by Julia Mills
And the fires shall burn
And the wheel of life shall turn
And the dead come back home on Samhain
And in the night sky
On the lunar light they fly
And the dead come back home on Samhain.
Balor I come to you on bended knee
I search for your servant Thanatos
I beseech you access into your realm
Balor, Demon King, please show favor on my request.
The idiot was summoning Balor to find Thanatos. Calysta could only imagine that the wizard or warlock or whatever he was thought that the legend was true. He actually believed that Thanatos would be able to recite the spell. She wanted to laugh but couldn’t work up the energy. Instead, she watched while he placed copper pots beside the five candles and filled them with water. At least the man knew his demons. Balor’s followers were the Fomori, the demons who live in the dark depths of the lakes and seas. Water is the only conduit to reach them and they are the only way to reach their boss.
The wizard continued to chant. Slimy black magic filled the room, making the air heavy. Calysta could feel it like snakes writhing all over her battered body. Placing a black stone basin on the floor, the wizard knelt beside it and opened the cage containing the rats. One by one, he slit their throats, letting the blood drain from their bodies into the container between his knees.
The blood bubbled and a grey mist rose from the pentagram. Calysta worked hard to draw her next breath. The wizard smiled and cackled like a loon. “The King is on the way, Priestess. Maybe you’ll tell him your secrets.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It had been two days since the prisoner had been brought to the lair…two days of horrible nightmares. The mark on her wrist that had appeared after Anya had transformed burned until she thought she might cry. She’d tried to work up the courage to tell Siobhan what was happening, but the Healer had been so busy trying to keep the traitor alive so that he might stand before the Tribunal, she had decided to wait.
She knew it was Andrew, the one that had betrayed them all, that was screaming in her dreams. His pain was alive within her every time she closed her eyes. He had seen her, too. Called out to her. At first, he’d called her by what she now knew was his mother’s name, but then he’d realized that she was not Margarite O’Brien. In the few seconds that he was actually lucid before the fever took him again, he had asked her for help. Then told her she was beautiful.
Last night, after hours and hours of his constant murmuring and crying in her head, she gave up and started walking toward the cave where she knew he was sequestered. But just as she’d suspected, they had Guardsmen posted everywhere. No one but the few the Elders had approved was allowed in.
She’d taken the long way home. Ran into Sam and finally got to meet Charlie, Aaron’s mate. The beautiful lavender glow that shone around the pretty blonde doctor confirmed that she was a fairy.
As they walked away and resumed talking, she heard the ladies discussing Sydney. It seemed the sweet child’s abilities had strengthened and new ones had manifested since the traitor had entered the lair. She’d also heard that Kyra’s magic was much stronger and Anya’s dragon senses had magnified.
Finally making it home, she walked up the steps to her apartment, unlocked the door, and barely made it in before Andrew’s screams almost brought her to her knees. He was calling out to her.
“Teacht anseo, maite. Teacht, mo chroi”
“Come here, mate. Come, my heart.”