“I can’t do this type of dancing.”
“Ahuh.”
Gah! “Fine. One dance, but don’t come crying to me when I stomp on your feet.”
A low chuckle vibrated his chest. “I think I can handle that.”
He held out his hand, eyes still warm with laughter, and before I could change my mind I slipped mine into it. The crowd parted to let us through, and then his arm was around me and he was spinning me across the floor.
Not a trip, not stumble. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. It’s bloody awesome.”
He leaned in, catching his bottom lip between his teeth. “Some might say it’s like magick.”
It was like flying with my feet on the ground, colors whirled back, dizzying and vibrant.
“Look at me,” Vritra said. His breath warm on my face.
I locked gazes with him, and his power reached out to envelope me in a strange liquid warmth, running fingers up my back, across my shoulders, and lingering at my collarbones. It was intimate and thrilling and repulsive. Okay, so it wasn’t repulsive, but I really, really wanted it to be. I needed to want it to stop. To push him away, to … Ah, god, it was skimming over my breasts, circling my nipples. Fucking hell, this was foreplay on the dance floor.
“Carmella … what?”
My breath was coming faster, my chest swelling with need.
“Enough.” I pushed at his chest.
His gaze shuttered and he swirled us toward the edge of the dancers and stopped. “You were doing so well. I thought you were enjoying yourself.”
Sod this. I was done playing games. “I was, until you decided to probe me with your power.” There was no way he didn’t know what he was doing.
But the look of horror on his face said otherwise.
He swallowed and stepped back. “Well, that’s inappropriate.”
I held up my thumb and index finger about an inch apart. “Just a tad.”
He cleared his throat. “Probing, you say?”
Oh fuck.
He licked his lips. “Did you enjoy it?”
Oh double fuck. “I need a drink.”
He was as still as a Venus flytrap waiting for its prey to come a little closer.
No way was I playing the damn fly. A stand-off it would be.
“Carmella, you look, gorgeous!” Banner appeared at Vritra’s elbow.
Thank the gods.
“May I steal my girlfriend?” Banner made to step around Vritra, but the asura blocked him.
“You can quit the charade now, Banner,” Vritra said, his attention still on me. “Miss Hunter belongs to no one.”
Banner’s lips tightened. “You’re right, she doesn’t. But I’m sure she’d rather spend the evening with a friend than someone who simply wishes to use her.”
Vritra’s ember eyes narrowed. “Be careful Banner. Do not overstep your boundaries.”
Banner lifted his chin. “I’ve made a decision on your offer. And the answer is no.”
Vritra smiled, slow and predatory, and the asura I was accustomed to was back. “I don’t know what your play is Banner, but trust me, I will find out.”
Banner rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a play. I just didn’t like your offer, just as Carmella doesn’t like your attentions.”
Vritra’s expression shuttered and he turned to me. “Do my attentions bother you Miss Hunter?”
My skin still tingled from his phantom attentions. I opened my mouth to tell him yes, they did. That I didn’t need his help, or protection, or whatever he was offering, but the words stuck in my throat, because deep down, way down, a tiny persistent voice screamed the words would be a lie.
“Carmella?” Banner was staring at me, impatient for me to back him up.
I smiled. “I’d hardly call keeping me company attentions. This whole event is pretty daunting. Why didn’t you call me and tell me everyone would be so dressed up? I mean, look at me.” I glanced down at my dress, plain compared to all the others.
“True beauty needs no ornament,” Vritra said.
Banner snorted.
What was wrong with him tonight? He was usually so together and composed. This wasn’t like him, not at all. He was acting like a jealous lover. Oh shit.
I turned to Vritra. “Thank you for the company, and the dance.”
He inclined his head, recognizing this as his cue to leave. “I’ll see you soon Miss Hunter.”
It was a promise that sounded very much like a delicious threat.
Banner blew out a breath. “Seriously Carmella, you need to be careful around that guy. He wants you as his mate, and I’m not talking about the lets-go-down-the-pub-for-a-pint mate.”
“And you? What do you want?”
He swallowed. “Carmella …”
My heart sank. I’d thought we could be friends, and that he understood how I felt, or didn’t feel, but I guess the heart wants what it wants. Either that or I hadn’t been blunt enough. This could be my fault. I’d spent too much time with him, not given him the space someone needed to get over a crush or infatuation.
“I’m just looking out for you,” he said.
“Yes, you are, but not as a friend, because you want more from me than that.”
He tucked in his chin. “Carmella, I…”
My throat was tight. “Maybe we shouldn’t see each other for a while.”
He raised his head, his eyes bright. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Look. Have a great evening.” He made to move off, but faltered and turned back. He retrieved a slender velvet box from his jacket pocket. “I got you this as an I’m-glad-you-didn’t-die present.” He blew out a breath. “It would mean so much if you’d accept it.” He flipped open the lid to reveal a delicate silver chain in an elegant twist style.
I’d broken his heart. I couldn’t hurt him more by rejecting his gift. I plucked it from the box. “It’s beautiful.”
“May I?”
I handed him the chain, and he clasped it around my neck and stepped back.
“Is it all right if I call you sometime next week?”
Oh, man. “Banner you can call me whenever you like. I’d like us to be friends. I just think a little distance right now might help us get to that stage.”
“Wise and beautiful.” He winked. “See you soon.” He strode toward the exit.
Oh fuck. He was upset. So upset he’d left the ball.
I’d been too harsh. Should I have ignored what just happened and hope it resolved itself? Damn my big mouth.
“You did the right thing dear.” The High Witch appeared at my side.
“You saw that?” Probably with her witchy mojo. Something I needed to work on. If only they did catch-up classes for late bloomers.
She smiled kindly. “We’re witches, our eyes and ears can be on many things at the same time. I’m not the only one who heard or saw that exchange. Mal Banner is a powerful man, I would be careful not to cross him.”
“I’m not afraid Banner will hurt me, more the other way round.”
She sighed. “Yes, unrequited love can be quite painful, but forgive me if I find it difficult to believe a man such as Banner will be despondent for long.”
So she bought into his playboy persona too. Not that I was going to correct her. Banner had crafted this image for a reason, best to leave it alone.
“Come, we are about to begin the chant and I would like you to join us.”
“Me?”
“Of course. You may not chose to affiliate with us, but you are one of us now, whether you like it or not.”
Suck on that Penelope. “I don’t actually know the chant.”
She smiled. “Just listen and I’m sure you’ll pick it up.”
She led me through the crowd as the music died and a hush fell on those gathered. The female witches moved into the center of the ballroom, leaving everyone unconnected to the skein on the periphery. I caught a glimpse of Vritra standing beside his sage, Shukra. The sight of the squat man was a reminder either one of them c
ould have been responsible for the attack on me. I’d almost let my guard down with Vritra just now. Actually, maybe that was a good thing. Let him believe I could trust him. If he was connected to these creatures, then allowing him to believe I was clueless may be the only way to get close to him. He’d let his guard down, slip up and reveal a clue, something. Access to him was access to Shukra also.
It was certainly a plan. Get close, get information. I’d have to run it by Melody when I got a chance, but now I was surrounded by witches and the lights were dimming.
The witches began to hum and sway.
The High Witch addressed her coven. “We have a new witch with us today. A lost sister now found. We welcome her to stay as long as she wishes and request she join us in the chant.”
“So be it. So be it,” the witches said in unison.
Gooseflesh broke out on my skin, and then they began to chant and my scalp tingled.
“Gratias agere debemus pictis ex virtute,” they chanted.
The words were Latin, but my Latin had never been too good. Mother had stopped teaching me after I hit puberty. What were they saying? Thanks to yarn or power? Something like that? After a few more rounds of chanting I joined in, a whisper at first and then louder, my voice rising with theirs. Tension filled the air. A crackling live tension like the electricity that had shot out of me when I’d pulled on the skein to ward off Vritra.
My scalp prickled as the energy tugged on my hair, lifting it up in a halo of static. Suddenly all the stiff hairstyles made sense. Urvashi had styled mine to be soft and natural, and after this I’d probably look like a puff ball.
New power … different power … thank you for the door.
What? What was that? It was a voice … a rough raspy voice, indistinguishable as male or female, with a nails-on-chalkboard quality that had my teeth on edge.
The chant continued, and my mouth moved with the words while I scanned the room for the speaker.
The doorway opens. The voice trembled with eager excitement.
Couldn’t they hear that? Seriously, it was so loud.
The lights flickered and a shadow whizzed past me. A witch to my right fell to her knees, threw back her head, and screamed.
The chanting stopped.
“Karen? What’s wrong with her?” another witch immediately to my left asked.
Hands reached for Karen but she lashed out, gnashing her teeth and frothing at the mouth. Her eyes rolled back in her head, but instead of whites we saw only darkness. And then she rose up into the air, floating four feet above the floor. Her body twirled and her scream died. I’s seen these symptoms before—signs of possession—but never in a witch.
“What the fuck?” a male voice said.
And then others joined in, frightened, confused, and upset. Was this part of the show? Was this supposed to happen? Questions were thrown about like confetti.
I caught Vritra’s eye across the room, his dark brows were drawn, his lips pressed tightly together. This was not part of the plan, that look said. This was not supposed to happen.
He was right. Witches couldn’t be possessed. Our connection to the skein made us impervious to possession by other entities. The binding with Paimon had been the closest thing, and even that wouldn’t have worked if I’d had control of my power. Why wasn’t Karen able to expel this entity?
The room was a cacophony of chaos as the majority of the guests made a beeline for the exit.
“Silence!” The High Witch ordered.
The exclamations stopped as if someone had flipped a switch.
Karen floated above us. Her eyes were closed, head tilted back and mouth open.
The High Witch moved into the circle, lifting her chin to look up at the floating witch. “You don’t belong here. Not any longer. There is nothing here for you.”
“There is life, breath, flesh, and freedom.” The raspy voice spilled from Karen’s open mouth. “The door is open and we follow the threads. From barren lands back to … This … Ripe for the picking.”
What did the High Witch mean by you don’t belong here any longer? And what the fuck had the thing meant by we?
Karen, who was so not Karen right now, rotated until she was facing me and then her head snapped up.
“Thank the key.” She grinned, showcasing blackened, rotting teeth.
Shitting hell.
The lights flickered again, and more screams tore the air as several other witches were taken by whatever force had entered our world. They fell to the ground one by one, twisting and contorting as whatever was possessing their bodies dug in their claws. And then they fell still. This wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be happening
The raspy fucked-up voice filled the room once more. “Sisters, it is time to feed. Flesh of our flesh.”
And then the lights went out.
30
F or a moment there was pin-drop silence, and then a gust of air blew my hair back and several shrieks erupted at once.
“Run!” someone cried.
“No, we must stand and fight!” The High Witch’s voice rose above the others. “Stand with me. Use the skein, banish the demons and close the—”
Her instructions were cut off with a gurgle, and then the lights began to flicker. The scene came together in pieces … torn bloody pieces … Oh god … the possessed were ripping into the witches. They were tearing and eating. I caught a flash of the High Witch slumped on the ground, unconscious. And right in front of me was Karen, the first demon to step through the doorway.
She raised her head and glared at me. “Thank the key. Kill the key.”
All the possessed witches stopped feasting and slowly stood, they bodies moving jerkily like marionettes on an inept puppeteer’s strings. Their pale, distorted faces turned my way, crimson mouths gaping, eyes as dark as pitch.
Oh, shit.
“Carmella, move!” A mountain rammed into me, sweeping me off my feet and out of the way just as the witches attacked.
“We need to get you out of here,” Vritra said as he careened into the hallway and ran toward the open front doors. I hung on for dear life, losing a shoe in the process. Fuck it, they were second-hand anyway.
We were almost out when the doors slammed shut of their own volition.
Vritra didn’t break stride, just changed trajectory, heading for the staircase. He took those steps two at a time.
The man was unstoppable. Didn’t he tire? Over his shoulder I had the perfect view of the crazy possessed witches as they flew up the stairs after me.
“Kill the key. No going back.”
The key … I was the key. Which meant I’d somehow opened the doorway? They wanted to kill me, which meant I could send them back.
Vritra ducked into the nearest room, dropped me on the ground and slammed the door shut, turning the key to lock us in.
A loud thud rattled the door in its frame. There was a moment of silence and then another thud followed by a creak as they applied their combined force to the structure.
“Come on,” Vritra said. “Open the window and climb out. This door won’t hold them forever, especially if they start using magick.”
“If they could use magick they’d have done so already. They managed to possess a witch, which is unheard of. You do know this can’t be happening. I mean it’s physically impossible.” I was babbling. Fuck. Breathe. “Look, I don’t think they have access to the skein even though they’ve somehow gained access to the bodies.”
“You need to get out of here.” He strode to the window. “You can climb down the trellis.”
Gah, there was a trellis. Escape was so close. But leaving wasn’t an option any longer. “I’m not leaving.”
He looked at me as if I’d just escaped from the asylum. “Yes. You are.”
“Didn’t you hear what they said? They called me the key. I somehow opened a doorway, and now they want to kill me to stop me from closing it.”
“Which is why you need to run.”
“No. It�
�s why I need to stay. I can fix this. I know I can.”
He strode toward me and grabbed my shoulders. “You know, do you? And what do you know? Your talent is so raw you opened a doorway to a demon realm without even realizing it, what makes you think you’re qualified to close it?”
“Nothing, but I’m the only shot we have. We can’t just leave them here with all those people at their mercy. They want to feed.”
The door shuddered again. “Come out pretty key.”
“Right now they’re distracted by me. We need to keep it that way.” I didn’t know the spell or have the discipline to close this door alone. But the High Witch did. There’d been conviction in her tone, an authority that spoke of experience with this kind of thing. She knew what was happening, she knew how to fix it, but she’d been knocked unconscious, and because they’d followed me, the possessed witches hadn’t got to her yet.
“I have a plan.”
“I’m listening.” He folded his arms across his broad chest.
“We open the door, and I blast through using magick and lead them away from this room. You head back down, find the High Witch, and meet me in the library. I know she’ll be able to help me fix this.”
It was the only room I knew aside from this one and the ballroom.
“You are insane. I’m not leaving you to be hunted.”
“You will. Because it’s the only way.” I kicked off my other shoe and grinned. “Besides, I’m a pretty fast runner when I’m being chased.”
He snorted. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do all the dead witches in the ballroom. This is my fault. Please help me fix it.”
His eyes narrowed and then he grasped my chin hard, pulling me to him, his face inches from mine. “Do not, under any circumstances, die.”
I swallowed as the memory of claws sinking into my flesh sent phantom pain shooting across my torso. “I’ll do my best.”
He released me abruptly and grasped the key. “Are you ready, Miss Hunter?”
Oh, fuck. “Do it.”
The lock clicked, the door swung open, and I yanked on the skein as hard as I could, building a shield around me. The witches surged inwards and I met them head on, pushing through, knocking them aside with my impromptu force field.
Binding Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 1) Page 19