Deep Magic

by Christine Pope

  Here and now and always.

  They stopped there, and let go of each other, breaking the circle. “That’s it,” Bryce said. He looked vaguely embarrassed, as though he really didn’t enjoy having anyone else participate in an activity that probably looked to an outsider like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. It wasn’t, though. Magic was real, no matter what civilians might think.

  “I felt it,” Levi said. “Stronger this time. But I think I can make it stronger still. Hayley?”

  She stepped over to stand in front of him, and he held out his hands palms up so she could take them in hers. Crazy how even this touch, ritual in nature and with the clan elders looking on, could still send a shiver through her. Goddess, he amazed her, awoke something in the core of her being she hadn’t even known existed until she met him.

  “I’ll say the words again,” he murmured to her. “You might feel the spell building, but that’s normal. Just don’t let go.”

  “I won’t,” she promised. No, she would never let go of him — no matter what.

  He spoke the words of the spell, enunciating them clearly. As each syllable left his lips, she could sense how her power was twining with his, creating a shimmering barrier of golden light that seemed to stretch all the way across the road — and really, up the hillside until it intersected with the next switchback, blocking every turn of the highway until it reached the spot where the road leveled out slightly and headed into Jerome proper.

  “Goddess,” whispered Allegra. “It’s so strong. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

  “Nor I,” Bryce said, although his tone sounded grudging. Was he annoyed because he hadn’t been able to cast a spell that strong on his own, or simply because it was Levi and Hayley working together who had managed such a thing?

  “It should keep out pretty much anything Joaquin Escobar tries to throw against it,” Levi said. The words weren’t boastful, just a simple statement of fact. “Actually, it might be a little too strong in some ways. It could also keep out some people who simply are harboring bad feelings, who don’t wish to be in this place. You might find tourism dropping off a bit — those who aren’t spiritually attuned to being here will find themselves turning around and going back down the hill.”

  “I think we can handle that,” Tricia said briskly. “It’s certainly better than the alternative. Now, let’s go on to the next one.”

  “Which is where?”

  “Up 89A, at the spot a few miles outside town where the overlook is located. There’s also one in the center of Jerome, right by the fire station, but we’ll do that one last. If we block the road up by the overlook, then there isn’t much chance of anything getting past that.”

  Unless they fly in, Hayley thought uneasily as she recalled the black, leathery wings of the demons Levi had defeated, first in Sedona, and then at the gas station in Quartzsite. But no, surely the wards would block any kind of an approach. Just because she’d visualized them as a golden barrier cutting across the highway didn’t mean they weren’t protecting the town in other ways.

  The next rendezvous having been determined, the elders climbed into Tricia’s Volvo, while Hayley and Levi got back in his truck. They drove slowly through town, waiting for the inevitable tourists who jaywalked at inconvenient moments. She even caught a quick glimpse of Lucinda and Brandon, who stood outside the Jerome Winery tasting room. Brandon appeared to be pointing inside, while Lucinda’s entire posture seemed to signal reluctance. Was Brandon trying to convince her to go inside to get a drink? That seemed very out of character for him — he was definitely a beer drinker — but maybe he’d decided his companion needed to relax a little.

  Either way, Hayley knew she wouldn’t find out until she got home and had a chance to talk to him alone. Or not. She might have sensed a hesitant interest from both of the parties involved, but she had a feeling that trying to push too hard would only make the situation that much more awkward.

  The overlook Tricia had mentioned was a wide spot in 89A as it wound down the mountainside on its way into Jerome, offering an absolutely spectacular view of the Verde Valley, framed in cliff walls on either side. From up here, Hayley could see the narrow green ribbon of the Verde River cutting through the rolling, golden landscape, and on past the river to Sedona’s red rocks.

  Problem was, because the overlook offered such an amazing prospect, they weren’t the only people who’d decided to park there. Bryce was scowling as he got out of the passenger seat of Tricia’s Volvo, and it was easy to see why — at one end of the overlook sat a black Ford Explorer, a middle-aged couple leaning against the front bumper and aiming their phone cameras at the astounding view, while at the other end was parked a Harley, its rider taking advantage of the space the overlook afforded to adjust his saddlebags and grab a drink of water.

  “How long do you want to wait?” Levi asked in an undertone as he approached the three elders, who’d gone up to the protective guardrail and were doing their best to gawk at a sight they’d seen their entire lives.

  “As long as it takes,” Bryce replied. He dug his phone out of the pocket of his Carhartt jeans and pretended to take a few pictures. “It’s not like we have a choice.”

  Well, that was true enough. They’d blocked one entrance into Jerome, and that had to help, but until all the wards were given the same treatment, the Escobars could still send the next wave of their army of darkness into the town. All right, one rogue demon-driven car wasn’t exactly the same as an army, but —

  “What is that?” the woman leaning against the Explorer asked, in tones loud enough that the group from Jerome could hear her clearly. She wasn’t looking down toward the Verde Valley anymore, but had swiveled slightly so she was staring up toward the face of Mingus Mountain, stretching another thousand feet or so above them. “Is it an eagle?”

  Hayley turned, as did the rest of the elders. A shocked gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it. No, that definitely wasn’t an eagle. Not with those huge wings like black leather scraped over bone, or those glowing red eyes, or those skeletal fingers tipped with claws like scythes.

  Levi’s hand descended on her wrist in a grip of steel. “Stay with me,” he said. “No matter what.”

  Her heart was pounding like thunder in a monsoon storm, but she nodded. “I will. Don’t worry.”

  Raising his voice, he shouted, “Down, everyone. Now!”

  The elders did as he said, because of course they knew Levi had a far better idea of what they faced than they probably did. Their magic might have been strong, but it wasn’t the sort of magic that could prevail in an open confrontation with a demon summoned straight from the pit of hell. And because they dropped to the asphalt, using the car to help shield themselves, the couple from the Explorer did the same thing — or rather, they took another look at the nightmare descending from the sky and jumped into their vehicle.

  A shot rang out, echoing off the canyon walls. Hayley allowed herself a shocked glance over one shoulder, saw the biker had pulled a gleaming blue-steel pistol from somewhere on his person and was calmly aiming it at the demon. Since the creature jerked, one wing flapping in sudden frenzy, it seemed that the bullet had connected.

  “That won’t work!” Levi yelled at the man, who looked ready to fire another shot.

  “I hit the bastard!”

  “Hitting it and hurting it are two entirely different things!”

  That exchange was all they had time for, however, because now the demon was almost upon them. The beat of its wings stirred up a strange, acrid smell, as though it had brought with it the very stink of hell. Was that actually where it had come from, though? The McAllister witch clan didn’t really believe in heaven or hell, but they did understand there were worlds beyond this one. Maybe one of those worlds was similar enough to hell that it might as well be the underworld described in Christian theology.

  Hayley realized now wasn’t the time for philosophical examinations of their enemies’ origins. Not with the biker gett
ing off shot after shot, all of which seemed to connect but didn’t do much to slow down the demon, and not with Levi raising his hands, clearly preparing for a more effective kind of assault. She clung to his arm, willing every ounce of her strange gift to flow from her fingertips and into him, so he might meet the demon with the kind of blow that would finally have some kind of an effect.

  Fire roared out from his hands, so fierce and bright, it looked as though his palms had turned into miniature flamethrowers. The demon screeched, the sound tearing at Hayley’s ears, seeming to rip at the very fabric of the world. Standing next to them, the biker said, “Holy fuck,” but he held his ground, pausing only to get a fresh magazine from an inside pocket of the vest he wore before continuing to fire.

  Unbelievably, though, the creature didn’t fall out of the sky, despite the onslaught. Its ragged wings beat at the air, and it spat at them, the greenish spittle hitting the ground just a few inches away from where Levi and Hayley stood. The asphalt began to smoke, crumbling as though it had been hit by acid.

  However, Levi didn’t back away, which meant Hayley had to stand there next to him, her hand still wrapped around his bicep, although every instinct she possessed was screaming at her to run, to jump into the truck and get the hell out of there. No, Levi lifted his hands again, and this time lightning rained down on the demon, so intense that she could actually see the blowback from the electric shocks dancing over the surface of the creature’s scaly skin, like a weird glowing mist. This time it did stagger backward a few feet, something about the way its wings pummeled the air looking a little weaker, not quite so forceful.

  Levi redoubled his attack, more lightning pouring into the demon. Now its skin was what began to smoke, pieces of it even peeling back to reveal the livid flesh below. It let out another cry and spat again, but this time the acidic saliva didn’t even reach the parking lot, instead dropping into the brush on the hillside below the overlook. It crackled and shivered as the poison worked on the dry grass and manzanita and agave there, but it didn’t seem as though any of the vegetation was going to actually burst into flame.

  “More,” Levi whispered to Hayley, and she gulped in a breath, tried to imagine her talent as a living thing, a river of golden energy flowing into the man who stood beside her. The scene around her blurred, but she blinked, forcing herself to stay focused, to not let herself succumb to the growing weakness she felt in her knees, the shaking of her legs. She had to keep standing. She’d promised Levi she’d stay with him, no matter what.

  And now it wasn’t simply bolts of lightning, but what looked like a wall of electricity, crackling with deadly blue-white fire as it rushed toward the demon. It screamed, and screamed…and then a silence fell that was almost as shocking as the creature’s cries. After blinking, dazed, at the spot where the demon had been, Hayley realized that the wall of electricity had passed right through it, leaving behind only a strange, sooty mass that hung in the air for a second or two more before it shivered apart into thousands of pieces carried away on the wind, like a cloud of gnats dispersing.

  Levi coughed and bent over slightly, hands braced against his thighs as though he had just run a marathon and was now desperately trying to catch his breath.

  “Are you all right?” Hayley asked, still clinging to his arm. Actually, she prayed that he wouldn’t collapse, because she knew she barely had the strength to stand on her own, let alone prop him up as well.

  “I will be,” he replied, his voice raw, hoarse. He coughed again, then straightened, and seemed to notice how the biker was staring at him, dark eyes wide with shock.

  “What the ever-loving hell was that?” the man demanded.

  “It was nothing.” Levi’s eyes narrowed, glinting like a pair of blue lasers between the heavy dark gold lashes. “You saw nothing here, did you?”

  “I — ” The biker blinked. “Saw what?”

  “Exactly.”

  Another blink, and then the man shrugged and headed over to his Harley. Levi nodded, apparently satisfied that his little mind-control trick had worked, and went to the Explorer. The engine had just roared to life, and Hayley saw how the driver’s hands gripped the steering wheel. With an odd little smile, Levi made a “roll down the window” motion with one hand. To her surprise, the driver did as requested. “I don’t want any trouble — ”

  “No trouble,” Levi said smoothly. “There wasn’t any trouble here, was there?”

  “Um…no. I guess not. I mean, I didn’t see anything. Did you, Sherri?”

  “What?” the woman asked, her expression blank. “Was there something to see?”

  “You folks have a nice day,” Levi told them, still wearing that strange smile.

  The driver put one hand to the side of his forehead in a sort of mock salute, and then he backed out of the parking area and headed onto the highway proper. For a man who hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, he sure looked like someone in a hurry.

  Hayley stared up at Levi, not sure how she should react to what she’d just observed. Best to be direct, she supposed. “What the hell was that?”

  His shoulders lifted. “We couldn’t let them leave here and tell others about what they’d seen. It’s a very minor enchantment, really. They’ll remember that they were at the overlook, but the past five minutes…those are gone.”

  He sounded so matter-of-fact about what he’d done. While she understood that it was better for everyone involved if those civilians didn’t recall a single thing about the demon attack they’d just witnessed, it was still freaky to think about how Levi had casually meddled with their memories.

  As she stared up at him, trying to think of how she should reply, the three elders approached. Allegra looked a little shell-shocked and Tricia’s brow was knitted, as though she was still trying to process what she’d just seen, but Bryce was actually smiling.

  “That was impressive,” he said. “Fried that bastard to a crisp! I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.”

  Hayley wished she could say the same thing, but since this was now her third demon attack in the same number of days, that wasn’t really possible. It did seem as though this one had been stronger than the others, more difficult to vanquish even though it was alone.

  “Thanks,” Levi replied. His expression sobered. “We need to get the wards in place, though. That demon — it was the most powerful yet. For a minute there, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to defeat it or not. The last thing we need is another one getting through while we’re standing here, patting ourselves on the back.”

  “Of course,” Tricia said. “We usually set this one right there at the end of the parking area.”

  Levi looked over at Hayley. His eyes met hers, worried, almost pleading. Was he afraid she didn’t have the strength left to set another ward, or was it more that he feared she somehow condemned him for erasing the memories of those civilians?

  She knew she was weak, but she’d call up whatever reserves of strength she needed in order to get that ward in place. As for the rest…it wasn’t so much that she was judging Levi for what he’d done, but more that it was difficult to come to terms with the powers that lay hidden within him. Just when she thought she’d seen it all, he used another strange and formidable talent. It didn’t change how she felt about him, but she understood then that she’d have to allow herself to be more flexible, to realize that just because Levi looked human, he really wasn’t. He was something more.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Let’s get this ward up and running.”

  A corner of his mouth lifted, his clear blue eyes shimmering with gratitude and relief. “Yes, let’s do that.”

  16

  There were no demonic interruptions after that. Levi and Hayley set the ward at the overlook, and then the intermediate one by the fire station, where Perkins Valley Road came wandering into town after cutting across miles of open country. Not too many people arrived in Jerome by that route, since it was all dirt road, some of it not very
well tended, but every once in a while some adventurous soul would decide that the best way to get to the former mining town was by off-roading it for most of the drive. At any rate, Levi was relieved when the work was done.

  Well, at least as relieved as he could be, considering what had occurred less than a half hour before.

  As Levi and Hayley were setting the final wards, Bryce received a text from Connor at the hospital. It turned out that Rachel hadn’t suffered anything worse than a concussion and two broken ribs, and so, even though the doctors wanted to keep her overnight for observation, she should be allowed to come home the next day. Tobias would remain with her, but Angela and Connor were on their way back from Cottonwood.

  Good. Although Levi had managed to fend off this latest attack, the strength of the demon both worried and confounded him. How had the Escobars managed to summon such a powerful being? The strictures of such lore usually stated that a witch or warlock should never summon anything more powerful than themselves, lest it wrest itself from their control, but either the Escobars were growing reckless in their desire to inflict hurt on the McAllister clan, or their combined talents truly were as strong as the demon they’d conjured. Neither explanation was particularly reassuring.

  The elders thanked Levi — and Hayley, although those thanks were somewhat subdued, as if they hadn’t quite realized how much help she’d provided — for everything he’d done to protect the clan, and, by extension, the town. “We’ll let Connor and Angela know what happened,” Tricia said in her brisk, no-nonsense way, as if she was discussing something trivial, like a minor fender-bender on Main Street. “I have a feeling they’ll want to talk to you, but in the meantime, you might as well try to rest a bit. You’ve earned it.”

  Yes, Levi thought he had. Although this human body of his was fit and strong, and in general up to whatever physical challenges he might wish to throw at it, right then he felt as though every muscle ached.