She’d simplified the image for Karl, describing the spells as an onion. In fact to her it looked more like a spaghetti dinner. In, out, tangled about. The beginning and the end of the spells were impossible to find. As far as she could figure out, her best bet would be to try and untangle the outermost layers and see if she could find a separation point.
She started work first on the weight on his head and chest. It was worrisome that the threads plunged through his body so many times in different places; they went round and round his head and chest. Just looking at him made her own breathing shallow and her head ache. Using a fragment of the house shield spell she lifted up a loop of the thread and examined the twists and knots. It was worse than unknotting yards of wool after the kittens tied all the furniture together. But she was patient and determined and had plenty of experience trying to organize the masses of cables behind a computer desk. If she could get that weight off his mind and chest, he might begin to feel a difference … feel freer. Think more clearly.
Trust her.
Maybe that was reaching too far.
Survival at this point was the most important thing.
In this spell state she had a better idea of the passage of time. By midnight she’d unwrapped the tangled threads and laid most of them out across the ground beside them. Karl had not one, but three dominant spell threads attached to him as well as the many, many layers of onion spells. Someone had directly attacked his mind, his heart, and oddly, the strongest attachment was to his root chakra … his basic drives. The center of his sexuality.
That was just cruel.
Now that the threads were put aside she could get a better view of the remainder of the spells. All of them.
Amber rubbed her dream chin and studied the pattern of the spells and threads. He’d been rendered almost completely mind blind. She had to do something about that, if she could. It would help if he were a little less resistant to the idea of her helping him. His hands and chest weighed down under incredible burdens and his sex drive … smothered.
With all this weighing on him it was unlikely that he had the strength to flirt. Probably he remembered the courtship dance, without any real hunger or interest behind it. A strangely disappointing thought.
Amber shook herself hard. She was wasting time. The three dominant spells she wasn’t going to touch. Not without more study. With luck and a little hard work, she could lift at least the outermost layer of the onion spell from him and still have time to get some sleep before that attack at five.
All those hours of practice in the kitchen reducing little apples to piles of thin coils would now pay off. Amber flexed her fingers, bringing to mind the memory of the pressure of the plastic, the movement of the curved metal blade. The peeler coalesced into Ethereal being in her palm. She waited until she was confident in the imagined shape, size, and movement. She ran her finger lightly across the blade and studied the drop of imaginary blood that appeared on her skin. The corner of her mouth tilted up.
“And so it begins,” she muttered.
She moved the peeler lightly through the air above Karl. Meeting no resistance she moved her hand a little lower and lower again. She moved her hand over his chest, following the bumps and curves of his wasted muscles. When Karl grunted in his sleep she paused and ran her empty hand over the air. Lengthening her dream fingernails she tried to find an edge. A corner. Something to lift. The outermost spell also had to be the newest. Not crushed down by the weight of other spells it actually felt thick to her questing fingernails.
Levering up a small edge Amber inserted her peeler and started moving it back and forth, loosening the grip of the spell beneath. She worked slowly and patiently. If she had a body, she knew she would be grinding her teeth and sweating. But this was dream work. In the morning she would have a headache the size of Montana, but for now success was measured an inch at a time.
* * * * *
Much, much later Amber rolled onto her side and opened her eyes. The real world was a comforting place with the scent of recently trimmed grass and night songs to reassure her she’d returned. She wiggled her fingers and stretched, forcing her cramped muscles to loosen.
Beyond the edge of the stone circle her cousin waited patiently.
“What time?” she whispered.
“Just after two,” said Smoke.
Amber cursed weakly. “Oh, hell and dammit. Only three hours sleep if I’m lucky before the wolves came back for their morning feeding.”
Extending one hand she pointed at the stone barrier marking the edge of the magical protections and cut the circle. Immediately Smoke crossed and helped her to a sitting position.
“You’re going to need help,” he whispered, “You can’t do this alone.”
“Who said I wanted to do this alone?” snapped Amber with as much heat as she could summon. “I didn’t want to do this at all. And you said I can’t ask the WWWRAP club for help. Have you changed your mind?”
“No, but Cousin Missy, she came yesterday and put up the circle of protection. She’s ready to make her commitment. We could have the ceremony tomorrow.”
Amber straightened and pushed free of Smoke’s support.
“No. Hell, no. Seriously. How could you suggest that? For one thing, how can I be certain that helping me won’t drag her into the web?” Amber groaned and reached for her water bottle. “I’m not stupid. I’d love to have some help. If you know how to find Aunt Lucinda, I wish you would tell me.”
Smoke shook his head, dark eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight. “Helping you would be Missy’s decision. She’d take the risk. We know the house spell prevents contamination. She’s known to the house. You could just check the protection is there …”
“No,” said Amber quickly.
“Let me know if you reconsider,” said Smoke. “Time will come when you’ll be guardian. This …”
“Not now. Not yet. I’m not ready for that yet. And until I know for certain that Lucinda isn’t coming back you can’t make me.”
Karl was sitting up, biting his lip to keep from screaming when Amber tip-toed into the downstairs guest room at 5:20 the next morning. She crossed to sit on his bed. Even in the dim predawn light, he could see her hands trembling.
“Did they get you tonight?” he asked.
Amber nodded and studied his face for a moment. “I tried to reinforce the house shields and my personal shields, and I tried to stay awake, but I couldn’t stop the drain. All that changed is that I didn’t get pulled into the dream. What happened to you?”
Karl grunted. “I got to visit with my old friends, as usual. I wasn’t as terrified as before, now I know what’s happening, but I want this to stop. I want to get these guys and make it all stop.”
Amber put both hands on his chest, her expression intent. He watched her tongue extend just a tip beyond her lips as she concentrated. As the energy flowed from her into him he wondered what would happen if he kissed her. If he touched that wide sweet mouth and invited that little tongue into his own.
Amber moved her hands away distracting him from his speculations. Instead of their steady warmth, the places where they’d rested were suddenly chilled.
“Hey, what was that?” he demanded.
“I gave you a little Elemental energy to get you going.”
“But I still feel weak,” he protested, reaching for her wrist and trying to pull her hands back to his skin. “Give me a little more.”
“I’m weak, too.” Her voice sounded faint, “but I thought if I gave us enough to stop the pain we might be able to get another hour or so of sleep. We were up working until only a few hours ago.
“I feel … not as bad as I have,” he focused on her face. In the dim light he could barely make out her features, but she looked tired. Worse than him, and that was saying something. “I didn’t ask last night. Did anything work?”
“Sure. For a first time it went pretty well. I untangled the coils. There are three distinct threads on you, and I got a c
ouple of complete spells off. You should find it easier to concentrate, but I warn you, you might feel a little …”
“Mike,” shouted Karl, sitting upright.
The bed bounced and Amber slid to the floor before she could save herself. She glared at him, absently rubbing her butt while Karl threw off the blankets, leapt over her, and started pulling on his clothes. Amber was treated to a view of his muscular derrière covered in thin boxers before it disappeared into loose khakis. She remained half reclining on the floor watching him dress. His hands trembled as he struggled with his shirt buttons. After a few minutes he gave a snort of disgust and abandoned the buttons, shoving his shirt tails into his pants.
“What’s biting you?” demanded Amber, climbing slowly to her feet.
“I’ve got to go. I know Mike is involved. I have to go,” he paused, staring vaguely into the distance. “I can’t ask his parents. They wouldn’t know anything about this. But someone must know.”
“If you could slow down and make sense, I’d really appreciate it,” she muttered, clinging to the bed for balance. “You know. Complete sentences. Comprehensive ideas. Noun, verb, subject.”
“Look who’s talking,” snapped Karl, shoving clean and dirty clothes together into his overnight bag. “The queen of the incomprehensible explanation.”
Amber gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Even without a thick layer of magic overlaying his brain, he was a guy. He couldn’t help acting like a complete moron. She had to be sympathetic.
That being said, thought Amber, opening her eyes and glaring at his back, it would give her immense satisfaction to kick his fine ass, right up to his Adam’s apple. Even if that meant ruining said fine ass.
“Do you remember me telling you that having spells removed might make you feel funny?” she asked, forcing a smile into her voice.
Karl grunted, shouldering his bag and starting out of the room. Amber planted herself in the doorway and held up her arms. Karl cursed as he bumped up against her. Hitting Amber was like hitting a mountain. He tried to shove her to one side, but she didn’t shift a fraction of an inch. Amber pushed back. Karl’s trainers squeaked as they slid across the polished wood floor. He growled as he tried to brace himself against her advance. And failed.
“I channeled Earth energy this morning for our recharge,” Amber told him, as she pushed him back toward the bed. “You’d have to hit me pretty hard to leave a bruise. Mind you, you’d likely break your hand trying. Now sit down and talk to me. You’ve just been struck by an idea, a memory. What?”
With one last shove she toppled him onto the twisted blankets.
“Typical,” snarled Karl. “You have the power and everyone else is your victim.”
Amber rolled her eyes and lifted her hands in supplication.
“Why me?” she whispered and returned her gaze to Karl. “Hold out your hands.”
“What?”
“Hold out your hands!” she shouted.
Karl extended his hands toward her, taking the opportunity to make a rude gesture. His upper arms twitched and shivered under the fabric of his sleeves. His fingers shook like leaves in a heavy gale. He bit his lip bloody in his struggle to stop the trembling. The harder he concentrated the more his fingers shook.
“Dammit,” he swore, clenching his fists and pulling his arms back, wrapping them about his body. “That doesn’t prove anything. If you would give me a decent dose of … strength, I’d be fine.”
“No. Additional Elemental energy wouldn’t help you right now. You’re suffering from pent up …” she sighed. “I suppose will is the closest word to it. You’ve wanted to do things for years and those wills, wants, and desires have all been trapped. Run. Jump. Leap. Dance. You couldn’t. The spells were dragging you down. Now I’ve taken off the least little spell, given you some of the strength you’ve lacked the last few years and you feel like the flood gates are opened and if you’re not careful you’re going to want to fly in all sorts of directions. You’re out of control. The spell’s control and your own. If you had the brains the Elementals gave an ant you’d rest, let the energy sort itself out.”
Karl muttered a soft suggestion that Amber decided that she didn’t want to understand.
“What did you want to do this morning?” she asked with artfully feigned patience.
“I’ve got to go to Buffalo. I’ve got to … I think I’ve got to go back to my alma mater.”
“College? Why?”
Karl climbed off the bed and started pacing.
“Remember that blasted nightmare? You said that you’d seen a wolf die.”
Amber nodded.
“Well, the next day I got a call from my mother. A friend of …” He growled and his hands flexed. “Someone I knew from college died that night. I went back for his funeral. His parents gave me this necklace he wore all the time. Said that when he talked about me he would rub the pendant. Look at it.” He searched through his jacket pocket and pulled out the silver chain with its hunting wolf figure and shoved it into Amber’s face. “When they gave it to me, it was as if I sort of remembered something, but it didn’t make sense until you showed me the nightmare.”
He grabbed her hand, slammed the pendant onto her palm, then turned and walked over to the bay windows. She could feel distress, grief rolling off him. Wherever his thoughts were he deserved a little privacy.
“His father said he found Mike in bed with his throat torn out. That’s what you saw, isn’t it. You saw Mike die.”
Amber froze, her thoughts racing.
“You knew?” she demanded. “You really knew one of the wolves? As a person? A friend? It can’t have been random your being brought into the nightmare; it might …” She jumped to her feet. “You might be part of the original spell. One of the first victims. That might explain how the web is shaped. The cord to you is different. Stronger, heavier, and directly attached to the apartment I went to on the Ethereal Planes.”
“If that’s true then I have to go back to college. I met Mike in high school, but the first time I – we, ran into magic was at college.”
“You’re in no fit shape to go anywhere, let alone driving all the way to Buffalo,” protested Amber, her voice sharp. “You can barely walk across the room. Besides, what about the bookstore?”
Karl swung away from the window and stalked across the room until he was standing nose to nose with her.
“Nothing is going to go right in that damned store until whatever is hanging onto it, and me, is gone. I know that. You know that.” He slammed his palm against his chest. “We gotta get this damn thing out of me.”
Amber jumped back then nodded slowly. “True, we have to get it out of both of us. But it isn’t safe for you to be active. You’re weak and your energy is confused.”
“Then fill me up,” he pushed up his sleeve and pointed to his arm. “Latch yourself on and pour it in. I have things to do and you’re wasting my time.”
“Greedy and acting like a drug addict.”
Amber reached out and pushed gently, but firmly against his shoulder. The Earth energy was fading fast, but there was little Karl could do against the solidity she could still summon. He toppled back into the bed.
She’d chosen to take energy from the Earth Element that morning as she’d found Air energy made her prone to be ditzy. She couldn’t stand herself when she was that eccentric. Earth energy moved slower, but helped keep her grounded. As far as she could see, both she and Karl needed some serious grounding.
“I can’t keep pouring energy into us,” she said flatly. “It’s dangerous.”
“Someone is pulling it out of us; we can’t function without getting strength from somewhere.”
“Food would be traditional,” suggested Amber.
Karl responded with another rude gesture.
Amber groaned and dragged the palms of her hands over her face. He was not going to listen. She could see his rage, his distrust. Years of being limited and now she was saying slow down when his he
art and spirit cried out run.
“I can’t keep infusing us with Elemental energy,” she repeated, enunciating each word carefully. “Our bodies aren’t designed to be sustained that way. We’re supposed to get our energy from food. Remember food? That stuff with calories, protein? Chocolate? Café Latte? Steak? French fries? Pancakes. Ohhhhh. Pancakes. Smoke makes the best banana pancakes. I’ll ask him to make breakfast.”
Karl continued to glare at her, arms folded, legs planted as hard as he could on the floor. The assertive posture was not aided by the trembling of his legs. Amber pursed her lips and sighed.
“Okay, listen. When a witch pulls in energy for a spell it isn’t in her body for long. Everyone warns against it. If you pull in the power of the universe and hang onto it, then you won’t be able to sleep, you’ll get fidgety and unsettled. Nothing you try to do will work because that sort of energy is supposed to flow. To move on. So a witch will pull in what she needs, shape it with a spell, and send it out – fast. What I’ve been doing … we’ve been doing is pulling in a little and holding it, and it’s starting to wear on us. I can’t do it too much. It’s like trying to run a nine-volt toy with a nuclear engine. We will fry ourselves from the inside out if we keep this up.”
“We’re doing all right so far,” grumbled Karl and Amber laughed.
“You must be really fried or you would see just how far from fine we are. Like eating fire for real and washing it down with a hit of kerosene.”
“You’re doing okay,” snarled Karl. “Strong as a mountain.”
“Listen, you moron,” Amber grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him across the room to where an antique mirror in a bentwood frame hung. “Look at me. My hair. Look. Do you see the grey? That wasn’t there yesterday. The Elemental energy is aging me!” Amber left him swaying in front of the mirror and sank down into a nearby rocking chair. “Besides, any power I pull in gets stolen from me the next morning and I don’t want to give those parasites anything more than I have to.”
First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) Page 21