Three Rings of Chaos: An Abigail Everlaine Mystery

by Candra Kylar

  Amaris put one hand on her hip and pressed a finger to her cheek, “Then it’s a good thing that I’m Queen of the Necromancers, isn’t it?”

  All hail the Queen. I was so proud of her for everything that she had accomplished in the shadows when I had been so loud with my own changes. Livia would be in good hands working as her assistant. As for Lysander and Cecilia, I knew that they would eventually become a problem with Crestwood. I would have to deal with that when it happened. For now, I remembered that I needed Amaris to help me with something involving the dead. I needed that extra evidence to bury Voldini for his shameful actions. If I couldn’t take his investors away, then I could at least take his audience from him. A circus with no attendees couldn’t stand on its own for long.

  “I originally came to ask for your assistance with locating the spirits of Voldini’s parents. No one knows what happened to them and he came into some magic that is effecting his body. I’m not sure how much of their son is left or if they could shed light on anything that would incriminate him”, I said to fill her in on my plan.

  Amaris went back to her chair, “I can’t help you there. His parents were human and they’ve already passed on into rebirth. They are at peace now, far beyond my reach in the spirit world. It happens quickly for humans without magical ability.”

  “What about old performers in his circus? He can’t have always had the same acts going and he isn’t very young. Maybe someone in the spirit world knows something that could throw dirt on him publicly.”

  “Unlikely. Voldini didn’t get where he was without tying up some loose ends. There’s nothing that I can do on my end that will bring back your friend”, she said.

  “I need some kind of advantage over him!”

  She shook her head, “You have everything that you need already. I’ve followed your exploits with the secretary gone mad, the vampires at each other’s throats for an artifact, the explosive battle between two lesbian centaurs that wanted to resurrect that cyclops.”

  “That last one was from a tabloid and entirely fabricated. Well, they were actually satyrs and former lovers living as roommates. They hired me to enchant their house to protect them from a space traveling green cyclops that could read minds. It’s in the details and was easy money. Conspiracy theorists make great clients.”

  “My point is that you managed to pull all of that off without a list of atrocities to pin on them for public disapproval. You can figure this one out now with the arsenal you already have. If Dimples can still be saved, which you seem to believe, then you’ll save her in your own way”, she proclaimed like a prophecy come true.

  “I don’t want to fail her”, I ruminated.

  She gazed at me evenly, “Then you won’t. It’ll come to you.”

  I hoped that it would. I had a Meredith Marble story and proof Dimples being an Elemental ready to be put into action. It couldn’t be much use if my best friend still thought she deserved the censer of being a reviled Bog Queen. When the idea hit me, there in the lair of my sister, it felt like lightning. Dimples didn’t know the truth behind the Bog Queen. She didn’t know the ending of the story and what it said about the lying heiress. I knew exactly what I would do to make my final stand. A final performance at the circus. I wouldn’t do it as Fira and it would require some clever enchanting. It would also require a bit more reading. I would face Voldini in the middle of his next show as none other than Meredith Marble.

  Seventeen

  “Are you sure she won’t try and torch Haze again? The last repairs set me back more gold than I had wanted to spend”, Elizar asked as he paced the ground, worrying a toothpick between two fingers to distract himself.

  “I’m sure she won’t. We’re only cornering her, getting her to confess, stealing some of her hair and then locking her away in a magically sealed room before we hit the circus tonight”, I reassured him despite not feeling so reassured myself.

  The truth was, no one could predict what Cecilia Blaine would do when she was angry. She had no problem disregarding the moral high ground when it got her ahead with someone powerful. As my family couldn’t be won over by her manipulative tactics thinly veiled around a mocking smile, she went for the vampires. Livia said that most of the court hated her. It was unnatural for a human to spend so much time in the private champers of a vampire and acting as if they were part of the court. I was relieved that Ethan was spared such a harsh criticism. Valiant ended up betraying him and things took a different court. Ethan was safe now and bonded to Liam. Cecilia was clawing her way higher up the ladder with Lysander.

  Getting her to the club was the most arduous part of the plan. She automatically cast suspicion on any of my personal requests and morosely reacted to any small achievement of Elizar’s. Bitterness grew on her like a gnarled branch screaming in an Elder Fae statue. She was nature at is worst and would never allow me a lock of her hair out of the goodness of her heart. Unless Ethan was dangling in trouble – which I had lied to tell her that he indeed was with a Portal Duster at Haze – she would never have come of her own volition. For Ethan Prescott, she wielded a soft spot that no one could understand. There was a story there that I wasn’t ever going to be privy to.

  As it was the middle of the day and the club wasn’t slated to be open until the following weekend, it was safe to conduct business without a curious set of eyes getting in the way. Up in the rafters where all of the strobe lights hung, Ian twirled along them as if he were a stripper on a mission dancing to music only he could here. I was glad to have him back. My mother didn’t bring up my visit to Amaris and I decided to leave that discussion alone. She would only worry about the encroaching control of my father now that he knew Amaris had once been a son he had hoped was destroyed. I had told one person all of it and he was pacing in front of me now.

  “Ethan made the call, right? That kid is sharp so I figure he said the right words to work that cold hearted witch up into a frenzy of protectiveness. Why does she cherish him again? He’s great and all, but Cecilia doesn’t exactly like people”, Elizar tossed the toothpick and sank onto one of the couches at the club.

  “Maybe she feels guilty about destroying his trust. I can’t figure it out myself”, I plodded myself down next to him, “but I’m sorry that you missed being with her during the professional dominatrix phase. You might’ve liked it.”

  “Not with her on any terms. But, if you’re feeling adventurous, I’d happily get cuffed to the bed and be at your mercy”, he went in for a kiss, the words reverberating off of the skin on my neck.

  High heels with a vicious pang in the entryway told me that Cecilia had entered Haze. As with everything, she peered around in boredom at a club she had formerly vandalized. She couldn’t even muster up a false sense of sadness for the gold that Elizar had to sink into the place because of her actions. With the way that Livia opened up to me and understanding that Amaris’ trust never came easily, I knew that Cecilia was indeed the arsonist. Sent by her powerful lover Lysander, she came to the club of an ex she truly hated and made a scene in one of the bathrooms. I imagined her seducing someone in there, giving her a reason to walk inside, and then laying out the fire that would spread quickly. Cecilia had a few tricks up her garter belt and could do it without being noticed. She was caught red handed in an ill-fitting red dress. When she didn’t find Ethan, she sensed the trap. I couldn’t let her escape.

  “He didn’t call you first, you know. I was busy and he left a voicemail when his crusade against the Portal Dusters took him on a wrong turn”, I picked up an expensive bottle of wine that I had resealed after slipping the truth serum into it, “so don’t get too cocky. I sent the druggie packing, saved Ethan from him, and sent him home to safety.”

  “With muscles the wolf who can’t keep a bad word out of his mouth. You know he could have played the pity card and been living at the Court of Amethyst in luxury”, Cecilia said slyly as she put her handbag down on the counter, “but that wasn’t my call and he wouldn’t take my advice a
nyway. I hope you plan to share that bottle to help ease the pain of coming here just to look at you.”

  “You can have the whole thing”, Elizar measured his voice out, an attempt to remain inconspicuous while holding back his loathing of her.

  “Cheers to that. I never say no to a drink. Hand it over, hybrid girl, and I might leave you some. Wine goes down quickly”, she said before popping the cork with her teeth.

  Watching her chug a sizable amount down, I came to believe that she was in a tight spot. Her cards were always held close to her chest and no one could analyze her motives correctly. In the past year, she had taken to drinking more and selling her services out as a high end hooker. I wasn’t sure what came next on the hot mess express through Crestwood. I didn’t even need to convince her to drink! She just brought it to her crimson lacquered lips and drank straight from the bottle. Elizar hid a chuckle at her complete lack of class. I waited for the potion to set in. Amaris had enough talent and knowledge to craft the real deal without side effects. Cecilia wouldn’t event know what hit her.

  “This takes like trash. I take it that it’s a favorite of yours, Abbie?”, she winked with another sip.

  I took the insult in stride, “No, but I figure it suited you well. How are you feeling? Just a little light headed?”

  Cecilia sat the bottle down, “Like I could snort a line of Portal Dust and strip right down on the dance floor. Dizzy feels good and it could gain me a new clientele. I love having my body admired by men and scornfully reproached by women. It gives me a thrill to mix up such chaos around this lowbrow hick community.”

  She stopped herself from saying more when the realization of my betrayal set in. I couldn’t help but be smug about it. Elizar was quick as he used his pair of magically charged dice to teleport from his seat on the couch to right behind her. With a quick swipe of his athame, he got a nice selection of her hair and was back to the couch before she could blink. Cecilia was shallow but definitely no idiot. She had felt the dagger swipe away a small portion of her locks and could recognize a truth serum once it set in. She had made a few for her ex-boyfriends back in the day when she suspected them of cheating. I figured that she used more than one on Elizar after every argument that they had.

  “I’m inspiring you to be a selfish person who lies and schemes to get what she wants. Your father would be proud but I’m a bit hesitant to reward you. I know how scared you are of embracing your Everlaine magic and falling into darkness. Do you still have nightmares about it?”, she asked, twisting the serum for her own purpose.

  “Not when I have company in bed”, I said back to her.

  She jolted just a bit before settling back, “You figured out the club thing, didn’t you? How I dropped some Portal Dust into drinks to get humans sick. An idea of my own to get this place shut down before it could get a following. Then, of course, the fire. But that’s why I’m here and that’s why you gave me the serum. I wouldn’t have tattled otherwise.”

  “You could go to jail again. Major violation of your fragile parole”, Elizar reminded her while his fingers twirled the lock of her hair around.

  “And you could have just went to the police to save everyone time. You want something. What is it?”, she rattled further.

  Elizar waved her clipped strand of hair above his head, “We have it now. Abbie needs to borrow your look for the evening and she needed some of your hair to do it. If you were a better enchantress, you would have caught on to that already.”

  “And if you were able to be anything but a commitment-phobic warlock who embarrassed his parents and used sex to get lovers because you have nothing else besides gold to offer, then you would already be married to Abbie. Instead, you’re sitting there wondering how long you can keep her happy for”, Cecilia winked and then turned her attention to me, “and of course you feel unworthy of him. What a pair you both make. So screwed up in your own ways and playing it off for the benefit of the other.”

  Elizar adjusted the lapels on his jacket, “I don’t need a truth serum to be honest with Abbie. We have that kind of an understanding. I’ve grown into a better man because of her.”

  My cheeks became warm and my heart thudded away, “Really? I’ve never felt safer than when I stay the night with you.”

  Cecilia gagged, “I never want to see either of you happy. You both put a screw into my plans and used me to get ahead on a crummy case. I deserved better of a boyfriend and even more so of a best friend. I’ll just call Voldini and tell him all about your charade. I hope your friend gets turned into a pile of dust.”

  There it was, that hidden darkness that couldn’t be contained any longer. It exploded in a scream of force that knocked both Cecilia and Elizar down. One of the overhead lights crashed to the floor and Ian circled his way downward. My fingers ached for the fire that crawled up them and I cast out my energy in Cecilia’s direction. She would see Dimples killed for her own amusement! Everything was a game to her and she had to be the winner. The world would be better off without her. I drew my fingers back and slammed them together. Cecilia felt the tremor of pain that she had only experienced once before in the ritual chambers when my father had summoned her there. This was the same dark magic I had wielded now. What are you most afraid of, Abbie? Of how good it felt to use it.

  My throat became dry and my eyes burned as fiercely as my finger tips. Without touching her, I tossed Cecilia up and slammed her into a wall. She shook in pain and her trashy heels clunked to the ground. I saw fear in her eyes and it made the darkness ache for more of it. My father loved this feeling and had hoped he would instill it on his children. Looks like your hybrid daughter, the freak and a disappointment, had fallen into it after all. Bands of pure dark blue force clamped over Cecilia’s waist and arms. She was pinned to the wall before her wand could even be reached for. I watched it roll out of her purse – illegal as her magic should have all been confiscated since her last violation, and stomped on it.

  The sudden crack of the wooden wand made her scream as if it caused her pain. It must not have been easy to acquire when she carried a rap sheet. Any reputable vendor wouldn’t sell to her once they did a background check and she would need to navigate back streets for stolen ones. Refurbished wands were hot items for casters who couldn’t follow the law. It wounded her and the darkness salivated inside of me for more. The blue bands of energy tightened and she squirmed in discomfort. Crush her, that Everlaine darkness insisted, show her how powerless she is against you. I fell into it and watched as the blackened waters sank me deeper to the bottom where I had no escape. Then there was a hand pressed to my side, strong and warm. It shook me out of the sinking and thrust me into the light. A voice I loved, a voice that could cut through everything else.

  “This isn’t the way, Abbie. This isn’t you”, Elizar spoke against the side of my face, “lower your hands and let’s lock her in the side office downstairs. She doesn’t deserve to be crushed for being a terrible person. You don’t deserve to have her blood on your hands because she infuriates you. You’re better than this.”

  I took in a deep breath of oxygen as my head emerged above the water that wanted to drown me in a sinister lullaby. Was I any better of this at the end of the day? Wasn’t I exactly what my father and his own parents had been the whole time? Our family had a scar that ran across us and landed right into my lap. Grant Everlaine didn’t need to be here to hurt me. I had somehow internalized the lessons he had raised me with and let them come back full force when Cecilia’s words hit too close to home. Elizar placed his lips lovingly against my cheek. He wasn’t scared of me as the darkness fought for control. He didn’t leave my side. I felt his fingers wrap around one of my wrists and the touch of his lips on my knuckles. My hand unclenched and my heart let me have peace. The darkness ebbed away.

  “Focus on why we’re doing this. Dimples needs us tonight and you have a chance to bring her home. Cecilia just wanted to hurt you because she knows you’re scared of failing. You’re not in this alone. A
s long as I’m alive, you never will be. So why do you need to use that darkness when you have my own power to back you up?”, he asked reasonably, his words slicing through the darkness inside of me like a knight in black leather with a gleaming sword.

  “It hurts when the feeling starts, burns me. Then it feels so…”, I catch the sob before it escapes.

  “It feels so good”, Elizar completed my thought, “but it’s a selfish darkness and only wants to use your body as a vessel. Your father was stupid enough to love that codependency but you’re an independent witch. You may have his last name but you’re no Everlaine.”

  “Then who am I?”, my voice came out, strained and shaking.

  “You’re the woman that I’ll never stop fighting for. Now let Cecilia down and let’s move her into that magically enforced room like we originally planned. She won’t be hurt and you won’t do anything that you’ll regret later”, he suggested it so lovingly as he brought down my other upraised hand, showering it with kisses.

  “What a sad mess of a monster you’ve become, Abbie. Making the mighty thick skinned bed hopping warlock into a romantic and giving up every part of your peace to get back some freak that shouldn’t exist. I had Fae inside of me and I know that nothing that comes from it should ever have the right to live”, Cecilia slumped against the floor, coughing out her words.

  “I’m not half the monster that you are, Cecilia. I could never get up in the morning hating that many people and working my hardest to hurt them”, I fell back into Elizar and finished, “but there’s something in me that wants to crush you more than anything. If I give into it, I become a mirror image of you. Different in some ways but with the same motives. You would have made my father proud with your lack of human empathy.”

  Elizar maneuvered around me and ported Cecilia into the designated office before she could say anything else. She always knew how to push my buttons, ever since college when I worried that I would never be a good enough enchantress. She told me all of the things that could go wrong and would pretend to commiserate with every anxiety attack that thought of failure would bring me. I never once thrived with her as my friend. I was tossed around mentally for her sense of superiority. Every time she went back home to see her parents, she came back with a new desire to break down the walls that I had built. Her unhappiness so easily became my own. It wasn’t until Dimples that I learned how to have a healthy friendship based on honesty and support. I didn’t want to lose that.