by Lish McBride
He still scared the crap out of me.
Douglas stayed at his end of the circle, head tilted slightly up, regarding me with faint curiosity. I held up the egg. “I’ve got something of yours.” I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I’d been expecting, but I had expected something. He just kept staring.
“What do you want?” he asked.
That was a fine question. What did I want? I looked down at the egg, making sure to keep Douglas in my line of sight. “I want this all to be over. I’m sick of losing people—of you taking them from me.”
The bastard smiled. “Life is about loss, Sam. You can’t change that.”
The image of the egg blurred as my eyes teared up. I was so angry, so frustrated, I wanted to scream.
“What are you going to do?” Douglas asked. “Destroy the egg? Try and kill me? Banish me? Subject me to more of your inane chatter?” That preacher’s voice of his sounded amused, but there was an undercurrent of intense hatred underneath it. “And now that I’m here, what’s to stop me from taking it?”
I kept looking at the egg. I hadn’t really planned on what to do after this point. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought the summoning would work. There was movement at the edge of my vision, and I realized that a few people had ignored the frosty stares of the pack and were now at the edge of my circle. They couldn’t come any closer than that. I scanned the faces surrounding us. Haley, her countenance grim, stood next to Nick. He looked a shade pale, but had his feet firmly planted. Ashley looked determined, Brid and her brothers were angry, Frank looked worried, and James … James looked scared.
Wait. James?
He had his hands pressed against the dome, his eyes on Douglas. “You weren’t at the cabin,” James said. I don’t think I’d ever seen such naked emotion on his face.
Douglas tapped the dome, looking at its construction, even now studying me above all other things. No fear, just faint curiosity. “I was busy,” he said. “And then I was summoned here.” He cocked his head, finally tearing his gaze away from the dome and looking at James. “Did you know about this?” His voice held a hint of accusation.
James twitched his head, a small movement of denial. “When I couldn’t find you at the cabin, I called the house. The Minotaur told me where everyone had gone.” James’s hands fisted against the barrier. “Please, don’t do this.” Was he talking to me or to Douglas?
Douglas gave him a faint smile in return. “It will be all right, James.” He turned back toward me. He didn’t say anything else. He just waited, his arms in front of him, holding his wrist with one hand, the very picture of patience.
My hand tightened on the knife. “All this stupid misery and pain—caused by you,” I said. “It’s gotta stop.” I advanced on him now, unthinking. I heard the shouts of Brid and a few others outside, but I ignored them, my only thought focused on hurting the person who’d hurt me and the people I cared about.
I slashed at him with my athame and … nothing happened. I mean, the dagger passed through, but I couldn’t see any damage. Douglas just laughed and then backhanded me so hard that I hit the ground. I’d been hit by Douglas before, and it was never fun. His being dead hadn’t changed that.
He held up something that glinted in the moonlight. “You can’t hurt me, sonny boy, not while I have this.” He kicked me then, hard in the ribs. “But I can most certainly hurt you.” He punctuated this with another kick, this time catching me in my stomach. Breath whooshed out of me, but I swung my hand clumsily, trying to catch him. He danced out of my reach easily.
He moved toward me again, and I rolled to my feet, backing away from him. The sight of me retreating made him laugh. “Don’t you find it the slightest bit amusing that we keep fighting over power, power that I want, but you don’t? That you’d give away if you had the chance?”
I saw Brooke leaning against the circle, her face scrunched and angry and afraid. “No,” I said. “Not really. To be honest, I just think you’re kind of an asshole.”
He ran at me again, and I barely saw him. But I felt his fist as it hit my face, and I was once again lying on the grass. I tasted blood. The sudden image of me during training only a few days ago, my feet against a tree, a squirrel chattering at me, sprang to mind. I’d been so tired of getting my ass handed to me then. Looked like I hadn’t learned a whole lot since.
I started to get up, and Douglas went for my ribs again, kicking me in the already bruised area. He did it again. And again. I couldn’t breathe now, and I kept wishing that I’d at least landed one punch. Of course, if my athame hadn’t caused any damage, my fist certainly wouldn’t, but I thought I’d have felt better anyway. Outside the dome I could hear raised voices and commotion, but I couldn’t lift my head to see what was going on.
Another blow, this time to my stomach. I looked back down at the egg. So much pain and hate brought on by one little soul—I was convinced that was what it was. More than most people on this planet, Douglas knew that death could be sudden and, I’m sure in his mind, inconvenient. So he had hidden a part of himself in this tiny jade egg. I didn’t really care how he managed it, the simple truth was that I wanted Douglas gone and buried. I wanted it all to be over. But I was also tired of people dying. And I realized I knew what I wanted to do.
Of course knowing what you want to do and knowing how to do it are two separate things. I studied the egg. I had no idea what spell Douglas had used to hide himself in it, and I wasn’t sure if there was a proper way to break it. So I did the only thing I really knew how to do—I called the soul out.
Necromancers have power over the dead. That’s our main gig. But what does that mean, exactly? Is it the flesh we control, or the spirit? When I bring someone back, I’m not just putting the physical being back together—I mean, I could probably do that, but what would be the point? We aren’t the shell that binds us, but that little intangible speck that hides within. As all the guidance counselors tell you growing up, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
I stumbled to my feet, and Douglas let me. Why not? It wasn’t like I’d been putting on a good show up until now. I opened up my hand so the egg could roll into my palm. I held it up at eye level so I could see it better and so Douglas knew what I was doing.
I grinned at him, tasting the blood on my teeth as I did so. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I whispered, but the sound carried. Douglas watched, face unreadable, while I cast all my power into that egg.
Nothing happened. I frowned, knowing full well that Douglas was staring at me in an amused fashion. Okay, so my first try didn’t work. Maybe I could just smash it? I started to cast around, looking for a rock, but I seemed to have picked the one piece of land that was totally rock free.
“You can’t smash it, can you? The spell is strong, and you have nothing to break it. You don’t even have a rock.” His voice took on a scathing tone. “You’re lacking something even primitive primates consider a tool. I can’t believe you got the best of me, even once. Brought down by something lower than an ape.” He shook his head in disgust.
He was right. I didn’t have a rock. But I was going to smash the egg anyway. I could use the pommel of my knife. I just needed to find something hard to sandwich it with. My palms started to sweat, the moisture making the cold, slippery surface of the egg hard to hold on to. It shot out of my hand and onto the ground. Taco, who’d been hiding quietly in the grass, spun out after it like it was a tennis ball.
“No!” I shouted. He ignored me as he went for the egg. “Taco! Be a good boy and give it back.” Sure, he’d never brought anything back before, but there was always a first time.
Douglas peered at us. “What is that?”
I could tell when he figured out what Taco was, because his cold arrogance was replaced with a look of panic. Now, why would a tiny little thing like Taco cause that reaction?
Then Taco, apparently not caring one iota that his new ball was made out of stone, bit right into it, and I remembered why Douglas had
forbidden chupacabras from entering his homestead. Taco’s jaws tore right through Douglas’s spell and cracked the egg open. It might as well have been made of paper.
Again, I’m not sure what I was envisioning. Maybe a glowing spark coming out of carved stone and floating over to Douglas, or perhaps some mystical smoke weaving its way into his body. You know, some peaceful magical crap.
But what I got was a sonic boom. The sound was deafening, and as I was thrown backward, I caught a glimpse of Douglas being similarly knocked down. Outside the dome, I could see a flurry of movement. Chaos appeared to be ensuing, but inside my magic bubble, and except for a persistent whine in my blast-deadened ears, things were nice and calm as I slipped into unconsciousness.
27
LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD
Bridin Blackthorn had spent most of her life surrounded by Alpha males. She was used to the swaggering. The posturing. The jockeying for position. But that didn’t mean she always had patience for it. So when Eric grabbed her shoulder and turned her away from the dome, away from her view of Sam—who had just now been blown back against the edge of the circle—she didn’t even think. She reacted, smacking his hand and pushing him back.
“You don’t touch me ever.” She growled the words, advancing on Eric, who was now looking a lot less sure of himself.
He backed up, moving closer to the members of the pack who supported him. “But.” Then he rallied. “Look, it’s obvious what’s going to happen. We need to get ready. When Douglas leaves that circle, we need to be here to take him down.” He sneered at Sam’s crumpled form. “He’s not going to do it.”
Brid didn’t respond at first. She just stared at Eric, then the crowd behind him. It amazed her that, were Sam in Eric’s place, he would have backed away at this moment. He knew how to read her in a way that Eric, whom she’d been around her entire life, didn’t. Because Sam would have seen her silence for what it was—that quiet moment before the storm broke. But Eric, stupid Eric, was relaxing.
She smiled and got close to him, almost touching his chest. “I’m sorry, did you just try to order me around?” Her voice came out saccharine, which the boy in front of her again misinterpreted.
He rested his hands on her shoulders. “Look, you’ve been confused. We get that. Fell in with the wrong guy.” He squeezed her gently. “But it’s not too late. I’m here now.”
She stared at his hands. His words rang in her head before bouncing down into her, knocking around inside, waking up all the emotions she’d lulled to sleep. The hurt. The worry. The overwhelming anger. She’d been lucky to get them to sleep in the first place. They weren’t going to be quiet again.
Brid grabbed Eric’s hand so fast he didn’t have time to react. His wrist was broken before he’d even cried out in surprise. Before any of his cronies could say a word, Eric was on the ground, bleeding and moaning. Brid had no sympathy for him. He’d heal, after all.
“I said don’t touch me.” She looked at the rest of his group. “Well?” She felt the rest of the pack closing in around them, circling. The weres looked nervous, but didn’t back away from where Eric lay.
Bran appeared at her side. “May I offer you my services, taoiseach?” The rest of her brothers joined her.
Brid pulled out her swords, making them appear from nowhere like always. They were her birthright, just like the bow Bran had inherited from their father. She hadn’t used them in battle since the last time they’d fought Douglas. She hadn’t needed to. “You guys take the ones to the sides. I’m going up the middle. Someone needs to teach them a lesson. Try not to do anything permanent.”
She didn’t hear her brothers agree. She was already following her own orders.
28
YOUR TURQUOISE AND SILVER WON’T WEAKEN THIS OLD HEART
My skull was being pecked in. That was what it felt like. I opened my eyes to see the big freaking crow I’d left an offering to, and the pecking feeling had been because, well, he was pecking me. Hard.
“Please stop,” I said politely—he was that big. One should always mind one’s manners around big things. “Or you’ll reach my brain soon, and I kind of need that.”
Why? the crow said. You certainly haven’t been using it. He pecked me once more for good measure. You gonna get up, Meat, or do I need to do that again?
“I’m up, I’m up.” I sat up and realized immediately that I wasn’t where I had been a minute ago. Well, I was in the clearing, but not at the same time, if that makes any sense. And guess who was sitting by a campfire?
The crow gave me one more solid peck on the knee before he took flight, perching on a rock next to the fire. I ambled over and joined them.
“You know this is, like, the worst time for you to come a-calling, don’t you? I appreciate the visit and all the interest you’ve taken in me lately, but being unconscious and in some crazy vision kind of leaves me open for attack.”
The goddess Bridget smiled at me and winked. “You’re perfectly fine. He’s in no state to be doing anything to you right now.”
“What about everyone else?” I asked, thinking of what had happened the last time I was here. Had a bunch of zombies sprouted up and started attacking everyone now that I was unconscious?
“They’re fine. Nick is holding the circle up.”
“Really?” I sat down next to the fire.
“Really.”
“Why am I here?” I asked. “I didn’t try to raise Brannoc this time, so while I’m delighted to see you, I’m also a little confused.”
The flower behind her ear came into full bloom as she considered me. “You have done a fine job, Sam.” She smiled when I gave her a skeptical look. “Believe it or not, you have. The blast you just suffered, however, could have tipped the scales rather poorly, and so I chose to interfere a little. I suppose we all cheat when it comes to our champions.”
“What, are you going to give me some amazing power to help me defeat Douglas? Like maybe the ability to shoot lightning from my fingers or something?”
The crow pecked me hard for my insolence, but Bridget was holding her sides as peals of laughter escaped from her.
“Oh,” she said, wiping her eyes, “I do enjoy you, Samhain. No, I can’t give you any special gift, and it would hurt a great deal to shoot anything from your fingers.”
I squelched the desire to shake her and ask her why she bothered to bring me here, then. It isn’t nice to assault a goddess. My mom brought me up better than that. Say please, thank you, and be nice to all deities. Can’t say my mother didn’t want us to be prepared.
“What I can give you is a quiet place to think, if only for a moment, where you aren’t distracted by the impending possible destruction of yourself or others.”
“Um, thanks?”
“Never underestimate the power of a quiet moment. They are few and far between, these days.” Bridget, who had picked up a stick to poke the fire, dropped it and took my hands in hers. Later, I might freak out about this fact, as it wasn’t every day I got to hold hands with a deity, but in the pocket of night we found ourselves in, I felt nothing but calm and reassurance.
“You need to think about how this is going to end, Sam.”
“Douglas will most likely gut me and turn my carcass into a new double-breasted suit,” I said. “And then he’ll probably destroy everyone I love.” My chest seized up at the thought. “I hope he doesn’t make us all into suits, because then he’ll need to get a bigger closet.”
She gave my hands a little shake. “Is that what you want to happen?”
I blinked at her. “Are you kidding? Who on earth would want that to happen besides Douglas? Of course I don’t want to be made into fashion wear, but I got lucky the first time, and we all know it. I don’t think he’s going to give me that chance again. This is Douglas’s game, and he’s going to win it.” I stared up at the sky in frustration. “I’m just going to keep losing people.” The stars looked weird, wherever we were. They kept spinning wildly, like someone was speedi
ng up the universe. “All this death … it’s exhausting and I’m tired of it. And yes, I am fully aware of the irony in that statement.”
I tore my eyes from the whirling heavens and looked back down at my hands. They were dirty and bloodstained, with bits of orange sand sticking here and there. Hers were pale, the fingers long, with thin half-moons in her nails.
She let go of my hands and pushed my chin up with one fingertip, like it was a bird set to perch. There was a sad understanding in her eyes. She leaned in and kissed me, right between the eyes. By the time she leaned back, she looked happier. “You are what you are, Sam. But that doesn’t mean you have to play the same as Douglas. If you don’t like the game, change the rules.” She searched my face. “Do you understand?”
“I’m not sure,” I said.
Despite my answer, she seemed satisfied. Bridget turned toward the giant bird. “Thank you, Crow. I would appreciate it if you would help him back. He seems to have problems when I do it.”
“Wait.” I grabbed her hand. “Am I going to get sick like last time?”
“No,” she said, placing her other hand on top of mine. “That was my error. I was treating you like your father’s son, and forgetting you’re also your mother’s. Big mistake, that. If I’d been thinking, I would never have put my mantle on you.” A little pat from her hand on mine and then, “Crow?”
The crow let out a caw and grabbed the back of my T-shirt with his beak. He yanked hard and—
*
I found myself in the circle. I was on my back, where I had apparently landed after the blast. From the feel of it and the way I was lying, I had bounced off the circle and was now crumpled on the ground. The crow was with me, and he was jabbing me quite painfully with his beak again.
Get up, Meat.
“You could at least be polite,” I croaked.
Fine. Get up, Meat, please.
He hopped to the side as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I must have been out for a few minutes, because the scene had devolved. Ashley was pounding on the side of the protective circle. The pack was a roiling mess. Ramon was wrestling with a big were, both of them starting to shift as they hit the ground. Brid had her back to the circle, and her swords were out. She held them at her sides and screamed at her pack, trying to keep them at bay, trying to restore order. Bran stood next to her, smacking down a few of the pups who weren’t listening.