"You don't need to know." Aura Lee turned a page in her magicks book and read through what was written one more time. "This is what you'll chant now. You'll chant the other when you go through the secret room. You'll keep chanting it, just as we will be chanting above you." She closed Eve's hand on the bag. "Do not drop this, no matter what. Your life and possibly ours will depend upon your holding this. Don't forget."
Eve shook her head. She wouldn't forget.
"Now." Aura Lee turned to Rose. "You come with Eve and me." She looked at the others. "All of you stay here regardless of what happens. Put the small charm bags in your pockets. Either Eve will obtain the talisman or she will not. If she can't, I don't know if the three of us will survive. If we don't, get out as fast as you can. Don't stop for anything. Noreen, make sure they follow my instructions."
Noreen nodded, quoteless at last.
"Strudel?" Brenna was on the edge of tears.
"She's safe in my apartment. Max, Dink, my knees are stiff. Help me up." Each grasped her arms and hoisted her to her feet. Beside her Rose stood, holding out her hand for Eve.
"Try not to look at the clock," Aura Lee told the others, "in case there's more lightning." She caught hold of Eve's free hand and with her other grasped the small bag atop the valise. "It's time."
The three of them walked to the back of the alcove and stood beside the old clock. Aura Lee let go of their hands. "Begin the chant," she whispered and Eve complied.
Edge of light creates the shadow.
Night's advance has threatened day.
Harnessed lightning firms the boundary.
Time itself will thus give way.
Now pull out the veiled corruption.
That work is done; new fights begin.
Let her take the hell-broth tool,
Help use the wickedness to win.
Wisdom Court must be made free,
As we ask so mote it be.
Time Out of Time
Severn found the page he sought. The Serpent Nostrum would take care of the woman. Finally. Forever. In agony. He would possess the talisman and power beyond measure would be his destiny.
He let his hand rest on the desktop and the contact triggered pain as severe as any he had ever known.
Mulier adolendum incensum coram oculis meis, he muttered through the small sobs shaking his voice.
"What did you say, sir?"
Severn looked up through narrowed eyes at the man standing before his desk. "Let the woman burn before my eyes!" he roared.
After a brief silence, the man—what was his name? Pierce—cleared his throat. "I beg your pardon, sir. I didn't mean to intrude." He turned to go. Severn let himself lean back in his chair. "Stay. I felt some... discomfort and spoke from pain."
"Yes, sir." The man stood, stiff as a lead soldier. And probably as sentient, Severn said to himself. "I have plans for the evening. Call the members of the group and tell them to be present by seven o'clock this evening. And dismiss the servants early."
An uncomfortable expression crossed Pierce's face.
"What is it now?" Severn growled. He had little liking for this servant.
"The staff has left, sir."
Cold fury rose in Severn's chest, threatening to overtake him. He fought for control. "When did this occur?"
Pierce shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Over the last month, sir. The rumors about the bodies on the grounds affected some of them, and the others were nervous due to the visits by the police."
"And you?" His lips pulled away from his teeth in the travesty of a smile.
"I need the work, sir."
"Very well. Go make the calls, then."
"Yes, sir."
As the door clicked shut, Severn surged to his feet. He plucked a paperweight from the desktop and hurled into the fireplace. He pitched a cigarette box through the window, but its crash was not enough to sooth the wrath bubbling inside him. In a frenzy he threw whatever he encountered, into the fire, against a painting, crashing a mirror. As his energy ebbed, pain flared and determination grew. "She will die, she will die, she will die," he chanted. "Death to the woman, death to her sisters. Death to them all!"
Chapter 26
As the pendulum swung by her fingers, Aura Lee caught the rod and held it still. Eve felt Rose's hand tighten on her own. They braced for a lightning burst, but the pendulum rested in Aura Lee's hand. She shot them a glance of pure triumph and then bent to open the back of the bob.
Eve's breath stopped and her mind whirled with images she couldn't identify. Beside her Rose sighed deeply.
Aura Lee cupped the pendulum bob and then swiftly pulled her hand back. All the while her lips moved in a chant as she took a handkerchief from her pocket and, using it as insulation, twisted off the bob. A reddish light fought back the shadows in the alcove, and Aura Lee stared at it in dread. "Oh, Goddess. It isn't wrapped," she whispered.
Eve pushed past Rose and found the source of the glow.
The rough, triangular stone was black, at its center a reddish light that deepened as it was viewed. Hypnotically it pulled Eve's gaze into itself and she felt icy fear.
"No protections, Eve," Aura Lee whispered. "Chant and don't stop."
Eve drew in air. She was in thrall, unable to fill her lungs. She extended her hand and the stone was suddenly in the center of her palm. When her fingers closed around it her spirit plummeted and she was falling, whirling, closing her eyes against wind beating against her face.
How long she moved through turbulent air she didn't know. Time did not exist, only motion—and the words she heard inside her head:
Keep us clear of heart and goal.
Guard us as our home we free.
Lend us power to end attack,
As we ask so mote it be.
Eve gave a thought to the voice she heard and then began to echo the words as she fell.
After what could have been several lifetimes, Eve opened her eyes, expecting to see the far reaches of the world unfurled beneath her feet.
She was in darkness.
* * *
The foyer was dark and still. A clicking noise produced a long shaft of light from the torch, and it floated over the group huddled near the stairs.
Rose turned, stumbling against the old clock. "Where's Eve?"
Aura Lee sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Her eyes were closed and her face gray.
"Aura Lee!" Rose set the light on the floor. "Here, let's get her to a chair." Elizabeth helped Rose steady her and they guided her to the bench by the front door. They eased her down onto the seat and Elizabeth groped for a coat hanging from the row of pegs nearby. She wrapped it around the older woman as Rose knelt at her side, patting her hand.
Dolores picked up the flashlight and, walking carefully around Neal and Andrea at the base of the stairs, crossed the floor to join them at the bench. "What happened over there?" she quavered. "You were chanting and then I saw a light swirling around. When it stopped Eve was gone and the lights went out."
The front door burst open, letting in wind and rain along with Kerry. She turned to force the door shut and leant against it for a moment, fighting for breath. "Max and I... followed the light... it shot out of here. Looked like it circled... around the house... into the hole... near the tunnel collapse. Max... still out there." She searched the room. "Why is it so dark? Where's Dink?"
Elizabeth waved at the dining room. "Brenna ran that-away just as things went all Twilight Zone. He took off after her."
"Are the rest of us here?" Rose stood up stiffly, using the wall to brace herself.
"It would seem so. Give me that light," Noreen said to Dolores. She aimed it around the room, counting heads as she did. The edge of the light caught Brenna as she came out of the dining room, Dink at her heels.
"Where'd you get off to?" demanded Noreen.
Brenna waved the packet. "The map—and the chants. I heard Eve in my head. She told me to get them and to keep them safe."
"Copies for us when we get to the holding spots." She glanced down at the wad of papers in her hands. "Wait a minute, what?" She glanced back at Dink. "Did I pick up the wrong ones?"
Rose reached for the papers and took them from her. She stared down at them and looked up at Brenna. "There's nothing written on them."
"I know." As Rose dropped them onto the floor, Brenna appealed to her. "I had them, I saw them."
Aura Lee roused herself and pulled at Brenna's sweatshirt. "It's inside us," she whispered. "Listen. You can hear it if you listen."
Brenna's hand crept into Dink's and the two of them heard the words in their minds.
One by one they nodded as they began to hear the mantra inside themselves. Andrea and Neal joined them and as one they began to speak aloud:
Keep us clear of heart and goal.
Guard us as our home we free.
Lend us power to end attack,
As we ask so mote it be.
Rose lifted her coat from the row of pegs. "We have to go out now. Do we need a quick look at the map?"
Neal glanced at Andrea. "You?"
"No," she said softly. "I can see exactly where I need to be."
Noreen's eyes widened. "I can, too."
"Who's doing this?" Dolores asked in fear. "Who's putting the words and images in our minds?"
"I think I can guess." Elizabeth wrapped her cape around her shoulders. "It feels like Caldicott."
"For me it's Gran." Brenna squeezed Dink's hand. "Can you smell her perfume?"
Dink nodded and raised her hand to his lips. "She's with us."
Noreen's smile died. "What about Eve's place? Who will be a holder for her?"
Kerry and Rose shared a look of understanding. "We have a lot of volunteers," Rose murmured.
Kerry nodded. "Maybe Jessamine and Kelvin will show up."
Elizabeth swallowed at the thought. "You mean..."
"I think we may have a lot of help with us today," Rose said firmly. "For now, let's be concerned with ourselves."
"And let's leave." Kerry turned toward the door and reached for the knob. As she pulled it open, light flared like fire and they saw flames coming through and falling onto the wood floor.
"Quick!" yelled Neal. "Run to your stations. Now! Don't stop."
"And chant!" Aura Lee swept out the door, her flowing robes catching fire at the hem. She marched briskly down the porch steps and across the grassy strip edging the courtyard. When she arrived at her northwest hold near Gregory Creek, the edge of her robe was wet from the soaked grass, all the embers quenched.
The front door slammed and Neal and Andrea ran to his space south of Aura Lee, who yelled, "The floor?"
"Fire extinguisher," he called back.
Andrea sped beyond him to the southwest corner area she'd seen in her mind. She waved as she caught sight of Dolores on the south side of the hedge along Baseline Avenue. Further east Elizabeth was tying a scarf over her braids, her lips moving with the words she recited.
Rose strode swiftly through the gardens toward her hold at the southeast corner of the lot. Noreen trotted behind her, reaching her location first. "Godspeed," she called to Rose, and resumed her mantra.
Rose waved and took her place where the hedge met the row of forsythia bushes. The space between her and Noreen was open, and Rose couldn't see that Eve's place was filled. At the thought, the outlines of the bushes blurred in a particular spot, a cloudiness dimming the outlines of the wrought iron fence. Who it could be? Rose wondered.
Dink held Brenna's hand until he'd reached his place along the front fence behind the east associate house. Brenna cupped his cheek for a brief moment and hurried on to her hold on the east side, south of him. She chanted steadily, quietly as she checked out the area. Nothing appeared different than usual. She turned in each direction to look for danger, but all was quiet.
Kerry raced to the fountain area and looked around wildly. "Max!" She shouted as loudly as she could. "Where are you?"
"Here." She saw his hand reaching for one of the fountain stones as he scrambled from the fissure over the tunnel, trying to pull himself up at the edge of the hole.
Kerry ran to his side, grasping his arm and straining to pull him onto the courtyard bricks. "Are you crazy?" she exploded when she found her breath.
"Something grabbed me as I walked past here." He pushed himself into a sitting position and she could see how shaken he was. "I've spent the last half hour trying to get out of there."
"What was it? Did you see?"
He shook his head. "I swear I was alone down there. But I had a hellacious time getting out."
Kerry grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry. I was so worried." She bent her head against his shoulder. "Are you hearing the chant? Do you know where your hold is?"
"I assumed that's what was happening."
He watched her lips moving in the chant and smiled. "I love you."
Kerry's eyes lit with joy. When she'd have spoken, Max put his forefinger over her lips. "Don't stop. We've work to do. Just remember, and don't let anything harm you."
He bent to kiss her, but before his lips touched hers, the ground beneath them shuddered. "Get to your station," Max snapped as he scrambled to his feet. He pulled her up and pushed her toward the foothills. "Run!"
"I love you, too," Kerry called as she ran to her hold. Already she was chanting with the words inside her.
* * *
Surrounded by darkness, Eve was aware of the words running through her mind as she dug in her pocket. She had to be ready for whatever happened. The bag Aura Lee had given her was halfway out. Heart pounding, she carefully tucked it into the zippered pouch lower on her pant leg. Aura Lee said she'd die if she lost it.
Trying again, Eve found the only thing she'd wanted to bring. Her fingertips rubbed against the sack of rough fabric around angles formed by bones and talons. She pulled out the owl claw, fingers registering the softness of feathers and the sharpness of nails and slipped it inside her bra, next to her heart. The pricking of the talons at her skin didn't bother her. She was imbued with a feeling of power, of force. She had to be able to grab it in an instant.
* * *
In her left hand the talisman pulsed. The heat of it hurt her, but it was fused to her skin and she didn't waste time wondering if she'd ever be rid of it.
Around her was silence, but inside her mind the words of the chant, recited by all of them, rolled through her mind. Each of the others was on guard, all of them the weapons Caldicott Wyntham had designated to fight this final battle.
Smoke limned the air, wrinkling her nose. It was unlike any she'd smelled before: caustic and threatening. The rustle of skin against rock brushed against her ears. That sound she'd heard before, when the secret room had writhed with snakes.
Hissing filled the darkness and her imagination bloomed with thousands of squirming bodies. They were coming toward her and she didn't know yet how she would fight them. Deliberately Eve caught up with the rhythm of the mantra and chanted along with it, pitting her voice against the sibilance surrounding her.
Keep us clear of heart and goal.
Guard us as our home we free.
Lend us power to end attack,
As we ask so mote it be.
The rustling grew louder and Eve took a step backward. It was so dark, the air itself black as a deep well and she was trapped here while the others got by with chanting. Fear grew in a deformed spiral. How was this fair to her? She'd come like all the others for her chance, only to be left alone with a futile challenge begun decades before. It had nothing to do with her. Anger licked along her nerves and she wanted to throw something, anything to make her feelings known. She balled her left fist, felt the lump on her palm and imagined hurling it across the room—across the universe. She would throw it with all the rage filling her body and let them see how they liked it. Her muscles trembled as s
he drew back her arm.
The chant filled her, louder in her ears now, the words moving slowly across a verdant meadow, calm words of purpose and connection. Her fingers relaxed as she joined the rhythm and her shoulders eased, her mind unlocked. Yes, that's right, a voice said, and its warmth was gossamer strength inside.
A wave of hatred flowed against her, and the rustling increased. The talisman heated against her palm, its hot light escaping between her fingers.
Eve thrust out her hand and pointed the stone toward the sound. A beam of light shot out from its center and what she saw made the blood freeze in her veins.
No swarm of squirming creatures here. A gargantuan serpent instead, its giant head brushing the ceiling and the thick length of it coiled for attack. Black scales gleamed as the light from the stone reflected off their polished surfaces. In horror she saw its searching tongue flick to scent the air. Fire flashed in front of it, revealing the deadly intent in its obsidian eyes.
Her hand clutched the talisman with fierce strength and she aimed it at those eyes. When the ray hit, she smelled burning flesh and she thrilled at striking the first blow. But the serpent wrenched its head up, smashing against the ceiling. Dirt and rocks rained down as the creature pulled further back to retaliate.
From the passage behind the snake burst a ball of flame and smoke, the flare of it forcing Eve to close her eyes. She stepped backward, tripping on loose rock, falling to the stone floor. A triumphant roar hit her like a blast of hot wind and her eyes flew open in time to see the serpent rear upward. From its bleeding eyes blasted hatred so intense she felt the flames of it against her skin.
Eve forced her arm up, aiming the talisman again and a beam of fire cut through the air and into the breast of the snake. Bending toward her, waving its great head back and forth, it lunged closer to her. Coughing, pushing herself back on the floor, Eve saw through the smoke great wings pumping as an immense bird streaked toward her. The owl, she realized as the snake turned toward it. The monster's mouth opened wide and the owl veered out of reach.
Eve groped for the owl claw inside her shirt. Her fingers closed around it and she yanked it out.
All in Bad Time Page 24