To hell and back.
He and Kendall were still getting to know each other. But Linc looked into her sweet face and experienced a growingly familiar wash of protective emotion—love. Yeah, she was his.
“So what do you think of my new friend?” He held up the stuffed dragon toy he’d bought today.
The baby’s eyes lit up, and she held out her arms.
Linc helped her hold the toy, which she immediately put in her mouth. Laughing, he got up and turned.
Risa stood against the railing, watching him.
She took his breath away. With the moonlight gleaming off her dark hair, her magic shimmered the lightest blue on the skin of her shoulders and arms. She wore a black tank top and a white skirt down to bare feet.
Drawn to her, he crossed the balcony and slid his arms around her. “I like this outfit.”
She leaned her head back. “Carla said I should wear a dress for the spell. Close-to-the-earth kind of thing.” She lifted her chin.
So she’d chosen something that suited her and that she felt comfortable in, not exposed and displayed. After they’d arrived back at the academy, she’d gotten to work with the girls, figuring out how to reach the Ancestors to release Nola’s soul to them. While seeing Nola had been a figment of Risa’s desperation, loneliness and cracking mind, the baby’s soul was as real as all the others in Risa’s magic. Taking Nola’s soul to the Ancestors in Summerland would give Risa the closure she needed. And while there, Risa would ask how to free the remaining mortal souls to go on to their afterlife.
He drew a finger down her slender throat. “I’m told spell work requires you feel your desire.” Axel had filled him in, warning him to be prepared.
“Will that embarrass you?”
Linc wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. “Never. Your magic and desire are part of you. It’s real and honest.” He studied her face. “Have you been worrying about that?”
“A little.”
“Why? We’re going to be out there with our friends who understand magic.”
“I don’t want to embarrass you. In the Underworld, I was painted up as something—”
“That enraged me for you, but it didn’t embarrass me.” Had she thought him ashamed of her? Demons and their fucking tricks. Mindful of Kendall right by them, he kept his voice gentle. “Don’t let those demons do this, Risa. Don’t let them make you doubt yourself. Last night I was proud of you. When they displayed you that way, you refused to cower and kept your eyes on me.” He leaned down to kiss her. “Only me.”
“Because you saw the real me.”
“Damn right.” Oops. He had to remember not to swear in front of the baby. “I saw my courageous witch willing to sacrifice herself for Kendall and me.” She’d pushed him away so he wouldn’t be dragged into the Underworld with her. And she’d been willing to let those demons brand her to keep feeding him magic. That kind of selfless bravery was a pure love that Linc hadn’t believed in—until Risa.
She relaxed a bit.
“You’re going to succeed tonight.” She had to. Linc needed her free of the soul screams and to have peace.
She nodded. “I hope so. I can open my third eye, but it’s up to the Ancestors if they wish to talk to me or help me.” Her gaze filled with vulnerability. “If they forgive me for failing so many souls. I’ll beg them, Linc. Not for me, but for the souls. They’ve suffered enough.”
“You’ve suffered.” Didn’t she get this? “You never deserved this.”
“I don’t think it’s about deserving it. Growing up, I was spoiled and vain. I wasn’t mean or awful, but I had everything handed to me. I think my journey was to understand magic is a gift that has responsibilities. I’ve carried some of these souls for years. I understand the costs to actions that maybe I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.” She looked up at him. “I could have been my mother. She willingly helped my father kill. I love her for the moments we had, especially with music. But I don’t like that about her. She turned her back on what it means to be an earth witch.”
“They will accept you.” How could they not? A woman who understood herself so well? Risa didn’t hate those souls in her magic who tormented her, who had cracked her mind repeatedly. She cared for them, protected them. “Are you ready to let Nola go?”
“I am. Her soul lodged in my magic when I miscarried her, and she deserves the chance to either stay in Summerland or reincarnate.” She laid her head against his chest. “I know she wasn’t real when I saw her, but to me, she was, and I will always love that she was with me then.”
Linc remembered his own moments when he’d seen his mother in his cage. Not the druggie she’d become, but the flashes of a loving mom he’d occasionally seen as a kid. It’d been real to him too. “She was your angel when you needed her. Now it’s time for her to go home, perhaps to be someone else’s angel.”
“I like that. It’s how I’m going to think of her.” She turned to the railing.
Linc tugged her back against him, both of them watching as the night deepened and the moon rose higher. “It’s a mess out there. The town has been torn apart by Archer’s destruction, and fear is running high, especially after Lake Mead dried up.”
“And?”
She knew him, understood he was working up to something. “Baron has asked me to stay and help him and what’s left of his crew get control and kill off the rogues. But if you don’t want to stay here, we’ll go back to Glassbreakers. I have a home there. If you don’t like it, we can get something else. You’ll have your friends, Darcy and Carla, and you’ll love Roxy and Ailish too.” He wanted her to know she had options and that her needs came first.
“We can’t leave here. I mean, if you have to be in California for Wing Slayer Hunter business, that’s fine, I’d love to visit. But Vegas is where our home needs to be.”
Stunned, he moved to her side to look into her eyes. “I thought you hated Vegas.” She’d never said it, but she’d moved away after her father went to prison. He’d gotten the impression that the town held too many bad memories for her.
“Once, yeah. But now…” She turned to look at Kendall.
The baby chewed on her dragon.
Risa shifted her gaze back to him. “This is home. Hilary is here, and she’s Kendall’s grandmother.” She took his hand, threading their fingers. “I know she’s not your biological mother, but she saved you and loved you exactly the way you needed. Kendall needs a woman like her in her life. And Hilary is already in love with the baby. You need Hilary too. And Baron. I only met him last night when he helped me, but he’s impressive. He didn’t hesitate when I told him the plan.”
Linc saw it again, Baron and Risa on that motorcycle, flying across the grass toward Archer. How the witches cooked up that scheme he’d never know.
Risa went on, “He helped you figure out what being a witch hunter means, right?”
“Yes, and to manage the rage of the feral creature in me.”
“Both Hilary and Baron did, and Kendall will need that kind of support too. At some point, she will feel her demon side. Like you feel the feral side of you. Kendall will need all of us to help her.”
When he’d met Risa, she’d been in a cage wearing a shock collar and facing death. Prickly and scared, not letting anyone close to her. Now? She had embraced the people in his life. “So you want Hilary, a former educator and hardass as her grandmother, and Baron, who runs an outlaw motorcycle club and illegal prostitution ring, as her grandfather?”
“Yes.”
Damn, that was one lucky baby.
“And also, I think you should rebuild your house, but it’s your money, so whatever.” She shrugged. “Hilary said we can live with her in the meantime.”
He laughed, joy welling in him. “We’ll rebuild if that’s what you want. Something that’s ours with a music room so you can teach our girl to play piano.”
She leaned into him for a minute. “It’s time to do the spell.” After kissing him, she
went to Kendall and lifted the baby from the bouncer.
He pulled in a breath. This had to work. He couldn’t bear Risa getting dragged into any more soul screams.
* * *
The night fell velvety quiet around the athletic field of the L.C. Academy. White candles burned on an altar draped with silk. Risa stood in the center, Carla to her left, Darcy on her right.
Linc’s hands were warm and steady on her hips, his breath stirring her hair. She could feel him merged into her mind, the wings of his falcon in her magic, corralling that power while singing to the souls.
Ginny stood two yards away, holding Kendall and flanked by Eli and Ram. Hilary had gone back to her home, saying she had a ton to do to get it ready to have a baby there.
More magic flowed from Risa’s chakras, filling her pores and heightening awareness of everything around her. The cool grass beneath her feet, Kendall’s soft chatter, the flames on the candles and the scent of the wax.
The pressure in her head increased.
“Your third eye,” Carla said. “Come, Risa.” She held out her hand.
“Where?” She trusted the witch but wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do.
“I’m going with you to take your daughter home.”
Linc’s thumbs tucked beneath her shirt to stroke the bare skin over her hipbones. I have you. Go with Carla, love, and take Nola home.
Linc’s words in her mind dissolved the last shred of her uncertainty. Trust welled in her, and the second her fingers joined Carla’s, her mind flew out of her body. Her third eye opened to a million pops of light. It was astonishing, like being in the middle of a starburst.
“Ancestors,” Carla said. “They’ve met us to welcome Nola, and you may ask them how to free the remaining souls.”
The souls glittered and glided, mesmerizing her with their breathtaking splendor. Struggling to find her voice, she managed to get out, “It’s an honor, thank you for seeing me.”
“We’ve been waiting for you, Risa. Are you ready?” a thousand voices asked her in the sweetest sound.
Carla’s hand gently squeezed hers in a reminder to answer.
Risa pulled herself together. The Ancestors had granted her this audience, and she didn’t want to disappoint them, or fail the souls. “I’m ready.”
“Cup your hands.”
Releasing Carla’s fingers, she lifted her hands as if holding a baby bird. As she waited, a light appeared there, so tiny and fragile, it brought tears to her eyes. “Nola. My little bell. I love you.”
“Release her,” the voices said as warmth spread around her, a wave of welcoming.
Risa stared at the soul for another minute, drinking her in. Then, like opening wings, she parted her hands.
Nola floated away into the embrace of the starburst.
Her heart ached for what might have been had she not miscarried, and yet the beauty of the moment soothed her and gave her the courage to say, “May I ask how I can free the other souls in my magic so that they will go to their afterlife?”
The lights shifted and moved. “You must call an angel of the mortal realm to coax them from your magic and shepherd them home.”
Like the Ancestors did with Nola, she thought. But what spell?
“Be at peace, Risa. You will see Nola again one day.” The stars burst open, spilling out words that formed into the spell to call an angel. The text hovered just long enough for Risa to read them, then faded away into the silky night.
When she opened her eyes, she was back in her body with the candles glowing in front of her. Linc’s arms circled her, holding her against him. The comfort eased the lingering grief in her heart. Gazing down at her fingers twined with Carla’s, she pulled the witch’s hand between both of hers and lifted her eyes to the woman. “Thank you.”
She smiled. “I had to take my sister to Summerland. I wanted to be there with you. Know that your baby is safe and loved.”
Tears ran down her face. How did one ever repay a gift like that? “I do.”
Linc said nothing, his heart thumping a slow, steady beat against her back. He supported her, aided her, but didn’t interfere in the moment that was going to be a special bond between her and Carla.
Finally she released Carla’s hand and turned to Linc. “The Ancestors showed me how to send the souls home. It’s a spell. I’m not sure what will happen, but I want to do it before I forget. And while I still feel the Ancestors with me. They were amazing, Linc.”
“This is your show, love.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers. “Every time you unleash your magic, I’m awed and proud. Let’s free those souls.”
Smiling, Risa turned back to the altar. Everyone did their spell work differently. For Risa, the altar gave her a sense of reverence. Confidence surged in her. The Ancestors had showed her how to do this.
Linc resettled his hands on her hips, and her magic resumed the pulsing power, rising and pushing. Risa pulled every strand as if she were going to weave a shield.
But instead of using her hands, she harnessed the magic into her voice.
Hand of an Angel,
I call you this night.
The souls are trapped,
With no place to rest.
Weary and frightened,
No hand to hold.
Wings of an Angel,
Hear my call tonight.
The souls seek freedom,
To move on from here.
Peace will not find them,
Without wings that soar.
She took a deep breath, raising her arms and holding out her hands in a plea.
Heart of an Angel,
We beseech you this night.
Call your souls home,
To be lost no more.
The candle flames flared six feet in the air, the individual blazes joining together as light flooded the field.
Risa closed her eyes, the illumination piercing her retinas and stabbing her brain. Yet even with her eyes closed, the brightness blazed against her lids.
Linc said in her head, What is that? I can’t open my eyes.
An angel.
“I am Vigilance.”
“Your father!” Ram roared. “Run, Ginny!”
“Silence.” The angel’s voice blared out like a trumpet.
What? Panic slammed into Risa. Snapping open her eyes, she pivoted. Ginny held Kendall, but her eyes were on the being glowing beyond the altar. What’s more, she glowed with a matching brilliant light, her eyes jewel green, and her dark hair shimmered. Plain Ginny had morphed into a stunningly beautiful woman.
An angel. Ginny was an angel. And Risa had inadvertently summoned her father.
Ram and Eli each held a hand around her arms, but no one moved. Kendall buried her head in Ginny’s shoulder.
“I have answered your call, witch. You may cast your eyes on me. I have dimmed the angel fire.”
No one spoke or moved. The power radiating from the being on the other side of the altar thrummed in the air. Had he frozen them or merely stunned them? Slowly, she turned her gaze from Ginny to the angel.
Magnificent. He had wings so stunning she could barely look at them. The feathers were the color of the moon reflecting on water—white diamond with veins of blue and gray. He shone as if he had internal spotlights. Even dimmed as he claimed to be, he was difficult to focus on directly.
Regaining a fraction of her wits, she said, “You’re Ginny’s sire.” The one Ginny had said wanted to take her from Ram. She turned to the woman. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Ginny couldn’t answer. Whatever the angel had done, everyone remained silenced.
Vigilance moved forward, through the altar as if it wasn’t there. More light spilled over Risa, flooding her cells. “There they are. So deep in your magic, yet their souls live. You have done well.”
The angel’s power was inside her, which was…well, not creepy, but not comfortable. Then he stepped back and held out his hands.
Risa’s magic swell
ed up like a wave in the ocean. A sudden ache in her head warned her an instant before her third eye opened. The bird soared in, singing his soothing tune. One by one, he gently gathered each soul in his claws and ferried them to the angel, laying them in the being’s hands, before flying back to retrieve another. Until he came to the last soul, the one that clung to her magic with such longing it filled Risa’s throat. Without permission, she turned from the angel and walked to Ginny. Linc went with her, his hand staying on her hip.
When she reached Ginny, she eased Kendall from the woman’s frozen hold. The baby came to her easily.
In that second, Blythe’s soul released her hold on Risa’s magic. Through her third eye, Risa saw the small light slide around Kendall, touching her cheek, stroking her hand.
The tenderness wrenched Risa’s heart. “I’m sorry, Blythe. So sorry. But I swear to love and protect her.”
The light glided to Risa and touched her face.
“It is time.”
Risa jumped, not having heard the angel move up to her left side.
Vigilance lifted his hand, and Blythe settled there then vanished.
“So now you leave?” Risa was grateful that Vigilance had helped her and the souls, but Ram’s reaction worried her.
“With my daughter.” He reached past Risa.
“No,” a thunderous voice said.
Risa whipped her head around to see Wing Slayer appear behind Ginny, both his massive hands clamped on her biceps.
“Wing Slayer,” Vigilance trumpeted.
“Vigilance,” the god responded. “I claim Ginny.”
“You cannot!” The ground shook, the candles spitting fire.
Linc yanked Risa aside, his wings popping out and wrapping around her and Kendall.
“You stole my hunter,” Wing Slayer shot back. “Your daughter is marked by the wings of my protection.” He lifted his hands, and two bronze bands shaped like wings surrounded Ginny’s biceps. “You will not force her to ascend unless she removes the bands, or you free my hunter.”
Caged Magic Page 34