“Good point,” Taka said.
“They’re here to fight the Cartesians,” Arabella said. “So we need to trust that they are well equipped to do just that. If they’re with the Triads, who will be protected by our spell...hopefully...then there shouldn’t be any worry about an Original attacking the Benders.”
“Sounds good on paper,” Taka said.
“What are you talking about?” Vanessa said to Taka. “Do you see any paper on this table?”
“She’s just making a point,” Arabella said. “It sounds good as we’re talking about it, but having it work is another story.”
“Yeah,” Taka said. “Another story.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes, then said to Arabella. “Let’s get started then. What ingredients do you want us to use for this particular spell?”
Arabella aimed her chin at Taka. “You take care of gathering the herbs. We’ll need rosemary, sage, thyme, lavender and bay laurel.”
“Got it.” Taka nodded.
“Vanessa, would you please collect the stones we’ll need?”
“Sure,” Vanessa said. “Which ones?”
“Amber, to increase the power of the spell, jet, to absorb negative energy, amethyst, to cleanse, blue lace agate for healing, azurite for psychic ability, and clear quartz, which, as you know, is needed for all manifestation spells.”
“But we’re not manifesting anything,” Vanessa said, looking confused.
“I want this protection spell to be so strong it will seem like a living, breathing organism,” Arabella said.
Vanessa nodded. “Got it.”
“Now, we’ll also need a blend of bergamot, cypress and myrrh oil, along with three candles,” Arabella said. “One green candle as it relates to physicality, a yellow one to clear the path for our spell, then purple for spirituality. I’ll take care of the oils and candles.”
“Okay,” Taka said. She pushed away from the table and stood. “Let’s get started.”
Vanessa took a quick sip of tea, then stood as well and sighed. “I wish we’d put one of those gliding chairs on the staircase so we wouldn’t have to walk those steps. The stairs are hell on my knees.”
“Mine, too,” Taka said. “And my bunions. But the pain’ll be worth it. It’s for a good cause.”
Arabella wished for the gliding chair, as well. She knew what the two Elders meant. They rarely went upstairs anymore due to arthritis, bunions, hip aches and ankle pain.
She hated getting old. That was one slight when it came to the Circle of Sisters’ order. From the beginning of the order, they were able to conjure spells to heal but not when it came to aging. They believed in allowing nature to take its course, which meant graying hair, creaky joints and sagging body parts that used to be round and perky.
“Once we’ve gathered our ingredients, we’ll come back here and use the kitchen table for the altar,” Arabella said. “That way we won’t have to keep running...well, keep going upstairs to check on the burning candles.”
As the three Elders moaned and groaned their way upstairs, Arabella thought about the right words they’d need for the protection spell. This wouldn’t be a standard “don’t touch me” spell. It had to be bigger, stronger. Their words had as big a part to play in the conjuring of the spell as the ingredients they were about to collect.
When they reached the second-floor landing, the Elders split off in different directions, each headed for the rooms where specific items were stored.
Thirty minutes later, they stood gathered around the kitchen table again. Taka cleared away the cups and saucers, then wiped the table down with a dishcloth. Arabella laid out a circular black silk cloth in the center of the table. Then she placed the green, yellow and purple candles in a triangle along the edges of the cloth.
Arabella nodded to Vanessa. “Place the stones in a circle within the triangle of candles. Start at the point, next to the green one.”
“Any specific order?” Vanessa asked.
“Yes, start with the clear quartz, then follow with the azurite, going clockwise. After the azurite, place the amber, then jet, followed by blue lace agate and close the circle with the amethyst.”
Vanessa quickly did as she was told, and when her task was completed, Arabella went over to one of the kitchen cabinets and removed a stone bowl. She pulled open a utility drawer and took out a box of matches. She brought bowl and matches back to the table and placed them in the center of the crystals.
Arabella nodded at Taka. “Put the herbs in the bowl, please.”
Taka made quite the show as she dramatically sprinkled sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender and bay laurel into the bowl. She dusted her hands off over the bowl to brush off any herb residue.
Arabella took a bottle from her robe pocket. She opened it and placed three drops of her special blend of bergamot, cypress and myrrh oil on top of the herbs.
The other Elders stood silently as Arabella took the matches, lit the candles, then placed the match onto the herb and oil mixture. Once it began to smolder, she brought the match to her lips, blew it out and flicked the used match into the kitchen sink.
“Let’s join hands,” Arabella said.
When they were connected, Arabella stared deeply into the smoldering concoction in the stone bowl and said, “Repeat after me... We call upon the elements of life—water, air, fire, earth—to aide us in our quest.”
Vanessa and Taka obediently repeated her words.
“Anything or anyone intentionally set on harming the Triads shall be thwarted. And the harm intended for the Triads shall be sent back to thee. We do not accept harm to them. Protection is their shield from all negativity and hatred, from injury and illness. They do not harm others, so others cannot harm them. So we speak this, so shall it be.”
The two Elders holding onto Arabella repeated her words verbatim.
Arabella continued, “And we speak a second protection over the Triads. Protection against dark entities and demons. This shield shall keep out evil. This shield shall keep out harm. This shield does not allow demons or negative entities to pass through it. This shield shall be the Triads’ domain, and they alone determine what is allowed to pass through it. So we speak this into being, so shall it be.”
When Vanessa and Taka completed their repetition, all three of the Elders sighed.
“It is done,” Arabella said.
“What about the people in the city?” Vanessa asked. “Aren’t we going to put a protection spell over them?”
“We can try,” Arabella said. “But without knowing each person, seeing their faces in our mind’s eye, it’ll be sort of like tossing confetti in the air. If we specifically blanket the city, that doesn’t allow nature to take its course.”
“What do you mean?” Taka asked.
“Tonight, somewhere in this city, people will die. Either by natural causes or unnatural causes having nothing to do with the Originals. We can’t alter everyone’s future. A person’s time to die is their time to die.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem fair,” Taka said. “Doesn’t the same apply to a Triad? If it’s their time to die, I mean?”
“No,” Arabella said, a bit uncomfortably. In truth, Taka was right. But Arabella steeled herself and lifted her chin. “They belong to the Circle of Sisters. And we’re responsible for them.”
“We’ll need more supplies if we’re going to attempt a protection spell over the people in the city,” Vanessa said. “I’ll get more crystals.”
Taka frowned. “Wait a minute. Since when, as Elders, have we ever gone off half-cocked when it came to conjuring spells?”
Both Arabella and Vanessa stared at her, blinking. It was one of the most intelligent questions Taka had asked in some time.
“We’re not going off half-cocked,” Arabella finally said. “We’re only d
oing the best we know how. We weren’t trained to stave off Cartesians and flight-risk Originals. As head Elder, I’ve simply formulated what makes sense.”
Taka pursed her lips, then said, “I know neither one of you want to hear this, but since we’re looking at such a serious situation, don’t you think we should get some help? Like from someone who knows the city?”
“And who might that be?” Vanessa said warily.
“The sorcerers,” Taka said.
Vanessa threw up her hands. “And here I thought her brain had just regained some logical use.”
“We can’t let the sorcerers know about this,” Arabella said. “The last thing we need is Cottle holding everything that’s going on over our heads, claiming we’re powerless, useless. He already thinks he’s a know-it-all.”
“What about Shandor or Gunner?” Taka asked.
“Shandor is Cottle’s lapdog,” Vanessa said. “He’ll run to him with the news in a heartbeat.”
“Gunner?” Taka asked, her brow furrowing.
“We’re not knocking your ideas, dear,” Arabella told Taka. “I don’t think it’s safe to leak word of this, even to Gunner. I might trust him more if he wasn’t always around Cottle and Shandor. I don’t know what their connection is, but it’s disconcerting and doesn’t elicit trust, in my opinion. We can, however, contact others within the Circle of Sisters and have them conjure protections spells that will overlap ours.”
“Good idea,” Vanessa said. “That’ll certainly give us some leverage.”
Seeing the distraught look on Taka’s face, Arabella said, “We’ve always taken care of our own. We simply can’t take the chance that word will get out in the city.”
Taka tsked. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?”
“Our sisters weren’t being dramatic when they were hung by anti-witch zealots back in the early centuries,” Arabella reminded her.
“We’ll call more sisters,” Vanessa said. “It’ll work. You’ll see.”
Taka scowled at Vanessa. “Are you, like...trying to comfort me?”
Vanessa snorted. “Absolutely not. Simply making a statement.”
“I certainly hope our spell, along with those of our other sisters, are effective and in time to save the Triads,” Arabella said. “And the people in this city from the Originals. If not, we might all be destroyed.”
Taka stared at Arabella, her eyebrows knitting together. “All of us?”
Arabella nodded. “Every last one of us, just like the lynchings our ancestors suffered centuries ago. This could very well start off another witch hunt, another hunt to destroy all of the Originals and their subspecies. And we’d be stuck right in the middle of it all.”
Chapter 22
Viv heard someone call her name. She wanted to tell them to hush. Her arm burned like hell, and she didn’t feel well. She wanted to sleep.
Suddenly, it felt like a switch flipped on in her brain, and she remembered where she was and about the Cartesian. Her eyes flew open, and she found herself lying flat on her back on the ground. She’d obviously passed out, something she’d never done before.
Gazing up at the sky, Viv saw that the rifts were closed. She sat up, struggled to get to her feet and felt something grab her uninjured arm. She let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“It’s me.”
She recognized Nikoli’s voice.
“It’s just me,” he said again. “The Cartesian’s gone.”
Viv was finally able to focus on his face. She reached for him, clung to him and shivered.
He held her close. “It’s okay, baby. It’s gone.”
She pulled away from him, her eyes wide and questioning. “I saw two... There were two holes in the sky. I...I don’t understand. You—you were right about the Cartesians coming after us!”
“I think they used the two rifts as a trap,” Nikoli said. “To distract us. Have me wonder which one they’d drop down from first.” He shook his head. “I don’t know for certain. Hell, they could have just as easily dropped down from both. What makes me think it was a trap was they waited for my attention to be focused on the larger rift before the Cartesian dropped out of the other one and attacked you. By the time I saw it, I ran as fast as I could...” He cupped her face with his hands. “God, Viv, you could’ve been killed.”
Even though her arm hurt like hell, she took his face in her hands and kissed him hard. “Thank you. I think we’re about even now, so no more close calls, okay?” Her eyes welled up with tears, and she scolded herself. Don’t cry! Don’t cry!
“No more,” he said, then helped Viv to her feet. “We need to get you home so I can tend to the wounds on your arm.”
She looked down at her arm and saw the sleeve of her sweater. It looked like it had gone through a shredder, and blood oozed from the gashes in her arm.
“On second thought, you may need stitches,” Nikoli said. “We should go straight to an emergency room and have a doctor take a look at that.”
Viv eyed him. “I’m a Triad, remember? We don’t do hospitals and doctors. We heal ourselves with herbs, crystals—shit like that.”
The frown on his face deepened. “So can you do a spell? Have the wounds close up and go away? Make the bleeding stop at least?”
“I’m a Triad, not a stupid vampire.” She plucked at a piece of the shredded sweater sleeve. “Can you rip this off? We can use it to wrap the wounds, staunch the bleeding and keep the dirt out until I can tend to it better.”
Pursing his lips, Nikoli took hold of the fabric of the sleeve closest to her shoulder and pulled. It ripped at the seam, and he continued to tease it loose all the way around her arm. When the last stitch tore free, Viv carefully tugged the sleeve down her arm and over her hand. She saw three long gashes on her arm. Don’t cry. Don’t cry, she repeated.
She held the material out to him, “Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” Nikoli took the material from her and wrapped it around her wounds. “They’re bleeding pretty good. In order to stop it, I’m going to have to put a little pressure on the wrap. Tell me if it gets too tight.”
Viv nodded and gritted her teeth as he flipped, tugged, then tied the torn sleeve around her injured arm. She couldn’t tell how deep the gashes were from all the blood.
When he was done, Nikoli said, “I really think we should go to—”
“Don’t think,” she said. “You’ve covered up the wounds nice and tight, so it’s all good. I’m not bailing over some little cut.”
“They’re not so little.”
“It’s my arm, so I get to call it. They’re little.” Before he hit her with a retort, Viv spun about on the balls of her feet, cupped her hands around her mouth and let out a loud, long howl, then two sharp barks and another howl. Her voice echoed far into the night, over the din in the compound, the thunder rumbling from every direction.
Viv looked back at Nikoli. He probably thought she’d lost her mind. “I’m calling for Jaco and Aaron. They usually respond right away. I hope they’re okay.” She waited a couple minutes and was about to send out another come-hither call when the branches of the trees in the thicker part of the forest to her left started to quiver.
Jaco suddenly appeared out of the brush. Standing in human form, he looked haggard and beyond exhausted.
“Where’s Aaron?” Viv asked.
Jaco shook his head and shrugged. “He went missing about four hours ago. I don’t know where he is.”
“You’ve been dealing with all of the Loups in this compound by yourself?” she asked, stunned.
“Yeah.” Jaco looked at the material wrapped around her arm but didn’t say anything about it. He looked at her with weary, bloodshot eyes.
Viv felt sorry for her lead Loup and wanted to hug him for his loyalty and commitment
to her. But she knew better. No personal contact. Not with the leaders. It would undermine her authority. She drew in a deep breath to clear her head. “There’s only one more thing I need to ask you to do, then I’ll assign two other Loups to patrol the compound so you can get some rest. We want to try something that might help protect the entire compound from the Cartesians.”
Jaco suddenly lifted his head and sniffed. Viv’s body went on alert. Though she still smelled residual clove, she didn’t catch anything new.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
Instead of answering, Jaco let his nose lead him to the underbrush, where she and Nikoli had had sex. He leaned over and sniffed deeply, then turned to look at Viv, a steely expression on his face.
“I smell you and...” Jaco sniffed again. “Him.” He aimed his chin at Nikoli, who stood a few feet away. “Does that mean that while I’ve been busting my ass inside that compound, trying to control all the in-fighting, worrying about when the next Cartesians were going to drop out of the sky, the two of you were in there, screwing like rabbits?”
Evidently overhearing Jaco, Nikoli took a step toward him, fury on his face. Viv held up a hand to stop him.
She turned her attention back to Jaco, feeling like she’d just been slapped. She firmed up her stance and kept her eyes hard. “Remember who you’re talking to. The Triad who feeds you, who gives you a safe place to roam without fear. The one who protects you from human hunters. What I do is my business, not yours. Tell me, when you find a female in heat, have you ever known me to run up to your den and condemn you for fucking some little bitch in heat while I’m having so many problems elsewhere?”
Jaco’s eyes went soft, and he dropped his chin to his chest. “I...I apologize.”
“See that it never happens again.” Viv forced her voice to remain strong and firm when what she felt was small and ashamed. Jaco was right. “Now, as I was saying, we have a plan, and I need you to do something for me. For this compound and all the Loups. Once you complete the task, I’ll assign two other Loups to keep watch until I get back. You need some rest.”
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