Witch Hunt (The Hayle Coven Novels: Book Two)

by Patti Larsen

  I knew I didn’t have much time and the slim slice of energy I had wouldn’t last. I only had one shot and I went for the jugular.

  My demon lashed out and connected with Torsh.

  A pact, we offered.

  FREEDOM, he demanded.

  Anything, we agreed. We lied. I hoped.

  We were full of energy then, the siphoning being diverted to us. I was suddenly huge with it, swelling and filling like never before. When we were attacked by the Moromonds, I had access to a large cache of power, but nothing like this. This was primal and endless and I was a GODDESS. I COULD DO ANYTHING, RULE THE WORLD—

  My demon slapped me so hard I cried out.

  Yeah, I sent to her. Thanks for that.

  NOW, Torsh said, SET ME FREE.

  Don’t think so, big guy, I sent back. But, thanks for the power.

  It roared at me while the vampire lashed out and Cesard barked a spell.

  They were too late. Way too late. I had what they needed, what they stole. And I had a plan for it. I focused all of it through the tiny heart and used it to shatter the wards around the cavern.

  I felt the family gasp and recover, heard my mother call my name. But I was past that, past all of them. There was something I had to do.

  I reached out with my newly won magic and used it to open a doorway.

  My dad came roaring through. Not the dad I knew, the kind and calm presence living in a human statue when called by our magic. This was the full embodiment of Haralthazar, Demon Lord of the Seventh Plane, and he was not a happy camper.

  He blazed with power, his fury a physical thing, red skin glowing with inner fire. The heat of his magic glowed in his eyes, shining from every part of him. He towered over us, enormous shoulders filling the cave, blocking out the permalight. With him came the roar of his kind, their anger fueling him. The demon within Cesard screamed for mercy as my father plunged forward with one giant hand and ripped him from the man’s body. The demon’s body pulled free like a snapping rubber band, to dangle across Dad’s knuckles. Torsh writhed in Dad’s mighty grip, twisting and turning, trying to escape as my father absorbed the last of what energy he had. Torsh shrank into a weak and powerless spark Dad encased in a sphere of golden light.

  “Child of the Demon,” my father said, his eyes meeting mine, “this one is yours on which to pass sentence.”

  Really? The opening of the door to his plane took so much energy I wasn’t feeling very godlike anymore. Just kind of beat up and wiped out. And not very forgiving.

  “Any suggestions, Demon Lord?” I figured I’d give my dad the chance to pass judgment before I did something I’d regret later.

  “Only two,” his voice was still a roar but I loved it. “Destruction or imprisonment.”

  “We saw how well that last one went.”

  He didn’t want to smile. I could tell he was trying to be serious. But I had cracked his veneer and a smirk escaped.

  “Choose, Demon Child.”

  “Just make sure he doesn’t get loose this time, okay?”

  Dad nodded once to me before turning to Mom. “We did well,” he said.

  “We did,” she smiled.

  Dad flickered and vanished.

  “Close the door behind your father, dear,” Mom said.

  Right. The portal. Good idea. I sealed it up and turned just in time to scream at her to watch out. Too late. Cesard was already on her.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  I needn’t have worried. Sebastian had it covered. He pulled the weakened Cesard from my mother before any damage could be done and threw him to the ground.

  The vampires descended on him, all of them, clinging to the screaming magician and draining him dry. I couldn’t watch. It was too horrible. Instead, I ran the five steps to my mother and hugged her like I’d never let her go.

  That was the plan, anyway.

  “Syd,” I turned at the sound of my name. Brad was watching me, but there was a glazed look to his eyes telling me he wasn’t all there yet. “What happened?”

  I didn’t want to leave Mom and didn’t have to. Quaid bent over Brad and touched his forehead.

  “Go back to sleep, Football.” Brad’s eyes closed and he sighed deeply.

  Damn. I still had that mess to deal with. I met Quaid’s eyes. They were empty of emotion and his smirk was back. Double damn.

  I didn’t get a chance to confront Quaid. Raised voices drew my attention. I turned with Mom and watched as Sebastian and Uncle Frank went toe-to-toe over Cesard.

  “He has to be destroyed.” Uncle Frank looked feral, almost evil. I shuddered. Could the blood they drank have tainted them with the spirit’s power?

  “Our creator is in that man’s body,” Sebastian said. “And you would destroy it?”

  “I would,” Uncle Frank said as the rest of the vampires formed up behind him. Sebastian glared. That was all we needed. Another power play leading to a fight and more death and destruction.

  I was in between them, one hand on Sebastian’s chest while the other restrained my uncle before I knew I moved.

  “It’s not up to you,” I said without thinking. “I’m the one who beat him, so I get to decide.”

  Wow. How childish. At least I didn’t finish it with, “Because my Daddy said so.” I saved myself that much humiliation. But they both backed off so they must have agreed.

  Okay. Brilliant, Syd. Now what? I looked down at the desiccated corpse the vampires left behind and tried not to be sick. Cesard’s eyes locked on mine. I couldn’t believe he was still alive, let alone conscious. I felt my mother and the family drawing in around me as I crouched next to the fallen magician.

  “We might be able to save you,” I told him, really not sure if it was possible.

  “Once,” he whispered. “Perhaps. But the spirit has been with me for too long. It is a part of me now, Demon Child.”

  Not my favorite nickname, but knowing vampire stubbornness, I was stuck with it. “If we let you live, could you control it?” The other vampires did. But Cesard’s head wobbled back and forth as if he knew what I was thinking.

  “They have a diluted form in their bodies,” he said, “filtered through years into something that can be used, without consciousness. Not so the spirit within me.”

  I understood. “What do you want me to do?”

  “You must destroy me,” he said. “It is the only way.”

  Sebastian crouched at my side. “There is so much we could learn from you.”

  “No,” the magician said, “only death and evil are down that road, my son. You must let me go. And quickly. Already I feel the power of the spirit taking me over, replenishing itself, looking for escape. The old battle was never won and I feel its need to continue our fight. You must be cautious, as well. You drew much of it to you and while its mind lives within me, there cannot help but be effects.”

  “Okay,” I said. “You got it.” I turned and looked up at Mom. “Can you help?”

  She shook her head. “Not that way, darling.” She motioned toward the tunnel and the outside.

  Right. There was an easier way.

  I stepped back and let Sebastian lift the body of the magician into his arms. He left the cavern first, slow and measured steps leading his people out. The family went with them, some carrying the fallen, and I was surprised to see Quaid had Brad with him.

  Mom and I were the last to leave, trailing behind the others. She hugged me before we passed out of the cave, hugged me and kissed my face and hugged me again.

  “Syd,” she whispered. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Mom.”

  “You’re grounded.” She left me standing there.

  She was kidding, right?

  When I caught up to her she smiled and her arm slid around my shoulders so I knew she was just joking. Maybe.

  I was amazed the sky brightened in the east. The whole night was gone. Sebastian laid Cesard on the grass past the bushes hiding the cave mouth.
His people retreated to the tunnel to wait. I saw Uncle Frank watching me and tried to smile but it was hard. He just nodded and hugged Sunny. They disappeared into the dark.

  Sebastian was smoldering by the time Mom convinced him to leave for safety. I waved at him as he turned for one last look and he touched my mind.

  Be well, demon girl.

  He was gone before I could thank him.

  We made a ring around the man and spirit, the family paying respect to the magician who was and bearing witness to the end of the evil.

  When the first rays of the morning sun lit his face, Cesard wept.

  And burst into flames.

  I couldn’t watch. I turned away and took one step and found myself in Quaid’s arms where I sobbed my regret into his leather jacket.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  So, life went back to normal. Or, as normal as my life ever was.

  Suzanne recovered completely. Now that the creature was gone, her mind came back to her and best of all she didn’t remember a thing. Alison and I visited her in the hospital and were both relieved to find out she was not only okay, Suzanne was actually a nice person. With feelings. Who liked music and could smile. Even though I still mostly avoided her, I agreed to the odd lunch and didn’t regret getting to know the new and improved Suzanne. She even apologized for being so mean. Imagine.

  Guess a life threatening possession will do that to you.

  The whole Brad thing was still a problem. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer. Believe me, I tried. And tried. While I cringed from the hurt in his eyes and caved. And caved. He didn’t remember anything either, though, so I guess it was a blessing. But because of that he also didn’t remember I’d broken up with him. Try convincing a guy with a serious power addiction you didn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore. Especially when you feel so bad you’d done this to him in the first place you just want to hug him and make it better.

  At least Mom and I were working on it together. She was able to use her magic to deflect the sheriff’s attentions. But we figured I’d allowed Brad’s connection to go on so long it wasn’t going to be so easy for me.

  Oh, and she wasn’t kidding, by the way. I was so totally grounded. For a month. Alison was allowed to visit, something about her being a good influence. Mom had no idea. But that meant no gang. And no Brad when he wasn’t sneaking in to see me. So I guess it made sense after all. And I wasn’t complaining.

  Dad hugged me the next time he saw me and told me how proud he was. I, on the other hand, after considering what I had done, was majorly freaked. I opened a portal to the Demon plane. Not exactly the kind of skill you put on a resume.

  I still worried about Pain, but Mom promised she’d investigate and forbade me to do anything about it so I had to drop it. She used the dreaded coven leader order. Which, by the way, she used to reverse our disobeying Erica in the cave so Quaid and I were safe there. And as it turned out, Pain was okay too. I wondered how much of it was an act, though. She must have learned to hide what she really was long ago. But if that was the case, she wasn’t sharing it with me.

  Demitrius and any of his surviving Chosen had vanished. If any survived. There wasn’t even any evidence of my almost-murder except for a charred spot in the clearing where they set up the burning stake. Still, he was alive the last time I saw him so I wasn’t about to write Demitrius off just yet. Or let my guard down. And that list of his, how my family was the next on it… that worried me. And I knew it worried Mom.

  Like she didn’t have enough to think about. Mom didn’t say anything but I know she was still upset the Council ignored every attempt she’d made to contact them. I didn’t blame her. The North American Witches Council was supposed to be there to help when we needed them. Their silence after our second close call was a slap in the face.

  It was like they wanted us to be wiped out or something.

  Celeste had survived. And while I didn’t want her dead or anything, she decided to start hovering, calling Mom on every little thing. It was like she just waited for us to make a mistake so she could bring it to everyone’s attention. The little smack down Mom had given her didn’t seem to have cleared up the misunderstanding but every time I tried to talk to her about it, Mom just smiled and changed the subject.

  Fine. She was coven leader. If she wanted to leave a ticking time bomb out on the loose, raising dissention in the ranks, that was her choice. But if it led to a mess I had to help her clean up, she was in a whole lot of trouble.

  Erica seemed a little off some days, easily startled and lost in her thoughts a lot but refused to discuss it. That was my family. No one told anyone anything. Mom was watchful of her, though so at least I knew I wasn’t the only one.

  The vampires were still our buddies and I was happy about that. Sebastian was a regular visitor. After I pounded him a good one on the shoulder for almost killing me with that powder burning trick of his, I kissed him soundly on the cheek and hugged him for good measure.

  No fair my fist hurt after. And I’m sure he didn’t feel a thing.

  Oddly enough, he took a liking to Gram of all people, and though not a regular visitor, he made a point to sit with her when he did show up.

  She adored him. He brought her chocolate.

  As for Quaid… we were back to the same old. He used his sharp sarcasm as a shield and I lost my temper and stormed off from every conversation. You’d think after everything we went through together he’d be a little more, you know. Nice. Nope. Quaid refused. Back to the outsider for him.

  His loss.

  Every once in a while I’d catch him looking at the photo of his parents and, in those times of weakness, I wished I could help him find out the truth about them. As much as I didn’t want to believe anything Demitrius Strong said, I couldn’t help but believe he was right about this.

  Until Quaid decided I was safe, I guess I was stuck with him. And despite our fighting, I was starting to be okay with that. When he wasn’t being a jerk.

  Jerk.

  One bonus came out of this whole thing. I could now sustain a flame on the candle in the basement and shield it. Good for me. Too bad that wouldn’t buy me lunch. Or save my life. Still.

  I had bigger things to worry about besides honing my magic skills and, true to family form, I was keeping this particular treat to myself, partly because I wasn’t sure if I should be worried or not.

  Things weren’t entirely right in my private little world. Remember that big old doorway I’d made to Demonicon? Seemed it had given my demon some ideas. Big ones that didn’t involve me. There were times I’d catch her wondering what it would be like to have some control of her own. When I’d press her on it, she’d just ignore me or distract me with her influence.

  I kept telling myself it didn’t matter what she wanted. I had power over me. Not her. There was no way she would ever take over.

  Over my dead body.

  # # #

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  ***

  Check out this sample of the exciting third installment

  Book Three of The Hayle Coven Novels

  Demon Child

  ***

  Chapter One

  Just my luck, the moment my marshmallow browned to sugary perfection, my hand slipped a little too close and—poof—it burst into flames before sliding from the end of my carefully peeled stick and into the fire.

  Nuts.

  Simon’s glasses reflected the campfire as he grinned at me around a mouthful of white, blackened bits sticking to his lips and teeth. The sight made me slightly nauseated and actually grateful my treat lay crisping to death on the coals.

  My month of grounding was finally up and I was free. Mom hadn’t been fooling around when she told me I was in the cave where we all nearly died. I’d thought she was jo
king at the time. After all, hadn’t I just saved the coven and the Blood Clan DeWinter from the creature who was part human, part Firblog, part vampire plague and part demon? Poor Cesard had a serious case of split personality disorder.

  If it wasn’t for my demon power and the misplaced affection of one Brad Peters, we’d all be drained husks and the critter who was all of the above roaming free, taking over the world.

  But nope. She was serious. So when the last day of my confinement finally arrived and, to celebrate, Alison and the gang invited me to go camping, I jumped at the chance. Not because I enjoyed camping. Like I had any interest in sleeping on the ground. No, I joined them because I couldn’t stand being in the house with only my sister, my demon cat and my crazy grandmother to keep me company.

  Blame me?

  I worried at first they would want to camp at the party site, the place where former cheer captain Suzanne Collins was taken over by the creature Cesard, the same place he died in the first light of the sun. I knew if it were the case, it would be a deal breaker for me. No way was I going near where the messed up creature burned up. But to my relief, we ended up on the north end of town in a small campground just opened for the season.

  Alison picked our site, naturally. We were right on the edge of the woods, closest to the bathroom. Typical. Although, I wasn’t complaining. Nothing like staggering through the dark in the middle of the night when I really needed to pee.

  Blood made the fire, all happy and Goth over it. I had no idea he was such a pyro until I watched him lovingly shape and monitor its every moment. Sweet Beth brought the food, beaming happily and actually humming under her breath as she laid out the perfectly made sandwiches. Get this. She’d cut the crusts off.

  Our Beth. Had to love her.

  Simon supplied the marshmallows, the same ones we now enjoyed. Or burned to a crisp. I felt like I was free loading, but they were having so much fun I figured I’d find a way to make it up to them. Pizza and popcorn movie night, maybe.