Witch's Secret

by Emma L. Adams

“Sir? What’s going on?”

  Lord Sutherland turned on the spot, his enhanced features twisting. “There’s someone in here who shouldn’t be,” he snapped at the other mages. “Get them out. Now.”

  “Jas,” Keir whispered from behind me. “We need to go.”

  Without warning, my breath choked, coldness seeping through me. The world disappeared as I was wrenched back into my body, into deep water. Drowning.

  7

  I kicked my way to the surface, spitting out a mouthful of water. How had I ended up in the river?

  “What the hell, Evelyn?” I spat out more water, grasping the side of the bank with both hands.

  “I saved your life,” she snapped. “Your shadow spell ran out and those mages were seconds from finding you. What in the name of the gods were you doing in there?”

  “The Mage Lord was about to steal Ilsa’s soul.” I pulled myself out of the water, shivering, my waterlogged jeans clinging to my legs. “He had that damned spirit device—they did already steal from the guild, but it wasn’t the mirror they took.”

  The mages had the means of stealing anyone’s soul they wanted to. I hadn’t realised any of the devices had survived, and I’d bet those traitorous three necromancers had swiped them right when everyone was distracted by my escape. Dickheads.

  Activating a drying spell on my drenched clothes, I looked around to get my bearings. Evelyn must have run like hell to get me away. I pulled out my phone, which was deader than a zombie. “Thanks for that one, Evelyn.”

  “What did you want me to do, let them catch you?” she said. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Did the other necromancers Ilsa brought with her at least call Lady Montgomery and report those traitors?” I asked.

  “I didn’t see,” said Evelyn. “I was more concerned with saving your ungrateful neck.”

  Since when was she concerned enough to take over my body for the sole purpose of helping me? Either she was scheming again, or at some point in the course of our tumultuous partnership, Evelyn had come to actually care about me.

  That might be just as dangerous for both of us as the alternative.

  A hand grabbed mine, with the familiar cold touch of a vampire. I spun around, then sagged with relief. “Keir.”

  He floated before me in the spirit realm, eyes wide. “I thought they took your soul.”

  “Sorry I disappeared,” I said. “You can thank Evelyn for that. Is Ilsa okay?”

  “Yeah, she ran for it,” he said. “She knew he had that device in his pocket, but if she’d tried to take it—”

  “He’d have used it on her,” I said. “I think he felt my Hemlock magic react, too, but it’s not like he could see me.”

  “Good,” said Keir, his jaw tightening. “We should go.”

  “Not to the guild,” I said. “I should make sure the mages didn’t send a tail after Ilsa.”

  I also wanted to know if Lady Montgomery had managed to get a confession out of those three traitorous novices, but I’d come too close to exposing myself once already. Lloyd would be worried about me, and thanks to Evelyn, I didn’t have a working phone.

  “Who do you think gave him those devices?” I whispered to Keir. “He either stole them from the guild or he has another vampire working for him.”

  “I’d say the guild.” He floated alongside me in the spirit realm as I walked. “There isn’t a vampire who’d go within a mile of the mages these days.”

  “Hmm.” The Soul Collector had intended to use those devices to unleash enough energy to break the spirit lines, eventually succeeding in sneaking into the Hemlock witches’ forest so he could steal the Ether Converter—a talisman that functioned as a jacked-up version of the same spirit devices. While he and Leila Hemlock were long gone, it wouldn’t surprise me if the mages had taken over the so-called Society of Ley Hunters. “I can’t believe he tried to recruit Ilsa. I guess he wanted to take the Gatekeeper out of the picture, since her family’s linked with the Ley Line.”

  “And she can spy on him,” he added. “Maybe he suspected someone was hanging around the mages’ place, unseen.”

  “Maybe, but it’s not like he can prove anything.” Anger on Ilsa’s behalf made my hands tingle with magic. She was as much at risk as I was now. And unlike me, she hadn’t openly done anything wrong.

  “I think he’s systemically getting rid of anyone who can stand in his way,” he said. “If he can’t recruit them, he’ll kill them.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but who might he go after next? Morgan or Mackie?”

  By the time I reached Ilsa’s house, the sound of shouting echoed from inside. I knocked on the door three times before Lloyd opened it and yanked me into the hall.

  “Guys, stop yelling!” he said to the others. “Jas is here.”

  “For god’s sake, be reasonable, Morgan,” Ilsa’s voice drifted out of the living room. Good. She’s okay.

  “I’d say it’s a perfectly reasonable for me to be ready to kick that mage into next week,” Morgan said at full-volume.

  “Brilliant idea,” Lloyd said, “but not now. The guy’s surrounded by guards and has a weapon that can steal souls. Not to mention, some of our people are traitors.”

  “Did the boss lock them up?” I asked.

  “They got hauled back to the guild, but they’re crying and saying they didn’t do anything wrong,” said Ilsa. “Jas, where did you disappear to?”

  “Evelyn took over my body,” I explained. “She decided to jump into the river to hide, and now my phone is broken on top of everything else. Did you tell the boss Lord Sutherland tried to recruit you?”

  “Yes,” said Ilsa. “I did, and she sent me home so she could put those three twats through a grilling on why they were at the mages’ place. I hope she dragged them into Death and left them there.”

  “They deserve worse,” Morgan said, his face pale and his fists clenched. “He had that soul-stealing device right in front of you and you didn’t run?”

  “I didn’t know he had it until I walked into that room,” Ilsa said. “Yes, I knew the risks, but we had to find proof.”

  “I’ll get proof, all right,” said Morgan. He made to march out of the living room, but Lloyd caught his arm.

  “Easy.” Lloyd tightened his grip. “I get it, but can you think of any scenario where you go up against the entire mage guild and walk out in one piece?”

  Morgan scowled, but let Lloyd pull him away from the door. “He tried to kill you, Ilsa.”

  “Recruit me,” Ilsa corrected. “And you know, I bet I’m the only person they’ll try to recruit if that’s the game they’re playing now.”

  Morgan swore. “You mean they’ll go after Mackie again?”

  “They can’t touch her at the guild,” said Ilsa. “Lady Montgomery won’t stand for it. Just—everyone, chill out, okay? I’m fine.”

  A buzzing noise filled the room. Lloyd cleared his throat and got out his phone. “Jas, have you heard from Isabel?”

  “No, but my phone’s broken. Why?”

  “I think she’s in trouble.” He tapped his phone screen.

  A staticky voice filled the room. “Lloyd, tell Jas… Asher…” Isabel’s voice cut out.

  “They went after her, too.” The mages had targeted my friends in two directions at once. Cursing them, I checked on my spells, which had been lucky to survive being drenched in the river.

  “Oh, so it’s okay if she goes charging off but not me?” Morgan said.

  “Jas is pretty much invincible,” said Lloyd, though he didn’t look happy. “We’ll all go. Safety in numbers.”

  “It’s the mages, I’ll bet,” I said. “At this point, I assume everything bad that happens in this city is their fault.”

  Nobody had any argument for that. I led the way out of the house, closely followed by Ilsa, Morgan and Lloyd.

  “If it’s him,” Morgan said, “I’m gonna kill him this time.”

  “It won’t be,” said Ilsa. “Even he ca
n’t be in two places at once—and he’s a coward at that.”

  “Coward or not, he’s not screwing around,” I said. “Even I can lose my soul—or one of them, anyway. Lloyd, are you sure—?”

  “Nowhere’s safe, Jas,” said Lloyd. “Isabel’s my friend. We’re coming with you.”

  “All right. I’ll get Keir.” I tapped into the spirit realm. “Keir, you around?”

  He appeared floating in front of me. “Jas, are you okay?”

  “The mages—I think they attacked Isabel and Asher. Can you take a look?”

  “Sure thing.” Keir disappeared, while I turned off my spirit sight and hurried down the deceptively quiet street. I couldn’t believe how quickly things had got out of hand. I’d barely been back in the city a few hours and already the mages had targeted me on multiple angles at once.

  The four of us walked at a fast pace, stopping occasionally to check the spirit realm for any signs of an ambush. The market was a bustle of activity both in the waking world and in the spirit realm, preventing me from tracking Isabel—wherever she was.

  “Damn, I can’t sense her in there,” I muttered to Ilsa as we crossed the cobbled street towards the huddle of market stalls that formed the witches’ main trading area. “Too many people.”

  “Let me try this.” Lloyd pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. “If she’s close, we’ll hear her phone.”

  Morgan stopped walking. “Uh, the sky is moving.” He pointed up at the sky, and a shadow descended over the market, edged in green light. A wraith.

  “Crap,” said Ilsa, the mark on her forehead igniting. “I’ve got this. You guys find Isabel.”

  Screams rang out as the witches in the crowd spotted the approaching wraith, but I kept running towards them until a barrier brought me to a halt. Several undead lay in a heap on the rain-slick cobbles, caught in a tangle of trapping spells. Oddly, nobody had thrown salt onto them yet.

  “Hey,” Lloyd said to the witches gathered around the zombies. “I’m a necromancer. Need our help?”

  “No!” said one of the witches, her voice frantic. “She’s my mother.”

  “She’s dead, Annette,” said another witch in gentle tones.

  “Someone raised her.” She turned accusing eyes onto our group—especially Lloyd, who wore his necromancer coat. “Your people did this.”

  “We didn’t,” Lloyd said. “If there’s a rogue out there, we’ll catch them. Can you deactivate those trapping spells so I can put them to rest?”

  The witch gave a despairing sob. My stomach turned over. It wasn’t the first time we’d had to destroy the reanimated bodies of someone’s family members, but it didn’t usually happen in such a public setting.

  The witches’ trapping spells flickered, the red lines disappearing. Then the undead straightened upright, facing the huddle of witches. I glimpsed familiar symbols etched onto their collarbones.

  Oh, hell. This was the mages’ work, all right—not that the other witches would know that.

  “Uh, guys, step back!” I warned the witches. “They’re stronger and faster than normal zombies. Use salt, and do it quickly before someone gets hurt.”

  “We’ll handle them,” Morgan said, throwing a canister of salt at the zombies. Two of their bodies dissolved, but the glowing light surrounding their reanimated forms didn’t diminish. A familiar cold sensation rose within me. I checked the spirit realm and found myself face to face with a tall, human-shaped shadowy form, his hands reaching for Lloyd.

  “Vampire!” I yelled.

  Lloyd staggered forwards as the vampire drained him, and Morgan crashed headlong into him from the side. Since the vampire was a ghost, Morgan passed right through him, and he and Lloyd both fell into a pile of dismembered zombie parts.

  “Hey, dickhead.” Keir appeared in mid-air, his own shadowy hands glowing with blue light. “You’re not welcome here.”

  The vampire’s form became clearer, his sharp grey eyes darting between Keir and me. “It’s too late for all of you,” he said. “Just like that witch, you’ll die.”

  That witch. “Did you take Isabel?”

  The vampire didn’t answer. Keir grabbed him from behind, gripping tightly, draining his life force. “Tell me,” he said, his voice low, measured. “Where is Isabel?”

  The vampire squirmed, his body fading. “I don’t… know…”

  “I’ll track her.” Trusting Keir to finish off the vampire, I turned back to the market. Lloyd had staggered to his feet next to Morgan, the two of them armed with salt shakers against the disintegrating undead, who were still flailing and grabbing at anyone they could reach. Nobody deserved to suffer like that. I called Hemlock magic to my hands, directing it at the symbols burning in their skin. Release them.

  The dead fell, crumbling as the last of the blood magic let them go. “I’m sorry,” I said to the witches. “They won’t rise again. You can safely bury them now.”

  “Burn the bodies,” Lloyd added, his face ashen. “Otherwise they might come back.” Inching closer to me, he hissed, “I thought you were keeping a low profile. Where’s Isabel?”

  “I can’t see a damn thing in the spirit realm.” The wraith’s presence filled the air with bolts of green magic, and since Ilsa was immune, all its attacks did was bounce off her and smash into the already-collapsing market stalls.

  Closing my eyes, I searched the spirit realm for any trace of Isabel’s presence. A flicker ignited, and I took a step backwards. “I think she’s outside the market.”

  Lloyd glanced at the sobbing witches. “I’ll take care of the dead. You—find her, okay?”

  “Incoming!” yelled Ilsa, and a haze of green light crashed overhead, knocking a market stall over. The wraith followed, its shadowy form eagerly seeking the life below. Ilsa ran up alongside me. Light gleamed from her hands and her forehead, and my own magic sharply changed directions, honing in on her.

  Not again.

  Willing my magic to calm down, I backed away through the market, searching for Isabel’s trace. Then I felt it again—a spark of life, not far from here. I broke into a run, cursing my legs for not being as fast as my spirit form. Isabel!

  I halted in front of a broken-down old shop which looked like it hadn’t been in use since before the invasion. Barely pausing to breathe, I kicked the door open.

  Asher lay sprawled face-down on the wooden floor in front of the entrance. My stomach lurched at the sight of the blood, a thickening trail surrounding his body.

  And a second body, lying inert on the wooden floorboards. Around it, twelve candles glowed, keeping a transparent figure caged. A ghost.

  Isabel.

  8

  “No,” I whispered.

  “Jas,” Isabel gasped, locking eyes with me. “Don’t—you’re the one they’re after.”

  “You’re the one they—”

  Killed.

  Isabel’s body lay in the circle, her spirit hovering above it. Nobody could survive separation who wasn’t a necromancer. The instant the circle disappeared—

  No. She can’t be dead. I won’t let her be.

  A cold blast of energy slammed into me from behind. I spun around, and a creature appeared from the shadows—humanoid but emaciated, its hands replaced with clawed talons. Crooked wings stuck out at sharp angles from its shoulder blades.

  What in hell is that? It almost looked like a fury, but bigger, and it hadn’t made a sound when it sneaked up on me. Shadows curled around it like tendrils of smoke.

  Magic burned my palms, forming an iridescent, shimmering whip. I lashed the creature’s throat—only it wasn’t there anymore. “What the hell was that?”

  “Some horrible cousin of the furies,” Isabel said. “It can turn to shadows—Asher!”

  The monster appeared from the shadows beside Asher, turning his limp body over with a claw.

  “Get the hell away from my friends,” I snarled, my hands lighting up with Hemlock magic.

  At the sight of my magic, the monster v
anished, becoming shadow once more. Damn, that was one hell of an annoying power.

  I scanned the spirit realm but didn’t see any signs of the new fury. I did see a bright spark above Asher’s body. He was alive.

  I stepped in his direction, and the winged monstrosity appeared from the shadows, solid claws piercing me in the side. I yelled aloud, hoping my thick clothes had prevented the wound from being fatal. I couldn’t afford to die again, not with Isabel still caught in the trap.

  With a hoarse cry, I stabbed upwards with my Hemlock magic, only for the fury to disappear into the shadows again.

  I let my magic return to my hands, burning with a shimmering light. If I couldn’t track the monster through the spirit realm, then it must leave a trace somewhere.

  Enjoy hiding in shadow, do you? Let’s see how you like this.

  I pushed up my sleeve, found a light spell, and activated it. Blinding white light filled the room, illuminating bloodstains on the hardwood, and a solid shadowy outline that shouldn’t be there.

  Calling my magic, I lashed out at the shrinking shadows. The fury screeched, caught in my trap. I twisted my hands and the whip wrenched off the monster’s head. Blood splattered the bare floorboards, and it crumpled into a shrivelled heap. Its head landed at my feet, pit-like eyes still open.

  Skin crawling, I lowered my hands. Pain pierced my side, like needles under my ribcage, but Asher needed my healing spell more than I did. I stumbled away from the body, seeing Isabel gaping at me from within the circle. How can I get her back into her body? Even a necromancer might not be able to save her, but I had to try.

  “Help him first,” she said. “I’ll be okay.”

  I removed the healing spell from my wrist with shaking hands. Purple light flared up as I reached Asher, and he groaned. Two more bodies lay beside him, now visible in the light of the spell burning on my wrist. This must be the site of the ritual. Both bodies wore cloaks, indicating they belonged to the necromancer guild. The person who’d summoned that shadowy monster had sacrificed their lives in an instant. I gagged, turned away from the blood pooling on the wooden floor.