Witching Moon

by Yasmine Galenorn

  “I know you’ve been busy, and so have we, but Yutani did a little more digging into the Lykren. He came up with some more information on how to best attack it.” Ember texted me a file, and then pushed a printed page across the table so I could see it. It was a drawing and suddenly it occurred to me I could have looked in my bestiary for information on it. Hindsight was 20/20, though.

  “Well, that’s certainly an ugly sucker,” I said, pulling the page toward me.

  The drawing of the Lykren first struck me as some sort of hunched-over ape man/fisherman/frog. Bipedal, the creature had a bowed back, rounding into a froglike head. Its arms were orangutan-like, and its legs were like a man’s legs, only with frog flippers for feet. The mouth was filled with serrated edged teeth, and its eyes were beady and narrow. A tongue lolled out from the corner of its mouth, and a pool of drool had been drawn below it.

  “Good gods, he’s ugly. What’s the story with him?”

  “Well, nobody’s quite sure whether he’s reptilian or mammalian, but he certainly looks to be a bit of both. Picture that drawing at about seven feet tall and you have an idea of his size. He’s massive, but he can slip through narrow cracks because apparently his bones are malleable.”

  “Of course he is. We have to be so lucky.”

  “I’m not sure exactly how that works, but he can sneak through a crack five to six inches wide.”

  “Freakshow contortionist,” I said. “What else?”

  “The drool that comes out of his mouth? It’s poisonous. Or rather, acidic. It can burn your skin in no time flat. And it will burn through leather as well. So you’re going to have to be careful—we’re all going to have to be careful. The acid can cause festering burns, and I have the feeling it will work just dandy on Fae and Ante-Fae skin, and half-ogres.”

  “What else does it have besides acidic drool? Oh, and the ability to suck out life energy?” This was just getting better and better. A giant frog-ape who drooled acid and fed off of energy.

  Viktor snorted. “Did you have to ask? Well, see those fingers? And those really long claws he has for nails? They’re serrated, and they can sever flesh as quickly as they can cut butter. So try to stay out of its reach as well.”

  I tossed the paper back on the table. “All right. Anything else?”

  Ember nodded. “Its feet and hands have suckers on them, which means it can actually climb up the wall and onto the ceiling. So the Lykren could drop off of the ceiling in a dark corner and ambush you. Oh, and its tongue? Works like a frog’s tongue when it’s trying to catch insects. And it’s strong. Other than that, I think that’s about it.”

  “Wonderful. And you think we’ll find this in the basement of the hospital?”

  “From the research that Yutani did, there’s probably a hole in the basement that leads down into an underground chamber where it makes its nest during the time it’s hibernating. We not only need to kill the Lykren, but we need to destroy the nest just to make sure it didn’t lay any eggs. Oh, did I mention that it lays eggs? And that it’s hermaphroditic and can reproduce asexually?” As Ember finished, Herne came into the room. He headed toward the coffee pot.

  “Hey, how goes it?”

  I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on. “Well, we’re after a hermaphrodite asexual frog-ape that oozes acid, has serrated claws, feeds off life forces, can crawl up the wall onto the ceiling, and has a power trip going. You want to come with us?” I was only half joking. It would be nice to have a god along.

  “I wish I could, but I’m in the middle of looking for the dragon twins, trying to find out where they’re holing up in Seattle. I called Ashera this morning after she talked to you last night and you’re right, Aso and Variance have been spotted around town. Now I just have to figure out why they’re here and what they want. Besides to cause general havoc.”

  “I would almost rather face the Dragonni than the Lykren. At least they don’t use acid.” I laughed, but Herne shook his head.

  “Don’t be so sure. Some of the dragon folk have acidic spittle. I can’t remember quite which ones, or whether they’re on our side or Typhon’s side, but I do know that at least one type of them has that. And it might be the Reds. Be careful, and be sure to take enough weaponry with you.” He stirred sugar and cream into his coffee and carried it, along with a handful of cookies, out of the break room as he headed back to his office.

  “All right, I suppose we better get out there. We’ll want to go down to the basement, to look for the Lykren’s lair. While I saw its reflection, I have a feeling it was just projecting its energy toward me, so it can do that as well. How long do we have before this thing goes back into hibernation? And wouldn’t it be safer just to wait until it fell back asleep before we hunted it down?” The idea of the sneak attack was sounding better and better to me.

  Viktor shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. When it goes into hibernation, it slips between worlds and the opening to its lair is almost impossible to find. We’d have to wait another seventy years. Granted, all of us will be around then, but we shouldn’t put it off. The Lykren seems more active this time than it did the last time. And the last time it was active there were at least ten unexplained disappearances near the veterans home. There’s another matter as well. The vortex on which the hospital is built seems to be growing stronger. We aren’t sure why, but it’s going to be attracting more entities and they may alter the pattern of the Lykren’s cycles. In other words, they might be able to shorten it.”

  I pushed myself back from the table with a loud sigh. “All right, you’ve got me convinced. We need to take the sucker down. I wish Kipa were here, but he had to go over to Finland this morning.”

  “We can take care of this. Don’t you worry!” Ember sounded more cheery than she had any right to be. But facing a problem with confidence usually made things go a little bit better.

  Viktor gathered our weapons—the Lykren was best fought at a distance so Ember was carrying her bow Serafina, and Viktor was carrying a long sword and a spear—and we headed out to Ember’s SUV. My magic was at full strength, and I ran through the repertory of spells that I could use.

  “By the way, how is this thing against fire?”

  “Actually, the Lykren seems extremely susceptible to damage from fire, so your magic is going to come in handy here,” Ember said.

  Blessing the fact that Yutani had done so much research for us, I rode shotgun with Ember as Viktor climbed into the back seat. We fastened our seatbelts, pulled out of the parking garage, and headed for the veterans home.

  I pulled out my phone and glanced at Ember. “We’re going to need more help than we’ve got. I know you’re not fond of him, but I’m calling Trinity. There’s a good chance he won’t answer. It’s not four yet, but it’s worth a try.” My gut told me we needed him, and I didn’t like ignoring that little voice. In the past, when I had, it’d gotten me in trouble before, a whole lot of trouble.

  “All right.” As she changed lanes, she gave me a sideways glance. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am underestimating him. I’ll try to be nice and I’ll try to trust him. He seems to mean a lot to you.”

  The way she said it made it sound like a question. I knew what she was asking, because she had indicated her suspicions before. “Trinity is nothing more than a friend. But I think he’s becoming a good friend, and those are rare and to be cherished when we find them. I’m not going to give up all my male friends just because I’m in a serious relationship—”

  “Hold on!” Viktor said. “Serious? So have you and Kipa used the L-word yet?”

  I blushed, waving to shush him. “Hush. And yes, we have. Both of us. It’s official, we’re in love. Are you going to give me a box of candy now? Some roses? Maybe you’d like to pay for a nice dinner out for us?” I paused, then remembered that Viktor had troubles of his own in the love department. “How’s Sheila doing? How is she healing up? We’ve all had our share of troubles lately, haven’t we?”

  Right arou
nd the time Pandora kidnapped me, some psycho had sliced Viktor’s girlfriend’s throat. She had survived, but there had been some question as to whether she would be able to talk again.

  “Thanks for asking. She’s all right. They haven’t caught the guy, though, and I swear if I ever get near him, he’s dead meat. But Sheila has healed up, or rather she’s healing up. The stitches are out, and she’s able to talk, although her voice is still rough. All in all, it could have been far worse.” He paused, then added, “I was on my way to propose to her that night. I haven’t yet, because I didn’t want her associating my proposal with a bad time. Now I’m not sure what to do. I mean, I still want to propose to her, I want to get married. But I don’t want it to seem like an afterthought.”

  I glanced at Ember and rolled my eyes. “Men.” I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Just take her out to a nice dinner and propose. That’s all you have to do. Let her take it from there.”

  Ember was strangely quiet, though I knew why, having talked to Herne.

  “All right, all right. I’ll make a date with her for Sunday night, and I’ll propose to her then. That’s Litha, the solstice, so it will be special.” He pulled out his phone and was about to text her when I stopped him.

  “Don’t text the woman. Not when you’re setting up a proposal dinner. Call her. You said she can talk now.”

  “She’s going to hear the nervousness in my voice.”

  I snorted, turning back around to face front. “Whatever. It’s your proposal. Do it your way.” I pulled out my own phone and texted Trinity. hey, can you meet us at the veterans home? i found out what’s down there. we’re facing a nasty creature. we could use the extra help. are you willing to give it a go?

  To my surprise, he actually texted me back. meet you there.

  “Trinity will meet us there. Thank you, guys, for giving him another chance. I don’t know what he did to give you such a bad impression.” But I did know, thanks to Herne. It wasn’t anything Trinity had said or done—it was just Trinity himself. He gave off energy from his soul father, and that was what set them on edge. But I couldn’t tell them because Herne had sworn me to secrecy.

  “Never let anybody say that I don’t give someone a fair shake,” Ember said. “Plenty of people don’t do that for me, and I know how it makes me feel.”

  The rest of the way to the veterans home, I stared out the window.

  In a way, Ember and Trinity had a lot in common. Both had a family history that came back to bite them in the butt. Ember had loved her parents, but they had still let her down in the end. And Trinity—his mother couldn’t forgive him for being a product of the union she hadn’t wanted. And his fathers, both physical and soul, had no interest in him. Even though my own upbringing had been a little skewed, the fact was I loved both of my parents. And they loved me. Which reminded me.

  “My mother’s coming for a visit.”

  “Do you think she’d like to help us? I’m pretty sure a Bean Sidhe could go up against the Lykren without too many problems.” Viktor sounded extremely hopeful.

  “Oh for the sake of the gods, no. The last thing I need is her on my back while we’re taking down a monster. She’s still pissed that I didn’t let her know what happened with Pandora.”

  “Don’t feel too bad. My mother still gets on my case when I don’t let her know how I’m doing,” Viktor said. “I guess once you’re a parent, it’s hard to let go. Look at Herne. Morgana and Cernunnos routinely whip his butt, metaphorically speaking.”

  And with that, we ended the conversation as we pulled into a parking spot near Broadfen. I took a deep breath as I got out of the car. It was time to go monster hunting, and I sure as hell hoped that we’d be the ones with the upper hand.

  Chapter Fourteen

  We hadn’t even reached the chain-link fence into the garden when I heard a shout behind me. I turned around, wiping the streaming rain out of my face, as Trinity jogged down the street toward us. I waited until he got near before going over to him.

  Ember and Viktor glanced over their shoulders, gave a little wave and then continued on toward the fence. As Trinity and I began to follow them, I filled him in on what we were facing. I quickly ran down everything that had happened to me during my initial trip, and then the information we had about the Lykren.

  “You say it only comes out of hibernation every seventy years or so?”

  I nodded. “Although it lives on the physical plane a good share of the time. But it can project imagery, and it feeds on life essence as well as bodies, we think. If we don’t get rid of it now, chances are it will vanish for another seventy years. And who knows what will happen by then? For one thing, it appears that the vortex is growing stronger and attracting more entities. If it grows too strong, and the Lykren is still here, maybe it will strengthen the creature as well. Whatever the case, we don’t want to take any chances.”

  Trinity nodded. “And there are just the three of you? Are you sure that’s enough to fight it?”

  “Unfortunately, we’re all we have right now. Crap! I was going to ask my neighbors—Meadow and Trefoil—to help, but I forgot and it’s a little late for that at this moment.”

  “All right. I’m in. What can kill it?”

  “It can be damaged by physical attacks, but the problem is getting in close enough to hit it. Not only does it siphon off life energy, but its acidic drool and serrated claws aren’t helpful either. It has a lot of defense mechanisms, and remember the clown face that I saw? Apparently, the Lykren can project some of your worst fears.”

  “You’re afraid of clowns?” Trinity smirked.

  We were approaching the chain-link fence where Viktor and Ember were waiting.

  “Don’t judge. Clowns are evil and scary.” I thought back to the Harlequin, back when I was a kid. I had tried to hide that memory, burying it deep, but after I brought it up the other day, it was now at the surface of my thoughts. Maybe that was a good thing, though. Maybe that would keep the Lykren from digging it out of my subconscious, although I had plenty of other fears it could work off of.

  Trinity gave Viktor and Ember a two-fingered salute. “So I hear we’re going monster hunting?”

  “That’s about the size of it,” Viktor said he examined the chain-link fence. “Do we just crawl over this?”

  I nodded. “There’s no gate right here. And the only gate that I found is on the inside, leading to the central hospital building.”

  Viktor stepped over the chain-link easily. Placing one hand onto the railing, Ember grasped the bar with her other hand and swung herself over. I climbed my makeshift steps and Viktor surprised me by reaching up and taking me by the waist, then swinging me down. I flashed him a warm smile and he smiled back. Trinity easily jumped the fence, and I led them through the knee-deep vegetation, swishing it around me as it tickled my legs. One of the dried blades of grass caught my finger and cut deep, and I yelped. The sting was like a paper cut and it set me even more on edge.

  As we reached the gate leading into the courtyard, I pointed to the two residence halls on either side of the secret garden.

  “Those, I gather, were convalescence residences. There are ghosts everywhere around here. I see them and feel them all over the grounds. My guess is that the spirits are being trapped here by the vortex. I’d like to see them move on, but I don’t know if it would do any good. A vortex that big—with that many ley lines going through it—well, it’s just going to keep sucking them in.” I paused at the gate, my hand on the lock. I really didn’t want to go back in there. “I’m creeped out as hell about going back in.”

  “We’re here,” Ember said. “It will be all right.”

  I opened the gate, heading in. This time, with Trinity with us, I wouldn’t have to pick the lock. I turned to him.

  “Last time I was here I picked the lock, and then I locked it up when I left. Can you unlock it? Or it’s going to take us a while to get in there.”

  Trinity nodded, heading forward toward t
he door. We hurried to catch up with him. As he got there, he placed his hand on the knob and I heard him whispering an incantation under his breath. I couldn’t catch the words, but a moment later there was a click and the door unlocked.

  “That is a handy skill to have,” I said.

  He shrugged. “It does come in handy, but it earns me a bad reputation as well. Not that I give a fuck.” He paused, glancing over his shoulder at us. “Who wants to go in first? I don’t think I’m going to volunteer.”

  Viktor moved to the front. “I will. Here, let me through. Ember, why don’t you bring up the rear just in case anything tries to ambush us. Weapons out, people. Although Raven, I imagine you’re going to be gathering your magic instead?”

  I nodded. “I think you’d rather have me working magic than trying to wield a blade. I can hit a target accurately, but poison won’t stop a ghost.”

  Trinity opened the door just a crack. “Here, go ahead and push it all the way open. If I let go of the knob while it’s still closed, it will just lock again. The moment it swings shut behind us, it will lock. Which means you better hope that I survive this so I can get you guys out here.”

  I snorted. “I could pick the lock, but we don’t want me fumbling with that if there’s something after us.”

  Viktor pushed the door open, and it squeaked. I grimaced, wishing I had brought an oil can with me. Viktor headed in, his flashlight casting a wide beam, and Trinity followed him. I came third, and Ember swung in behind me. The moment we were inside and the door shut behind us, I shuddered. The place really did give me the creeps, and not just because I knew about the Lykren. It was just so filled with lost souls and trapped spirits that it left me totally unsettled and melancholy.