“No, you need to cast the stone-renewal spell, it’s the point of the whole thing! It gathers the magic.”
“I will. I’ll cast the spell needed to protect the stones, then direct just a little of the power into your object. You get the effigy where it needs to be. It’ll work.”
He snarled but there was no time. Nodding angrily, he disappeared.
The orchestra was finishing up their piece. The chant had begun. Hundreds of voices joined in the rhythmic poetry that had been handed down by the Builders years ago. I had the small metal box open, hidden in my palm.
As I picked up the torch, I waved my hand over it, trying to make the move look natural. A single lick of flame peeled from the torch into the box, which clamped shut on its own, trapping an essence of the sacred fire.
Then I looked out at the crowd. They had finished the chant. It was an eerie silence that reigned as they waited for the bonfire to be lit.
The sky had turned bright red, and the giant orb began to sink behind the horizon. A sound, as though everyone present had emptied their lungs at the same time, filled the park.
I whispered, “Get ready Toto. When I say Vidi vici, you lunge.”
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again and stepped out onto the portico, holding the torch high, as though I was about to light the world. A sigh went through the crowd as I moved forward. I carried the torch and as I passed, each light holder doused his light, until I was the only one left, torch held high. I spoke the traditional benediction in a loud, steady voice.
“Let the sun, the moon and the stars look over us and fortify the stone pillars of our haven, making them strong and unyielding! Let us all join in blessing our fellow journeyers, seeking the light, as we would have them bless us in return. As the Builders have said many times before…” I raised the torch high and shouted out, “Veni vidi vici.”
“Veni vidi vici!” the crowd responded with enthusiasm.
And at that same moment, I gathered some will and threw a tiny bit of power toward Toto. He came running out of the shrine, and the instant my spell touched him he was suddenly tiny, looking exactly like shrimp, skidding into the kindling just as I reached out to light the fire. People gasped. I gasped. The fire caught, and Gran-Ana’s spell was welling up inside of me. An instant later, “Shrimp” was outside of the fire, a little sack in his mouth that was almost the same size he was. He bounded up toward the shrine, leapt…
And caught in mid-air, hanging like he was suspended on string. Time had suddenly stood still.
Everything was frozen – the fire looked particularly eerie, a 3d-photograph of rushing flame with no crackle. All sound stopped. All everything stopped… except for footsteps coming from behind the fire.
Marcus was there, wearing that flashing suit, looking at me with pure contempt.
“Marcus, this wasn’t necessary,” I said. “I was getting it going, all I needed was for you to put your effigy in place. Where is it?”
He did not speak. He walked up, his face looking twitchy, like something were trying to come out from beneath it. Then something did. He was trying to keep a straight face, but he couldn’t and smiled and laughed.
“Wait, we can still get this done,” I said, and I pulled out the tin. Then I reach into my dress, for something else… but waited.
Marcus spat something in some ancient language, something that sounded like it was old when Latin was new, and my entire body suddenly felt caught, like by a thousand gripping hands. The only things that could move were my head and the hand that held the box.
Marcus leapt up to the shrine with casual grace and snatched the box out of my hand.
“I need that. And I need that,” he said, snatching the bag of ashes violently from Shrimp’s mouth. That quick bit of contact must have disrupted the spell, because Shrimp fell just short of my feet.
Marcus lifted his foot like he was going to stomp the poor little beast, then shook his head.
“Let the demon have him. Let him have you all.”
“Marcus,” I said. “What about me? My memories?”
“That’s all you care about?” he said, like he was re-evaluating me. “Maybe you are made of the kind of stuff my team needs… but nah. You have a changing heart, we can’t have any last minute betrayals.”
He stepped behind me, and with my neck muscles frozen I couldn’t turn to see what he was doing.
“You are in the place of power. I can feel it thrumming through the shrine. But that power is not going to go to the stones that protect this place. No, it is going to be held in waiting to be devoured by my master, just like every person in this place.”
He held up the little bag of ashes and pulled open the magic tin.
“You can feel the spell all around you, it’s built up. And now it’s just waiting for the word to send it where it needs to go. It’s simple. And all I need is the flame, and the ash, and I can tap into that power for my own spell.”
With a grunt I heard him squeeze that pack of ash, and it burst out in a puff near my face. Then heat came from the other side as he opened the box.
He spoke again in that ugly, awful language, speaking words that sounded somehow greasy and slimy, and then he repeated something three times. A name.
“The way is open. Feast.”
Up in the sky, a light shone. First it seemed like some new star, then it opened up, broadened and stretched out. It was like the end of a far distant tunnel, and I could see something moving through it. Coming to the opening.
“Tell me on last thing, Marcus.”
“Yes, I could have fixed your memory, but don’t worry. You won’t live long.”
“What if I lied and actually had the ashes on me at all times, but I attached a decoy to my dog and made him look like Shrimp just to make sure at the last minute I could trust you, and you didn’t in fact have the ingredients to the spell you needed and just opened up the path for that demon without any of this power to offer him, and without being able to disrupt the power of the stones? Hypothetically, how would that effect your plans?”
He’d spun around me, and stared me in the face. He smirked, made a wide gesture… and then stopped. To anyone looking on, it was like he was about to start conducting an orchestra, than gave up. But I knew what he was feeling.
He could feel the power of the spell all around him… but he couldn’t tap into it. He couldn’t use it. I still had it. And that meant the demon couldn’t come in, couldn’t break through, and the only thing it could do was react to that little irritant that bothered it, that told it to come expecting a meal.
Marcus looked up again and panicked, then looked at his ash smudged hand. He lunged toward me, his hand held out, but he was suddenly jerked back, landing on the ground. Toto, himself again, had his teeth sunk into the leg of Marcus’ shiny pants and was yanking him back as hard as he could.
A voice broke in, sounding as though it came from a very far place. Marcus flipped onto his back, his hands held out, and screamed.
It came down toward us like a freight train. Though because it couldn’t get into the haven, couldn’t get through into our protected reality, for me it was like having the film of a freight train projected on to me. Disconcerting, terrifying, but nothing could touch me.
It could touch Marcus, and as it ran through him I saw enormous hands reach out, grab his screaming, tossing form, and yank him bodily from his world to the demon’s.
All that was left of him was his outline on the shrine, a vague and ashy remembrance that would be gone with the first stiff breeze.
His spell broke its hold on me, and I could feel the rest of it fading out around me, but I wanted it done, now. I would dispel his magic and finish what I came here for.
I snapped my fingers and time resumed its relentless passing. The bonfire took off with a huge whoosh, and though time had resumed, the people around me were still silent, waiting for my word.
I was exhausted, physically, emotionally, every which way, but the power of t
he great spell still thrummed through me, and the shrine. I lifted my hands, vaguely conscious that I was making the same gesture Marcus had when he cast his spell, and intoned the words.
“Renovo, renovamus, renovamur.”
That freight train feeling came again, but it was like it rushed out from my hands – I was the conductor. And I wanted off.
Fireworks rained over us. People were laughing and the music began to play again. Soon everyone was dancing.
I leaned on the railing around the shrine, trying to get back my strength. What I’d had to expend on that spell had just about drained me for good.
“You okay?”
Shane was there. I turned into his arms with deep and abiding gratitude. If he was holding me I wasn’t likely to disappear the way Marcus and the demon had. I’d begun to wonder there for a moment. I’d expected to pay a price but I hadn’t thought it would be a total collapse.
“I’m so tired,” I said shakily. “But otherwise I’m fine.” I looked around. “How’s Toto?”
“He’s okay. I tied him up again. What the heck made him dash out toward the bonfire like that?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t explain yet. Later, maybe.
The music was loud and bright and everyone was dancing around the bonfire as though they were celebrating something really important. I caught a flash of Rennie dancing with her husband, the mayor. It was always surprising how fleet-of-foot that big shaggy man could be.
Shane got called away but it was okay, because Bentley was there and took his place. I tried to smile at him but I was groggy, still trying to recuperate from the spells.
He took one look at me and swore under his breath. “I’m getting you out of here,” he said. “Just relax. Close your eyes. When you open them again, you’ll be at my house. It’s the closest.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. Bentley would take care of me. I fell asleep.
When next I opened my eyes, I was comfortably settled in his guest bedroom, beginning to feel alive again. I started to stretch, but I heard a voice that chilled me to the bone. It seemed that my grandmother was arriving. The whole house seemed to shake. I closed my eyes again.
“Haley,” she said firmly, sinking into a chair next to the bed, “I know you’re awake. We need to talk.”
I groaned. “I did what you asked me to do. I hope it had the results you wanted.”
“I appreciate the effort you made, Haley. You did quite well.” She hesitated for a moment, then hastily patted my hand. “But enough said about that. I need to know a few things that I’m hoping you picked up on.”
Bentley started into the room and she froze him with a cold glare. “Just a moment, please,” she said, and he looked startled, then backed out of the room and closed the door. “Vampires,” she muttered.
I wanted to defend him in all his exceptional glory, because he really is my best friend, but I was still too groggy to do anything quickly enough to fend off Gran Ana. She was already speeding on to her next topic before I had a chance to say a word.
“I’ll want a full report from you eventually,” she said, speaking very low. “But in the meantime, I need to know a few specific things. I assume this Marcus person was trying to use you and the power of the haven spell to crack the stones and create a breach in order to allow his vile hordes access to our sector. Correct?”
She knew this even though I hadn’t realized it until very nearly too late. I felt sick inside. That meant she knew I was basically scheming with the enemy. And now I was ashamed of it.
“Oh don’t worry,” she said, obviously reading my thoughts just by looking in my eyes. “I know he lured you in with promises to help you regain your memory. Why do you think I maneuvered things so that you would be the one performing the ceremony?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Why did you do that?”
She looked at me for a long moment, then seemed to decide to tell me the truth.
“I needed proof,” she said shortly. “Proof that when the moment of truth comes, you will stay true to your heritage. You could have thrown it all away and you didn’t. To know that I can count on you in a fight is very important to me.”
“I see.”
“You think you see and you still resent me. In time, you’ll understand why I must take such a stern tact with you. I take no joy in it. And I had reason to worry,” she said, and she produced the thing I’d been reaching for in my dress when Marcus came.
The little pouch of the real ashes I’d had secreted away.
“When did you get this?” Gran Ana said to me stonily.
“It was just before I came out for the ceremony. It was a last ditch effort, a hail mary. Even though I was sure I’d felt magic protection on the ash making it impossible to pull from a distance… I tried. And it worked. Which-- not that I’m thinking on it with a clear head-- is awfully suspicious. Almost like you were trying to tempt me.”
Gran Ana kept her stony expression and didn’t even bat an eye.
“But at the last minute, the way Marcus was acting was making me worried. So I thought I’d give him a chance. I would never let go of the spell, but I would make a show of getting the ash. All he needed was some effigy, he said… but that was a lie. He just needed me up there, being a conduit for the magic.”
“You’re understanding more and more.” Gran Ana said. It was almost a compliment, so it sounded like it was nearly painful for her to say. Then, she shook her head. “Now tell me what happened. I assume he summoned a demon?”
“Yes.” I shuddered remembering that moment.
“What did the demon look like?”
“Horrible. He had a head like a huge ugly bull with horns tipped in silver and…”
“Yes, yes,” she said impatiently. “I thought it would be that one. He won’t stop easily. He’ll be back.”
I blinked. “But I thought they both were killed…”
“No, not the demon. Marcus yes. But he was nobody. That demon has been here before and he will come again. We must prepare.”
“But Gran Ana,” I said, still needing more information. It seemed like I never got enough to really understand anything. “The demon…what does he want?”
“What does he want?” She looked almost affronted by the question. “He’s a demon. He wants to spread hatred, fear and agony. He wants to destroy anything good and replace it with all that is filthy and ugly and painful. He’s a demon. That’s what they do.”
“But Marcus wasn’t really a demon, was he?”
“There are always humans, or even supernaturals, who think helping demons will be the road to riches and power. It never works out quite the way they expect.”
She rose and pulled her spun gold scarves around her shoulders.
“Come to dinner tomorrow night,” she ordered. “Bring Deputy Sheriff McAllister. We’ll talk more then.”
And she was gone.
To my surprise, her visit and the things she’d told me had filled me with new energy and purpose. It wasn’t just that I was rested. Something in her words seemed to have woken a new urgency in me.
I got up, noticed that Bentley had brought along my jeans and sweatshirt that I’d changed out of at the shrine, changed into them and washed my face in the little attached bathroom, then emerged, ready to go. I felt as though something was propelling me forward, as though I’d begun to see the truth.
What truth?
I guess you could boil it down to one new obsession. I finally knew what I was born for: to fight demons, to protect the young and innocent from their terrible actions. In a way, I was as much of a hunter as Shane was. Now I just had to learn more about how to be a good one.
I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with fresh air. My head was clear, my mind was snapping into focus, my energy was buzzing. I was ready to fill this new role.
I walked down into Bentley’s living room and found Bentley talking to Mandy and Rennie. Then I noticed Shrimp peeking out from Mandy’s pocket.
&n
bsp; “You,” I said, pointing to him, “were the star of the show. And you weren’t even really there.”
Shrimp snickered and gave a little shrug. Mandy looked at me as though she was very, very tired.
“It’s been quite a day,” she said. “But it seems to be settling out okay. Mostly, anyway.” She scooped Shrimp out of her pocket and set him on the coffee table in front of where she was sitting.
I looked at Shrimp. “What happened to you?” I asked him. “And what happened to the werewolf?”
He whispered something in Mandy’s ear and she smiled. “He wants me to tell you about it. He was snoozing there in your room when I went down to help Krissy with Gavin. He woke up to find that Randy was awake and had picked him up and shoved him into his backpack.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I guess he thought he might need a hostage in case he had trouble on the road. Anyway, it seemed one of his biker buddies sniffed him out – werewolf senses are very acute, after all. He climbed that tree outside your window and came in to find Randy unconscious. But not for long. I guess Randy was strong enough to break the spell, because once his friend came to get him, he was out of there. And poor Shrimp was forced to go with him.”
“Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you got back here unhurt. You are unhurt, right?”
Shrimp nodded and did his secretive little grin.
Mandy said, “He wants me to tell you that he and Randy became friends on their motorcycle trip, and in the end, Randy helped him find his pal over in Tentontown. Then Randy brought him back here, so all is well.”
“My little buddy has something he wants to show you.” She picked up a folder she’d set on the table and opened it, pulling out an old, faded newspaper article. “Take a look at this.”
“What is this?” I said, confused.
“You people all underestimate this little guy. He listened to you, knew you were worried about who was in the car with you, and he told Randy. Apparently, werewolves can hear this little guy, too. And he wouldn’t shut up about it, so Randy had one of his guys go looking for information. They came back with this.”
I picked it up eagerly. I thought I knew what it was and it turned out I was right. “Students on holiday drown in lake,” the headline read. “Four dead, two on life support.”
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