by K. C. RILEY
The wind was coming from her. But how? Both Mrs. Ellington and Sister Clara had said that I was the last conjurer. If that was true, what was Cassie?
“I should have killed you. All of you.” Mr. Johnson’s rambling was only making the wind worse. “Cassie, it’s your dad, honey. Now, put me down, sweetheart. You know I love you.”
“You are not my father.” The anger in Cassie’s voice was hot and thick. Vengeful.
Mr. Johnson was about to speak again when Cassie wrapped a collar of wind around his neck, strangling him. It was just like what Aunt Norah had done to her at the lake with water.
Josie and I both yelled over the ripping sound of the wind for her to stop.
“This isn’t you,” I said. “I know he hurt you. But this isn’t the way.”
Mr. Johnson was turning blue. Cassie wasn’t listening. And I had no idea how to stop her or help her. It wasn’t worth it, the guilt she would carry for the rest of her life.
“Cassie. Stop!” Josie’s voice cut through the wind like a sharp knife as her eyes went black as coal. She held her hands out and the ground rumbled beneath Cassie’s feet causing her to fall to the ground.
What in God’s name was happening? And where were the girls getting all this power? There was no way it was Fallen venom, at least not according to Sister Clara and Mrs. Ellington.
Cassie tumbled to the ground, freed her from the trance. The cyclone stopped and her father moaned in pain from hitting the floor. Josie dropped to her knees exhausted. It took a minute for both girls to come back to themselves.
“How?” I asked. “You were both conjuring elements. You, air, and you, earth.”
Cassie locked herself tightly into her arms. “I don’t know.” She then looked over to Josie as though Josie might have had the answer.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know.”
They were telling the truth. It was all over their faces, the shock. The fear. The questions.
“I almost killed my dad. I couldn’t stop myself. It just...took over. This dark power. The anger.” Cassie wiped the tears that puddled at her eyes. “Please. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Not until we can figure it out,” Josie added.
“But why? I thought that’s what The Society was for. To help.”
“Just don’t say anything,” Josie repeated.
“Especially, to anyone in The Society,” Cassie said.
I wasn’t sure why they wanted to keep it a secret but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t my secret to tell. And Lord knows I had my own. “I won’t. I swear.”
“Is he still breathing?” Cassie asked.
Josie stepped cautiously toward Mr. Johnson. “His chest is moving. So, yeah, I think so. But he’s knocked out cold. Now what?”
“I don’t know,” Cassie said. “I need some air, some time to think.”
I gave Cassie my hand and pulled her up to her feet. I still couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t get in touch with The Society.
We were about to exit the shack when we opened the door and froze.
Two guys were standing in the doorway, one wearing a plague doctor mask and the other, a creepy old man mask. They scared the crap out of me, and I should have known it was Mason and Boyd.
“What are you guys doing here?” Josie barked. “You should be at the party. And why are you still wearing those stupid masks?”
“Babe. It’s Halloween.” Mason calling Josie babe was going to take some getting used to. However, Mason was a far better pick than Zander.
“Whatever,” Josie said. “I can’t believe you followed me.”
“What?” Mason asked. “We were worried.”
“You were worried,” Boyd added.
Something crunched and trampled through the forest. It was coming our way.
“Who’s there?” Josie said. “Show yourself. I know jiujitsu.”
Clearly, she knew way more than that.
“Relax. It’s just me.” The smooth Russian accent was a dead giveaway. Alexei.
“It’s okay. I called him about Cassie’s dad,” I said.
“Cassie’s dad?” Mason interrupted. “And what’s that smell?”
“Sorry. I had already called,” I whispered to the girls. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“No. Good call. You can trust Alexei. But if Alexei knows then so does Sister Clara,” Josie muttered. “Just don’t say anything else.”
I knew she was talking about the conjuring, and nodded.
“Uh, hello?” Mason repeated.
“Yeah. Her dad’s inside,” I stuttered.
Cassie never said a word while still holding herself tight. Maybe she was still in shock about all of it.
“Cassie.” Boyd’s voice warmed from playful tactics into something tender and mature. “Are you all right?”
Hmmm. Boyd never seemed like more than just a big ole jock. Maybe I had him all wrong. It was sweet, the way he was looking out for Cassie.
Mason folded his arms. “Now who’s worried?”
“Shut up,” Boyd countered. “Can’t you see she’s hurt?”
Holding cells within the Halls of Alexandria? The place was still full of surprises. Cassie’s father growled and gnashed his face against the bars. Me, Cassie, Josie, Mason, Boyd, and Alexei watched in horror as his eyes turned blood red with rage.
“Whores!” he yelled out. “Whores with dogs from hell.”
Cassie whispered under her voice, “That’s not my father.”
Sister Clara walked up from behind us. “No, it’s not, dear. I’ve seen this before. Your father has been embodied.”
“What do you mean?” Cassie asked.
Mrs. Ellington’s pumps clacked against the granite floor as she followed in behind Sister Clara. “It’s been what, Clara? Ten years since the last clearing?”
“Yes. It has been a while.” Sister Clara took a step closer to Cassie’s father as though she was examining him. “See the eyes?”
“Blood red,” Mrs. Ellington answered.
Stepping closer toward him only aggravated him further into impish garble. He grabbed onto the cell bars and tried climbing them. “I am the one true servant of the almighty God. Anointed by the angels themselves to rid this world of the whores and dogs of hell.”
“Yes. Yes. We know,” Sister Clara said.
And here I thought my weirdo family had problems. “What are you going to do?”
“Pay close attention, girls.” Sister Clara waved her hand in front of the bars. “Petorum.” Cassie’s father instantly fell to the ground as though he had been drugged. “A sleep spell. Wynona?”
Mrs. Ellington nodded.
“Everyone stand back, there isn’t much time,” Sister Clara said. “Alexei. Please.”
Alexei pulled off his shirt and pants to reveal a body chiseled from all muscle. He was stark naked and had about as much shame as Jake had skinny-dipping at the lake. I tried not to stare bug-eyed and at the same time was too self-conscious to say anything about what was happening.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one because no one else said a word. Alexei fell to the ground on all fours, his breath heavy, a mix of growling and panting like he was trying to let something out. The bones of his broad back cracked and twisted in what looked and sounded like agony. He was going to do it, turn. And that only made me more curious. A Lycan.
“Join me, girls. Mason. Boyd. You too,” Mrs. Ellington said. “Tu Teres Partar. It eases the pain of transformation.”
We all chanted the words as Alexei growled deeper, transforming into a beautiful charcoal gray wolf with eyes that burned blue. But he didn’t stop there. He shook off his fur and his bones broke again, this time transforming into something magnificent. Alexei’s obsidian skin was now smooth and glistened in the light. His back had grown broad. His thighs, arms, and legs, lean and solid. He stood up from the ground and must have been at least seven feet tall. His face was like that of a jackal. With eyes that still burned blue, he was the spitting imag
e of the god Anubis. Boyd and Mason looked on with wonder. We all did.
“Hurry. Mr. Johnson won’t stay asleep forever.” Sister Clara, Mrs. Ellington, and Alexei entered the stone cell holding Cassie’s father.
“Pay attention, girls. Boyd, Mason, likewise,” Mrs. Ellington said. “You may have to do this yourselves someday soon.”
I swallowed hard at the words. What did she mean by that? And what did she mean by soon?
I watched on as Mrs. Ellington, Sister Clara, and Alexei stood around Cassie’s father.
“Guardian of Scales, Master of Secrets, Lord of Death. Anubis, we beseech you.” Sister Clara and Mrs. Ellington chanted the words over and over as Alexei’s eyes burned with fire. “Guardian of Scales, Master of Secrets, Lord of Death. Anubis, we beseech you.”
Mr. Johnson’s body lifted off the ground and into the air.
The words of the chanting then changed. “Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus.”
His eyes slowly opened. “What? Wait. No. You don’t understand. Those whores will end everything.”
So we were back to whores again. Rude. Just rude.
Mr. Johnson turned his head toward me. “Especially that one.”
His eyes burned through me like a magnifying glass. Luckily, no one paid him any attention. No one but me.
Sister Clara and Mrs. Ellington continued chanting. “Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus.”
“The Queen of Hell and Shadows must die. Lilith is your name. Oh, I see you, you bitch. You can’t hide. They will find you. I swear it. The Elohim are coming. They will find and destroy you.”
My hand clasped at my throat. Every word that spewed from his mouth cut through me like a blade of fire that wouldn’t stop until it had burned its way down to the darkest part of my soul. Lilith. The Queen of Hell and Shadows. At least, according to him.
“You must die. For all our sakes.” Mr. Johnson’s body illuminated with a light from within as he screamed out in agony.
“Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus.” The chanting intensified growing louder and faster.
I tried to choke down the feeling of not knowing what he was talking about, to ignore the words. But I couldn’t. I had seen it over and over in visions and dreams. Fire and destruction. Heaven falling to earth. And me standing in the midst of the end of everything. But how was that even possible? What could bring such a thing about? Mr. Johnson was wrong. He had to be. I was nothing more than a powerless witch afraid of her own shadow, literally.
“Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus. Deporem Yetar Lefus.”
The explosion of light from within Mr. Johnson’s body ceased the gnashing of teeth and foul screaming. The chanting stopped as he was gently lowered back to the ground. His body shook violently until it suddenly stopped.
“It’s a release of energy,” Mrs. Ellington said. “Don’t be afraid, girls. Step closer.”
“Roses,” I whispered. “I smell…roses.” The stench of hate, feces, and urine was completely gone.
“It’s the spell doing its job. Keep watching,” Sister Clara said.
And so I did. There was this little squeaking sound, barely noticeable, but there. We listened and stared at Mr. Johnson inspecting him closer. A worm-like slug slithered its way out of his mouth. It dropped to the ground before it and the slime around it sizzled, smoked, and disintegrated into nothing.
“Deporem Yetar Lefus.” Sister Clara swiped a loose strand of silver hair behind her ear before taking a deep breath. “It’s the spell for getting rid of Demon Slugs. Dominions used them to hunt and destroy witches, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures born from the Daughters of Cain.”
Dominions were the angels responsible for regulating the duties of the lower angels. But who knew the job profile included demon slugs and getting rid of witches? That was why he shot me. A daughter of Cain.
“Whatever was done to you, Cassie,” Sister Clara continued, “it wasn’t your father.”
I was both speechless, nauseous, and relieved that Mr. Johnson was innocent. From Cassie’s picture of her parents, he just didn’t seem like the type, a pathological bible-thumping killer.
Cassie dropped to her knees and cried as Josie and I held her. It was clear she loved her dad. I only prayed that he was back. That the demon slug was truly gone.
“I don’t need to tell you, girls, that all of this stays here,” Sister Clara said. “Cassie, your father has been through a lot. We’ll make sure he gets the proper treatment he needs. The thing with demon slugs is the host is always the victim. One can only watch helplessly as they destroy the very ones they love. It’s a cruel thing they are, the slugs. Be on your guard, girls. Trust no one. And keep an eye out for Fallen and Vamps as well. We still haven’t figured out what Zander was up to, which Fallen created him, or who he was working for. Boyd. Mason. Given the circumstances, The Turning Ceremony with The Lycans of Anubis has been pushed up to tomorrow evening.”
Mason and Boyd finally made sense. Given I wasn’t talking to anyone, I never had the chance to ask. But they were going to be Lycans like Alexei, guardians of magic and witches. Channels for Anubis. Christ. There was so much. Was there anything else I had missed?
Somehow, I knew the answer to that was yes.
7
Tired and half delirious, I finally slipped into bed. I stared at the ceiling wondering how on earth my life had gotten so out of control and complicated. Dominions were planting demon slugs to hunt and kill witches? And let’s not forget the Fallen and Vamps. There had to be a way to get through it all without losing my mind.
It was like being thrown into some sinister virtual game with no rules, no organization, and no hidden gems, coins, or power boosts to up my chances against the evil villains—of which there were many.
Sure, there was an amulet, The Stone of Origins, but where the hell was it? I mean outside of Meghan’s deranged head. Back at Shadowick Lake, the night Aunt Norah forced me to fetch the stupid thing, I had thrown it to Cassie to keep Aunt Norah from getting it.
Meghan somehow intercepted the amulet, taking it for herself. No surprise there. I could only guess she tried to use it and somehow went crazy. We’ve tried to get her to tell us what she did with it, but all she does is mumble and rant a bunch of nonsense that makes no sense until she’s stark raving mad.
My mind rambled on, sorting through one mess after the other. Cassie’s possessed father. The girls’ unexplainable powers of conjuring the elements of wind and earth, abilities beyond Fallen venom. None of it made sense. What if there was more to the venom than The Society was letting on? Sister Clara said it was best to leave the venom alone, that it could have adverse effects on me because I was a natural witch. However, there was still the possibility that The Society just didn’t want me to have it.
My brain was fried from overthinking. And I was probably being paranoid, but I couldn’t stop.
My thoughts meandered back to the dream I had of Jake; his mangled body, the weakness in his voice. He needed me and here I was completely useless, wanting nothing more than to hear his voice again. Or better yet, feel him tugging me closer into the nook of his arm while holding me under a sky full of stars and whispering in my ear that he would never let me go.
Frustrated, I grunted and grabbed my pillow to scream all hell into it when someone knocked at the door. Probably the wonder twins. With a deep sigh, I got out of bed and answered it. Turns out, I was right.
Cassie stood in the hall with twisted neon pink, blue, and green curlers in her hair along with a pillow and blanket in her arm. Josie was right behind her.
“Thanks for what you did for my dad,” Cassie said.
“Yeah. We need to talk,” Josie insisted.
“Sure. But does it have to be tonight?” I wasn’t trying to be rude. I was just exhausted.
It didn’t matter. They both barged in with a firm Yes and made themselves comfortable on the floor
.
Cassie uncoiled and rerolled one of the curlers that hung from her head. “We should have told you everything from the beginning.”
Josie fluffed her pillow before squeezing it tight. “But we couldn’t.”
They were doing that thing again where they would finish each other’s sentences like when I first met them.
“You know Chloe Winters from English? The one with the big kewpie doll eyes that always look at everyone like she’s not all there? You know, like nobody’s home.”
“You’re horrible,” I said, even though Josie was right. Chloe always seemed to stare at everyone like she was far away on a distant planet, and yet somehow still here.
“No, it’s true,” Josie said. “She was The Society’s top-notch witch her junior year. The only problem was she told her boyfriend, Eric—who was not a part of The Society—everything. She even let him try Fallen venom. A big no-no.”
Now, that piqued my interest. “What happened?” I asked, wondering what it would be like to try it myself.
“Well, after they pulled him off the roof,” Josie said.
“Because he thought he could fly,” Cassie added.
“They wiped both their memories clean. Poor thing is now nothing more than a walking zombie, with great hair, great skin, and great nails. I’m so jealous. I just can’t get mine to grow.” Josie held her freshly pink manicured, but short, fingernails out for display. “See. Stress.”
Cassie rerolled another lock of her hair. “She is not a zombie. Well, not exactly.”
“You say to-may-toe, I say to-mah-toe. The point is The Society doesn’t mess around. They’ve got strict rules even though it seems like they haven’t got any. So, don’t let it fool you. Break them, and there’s a price to pay. Your mind.” It almost sounded as though Josie was scared. Or maybe cautious was the better word.
“We’re not trying to scare you,” Cassie said. “The Society can be a good thing. Most days, anyway. Even though I now know it wasn’t my dad that did those horrible things, it all still screwed with my head. If it wasn’t for The Society…I don’t know. They were the ones that taught me how to understand the science of magic. And how to protect myself.”