Dark Harvest Magic (Ella Grey Series Book 2)

by Jayne Faith

  “But so far you’ve succeeded in overcoming the temptation, right?”

  Sighing, I pulled a hand down the side of my face. “Yeah, but I can tell the reaper isn’t satisfied with that. It’s trying to find a way to force me to collect the souls instead of reaping them. With Amanda I didn’t have too much trouble overcoming the temptation. This time it was a lot harder. Maybe when it’s consumed a little more of me, I won’t have a choice. It’s learning, Damien. It’s watching and observing, figuring out how to control me with more skill.”

  I clamped my arms against my sides, suddenly chilled.

  “I say we take that up later,” he said after a couple of silent seconds. “You’re still here, you haven’t done anything wrong, and you seem relatively okay.”

  I could tell he was just as worried as before but trying to make me feel better.

  “I guess so.” I nodded. I watched as he passed his hands over his face and then sighed heavily. “Hey, are you dating anyone?”

  “Huh?” His expression tightened back into alarm at the abrupt topic change, and he searched my face. “Maybe I spoke too soon. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “No, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I said. “You haven’t mentioned anyone, and I just wanted to, you know, see how your love life was going.”

  He snorted a laugh. “It’s not. Going, that is. But that’s okay, we’ve got other things to worry about.”

  I echoed his wry laugh. “I guess you’re right. But if you need me to introduce you around or whatever . . .”

  “Maybe later.” He scooted forward. “Okay, tell me what happened with Lynnette.”

  I recounted the entire story of my stupidity, starting with the first time I’d met the exorcist witch and inadvertently allowed her to magically bind me into a promise.

  When I got to the part about getting forced into Lynnette’s coven, I couldn’t tell if Damien was more horrified or amused.

  “You?” he said with a tiny giggle. “A coven witch?”

  I did a slow blink and nodded miserably. “But only until I can get out of it. I don’t trust her. I think we need her in order to deal with the Baelman, but beyond that I don’t want anything to do with her, which means I’ve got to convince Deb to get out too.”

  Just at that moment, my best friend breezed through the front door. Damien and I both jumped.

  “Did you lose your phone?” she demanded, hands on hips. “I’ve been texting and calling for the past two hours.”

  I smacked my skull with my palm.

  “I left it in the truck.” I stood and gave her a long-faced look. “I’m going to run and get it, and then I hope you’ve got a minute because I need to tell you a few things.”

  When I came back in and confessed that I was—at least for the moment—part of the coven, Deb sprang from the sofa with a squeal and actually danced. She did a full turn, shaking her backside and gyrating her arms in the air as if club music pumped in her head.

  She caught the look on my face and flopped back down beside me. For a second she tried to suppress her broad smile, but she couldn’t hold it back.

  “The coven will be sealed soon,” she informed me. “We’ll have to do a circle ceremony to bind the members and then send in paperwork to make it official.”

  “Great, I can’t wait,” I said flatly.

  I’d have to look into the process of un-joining a coven, but I’d do it quietly on my own later. No reason to stomp all over Deb’s joy right away.

  “Aw, come on.” She punched my shoulder lightly. “It’s a huge honor. In fact, I never ever would have guessed Lynnette would actually invite a Level I into the coven.”

  She sobered as she tilted her head and stared off across the room. Her expression pulled into an almost frown.

  “Yeah, exactly,” I said, guessing what Deb was thinking. “She has her reasons for wanting me, and whatever they are, they’re for her benefit. Not mine. I know she’s your friend, but she’s used to manipulating people until she gets what she wants. I don’t trust her at all.”

  Deb rubbed one of her temples, looking deflated. “I was so excited to have you in the coven, I guess I kind of brushed past the fact that she’s forcing you to do it against your will. Sorry, Ella. That was kind of crappy of me.”

  I flipped a hand in the air, softening a little. “No need to apologize.”

  “You still haven’t gotten to the part about the ghost house,” Damien said from the leather chair, where he’d been watching us quietly.

  She gave me a sharp look. “The house where the foster kids died?”

  She reached for her necklace and wove it around her fingers in a nervous little gesture, seeming to shrink into herself.

  I nodded. Deb hadn’t been there at the time of the fire, but she’d lived in that house for a short period during the years she spent in the foster system. She didn’t talk about her experiences much, but it didn’t take a degree in psychology to understand where her deep longing for a happy home and big family came from.

  In the briefest terms possible, I told her about the mass reaping.

  She chewed her lip for a second and then looked at me. “I think it’s really good all those little souls can move on now.” One hand moved briefly to her pregnant belly.

  We were all silent for a moment.

  I gave her a little smile. “Oh, and Lagatuda asked about you. He seemed concerned about how you were doing.”

  I kept my voice neutral, wanting to gauge her response to see if she’d picked up on the detective’s interest in her.

  “That’s nice of him,” she said absently.

  I flicked a look at Damien, and one of his brows arched. Apparently Deb was oblivious. Not that I was surprised. She was so wholesome she probably couldn’t even consider that a good guy like Lagatuda could have feelings for a married woman.

  “When is Keith coming home, anyway?” I asked.

  She took a loud, exasperated breath in through her nose. “Tonight or tomorrow.” Her short tone made it clear she didn’t want to talk about her husband.

  My phone and Deb’s chimed at the same time.

  “Text from Lynnette,” she said and then glanced over at my phone’s screen. “It looks like you’re on the distribution list now.”

  Hey witches! Mandatory gathering tonight. My house, 7 pm.

  Chapter 20

  I TRIED NOT to sound like a sulky child when I asked Deb if there was anything I should do to prepare for the coven meeting. And I could tell she was doing her best to not seem too ecstatic that I would be attending. She headed home, and Damien also departed not long after.

  Exhausted after the events of the past couple of days, I collapsed on the sofa and fell asleep for a few hours. When I awoke, it was full dark outside.

  As I got ready, changing into warmer clothes after Deb’s warning that we’d be outdoors for part of the evening, I tried to look on the bright side. If I had to do this, I could at least take the opportunity to try to discover more about the rip magic Lynnette was harvesting and any other questionable things she was up to. I hadn’t mentioned the rip magic to Deb. I knew she’d be hurt that the exorcist witch had let me in on a coven-related activity Deb didn’t know about. But more importantly I intended to use this fact and the danger of what Lynnette was doing as leverage to convince Deb to leave the coven. But first, I had to figure out how to get myself out of the binding agreement with Lynnette.

  There was a tap of a car horn out front, and my phone buzzed with a text. Deb had arrived to shuttle me to Lynnette’s.

  I paused to scratch the spot between Loki’s ears. “Wish me luck, boy.” His tail thumped the sofa cushion a couple of times.

  Halfway down the front walk, I could already hear 90s grunge blasting from the Honda’s stereo. I angled myself into the low-slung front passenger seat, and Deb lowered the volume partway.

  She squeezed my forearm, and even in the weak light from the dash, I could see the excited anticipation shining in her eyes. />
  “Aw, come on,” she cajoled. “You look like you’re going to your own execution.”

  I gave her an apologetic shrug.

  “At least it gives us an excuse to hang out together,” she said.

  “True.”

  I leaned forward and turned the music back up as Deb’s 90s playlist switched to Nirvana. I wasn’t in the mood for chitchat or mustering up fake enthusiasm.

  When we reached Lynnette’s street, we passed by the cars already lining the curb. We had to park a block away and walk, kicking through the crunchy fall leaves. Considering we were only a few days from the start of November, it wasn’t as bone-chillingly uncomfortable out as it could have been.

  A car door slammed across the street, and I recognized Jennifer Kane, the vampire witch, getting out of her SUV.

  Deb and I stopped to wait for her.

  “Hey, how are you?” Deb greeted Jen with a hug. “Did you get your poor house put back together?”

  “Oh yeah, good as new.” Jen eyed me. “Welcome to the club, reaper witch.” She let out her cackley laugh.

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help a small laugh of my own.

  “The others don’t know about the reaper, do they?” I asked, my voice low as we went through the gate in front of Lynnette’s house.

  “No, just me and Lynnette,” Jen said. “But not for long. You can’t keep secrets in a coven.”

  A few choice four-letter words streamed through my mind, but we were at the door, so I had to keep my displeasure in check.

  Jennifer knew about my reaper because she’d more or less helped me confirm what it was using her scrying mirror. And she’d told Lynnette, hoping to get the exorcist witch’s help with a possible magic solution to halt the reaper’s chow-down on my soul. At the time, I’d figured letting Lynnette in on my secret was worth the risk. But I deeply regretted that she knew anything at all about me. In retrospect, I realized it had probably just made her bent on maneuvering me into her coven. And so far, she and Jen hadn’t come up with anything to keep the reaper from killing me. Lose-lose for Ella Grey.

  I suppressed an exasperated sigh as the three of us went inside, peeled off our jackets, and added them to the pile on the antique iron bench set against one wall of the entry.

  The chatter of voices carried to us from farther back in the house. The smoky forms in my periphery gyrated a little, as if anticipating the gathering.

  Every head turned our way when we entered the kitchen, where the overhead lights were dimmed and the flames of several candles warmed the stark neutrals of the finishes. Even though I knew we weren’t late, it looked as if we were the last to arrive.

  I recognized many of the faces from when most of the coven had gathered at my place after Amanda’s death. As they watched me, some of them weren’t exactly welcoming. It hit me that I was taking the place of their dead friend. Lynnette had her twelve for her coven—thirteen counting her—but then one had died. I felt stupid for not thinking of it before, and uncomfortable with the realization that my presence was made possible only through the loss of someone they cared about.

  I nodded a cool greeting at Lynnette out of respect for her position in the group, but hung back as the witches shifted around. Most of them looked to their leader to take in her reaction to my arrival. Sensing the pause in the group, she quickly moved out from behind the island.

  With a surprisingly kindly smile that I didn’t trust in the least, she spread her arms in a welcoming gesture.

  “Ella, we’re so blessed to have you joining us,” she said with a magnanimous tone. She beckoned with a rolling movement of one arm. “Please, come in, and I’ll get you some mulled wine.”

  The tense pause in the room seemed to resolve itself back into the soft din of conversation, though there were still several sidelong glances my way as I followed our host to the Crockpot and tray of mugs set out on the counter.

  Lynnette lifted the lid off the ceramic inset, and the smell of red wine and winter spices wafted out.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said casually as she ladled some deep red liquid into a mug.

  “As if I had a choice.”

  I mustered up a fake smile for show as she passed the wine to me.

  “For a while, they’re going to be a little sensitive about you taking Amanda’s place,” she said, ignoring my tone and insincere expression. “That’s to be expected. But it won’t be long before they accept you as one of us.”

  I took a sip of the hot wine and tried not to pull a yuck face at the sweetness of it.

  “Sounds like they’re firmly under your control,” I said pointedly. “Are they all here under their own will, or did you trick them into joining, too?”

  Lynnette’s face clouded for the briefest of moments. “No one is here under persuasion.”

  “Except me.”

  “There are plenty of benefits here for you,” she said. “In time you’ll thank me.”

  I let out a surprised bark of a laugh at her boldness. “I sincerely doubt that.”

  Something caught her eye, and I turned to see a couple of women were trying to get Lynnette’s attention.

  “Excuse me, it looks like I’m being summoned.” She gave me a smile and touched my forearm, but again I knew it was just for the sake of appearance, and I caught the flinty flash in her eyes. “My home is yours, make yourself comfortable.”

  Right.

  Deb saw me standing by the Crockpot alone and came over to fill a mug for herself.

  “I don’t think they want me here,” I said bluntly. My feelings weren’t hurt by it. I just wanted Deb to see this was a bad idea.

  “Just give them a chance, Ella.” She blew across her mug and scanned the room. “They’re good people. They’ve been great friends to me.”

  “Including Lynnette?”

  Her mouth scrunched to one side for a second. “She’s not interested in friendship as much as building a strong, viable coven. And frankly, that’s fine by me. I want a shrewd leader at the helm. This isn’t just about warm fuzzies. I want this to be my livelihood for the long term.”

  I tilted my head, tuning into her face more sharply. “My, singular? As in you alone, without Keith?” I asked.

  Her eyes began to well.

  Before either of us could say anything, Lynnette moved a little apart from the group and raised her voice to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s get bundled up and head out back.”

  I turned back to Deb.

  She shook her head and furtively swiped her fingers under her lower lids.

  “Talk later,” she whispered.

  I kept near to her as we got our coats and herded out the dining room’s glass-paned double doors to the back yard. It was more of a courtyard, with high stucco walls and neat borders of concrete curbing separating the grassy area in the center from the flowerbeds around the perimeter.

  One of the women helped Lynnette light five modern-looking stainless steel torches that were staked in the lawn. I could see the mark of a circle, a width of grass thinner and paler than the rest. The torches were spaced equally around the circumference. A narrow table that appeared to be from a set of metal outdoor furniture had been placed at the north-most part of the circle, just inside the border. It had some pillar candles and several small items on it, but Lynnette went to stand before the table, blocking my view of what it held.

  In the dark, the wards around Lynnette’s house were visible as faint traces of magic, like ropes woven of colored light. As I moved with the other women, the magic moved like plucked strings. The fact that I didn’t trip them was masked by the group. I wondered if Lynnette had noticed that her wards hadn’t reacted when I’d come to her house alone. Maybe Jen had already tipped her off that I could pass through wards like a ghost.

  I guessed the circle was about twenty feet in diameter, enough room for all of us to gather within it. The women spaced themselves around the border, facing inward. I stood next to Deb, and Jen took the spot on my other sid
e. It was intimate, but not uncomfortably crowded.

  “Welcome, witches,” Lynnette said, pausing as everyone settled. “This lunar cycle has visited upon us great tragedy and great fear. We’ve said our goodbyes to our sister Amanda, but we know that the pain of her loss will linger yet. We hold her in our hearts. Now let us open ourselves to the magic that is our birthright.”

  She closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly, and the other women followed suit. The tingle in the air told me everyone was drawing magic. I focused within and then reached down for earth energy. I was by far the lowest level crafter in the bunch, and I hoped we weren’t expected to draw all the elements. I could manage earth for a sustained time and fire for maybe a few minutes. I could have drawn blood-red magic instead, but wasn’t ready to reveal that power to a bunch of witches I didn’t know. I decided it was best to stick with what was safe, so I drew only a wisp of earth magic and left it at that.

  I kept my eyelids open a crack so I could watch Lynnette and observe the others. I felt like a little kid peeking during prayers at church, but I wasn’t in the mood to be caught unawares.

  After about five minutes, Lynnette took a breath in through her nose, raised her head, and opened her eyes. She turned to reach for something on the makeshift altar behind her, and the women all moved two large steps toward the center of the circle. I did the same, glancing at Deb who gave me a tiny encouraging nod. We were now shoulder-to-shoulder.

  In Lynnette’s hands I recognized a larger version of the drawstring pouch of spell salt Deb had given me and a slim crystal wand, probably quartz, about five inches long.

  I sensed the women around me still holding their magic, so I kept contact with my little thread of earth energy.

  Chanting an incantation, Lynnette began at the altar and moved clockwise, pouring out a thin line of salt around the circumference of the circle. The whispering tingle of magic nearby swelled slightly. When she completed the circle, she dropped the bag of spell salt on the table and started around once more with the crystal wand in her hand.

  Keeping inside the border of the circle, she pointed the wand down at the line of salt. She whispered a ritual circle spell, her words obscured except for when she passed behind me, and then I only caught a fragment.