Moonglow: Blood Magic Book 2

by L.H. Cosway

  Rita nodded, and I saw a million different theories as to what these people might be up to flit across her face, none of them positive. “With rituals, normally you need to perform them at a particular time in a particular place, which is good because perhaps the time isn’t upon us yet. That gives us the chance to try and stop them.”

  “Okay, that’s good news, I guess.”

  Rita shook her head. “Not exactly. The winter solstice is tomorrow night. It’s highly probable that’s when they’ll be performing the ritual.”

  A brick settled in the pit of my stomach. Tomorrow night? I was going to have to work fast. “What exactly is the winter solstice?”

  “It’s the shortest day and the longest night of the year,” Rita explained. “It’s often a symbol of new beginnings and rebirth for magical folk. Tegan, do you happen to have anything on you that belonged to your dad?”

  I rubbed my forehead, too much information swirling in my brain. Then I remembered. “Yes, I’ve got an old broken watch of his. I’d always meant to have it repaired but never got around to it.”

  “That’s perfect. I think I might be able to perform a locator spell with it.”

  “Are you sure about this, Reet?” Alvie asked warily. “You’ve been under a lot of stress since the fire. Perhaps you should rest for another day before you try any difficult spells.”

  Rita scoffed. “I dealt with clients all day yesterday and I was fine. Plus, I healed Finn’s wound perfectly. Besides, the solstice is tomorrow. We don’t have time to wait around.”

  “Yeah, but a locator spell takes a lot of magic. I’m just worried about you overdoing it, Reet.”

  “I can do this.” Her voice was hard and determined.

  “Fine,” Alvie said, throwing his hands in the air. “But don’t come crying to me if it all goes belly up.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t. Besides, you’re going to help us do it.”

  Alvie flopped back in surrender. “Of course I am.”

  “So, is my dad’s old broken watch all you need for this spell?” I asked hopefully.

  “Not nearly,” Rita replied. “But don’t worry, I can get most of the ingredients for it this afternoon.”

  I smiled my thanks, standing from the table.

  “Oh, there’s one other thing we might require,” Rita went on.

  “What’s that?”

  “We need the help of somebody with a talent for breaking and entering.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll go get Finn.”

  ***

  I knocked tentatively on the living room door once I heard Finn end his phone conversation with Pamphrock. Sounding tired, he called for me to come in. Wolf sat on the couch next to him, his big head resting on Finn’s lap.

  Finn ran a hand through the dog’s fur. “What’s up, Tegan?”

  I sat down in one of the armchairs. “I need a favour, but first, what did Pamphrock say when you told him the news?”

  “He wasn’t exactly jumping around in glee if that’s what you’re asking. He was pissed. He’s putting plans into motion to raid Whitfield’s mansion tomorrow night.” He paused to glance at me. “He told me to thank you for the heads up. He said you’ll still get your final payment even though you aren’t going to be the one to rescue Rebecca yourself.”

  I started to get a little stressed. So much was going to be happening tomorrow night. Rebecca’s rescue mission. The possible ritual with my dad. It was all a bit overwhelming.

  “I’m just glad I could help,” I replied quietly.

  Finn studied me now. “So, what’s this favour you wanted to ask of me? It wouldn’t happen to be based in the bedroom, would it? Because I could use a little something to take the edge off right now.”

  “Funny,” I replied, deadpan. “But no. Rita, Alvie, and I are going to be performing a spell to try and locate my dad later today. She told me we needed someone good at breaking and entering, and I immediately thought of you.”

  Finn put his hand on his chest, like a damsel receiving a compliment from a cowboy in an old Western movie. “Well, colour me flattered. Fine, I’ll help you, but only because I owe you one for coming back to Tribane and helping us with Rebecca.”

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know when we need you.”

  Later on, I showered and changed into some jeans and a comfortable T-shirt. There’d been a constant pit in my stomach all day though. My head was all over the place, filled with worry for my dad, fear of being caught spying on the vampires, my lust for Ethan, and the unsettling thought that him biting me didn’t exactly fill me with disgust as it should.

  I headed downstairs and Rita filled me in on what we were going to do. Apparently, there were many different kinds of locator spells you could cast, but not all of them were very accurate. Supposedly, your best bet was to cast your spell somewhere high up, in a place at the very centre of the area where you’re searching. And so, because my dad was more than likely being kept somewhere in the vicinity of Tribane, we were going to perform the spell at the top of one of the most centrally located buildings in the city.

  It also happened to be the tallest building in the city. One hundred stories high, the Gregory David complex was home to various big wig corporations. Good thing I wasn’t afraid of heights.

  I wondered how my mother managed to avoid being found for so many years, since supposedly any witch or warlock could perform a basic locating spell. Perhaps she cast her own spell to disguise her location. It was the only possibility that made sense.

  I chewed my nails as we drove in Finn’s van on our way to the complex. Wolf had tagged along, and I thought that if we ran into any trouble the dog would help give us an intimidating air. It was just after seven when we headed down the street toward the looming skyscraper. The place should’ve been fairly empty since most office workers finished up at five or six. That also meant there would be fewer people around to catch us on our way up to the roof.

  Rita carried a black rucksack containing the things she needed for the spell, while I brought my dad’s broken watch, which sat like a lump of memories in my pocket. I missed him so much.

  Finn pulled to a stop, parking the van in a free spot, and we all clambered out. Before we left the house, Finn instructed us all to wear darkly coloured clothing as it would be less conspicuous.

  We followed him to the side of the building, where there was a heavy-duty steel door with a computerised entry system built into the wall beside it. Finn whipped out some sort of box-shaped contraption and clipped it onto the entry system, which immediately lit up. Complicated codes ran rapidly across the screen, while Finn hit a series of buttons before there was a muted click. He popped the little box back into his bag and pulled open the door.

  “Now that was fucking cool,” Rita exclaimed with a grin. She was one of those people who enjoyed getting up to no good, and I wondered if she’d inherited the trait from her father.

  “I feel like I’m in some kind of heist movie,” Alvie whispered excitedly. “If you ever decide to give up the vampire slaying you should consider a career as a professional bank robber.”

  Finn smirked at that. “I did always wonder what it would be like to play the part of a modern-day Robin Hood.” He led us up a flight of stairs. We’d climbed several flights when I had to pause to catch my breath. Wolf stopped and gave me a nudge with his snout, encouraging me to keep going. I petted his head before I heard Finn’s laughter drifting down to me. “Aw, not fit for the climb, are you, baby?”

  I scowled up at him. “Can’t we take the elevator?”

  Finn leaned over the railing now, his grin intolerable. “We could, but to do that we’d have to break into the main part of the building, which will be riskier in terms of getting caught.”

  “Let’s try it,” Rita urged, though I sensed she wanted to do it more for the thrill rather than because she was sick of climbing stairs.

  Finn looked at her a moment. “You sure? We’ll be fucked if we get caught.”


  Rita smiled widely. “One hundred percent sure.”

  So, it was settled. I stood up and climbed to the next landing where there was a door leading into the main part of the building. It had a similar security system to the one on the outside. Finn worked his magic a second time, and we all scurried down the carpeted corridor before coming to the elevator. Rita hit the button, and I felt like my heart was going to explode with nerves as the seconds ticked by and we waited for the doors to open.

  Finally, they did, and I let out a long, relieved sigh to find it empty. Finn chuckled and gently pushed me forward as Alvie hit the button for the very top floor. I watched as the numbers slowly rose, feeling that sudden dragging sensation as we ascended.

  “What if the security guard spots us on the cameras?” I asked, worried, as we reached the top floor. We left the elevator and climbed one final set of stairs. Finn had to jimmy the door which opened onto a massive, empty concrete roof. I peered around at the panoramic views.

  “Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen,” Finn replied. “But if it does you might want to try summoning up those magical sparks of yours from the other night.”

  “I don’t even know how I did that.” If we got caught up here, I definitely wasn’t going to be the one to get us out of it.

  “Don’t worry,” Rita assured. “If anything goes wrong, I know a confusion spell that will give us enough time to get the hell out of dodge.”

  “See?” Finn said, looking at me. “Relax. We’re golden.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that, but I tried to take his advice while Rita found a spot and began setting up her spell. She and Alvie spread a blanket out on the cold concrete ground and started pulling various other items from her rucksack. I recognised the wooden board from the night on Ridley Island.

  I paced, and Wolf padded alongside me as I neared the edge of the building. My heart slammed in my throat as I looked directly down and saw how small everything seemed from up here. The world was so far below me. Two strong arms pulled me back, and I twisted to find Finn scowling at me.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he questioned roughly.

  “I didn’t know you cared so much.”

  “I promised I’d protect you, didn’t I? Even if it is from your own stupidity.”

  “Whatever.” I pulled away from him and went over to sit with Rita and Alvie, who were just about ready to begin. Rita picked up a bottle of water and poured it into her spell bowl. There were various herbs in clear plastic bags, as well as a pen and paper and two thin, L-shaped pieces of metal with ornately carved handles. I raised an eyebrow and asked Rita what they were for.

  “You’ve never heard of dowsing rods?”

  “It rings a vague bell,” I admitted.

  “People used them back in the olden days,” Alvie said. “Except back then it wasn’t metal rods. They’d find a Y-shaped branch from a willow tree, hold onto each end with their hands, and the bit that pointed out would lead them to a location where there was water.”

  “Did that actually work?”

  “Supposedly,” Rita said. “We don’t need them for the actual spell though. They’re only an extra precaution if the spell doesn’t give us all the answers we need. The dowsing rods will point in the direction your father is being kept. If he’s somewhere in this city, we’ll find him.”

  “But you just said they were used to find bodies of water, not people,” I interjected.

  “That’s true. In magic, though, they can be used to locate missing people and things.” Rita continued adding items to her spell bowl, listing each ingredient by name; hyacinth, jasmine, lotus, sandalwood, tamarisk, and lastly, cowslip.

  I looked over at Finn, who was standing nearby with Wolf by his side, quietly watching us. Rita handed me the pen and paper. “I want you to think of a time in the past when you shared a moment with your dad, a time when you felt close to him. Once you have the scene in your head, keep your eyes closed and write his full name out onto the paper, then fold it in half, and throw it into the bowl.”

  I closed my eyes, the pen gripped firmly in my hand. Various memories presented themselves, but the one I chose was particularly emotional. It happened on the anniversary of my mother’s death when I was seventeen. I’d walked into my dad’s room to find him staring at a photo of her, tears streaming down his face. Shocked by his grief, I ran to him and hugged him tightly. It was one of the few times I’d ever seen him cry.

  I kept the memory in my mind’s eye as I pressed the paper out flat on my thigh, lifted the pen, and scribbled down his name.

  Martin Frederick Stolle.

  I folded it in half once I was done and threw it into the water. Rita had a serene look on her face. It was like she became this whole other person when she cast spells. Someone serious and powerful.

  She picked up my dad’s watch and threw it into the water. Then she lifted a finger and began to stir a clockwise circle into the concoction. She pulled her finger out and the liquid continued to swirl on its own, the magic taking over. It sped up, then suddenly stilled. An image appeared. At first, all I could see was white. Moments later, my dad came into view. He sat on a thin mattress with pale sheets that reminded me of a hospital bed.

  The room looked cold and sterile with no unnecessary furnishings in view. I stared at his face, but he didn’t look scared, just resigned. Fear and anger coagulated in my gut. At that moment, I knew I was going to kill whoever took him.

  Dad stood and went to peer out a tiny window, but the view was mostly blocked by metal bars. He let out a weary sigh, turned, and shuffled over to the door, knocking three times. A moment later, a thin frosted glass window, no more than two inches high and three wide, slid open. A face was on the other side, but all you could see was the mouth.

  It was definitely a male mouth and slightly older judging from the set wrinkles around the lips. The lips were strangely familiar, but my brain just couldn’t seem to place them.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” Dad said to the faceless man. The mouth opened, and I was on tenterhooks to hear the voice because maybe then I’d be able to remember who that mouth belonged to. But then the image in Rita’s spell bowl dissolved.

  “Fuck!” she swore. “It should’ve lasted longer than that.”

  “We need to get the image back,” I said frantically.

  “I can’t do it again,” Rita said regretfully. “I’m all tapped out for the day and I don’t have enough ingredients left either.”

  I let out a low curse while Finn came to sit by me. “I didn’t recognise that place. Whoever’s keeping him was clever enough to block out the view.”

  Anxiety thrummed through my body because now I knew that my dad really was being held by some unknown captor. He hadn’t decided to up and retire in the Bahamas, as much as I wished that were the case.

  Rita fished my dad’s broken watch out of her spell bowl, dried it off, and handed it back to me. I hadn’t minded destroying it with water if it meant finding Dad, but we were still none the wiser as to where he was.

  “Don’t lose hope. We still have the dowsing rods,” Alvie reminded me. “They can point us in the right direction.”

  “Okay, what do I need to do with them?”

  Rita picked up the rods and ran them through the concoction in the bowl before handing them over to me. Little drops of liquid dripped off the thin metal. She stood and motioned for me to follow her before taking Dad’s watch from me and placing it down on the ground and handing me the rods. I gripped the handles in each of my hands, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a strange rush go through me the moment my hands made contact with their carved surface.

  Rita told me to hold them straight out above the watch and to visualise my father in my mind. I did as she said, but nothing happened for a moment. Then I felt a dragging sensation coming directly from the rods. I allowed my body to turn with the motion of the rods as they dragged me around, causing me to spin in a circle several times. The pull was
so strong that I couldn’t resist it if I tried. I grew dizzy, losing my sense of orientation. I opened my eyes, and the world turned upside down in my fuzzy spinning vision.

  When I looked at the rods, they were sparkling. Suddenly, the spinning stopped. The rods had selected a direction. I wasn’t prepared for it when they pulled me forward, propelling my body to the edge of the roof.

  Rita and Alvie called out in fright, yelling at me to let go of the rods, but my hands were glued to the handles. I couldn’t let go. Instead, I slammed into the wall at the edge of the building, the upper half of my body hanging off as the rods tried to pull me over. I panicked because more of me was off the roof than on. Then I made the mistake of looking down and fear clenched in my gut. Below me lay certain death.

  The next thing I knew I was being pulled back onto the roof. Finn wrapped his arms around my waist, while Wolf pulled on the end of my jeans with his mouth. I fell back on top of Finn, my heart thumping loudly against my rib cage.

  “Goodness!” Rita shouted. “For a second there I thought you were done for.”

  “That’s you and me both.” My breathing was laboured. Alvie rushed to my side, checking me over for injuries, while Wolf whined and licked me on the face. I petted his soft, thick fur, and the feel of his lovely coat relaxed me. The dowsing rods lay innocently by my feet as if they hadn’t just tried to bloody kill me.

  Rita gestured in the direction of where the rods had pointed. “I think your dad is being kept somewhere in the vicinity of Freemont Park.”

  “That’s vampire territory,” Finn said, perturbed.

  I rubbed my head in confusion. “But I thought it was a witch or a warlock who took him?”

  “That might still be the case,” Rita replied. “They could be keeping him on the south side so that if they get caught it will be easier to pin it on the vamps.”

  Finn stood in front of me, offering me his hand to pull me up. His expression was serious.

  “Thanks,” I said, my voice quiet. “For saving me, I mean.”