whiskey witches 02 - blood moon magick

by blooding, s m

  Paige skidded to a halt as soon as the bridge came into view. It was a pedestrian bridge that crossed the small creek bed and was covered. There weren’t too many covered bridges in Colorado. She’d seen more of them in the southeast.

  But what had captured her attention was the mass of demons there to greet her.

  One man stepped out from the rest, his hands wide at his waist. “Ah, summoner. We almost thought you’d miss the party.”

  “Why would you think that?” Paige asked. “I only just barely received the invitation. I wasn’t dressed. I didn’t have a chance to do my hair.”

  Cawli growled low. The device that controls the shifters is somewhere in there.

  Somewhere. Could you be a little more vague? “What are you doing here, guys? Shouldn’t you be somewhere else? You know. A little more desolate, slightly hotter?”

  One of the women, her blaringly red hair pulled into a high, tight ponytail, stepped forward, her black, spiked heeled boots clanking heavily on the asphalt. “Desolate. That’s an odd choice of words.”

  “Not really. I’ve seen the other side.”

  “Really.”

  Paige nodded.

  “Where?”

  Paige smiled and tapped her chest. “Right here. I can peer into your world any time I please. I pull you out of it any time I wish, and I can send you back when you piss me off.” And it was about damned time, too.

  The woman sneered, looking back at the rest of the group. “The summoner’s good. We all know that, but that good?”

  Paige dipped into her gift, letting the dark coolness rush over her. Cawli’s powers laced her shadow gift with a steely silver finish. Paige’s witch hands raced out, snatched the female demon’s spirit and pulled her from her human host.

  The demon shrieked, raising her arm to shield her eyes.

  Why did they all do that? Was there something Paige wasn’t seeing? Some light, maybe?

  “Send my regards,” Paige snarled and shoved the demon into her chest, through the door to Hell.

  Cawli’s spirit flared with warning.

  Paige turned her attention to the crowd of demons, her focus high. Warning of what?

  The crowd parted.

  A man in black jeans and a blue shirt dragged a young woman along behind him. She kicked wildly, trying to break his hold. She beat at him with bat wings and her human hands, but he seemed unaffected. He stopped. “So you’re the summoner.” He said “summoner” as though there was an “a” at the end instead of an “r.”

  “That’s the rumor.”

  “What’s the big to-do about you, then? You look like nothin’ more’n a whelp.”

  Paige raised her eyebrows. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” She extended her witch arms, grabbed hold of his soul, and yanked.

  Nothing happened.

  She stumbled forward a few feet.

  He tossed a bark of a laugh at the rest of the group. “Lady fancies herself strong and she can’t even get me to budge a centimeter.” He leaned toward her. “Ya didn’ even give me a tickle.”

  That had never happened before. Paige’s heart raced. “Let the girl go.”

  “No.” The demon gestured with his free hand. “You can’ make me, now can you?”

  Cawli?

  I deal with animal spirits. I do not deal with demons.

  There was more information that laced his words. The fact that he could deal with things of this realm, this planet. And these demons didn’t belong. They were something else, other, and he had no ability whatsoever to assist her.

  Great.

  “Who are you?” Paige asked.

  “Would it help if I gave you m’ name?” the demon asked smugly. “You are the summoner who summons and doesn’t know demon marks and doesn’t know demon names. So, even if I told you, you still wouldn’t know who I was.”

  This was all very true. “You’re in luck. I’ve just decided to start keeping journals. So, if you tell me who you are, I’ll write it down in my little black book for next time.”

  “There will be no next time.”

  “And why’s that?” Though she already knew his answer.

  “You won’t live to use it.”

  Oh, hell no. She’d just gotten back control of her gifts. She wasn’t giving up now. No. She still had to get her daughter back. A daughter she hadn’t seen in five long years. No.

  She realized she should have been thinking about the human race.

  Frell the human race. There were people worth saving, sure. But as far as she was concerned, the lot needed to be culled.

  She was selfish. A horrible, selfish person who was going to survive this for her daughter, and for the sake of her family; her sister, her niece, her nephew, the new baby, her brother-in-law, her grandmother, her brother. For Dexx.

  He chuckled and ducked his head. “As if all that’s going to matter.”

  “It does.” She didn’t know if he read minds or if he had some other latent ability. Demons had power, especially the old ones.

  Well, most did. Sven didn’t.

  The demon raised his head as if he’d caught a scent.

  Paige smiled. So. Mind-reader. “Oh, you didn’t know?”

  He narrowed his eyes.

  A few of the demons behind him stirred. “What’s she talkin’ about, boss?” one man asked.

  The lead demon dropped the girl.

  She scrambled to her feet, her large, batlike wings catching the air.

  He lashed out with his serpentine tail and latched onto her ankle.

  The woman kicked, trying to break free.

  Paige reached for the air element, fed it with her anger, and released it on the demon’s hand.

  He took a step forward, regaining each inch the wind won. “Tell me more about Sven.”

  “Give me your name first,” she said, careful to keep her thoughts as blank as possible.

  His cheeks sunk in. “Usnazahl.”

  He was right. She didn’t know his name. “I’m going to call you Nazal for short. Is that okay with you?”

  Usnazahl looked away, a slight smile gracing his lips.

  “Nazal, let go of the girl.”

  “So many demands.”

  “What were you intending on doing with her anyway?”

  “Feast upon her.”

  “Oh, well. I guess I can’t stop you there, now, can I?”

  Cawli reached out with his mind similarly to the way Paige had, sending a lightning bolt of power toward Hailey.

  The bat shifter kicked one last time, breaking free.

  Usnazahl tipped his head, his expression filled with incredulity. He turned his attention back to Paige as Hailey flew away. “Summoner, you just keep gettin’ more and more interestin’ by the minute.”

  “I bet I do. Hand over the device controlling the shifters.”

  He smacked his lips. “I really can’t do tha’.”

  “That’s really too bad.” She hoped like hell that the rest of his demons weren’t as strong as he was. She reached out with her witch hands, grabbed two demon souls and shoved them into her chest, sending them back to Hell.

  Their human hosts stumbled and blinked as if just waking up.

  Usnazahl regarded her for a moment. “Now, tha’ wasn’ very nice.”

  “I’m kinda having a bad day. So, why don’t you give me the device, and I’ll let you leave.”

  He snorted. “Let me leave. Ah, kitten, you know you’re no match for me.”

  “I only know I failed in my first attempt. Be assured, I won’t fail again.”

  He ran his tongue along his back molars. “Here’s wha’ I’ll do. I’ll give ya the device if you tell me wha’ you know about Sven Seven Tails.”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “Well, maybe like, he’s been the pampered prince for far too long, an’ if there’s troubles he’s facin’, I’d like to know so’s I can add to ‘em, like. Yeah?”

  As long as they could take it away from her
family, her friends, and humans in general.

  “I can’ make any promises, kitten.”

  If he called her kitten one more time, she’d show him just what she could do with her gift.

  He threw back his head and laughed, twisting to share his humor with his group.

  They didn’t join in. Probably because they couldn’t read her mind with his ease.

  “Wha’s it gonna be, love? You give me the information. I give you the device.”

  “Don’t trust you. So, you give me the device, and I’ll give you the information.”

  “Here’s the deal.” He advanced, all signs of mirth erased from his face.

  Paige took a step back involuntarily, but stopped herself as she attempted to take another.

  He continued his advance. “I could take that information from you.” A strong force pushed on her mind.

  She gripped her anger, Cawli adding his own power to hers, and pushed back.

  Usnazahl stumbled backward.

  Paige swallowed, shaking out her hands, her fear and anger coursing through her. “How about you just give me the device, I tell you what you want to know, and you leave?”

  “Hmm.” He studied her for a long moment. Then, he snapped his fingers, holding his hand out behind him.

  A woman stepped forward and put a black box in his hand.

  He raised an eyebrow, tipped his head to the side, and held it out for her.

  All Paige really wanted to do was to run away and piss herself. Instead, she raised her chin and walked toward the demon horde, her witch hands at the ready.

  He lowered his head, a smug smile settling over his face.

  She took the box from him and stepped backward.

  “Information, if you please.”

  “Here’s the thing.” How to give him all the information as succinctly as possible? Nederland was being torn apart and she needed to rectify that situation with a quickness. “Sven’s been here for too long and he’s powerless.” She replayed the conversation she’d watched through Kris’ memories.

  Usnazahl’s eyes lit on her, his expression all business. “Oriel’s here?”

  Did that mean he was going to leave? “By all the evidence I’ve been able to gather? Yes.”

  The demon snapped his heels together and spun. “We’re leavin’.”

  Just like that?

  He turned back to Paige briefly. “If you know wha’s good for you, you’ll run. Now. Oriel topside’s a bad thing.”

  That didn’t bode well.

  “Oh, and another thin’, summoner.” He paused, meeting her gaze, his expression appearing genuine. “You’re needed in Texas. I don’ care what you got goin’ on here. Get your damned ass to Texas.”

  “Wait!”

  He turned back to her.

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because.” He glanced around him, dipping his head. “You’re the summoner. We may be on opposite sides o’ the line at times, but we respect you. You’ve earned it. Plus, I might need a favor from you later.”

  Favor? Not likely. Though, that didn’t explain why she needed to get to the Texas, though her heart hammered with the only viable reason she could think of. The war.

  He raised his chin and met her gaze. “They won’ make it withou’ ya. And withou’ them, you’d go balls crazy. We need tha’ abou’ as much as a kick to the nads. No. You shag your fuckin’ ass to Texas. Ya take care o’ your shit. And you keep your fuckin’ shit out o’ our business. You get me?”

  He and his henchmen melted into the pine trees.

  Fuck.

  While it was great that the demons had just disappeared, especially since Paige hadn’t been able to gut Nazal like she had her other demons, it made her wonder with a little tremor of terror. Who was Oriel? And what about him would make a full-grown, obviously powerful demon like Nazal turn tail and run?

  This is your area of expertise, Cawli stated.

  You’re no help.

  That is what I stated.

  Paige stared at the box in her hand. “So, this is what’s controlling all the shifters?” There wasn’t a big red button. Why wasn’t there a big red button, or anything that read “emergency stop?” There weren’t any buttons on the device.

  Frell.

  The sounds coming from the town rose in volume. Screams from every kind of animal she could think of, though she couldn’t pinpoint any of them. She didn’t know the animal kingdom very well. Humans, though. She could pick those out of a line up.

  She needed to get her shit together and put a stop to this.

  What do you two have in common? Cawli asked, tapping on her mind, sending her a tendril of calm.

  She took it like a lifeline, releasing the pent-up frustration and boiling fear. What did she have in common with who? Usnazahl or Sven?

  Both. What did she have in common with both?

  Demon energies.

  But Sven was running low on those, if her assessment of the situation was accurate.

  What if it didn’t matter if he had power or not? He was still a demon.

  But she wasn’t.

  She did, however, house a tear in her soul that bridged the gap between Earth and Hell.

  Glancing around, she confirmed no other shifters were near her. She dipped inside of herself, reached through Cawli’s protections, pulled on the magick from the Hell plane, switching to witch vision.

  The box became less solid to her witch’s eye. It warped and wriggled as if made of Jell-O.

  Taking in a deep breath that hurt a little around the edges, Paige reached out with the hand holding the Hell magick and touched the box.

  The black mirage fell away to reveal a set of glowing buttons; two red, one green.

  What was she supposed to do with these? None of them were labeled.

  As her finger hovered over one red button, an image popped into her head. A vision of herself, standing in the precinct, her face stunned. Attack. Bite.

  She hovered her finger over the other red button. Cawli roared to life, pushing himself through her mind’s walls, into all of her limbs.

  Paige shoved him back, removing her finger from the button. Cawli! she shouted in her mind. Stop it!

  He calmed, panting heavily in the back of her mind, his huge cat’s paws retreating along her arms, his whiskers sinking from her cheeks.

  So, you’re a cat, she said, a slight tremble entering her mind’s voice.

  I am unformed. The emotions radiating from Cawli were unpleasant. He was just as scared as she was. I am all animals and none.

  Oh. She released a shaking breath and placed the Hell power over the green button.

  Peace settled through her and Cawli both. His claws retracted from her mind. His emotions subsided. The quiver released from her lungs. Her heart stopped pounding.

  She pressed the green button.

  Nothing happened.

  She opened her eyes.

  A few of the shifters had stopped. They stared around them in a daze as the sun set completely.

  On the opposite horizon, another orb rose in the sky. Large and full.

  Wild, feral energy coursed through her. Her nerve endings practically snapped and zapped with unbridled ferocity. Her hair lifted off her neck. The device fell from loose fingers as she brought her hands toward her face.

  She glowed with steel blue shadow.

  The shifters howled, cawed, neighed with uncontained wilderness.

  Paige let her head fall back, a whispered roar rising from her chest as the wind lifted her off her feet, separating her from the earth. Lightning laced the star-popping sky from her fingertips. The ground rumbled, adding Her voice. Water floated.

  She spun. Her world surreal. Her soul complete. Her freedom achieved. Power limitless. Her place in the great circle acknowledged. She was one. She was healed. She was accepted.

  A horse screamed in pain and terror.

  A dog yelped.

  A cat yowled.

  Pain cut t
hrough her ears with splitting precision.

  The moon.

  Lifting herself from her power-drugged mind, she raised her gaze to the moon. Full. Massive. Bright. Scarred and pocked. Familiar. Old. Wise.

  Cawli did not answer nor add anything, too enthralled in the powerful allure of the full super moon.

  Carnage. Blood. Trash. Torn clothing. Torn flesh. Screaming. Crying.

  Her feet found purchase on the asphalt. She raised her hands to the sky.

  When had she last called down the moon?

  Too long.

  The moon’s energy folded around her like an old lover, filling gaps in her soul she hadn’t realized had been present, lifting energy she hadn’t noticed were low.

  Lover. Mother. Sister. Friend.

  A familiar ping crossed her mind with a wild ferocity only a big sister could have.

  “Leslie,” Paige whispered.

  Leslie’s purple energies intertwined with Paige’s steel blue.

  A grizzly bear love tackled her, teal molding with the violet and steel. Alma.

  Together across the distance, brought together by their shared love of the moon.

  My girls, Alma’s voice said over the distance.

  Shall we start? Leslie asked.

  Paige wet her lips and drew down the energy the moon provided. It swelled within her, reconnecting her to the Earth, to life.

  The roars, the screams, the yelps, the yowls did not cease.

  She needed the power only a blood moon offered to contain the situation.

  Did she have what it took to bring a blood moon and not lose control?

  Paige, Leslie cautioned. We don’t call down the blood moon. We only tap into it.

  Too much power is needed to control it, Alma added.

  They didn’t know what Paige had become, what she was capable of. She didn’t know what she was capable of.

  Wriggling her toes in her boots, she reached for the earth. She needed a shadow, a massive shadow to blanket the moon, to calm the wild call.

  The earth rose like a sleeping child, stretching, yawning, reaching. The ground shook, pieces of broken asphalt tapping the road.

  Paige lowered her right hand, extending her witch hand through the tainted road base, deep into the soil, through the mantel, to the core. The earth’s fire rose with her assistance, ripping through the physical confines of the dirt and asphalt.