“Not if you cast first.”
“I’ll need to physically hold a circle that large in place,” Copper said. “To ensure its stability. But doing so will also allow me to adapt quickly if a car or a person manages to bypass the distraction spells.”
Momentarily dropping her professional guise, she glanced over at Declan. Crouched over the burn marks on the pavement, he continued to ignore us as he brushed his fingers along a number of gouges I could see near the marks, but which would have been hidden to plain sight from farther away.
Copper headed back to the SUV without another word.
“Be ready,” Jasmine said. Then she followed the other witch.
Declan looked up, catching my eye. “Looks like my magic,” he said, sweeping his flashlight across the marks. His tone was hollow and heavy.
“It doesn’t feel like your magic.” I pulled the first of my candles from my bag, not willing to participate in any conjecture. Not yet. I needed to focus in order to cast a precise circle as large as I anticipated needing it.
I crossed to the very edge of the shoulder, carefully placing my white pillar, then shoring it up with loose gravel. I straightened, eyeing the trajectory toward the next point. My red candle — representing fire — would need to be situated in the middle of the road. So I’d have to wait for Jasmine’s signal that the traffic had been successfully diverted before I placed it. Once I began, I preferred to set the candles in place in succession, pacing the edge of the circle and laying magic in my wake in a single direction, usually clockwise. Even though that precision wasn’t always necessary, I’d stick to it with this casting. I had only a limited time to capture what I assumed was a large-scale magical event, so I needed to be meticulous.
Kett appeared on the edge of my peripheral vision, obviously attempting to slow down so he didn’t startle me.
I offered him a tight smile.
“The witch is almost done on the northern edge,” he said. “She is skilled.”
“High praise.”
“But annoyingly disruptive.”
I involuntarily snorted out a laugh. “Don’t tell Declan,” I said. “He’ll ask her to stay just to continue to annoy you.”
“It’s Declan who she is disrupting.”
I let my gaze wander across the road. Declan was walking along the opposite edge, as if looking for any evidence that the mundane crime scene investigators might have missed.
“I have inserted myself into your life similarly,” Kett said almost musingly. “You all seem to have accepted my presence. Begrudgingly, perhaps. But you don’t extend the same courtesy to the witch.”
“We got off on the wrong foot. And Jasmine doesn’t like her.”
“And what Jasmine likes, you and Declan go along with.”
I glanced at him. “I think we try. Why?”
Kett didn’t answer me, staring off into the distance.
I brushed my fingers across the top of his hand. “Kett?”
He turned to me with a slight smile, almost as if he hadn’t realized there had been a gap in our conversation.
“Thank you for the book,” I said.
He nodded. “You left it on the jet.”
“As instructed.”
He stepped closer, bowing his head slightly as he whispered. “You will be easier to protect … after. Less vulnerable.”
My stomach fluttered with a sudden burst of nerves. “Are you … is there something you aren’t telling me?”
He laughed quietly. “Many somethings. Which would you like to know first?”
“I wasn’t being literal.”
“You don’t need to be so careful with me, Wisteria. I’m not changing my mind. I’m not requesting your immediate fulfillment of the terms of the contract. You may still change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
I spoke more forcefully than I’d intended, drawing Declan’s attention. He frowned at me from across the street, then glanced both ways for traffic.
“Our conversations are never straightforward,” I grumbled under my breath as Declan jogged across the road.
“Agreed.” Kett’s whisper brushed against my ear. “We do better with fewer words.” Then he was standing a step away from me.
I quashed a smile at his attempt to flirt.
Declan joined us, fishing his phone out of his pocket and glancing at the screen. “They’re done with the outer spells.”
“Good.” I stepped back to the white candle I’d already placed, waiting for Declan and Kett to clear away from where I needed to establish the circle.
Then I deliberately and steadily paced toward the next point, focusing only on the feeling of the gravel, then the pavement underneath my feet, and of the magic I was laying in my wake.
One by one, I carefully situated my four candles in one of the largest circles I’d ever attempted to cast. Then I retraced my steps, lighting each candle as I passed.
I could sense Copper pacing alongside me, about five feet away as she constructed a second circle around mine. A secondary layer of protection. She appeared to be using salt rather than candles. Given the amount of salt needed to trace a circle of such a wide diameter, I guessed that she either carried a spelled bag, or she’d asked Kett to have supplies waiting for her in the SUV.
When I reached the green candle — for earth — at the northern point in the middle of the road, I paused before lighting it.
Copper closed the salt line behind me. She glanced around, making sure Jasmine, Declan, and Kett were standing inside her circle but outside of mine.
She met my gaze.
I nodded.
She reached for the magic she’d seeded into the salt, calling up her circle swiftly and efficiently. Her subtle energy brushed my senses, but I didn’t pause to admire her proficient casting. We couldn’t hold off traffic for long without drawing attention, though thankfully, the road didn’t appear to be particularly busy.
I crouched, lighting my green candle with a sustained exhale rather than a snap of my fingers, thus allowing a final breath of my magic to seep into my circle. Then I straightened as I raised my hands, palms facing forward. Reaching out for the magic I’d carefully laid in my wake, I called my circle into being.
The residual magic captured within the circle exploded, a wash of power battering the edges of the reconstruction.
I gasped at its intensity, but the energy didn’t fight me. Rather, the magic pooled underneath my palms as if eager to be revealed.
“Everything okay?” Jasmine asked.
“Yes,” I said. “But give me a moment before you tap in, please.”
Jasmine and Declan could watch the reconstruction just by touching the edge of my circle, but I was concerned that they would off balance the energy if they did so before the residual revealed its source.
“Show me,” I murmured to the torrent of power now captured in my circle. “Show me how you came to be.”
The light within the circle brightened slightly, still evening but without the intermittent cloud cover. A sprinkle of starlight appeared overhead. The energy shifted, coalescing into a massive form in the middle of the street. Then it burst into flame, which I should have been expecting.
Momentarily blinded, I squeezed my eyes shut. The magic pulsed underneath my palms.
“It’s a lot of power,” I said shakily, blinking to clear my sight. Then I breathed deeply to settle further into the casting.
“As expected,” Kett said from somewhere behind me.
“Initial impressions?” Jasmine said, keeping me on task.
“It’s evening. Fire.” I focused on the reconstruction playing backward within the circle.
The shape that had appeared in the center of the street was a car completely engulfed in flames. I could see its edges but no details within. And though it might have been unprofessional, I was glad I couldn’t see the occupants of the vehicle being burned alive.
The fire shifted as if snuffing out, but I knew that was just a pro
duct of viewing everything backwards. The reconstruction was still forming, meaning I was seeing the moment the fire started, but without me perceiving its cause.
The scene blurred, moving too quickly for me to distinguish specifics. Except I thought I might have seen a door opening, just before the crumpled front of the car smoothed itself out. After a moment, the car shot backwards, out of my reconstruction.
Then nothing, though the magic was still held inside the circle with formidable intensity.
There was just the empty road.
“There’s no … there’s nothing,” I murmured. “The car didn’t hit anything.”
Standing on either side of me, Declan and Jasmine glanced at each other over my head. I allowed the circle to go dormant, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes.
“Nothing?” Jasmine asked quietly.
“I’m going to need to play it again,” I said. “Slowly. Before I collect it.” I glanced over my shoulder at Copper. “Do I have a little longer?”
She nodded, but shallowly. Holding an active circle was draining.
I turned back to the reconstruction. “You’ll need to touch me,” I murmured to Kett.
He slipped his hand through my jacket and underneath my silk blouse. Jasmine and Declan raised their hands to my circle. I activated the reconstruction again, playing it as slowly as possible.
Within the circle, the light shifted into late evening. Stars once again appeared, but I couldn’t see the moon.
The headlights of a vehicle appeared at the far edge of the circle, quickly resolving into a gray sedan. I immediately slowed the playback, taking the time to observe every last detail. I had to meticulously capture it all in this pass, so that we could review it in the cube.
A brown-haired male was driving the sedan, turning to laugh at something the dark-blond woman in the passenger seat had said. A girl was sitting in the back seat, leaning sideways so she could look through the front seats. There wasn’t enough light to determine skin or eye color from this distance, but I was certain we were watching Dawn and her parents seconds before their fiery deaths.
The car crept toward us, almost painfully slowly, but no one asked that I quicken the playback. I had to have missed something in the initialization of the reconstruction. Or someone. Cars didn’t just crash into nothing.
A wash of dark blue appeared between us and the car. Witch magic by its color, though I couldn’t pick up the tenor.
I paused the playback, zooming in on what appeared to be a fissure of energy streaking across the pavement.
“Some sort of barrier spell?” I asked. “With a delayed trigger?”
“Strong enough to stop a car?” Jasmine asked doubtfully.
I reoriented the playback, allowing the scene to continue playing out in slow motion.
The front of the car hit whatever spell had been laid across the road.
The bumper crumpled.
Within the car, Dean’s laughter dissolved into a look of sheer panic. He clenched the wheel.
The hood of the car buckled.
Amy screamed, slowly flung forward against her seatbelt. Her terror exploded out of her in a wash of bright, vibrant-blue magic. Then, a breath before the windshield shattered, she somehow gathered all the power she’d generated and wrapped it around Dawn, whose eyes were wide and terrified.
The magic Amy had called forth drove the back passenger door open and ejected Dawn from the car.
The girl hit the pavement and rolled across the street. When she came to a stop, she was lying insensible on the gravel shoulder.
More magic exploded from within or below the vehicle, and it was immediately engulfed in flames.
I paused the playback, needing a moment to calm myself.
“She …” Jasmine said. “What was that? Did Amy just …”
“Used her own life force to save her child,” I whispered. Because other than perhaps Kett, I was the only one there who knew what that sort of magic felt like. Many years ago, I’d used the dying life force of our brownie, Bluebell, to cripple Jasper. To save Declan and Jasmine. I had used the darkest of magic without a thought, and I could still feel the stain it left on my soul. But Amy had used that magic out of love, devotion …
I took a shaky breath, fruitlessly wiping away the tears streaming down my face. Kett shifted his hand on my back, but I couldn’t feel any comfort in his cold touch.
Declan cleared his throat. “Yeah. You hear of things like that. Mostly with healers, but …”
We all stood silently for a moment, staring into the frozen reconstruction. The car in flames, and the little girl lying on the side of the road.
When I thought I could express myself without breaking down, I spoke. “The explosive spells in the car were timed, yes? Previously set?”
Declan nodded. “Looked like it. I don’t think the car had sustained enough damage to explode like that. The gas tank is in the back.”
“It wouldn’t make any sense to kill anyone,” I said grimly. “Not until he had Dawn. So he would have waited to trigger the spells. Luckily for him, Amy took care of getting Dawn out of the vehicle.”
“Him?” Jasmine asked. “Yale was already in London …”
I didn’t respond, knowing that what I was about to suggest would come across as farfetched. Born of my own psychosis rather than actual facts. I triggered the reconstruction again, allowing it to play through to the end.
Magically fueled flames ravaged the car. On the edge of the road, Dawn raised her head, seemingly groggy, though she didn’t appear to have a scratch on her. Which explained why the police hadn’t found any blood at the scene. Amy’s magic had cushioned her child’s fall.
A terrible realization flooded across Dawn’s face. She thrust her arms forward, opening her mouth to scream.
Then she disappeared.
I paused the playback, rewinding it to play the moment of Dawn’s disappearance over again. Then again. Back and forth. I’d missed this in the initial collection as well, though I wasn’t surprised at that. It had all taken only a moment in real time.
A thin cloud of magic shifted over top of the girl right before she disappeared.
A blue haze.
“Kett,” I said, “I apologize, but I need you to step back for a moment.”
The vampire dropped his hand from my back without questioning me.
I kicked off my shoes, taking deep breaths. I reached for the magic within me, for the magic underneath the pavement and in the very earth. I gathered the energy I found there, then filtered it into the reconstruction circle. Directing this extra pulse of power toward Dawn specifically, I allowed the reconstruction to play through again.
Someone or something stepped up beside the girl, reaching down and scooping her up in his arms right before she disappeared. Right before she was swallowed by whatever intricate and powerful spell her kidnapper was using to mask his presence.
I rewound the playback one more time, pausing with the cloaked image of the kidnapper highlighted by the extra power I’d pumped into the reconstruction.
“Him,” I said grimly.
Jasmine and Declan stood silently by my side, staring at the form of the person standing over Dawn. There was nothing particularly distinctive to go on. The powerful Adept I’d revealed was either a tall woman or a somewhat slight man.
But I knew instinctively who it was that I’d almost managed to unmask.
I knew that only one person would be capable of hiding his magic from me, from my reconstruction. Only one person would seek out and kidnap witches with the same birthdays as Declan, Jasmine, and me.
A cool relief flooded through me, loosening my limbs and steadying my resolve. Without another word, I allowed the reconstruction to fall dormant, fishing an oyster-shell cube out of my bag and crossing through my circle. I set the cube down and channeled the magic I’d collected into it.
When I was done, I lifted the brightly glowing cube, holding it by my fingertips. Gazing at it with great
satisfaction, I whispered, “Got you, asshole.”
Then I turned back to the group waiting for me at the edge of my circle, taking immediate control of the situation. “Copper, please remove your barrier and your distraction spells before we attract any more attention.”
“Of course.” She quickly dropped the spell she was straining to maintain.
“Thank you. Jasmine, I’ll need the flight logs for the Fairchild jet.”
My cousin’s face creased with confusion.
Kett laughed huskily, getting to where I was leading more quickly than the others. Then, with his phone to his ear, he crossed back to the SUV.
I crouched down and snuffed out my green pillar candle, dissipating the magic of my circle.
“We need somewhere to regroup,” I said, crossing to collect the rest of my candles. Jasmine and Declan trailed after me as if they were in shock. “Rose’s?”
“No,” Declan said bluntly.
“Wait, wait,” Jasmine said, grabbing for my arm. “What are you saying? Why would the flight records of the jet help with this? If … if a Fairchild was involved here, they’d just drive. We’re only hours away from Litchfield.”
“We’re not worried about connecting him to this accident. I’ve already done that. We’re looking to connect him to Chicago and LA.”
Jasmine’s jaw dropped. Her mouth hung open incredulously.
I leaned down, snuffing out my red candle.
Declan swore viciously under his breath.
“You … you’re saying …” Jasmine shuddered, unable to complete the thought.
“I’m saying Yale handed Ruby and Jack off to Jasper. Who likely flew them somewhere in the jet, which is why we kept losing Yale’s trail. He wasn’t keeping, or feeding, or housing them.”
“The power of three,” Declan muttered. “The birth dates.”
“Yes,” I said. “He’s creating another trio.”
“That’s … you’re leaping to conclusions,” Jasmine said. “We all know the tenor of Jasper’s magic. That wasn’t it. And … and … what he did to us had nothing to do with any birthdays.”
“It does now. Whatever spells Jasper spent years crafting to bind us, he wants to utilize them again. They must have used magic or runes that tie to those particular dates.” I shrugged. “Or perhaps he’s just insane, and the matching birthdays simply bring him some sense of order. Or maybe he just wanted to get our attention. But if Jasper can conceal himself that effectively from reconstruction, he’s figured out how to mask his magic.” I glanced over at Declan. “Which is why you thought it was similar to yours.”
Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3) Page 16