by Susan Stec
"Anyone got any ideas?" I asked.
Jake burped. "I'm a healer! I really want all of you to remember that."
"You start tossing fire around, I'll remember you alright," Mom said. "I'll remember you right into an asbestos crate on its way to Afghanistan."
"Where's Tootles?" I asked.
"She's in the bedroom. Are you really taking her?" Gibbie wanted to know.
"Yes, because if I can throw her into the sorcerer, it will incapacitate him momentarily until we can deal with him."
Dorius' eyes opened wider and he nodded.
"I'm still bringing a gun. I think you should bring your bow," Christopher said.
"Screw that! I can take him with my bare hands," Zaire shouted.
Christopher laughed.
"I'm taking a rug with a summoning pentagram drawn on it, and my knives," I answered, heading to the garage for an old four-by-six hemp throw rug I had out there.
"Somebody clean up this room—Jake." Mom tossed a hand full of towels at him.
After wiping down the furniture and changing our clothes, we drew the pentagram, rolled it up and deposited it in the back of the suburban along with some rope, tape, candles and copies of the incantations. I also shoved the book of spells into the middle seat so I could study it on the way to the cabin.
Christopher walked out of the garage with my 260 Ruger. "I'm takin' it. Don't even go there."
I just rolled my eyes and took the cooler Marcus handed me.
Paul and Jake walked out of the garage.
"Where's Gibbie?" I asked.
"He's coming," Paul said. "He just got back from talking to Mort. The troll's going to meet us at the cabin. Gibbie gave him directions."
Jake didn't look very enthused to be joining us.
Dorius walked up. "Jeni and JoAnn will man communications from the van. I'll ride to the river with them. Is there a place where they can park close to the cabin?"
Christopher piped up, "I pulled another aerial and spotted a small access road about a mile behind the cabin."
I glared at him. "You mean we could have driven to the damn cabin the other night?"
"Sorry. I was in such a hurry when I pulled the first one. I just checked the waterline since Pastor Julie said you had to go by boat. I should have known the bitch was lying."
I sucked in a breath, thinking I'd called ahead and rented a boat for nothing. "The police will probably see the road too. Great. Now they can bring a whole frigging army along. I think we'd better find a good place to park the vehicles. They'd spot us on a small road."
"No problem. That's what the big chain and padlock is for," he said, pointing to it in the back of the Burb.
"Uh-huh, and what do you plan on doing with that?" I asked, sweetly.
"There are trees on either side of the road. We'll fix this near the beginning of the trail. It runs back almost ten miles, and you're going to put a spell on the chain and lock so they can't screw with it. I marked the page for you in your grandmother's book. So the cops will have to either go by foot or go back and get a boat," Christopher said, all smart and sassy.
Mom came waltzing out with Zaire and Resi in their Xena warrior costumes, Gibbie in tow. I looked my mother up and down, wondering if I was underdressed. She had on a camo jogging suit, her face painted with black and green stripes under her eyes.
"You ready to rumble?" Mom asked, swinging a machete. Her fangs dropped and hit her lower lip.
~~~
Chapter 29
She's super freaky…
~~~
"Just give me the damn book and let me draw the frigging ward—spell—whatever the hell it is," I snapped at Christopher.
"Fine, but you've tried it three times and you still can't get the damn thing right! I was just trying to help." He shoved the book at me. "And it's a ward, not a spell. This ward will keep anyone from opening the padlock. A spell is totally…never mind. Just concentrate on the words and draw the design in the picture with your finger in front of the padlock."
"I know that! Whatdaya think I've been trying to do for the last fifteen minutes!" I snapped.
"Try tracing it on the picture first, then the padlock!" Christopher snapped back.
"If you don't finish soon, we won't need the damn ward. It's almost two o'clock," Mom said with eyes that could ignite kindling.
I curled my lower lip over my teeth, clamping it down with the top ones, and traced the ward on the book two times with my finger. Closing my eyes, determined, I traced it again in the air in front of the chain and padlock, chanting the spell. I opened my eyes, pulled up my shield for the fourth time so we could see if it worked. The chain was lit up like a string of Christmas lights.
"It's about time." Christopher attempted to duck under the gate. It zapped him, knocked him on his ass. He shook his head and smiled up at me. "It works! Hope they try to use bolt cutters."
Mom eyed him as he got up. "That'll tighten the ole' gonads."
"They'll probably spend a half an hour trying to figure out where the electricity is coming from. Let's get back to the vans." I laughed, popping the shield and heading through the trees beside the trail.
We sprinted up the path to the Suburban.
"Where are Jake and Paul?" Mom asked as we approached.
Dorius answered from the driver's seat, "They just went into the woods to phase; they're going to meet us at the cabin. Get in. JoAnn and Jeni are set up in the surveillance van, hidden in the woods. I want to check with them before we head to the cabin."
We climbed into the Burb and he cranked the engine.
Marcus gave me one of his sexy smiles. "I think when we finish here, you and I are going to celebrate." His eyebrows did a little rumba on his forehead. My stomach quivered.
We pulled up next to the other suburban. Dorius turned around in his seat and nodded his head toward it, pointing at me. "JoAnn has the dog. She said she wanted to, and I quote, 'give it a talking to' before she turned it over to you."
I walked around to the back doors, Marcus at my side, and pulled them open.
JoAnn looked at me with pleading eyes as she squeezed Babe in a death grip that would have made a boa constrictor proud. "I really wish you'd leave Tootles here with me."
"Not going to happen," I said. Babe wiggled free, scampered out of the van, and hopped around my feet, yelping.
"Tootles, you come back here!" JoAnn whined.
"Babe'll be fine. It's a good plan," I told her, patting Babe. The dog jumped and twisted with excitement. "Look, she's all wound up and ready to help."
JoAnn huffed. "If Tootles gets hurt, I'll never speak to you again."
"She's already dead, how much worse—"
Her lips formed a butt-hole and she turned to the monitor. "The gator and three humans are down there. I don't see Mort. Gibbie went to look for him."
I glared at the back of her head.
Marcus leaned forward. "The vamp-gator?"
"Yes and several other gators without glowing eyes. Everyone is at the end of the dock by the cabin," JoAnn said, stealing a glance at her animated pet.
"I'm going to hit the shed behind the cabin and summon Rafael there. I don't want him strutting around in all his splendor." There wasn't a chance in Hell we would be able to camouflage his accoutrements. His frigging hat would stand out like a beacon in a storm.
"I hope Jake doesn't wimp out." Christopher handed Marcus the carpet and pulled out the Ruger. He flipped it over his shoulder. It dragged the ground as he shut the back doors in JoAnn's angry face.
"He'll be fine. I told him to heal where needed and if he wanted to help, he could use his fire," Marcus said.
"Where are the girls?" I asked.
"We're right here," Resi's voice wafted around the Suburban.
"Well, let's go kick some ass!" Mom whooped, machete flying.
"Yeah, uh-huh, no problem, Chick," Christopher laughed, hefting the rifle higher on his shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow and star
ted toward the cabin, Marcus riding my tail.
* * * *
We all stood at the end of the trail staring at the cabin roof peeking out through the trees ahead of us.
"Can you see them?" I whispered.
"No, but the dock is on the other side," Christopher whispered.
I laid the carpet at my feet and felt around, securing my knives.
Mom had her machete tied to her camouflaged waist. She looked all Special Forces as she gave orders. "Dorius and I are going to circle wide, come up on the other side of the dock. Resi, you and Zaire check out the cabin. If the mirror is still there stay with it. Susan, Marcus, and Christopher stay on this side of the cabin. Gibbie, Jake, and Paul have orders to take our lead. Everybody ready?"
"And what do you suggest we do if the bitch is in the mirror?" Zaire asked.
"Keep her there," Mom said.
"Huh, like they have a choice in the matter." That tickled Christopher.
"We can handle the mirror." Resi gave Zaire a slap on the back, sent her two inches off the ground.
"Shit!" Zaire glared at her.
"Oh yeah, I'd give my fangs teeth to see that." Christopher shot them a toothy grin.
Dorius walked out of the woods holding his earpiece, mouth moving.
"It's show time," Mom said, trying to look mean, all four-foot-ten-inches of her.
I shook my head, hoping this wasn't going to be a fiasco.
"Jeni informed me the sorcerer is still on the dock." Dorius rubbed his jaw. "And it looks like the women are in a tree overhanging the water."
"I'll head for the woods on the left of the shed," Christopher said. "There's a good view of the dock back there and they won't be able to see me."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Christopher, do not start anything until we get there!" Dorius warned.
Christopher took off. His hand flew behind him, pumping a middle finger. Dorius bared his fangs.
"Cut him some slack, Brother. He knows better than to take them on by himself." Marcus hefted the rug over his shoulder.
"No one moves in until you hear me give the order to do so," Dorius commanded. "I don't want them to see us until Susan secures the demon and sets the pentagram for the dog. Does everyone understand?"
We all nodded and headed in different directions.
Marcus laid the carpet out on the floor of the shed. Babe sat by the door, tongue lolling out one side of her mouth.
"Don't get in my way," I told Marcus as I lit the candles, spilled blood and chanted the incantation.
Burnt amber filled the air and the atmosphere crackled just like in our living room.
Rafael appeared with a red scarf wrapped around the collar of his black shirt. His feet were clad in purple boots, covering black jeans up to his knees. Leather sprouted from the sides, strung with brightly colored beads.
Babe barked. I shushed her. She snorted and backed out of the doorway.
The demon strutted into the pentagram no problem. Using salt or putting up my shield was stupid since I couldn't bind either of us. His red cowboy hat bobbed; three peacock feathers waved with each movement. He picked up my hand with long cold fingers and laid an icy kiss on my knuckles. His appearance changed in a flicker that started at the top of his head and went to his toes. The demon looked up at me through Marcus' eyes, on Marcus' face, over Marcus' body. "Do you trust me?"
I stared at him as his body wavered, taking on its original form.
"About as far as I can throw you." I stepped back, jerking my hand from his, rubbing it against my jeans.
He splayed his purple fingernails, looking demure.
"Don't do that again!" I told him.
"You do not approve? I thought it would please you." Rafael bowed, one arm whipping in an arc.
Marcus moved in front of me.
I nudged him aside, glaring at Rafael. "No. It doesn't please me. So, nip it."
Rafael blew me a kiss. "I am at your mercy."
Marcus growled.
Babe growled.
I smiled. "Alright, justifiable fruit of Satan's loins, you just stay here until I summon you. Understand?"
Rafael bowed, tucking his arms behind his back. "Your wish is my command, immortal witch."
"Yeah, well, my wish is that you just make yourself comfy, and don’t move from this shed until I summon you. Got it?"
"Implicitly!" he said, eyes sparkling as he backed off the pentagram.
I rolled up the carpet, handed it off to Marcus and we headed out of the barn toward the woods where Christopher was hiding, Babe at our heels.
Christopher stepped from a cluster of bushes, signaling us over.
"Anything going on?" I asked as we joined him.
"Look for yourself," Christopher answered, pointing through a hole in the bushes.
Tootles snarled next to us. I jerked her ear. She nipped at my fingers. I swatted her nose. Marcus and I leaned in for a look and just about shit.
Julie was tied by her feet to the limb of a tree. Her naked body, head down, twirled over the river as a plethora of gators roiled under her, churning the water. Julie's right hand, covered in blood, clutched her own throat.
Kim, legs hugging the outstretched branch, had one hand on the rope around her sister's feet, the other holding a long knife glistening with blood. Kim shook the rope and swung the knife, taunting Julie. Julie's eyes were wide with terror as they jerked from the sorcerer, smiling on the dock a few feet away, to her sister in the tree above her.
Each time a drop of blood seeped through Julie's fingers and hit the water the gators leapt, jaws snapping at her hair, four feet above them.
"Please. Stop. I'll do anything you ask," she cried. "I beg you, don't do this!" Another drop of blood hit the water and snarling jaws nipped closer to Julie's streaming hair as she swung frantically, making it worse. Her screams echoed in the woods around us.
"My God, that's no way to die," I whispered.
"You betrayed me, my sister, when you got Eval involved. The sorcerer told you not to contact his son but you did not listen. I will have my restitution," Kim said, sounding an awful lot like Erzsebet as she slashed at Julie's feet.
"Son-of-a-bitch, Erzsebet isn't in the mirror," Christopher said.
Blood dripped slowly down Julie's leg, across her hip, rolling into the water and the gators roiled in frenzy below.
Christopher ran twenty feet, stopping in front of the water, gun pointing as he shouted, "Get down from the friggin' tree or I'll shoot you, Erzsebet!"
Both women turned in Christopher's direction.
I started to yell at the idiot and Marcus stopped me. "Susan, they don't know we're here. Christopher's creating a very good diversion."
"Are you alone, little man?" Kim's mouth smiled, eyes taking on an eerie glimmer. Erzsebet was clearly in control of Kim. "Is Dorius with you this time?" She slowly ran the knife across the rope.
Marcus dropped the carpet at my feet as he whispered in my ear, "It's time to put the dog in the old man."
"I said back off!" Christopher eyed the sorcerer.
Babe rumbled softly, nosing the carpet.
The sorcerer laughed from the dock. "You think you have power here, little immortal! If you fire that gun, I'll move her into your body!" He raised his hand toward Christopher, fingers moving.
"Not yet!" Kim's mouth yelled at the old man.
His hands fell, but he didn't take his eyes off Christopher.
"Did he say he could put her into our bodies?" I squeaked. "I thought we couldn't do that?"
"Calm down and set the pentagram, Susan," Marcus said.
Dorius stepped from the woods, followed by Mom. "I'm here, Erzsebet. Climb down from the tree and we'll talk."
"Ah, you've come back to me, my giver of eternal life. And you've brought a friend. Does she please you as much as I can?" Kim's voice whispered in a deep and sexy, "Do you still want me, my eternal lover?"
"She does not please me like you, my love. Come to me, Erz
sebet," Dorius said with a smile and a gentle voice.
"What the…?" I turned to Marcus.
"He has no intention of saving her," Marcus said a bit too emphatically.
Eyeballing Dorius, I rolled out the carpet then snatched up the candles. Babe licked my fingers, urging me on.
A loud whoosh filled the air over our heads and a flame of fire danced over the dock igniting everything in its path. The sorcerer leapt from the flames onto the grass beside the dock, rolling on the ground, fingers wiggling as he chanted.
I froze.
Mom yelled, "Work it Jake!"
A gust of wind and water put out the fire on the dock and whipped branches into the sky. The sorcerer wiggled his fingers again and sent another gust of wind toward Jake. The dragon rolled into a ball and fell from the sky into the forest behind the old man.
"Great! I better go find his sorry ass." Mom hit the grass and headed for the woods.
The sorcerer stood laughing, arms raised in triumph.
Dorius walked closer to the tree and Erzsebet. "We can end this, my love."
Christopher turned to me, throwing the gun in the air as he ran for the sorcerer. My Ruger landed five feet outside the pentagram.
"The idiot is going to get himself killed! Why the heck didn't he just shoot him?" I bolted toward Christopher. Marcus caught me by my shirt, jerking me back.
"Now, Susan! He's trying to create another distraction. We need Erzsebet in the mirror for the demon. If the sorcerer feels threatened he will move her into someone else's body to save himself. Light the candles!" Marcus swept Babe towards me with his foot.
I hurriedly readied the candles, pulling up my shield at the same time.
I lit the first candle, shooting glances toward the sorcerer. Biting my wrist, I laid the blood, the incantation in my hands.
A loud growl got my attention.
Paul, looking big and mean, black fur standing up on his neck, jumped from the woods and hit the sorcerer from the back as Christopher leapt on his chest, all of them falling to the ground.
The old man's fingers moved quickly, his mouth chanting, and Paul shot thirty feet into the air, landing with a loud crack against a tree. Christopher's teeth were embedded in the old man's arm. They rolled on the ground in battle.