Elemental Flame

by Phaedra Weldon

  I didn't know what he thought or said, but I felt the dome of energy as it was placed around just the room. It extended to the doors and the windows. People could see in, but they couldn't hear us. Nor could they see us. The room would appear empty.

  The Elementals wanted to stay and I said yes, but they had to be invisible. They vanished but I could feel them nearby.

  "That is so cool," Kyle grinned at me as he watched the water in the chalice splash.

  "I know. I can't live without them." We stood and walked to the fan-backed chair. It moved as a figure got out of it. I expected to see Arden stand up, dressed in her full Witchy regalia. But it looked more like the Emperor in Star Wars than Arden. They were covered head to toe in a thick black cloak with cathedral sleeves and a hood that completely hid their face. Gloves concealed their hands and their movements were…slow. Measured.

  They inched their way around the chair to stand beside it.

  "Arden?" I said, and even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice. "Is that you under there? What's going on?"

  "I am paying for my sins, Samantha. It was me that sent you the message. And I sent it on that computer because I couldn't let anyone know I did it."

  Ah. Dharma was right!

  Kyle and I exchanged looks, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "You want us to help you, and then I can save him. You mean Crwys."

  "Yes. The purpose for capturing him wasn't death."

  "How do you know that?" Kyle asked. I caught his harsh tone. I think deep down he'd hoped Arden didn't have anything to do with Crwys's disappearance and now it appeared she did. "Did you take him? Did you shoot him with the Arrow of Artemis?"

  There was a gasp and then a soft laugh. "I should have known you would figure it out. Your little coven is smart. And talented."

  "Arden," I stepped forward and to my surprise, she stepped back. "What's wrong? What do you need help with? Where is he? How can I get to him?"

  There was a long pause where I just heard breathing, and then, "You have to help me first."

  Of course I did. "Then you'd better tell me what the hell it is you want before I lose my patience."

  Sam, Grey said and looked at me from where she stood at my side. I smell Crwys.

  "You smell him?" I looked at Grey, then at Arden.

  "Of course she smells him. The bastard is all over me." Arden slowly lifted her hands and grabbed at the edges of the hood. With deliberate stillness, she straightened up (I hadn't realized she was hunched over till then) and pulled the hood back.

  I let out a loud gasp as both Kyle and I moved back from her.

  He cursed her, was all Grey said. I thought I heard mirth in her tone.

  ELEVEN

  Arden was a beautiful woman. Creamy smooth pale skin, dark eyes and thick brown hair. Her age was as unknown as her birth year. Or her birth date. There had been times through the years that other Witches believed she and I were sisters. We did resemble one another, but only a resemblance in the way one brunette resembles another.

  The creature that stuck its head out from under the robe didn't look anything like me, nor did it look like Arden. It had Arden's head shape, but that's where it ended.

  A great deal of Arden's hair was gone. What remained hung in clumpy wisps here and there. Her skin looked as if it had caught fire from the inside and it burned its way out. Dime to quarter sized eruptions dotted her flesh where tiny volcanoes of skin oozed fluids. I could make out her eyes; those hadn't changed. And her lips were untouched. But her head, her face and down her neck—

  I smelled the Arcane and the faint aroma of brimstone and coal.

  Kyle held tight to my arm and I put my hand on his. "Arden—"

  She waved a gloved hand at me. "No one else has seen me like this. Not even Edmund. I kept cloaked and gave him some stupid magical excuse. He bought it, but then he's stupid that way," Arden took in a deep breath. "In case you can't tell, I've been cursed. It's an insidious piece of work, and I've learned by reading and researching that the only way to break it before it completely burns me from the inside out, is to ask forgiveness of the one who cursed me."

  I swallowed. It was hard to look at her. "Crwys cursed you."

  "Yes."

  "When?"

  "Before they took him."

  "Who took him?"

  Arden chuckled. "Oh no. Not till you help me."

  Kyle released my arm and moved to stand in front of his aunt. I thought for a second he was going to try and hug her, but that's not what happened. "You dumb, selfish prick," he said in a fairly loud voice. "You kidnapped a man who has done nothing but help you, and defended you. He defends himself by cursing you, and you dare hold back that kind of information from the woman that loves him just so she'll help you?"

  "Get away from me, Hedge Witch!" she hissed. "I can still hurt you—"

  She didn't finish that sentence because Kyle reared back and decked her in the face. I mean just hammered her one time. And that's all it took. Arden fell back on her ass and lay sprawled on the ground at his feet.

  "You will tell us who took him," Kyle said this with no fear. No doubt. Not any of his usual hesitation around his aunt.

  "You dare…strike me?"

  I moved behind him and reached out with my own Fire. It recognized Crwys's power and the two of them merged to form something else. A blue, flaming collar appeared around her neck and I tightened it just enough. "You dare make deals you can't possibly keep? You stole him. You shot him. And now you will tell me who has him."

  She clawed at her neck but her fingers moved through the flaming collar. "I…I didn't…shoot him…"

  "Then who did?" I didn't believe her. Not for a second. She got the bow and arrow. She shot him.

  I thought for a second she wasn't going to say, then, "Brendi…"

  I waited. She didn't volunteer any more information. "Brendi shot Crwys with the Arrow of Artemis."

  Arden nodded.

  I released the collar and dismissed it as I stepped back from her. The mingling of my Arcane with Crwys's power had shown me more than I wanted to know about the curse working its way throughout her body. It really was an insidious piece of work.

  Arden was dying.

  Kyle stepped back without helping his aunt up. I couldn't bring myself to help her either as she struggled into a sitting position, then used the wicker chair to pull herself to her feet.

  "You think you know—"

  I stepped toward her. Arden stopped talking. "I know what it's like to owe the Faerie, Arden. And I also know it is possible to fight them. Now, you're going to tell me exactly what happened."

  "You have to help me."

  I didn't respond. Neither did Kyle.

  Arden's breathing was shallow and I felt a twinge of guilt at using the Arcane on her. But it was just a twinge. "Brendi told me she wanted the detective. She said Crwys was more than what he seemed, and she suggested I contact Edmund Blackwood to confirm it."

  "That he was indeed a Dragon. How would he know this?"

  "Blackwood's quite knowledgeable of Dragons. He said there were classic signs and the detective had all of them. The Magician told me where to find the bow and arrow."

  "Yeah, the one you took from Circe's home."

  Arden didn't respond to that. "But I didn't shoot Crwys. I contacted Brendi and she demanded the set. I gave them to her. Then she and Blackwood coordinated the taking and I was told to lure him Gypsy Gardens on the pretense that Brendi…had taken you," she turned her ruined face to me. "He didn't hesitate. Never questioned. Just…dropped everything and came to rescue you."

  The ball of anxiety twisted. I hated myself for doubting him. "And?"

  "She shot him, through the heart. He dropped like a stone and her army…took him."

  "Took him…to Alfheim?" I looked at Kyle who looked as concerned as I did. He looked like that because he knew how adamant I was about not returning to Alfheim. I focused on my first visit there, and the battle between Medbh and us
. She turned me into stone. And no matter what happened to me, whether it was the deaths I've caused or the loss of my father, nothing could erase the helplessness and panic I'd felt during that ordeal.

  When I didn't say anything, Kyle nudged me. "Maybe there's a way to trick her into bringing Crwys back here instead of going there?"

  Now I looked at him. "How? Why would she?"

  "She might if you give her something she wants more than him," Arden pulled the hood back over her face. "Something more powerful, but I can't think of anything. Not that she would ever trust a promise you made."

  True. But I considered the idea. Arden was on to something.

  I didn't want to return to Alfheim. It was Brendi's new home. It was her power base. The few times I'd seen her since leaving that nightmare had proven she wasn't as human as she once was. I was surprised her deal with her mortal father had lasted as long as it had. But maybe that was it? Faeries are driven by deals, by promises. They hated being told "thank you" because they felt it put them in debt. Brendi's father had made the deal not to pursue her or her new life as long as she left his friends alone. That included me and one other.

  I motioned Kyle to follow me to a spot in the parlor out of Arden's earshot. There I lowered my voice.

  "Kyle, is it possible to make a deal null and void with a Faerie?"

  "Uh…you kind of did that with her already. Remember? That's why she doesn't like you."

  "Yeah, yeah, I got that. But is there a way to nullify the deal she made with her father?"

  Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. You'd have to ask another Faerie. Or consult a book or something. Why? What are you thinking?"

  "I'm thinking of doing what you suggested. Entice her to come here with Crwys. Make her feel she has to. Give her something she would want more than a Dragon."

  He blew air between his lips. "I have no idea how to make her do that. She's got a friggin' Dragon, for crying out loud, Sam. What do you have that she'd want more than that?"

  I opened my mouth, and then closed it. "Yeah, I got nothing."

  "Brendi didn't want to come back to her own world. She chose to stay there and take the place of Medbh. She recently stole Medbh's essence, for what purpose, I have no idea. Now she's got a Dragon, which in itself might be a show of…power…" his voice drifted off and I narrowed my eyes at him. He snapped his fingers. "Remember the Boggart? Cordelia?"

  Oh Sweet Lady! The Cairn! "Yes. I do. We need to find that Cairn and close it down. I keep getting distracted."

  "No. No listen to me. This is crazy, but remember what Cordelia said? The Summer Queen was telling them to run through the Cairns? The Obsidian Queen was too powerful?"

  I had a vague memory of her saying something like that. "And you think its related to her having Crwys?"

  "You just said it yourself. Having a Dragon in your possession, even if by force, is a powerful symbol anywhere. Those things are invincible with very little kryptonite issues."

  "Except the Witch Queen of New Orleans here exploited that one piece of kryptonite."

  Kyle rubbed at his goatee as he thought. "Cordelia said Summer was unhappy, that means Tzariene doesn't like the tip in power. Maybe we should ask for her help? Maybe she knows what we could offer in trade for Crwys? I'm sure she'd help, especially since it would mean taking Crwys out of Alfheim."

  I didn't say anything for a few seconds. It was a crazy idea, but right then, I needed crazy ideas to fit in with the idea the man I loved was a Dragon. "Okay. I'll entertain it. So when and where should we summon her?"

  "I vote Ina's house," Kyle said before he moved back to Arden. "Aunt Arden, I know you have a book on Faeries in here somewhere."

  "Brendi wanted it," Arden said. Her voice sounded worse than before. The curse was going to consume her soon. "Said it was too true."

  "And you gave it to her?"

  "No," Arden's laughter broke into a coughing fit. I waited with an arched brow as she stood back up and headed to the far wall by the door in. She remained inside the protective ward as she gestured to an antique cuckoo clock. Kyle took it down and revealed a small safe behind it. After a few mangled attempts to open it, Kyle helped her and pulled a small book out of it. "That is the original. The one I gave her was the copy I had made years ago. I make it a habit of making copies of things, so thieves take the decoys. But they usually get caught when they try to sell them."

  "You mean you spell them so they are caught when they try to sell them."

  The hood over Arden's head bobbed up and down as she closed the safe. Kyle put the clock back in place.

  "Why do you want that book?" I asked as I held out my hand to him. I wanted to take a look at it.

  Kyle handed it over. "I think it's better to be prepared if we plan on going after a Faerie queen."

  It was a nice book, with a handmade cover and gold trim. The edges of the pages were also gold and the pages felt like onion paper. I was surprised when I saw it was written in English. I read the gold stamped title aloud. "'Dangerous Concessions.' Who wrote this? I don't see an author."

  "Alfred Lord Tennyson." Arden made it back to her chair as Kyle helped her sit back down. "He knew more about the world of Faeries than Shakespeare or the Brothers Grimm. But not many knew this about him. He wrote under pen names, not to protect his reputation, but to protect himself from the wrath of Alfheim. During his time, Oberon and Medbh were a formidable couple, able to traverse the Cairns and enter our world without repercussion."

  "How…how did they do that?" Kyle asked. "It's well known Faeries turn to ash if their feet touch earth."

  "Oberon knew how. He could circumvent the protocols placed between our worlds, which is why I suspect he was taken."

  "Taken by who? Is that why we never hear about him? Why he's not with Tzariene?"

  "Yes. No one knows who is responsible for his absence. The Angels and the Demons swear they had no part in his disappearance. But he vanished during a Wild Hunt," her hood nodded. "It's all in that book. Tennyson knew his stuff. He was a God Mother's child, you know."

  No. I didn't know that. The only recognizable piece of work I could think of that was written by him was "The Lady of Shalott."

  Sam, Arden needs to rest.

  Arden didn't say anything, and after a few seconds Kyle leaned down and looked up into her hood. "She's asleep. I feel really bad about leaving her."

  "You want to stay here with her till I come back?"

  "How long is this gonna take?"

  "I don't know. I need to call Levi and let him know what we discovered."

  "If you decide to call on Tzariene, have Dharma with you. She's a Cleric and she knows a lot more than you give her credit. And take Ivan. He needs more practice at defensive magic."

  With a half smirk on my face, I patted his shoulder as he stood and faced me. "You talked to Jack?"

  "No. I'm going to wait till this present crisis is over. I don't think getting the wolves involved is a good idea."

  I agreed. Which was why I had no intention of letting the pack know what I was doing and shut down their link to me. I really liked Bastien. He was big, and sweet, but he bit me once to make me do what he wanted. I wasn't going to let him do it again. I made a note to myself to go see Regine as soon as I had Crwys with me again. That way we both could see her.

  "I'll be back. And I promise to call on help."

  "Witch's honor?"

  I glared at him. "Don't make me do that."

  Kyle held out his hand. "Witch's honor."

  With a sigh, I handed the book back to him before I put my right hand in his. He worked his hand to my wrist, and I held his. "By my measure and by my knife."

  "I swear to you on truth, by the giving of my life."

  "That what I say is truth, with held hands and bended knee."

  And then we said together, "The promise I make is true, so mote it be."

  Red, yellow, blue and green swirls made rotations around our hands. I felt the pressure that kind of oath imparted
and let go of him with a frown. "You know I don't like doing that."

  "You've never done it before."

  "No. I haven't."

  Kyle winked. "You're my best friend, Sam. I can't…I don't think I'd survive without you."

  We did something we hadn't done in a long time. We hugged one another. It felt nice to know how much Kyle cared, and to show him how much he meant to me. But I couldn't help feeling a touch of foreboding as Grey, my Elementals and I left the protective bubble of Kyle's ward and headed back to the Jeep.

  TWELVE

  I called Levi and Ivan and asked them to meet me at Ina's as soon as they could. It was just past ten o'clock when I pulled into my usual parking spot in front of the house. The address wasn't far from Arden's, and like most of the houses in the Garden District, Ina's was large, well lit, and with a professionally tended yard. The front of the house was surrounded by a seven-foot iron gate that became a brick wall halfway around the house. The rest of the place was private and away from prying eyes.

  I lived in this house from the time I was nine, after my dad met Pauline, till the day I graduated from high school. I tried college and found myself right back in New Orleans again. Ina had settled in here and stayed. I didn't know Ina wasn't really my mom's best friend. The real Inamorata Devonshire died not long after my mom was declared dead, killed in the line of duty.

  Ina was much, much more. And very dangerous.

  Grey and I sat in the Jeep for a few minutes and watched the outside of the house. The exterior lights were on, set on a timer to scare away burglars. But honestly, the lights were unnecessary because the wards on the house would do that. They were fixed to make anyone intruding the perimeter of the house believe they were being followed by monsters.

  Pretty effective.

  I'd been back to the house a dozen times or so since Crwys paid to have the garden and the interior doors into the garden fixed after Circe's zombies tore up the lawn. Never mind the fact those dead people were buried there by my "aunt" unbeknownst to me. The idea that the police wanted to look around in the house because of some anonymous missing persons filing worried me. I was pretty sure when Crwys destroyed the zombies, he burned away every bit of human organic matter in the soil. Or that's what he said. The work in the garden itself was finished but the replacement doors and windows still needed some touch ups. This was something Crwys had been overseeing. But since his disappearance, nothing had been done.