by Ally Shields
“We have a plan,” Steffan interjected. “Tom brought us a sleeping potion from Moriana, and the lab brewed gallons of it last night. It’ll take time to cover the entire town, but we’ll spray the trees and put the crows to sleep.”
Ari tried not to look skeptical as she pictured the thousands of birds outside. Moriana must not understand the scope of the problem. The ground would be littered with mounds of feathery carcasses. A mammoth job to remove them. And to where? What would happen when the crows woke?
“How do you plan to contain them? They’re possessed. They’ll come right back.”
Steffan shrugged and looked at Tom.
“We’re looking for a better solution,” the guardian conceded. “A spell to break the enchantment. The sleeping potion will give us another twenty-four hours.”
“I’ve asked the Wizards and Warlocks Association for assistance,” Merlin broke in. “Their researchers should arrive later today. As Tom said, the potion is just a temporary fix.”
They were grasping at straws, but better than doing nothing. “How can I help?”
“You’re on leave,” Merlin reminded her. “If you insist on staying, perhaps you could answer some of the frantic calls we’re receiving.”
Desk duty. Out of the action. Ari clamped her lips shut to stop a protest and nodded. This was what she’d agreed to do. “I’ll be in my office.”
Lilith tagged along beside her, darting surreptitious glances. “Are you OK with this?”
“You should understand…or soon will. Wait until the babies move.”
Three hours later, Ari stood and stretched. Merlin had been right about the number of calls they were getting. If she had to tell one more person to stay calm and remain inside, she might scream. Time for a break. She looked at Lilith, lounging at the conference table, bored and rather sleepy.
“There’s no sense in both of us twiddling our thumbs. I’m stuck here, but there’s no place safer. You might as well talk with Russell now, because as soon as Andreas wakes I’m having you taken off guard duty.”
Lilith stared at her in silence. The rigid neck muscles betrayed the lioness’s instant resentment. “Don’t force my hand like this. You think I’m not fit to protect you?”
“It isn’t that.” Ari kept her gaze steady. “And don’t be so pissy. You know I’m right.”
The anger faded from Lilith’s face. “Yeah, that’s one of the most annoying things about you. OK, I’ll be back in an hour. Stay put.”
* * *
Ari had just hung up the phone when Steffan appeared in her doorway.
“We’re all set with the potion,” he said. “The city loaned us the trucks they use for mosquito spraying, and we’ve borrowed some from surrounding towns. We’re trying to decide where to start. Got an opinion?”
“Goshen Park? It’s more isolated if something goes wrong.”
He cocked his head. “Do you think something will go wrong?”
Ari gave a half shrug. “Can’t say what the crows will do when they see others fall from the trees. They didn’t take well to the guns.”
“But the hunters were killing them.”
“How are the crows going to know the difference?” She got up from her desk and peered out the window. “I don’t know what will happen, Steffan. I’m just saying there are a lot of crows out there.”
“Come on.” He motioned for her to follow him. “I think the others should hear your reservations.”
It was a short discussion. They listened politely and didn’t discount her concerns, but without a better suggestion, they decided to test-drive the potion. Goshen Park was approved as the location. At Steffan’s invitation, Ari joined him and Jena in his Jeep SUV. Many of the Magic Council members and lab techs formed a caravan to observe the test from the safety of their vehicles outside Goshen’s west gate.
Ari called to warn Ryan of the test while they were on the way. As she disconnected, Steffan stopped the Jeep near the park entrance, leaving a good twenty feet between them and the fence lined with black birds. They were just in time to see the spray truck enter the gate.
The truck rolled into the park grounds barely above idle in order not to alarm the crows. The cab was draped with bird netting, and the two men inside wore protective gear borrowed from SWAT. The man in the passenger seat lifted a hand to acknowledge the observers, and then the truck turned toward the nearest trees. The spray arm lifted, dispensed a fine mist, and the truck moved to the next tree.
At first, nothing happened. As the potion took effect, crows dropped to the ground. The truck continued its slow pace, leaving piles of sleeping crows behind it.
Ari leaned forward from the rear seat and observed the birds on the nearby fence. They were watching the activity in the park but hadn’t yet reacted. She could sense the tension building.
Her magic suddenly flared. A rush of foreboding sent adrenaline coursing through her body. “Something’s wrong. Steffan, we have to warn the others to get out of here!”
Then she heard it. A long howl and baying in the distance. The crows took to the air.
“Hellhounds!” Steffan jerked to attention in the driver’s seat, hit his horn repeatedly, and turned the ignition key. The engine roared to life but the sound was dwarfed by the flapping and cawing as the crows dive-bombed the parked cars and trucks, pecking and clawing at windows. Steffan spun the tires backing away and skidded to a halt. Crows blanketed the vehicle, completely obscuring his visibility. He tried the windshield wipers; the creatures were so thick that the wipers couldn’t move.
Ari used her magic to raise a protective shield over the surface of the Jeep and gradually expanded it to several feet from the vehicle. The crows were still thick against her shield, but Steffan could see a few feet of pavement. He drove slowly with Jena and Ari spotting him on both sides. When he reached the first intersection, he turned east.
“I’m heading for the suburbs,” he said. “The birds are concentrated in Olde Town. If we reach the outskirts, maybe we can make a run for it.” His voice tightened. “If the hellhounds find us, they’ll tear the car apart.”
“Why are the hounds out during the day?” Ari muttered. “Sunlight nearly blinds them.” But it didn’t affect their acute sense of smell that allowed them to track their prey.
“What do they want?” Jena asked. “Why is this happening?”
Two very good questions. Ari’s spidey senses screamed this was the work of the O-Seven. Who else had this kind of power? And the elders didn’t need a reason beyond proving they were still top dog.
She used her phone to alert Samuel, Gabriel, and Ryan, and asked Ryan to get Claris to safety. But he'd already taken care of it. “I sent her and Mom to my brother’s two hours ago.”
The usual fifteen-minute drive to the suburbs took more than forty, but finally Ari noticed pinpricks of light within the blackness surrounding them. Then larger portions of the shield cleared, and they could see the sky. As the density of birds eased, the baying of the hounds became more distinct.
Ari shivered. That’s why the birds were leaving… The hellhounds had picked up the trail of the Jeep.
Steffan called his wolf pack and began barking orders as if preparing his home for a siege: boarding the windows and bringing out heavy artillery, including flamethrowers. Tossing his phone in his fiancée’s lap, Steffan stomped on the gas and the car leaped forward.
Ari felt Andreas wake. Oh no, it couldn’t be three o’clock already.
His jolt of alarm sizzled across their telepathic link. “Where are you?”
“I’m with Steffan and Jena, on the way to his house. I’m safe.”
“Like hell you are. Not from hellhounds.” He shut the connection.
Ari’s heart pounded with rising panic. He would try to get to her. The hounds would tear him to pieces.
She tried to open their link again and called him on the phone. He ignored her.
The baying was louder now, but Steffan’s house was only two blocks
away. They were going to make it. Steffan turned into his neighborhood and slammed on the brakes. The baying behind them abruptly stopped. A dozen black-furred hellhounds blocked the street, forming a line that stretched from side to side. Their eyes flashed a fiery red, and venom dripped from the massive jaws.
They’d driven into a trap.
Ari increased the strength of the magical barrier around the car, but it wouldn’t hold them off for long. She’d expended constant power for almost an hour, and no matter how much she’d tried to conserve, she was tapping into her last reserves.
Steffan backed up the Jeep. The other pack of devil dogs rounded the corner and closed in behind them. He hit the brakes again. “I’m open to ideas.”
“Go forward,” Jena urged. “We’ll be closer to the house and the rest of our pack. As long as Ari’s shield holds, we have a chance.”
“Decide quickly,” Ari warned. “It’s now or never.”
Thunder clashed behind them. Ari whipped around to see magical lightning strike the hounds in the rear. Among the yelps and growls, Andreas raced toward them, surrounded by a dozen of his weretigers.
Ari opened her door and would have gotten out to join the fight if Jena hadn’t grabbed her arm and hung on. Climbing over the seat, Jena slammed the door and screamed, “Go, Steffan. Go!”
The Jeep lurched forward, cutting a path through the oncoming hounds. Hard bodies rocked the car and brought it to a standstill. Claws scraped against metal. A window shattered. Andreas reached the car and yanked the attackers off as fast as they came. The weretigers leaped on the backs of the hounds, biting and clawing until flung off by the larger creatures.
Ari fought to break free Jena’s hold, but the she-wolf tightened her arms, using her Otherworld strength to force the issue.
Steffan reached for the door latch.
“Don’t you dare,” Jena yelled. “Both of you think about our safety and the baby’s.”
Steffan froze in place; Ari placed her hands against the window, staring helplessly at Andreas. She should be doing something to help him. He and the tigers were seriously outnumbered. Two were down. Andreas’s arm was bleeding. Only his superior speed and athletic ability kept him from going down.
A different howl ripped through the air.
“Yes!” Steffan straightened and pounded the steering wheel.
Dozens of werewolves charged toward them with Gilbert, Steffan’s second in command, in the lead. The moment the hellhounds turned to face them, Steffan unlocked his door.
“What are you doing?” Jena demanded.
“I’m not pregnant. Lock it behind me.” He shoved the door open and slammed it closed.
Even hellborn devil dogs were no match for the overpowering numbers of angry werewolves. The wolves circled the car at a hard run, engaging and tearing apart the hounds they could catch. Those that ran away were chased.
Andreas tried the Jeep door, found it locked, and ripped it off. He pulled Ari into his arms, nearly crushing her ribs. He was shaking, which scared her more than anything else that had happened that day.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ari clung to Andreas’s shoulders and felt him regain control.
“You’re leaving town,” he said tightly. “Tonight.”
“You’re hurt.” Ari dropped her hands to his arm.
“You’re leaving town,” he repeated.
“I heard you. Yes, I’ll go.” She met his eyes. “But I need to know you’ll be safe.”
“Can you guys talk about this later?” Steffan interrupted. “We need to get off the street.”
Police sirens wailed in the distance.
Steffan waved a hand at the wolves crowding around them. “Get out of here, and take our casualties. We’ll handle the authorities.”
The pack immediately scattered, fading into the surrounding neighborhood, and Andreas sent his weretigers with them. Steffan retrieved the Jeep Cherokee’s passenger door, shook his head at Andreas, and stuck it in the back.
Ari called Ryan, giving him a quick and dirty report. By the time the first cop car slid to a stop, he was already on the other line with police brass at the main Riverdale station. Four cruisers pulled up several yards away, and the officers got out. Each cop had one hand hovering near his weapon.
“What’s going on here?” one of them called.
“My name’s Arianna Calin. I’m the guardian for Olde Town.” She walked slowly toward them holding up her badge and her phone. She hoped a pregnant woman would look the least threatening, even though her shirt was stained with Andreas’s blood. “Lt. Ryan Foster would like to talk with one of you.”
“Stop right there.” The officer said something to his fellow cops, then slowly approached her. His eyes never left her face as he took the phone. After a moment, his shoulders relaxed. “OK, Lieutenant. Got it.” He handed her the phone. “What can we do for you?”
Ari suppressed a sigh of relief. Some of the downtown cops could be real pricks. They’d gotten lucky. “If you block off the streets for a while, most of this mess will clean up itself. We’ll move the car.”
“What about the bodies?” He stared at the closest one. “Is that thing steaming?”
“Um, they’re Otherworlders.” She didn’t want to spook him by talking about hellhounds. “They’ll disintegrate to dust in a few minutes.”
“You don’t say.” Even his cop cool seemed a bit shaken by that. “And all this blood?” He waved a hand at the splattered pavement.
“Honestly, it won’t be long before there’s nothing to see.”
“Makes it easy on your cleanup crews, I guess, but forensics must go nuts.” He took off his cap and smoothed back his hair. “I guess you don’t worry about evidence much.”
“Usually don’t need the physical kind. Otherworlders aren’t very subtle. I still write a hell of a lot of reports.”
He gave her a crooked grin, acknowledging the brotherhood of paperwork. “I’ll block off the street. Half an hour.” He walked back to his cruiser and spoke briefly with the others. They split into three groups: one car stayed near the bodies, the others drove to the ends of the block and pulled across to stop traffic.
Ari returned to the Jeep. She scanned the neighborhood for onlookers and noticed three crows sitting on a nearby rooftop. Then four more crows arrived. “The officers agreed to keep the neighbors away until the scene is clean, but we have other company.” She lifted her chin toward the crows. “Shall we go?”
When they tramped into Steffan’s house, Gilbert and some two dozen wolves were waiting. “Well, that was interesting,” Gilbert said. He wasn’t smiling. “Can we expect more?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Steffan looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”
“In the woods out back, morphing and getting dressed. A few went home, worried about their own families.”
“My tigers?” Andreas asked.
“Also out back. One of them is pretty mangled, but I think he’ll recover.”
Andreas frowned. “I’ll check on them.”
Steffan put a hand on Andreas’s arm. “Before you go…I agree with what you said back there. Ari can’t go home to Olde Town. What if she stays here?”
She cleared her throat. “Don’t I have a say in this?”
“Sorry.” But Steffan didn’t look the least bit contrite. Alpha males had a strong tendency to deal with one another and ignore everyone else. “We have a large wolf clan, and they’re willing to fight.”
Andreas shook his head. “Our enemies know she’s here, and they’ll come after her again. She—and anyone around her—won’t be safe.”
“That’s presuming she’s the main target,” Steffan said. “Most of the birds stayed in Olde Town. Why aren’t they here?”
“The crows are gathered around the Magic Hall. Maybe they’re after the council,” Gilbert suggested.
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Ari muttered.
Gilbert shrugged. “OK, you explain it.”
; “I can’t. But they’re also around our house and the club. And they follow me. I know the O-Seven is involved. Who else could call crows and unleash the hellhounds? And if I’m right, why would they suddenly attack the council? They’ve never paid any attention to them before. It’s always us,” she said, glancing at Andreas.
Gilbert still looked unconvinced. “But you’re both here now, so why aren’t the crows?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Andreas interrupted the pointless discussion. “We’ll find out soon enough, and I want Arianna gone by then.”
“But where? My grandparents’ home and the coven in Perry are both too obvious. Moriana offered me sanctuary in St. Louis,” she added reluctantly, “but I don’t want to go that far.”
Steffan grew restless. “You two thrash this out. Gilbert and I will check on the injured. I still think we can protect Ari here,” he said as he closed the back door.
Jena turned away to help with the fortification of the house, and Andreas took Ari aside. “You would be safe with Zylla.”
She looked startled. “You know I can’t stay in the caverns.” In Germany she’d realized she hadn’t shaken the claustrophobia that had plagued her childhood. It didn’t affect her under most conditions, but she couldn’t sleep or stay underground more than a few hours. A few days was unthinkable. “There has to be someplace else.”
“Toronto?”
“It’s too far, and their compound is completely underground. Remember how edgy I got staying there? What about Kyra’s family? I’d still be close. Their hut in the woods is really hard to find, and they’d never betray me.”
“The nymphs are not warriors.” Andreas’s brows lowered. “In a fight, they could offer no protection.”
“That’s true, and I don’t want to endanger them. But I’d be well hidden. What are the chances of discovery? If I sense any danger at all, see even one crow, I’ll go to Moriana.”