Crushed (City of Eldrich Book 2)

by Laura Kirwan

Meaghan crumpled to the ground. Searing pain was followed by a wave of nausea as she gasped for air. In her mind, she was screaming obscenities at him, but the only sound she could make was a high-pitched whimper.

  The wizard rolled her onto her back and straddled her, pinning her arms beneath her body. He reached under her baggy T-shirt and fumbled for the zipper to her jeans. “The bitch needs to learn her place.”

  Panicked, Meaghan tried to pull her arms free so she could push him away, but they remained crushed beneath her. She tried to kick him, and he kneed her in the groin. Gasping for breath from pain and from his weight on top of her, her nose clogged with blood, she felt her head grow light. Yellow lights sparked and flared in her darkening field of vision.

  The second wizard again intervened, knocking his companion off her. “Not yet. We’re taking her to Cooper. He gets her first. After we light up the other two.”

  The first wizard grunted in disgust and dragged Meaghan to her feet. He pulled a plastic zip tie out of his robe and cinched her hands behind her back. He shoved her hard in the middle of the back. “Move.”

  Meaghan stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet as he prodded her toward the square. She waited for the powerful rush of anger that normally drowned out her fear, but it wouldn’t come.

  She had always convinced herself that she could talk or fight her way out of any situation. But she’d been easily bested by a paunchy middle-aged man. If the second wizard hadn’t intervened, hadn’t wanted to save her for something even worse, the bastard would have raped her right there on the sidewalk. In front of friends and enemies alike.

  Meaghan knew she had to keep fighting, but she felt small and terrified and more powerless than she’d ever felt before.

  Until she saw Jamie and Natalie. Jamie still wore the scrub pants, but his shirt was gone. Natalie had been stripped down to her underwear. She clung to Jamie, weeping and shaking with fear, while the crowd dragged and shoved them toward the unlit bonfire in front of city hall.

  Distracted from her own fear, Meaghan felt the rage finally rise up. She turned to the wizard pushing her. “I’m gonna watch you die, asshole. I promise you.”

  The man merely laughed and shoved her harder. “You’re scaring me to death. I’m gonna love watching Cooper strip the skin from your bones. After you watch us burn your witch friends.”

  The anger blew through her like a biting wind, clearing the panic and pain away. Even if the prophecy was right and she was doomed to die today at the Order’s hands, she was taking as many of them with her as possible.

  Dawn was upon them. The sun wouldn’t rise over the horizon for an hour or so, but the gray light had turned pink. Meaghan looked around the square, searching desperately for allies.

  Still no sign of Annie. Or Sid. Maybe they hadn’t been grabbed. Maybe they got into city hall and—

  Meaghan felt the momentary flare of hope sputter out. Even if Annie and Sid could get into city hall, then what? What could they do, alone, even with any information Annie might be able to glean from the ghosts?

  The sea of people around her seemed unrecognizable. She knew many of them, but their faces were twisted and contorted with malice. Like something else was in control.

  She’d seen this before. In Fahraya.

  Could the thing that had infected Jamie’s uncle infect an entire crowd of people? It thrived on fear and pain and hate. She and John had suspected it wanted a way into the human world, but they had assumed that it could only occupy one host at a time, like it had occupied V’hren.

  A man in the crowd called to her as the wizards dragged her past. “I’m stronger now. You won’t stop me this time.”

  A woman on her other side shouted, “Did you really think I was done with you?”

  Sally, Nate’s wife, stepped in front of her. Good-natured Sally, with her tattoos and freckles and optimism, sneered at her in a way that Meaghan knew Sally was not capable of, and said, “You’ll get to watch them all die before I gut you.”

  With a roar, Meaghan kicked her in the knee and Sally went down with a shriek. Something in her eyes changed and, for a moment, the real Sally looked back at Meaghan in shock.

  One of the wizards grabbed the back of Meaghan’s neck and shoved her forward. She had no time to see what happened to Sally.

  What Meaghan didn’t see in the crowd were any witches. They’d been leading the mob earlier, but now there was no sign of them. Only when she was shoved closer to the bonfire, did Meaghan finally see them. About twenty-five women, some she considered close friends, were huddled together near the bonfire, surrounded by a circle of wizards. The most powerful were restrained. She saw Susan, Gretchen, and Lynette chained together, duct tape over their mouths and fury in their eyes.

  But the rest merely stood, staring blankly into space. Some were crying, others smiling, but all appeared to be lost within themselves. A younger one shook her head hard, as if clearing it, and threw herself toward the wizards. Before she reached them, a flash of vivid green light enveloped her. She screamed, convulsed, and dropped to the ground.

  With a start, Meaghan realized it was the girl who had been at her house the other day. The trainee witch, Cassandra—real name Dana—the 9-1-1 dispatcher who had done such a good job making sure the right people responded to the explosion at Jamie’s house.

  The balding wizard, the one who had tried to rape her, saw her staring at Dana’s crumpled body and shoved her so hard she almost fell again. “Don’t worry about her. Worry about yourself. You’re gonna die screaming, bitch.”

  Meaghan turned and gave him the fiercest glare she had. “Don’t gloat yet, asshole. I’m taking you with me. Or at least some of your favorite body parts.” She sneered at him. “As little as they may be.”

  The wizard raised his hand and muttered, a look of fury on his face.

  Nothing happened.

  He took a step backward, eyes wide with fear, before regaining his composure.

  “Still impervious,” Meaghan said with a sweet smile. “How’s it feel to be impotent, shithead?”

  He punched her in the gut again so hard that she doubled over in pain, but it was worth it for the look on his face.

  They still get surprised when magic doesn’t work on me. Could she use that somehow?

  “Your witch friends are still gonna burn. Along with the Fahrayan.” He twined a hand in her hair and yanked her upright. “I can’t wait to get my chance with you. I’m gonna make it hurt. Like it hurt that spell-casting slut we caught in the woods. Only this time her big blond boyfriend will get to watch. We got something special planned for him.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Meaghan snarled. “We’re all gonna die. And so are you when those things you’re trying to free finally get here.”

  His eyes widened.

  Gotcha. I’m not supposed to know about that am I? She smiled at him again. “You’re expendable, shithead. You’re gonna be monster chow. If this was Star Trek, you’d be wearing a red shirt.”

  The other wizard stepped toward them. “Quit flirting with your new girlfriend. Cooper’s waiting. He wants to move this along and he’s losing patience. You want to piss him off? I don’t.”

  Baldy’s eyes grew wider and he shook his head.

  The other wizards were afraid of Cooper, Meaghan realized. Could she somehow work that to her advantage, too?

  She stared at the witches. Why didn’t they do something? They stood there, like cattle, patiently waiting to be slaughtered.

  Like bewitched cattle. This mob had consisted of the people, women mostly, who’d been attracted to Jhoro. Judging by the dreamy looks on many of the witches’ faces, they were off in romantic head movies where Jhoro was the star.

  Meaghan took as deep a breath as she could with her bruised stomach muscles, and shouted, “They’re going to kill Jhoro! They took him so they can kill him!”

  The wizards kept prodding her along.

  She scanned the huddled witches. If she could wake them up, pull them out of
their love-spell-induced dreams, they might have a chance. A few women shook their heads as if mildly distracted, but the only reaction came from the trio of chained witches. They stared at Meaghan and began frantically gesturing with their heads toward something.

  Jamie. They were directing her to Jamie.

  He and Natalie had been chained back to back to the light pole jutting from the middle of the bonfire. Natalie was sobbing, a wad of cloth shoved into her mouth. She struggled against the chains but couldn’t move.

  Jamie hung limp, the chains the only thing keeping him from collapsing to the ground. His head hung down as if he’d passed out.

  Then with a shriek, he threw back his head, and began to struggle. The sigils on his chest glowed red, as if on fire. Natalie screamed in pain as the sigils on his back burnt into her.

  With an ominous creaking, the light post swayed, but didn’t fall. Smaller chunks of wood from the pile rose into the air and flew at the wizards surrounding them, but without enough force to harm them.

  The lorazepam was wearing off.

  Jamie wailed with rage, then fear, shrieking, “No! No!”

  A wizard walked up and backhanded him hard across the face. Jamie slumped against the light pole, weeping.

  Meaghan’s heart sank. Jamie had been her last hope. She couldn’t see any way out of this. There was nobody left, nobody powerful enough to stand up to the wizards.

  Then she heard a car engine, revving high and growing closer. Somebody was coming.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  The sound of the approaching vehicle grew louder. Whatever it was, it was big. After a moment, Meaghan heard the whine of a second engine.

  She glanced at the wizards. Both stared in the direction of the sounds.

  Baldy muttered, “What the hell?”

  Meaghan heard a crack, like fireworks going off, and Baldy flinched as if punched and fell face first to the ground. A red stain blossomed on the back of his gray robe.

  A second crack rent the air. The other wizard screamed and fell. He held his leg, shrieking in pain, as blood bubbled through his fingers.

  The sound of the engines forgotten, Meaghan wheeled wildly around trying to find the source of the shot.

  City hall. Somebody was shooting from the roof.

  A few more cracks and more wizards fell. The shooter was taking his or her time and targeting only robed wizards.

  Whoever was shooting was on their side. Brian, she thought. It’s got to be Brian.

  The mob broke in panic, running from the square. The witches appeared to be waking up, looking around confused.

  The remaining wizards began frantically gesticulating and shouting. They were trying to put up a barrier to block the sniper.

  Meaghan sprinted toward the bonfire, clumsy with her hands tied behind her back. She had to rally the witches and get Jamie and Natalie free before the panicked wizards ignited the pile.

  A wizard tackled her. He kneeled over her, fist raised to strike. Another crack and he fell sideways, screaming.

  Meaghan crawled out from under him and scrambled awkwardly to her feet. She heard yet another crack, this time followed by a sizzle and burst of light.

  The barrier was up and the sniper couldn’t help her anymore.

  She surveyed the scene. The wizards had circled the witches, chanting, and Meaghan watched some, but not all, of the witches’ faces go slack again.

  Those witches still in control of their faculties conjured their own barriers. The witches began waking up again, but they were trapped. If they lowered their barriers to attack, they’d be easy targets for the encircling wizards.

  The mob began to calm and started to methodically line South Street along the square. Another circle was forming behind the bonfire. Between the barricades on either end of the block and the human wall connecting them, the vehicles she’d heard would only be able to approach by mowing over the hexed and possessed townspeople.

  She heard the witches screaming and whirled toward them. They were staring in horror at the bonfire. Natalie struggled to free herself, but Jamie still slumped in his chains, weeping. Two wizards were emptying gas cans onto the wooden pile.

  When they were finished, they tossed the empty cans away, and moved back. A few more wizards, some limping and bloodstained from the sniper’s shots, approached them. They formed a circle and began to mutter and sway. Sparks crackled in the air above their heads.

  As Meaghan screamed and ran toward them, time seemed to slow. What felt like minutes was probably only seconds.

  A lot happened all at once.

  The wizards stepped back and Meaghan could see a ball of flame hanging in the air.

  Natalie let out a muffled wail of terror as the witches screamed.

  The ball of flame began to spin rapidly, then shot toward the pile. The ball flew in a smooth arc toward Natalie and Jamie, but at the last second swerved, as if it had been swatted aside. It still landed on the pile, but on a far corner.

  The wood smoldered a moment and then caught fire, but with a gentle whoosh. By some miracle, the wizards’ ball of flame must have landed on a portion of the pile that had not been splashed with gasoline.

  Meaghan heard screams behind her and saw the mob lining the street fleeing from something. The whine of vehicles at high speed was joined by a blaring car horn.

  The driver didn’t swerve to avoid townspeople or the barricade. Instead the first vehicle came over the barricade.

  It was a pink Hummer—bubble-gum pink—with huge tires and a snowplow blade on the front. What it couldn’t shove aside, it drove over.

  An advertising wrap, designed to look like a leopard print scarf, twined around the doors and hood, and featured a photograph of a smiling middle-aged woman with black hair and big gold earrings, next to bold letters stating, “Gigi Nackos, Your Happy Valley Real Estate Expert!”

  It screeched to a halt in front of her. The passenger door swung open.

  Patrice sat behind the wheel, tiny inside the massive space. She barked, “Get in.”

  As soon as Meaghan neared the door, hands reached and pulled her into the vehicle. Before she registered whose hands they were, she gasped, “The fire. They’re burning Jamie and Natalie. We have to put it out.”

  “Done,” Patrice said. A moment later, the fire hydrant on the east end of South Street exploded. Water gushed into the sky and then seemed to bend in a graceful fountain toward the pile.

  The flames went out with a hiss of steam. After thoroughly soaking the pile, the water seemed to bend again, and shot at the wizards like a high-powered fire hose. Screaming, they were knocked off their feet.

  Meaghan finally noticed the other occupant of the vehicle.

  John.

  She gaped at him as he pulled her over the console and into the backseat. He produced a knife and cut the zip tie binding her hands.

  “What . . . what are you doing here?” she finally managed to stammer.

  “Saving you,” he said with a grin. He pulled her into a crushing hug. “I’m not so helpless as you think.”

  “But the forge, the lock, only Terry can open it. Who let you out?”

  John nodded in the direction of Patrice. He gave Meaghan a warning look and Meaghan realized he was afraid. “She is strong now. I . . .” He shook his head. “She is more than she appears.”

  Patrice gunned the Hummer in the direction of the bonfire, not swerving. Wizards dove out of the way. She screeched to a halt in front of the now steaming pile and shouted, “John, you’re up.”

  He reached behind the seat and pulled out a huge set of bolt cutters. “Come. Help me. I’ll get him, you get her.”

  They climbed out of the truck and onto the pile. Grunting, his neck muscles straining, John cut through the heavy chains. Jamie slumped into his arms, and John threw him over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Meaghan pulled the now loose chains from Natalie and ripped the gag from her mouth.

  Natalie clung to her, crying and shaking so hard sh
e could barely stand. Meaghan half-dragged, half-carried her to the Hummer.

  John placed Jamie in the front seat and climbed in the backseat with Meaghan and Natalie.

  Patrice glanced over at Jamie and caressed his cheek with her fingers. He barely stirred. “Come on, big guy,” she said with a gentle smile. She leaned over him and fastened his seat belt. “Let’s get those nasty things out of your head.”

  “Buckle up and hang on,” Patrice called over her shoulder to the backseat occupants. She jammed the Hummer into reverse, and screeched backward in an arc until she was facing city hall. She stepped on the gas and accelerated toward the front door.

  The sun barely peeked over the horizon. The first rays of daylight highlighted the battered wreck of city hall. The turret where Meaghan’s office had been looked like an exploded firework. The roof was gone and twisted girders splayed out like the petals of an iron flower. Meaghan could see her desk, teetering on the edge of what remained of her office floor.

  Next to it, where Jamie’s office had been, yawned a gaping hole. It might have been a trick of the morning sun, but the hole seemed to be glowing, pulsating with yellow light.

  Two wizards stood on the walkway, not moving as the Hummer sped toward them. They looked smaller and thinner than the wizards on the square, like Caleb, the possessed kid who’d attacked Meaghan in June.

  “Patrice, don’t hit—”

  Before Meaghan could finish, Patrice nodded and the wizards were swept aside, gently, like autumn leaves in a light breeze.

  Two larger wizards stood behind them, on the short flight of steps leading to the door, carrying semi-automatic rifles. With a savage laugh, Patrice drove up the stairs straight toward them. Before they could flee, she was on them. They both disappeared under the vehicle.

  Meaghan and John exchanged a glance. He had gotten to know his daughter-in-law fairly well over the last couple of months and Meaghan could tell by the look on his face that he was as shocked as Meaghan by Patrice’s bloodthirsty demeanor.

  She looked over at Natalie who sat huddled next to her, shaking with cold and fear. Natalie met her gaze, wide-eyed, and shook her head.