in Darryl’s hand? Today Naomi dies.
30
Knowing the demon-possessed wanted me dead, I expected something gruesome. A horrible, horrible death.
Panic hit me.
“Kane.” For a teeny, tiny second when he held me close, I thought things might turn out all right.
It didn’t last. Kane turned from me and held out his hand.
Darryl slapped the dagger into it. “You know what to do.”
Kane was going to kill me? Every single person watching us was hoping for a soap opera ending.
“Kane?”
He wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“Coward.” I couldn’t help but say it. To feel angry. I held my ground as he moved to stand in front of me. Bruised. Obviously in pain. Some of the injuries fresh.
He stared at me then the dagger, his hand flexing on the hilt.
I had to ask. “Why sleep with me if the plan was always to kill me?”
“Because emotion unlocks deeper magic.”
And what deeper than the betrayal of a lover. A lover who hesitated to murder me.
“Who tortured you?” I asked on impulse because the car crash had happened a month ago. The bruise on his jaw wasn’t that old.
“Do you really have to ask? This moment has been centuries in the making.” He lifted his gaze to the sky, to the planets almost in perfect alignment. “I showed weakness and was reminded of my duty.”
“Weakness how?
“Because I wanted to find another way. A way that didn’t kill you.” He ignored the hiss from those eavesdropping.
“You wanted me alive. Why?” Why was I torturing my
self asking these questions? It didn’t matter now.
“Because I fell in love with you,” he said softly.
My knees wobbled.
Full emotional impact achieved.
“Oh. Kane.” I whispered his name just as the star and planets shifted into their rarely seen place. The moon beamed, bathing me with cold. So cold, and yet when I cupped his cheek, heat filled me. “You have a weird way of showing your love.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be me. But then that night…I couldn’t resist you.” His expression turned bleak.
I didn’t need to ask whose spot Kane had taken. Darryl thought he’d be the one to kill me. Now it had to be Kane. Given the choice, I’d rather have my lover do it. Let him bear the guilt.
Seriously. What was wrong with the people who loved me? Did no one want to save me?
Fine.
I’d save myself.
I screamed to the sky, an incoherent rambling that fed the eagerness of the crowd.
“Calm down.” Trish, my former best friend, now wearing a demon spirit with not only pointed ears but fanged teeth, thought she could dispense advice. “Do you want the legends to remember you died a screaming coward?”
“Open the gate.”
“Yeah. Open it.”
The dual yells drew my attention to a sigil on the ground. How had I not noticed it before? It was huge and intricate. A whorl that circled the hole in the ice. A complicated spell waiting to be activated. Waiting for my death.
“Can I have one last request?”
“Hurry it up, the moon is almost in position,” Darryl snapped.
“What?” Kane asked, knowing I spoke to him.
“Kiss me hard so I don’t feel the blade going in.”
He recoiled from my words. He didn’t fake the pain in his eyes. Then he grabbed me close, pressing his mouth to mine.
But I’d lied. I didn’t want a kiss. I whispered, “I wish you’d loved me enough.”
His murmured reply, “Who says I don’t? I won’t kill you.” He threw himself away from me. “Do you hear me? She doesn’t have to die for this to work.”
“We need a conduit and we need blood,” his mother snapped, bossy for someone without a demon of her own. I guess having a son who was possessed gave her some power.