Magic & Mayhem

by Susan Conley

  “Did you find out if Puck’s using the name means there is truly a possession by the first’s spirit or is it merely a title? I really, really hope it isn’t possession,” Tania continued before they could answer. “The stories warn of the spirit splitting every time it was cleaved and going forth to possess more Folk.”

  She visibly shook herself from the horror she’d just described. “I am the Maven for this area and I will protect and oversee justice for the Folk.”

  Cart and Mona exchanged looks. They hadn’t known about the splitting thing. Shit, no wonder he wanted to make more Weres—more bodies for him to control if he wasn't truly killed.

  They should have waited for Nic.

  “We think this is just a title,” Cart said. “Either way, there are very limited ways to kill him. He can’t die by loss of blood or any death blow that would cause bleeding, because he’ll heal too quickly. Drowning, suffocation, starvation . . . although drowning would be tough right now.”

  “Hypothermia might work, but it’d be harder if he’s in his wolf form,” Mona said. She was again biting her nails.

  “Asphyxiation, poison, heart failure would do the trick too.” Cart swore as they skidded.

  Mona couldn’t help but notice that all of the options, except possibly poison, were lingering ways to die. His demise wouldn’t be swift or painless. She wasn’t sure if she had the stomach for that. She looked over at Cart. He, too might not have to stomach for it, but she knew without a doubt that he’d see if through because letting the Lycoan live was a far worse option.

  Mona looked in the rear view mirror. Tania was staring out the window and looked nothing so much as an angered Queen, maddened by events and ready to do justice.

  Mona looked out window again and saw the sign for their turnoff briefly flitter before becoming obscured by snow again.

  “TURN LEFT HERE!” Tania and Mona both shouted.

  Cart jerked the wheel and they did a one hundred eighty degree spin, the slushing sounds of the tires punctuated only by Mona’s slight squeal. Cart maintained control of the car and got them straightened out with only a little fishtailing.

  “There’ll be a split coming up. Stay to the right,” Tania said. Mona didn’t question how she knew.

  Cart took the turn, slowing down further on the unpaved and unplowed road. Fir trees lined each side, helping to block the wind and making it clear that the snow wasn’t falling as rapidly as it had been. The swirling white they’d been witnessing was from loose snow. Tania leaned forward over the console and peered at the white wall that was the world outside. She seemed to see some sign.

  “We should stop the car here. The road doesn’t go that much further and we’ll be leaving it before then.” Tania kept her voice quiet as if she could be heard outside the car.

  Cart pulled up a bit, attempted a three point run that quickly became far more, and parked facing the way they'd come.

  They looked at the snow-covered road, trees and hills. Mona had no clue what to do, although with the trace of spells she could see Tania had been right to make them stop. “Do we attempt to circle around? Which way? Damn, I wish Nic were here, he’d know how we should go.”

  “He’s still asleep.” Tania shrugged her shoulders at their stare.

  Cart cleared his throat. “Nic strikes me as a ‘meet your foes head on’ kind of guy anyway, not a ‘skulk around and sneak up on them.’”

  Tania and Mona turned to look at him.

  “Why not?” Tania asked what Mona had been thinking. “Why don’t we just go up the drive and call him out? It is the quickest route. Mona can manipulate whatever spells are set to keep the Weres bound, wherever it is he has them.”

  “Aw, hell, if we were going to do that, I wouldn’t have parked,” Cart said.

  “We couldn’t drive it up anyway,” Mona said. “There are spells here to block any vehicles. Let’s just go.”

  Tania made to move but Cart locked the doors, forestalling her.

  “I go first,” Cart said.

  “You can’t see spells, I’ll go first,” Mona corrected. It did make a lot more sense.

  “I can see spells and work magic, so I should go first,” Tania said. They couldn’t argue with that, much as Mona wanted to. “Plus, this is my fight.”

  They didn’t contradict her, and she nodded. “Once we get out of the trees I’ll take us to a clear spot and you can stand wherever you like.”

  “Gotcha. Bundle up.”

  Once out of the car Cart pulled a carbine out of the back along with some rope. He had them string themselves together for safety, the show was falling in blindingly heavy. The walk was a blur of simply pushing themselves forward through the cold wind and blinding snow. Mona felt the fission of a spell and suddenly the snow and wind ceased.

  “Untie yourselves!” Cart frantic whisper had Mona scrambling to undo her knot.

  “Why?” Tania was practically bouncing with the need get going.

  “If we get attacked, being tied together will work to their benefit, not ours.” Cart’s rope came undone and he helped Mona with hers.

  Tania didn’t take the time to untie herself, and merely wrapped the extra rope around her waist. She crossed to the side of the lane opposite the drifts. Mona, expecting a trap any minute, kept stumbling into the snow as she tried to see through it to the ground beneath.

  Tania led them to a large arborvitae hedge on the edge of the circular driveway, and screening it from the road. Glancing back at both of them, she stepped out from behind the bushes and onto the pavement.

  There, standing in the center of the driveway circle in a ring of prowling Weres, was the Lycoan. Red streams of magic flowed from him in many directions, most vanishing down under the snow, making it difficult for Mona to trace. Behind him were two buildings, a large barn that glowed with spells and a house with a small, attached shed that shone less brightly. Beyond both, Mona could see the smooth, flat surface of a pond.

  Excellent, there was a spell she could alter on the barn to keep those inside trapped for a bit. She reached out and moved it around as Cart cursed and scrambled through his clothes for something.

  The Lycaon stood on a platform, giving him a clear view of the area. Hatless, despite the snow and cold, you could see the relationship between him and Cart. They had the same hair, although the Lycoan’s was a bit longer and very, very straight, unlike Cart’s. Some ancestor had graced them with the same high, slightly narrow forehead with thick brows beneath.

  The Lycoan looked right at Tania, and Mona could see his spear of magic burrow into her, pulling out energy. Tania did something that aborted the flow. He jerked and took a half step back.

  Oh! The red tint to his magic was because he consumed the energies of Folk and creatures, not just imps. Forget her squeamishness at a possible prolonged death, this man needed to be taken out.

  Mona looked at Tania’s strength and the Lycoan’s. The Maven’s was stronger, but only just, and he’d certainly proved himself wilier. She really, really, wished Nic was there.

  Mona tweaked the last rune and every door and every window to the house and barn slammed shut. Tania took a step forward and pointed at the Lycoan. What was she doing?

  “Lycoan Edward, release those Weres to me!” She pointed to the Weres then herself as she said the request. Mona could see the faint beginnings of a spell. Oh, this looked to be old magic.

  The Lycoan just laughed. “A bold statement from someone who is clearly at a disadvantage here. Besides, I cannot release them to someone unnamed, can I?” A deep, seductive baritone carried the words across the snow.

  Mona saw the sigils almost embedded in his voice. She was thankful, very thankful they would not affect her. She glanced at Cart. He was glaring at the man, the carbine rifle hidden out of sight behind Tania’s back.

  Mona looked at the lines emanating from the Lycoan. Concentrating on the larger lines, she worked on cleaning them. She saw a faint spark of an imp next to a deeply shadowed bole o
f a tree. Hoping she was right, she sent blood tinted portions straight into the blackness, turning lines from glowing red to a pumpkin orange. She stopped before she got too close to Edward, she didn’t want him to become aware of what she’d done. On to the next line.

  “I am Maven Greymantle. You, Lycoan Edward D’Anjou, shall release those Weres to me.”

  Again, Tania used gestures to emphasize what she said. The spell took a more solid shape. If it was like any traditional magic, the third recital would be the charm. Mona continued to clean the lines, hoping that whomever they led to would no longer be under the control of the Lycoan.

  “Ah, Maven, I have heard of you and expected as much. Did you think I was so unschooled that I wouldn’t know of you? My dear father, while he had many other faults, did at least teach me some of my own heritage.”

  They stood quietly and the silence grew. Tania was clearly waiting for something. The Lycoan just stared at them while the beasts below him paced back and forth, reflecting his anger, perhaps.

  “What?” Incredulousness laced his voice. “You really expect me to release them to you?”

  “Those Weres will be released to me, Maven Titania Isabella Meissen Greymantle, by you, Lycoan Edward Smythe D’Anjou.” Tania paused, and smiled back at his smirk. “Now.”

  The spell took hold. The red lines of his magic holding the Weres vanished and were replaced by the golden glow of Tania’s magic. Mona watched as a surge of energy rushed out of Tania to envelop the Weres close to him.

  A slightly perplexed look crossed the Lycoan’s face as the Weres’ pacing lessened. Then another smirk and a slight bow toward us. “As you say. Now.”

  He waved his hand.

  By the goddess, he was sending a death rune straight at Tania. Mona flipped it and sent it to the ground, severing several of his lines. She staggered a step back, heart racing like she’d run up a dozen flights of stairs, and just as tired. He cursed at her and Mona ignored him. There were three strands untouched and she didn’t have the energy to do anything to them.

  “Sorry,” she gasped. “I couldn’t sever all the connections.”

  She looked off to where the three strands led. Lumbering out of the woods came two grizzlies and a wolf. The wolf immediately slunk low to the ground, almost vanishing in the snow.

  Cart shouldered his gun, taking a deep breath as he sighted. Two soft hisses and the two grizzlies batted at the darts that imbedded in their fur.

  “I had to pick a middling dose, since I didn’t want anything lethal. Hopefully it’s strong enough to slow them down,” he said as he placed the gun on the ground next to the bushes besides them. Mona only then realized that he’d stripped down to his thermals. With a stretch and a swirl of magic he shifted into to his Siberian tiger shape and leapt in a flurry of tan and white and shredded clothes toward the wolf.

  Tania muttered something and sent a simple but effective protection charm after Cart. He met the wolf in a flurry of snarls and snaps. The bears turned toward the sounds. Mona looked at their spells. She reached out, and for the first time ever, her hands simply drifted through the runes and did not touch them.

  There was a tingle of magic as Tania did something but Mona couldn’t take her eyes off the fight.

  Tania cursed. “Mona, move closer and put your hand on my shoulder. I’m bringing Cart back.”

  As soon as Mona touched her, Tania sent out a lasso of her power, wrapping it around Cart, and hauling him back. The strength of the magic changed him back. Tania screamed with the effort and Mona felt how low her reserves were getting. Mona looked to see if there was any clean magic she might give to the maven, but everything she saw still had tints of evil she no longer had the ability to clean.

  Cart landed on the road fifteen feet away and they both scrambled toward him. As soon as his knee hit the ground, Mona grabbed his pack with his clothes and moved to his side. Around them she could see Tania putting up a buffer so the Weres couldn’t get in. Why? She glanced over at the milling group as she pulled Cart’s clothes out. The fight had made them too agitated. Tania must be spending too much energy trying to keep them contained. She needed to let the Weres go.

  While the Maven was expending energy dealing with the agitated shifters, the Lycoan was drawing power from their anger. Shit, they’d played right into the Lycoan’s hands.

  Cart groaned and rubbed the side of his face where it had smacked the pavement. Mona set his things next to him and turned to watch Tania as she put a buffer around the Lycoan and set the Weres free.

  In a flurry of nips and growls from wolves, badgers, and cougars, they turned to the Lycoan, only to stop short as they hit Tania’s barrier. Several turned their way, baring teeth at the Maven before moving off toward the barn. A wolverine was particularly persistent and the last to go.

  “What now?” Cart had slid on pants and his jacket and nothing else before standing and leaning on her.

  They all looked over at the Lycoan. His face was contorted in rage and anger emanated off him. Even the Weres who wanted to watch were behind the barn with just their heads sticking out.

  Mona wasn’t sure how they were going to beat him. She was exhausted, Cart pretty beaten up, and Tania’s power was dwindling away from keeping up the barriers. Mona looked over the Lycoan. His energy level was still high. She watched as he tested his buffer. Magic couldn’t go out of it. He took a couple of paces and found he could move, slowly, in whatever direction he wanted; the buffer gradually changed to accommodate him. He looked at them assessingly, then started walking toward Tania.

  Tania cursed and reached into her pockets, pulling out two bottles.

  “Mona, use the lighter fluid to create a circle around us. Quickly!”

  Mona took one while Tania took the rope from her waist and followed behind her, She placed the rope down on Mona’s line and muttering a spell and dousing it again as she did so.

  Their circle was barely ten feet round. Tania’s plan was going to make them very toasty.

  “Hey, cuz, remind me to never complain to you about being cold,” Cart said.

  Mona tucked her empty can in Cart’s bag then stood next to him. The Lycoan was close enough they could see that his eyes were no longer human and had shifted to wolf.

  Tania lit the rope, flicking her hand to activate the spell.

  “Stay in contact.” Her voice was low.

  The Lycoan laughed, a deep cruel laugh that succeed in making Tania stumble. Cart and Mona grabbed her before she’d done more than slightly dip. Mona had a feeling Tania had no more back up plans.

  “Do you think something so small and petty as a fire will keep me out? Even in wolf form, that excuse for a charm won’t work on me.”

  They stood their ground, moving closer together as the flames lapped higher. The Lycoan grinned and stepped into the circle, merging the two.

  Mona screamed as Tania shoved her and Cart ahead of her and out of the circle. They headed through the fire toward the snow-laden bushes at the same time Tania dropped the barrier and created a new one integrated with the flames. Mona turned as she fell, not wanting that beast to be behind her where she couldn’t see it. Cart had done the same thing.

  Tania hesitated before going over the circle as well. Her hesitation cost her, as the Lycoan leapt and grabbed her ankle. She fell with one foot still in the circle. Her shoulders were next to Mona and her shin still in the magical flames.

  The snow pants over the flame burned off, sending a billow of black smoke to the sky along with the acrid scent of melted plastic. Tania’s skin, though, didn’t seem to be burning from the flames, just from the melted pants. Mona scooped up some of the snow they’d dislodged and packed it against Tania’s knee so the flames wouldn’t go higher while Cart grabbed her arm and pulled.

  He and the Lycoan, whose insane cackle hovered over all they did, were practically playing tug of war with the Maven. Cart looked at the flames assessingly.

  Tania wiggled her arm out of Cart’s grasp and gr
abbed onto the base of a bush instead. “No, you can only go through once.”

  Cart looked at her then back at the Lycoan and nodded, as if something just clicked. “We’ll get help, cuz.”

  Mona wasn’t sure what he was up to but scrambled up to join him as he sprinted to house. At the last minute he swerved to the tool shed to the side.

  Once inside she found herself slammed against the door and Cart kissing her, his hand grasping at her jacket and fumbling at the zipper. His scent was wrapped around her, fogging her senses. Until a whiff of burnt plastic crept in.

  Tania.

  She pushed at him. “What are you doing?”

  He leaned in and kissed along her jaw. “Giving you enough energy so you can summon your brother.”

  Oh. Sex to reenergize her. She looked at him again. The scrape on his face was almost gone and he was practically burning up with energy. The adrenaline from his need to fight must have kicked everything into high gear. So full of energy, even his kiss helped bolster her. But no, she looked at the riding mower, the shovels, the cobweb covered watering can, she wasn’t going to have sex here. Particularly with Tania alone with the Lycoan.

  “Kiss me again and I’ll think of Nic and you think Oberon. Between the two of us we should call him.” His response to her suggestion was to pick her up and wrap her legs around his bare waist.

  “But no sex,” she said.

  He nodded and leaned in. “I’ll do my best.”

  Mona wasn’t sure how he meant that, and didn’t have time before he plundered her mouth. Nic, she needed to think of Nic, which just seemed so wrong right now. He was her big brother, always protective of her. If he found her like this, pressed up against a wall by Cart, he’d separate them. Then argue with her over all the reasons this was a bad idea. She’d argue back, and he’d pull that “I’m your big brother” line out. . .

  A frisson of energy and he was there.

  Cart stepped away, chest heaving, and, while clearly reluctant to do so, set her down.

  Nic took a step toward them, eyes narrowed. He was filled with brilliant blue magic. Far stronger than even Tania’s, it permeated his skin and gave him an eerie glow in the dark shed. Mona thought he could make magic work for him without even needing runes, the sheer strength of him would force the magic into submission.