Emily briefly wondered if the fire demon was a contraption of the evil rove. Maybe this was the rove’s plan all along. If it was, Emily had to give it to the rove for his tremendous brilliance.
He’d known that Aunt Anastacia and Emily were a powerful combination. So he’d taken Michael, who not only hated supernaturals but also didn’t know he was a rove. He’d battered Michael’s body so much so that repairing it would take all the power Anastacia had. Then he’d sent his son, Marion, to invite her over. More like he’d baited her, and she had taken the bait. Hook, line, and sinker.
He’d known that she wouldn’t resist helping Michael when they got to Anastacia’s house. He was counting on it. And he was spot-on. He’d manipulated the situation so that she’d trigger the fire demon. Emily wondered why Marion had to send a blue flame her way. Maybe the imagery triggered her fiery response, bringing the fire demon to full consciousness.
Then the evil rove had sent the bat creatures. A formidable adversary. One that the fire demon—as enthusiastic as it was—could not resist. The fire demon liked to show off. He liked it big and brash and loud. How could he resist the monument in the sky? How could he resist being named the destroyer of the swarm of death?
The evil rove must have been counting on it, and it all worked beautifully. The fire demon had taken control. And though he’d defeated the swarm, he’d also sapped her energy.
So now, the two most powerful adversaries against the roves—Aunt Anastacia and Emily Davies—were both out of commission. The Alfreds weren’t coming to fight. They were coming to take them into custody.
They’d take her, Anastacia, and Michael without having to use their powers.
Wow, Selena said, impressed.
“Yeah,” Emily muttered as she kept her eyes on the Land Rover. “He’s brilliant if this has been his plan all along.”
Well, I wasn’t really wowing the plan, Selena corrected. I was wowing that you put all this together in your mind.
Emily couldn’t help but smile in spite of everything going on. Selena was still as sassy as could be. Another thought occurred to her. What if she was making all this up? What if this wasn’t really the evil rove’s plan?
If this wasn’t his plan, then maybe there was still a chance they could make it out alive.
“What do we do?” asked Dad.
“What can we do?” Emily shut her eyes for a moment, willing her magic to flow to her eyes. When she opened them again, she could see with the enhanced vision of The Owl. Her vision was always enhanced, but if she really focused, it was spectacular.
She blinked and sort of zoomed in on the faraway Land Rover. The car came into crystal-clear view in spite of the harsh beam of the headlights. At the steering wheel was a young adult. He couldn’t have been older than his early twenties. He was . . . beautiful, really. He had the same inky hair and eye color as Marion. He wore a regal robe, much like Aunt Anastacia’s robe, only his was a light brown color. There was a badge on his right breast that looked like a weird cross between a lion and a snake.
Next to him in the passenger’s seat was a female. A young girl. About three or four years younger than Emily. She had the same hair and eye color as the man. But her skin color was paler, and she had a frown so horrid that Emily felt chills ripple over her body.
Behind, in the back passengers’ seat, was Marion. On seeing him, Emily’s heart thumped. In spite of all he’d done, she still felt inordinately attracted to him. Not in a romantic way, of course. She had just felt drawn to him since the first time she saw him. She gulped and tried to think straight. He looked irritated, like he didn’t want to be in the car. He was wearing the same robe with the weird badge on his right pec.
They were silent. Emily knew this because none of their lips were moving. That was all. Emily didn’t see a mother or a father. They must have sent their children to do the dirty work.
Maybe there’s still hope for us yet, Emily thought to herself. “There are only three of them,” she said out loud, hope filling her voice. “Maybe we could defeat them if we fought hard enough.”
“It only takes one of them to destroy us,” Aunt Anastacia whispered.
The dryness of her voice caused Emily to whirl around and glance at her. The woman now leaned on her staff, her face pinched in pain.
“What’s happening with you, Aunt?” Emily moved to her aunt’s side and supported her. “Why do you all of a sudden look so old?”
Aunt Anastacia heaved a sigh of relief as she put a little of her weight on Emily. She smelled of ethanol and blood. There was none on her body, but still, the smell oozed from her. Emily wondered if it was because of the surgery she’d just performed with her magic.
“The spell I used to heal your brother and mend his body—” Aunt Anastacia sighed. “It works by exchanging life force.”
“So you gave him your life!?”
“Not really. More like I fed his body from my life force. Like I just said. Learn to listen, Girl!”
What she’d said didn’t sound any different from what Emily had said, but Emily decided not to push it.
“So it made me look and feel older.” Aunt Anastacia’s shoulders drooped. “The effects are reversible, though. All I need is a few days of rest, and I’ll be back to full strength.”
Emily glanced at the Land Rover again. They were less than a minute away. “We don’t have a few days. Can our defenses hold them out?”
Aunt Anastacia shrugged. “It depends on who’s in that Land Rover.”
Emily told her what she’d seen. “Marion, a younger girl, and a slightly older boy. Marion told the class he had siblings. I guess it’s them. There are just three kids in the family.”
“Hmmm,” Aunt Anastacia mumbled. “Interesting.”
“What is?” asked Emily.
“And you’re sure you don’t see Gregory or Marie?”
“No, I see no one else in the car,” Emily replied confidently. “Who’s Marie, though?”
“Gregory’s even more evil wife.”
Great. That was reassuring.
“Do you think we can defeat them?” Emily almost didn’t want to hear the answer. “Can you fight in your state?”
Aunt Anastacia shook her head. “Basic simple spells. If I do any strong spell, I might pass out, or the strain might kill me. Can you transform?”
“Nope.”
“So we’re screwed, right?” Dad blurted. He’d been standing silently on Aunt Anastacia’s other side.
“Not necessarily,” the woman countered. “The defenses are still in place. Since the fire demon took out the horde, they’ll need to work through the defenses. If they’re smart and powerful, they can break through in a couple hours. If not, they’ll be fried.”
“And if they make it past the defenses?” Emily raised both her eyebrows in anticipation.
“I have a contingency plan,” Aunt Anastacia assured them. “But it’s an absolute last resort. I don’t want to think or talk about it.”
Okaaay then.
“But if they get fried and return home?” Emily kept pushing.
“That might be worse, because their parents would just come, and they’ll surely break through the defenses,” Aunt Anastacia pointed out. “We’ll need to resort to the contingency plan, which, like I said, is just as bad if not worse.”
Then why even bring it up? Really now. “So either way, we’re doomed?” Emily’s face fell.
Aunt Anastacia flashed a tight-lipped smile. “That appears to be the case.”
8
The car turned and stopped ten yards away from the house and parked right there on the dirt path. The black cloud had already spread to cover the cottage. Every now and then, the whole place would light up as the lightning spread across the black cloud.
There was no sound. No booms of thunder save the silent rumbling of the Land Rover cranking like a scooter. The scene was just so surreal. Lightning flashed across the skies every five seconds or so, showering them all in a gh
ostly whitish sheen. And then darkness.
No one spoke; not Aunt Anastacia, not Dad, not even Emily. They all watched as the vehicle idled ten yards out.
Emily’s wary eyes retracted to her aunt’s car, which was just there by the house. A small town car that had a similar build to a Beetle, except it had a more pronounced trunk.
She hoped the car was within the protective sphere of the exterior defense system. If it wasn’t, then Aunt Anastacia’s car could be damaged. Emily knew her aunt wouldn’t like that very much.
“What are they doing just staring at us there?” asked Dad. His hands had tightened around his assault sniper rifle. They were already turning a sickly white from the stunted flow of blood into his fingers. Dad was antsy. Very.
“They have all the time in the world,” Aunt Anastacia mused. “And they know it. They aren’t in a hurry, so they’re playing the long haul. Or rather, they’re ready to play the long haul if need be.”
“Which is what exactly?” asked Dad in his worried voice.
“They’re going to wear us down,” Anastacia groaned. “They’re going to play mind games. If we’re not careful, they could drive us mad. Only the strong-willed and strong-minded can survive.”
Dramatic much?
“Well, I don’t have a problem with being strong-minded.” Dad looked over at Emily and furrowed his brow in concern. “I don’t know about Emily.”
“And how are you stronger than she is?” Aunt Anastacia sounded defensive. “She’s a magical being who repels magic. The Alfreds’ spells aren’t going to get past her skin. It’s you and me we should be worried about. They can get to me easily in my weakened state, and you . . . they will peel apart like a tangerine.”
Dad’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment. He opened his mouth to speak, but Aunt Anastacia flashed him a glare, and he shut his mouth.
“So what do we do?” asked Emily, bringing the topic back to the issue at hand. “They’re right in front of our house, and we obviously can’t win a standoff.”
“We rest up first,” Anastacia reasoned. “Even with a constant barrage from the powerful roves, it’ll take at least twelve hours to bring down the external defense. Another twelve hours to bring down the internal ones.”
“We have a full day before we need to face them?” Emily’s face visibly relaxed.
“So what do we do in that time?” Dad asked. “Arm up? Call for help?”
Aunt Anastacia patted Dad on the shoulder. She was so old-looking that she resembled someone who could easily have been Dad’s grandmother. And the way she’d patted him on the back would have sold the act, had it been an act.
“Your daughter and I will rest up,” Anastacia continued. “You figure out our next plan.”
“How do I do that?” Dad gaped, agitated. He didn’t look like he liked the idea of being responsible for their surviving this ordeal. “I’m not a magic being; you made that pretty obvious a while ago.”
“I have a library filled with occult books,” Aunt Anastacia pointed out. “You have the whole night to look for a spell or ritual or whatever for me to perform to deliver us from this conundrum when I wake up later.”
Emily had a thought right at that moment. It was about Michael. What if he woke up, somewhere in the night or early morning, while Aunt Anastacia was dead to the world? What if he wanted to leave this place; how would they stop him?
Even if they tried to retain him, Michael was a rove. He could go ballistic and destroy them. She didn’t want to have to deal with an angry rove within the house when there were already three waiting for them outside.
And what if he decided he wanted to leave? What if he saw Marion and decided this was some joke or something? What if he was adamant and went outside beyond the protection of Aunt Anastacia’s magic in spite of her protest?
It’s simple, Selena popped in. They’ll abduct him all over again and use him as bait.
You mean they’ll torture him? Emily wanted to be clear on what kind of bait Michael would become.
That’s exactly what I mean.
Emily gasped softly. That’s so wrong! She wanted to shriek. She kept silent, however, because she didn’t want her dad and aunt questioning her about Selena.
“What’s the matter, Child?” asked her aunt.
Emily was a little taken aback. She turned to the older woman and searched her face, wondering how her aunt didn’t already know the answer to the question. Couldn’t the woman read her thoughts? Emily allowed a wan smile. “I was just wondering what would happen if you’re asleep when Michael wakes, and he decides he wants to go see his father.”
Aunt Anastacia’s right eyebrow arched. Apparently she hadn’t thought of that. “I might need to cast a binding spell on him to prevent him from leaving this house.”
“How much will that cost you?”
“A lot,” Anastacia admitted. “But I think I’ll survive.”
“You think?” Emily didn’t like the sound of that.
Her aunt nodded grimly. She needn’t say more. Even she couldn’t ascertain if she had enough juice to perform the spell. And she’d already asserted as much earlier that doing magic beyond one’s capacity could lead to death.
“That’s not worth it,” Emily gasped. “You can’t give your life for Michael.”
“He’s young,” Aunt Anastacia started, “and—”
“We need you,” Emily cut her off. She didn’t want Aunt Anastacia guilt-tripping herself. Not now. Not when they were facing a family of roves. Michael hated Emily. For all Emily knew, he would do anything to see her in chains and disemboweled. Why should Aunt Anastacia give her life for someone who lived and breathed for Emily’s destruction?
Yeah, so he was a rove. It didn’t matter anyway because he was useless to them if he didn’t accept who he was (something Emily expected would be an issue when Michael woke up). Even if he did, he was unskilled and unlearned. Emily suspected that being a rove wasn’t as instinctual as being a shifter.
Being a magician was as much an empowered art as it was a learned art. Yeah, you needed to have magic coursing through your blood. But you also had to have knowledge. The most powerful roves were highly skilled. It was always a combination of skill and energy.
Michael might have energy, but he was nothing compared to Marion’s twistedly evil family who combined power and skill with something darker—evil.
“No, Aunt, you can’t give yourself up for him,” Emily said again. This time her tone was stern. “Michael has nothing to offer us yet, except trouble. You, on the other hand, have skill and power.” Emily paused a moment and thought about what she’d said, then added, “It’s what Mom would have wanted.”
Aunt Anastacia held her gaze for a moment. She nodded once and began turning her back on the idle Land Rover. It was a process that took forever. Emily had to assist her. When Anastacia had finally swiveled all the way around, she turned her head to Dad.
Dad hadn’t moved. His eyes were steady on the Land Rover. Emily didn’t know what he thought the vehicle would do from all the way out there.
“Stay alert or come inside and strategize. Either way, those guys out there aren’t getting in here for another full day,” Aunt Anastacia reiterated.
“And what if Gregory comes?” Dad hissed. Emily was stunned by the amount of animosity in his voice. “What if he decides he can’t wait one more day and comes with his evil wife? What then?”
Aunt Anastacia chuckled. “Then we’re screwed. All of us.” She shook her head, bowed it, and started hobbling toward the door. “And the contingency plan is set into motion.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t a good option, Aunty,” Emily said as she opened the door for the woman to continue inside.
“It isn’t.” Aunt Anastacia paused at the door and held Emily’s hand. “Get your dad to come inside, Emily. Don’t let his heart waste away in bitterness. Talk to him. Let him know you don’t blame him for what he’s been through. Otherwise, after this battle, if we win, y
ou will face another of your dad’s own demons.”
The woman broke free of Emily’s hold and started up the staircase, leaving Emily standing in the hallway, wondering what that was all about.
9
Emily went back outside and approached her father’s side. He only acknowledged her with a rough grunt and a slight tilt of his head. When he was done, he was back to looking at the Land Rover.
Emily pondered over what Dad must have been thinking. Perhaps what the Alfreds were still doing locked up in the vehicle?
They had purposely stopped that far out. Why? Were they somehow conjuring a terrifying spell in there? A spell strong enough to collapse the defenses Aunt Anastacia had so carefully crafted? Emily could imagine all three of them with their eyes closed and their hands locked together, chanting and humming a spell—a spell that could counteract the defense systems.
Emily hoped that wasn’t the case. She was really looking forward to sleeping a bit before the defenses went down. Maybe they weren’t able to judge just how far out Aunt Anastacia’s barrier extended. Emily didn’t know how the defenses worked. She and her friends had walked right into the house before they met with any defenses. Why was that the case for them? Had Aunt Anastacia somehow programmed it to work only against roves? Maybe that was it. The external defenses prevented roves from gaining access, and the internal defenses disabled burglars?
She’d have to ask her aunt later on, but seeing the vehicle sitting out there was disconcerting. Marion could just hop out of the car and shoot a blue fireball at her like the last time. Perhaps it could cut right through the barrier and burn her, her dad, and the house to the ground.
That would be an embarrassing way to go . . . without a fight.
Emily abandoned the thoughts of the Alfreds and their car for a moment. Instead, she considered her father. Being self-absorbed sometimes prevented one from really seeing how people felt or thought. She’d had a nice time talking with her father after he’d been freed from Gregory Alfred’s mind trap. Her impression was that it was all well and good.
Controlled by a Fire Demon: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Two Page 4