Zoey unlocked the door to her shop with shaking hands and stood at the window, watching the battle. It would have been beautiful if not for the death. Red, green, and blue energy pulses lit up the sky.
From the hiding place in her shop, Zoey watched a Claritase sister drop to her knees as a strong hunter stalked forward. His dark blue Water pushing back her light blue Air until the joining of the powers sizzled the tips of her fingers. Zoey’s hands heated. The woman screamed in pain, her body weakening against the hunter. Tears ran down her cheeks; Zoey saw the moment the woman realized she was going to die.
Zoey couldn’t take it. She couldn’t stand by and watch a person die. With a curse, Zoey ran to the door, flipped the lock, and flung open the door. Hiding the best she could from view she focused on the man causing the young woman’s blood curdling scream. A tidal wave of power shot from her outstretched fingers that seemed to gain momentum as it crashed into him. His powers stopped, the woman collapsed, and he turned to see her. His eyes widened, and he tried to shout a moment before her white energy overpowered him and sucked him into nothingness.
Zoey didn’t hesitate as she raced into the street and pulled the young woman back into her bakery. Her mind was focused on the task, but a part of Zoey realized the surreal nature of a massive magical battle between good and evil taking place in the holler of this small Tennessee mountain town.
“Thank you,” the woman mumbled before she closed her eyes. Zoey felt for her pulse and found it fluttering weakly. She’d live but needed some of Agnes’s special drink.
“Zoey.” She heard the whisper and whipped around.
“Luke!” Zoey couldn’t believe she saw the deputy crawling from behind the pastry display. “You’re supposed to be in Kentucky.”
“I couldn’t leave my town. Is she alive?” He looked at the woman and Zoey nodded.
“I thought I could help with whatever it is you’re involved in, but—” He let his words die as Agnes brought a tower of a man to his knees and a young Claritase member held out a cookie jar in the shape of a bear. The man’s powers were yanked from his body and the woman slammed the lid of the cookie jar on them. With a flick of her fingers, Agnes burnt the man’s body to a crisp.
“I told you that you wouldn’t want to know.”
Luke turned to Zoey with resolve and questions in his eyes. He slipped from behind the counter and grabbed the woman’s arms. “This is giving me a pretty good idea what’s going on. Let me get her in the back. I may not be able to fight, but I can try to help the wounded.”
Zoey grinned as she touched the woman and Luke.
“What the—” Luke looked around as they were suddenly in the back of the bakery. “Oh, my stomach.”
“You get used to it.” Zoey laughed.
“I don’t want to get used to it. Let’s never do that again. So, you all are what? Gods?”
Zoey shook her head. “Witches. And this is a battle for the future of our kind. Some of the men want to steal our powers to make themselves more powerful. We’re trying to kill their leader and end the war.”
Luke blinked at her. “Well,” he said finally, clearing his throat, “no offense, but I’m really glad I love Ava. I think if I survive this, I might visit Kentucky for a while. Maybe their sheriff’s department is hiring.” Luke paused. “Are there witches in Keeneston?”
“I don’t know. I’m fairly new to this, even though I’m the one who has to kill their leader. See if you can get some of the liquid in that barrel into her, it’s like a healing smoothie that Agnes and Vilma make.”
Luke nodded, picked up a coffee cup from the counter and filled it from the tap on the barrel before lifting it to the lips of the young witch as he held her head up. She took a few sips and her breathing eased immediately.
The feeling of the earth shaking had Zoey running toward the front. Outside, she saw Vilma pulling her power from Earth and the man across from her doing the same. They were equally matched.
But she couldn’t say that for sure about Slade. From near the center of the fighting, his bright dark purple light glowed where it was in a tug of war with a green light.
* * *
Slade could see that Demetrius had gotten better over the last century. He’d thought this would be quick and easy. And it should have been if Demetrius was with his original powers. But as a member of the Claritase lost her battle near him, the hunter opened his mouth and absorbed her powers as her body dropped boneless to the ground before he burnt it from existence.
From Demetrius’s surging powers, it was clear he’d gained his powers not from hard work and training, but from hunting Claritase and stealing them. It didn’t matter though as Demetrius laughed manically while his powers surged. One thing Slade knew that Demetrius hadn’t learned over the years—he never took time to learn how to focus his powers.
Slade took a deep breath and focused on pulling not only his Fire from within, but he also added in his Air. His energy combusted as it burst forward. Demetrius stopped laughing as he stumbled back. Playtime was over.
Slade focused his powers on Demetrius and pushed Demetrius’s powers back until he was shaking with effort and failing. “No!” Alexander yelled from within his circle.
With one last surge of energy, Demetrius fell.
“Slade!” He turned to see a woman throw a decorative paisley fabric container toward him. He snagged it out of the air and opened it in time to capture Demetrius’s powers.
“You traitor! I disowned you once, but now I’ll kill you,” Alexander threatened. He directed his circle of protectors to attack, and Slade was brought to his knees instantly.
11
Zoey saw Vilma slowly beat back a hunter. Once that battle was in hand, Zoey looked around and found Agnes in a battle of her own nearby. Polly appeared to be handling herself well. More hunters were falling than Claritase and True Tenebris, but even one loss from her side was too many for her. At least now it was closer to one against one.
The purple light brightened and then the light was gone. Zoey let out a breath. “Slade won!” she yelled back to Luke.
“Good! Tell the others to bring the wounded here.”
Zoey opened the door. “Agnes, Vilma, wounded in the back.”
The two old ladies nodded as a young man and woman captured the power of the two hunters they just defeated. “Spread the word. Take the wounded to the bakery,” Agnes told them before they poofed away to store the captured powers.
Zoey was about to close the door when a pain hit her hard and fast. She gasped and fell to her knees, clinging to the door for support. Her heart pounded as pain raced through her body. “Slade,” she gasped.
Agnes and Vilma were at her side. “What is it?’ Vilma asked.
“Slade,” Zoey said as she struggled to stand. “I have to get to him.”
Agnes and Vilma looked to where a rainbow of light was directed to a single point. One of them whispered “Oh, no.”
Agnes grabbed her shoulders and shook Zoey. “Dig deep to calm yourself. You know what to do.”
Zoey let Agnes and Vilma push her through the crowd as she focused on controlling her energy. Energy flew around her as she shook from a combination of fear, anger, and built-up energy aching to be released. And then she saw him. Slade was on his knees as four hunters ganged up on him. Slade was blocking one with one hand, one the other, and then taking hits from two others. He was weakening to the point that he would be dead very soon.
“Stop!” Zoey yelled. “Get him,” she ordered Agnes and Vilma when the hunters turned to her. She didn’t give them a chance to ask her questions or to laugh at the lone woman trying to order them to stop. She took a deep breath, turned her face to the sky as the first jolt of energy from the hunters hit her.
Zoey let it course through her as she lifted her hands high, drawing from the energy of the earth, heavens, and even from the energy of those around her. She felt it fill her until she felt as if she would burst, and then she let go.
<
br /> White light blinded the entire area. From her peripheral vision, she saw Agnes touch Slade’s shoulder and then they were gone.
“The fifth element. That’s not possible,” Alexander hissed in shock. Yes, she had the fifth element, and she felt every bit of her power as one hunter after another swirled down into nothingness.
* * *
If heaven smelled like Zoey’s bakery, it was a good way to go.
“Slade?”
Well, hearing Luke Tanner solidified it. He was in hell.
“Open your eyes, sonny.”
Agnes?
Slade felt something cold against his lips a moment before cold liquid rushed into his mouth. He swallowed automatically as his eyes popped open. Luke and Agnes were staring down at him.
“What’s going on?” Slade questioned.
“Drink this,” Agnes said, shoving more liquid into his mouth. The more he drank, the more his body seemed to come back to life.
“What am I doing here?” he asked after emptying the cup.
Agnes refilled it and shoved it back in his hand. “I brought you here. You were outnumbered.”
“How did you get me away? Is Alexander dead?”
Agnes didn’t answer, and when he looked to Luke, his lips were pressed into a thin line.
“Zoey!” Slade struggled to get up, but Agnes put a hand on him to stop him.
“You need to drink this first. It’ll speed your healing. You’ll need every ounce of energy you can garner.”
Suddenly a blinding white light filled the entire bakery and then it was gone.
* * *
Zoey stood shaking before Alexander. Her nose was bleeding, but she was too tired to wipe it. The four men were gone and many of the hunters, True Tenebris, and Claritase had frozen to stare. It was as if a truce had been called so they could all watch the final showdown between Alexander and Zoey. Though at this point, it wouldn’t be much of a fight.
Zoey was weakened, just like Alexander had wanted.
“You’re The One,” Alexander said almost gleefully as he strode forward toward her with Ian at his side.
Zoey risked a quick glace around. Alexander shouldn’t be so gleeful. Most of his men were gone. Those remaining had stopped fighting as the True Tenebris and the Claritase began to close in around them. However, it might not matter in the long run. If Alexander took her powers, he’d be strong enough to defend himself . . . if he wasn’t already that strong. He didn’t seem worried about being outnumbered. Of course, he and his second were the only ones who were rested and at full strength.
“And you’re the traitor to the Goddess,” Zoey answered with as much force as she could muster. Alexander’s smile slipped as anger took its place.
“Who are you that you dare speak to me like that?” Alexander yelled. “Are you a grand master? Are you all-powerful? Do you have a name that is known across the entire world? Does your name strike fear or worship just at its utterance?” Alexander accented each question while taking one step closer to her.
Zoey kept quiet. She wasn’t going to play his games. Plus she desperately needed time to regain as much strength as she could. Her body tingled, and she could tell Slade was back, but she didn’t look for him. She wanted to keep Alexander’s attention completely on her. Movement from the side of her peripheral showed Slade standing with Luke’s help. Agnes was next to him with a huge jug of her healing juice just waiting to get it to her.
“So, I ask again,” Alexander said, holding up his hands and playing up his audience. “Who do you think you are to challenge me?”
“She’s my daughter.”
Zoey’s heart stopped beating at the sound of the voice from behind her. Maybe she’d misheard it. In that split second she was transported back in time to the last time she’d heard it. Was it really him?
“And who are you?” Alexander asked with amusement.
“Magnus Rode.”
Zoey’s heart didn’t just resume beating, it filled with life as she spun to see her father. He looked a little older, but generally the same as the last time she’d seen him when she was just a small child. He was dressed in construction boots, jeans, and a long-sleeved black thermal shirt that stretched over a muscular body. It looked as if he’d been living in the mountains, chopping wood and living off the land. Zoey’s eyes traveled up to her father’s and saw the same love she’d seen as a child. Dad.
“Hello, Jellybean.”
Zoey almost collapsed, but her father was by her side. He slipped his arm around her waist, practically holding her up. “Stay strong. I’ve got you.”
Zoey stood straight, refusing to show Alexander her weakness.
“I killed the last of the Rodes. You are a liar!”
Her father shook his head and Slade slid to her other side, shoving the jug of restorative drink into her hand as her father distracted Alexander.
“No, you destroyed my parents. But I was saved by this man,” Magnus said, looking at Slade. “I was a newborn and I was saved by a True Tenebris. I was left with a note of explanation from my father, the family crest”—he lifted a necklace to show the gathered group—“and the book of the Tenebris.” Zoey listened as avidly as Alexander did while she drank the restorative drink.
Alexander turned to Slade, and Zoey felt him stiffen next to her. Her body was flooded with shame and fear. Turning to Slade, she saw his jaw tight and his hand tightened around her waist as the other bunched into fists at his side. He’d saved her father, why was he ashamed?
12
Slade knew his time had come. There were going to be no more secrets left. The only question was if this secret was so great it would break his bond with Zoey. Slade straightened his back and dropped his hand from Zoey’s waist where he and her father were holding her up.
Alexander looked at him with disgust and betrayal. “Before I thought you were just a traitor to the Tenebris for leaving, but now I know you betrayed your own father.”
Slade kept his head up, his eyes never looking away from his father’s. He heard the gasps and whispers from the crowd surrounding him. His father had never publically claimed Slade as his son, but he’d never denied it either. He called all of his young soldiers “his children.” Just like Alexander called Ian his son, when he was actually his nephew. So while Slade had been referred to as son or his child, no one thought it in the truest sense of the word.
“Are you surprised after you killed my mother?” Slade asked through gritted teeth. “I was only with you because you stole me from her, but I never forgot my mother. She came to me in my dreams, teaching me about the goodness we were endowed with by the Goddess. And then, as a grown man, I finally saw her for the first time when she came begging you for peace under a white flag.” It was as if everyone froze in place. No on breathed. No one moved. Everyone was connecting the dots as to the identity of his mother.
“Helena,” Grand Mistress Lauren said, her voice sounding as if it was choked with emotion. “You’re Helena’s son?”
The cat weaved between his legs, rubbing her head against him. From what he’d learned, his mother and Grand Mistress Lauren had been like sisters.
“I am. I was taken from my mother and raised by Alexander in Europe because of . . .”
“The prophecy, of course,” Grand Mistress Lauren sighed. “When a Grand Mistress would give birth to a child out of the bonds of true mates, that child would rise to power through corruption, violence, and death.”
Slade nodded as the others whispered. His mother had hidden her pregnancy from everyone, confiding only in Alexander, the baby’s father. Fearful that her child would ruin the Claritase and Tenebris, but not able to bring herself to end the pregnancy, she allowed Alexander to take Slade far away and never acknowledge her as the mother.
“I’m fulfilling the prophecy myself. I will rise to power through the violence and corruption of your rule. The prophecy was never really about me. It was a warning about you. Mother figured that out. That’s why she ca
me to you under a white flag. But now the time of your reign of terror is over.”
Slade stared his father down. He felt a soft hand slipping into his and looked down at Zoey. “So,” she said loudly and not a bit fearful, “are there any other prophecies I should know about?”
Everyone was quiet until one chuckle could be heard from behind. Neferu stepped next to Magnus, and Polly stepped up to Slade’s other side. Grand Master Linus picked up Grand Mistress Lauren and stood directly behind them as Samuel joined Polly. They were a team—a force to be reckoned with—and they all had his back.
“All the prophecies come from outgoing Grand Mistresses. Celesta, on her way to join the Goddess, spoke of the child. Helena, as she lay dying, spoke of The One,” Neferu said clearly for all to hear. “Before them, the Goddess would impart prophecies of upcoming needs in order for us to prepare to help the human world. Even now, Grand Mistress Lauren receives these messages, but we’ve been in hiding too long to help. But that stops now. Today we stand together to avenge the death of our sister Helena and so many of our loved ones. And you, Alexander, were always a bad child.”
Slade didn’t need to glance behind him to know the entire Claritase and his True brothers had stepped up as hunters ran to Alexander’s side. It wouldn’t matter. The prophecy was clear. It was The One who would take Alexander’s powers and end the war.
Alexander knew it too. He narrowed his eyes at Zoey, but before he could strike, a bright blue power unlike any shade of blue she’d ever seen before lashed out at Alexander.
“Dad!” Zoey screamed as Alexander fired back at Magnus.
“Get them all!” Alexander ordered to what was left of his men. In a split second, duels to the death began all around them.
Moonshine & Mayhem Page 6