“Almost nine o’clock,” Vlad said as he finished filling my cup with cream and began stirring in sugar.
“Wow, I did sleep a long time. Huh.” It was weird. I really shouldn’t have been so tired, and as I thought about it, I could only think of one reason. The power Mara had taken to fuel her little spell. No doubt that was it, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure, or at least, I didn’t want it to be true because if it was, maybe Mara had done more than she claimed, and the absolute last thing I wanted was for that to be true.
“You needed it.” Vlad handed me the fresh cup of coffee. “Now enjoy your breakfast because I’m fairly certain you’re going to lose your appetite after you hear their plans.”
I stared at Vlad for a moment. He was acting a little friendlier than usual. I didn’t really do friends, not after I lost my family. We could never be anything more than friends and partners. Not only was it against FBI regulations, I didn’t want to take a chance and lose the only true friend I had left in this world. Still, looking at him right now almost made me want more, and that was more concerning than whatever the witches had planned.
14
Alyson
“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked as I poured my third cup of coffee and stirred in milk and sugar.
Vlad pursed his lips. “Let’s go into the living room with everyone. It’s their plan, let them explain it.”
The tension coming off him was palpable. It made me nervous and jittery. He really didn’t like their plan, and that concerned me. A lot.
“Maybe a third cup was overkill,” I mumbled as we walked back into the living room.
“What do you have planned that has Vlad so nervous?” I asked as I took the seat next to Vlad on the window ledge.
Instead of sitting down with me, my partner stood next to me with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
“For the record, while I agree with Vlad, there’s no arguing with my mother when she’s made up her mind.” Stella scowled at her mom.
Well, that was certainly interesting. If both Vlad and Stella agreed, why was Mara still considering it? More importantly, what was she considering?
Mara ignored Stella’s scowl as she looked at me. “I want to be used as bait for the terrorists or the werewolves, whoever it is that’s after me.”
As I stared at the words, I was ashamed to have mixed feelings. Part of me wanted to tell her it was crazy and suicidal, but more of me? More of me wanted to stop the guys killing people. It was a risk, and a bad risk, but at the same time, it was only risking one person, and it might save countless lives if we succeeded.
And this was Mara. While she was a bit kooky, she was definitely powerful. If she thought she could pull this off, I was inclined to at least hear her out.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath as Vlad bristled beside me. As he turned his gaze onto me, I continued, “How do you propose to set yourself up as bait? What are you trying to accomplish?”
“They are probably watching our lair,” Mara explained. “I think I should go back. I can pretend to be salvaging things. After all, we do have a lot of supplies there. It would make sense to our attackers for me to want to see what survived.”
“You think you can go there and they will what? Take you captive and lead us all right to their leader? Really?” I shook my head. “Because I’m one hundred percent sure that plan just leads to you getting sacrificed.”
“Their ritual requires time to set up. I’ve been thinking about it, and even assuming they have all the materials on hand, it’d take a few hours to set up.”
“Mara, I think it’s great you want to help catch these murderers. I really do, but how do you propose to protect yourself should they capture you? I’m certain they are readier for another ritual then you think.” I met her eyes. “Some of the attacks were reported pretty quickly. In those cases, I doubt the whole thing took more than a few minutes.” I shook my head. “All they need is a space to perform it, and for all you know, they’ll just haul you off to a pre-prepared place.”
“I doubt that would work.” Mara shook her head. “They would have to find a place where my energy was at home. The best place to do that is my lair and most of it was destroyed. Even if they have everything, it is far from an ideal spot to use, and if they do decide to move me, you can track me. Stella knows how to find me anywhere.”
“Hmm, it might work,” I was forced to admit. “But if it doesn’t, you’ll die a horrendous death, and they’ll be that much closer to their end goal. Do you understand this?”
Mara nodded resolutely. “I know exactly what I’m doing. Don’t worry, my mind is clear, and I am ready for this.”
The stress of the situation was weighing heavily on the grand witch. She had wrinkles I hadn’t seen before. The bags under Mara’s eyes showed how tired she was.
“I can’t believe we’re still talking about using her as bait,” Vlad cried, his sudden intrusion into the conversation surprising me. “It’s absolutely insane. She could get killed.”
“He’s right, mom,” Stella said before Mara cut her off with a wave of her hand.
“Now listen here both of you.” Mara glared at both Vlad and Stella. “I am the great witch and I don’t need your permission. This is what’s happening.” She sucked in a breath as she looked to her daughter. “Stella, you need to stay here in case something goes wrong. If you don’t hear from me by the end of tomorrow, you will be the coven leader until your sister shows up.”
Part of me wanted to argue with her, but I could already see there was no point. Mara was going to do this whether we liked it or not, and she had the spiritual chutzpah to pull it off even if we tried to stop her. Worse, as much as I didn’t want to risk letting someone be bait for a bunch of murderous psychopaths, even if she was a witch, her plan just might work. And, right now, we needed something to work. Especially because, if our enemies succeeded it’d bring about the apocalypse.
“Alyson, talk some sense into her,” Vlad said, gesturing at Mara. “Make her see reason.”
I took a deep breath before turning to look at Mara. “Do you have the strength to do this? Did you get enough sleep? If I agree to this, and I’m not saying I will, you need to be at your best.”
“Thank you for your concern, I am fine.” Mara nodded resolutely. “That is one thing we will not need to worry about.”
“Alyson!” Vlad said, glaring at me, and the look of betrayal on his face made me want to run away. Only, he was wrong. Mara was a grown woman and her plan was solid, if dangerous. Besides, we’d be there to make sure she was okay, and this was the end of the world.
“You don’t look fine, mother.” Stella took her mom’s hand and patted the back of it.
“Don’t worry about me dear. I’ve lived long enough. Focus on keeping the rest of the coven safe.” With that, she stood and looked to me. “Besides, I have a feeling Alyson is more than capable of keeping me safe.”
With her words still ringing in my ears, my focus turned to Stella. “Looks like this is happening, so now, it’s just a matter of specifics.” I ignored Vlad’s glare next to me even though I could practically feel it burning into me. “Let’s figure out how to keep Mara safe.”
15
Alyson
We made good timing getting to the old witch’s lair, but something felt off.
Still, we did have backup. Mara had brought ten guards with her. They all kept looking at each other and back to their great witch like they were all sharing a secret and I was left out.
I looked toward Anita and asked, “Is there something you haven’t shared with me?”
“Not that I know of. I think Mara shared all of the details for her plan.” Anita, the leader of the guards, gave me a half-smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes before flicking her gaze to Mara.
She was definitely hiding something. I just wasn’t sure what, and being that this operation involved using Mara as bait, that didn’t bode well. Still, I would protect her as best I could,
and if something happened, I’d deal with it then. After all, they may have been witches, but I was a dragon.
We parked a few hundred feet from what once was the main entrance of the industrial park. I got out and looked around, but while I couldn’t see anyone, my other senses picked up some seriously wicked vibes. Either the enemy was here or they set a trap for us.
Mara looked at the remains of what had once been her lair. “Be careful, I sense black magic in the air.”
The magical bombs they set up really did their job. What had once been a series of six interconnected warehouses and factories was now almost all rubble. Only one warehouse and part of two others still stood.
Anita put her arm around Mara and hugged her. “I don’t know how we will recover anything from this.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Mara gave the other woman a sly smile. “The Goddess gives and the Goddess takes.”
“All right, spread out and see what you can find,” I ordered. “No one go alone. Stay in pairs. Vlad, you’re with me.” I didn’t care who watched Mara, I would still have an eye on her. Vlad and I would never get too far from her. Not with so much at stake. Besides, it wasn’t like we knew what magical artifacts, if any, would be of value.
When we were far enough away that not even shifter ears could pick me up, I leaned close to Vlad and whispered, “I don’t trust her. There’s more going on than she has led us to believe. What do you think?”
His lips barely moved as he whispered back, “I agree. While I trust Mara with my life, she is holding something back. When I got up tonight, they were performing spells on each other in the kitchen. They stopped once they heard me.”
“Did you ask her about it?” I inquired.
“Yes.” He paused for a moment as if mulling over his words. “She said it was none of my business, that it was coven business. She’s never kept anything from me before when I asked her.”
I leaned down, picking some clothes out of the rubble. We were supposedly here to salvage, I needed to keep up appearances just in case someone was watching.
Vlad was playing along and pulled out a broken vase which he threw on top of another pile of debris. “Anita’s right. There won’t be much to salvage outside of the one standing building.”
“Maybe we can find some vultures to practice throwing junk at,” I joked, thinking more about throwing stuff at some evil werewolves when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. “Vlad?”
He appeared next to me so fast I jumped. “Shh.” Vlad gestured toward the still-standing building. “I feel it too. They’re here. I’m sure Mara and her guards feel it as well. They are more in tune with anything magical than we are.” Vlad waited long enough for me to nod before he headed for the door of the warehouse.
Sensing more than hearing someone approach, I turned around and saw Mara along with all of her guards. She smiled at me as I reached the door.
“Is it okay to open?” When she nodded, I reached for the knob. The second I touched it, dread welled up inside me. Something was definitely wrong in there, and though I wasn’t as magically inclined as the witches were, even I could feel it.
Still, standing out here wouldn’t help us figure out what was going on. Gritting my teeth, I turned the knob and opened the door.
The smell of fresh blood smashed into my senses like a bag full of pennies. I staggered backward, one hand going to my nose. Were they in the middle of a ritual? I wasn’t sure, but either way it certainly seemed like a possibility. Flames and cauldrons.
As I mulled it over, another thought struck me. Heart racing, I glanced at Vlad, worried his blood lust might take over.
He was edging backward, spine stiff and eyes narrowed in concentration. Still, I could tell it was a losing battle. There was just too much blood. Worse, it was fresh.
“Put the menthol on your lip.” I gestured toward the pocket where he kept it. “Then you’ll be okay.”
With a nod, he pulled the little vial out of his shirt pocket and put a generous portion of menthol on his upper lip, right below his nose. It was so strong, I was able to smell the menthol scent above anything else.
“I’ll take point. Have a few of the guards join me and you stay near Mara.” I moved ahead and left Vlad to watch over his friend before he could answer me. “No matter what happens, don’t let them take her.”
If they had already started to sacrifice someone here they wouldn’t need to take Mara anywhere else nor would they need time to set up another ritual. They would just sacrifice her, and the rest of us.
Vlad gave me a pointed look as I drew my Glock. “You be careful. We can’t afford to lose you, either.”
He had a point. As far as anyone knew, I was the last surviving dragon, but I wasn’t planning on letting myself get sacrificed.
As the witches moved to back me up, I moved inside and stepped to the right. My senses were tingling all over, warning me I was stepping into a trap. Worse, as I looked around the dimly lit room, trying to pick out anything that might let me know what was going on my inner voice kept shouting at me to run, far and fast!
One of the witches, Brenda, put her hand on my shoulder and tugged for me to stop.
Turning around to see what she wanted I noticed a glimmer of fear in this warrior’s eyes. Did she know what was ahead?
“Wait a second,” she said, voice catching as she spoke. “Let me see if I can figure out what they’re doing.”
“You have ten seconds,” I said, shutting my eyes and trying to calm down. My dragon was itching to get out and fight. She wanted to destroy. Normally, she was happy to stay inside and wait for the times when I took her to distant mountaintops and let her fly.
Today, something was agitating her and causing her to want to turn everything and everyone to ash. It must have been the black magic in the air. This case had been messing with all of us since the start.
Since, when in dragon form, bullets just ricocheted off my scales, fire felt good, and it was rare for a sword to penetrate a scale, it made sense for me to take point. Assuming I had enough space, I could shift into a dragon and act as a shield for everyone else.
Of course, I would only do it if our lives were in immediate danger, though. I had no desire to out my secret to anyone else and attract every two-bit hunter from here to Russia. Enough people in this world knew my true form, no one else needed to know, especially a bunch of witches I barely trusted.
“Okay.” Brenda’s voice startled me, and as I glanced at the witch, she motioned to the left.
I turned at the next intersection. I swear they turned these warehouses into mazes. It was probably a good thing when you lived here, not a good thing when looking for the bad guys. Every corner was a blind spot that could hide a booby trap or bomb.
Stopping at the corner, I put my back against the left wall and looked down the right corridor as far as I could. Then I pulled out a small mirror from my pocket and angled it so I could see what was waiting for us down the left hall.
All I could see was the end of the current corridor. There must have been more turns. Before making a move, I looked above to make sure there wasn’t anything in the ceiling waiting for us. I couldn’t see any threats but my entire body was screaming, “Danger, danger, Alyson Andrews.”
Turning back to the witches behind me, I nodded before making the left turn and heading to the next intersection. They followed me quietly to the next stop. From there, Brenda motioned to the left, and I again checked both ways before moving on. After a few more turns, my fight or flight instincts kicked in so bad, I almost shifted on the spot. We had to be close.
Before I could take another step, Brenda reached out, stopping me. I looked at her questioningly, and she put their fingers to her lips to keep me quiet. I nodded as she reached into her satchel.
She began to count with her fingers, and as she reached one, she flung the collection of herbs at the wall in front of us. For a moment nothing happen, then the wall was just gone. I stood there, staring open
mouthed. There hadn’t even been a sound.
Shifting my gaze into the room, I nearly gagged. A dozen unconscious witches were lying beside a bloody pentagram etched into the ground.
The blood-drained bodies of two other witches lay on the outer edges of the circle, making me think they had already been sacrificed because standing in the middle of the pentagram were three massive werewolves and one mammoth of a man. He had a knife in his hand and was draining the life-blood from a witch who was still alive, but barely.
Part of me wanted to rush in, but the scene struck me as odd. There were a set of footprints in the blood that looked too small to belong to the tall man in the center, but larger than a woman’s foot, yet I didn’t see any other human men in the room. Where was the other person?
I wasn’t sure, but as I looked around, I saw a stand with a book and a statue sitting atop it. It was definitely the right shape and size to match the void left behind in our previous crime scenes.
As I shifted my gaze back to the man in the center, the witches with me barged into the room.
A fireball zinged by my ear, slamming into a werewolf, but as the smell of burning hair hit my nose, the creature did little more than look over at us. As it looked down at its chest, one finger going to touch the blackened, burned flesh, I saw it was already starting to heal.
Worse, the others had caught sight of us and were running forward, dodging the witches’ projectiles with practiced ease.
As arcs of lightning exploded from Brenda’s fingers the wolves broke formation and charged. Part of me wanted to help, but as a witch caught a werewolf with a supercharged roundhouse kick that snapped the thing’s neck backward with a thunderclap of force that sent it flying across the room, I realized they probably didn’t need it. Besides, I had bigger fish to fry.
Raising my Glock, I fired at the big guy in the center. Only, instead of taking him center mass like they should have, the air in front of him shimmered, causing the bullets to fall lifelessly to the ground.
A Ritual of Fire Page 10