On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  She licked her bloody lips. “I can feel the power flowing through me. It’s so thick and strong. Why did the other fools think we needed you with more power than this?”

  Maya raised a hand and the scalpel was there. She slashed the sharp instrument along both of my wrists and the sting took several seconds to register. When the pain joined the one on my neck, I slumped forward but didn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t. I was trapped inside an invisible box closing in too tightly around my body. My blood, just like that of the others, dribbled onto the canals keeping us imprisoned inside the pentagram. The thin river of crimson doubled around us, providing more fuel for this insane ritual.

  The amulet around my neck felt different, lighter. She’d taken everything it had drawn from me and I couldn’t summon a single word of incantation.

  I couldn’t remember any.

  Even the lights around Willow appeared dimmer.

  Her two poltergeist friends whirled around her body, the dog around her ankles. The two dead teens were clearly saying something but I couldn’t hear what. I watched their mouths, which moved too quickly to read their lips.

  A horrid realization washed over me. Had she stripped my catcher ability completely? The thought made my heart fall right into my feet.

  Maya forcibly took Willow’s right hand and my left one—ripping the bloody bandage from my palm. When our hands collided, my sister’s touch sent an electric shock through me, and something seemed to click between us.

  “The entrance is now sealed for you, Legion,” Maya whispered.

  Maya stepped back and away. As soon as she reached the center of the star, she slashed her own left wrist, followed by her right. Thick, magenta blood dripped from each incision as she dropped her hands to her sides. The scalpel hit the floor and her blood gushed even quicker than ours had, as if it were being drawn by unseen magnets.

  “Don’t let go of my hand,” Lavie whispered. She was chanting from the other side of the circle.

  The creature’s head was thrown back as she said, “Legion, heed our call. We summon thee to this patch, and offer ourselves to thee. We have opened the gateway, and our bodies will serve as passage into this world…”

  Heat rose along my body, causing sweat to pour from my forehead and hair until it stung my eyes and made me wonder what other blasphemous things we were about to see.

  A ring of fire ignited the surrounding pool of blood, shutting us off from the rest of the world.

  “Legion, we have connected the key and the lock,” Maya continued. “We offer a pathway into this world through the blood and power of necromancy, of witchcraft. The caller of spirits and the controller have now become the gateways thee seeks…”

  Willow’s feet floated off the ground and her poltergeists circled around her so fast they became a blur of light. Her shiny body convulsed, sending enough static electricity around us to make my hair stand on end. If we weren’t all magically pinned to our designated spots, we would probably be flying around the basement.

  The heat inside my body was concentrated to the one spot—the palm of my hand. Whatever was happening to Willow was now passing through to me. A burning sensation rose from the pit of my stomach. It made my gut cramp and lurch as the intense heat raced up my throat like projectile vomit. I opened my mouth wide and a long misty cloud flowed from between my lips.

  I gasped to catch my breath.

  The dark steam floated away from me until it became the silvery form of a misty dragon wrapped around Maya. It breathed invisible fire in Willow’s direction but she didn’t seem to notice.

  “No,” I whispered, coughing.

  “Don’t let go of my hand. I can’t do this if you let go,” Lavie said, but I couldn’t see her past the dragon mist.

  “What the hell is happening?” Gareth hissed. “What did she do to Sierra?”

  “I need you to take the girl’s hand.”

  “What?”

  “Take the girl’s hand,” Lavie repeated, a little firmer this time.

  I looked over, but all I could see was Maya with the misty dragon coiled around her. What were they doing?

  “She’s like a livewire,” Gareth called.

  “Don’t. Let. Her. Go.”

  Willow’s hand dragged on mine, so I turned in her direction. Her feet were still elevated and the poltergeists were being stretched like bubble gum.

  The dragon writhed around Maya. It seemed to be affecting the dead teens, probably trying to use the poltergeists to its advantage.

  Maybe the dragon part of Legion was the only one strong enough to get through, but with it trying to control the poltergeists, it was probably only a matter of time before more demons escaped.

  So this was what they’d originally intended to use Travis for? Willow had become the substitute key and I was the door. The others were vessels. This had to be what Mace meant when he claimed I would be used over and over again. If this demon had a limitless amount of individual demons to unleash, then I would be kept in this bloody circle as long as it took to have every single one of them cross into this patch.

  “What’s taking so long?” Maya kept her eyes on the dragon. “Bring them over.”

  The dragon puffed out more imaginary fire, causing the flames enclosing the magic circle to rise. “I cannot,” it spoke with a deep, rough rumble. “Something is holding me back.”

  I looked across the star and finally spotted Lavie. Her eyes were glazed over and her lips moving really fast. Was she the one keeping the demonic dragon from completely unlocking the door? If she was, how long before Maya or the demon noticed?

  I can’t let this happen. I can’t let this happen.

  Maybe I wasn’t running on full strength and couldn’t interact with spooks directly, but we were dealing with a demon. No matter how powerful this dragon thing was, it was still a demonic entity. Maya might have stripped my Catcher abilities, but there was something witchy she’d left at my disposal.

  Sucking in a deep breath and ignoring the scorching heat inside my lungs, I allowed all the fear and rage to consume me.

  The world fell away into blackness, until the rumpus room completely disappeared and so did the misty dragon.

  According to Oren, the only way to stop this ritual was to kill everyone attached to the circle, but this crazy bitch hadn’t properly followed the instructions set out in the encrypted text. Her shortcuts were about to cost her. I was pretty sure the Obscurus hadn’t planned to stick a demon hunter into their power circle, or a volatile necromancer who couldn’t control her own magical strength.

  None of my friends had to die to break this circle.

  For the first time, I welcomed the dark patch instead of fighting it.

  Maya, Jonathan, and Lavie—those who’d been exposed to the demonic—were the only ones left in the darkness.

  Lavie looked around, wide-eyed. “What the hell?”

  “What just happened?” Jonathan asked. “Where did everybody go?”

  “You!” Maya screamed, trying to wriggle towards me. But she was as stuck as the rest of us. “You did this! Undo it immediately.”

  I shrugged, already feeling my spirit rise out of my body. “I don’t take orders from you in the dark patch.” I had to strike quickly.

  “Fix this right now, stop blocking Legion.” Her eyes narrowed. “Stop this before I kill every single person inside the pentagram!”

  “I’m not the one blocking the demon,” I said with a smile.

  Maya’s eyes were poisonous. “How can you manage this after I’ve taken your power? Where are we?”

  “You didn’t take all of it,” I said. “I wasn’t wearing the amulet long enough for it to steal all of my tricks.” Though I doubt you’d be able to take this from me anyway.

  “I told you we should’ve waited.”

  “Shut up, Jon!” she hissed.

  I ignored their bickering, willing the rest of my spirit to rise away from my shell until I was airborne and floating towards Maya. I held my rig
ht hand out in front of me, ready to obliterate her just like I’d done to the kitchen demon and to Travis.

  Before I could touch her skin, Jonathan was thrust in front of me.

  As soon as my palm touched his face, his shape morphed into the gray creature with hollow eyes. He shook violently and shattered into a thousand fading pieces with his shrilly scream.

  “Ah.” Maya was once again smiling. “I understand the situation a lot better now, thanks to you.”

  I reached for her, but when my fingers skimmed her hide she lashed out. Maya’s claws savagely slashed across my throat seconds before she vanished.

  Lavie and I were the only ones left inside the dark patch, but I was wondering if I would be able to leave it at all.

  “What is this place?” she asked, wonder in her eyes.

  I couldn’t answer—could only gurgle.

  The dark walls fell around us, like a curtain revealing the basement. Lavie was still holding Gareth’s hand, who held Willow’s while she held mine. The four of us were connected by sheer will, while Jonathan was on his own crumpled in a bloody mess beside me.

  “Sierra,” he whispered.

  I collapsed to my knees, and though I dragged Willow with me, I was glad I no longer felt closed in. At least the firewall had disappeared too.

  “Don’t break the chain,” Lavie yelled.

  Gareth stared at me and made a move but Lavie yanked on his hand.

  “Can’t you see what’s happened to her?” Lavie said.

  Willow turned to look at me. The poltergeists and bright lights cut out abruptly. Her feet touched the concrete floor and she dropped beside me. “Sierra, what happened? There’s so much blood!”

  “The Lamia got her before she vanished,” Lavie said with a frown. “I can keep us together and away from the demonic influence by holding hands, but I can’t heal her.”

  “I can,” Jonathan whispered.

  Lavie shook her head. “No way, you can’t be trusted.”

  “She’s going to die…otherwise,” he whispered. Blood seeped from his eyes, ears, and nose. “I don’t…have much…time.”

  I met his bloody eyes and although they were back to brown, they switched to black again. The demon side had caused this damage to him but it was still flickering from somewhere deep within. Could I trust him long enough to heal me?

  “Sierra, it’s up to you,” Lavie called.

  I nodded, falling onto my front. I didn’t have the energy to stay upright anymore. Too much blood and strength had been stolen from me and continued to pour out of my neck.

  “Go on, heal her.” I wasn’t sure who’d spoken, and didn’t care.

  A bright light suddenly appeared behind me, warming my cold back. I knew it wasn’t Willow’s. This was a comforting light telling me to relax and accept the inevitable, but I didn’t even have enough energy left to do that.

  Looks like Sally’s death prediction is coming true after all.

  Jonathan somehow dragged himself to my side and rolled me over onto my back. His eyes were back to brown and tears blended with the blood drops. “I never wanted this for you.”

  “Just fix her!” Lavie yelled.

  He took a shaky breath and placed both of his hands over the open wound on my neck. His eyes closed as a warm sensation filtered from his palms and onto my skin. He kept going even after the slash had knitted back together. He either wanted to ensure I didn’t scar or was trying to do something else. For a moment, I thought he might be transferring the demon, but when a jolt shocked my chest I saw the amulet. He had it pressed against my heart, giving me back whatever power remained inside.

  Jonathan slumped and collapsed in a heap near my feet. The amulet slipped from his hand, and now resembled a dried up husk. I doubted we’d be seeing that thing again.

  “Is the circle broken?” I asked, licking my lips.

  “As soon as I die, it will be,” he whispered. “It won’t be long now.”

  “Thank you.” God knew I shouldn’t be thanking him after everything he’d done and tried to do, but he’d just saved my life. I still felt weak but managed to press my hands against my neck to check—it was no longer severed. He’d even repaired the chunk of meat Maya took from my side.

  Gareth yanked his hand from Lavie’s and Willow’s to step closer.

  “I told you not to let go,” Lavie yelled.

  “It’s over now,” Gareth said, looking down at me. “Are you okay?” He helped me sit up.

  I looked at Jonathan, now lying on his back with his eyes closed. As much as I didn’t want to feel sorry for him, I had inadvertently killed him. I also knew that by dying inside this vicious circle, his soul wouldn’t move on. Both his and Eli Moss’s souls would no longer exist—anywhere.

  Taking a deep breath, I let Gareth help me to my feet.

  For a moment there, I’d been pretty sure my life was over. And if I was honest, as long as Legion hadn’t had a chance to filter through and Maya’s plan had failed, I might have died in peace.

  “Don’t get too close to him,” Lavie said behind us.

  When Jonathan opened his eyes, they flashed black and back to brown. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you but I couldn’t fight it.”

  I licked my lips. “I just want to know one thing. Did you get yourself into this?”

  “I did meet with Troy, but it was supposed to be business. The next thing I knew…I was trapped. It let me be myself for a while, but quickly took over.”

  I stared at him, indifferent.

  “I’m sorry, Sierra, I did love you,” he whispered, blinking. His eyes flashed black. “I do love you.” His breathing was sporadic and it didn’t take long for it to stop completely or his eyes to stop switching around.

  I shed a few tears for him, but was too jaded to do any more than that.

  Gareth collapsed to the concrete floor.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lavie said, frowning.

  His body convulsed a few times, but stopped suddenly. When he looked up, he seemed confused. “What the hell’s going on? How did I get down here?”

  “Sierra,” Lavie said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We need to go.”

  “How are we going to hide all of this?” Gareth asked, rubbing his head.

  I looked at him, surprised he wasn’t more concerned about all the crazy shit he’d just seen, or conducting an investigation. Then again, that wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted Willow exposed to. If a proper police investigation took place, she would be interrogated and would have to live with the scrutiny and suspicion, might even end up taking the fall.

  He was onto something…the only way to deal with this was to hide it.

  “He’s right,” I said. “We need to burn the place down.” It was what Carleen Hocking had done to her house, and it seemed to work out all right for her.

  “What about the surrounding houses?” Lavie asked, concerned.

  “We’ll call it in as soon as we leave.”

  “I don’t like this,” she said, shaking her head.

  “We don’t have time for anything else.” I met her hazel gaze. “We can’t let the police see this when there’s no human way to explain it.” I avoided looking at the scattered, gory pieces of Eli Moss.

  Willow was standing over what was left of her father, tears streaming down her cheeks. I headed towards her on unsteady feet. Jonathan might have healed the worst of my injuries, but the cuts on my wrists were still there, and I felt weak from blood loss.

  “I’m sorry we couldn’t save him.”

  “He got himself into this,” she replied. “There was nothing you could’ve done.”

  “Listen, we’re going to have to burn the house down. So if there’s anything you want to grab before it’s all destroyed, go ahead.”

  She nodded. I took her hand and we stepped out of the macabre circle together.

  The area outside was littered with an array of tools. The plastic tu
bs, so neatly stacked before, had now tumbled, spilling some of their contents. A few had even been tossed across the room.

  I took the stairs with my sister beside me—numb with relief. It wasn’t until we reached the kitchen and I saw Papan still in wolf form lying on the floor unconscious that I realized some things were never truly over.

  I let go of Willow’s hand and reached his side as fast as I could, kneeling so I could check his pulse. “He’s alive!” Thank God he’s alive. My head was swimming from the sudden motion but I didn’t care.

  “What the hell happened to him?” Gareth asked, stepping closer.

  “He was attacked,” Vixen answered, appearing on the other side of the open sliding door with Oren behind her. Her face was shiny with sweat and she held onto her left arm, which seemed to be dangling uselessly at her side. The fabric of her sweatshirt was burned as much as the skin beneath it. Her left cheek and scalp were blistered, a bunch of hair burned right off.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Who attacked him?” I said to her, and to Oren, “What’re you doing here?”

  “Someone called me, but I knew you were up to something,” Oren answered.

  I glanced at Lavie, and there was no denying who’d told him where we were. She didn’t look apologetic about it, either. Instead, she shrugged. But it didn’t matter. Right now only one person mattered.

  “Vixen, what happened to Papan?” I ran a hand over his furry head.

  “How the fuck would I know?” she retorted, pointing in my direction with her good arm. “I came around the side of the house after you two went in and followed him into the backyard. I was about to confront him when I heard some growling, and some commotion. This is how I found him, before I was attacked.”

  “What did this attacker look like?”

  “I don’t know. I already told you that.”

  I sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “You didn’t see who you were fighting?”

  “That’s right.”

  “How did you get burned?”

  She shrugged and looked about ready to pass out. If it wasn’t for Oren’s hand on her good arm, I was pretty sure she would already have hit the ground.