All Hallows' Magic

by T J Green

  “Of course,” Briar said. “Its season is winter, its nature is grounding, and the cave, its natural manifestation of protection, can be a prison.”

  Alex nodded thoughtfully. “El’s predominant strength is Fire. The complete opposite to Earth on the natural cycle.”

  “But how do we break it?” Reuben asked impatiently. He still sat on the rug, watching them through narrowed eyes.

  Caspian suggested, “We free El from its binding using all the elements. It will take all of us, but now that we know what we’re fighting, we can target it more effectively.”

  “And we’ve almost finalised the spell,” Briar added.

  Avery felt a flush of relief race through her. “Fantastic. When?”

  “Noon.” Caspian moved back to his spell book. “Earth magic is strongest at midnight, therefore weakest at midday. Fire is strongest at midday. We need to place her in the centre of a pentagram. We’ll draw it on the floor.” He pointed to where Reuben sat in the middle of the rug, and then looked back at Avery and Alex. “You injured the witch last night?”

  Alex nodded. “A combination of a fireball, a rugby tackle, and a punch to her face.”

  “You punched her?” Briar asked, wide-eyed.

  “Avery did,” Alex explained with pride as he pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

  “Nice one!”

  Avery laughed, but was uncomfortably aware of Caspian’s appreciative glance in her direction, and she studiously ignored it.

  “Good,” Caspian said. “She’ll be recovering, and that will make our life easier. A spell, as you know, is always connected to the witch who cast it, and it’s no different with curses.”

  “And is El at all improved today?” Avery asked.

  Briar shook her head. “No. She has sunk deeper into the coma again.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by Avery’s phone ringing, and she saw it was Sally. She retreated to the far corner of the room as she answered it. “Hi Sally, everything okay?”

  “I’m afraid not, Avery.” Sally’s voice sounded clipped with annoyance. “You have two visitors here who are refusing to go until they have spoken to you. They are interfering with the smooth running of this shop.”

  Avery imagined Sally was staring right at them as she spoke. It must be the Devices.

  “Did they give a name?”

  “No, other than that they have travelled a long way to see you.”

  “Well, tell them I have business to attend to, and will see them when I’m free,” she answered. And then she dropped her voice, just in case they could hear her. “And don’t offer them coffee.”

  She looked across to Alex as she hung up. “The Devices are here.”

  “Great. Right on cue,” Alex said.

  “Need my help?” Caspian drawled.

  “No,” Avery said abruptly, and then she softened her tone, remembering he was helping them. “You concentrate on El. Me and Alex will meet them and will be back here before midday. Need us to bring anything?”

  “Alex, do whatever you need to do to prepare yourself to connect with El’s spirit. Avery, just bring yourself.”

  ***

  “What’s going on with Caspian?” Alex asked Avery as they walked up the hill towards Happenstance Books. “He seemed odd around you. Creepier than normal.”

  Avery paused for a second, and then decided honesty was the best option. “He told me if I got bored with you to give him a call.”

  “He did what?” Alex asked, stopping in the middle of the street. “The cheeky bastard!”

  She turned to him and laughed. “Very. Clearly I won’t, because he’s an arse and you’re awesome, so you have nothing to worry about, other than maybe me punching him, too.”

  “I’d pay to see that,” he said, and then he frowned. “When did he say that? You didn’t tell me.”

  She rubbed her face, moving out of the way of a local who nodded as he passed. “Yesterday? When he came to ask about Old Haven and the press. So much has happened, I just haven’t had a chance to say.”

  He looked mildly offended. “As long as that’s the only reason.”

  “Of course it is,” Avery said, rushing to reassure him. She pulled him into a shop doorway, out of the drizzle, and wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his gorgeous Alex scent. “You know I have zero interest in Caspian.”

  “Just checking,” he murmured, his dark eyes appraising her.

  She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Never doubt my feelings for you, or my loathing of Caspian.”

  He grinned. “Come on then, or the Devices will be steaming.”

  ***

  As soon as Avery entered Happenstance Books, she could feel a chill in the atmosphere, and it didn’t have anything to do with the heating.

  Sally silently glowered at a couple of witches who sat on the sofa under the window, watching everyone with steely eyes. Other customers had retreated to the far reaches of the shop, leaving the main area deserted. Avery met Sally’s furious glance with raised eyebrows, and immediately turned to the newcomers, who rose as one to greet her.

  There was a man and a woman waiting. Avery estimated the woman was in her sixties, with long, white hair and a fine-boned, aristocratic face, accentuated with high cheekbones and pale brown eyes that were almost amber. She wore a long, sweeping black coat that covered clothes made of velvet and silk. The man was younger, maybe late forties, with salt and pepper hair brushed into a neat side-part. His clothes were also clearly expensive; a sharp, three-piece suit and a fine wool overcoat. Power emanated from them. In fact, Avery was pretty sure they were projecting it to instil fear. Unfortunately, all it did was annoy her.

  Avery spoke first. “I believe you’re waiting for me? I’m Avery Hamilton, and this is Alex Bonneville.”

  The woman answered, a trace of Lancashire to her accent. “We did not expect to wait so long, Ms Hamilton.”

  “I don’t know why not. It’s not like you made an appointment to see me.”

  Her expression froze, and she almost hissed. “Mr Faversham advised you I would be coming.”

  “But he is not my secretary. And your name is?”

  Avery could tell the woman was itching to use magic, and she felt Alex bristling beside her. “Alice Device, and my son, Jeremy Device.”

  “Excellent. Please follow me.” She led the way once more to her back room, Alex following at the rear.

  Once inside with the door firmly closed, Alex leaned against it watchfully, and Alice rounded on her. “Your impertinence is outrageous.”

  “So is yours!” Avery said. “This is my shop, you arrive here unannounced and uninvited, and then have the nerve to criticise me. What century are you from?”

  “Our apologies,” Jeremy said, intervening smoothly. “We have travelled a long way. I think you know. I detected your unique—” he paused, “energy from last night. It was you, wasn’t it? Hovering over our car?”

  Avery turned to him speculatively. “Yes. We thought you’d noticed us. Impressive.”

  “One of my gifts.” He bowed his head, but didn’t drop his eyes.

  Avery took a deep breath and gestured to the table and chairs in the centre of the small room. “We’re tired, too. Please take a seat.”

  Alice looked dismissively around the room, which was as usual, filled with boxes of stock. “May we not sit somewhere more comfortable?”

  Avery had no intention of taking them up to her flat. “Unfortunately not.”

  “We’ll get to the point,” Alice said, still standing. “The Shifters, Hunter Chadwick and his family, have hidden here. They are to return to Cumbria immediately.”

  “Have you asked them?” Avery knew that they had not, because their old-fashioned views meant they had to ask the witches of the town first.

  “Of course not,” Alice confirmed. “They are under your protection.”

  “Yes, they are,” Avery said, deciding that although she hadn’t understood exactly what she had agreed to i
nitially, they absolutely were now. “Returning to Cumbria at the present time is out of the question.”

  Alice stared down her nose at Avery. “You clearly have no understanding of what they have done.”

  “I believe Hunter challenged some guy called Cooper to save his sister, and unfortunately lost the fight. His brother affected a rescue due to the severity of Hunter’s injuries. He is still healing.”

  “That guy is Cooper Dacre, the leader of the pack, and he demands Hunter makes peace or die in a re-challenge. The fight was not completed. It leaves the whole pack in a state of flux. It is unacceptable.”

  Interesting that a pack suffered from political instability.

  “Hunter suspects interference, and fears for his family.”

  “How dare you suggest we interfered with the fight,” Alice said, bright red spots of fury springing up on her pale cheeks.

  “I didn’t, he did, and actually didn’t mention you at all.” Avery paused, letting her inference hang on the air. “You may return to Cumbria now and we will tell you when he is fit enough to travel.”

  “He returns with us today.”

  “No. They sought Sanctuary, and we granted it. We decide when he is ready to leave.”

  Alice fell silent, glaring at Avery with seething resentment, and Avery knew there was nothing she could do. Emboldened by her progress, and feeling Alex’s solidarity from behind, she asked, “Did you oversee the fight?”

  “We witness all challenges.”

  Avery decided guile might be best. “I don’t understand the rules of Shifters and their society. It’s complex to those who don’t participate in it. You work hand in hand with the ruling pack? The Dacres?”

  “Yes. It has been our way for hundreds of years.”

  “So, should a challenger win, your allegiance is to them?”

  Alice blinked. “Yes, of course.”

  “Sounds fascinating. I would love to witness a challenge, wouldn’t you, Alex?”

  “Absolutely,” she heard him reply.

  Avery continued. “I believe Hunter is planning to challenge again, once he recovers and seeks to leave White Haven. I would like to watch, if that’s possible. I have never been to Cumbria, and of course it’s an area famous for its rich history of witches, your family included.”

  “Challenges can be bloody affairs, Miss Hamilton, and are absolutely forbidden to outsiders,” Alice said, and a wave of magic reached a snaky tendril out between them, as if probing Avery’s defences.

  Avery stopped it dead. “Such a shame.”

  Alice’s features suddenly transformed, and her facade of grace disappeared into a snarl as a flare of magic reared up between them. “You mess with things that are beyond your reach, young witch.”

  At that, Avery had enough, and a swirl of wind rose around her, whipping her hair up and off her face and pushing Alice back a step. “They asked for our help, and they will get it. Don’t you dare threaten me! You have no authority in White Haven!”

  Alice lifted her chin defiantly. “And you will have none in Cumbria. Step carefully, Ms Hamilton. Jeremy. A card, please.”

  Jeremy reached into his pocket and extracted a business card that he handed wordlessly to Avery. She received it without breaking eye contact with Alice. “Thank you. I will inform you when he is fit to travel.”

  Alex opened the door and without another word, Alice swept from the room, Jeremy following, and within seconds they heard the shrill jingle of the door bells as they left the shop.

  Avery looked up at Alex. “Holy cow.”

  “I think we’ve just made another enemy,” he said, kissing her forehead gently.

  13

  El’s flat had been transformed in Avery and Alex’s absence. The blinds were shut and there were candles everywhere, brightening the space with a golden glow. The sofa had been pushed back, the rug rolled up, and a pentacle had been drawn on the floor—a circle that encompassed a pentagram.

  The scent of natural oils filled the rooms from several oil burners, and Avery detected mint and rosemary, among others. As she breathed deeply, she felt her head clear and new resolve fill her. “An energising spell,” she said to no one in particular.

  Briar was still putting the finishing touches on the pentagram, but she glanced up at her. “To help with lifting the curse.”

  “Good thinking.” She slipped her shoes off, and placed her coat in the corner, out of the way, as Alex did the same.

  “How did the meeting go?” Caspian asked. He too was ready for the spell. He already sat at the pentagram point of Fire, his grimoire in front of him, and he had also removed his shirt, revealing a pale, lightly muscled chest on which a strange rune had been drawn. The design was echoed in many smaller runes that trailed down his arms and hands in one long chain.

  “Depends on which way you look at it,” Avery explained. “They left without the Shifters, but they weren’t happy.”

  “But guess who’s going to Cumbria when the Shifters return?” Alex said, settling himself at the point of the Spirit at the top of the pentagram. He looked at Caspian. “I presume this is where you want me to sit.”

  Caspian nodded distractedly. “You’re going to Cumbria? Is that wise?”

  “We have no choice.” Avery sat at the point of Air, between Alex and Caspian. “I suspect they will interfere with the fight. Holly pretty much accused them of it.”

  “Haven’t we got enough going on?” Reuben asked, exiting the bathroom wrapped in only a towel and rubbing his hair dry with another.

  “Well, we’re not going now!” Avery chided him, trying to look only at his face. Reuben’s remarkable physique was very disconcerting. “And why are you showering now?”

  “I went for a surf,” he explained. “I needed to clear my head and connect with my magic. I’ve found it’s the best way for me to do it. Back in a tic, and I’ll bring El,” he said as he bounded out of the room.

  When he returned in board shorts and a t-shirt, he carried El in his arms, and he carefully placed her in the centre of the pentagram, her head at the point of Spirit within inches of Alex, and her arms and legs spread to the other elements. She was clothed in loose white cotton trousers and shirt, her skin was pale, almost grey, and her lips were colourless. Avery’s heart sank. She looked on the verge of death, and all other concerns fled from her mind. The only important thing now was El.

  Reuben sat at the point of Water, completing the pentagram, as Briar sat at Earth. A candle burned in front of each of them, the colours corresponding to the elements.

  “What now?” Alex asked, looking to Briar, but Caspian answered.

  “El’s mind is cursed by the Earth element, and she suffocates beneath the weight of it. She’s hanging on by a thread. We need to draw it out, and destroy it. Alex, you must reach for her mind, help her surface, lead her to light and warmth. She will be confused. The rest of us will balance the elements. Briar, as an Earth witch, will be the best placed to bring Earth out of her, and I will nurture with Fire, El’s own element.”

  “Is that your natural element?” Avery asked, realising she hadn’t got a clue what Caspian’s strengths were.

  “No. Like you, my strength is Air, which is why I have witch-flight. No other elemental strength can master that.” He looked puzzled for a moment. “Have you mastered it yet?”

  “No, it evades me,” she confessed.

  “I can give you some pointers,” he said, his dark eyes holding hers for a second before he turned back to his grimoire. “Anyway, I will fill the place of Fire. I can add my strength to El’s emerging power. And then comes the hard part. The curse is like a live thing—it will try to attach itself to something else. I suggested we put it into another animal, like a rabbit. That would be the cleanest option.”

  “But I said no,” Briar interrupted, glaring at Caspian. “I will not allow the death of another creature. And the curse would kill a creature that small.”

  “So, we must trap the curse in something else.
” He gestured to where a large jar of water sat at his side. “You may be wondering why I am covered in runes. They will help to draw the curse up and out into this where we can trap it. It is decidedly more difficult and not without great risk, but if we don’t, El will die.”

  The risks they were taking suddenly sank in, and Avery turned to him, shocked. “The curse will pass through you? But what if you can’t control it, or restrain it?”

  “As soon as the curse lifts from her body, you must join your strength to mine and help me. All except Alex. Never let go of your connection to her mind. Never!”

  Alex nodded, and then closed his eyes to compose himself.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Avery said, staring at Caspian.

  “I will be cursed if I fail, so I do not intend to fail.” He looked to his left at Briar, and then Reuben next to her. “Repeat the words of the spell after me. This will not be quick—or pretty—so be prepared.”

  It was now a few minutes to midday and the rain had returned, filling the flat with a muted, steady drumming that drowned out the sounds of the town. Avery stared at her candle, took deep, calming breaths, and then closed her eyes as she waited for Caspian to begin.

  He started to intone the spell, line by line, which they repeated after him. He called upon each of the elements, and Avery opened her eyes to watch him. His voice was sure and steady, and as he called upon each element, their respective candles flared brighter. Avery felt Air surge to her, and she channelled it, holding it close. Caspian reached forward to hold El’s left foot, and they each reached forward too, grasping the closest limb, which for Avery was El’s left hand.

  El’s skin gave off an unearthly chill, which reinforced Caspian’s belief that she was close to death. Avery’s resolve strengthened. She could not lose El. Reuben could not lose El. Avery looked up at Alex, but his eyes were closed as he held El’s head gently between his hands. An empty potion bottle sat next to him on the floor, and she realised he’d taken something to help his spirit reach El.