“Sierra, what are you doing down here?”
I jumped and swung around to find Oren sitting on a wooden stool, with Penny standing beside him. The body of my ghostly, childhood best friend appeared solid. I’d recently found out she wasn’t a spirit, but the deliberate imprint of my grandmother. She’d made Penny using a bit of her essence with the intention of leaving a piece of herself to watch over me. But when Grandma died, Penny became the sentry of this room.
“Shit, you scared me. I didn’t see you.”
“We were cloaked,” Oren said with a shrug.
“Uh, didn’t we agree that you weren’t going to wander into my room if it was occupied?”
“I didn’t come in through your room.”
“There’s only one way in and out, so unless you’ve got a new magic trick you’re about to teach me, I’m confused.”
Oren flinched when he stood, but I didn’t comment. He headed for the concrete stairs and waved a hand over the solid wall. A doorknob appeared. He turned it and pushed the wooden door open.
“What the…where’s it lead?”
“To the garage,” he said, closing it again.
“I’m surprised you got into the garage at all.” I felt my cheeks warm at the reminder of the mess. There was access from the house to the garage, but I never used that door because of the clutter.
When Oren sat down, Penny placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Oren, what’s wrong?” I asked.
He sighed, avoiding my eyes. The weight of his misery pushed against me. “I should have known Jacinta would stoop this low.”
“It’s not—”
“Sierra, I should have at least known about the vampire.”
“How were we to know Narelle was scheming behind our backs? Last week she helped us take out rogue werewolves, and even told us about Duff helping Jeff and Laura.” It was true, we probably could’ve been more cautious, but there was a fine line between cautious and paranoid.
“Vampires are not to be trusted.” He looked disgusted, and I couldn’t blame him. I felt the same way—betrayed and stupid. “These creatures are only loyal to themselves. Make sure you never forget that.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and didn’t tell him about Narelle refusing to save Ebony’s life. Then again, if saving my friend meant turning her into one of those parasites, I was glad she hadn’t. It didn’t take the pain away, though.
“I’ll never forget,” I whispered.
“The Alliance has your sister and I don’t know what to do.” He placed both elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “I’ve tried contacting Jacinta via magical and non-magical means, but she’s virtually impossible to trace.”
Penny rubbed his shoulders.
“Oren, don’t you give up on me now. We’ve been through so much together, I nearly died—again.” I strolled closer. “Jacinta and Duff might have Willow and even see her as a tool, but they can’t use her without me.” The admission empowered me. No matter how crazy they were, Jacinta and Duff were her grandparents. I had to believe that at least one of them would care enough to keep her unhurt until then.
“How did you heal yourself?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sierra, I tried everything. A goddess and a demon brought you into the house convinced you were going to die. I know something happened.”
I sighed. “Gareth healed me.”
“So he’s finally come into his gifts.”
“You knew he was a healer?”
Oren met my gaze. “I know he’s destined for great things and that he’ll become one of your most powerful magical allies.”
I could see how he would, since I already relied heavily on him. But it was time to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Oren, we’ve got something over Jacinta.”
“What’s that?” His light blue eyes glistened in the dark.
“She also doesn’t know Grandma has already moved on.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“That’s interesting.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “So they intend to take you for their own personal use but have no idea they won’t be able to steal what’s already yours.”
“After injecting me with wakh ichor, they nearly fluked it, because if they’d taken me and performed the ritual… But the fact remains—they have no idea.” It dawned on me how lucky I was to have gotten away. With Willow already in the car, no wonder Jacinta was cocky and determined. Not to mention condescending towards Mace. Still, their infighting might prove to be a valuable tool. “Something doesn’t make sense, though. Mace is the one who had Grandma imprisoned by the shadows—”
“That’s it!”
“What’s it?”
Oren stood and started pacing. “Mace organized for the shadow monsters to take your grandparents, so he assumes they’re still there. Yet, you destroyed the shadow patch which is probably the reason he doesn’t know.”
“So, he reckons the radio silence means everything’s still the same.”
“Exactly!”
“What’s that noise?” Penny asked.
“What noise?” I asked.
“It sounds like a song.”
I listened and realized it was my phone. Shit. “I’ll be right back.” I raced up the stairs, my heart beating rapidly by the time I reached the bedside table. “Hello?”
“Sierra, darling, glad I caught you.”
Speak of the devil. I cleared my throat and said, “Mace, what do you want?”
“What are you wearing?”
“None of your business, you pervert.”
“If you didn’t have so much protection around your house, I would make it my business.”
“Where are you?”
“Close,” he said.
On heavy legs, I headed for the window and peeked out between the blinds. I could just make him out past the fog. Mace leaned against a lamppost and had a hand plugged into the phone lines.
“Ah, you’ve found me!”
I hated his casual demeanor, as if so much crap hadn’t happened between us. “The last time I saw you, you were wearing a spear.”
“It’s a shame you had to see that,” he said, sighing into my ear. “But you remain my biggest weakness. Have you thought about my offer?”
“I’m not going to come willingly,” I spat. “So if that’s why you called, you can shove—”
“Actually, I called to tell you something else.”
“What’s that? Because unless you’re going to tell me where my sister is, I don’t give a crap about anything you have to say.”
“Oh, I’m sure you want to know about this.” His eyes were black and shiny. Even from afar, I could feel him mentally stripping me. “As for your sister, you’ll see her again soon enough.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I don’t have her.”
“Then I’m hanging up.”
“Sierra, surely you care about the Tower.”
“What have you done now?”
“Nothing yet,” he said with a chuckle. “I was going to wait a while longer, but since you led the police back to the Tower and they’re constantly loitering… I’ve decided it’s time to eliminate it.”
“I don’t see why that’s got anything to do with me.” He was so infuriating.
Mace sank both of his hands into the phone lines and several sparks flew above his head, showering down around him. “I know Lee called you. Even after all the precautions I took to keep her from contacting you, she led you to the councilors.”
“Why’d you kill them? They didn’t want to play your games anymore?”
“You could say they were developing a backbone, and I had someone take care of them for me.” A small smile curved his lips. “
Anna was willing to do just about anything to destroy you. I just gave her a slight push.”
“You heartless bastard,” I said.
“You’re the only one I have room for in my heart.”
“Lay off the lies! If you care so much, why did you send orbs and a wraith after me?”
“I didn’t do that.”
“You’re a liar.”
“Sierra, I might have lied to you about everything else, but my love for you is the only truth. Why would I try to kill you when you’re so close to being mine?”
“Why are you holding catchers inside the Tower?” I wasn’t going to get into a conversation about the possibility of this ancient creature loving me. And if he hadn’t sent the volatile spooks, who had?
“Some habits are hard to break.” He sighed a little too dramatically.
“What are you planning this time?”
Silence filled the space between us before he said, “Oh, that’s right I was trying to tell you something…”
“Just spit it out!”
“I’m going to blast the building.”
“No.” Was he going to cut his losses and sever the ley lines already?
“I’m afraid you leave me with no other choice.” He removed one hand from the lamppost. “It’s going to happen today.”
“Don’t do this.”
“Walk out of your house, come to me and I’ll spare everyone’s life.”
“What about my sister?”
“You’ll have to speak to Jacinta about her.”
“No deal.”
“You really want that much blood on your hands?”
“I’ll stop you,” I said. “You’re not going to get away with this.”
He laughed. “I can’t wait for all that dark spook energy to be unleashed into the city when it hurts the most.”
“You’re an evil bastard.” Today was Tuesday, a business day. He was going to strike when the city was well and truly buzzing with activity.
“I’m doing all of this for you.” He removed his other hand and the connection was severed. He flashed a quick smile and morphed so fast I hardly caught him joining the cables overhead and taking off down the street.
I have to stop him. Needed to get to the city and spend all day there if that was what it took to find those girls. I also had to make sure the explosion didn’t destroy the city, or the ley lines. Burr had warned me about this. I just hadn’t counted on it happening so soon.
“What’s going on?”
I swung around to find Oren standing in the closet doorway. I swallowed the anxiety tearing me up and motioned for him to head back inside. Then followed him down the stairs and didn’t say anything until we were back in the secret catcher room. Penny wasn’t visible, but she wouldn’t be far.
“That was Mace,” I said.
“What did he want this time?”
“He’s finally lost his fucking mind,” I said. “He’s going to blow up the Spook Catcher Council Tower, and while he’s at it, he’ll release every dangerous spook he’s been storing.”
Oren’s face darkened but his clear blue eyes looked almost transparent.
“I can’t let him do this. He’s going to kill too many innocent people if I don’t stop him.”
“You’re right. We will stop this terrorist act before it happens. But Sierra, you do realize this is his final attempt at weakening your strength?”
I nodded. “It’s time I faced all of my demons.” Why else would he put me in a corner? He wanted me at the Tower for a reason. If we prevented this catastrophe from happening, I didn’t care if he took me afterwards. There was no escaping the Obscurus. I’d already come to terms with that.
“Let me tell you one positive piece of information I found out about the Lamia.” His face brightened. “To destroy a Lamia you have to stab her through the heart with silver and then decapitate her. Killing her this way ensures every soul she took will fade into oblivion.”
I didn’t like the sound of that since Eli and Jonathan had both been sentenced to such a horrid fate by Maya. I wasn’t going to risk Ebony ending up the same way.
“But, if you decapitate the Lamia, remove the beating heart from her chest and then stab it with silver, you’ll free all those souls.”
“Are you sure?”
“By doing this, you can free Ebony.” Oren stuck his free hand into one of his jacket pockets and pulled out a yellowed piece of parchment. He held it out in front of me. “Before I forget, this is for you.”
I looked at him, and then at the parchment. “What is it?”
“It’s something you’ve been asking me about for a while,” he said with a grin. “A complicated spell to help you have deeper pockets.”
“Really?” Sometimes, I could swear he was able to read my mind. I reached for the paper, but he pulled it back at the last second. “What?”
“It’s a very powerful spell, and you’ll need to find the exact ingredients and make sure you only use the required amounts.” He frowned. “If you don’t, you can create a pocket patch where one isn’t supposed to be. Keep it hidden.”
I nodded and he handed it over. The sheer weight of the folded piece of paper made my fingertips burn with curiosity. “Thank you.”
“Oh, and one more thing…”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t use it yet. We can’t afford to be distracted.”
As hard as it would be to withstand the call of this spell, I would keep my word. “Agreed.”
He nodded. “Who do you want to take to the Tower with us?”
I didn’t like the idea of putting anyone but myself in danger, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could do this alone. “Lavie and Roe.”
“If Lavie goes, Sally’s going to want to come too.”
“Fine,” I said with a nod. “You tell them, and I’ll contact Roe.”
Oren headed for the secret garage door, but I called him and he peered over his shoulder.
“It’s not that I’m not grateful, but why give me this spell now?” The question sent a shiver down my spine.
“It’s the right time.” He waved the doorway into existence, walked through and it disappeared.
Something about his answer bugged me.
“It’s not easy to carry such burdens, Sierra.” Penny appeared beside me. “But never forget that you are too powerful to truly destroy and control.”
“I think you’re wrong. I nearly died.”
“You’re a lot tougher to destroy than that,” she said with a smile. “You make your grandmother proud every day. Never forget that.”
I nodded and raced up the concrete stairs. I closed the closet, stepped out of my bedroom and into the corridor as I scrolled for the right number. He answered on the second ring and I said, “Roe, I need your help.”
Chapter Thirteen
“As soon as we get inside we have to get the spook-catcher girls out of there.” I wanted to make sure we all knew this was a rescue mission, as much as our one and only chance to safely destroy a huge building situated in the middle of Sydney before Mace did.
Each of us standing beneath the overpass—Oren, Lavie, Sally, Roe—nodded in agreement. We’d had enough time to devise and go over our plan at home.
Pedestrians moved above our heads, unaware of what we were about to do. Cars sped along the road, some heading into the city, while others went towards the motorway. But all of them risked getting caught in Mace’s destructive plans.
We’d been loitering around most of the day, watching and waiting for Mace to make an appearance. Even more importantly, we’d had to wait several hours and watch from a distance as a multitude of police officers, forensics and detectives stormed in and out of the Tower. Lunchtime had come and gone and we were now very close to the end of another business day, which meant we h
ad to hurry. We couldn’t wait any longer. The few cops left to guard the automatic doors were busy pushing back the scattering of news crews parked across the road.
Only Gareth remained in front of the automatic doors—which was no accident.
“Are we ready?” I asked. We’re really going to do this. I tilted my head to glare at the Spook Catcher Council Tower one last time. Such an opposing structure of glass, steel and concrete would soon be reduced to nothing but rubble and I didn’t feel bad about it.
“I’m ready,” Lavie said with a determined nod, sending her red curls over her face.
Roe dipped his chin in agreement, but Oren shook his head.
“Not yet. Sally and I need to seal the radius circle before we go in.”
The two had already worked their way around the outskirts of the building to distribute the contents of a small burlap sack, leaving only a section wide enough for us to slip past. When I’d asked what ingredients they were using, both Sally and Oren mumbled something about salt and graveyard dirt, yet I recognized ectoplasm when I saw it.
“We might as well get this over with.” I hated leaving Papan out of the loop, but he would have tried to talk me out of it, or would insist on tagging along. He’d been through too much to face this as well. Besides, Saul knew what was going on and had insisted they attend to pack business. A note from the demon appeared in my pocket when they’d left, saying—Don’t do anything stupid.
Roe said, “Ms. Fox is right. In under an hour, this street will be filled with people heading home.”
“Okay,” Oren said with a nod. “Let’s start by getting inside the radius so we can seal it.” He didn’t wait for us, instead motioned Sally—who’d been a lot quieter than usual—towards the building. She strolled beside him while they whispered to each other.
Roe followed behind, but I grabbed Lavie’s arm before she could do the same.
“Hey, Lav, do you know what’s going on?”
Her hazel eyes widened, doing their Disney Princess routine. “Sierra, we went through the plan enough times, so don’t worry about—”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” I lowered my hand but stepped closer to say, “Do you know what Oren and Sally are whispering about?”
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