Witching Moon

by Yasmine Galenorn

  I wanted no part in touching anything metal at the moment, and Trinity seem to realize that because he opened the gate for us. I was still dizzy, but I managed to stumble along after Viktor and Ember. Trinity caught up to me and slid his arm around my waist and I put my arm around his shoulder. He helped steady me, keeping me on my feet as we headed back to the chain-link fence.

  Once there, Viktor easily stepped over, Ember still in his arms.

  But I just stared at the fence. I wanted no part in touching it because I still felt electrified. Trinity said nothing, but scooped me up in his arms and lifted me over to the side, setting me down before he jumped over himself. As we hurried along Broadfen, the rain continued to pour down, washing away some of the soot that had clung to me from the lightning bolt. It also flattened my hair, which was sticking out in all directions. But my focus was on Ember, who had fallen unconscious.

  We made it back to the car, where Trinity opened the doors, helping Viktor load Ember in the back seat. Viktor fished her keys out of her pocket and swung around to the driver’s side. Trinity bundled me into the passenger seat, and then he crawled in to sit beside Ember. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he was once again trying to bind up her ankle. Viktor started the car and we headed back to the agency, far worse for the wear than we had left it.

  Viktor pulled up directly in front of the office. We lucked out and found a parking spot directly by the building. I turned to him.

  “Thank gods there’s an urgent care clinic on the first floor of your building,” I said, glancing back at Trinity and Ember. “How is she?”

  Trinity shook his head. “She’s breathing, but still unconscious. And she’s bled quite a bit. That wound on her arm also looks bad, and her arm might be broken. We need to get her inside as soon as we can. She may need more help than the urgent care clinic can give her, so call Herne down in case he has to go call Ferosyn.”

  He helped Viktor ease Ember out of the back seat. She was still unconscious, so Viktor swept her up in his arms and began to jog up the steps. Trinity darted around him, to open the door. I followed a little more slowly, feeling like every nerve in my body had been toasted. I had a looming headache, and even my teeth hurt.

  As we entered the building, I pulled out my phone and tried to call Herne, but it wouldn’t work. I stared at it. It wouldn’t even turn on. I had fried it when I threw the lightning bolt. I veered off from the guys, heading toward the stairwell.

  “I’ll go get Herne. My phone is dead.” I tackled the stairs, which normally wouldn’t be a problem. Four flights of stairs? Nothing to it. Except when I had let a lightning bolt use me as a catapult. I managed to reach the landing of the stairwell on the fourth floor and opened the door. Angel was sitting behind her desk and she glanced up as I staggered in. The look on her face was priceless, and I would have laughed if the circumstances were different. Instead, I suddenly felt like my knees were going to give out. I stumbled forward a couple steps and then collapsed, the room spinning.

  Angel jumped up, calling for Herne. He poked his head out from his office, took one look at me, and rushed over to my side. Angel took my other side and together, they lifted me to my feet. Herne caught me up and carried me back into the break room, sitting me on the sofa near the window. He went down on one knee beside me. “Where the others? What happened? Ember, is Ember okay?”

  Rattled and weary, I leaned my head back. “Herne, you need to get down to the urgent care. Ember’s there. She’s been hurt. I’ll be okay, I’m just dizzy and wiped out.”

  Angel sniffed my hair. “You smell like ozone.”

  “No shit, Sherlock. I just ran a million-volt lightning bolt through my body. Every inch of me tingles in a not-so-nice manner.” I wanted Kipa, wishing he were here instead of in Finland.

  Herne leapt up, heading for the door. He turned around, glancing at me. “You should come down too, to make certain you’re all right. Here,” he said, hurrying back to my side.

  He once again picked me up and, ignoring my protests that I could walk, he silently carried me out to the elevator. Angel followed him, pushing the button as we waited in the waiting room. I struggled briefly, but Herne just gave me a squeeze and I stopped. At that moment Talia and Yutani came out from their office, took one look at me, and rushed over. Talia started to say something, but Angel held up her hand.

  “You go with Herne and Raven down to urgent care. I’ll watch over the office here. But let me know what’s going on,” she said, giving Talia a stern look.

  Talia nodded. As the elevator opened, Herne stepped inside, followed by Talia and Yutani. Talia pressed the first floor button, and I leaned my head against Herne’s shoulder, another wave of dizziness sweeping through me. Talia glanced at Herne, a question in her eyes.

  “Apparently she ran a massive lightning bolt through her body,” he said. “I didn’t even know you could cast a spell like that,” he added, looking back at me.

  My mouth felt fuzzy and dry, but I finally found my tongue. “I rarely try it. It’s hard, and it totally drains me of energy, but we had no choice.”

  I groaned again, feeling queasy, and closed my eyes as I rested my head back on his shoulder. He didn’t say a word, just held me firmly in his arms, and when we arrived at the first floor, he carried me over to the urgent care clinic. Yutani opened the door and Herne swept in to the reception room.

  I was in and out by that point, feeling scrambled beyond measure, and I could hear Herne saying something to the receptionist, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was. I must have blacked out for a bit because when I woke up, I was laying on one of the exam tables, propped up, with a blanket over me. A doctor was taking my pulse.

  “I’m one of the Ante-Fae,” I whispered, my throat drier than ever. “Our physiology is different than even that of the Fae.”

  She gave me a nod. “What is your pulse supposed to be?”

  “Sixty-five at rest. Eighty if I’m stressed.”

  She frowned. “It’s ninety-five. Herne said that you cast a lightning bolt?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. It’s not the same thing as being struck by lightning, but it leaves a residue.”

  “Well, you smell like smoke. I think you’ll be all right, you just need a day or so to heal up. I suggest you let them take you home and put you to bed and let you sleep it off.”

  “I need a shower. How’s Ember?” I glanced around, noticing Herne was nowhere to be seen. However, Yutani was sitting in a chair nearby, leaning back as he waited.

  “She’ll live. She’s beat up, though. She had a dislocated shoulder, a festering wound from what looks like some sort of battery acid, and Dr. Bonner is sewing up her ankle. She’ll need at least forty stitches. Something gave her one hell of a gash.”

  I nodded, knowing exactly what had happened to her. “She’s lucky that’s all that happened,” I said, “considering what we were up against.”

  I started to sit up but a wave of dizziness washed over me and I slammed back against the raised bed, groaning. “My phone. My mother’s supposed to be coming for a visit and now she won’t be able to contact me. What the hell am I going to do?”

  My mother would be livid when she couldn’t reach me, and once she found out why, I’d be in for far worse. I glanced over at Yutani. “Can you get my phone working again? Please?” I suddenly realized I wasn’t wearing my regular clothing, but a hospital gown instead.

  Yutani held up my phone. “I’ve got it here,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do with it. If you’re okay, I’ll head back to the office and see if I can get it back into commission.”

  I nodded. “I’m not going to be dancing on tables any time soon, but I’ll be okay.” As he left the room, I turned back toward the doctor. “The truth about Ember? Will she survive?”

  “She’ll survive, but she’s out of commission for at least a week or two. And you should be, too,” the doctor said, glaring at me, shaking her finger. “You hear me?”

  I let out another g
roan. “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

  By the time I got home, I could barely make it out of the car without shaking. Trinity had driven me; he wouldn’t let me touch the wheel. While it was covered with leather, I was still getting sparks every time I touched anything metal.

  We eased into my driveway, and I froze. There were lights on in the house, and I hadn’t turned them on when I left in the morning. I glanced at my watch. It was barely 4 p.m., and the rain had just started to ease. Trinity jumped out of the car and ran around to the side, opening my door. He helped me out of the car.

  “The lights—I didn’t leave them on,” I said, pointing as I began to shake, panicking. Raj was in there. Suppose somebody was in there hurting him? Ignoring the pain, I stumbled forward, but Trinity caught hold of me and helped me up the driveway.

  “I’ll unlock the door,” he said, reaching for the knob, but it opened right before he could touch it. Kipa was standing there.

  He took one look at me and grabbed me up. “Sweetie, are you all right?”

  I pounded my fists against his chest. “You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing home? I thought you were in Finland?”

  “Herne texted me that you were in the urgent care clinic. He told me that you were hurt and so of course I came home. Mielikki understood.” He took a long look at me, then shook his head. Turning to Trinity, he asked, “What the hell happened to her? I can feel how jarred she is. And her hair looks…” He paused.

  I reached up and smoothed down the locks but despite the rain, my hair was still one massive mane of frizz. And I still had patches of soot on me, along with nerves that were so raw I could barely stand to be touched.

  “She’ll be all right. I just wanted to make sure she got home all right,” Trinity said, then he gave me a quick wave. “I’ll call later to see how you are.” Before I could say a word, he turned and headed off.

  Kipa carried me into the living room as I started to tell him what had happened.

  “I decided to run a million-volt lightning bolt through my body just for fun,” I said, the words drifting away. There, in the rocking chair, was my mother.

  Phasmoria stood slowly, looking like a hard-core dominatrix. She was wearing black leather pants, a silver mesh tank top, and a black leather jacket. Her hair hung loose, down to her waist, with one brilliant silver streak through the jet-black strands. She was wearing stilettos, and her lips were as black as her outfit. Her eyes were cool, with barely any color at all in them. They were as frosty as snow, as frosty as the grave.

  Phasmoria strode forward, gathering me out of Kipa’s arms. She carried me over to the sofa and glanced over at Kipa. “Blanket, please. A sheet would be good. She’s not going to want to mess up her sofa with all of that soot.”

  Kipa jumped to obey. He brought a blanket and spread it out, and Phasmoria slowly eased me onto it. She sat beside me, taking my hand. We weren’t a family of huggers, we were barely demonstrative with each other, but we really did care.

  “What is this about you running a lightning bolt through you?” she asked.

  “I had to. We’re fighting a freaking weird-assed monster and the only thing I could do to prevent it from dragging off my friend Ember was to shoot a lightning bolt at it.”

  “Did you hit it?” Kipa asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. The thing squeezed into a crack that was barely six inches wide. We couldn’t follow. It tried to take Ember with it and dislocated her shoulder. It also drooled on her so she’s got a nasty wound on her arm, and it sliced up her leg. She’s sporting forty stitches. I sent the bolt into the crack and blew up a shower of stones from every which direction, so I know how deep the bolt hit. But whether it hit the Lykren or not, I can’t say for sure. “

  Kipa stood. “I’ll get you some tea if you like, and a sandwich?”

  I shook my head. “Dude, sometimes food isn’t the answer. Neither is tea. But I’ll take a glass of sparkling water, with lots of ice.” I leaned back on the sofa, trying to relax.

  My mother took my hand. “Do you think Typhon had anything to do with this?”

  I shook my head. “With the Lykren? No, but we’re seeing signs of him in so many places. Two of the Dragonni are in Seattle, causing problems. They animated a group of skeletal walkers the other night that we had to put down. But we don’t know where they are right now.”

  As I sat there, Kipa pulled off my boots for me. He tossed them to the side and began to rub my feet. I let out a little moan. Every muscle in my body hurt.

  “Do you have any Epsom salts? Or Dead Sea salts? “ Phasmoria asked.

  I nodded. “I actually do have some Dead Sea salts. They’re in my ritual room. Why?”

  “They make an excellent relaxant. Kipa, why don’t you go draw my daughter a bath? Lukewarm. And add a handful of the salts. If you can’t find them, I’ll come help. Make sure the water isn’t too hot—she’s had too much heat running through her body as it is.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Kipa scrambled up, hurrying off toward my bedroom.

  Phasmoria watched him go, waiting till he vanished out of sight. Then she turned to me. “I have a present for you. Remember, I said I was bringing one?”

  I frowned, wondering what it could be. Knowing my mother, it could be just about anything. “What is it?”

  “Just wait and see. I’ll be right back.” She sounded really excited and I hoped that, whatever it was, I could muster up some enthusiasm. Right now, all I wanted to do was sleep.

  I stretched out, closing my eyes while she was off in the guest room. A few moments later, she returned, carrying a long, narrow box. She motioned for me to sit up before handing it to me.

  The box was wrapped in a giant red ribbon with the bow on top. I stared at the box, wondering what the hell she could have in there. Given my mother was Queen of the Bean Sidhe, it could be just about anything. As I untied the bow and slid off the ribbon, I held my breath. Lifting the lid, I peeked inside.

  There, lying on a cushion of velvet, was a beautiful wand made of yew. I gasped and pulled it out of the box, holding it up so that I could examine it. The wand was gorgeous, with carnelian and citrine, sapphire and amber inlaid on the wood. At the top was a tiny amethyst sphere, about an inch in diameter, set in a bronze setting. Copper wire wound around the wand down to the handle, which was wrapped with a strip of bear fur. As I wrapped my hand around the wood and set the box on the floor, everything felt right. Even through my frazzled nerves, it felt like a perfect fit. The wand felt like an extension of me.

  I looked up at my mother. “Where did you get this? It’s beautiful.”

  Phasmoria laughed. “Let’s just say someone owed me a couple very big favors. I asked them to make that for you. It just felt like time to give you something—a tool that is made for you and only you. Since you aren’t following in either my footsteps or your father’s footsteps, we had to combine ideas into the best one we could come up with. The wand is from both of us. I hope you like it.” Her eyes gleamed and for once, her voice felt warm and tender.

  I set the wand down on the coffee table and repositioned myself, sitting up so I could lean my head against her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and I closed my eyes, breathing softly. I hadn’t snuggled with my mother for years.

  “Thank you, Mother. This is incredible. I didn’t expect anything like this.”

  “Mother always knows what her daughter needs,” Phasmoria said. And with that, she gave me a kiss on the forehead, and the next thing I knew I was stretching out on the sofa with my head on her lap. Sometimes it was nice to have your mother at home. Sometimes, family made all the difference.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When I woke up the next morning, I expected to feel every aching bruise in my body, but I was surprisingly pain-free. I wasn’t sure whether it was the herbal concoction that Sejun had given me or it was the bath or the blend of tea that my mother had made for me before bed. Whatever the case, I woke re
freshed, able to get up and head for the shower without even a single wince.

  Kipa was already up. Fretting that he was probably talking to my mother, I padded into the bathroom and this time, I was able to take my time and lather up with my favorite bath scent. The night before I had taken a half-hour long bath and I had still felt jarred by the electricity that I had funneled through my body. This morning, I was able to wash my hair and fully get rid of the smell of soot and smoke.

  As I dried off, and did my hair and makeup, I texted Ember to see how she was doing.

  how are you feeling this morning? yesterday was a clusterfuck.

  She texted back within minutes. i’m at home. angel and herne wouldn’t let me come into work today. i’m on crutches for a few days until my ankle heals, and my arm still aches like hell from being dislocated. essentially, i’m rolling around the bottom floor of the house in a wheeled desk chair. mr. rumblebutt likes to ride on my lap. How are you? I’ve never seen a jolt of lightning like that. i can’t imagine how it felt to have it coming through you.

  I frowned, deciding it was taking too long to text, and called her instead. She answered on the first ring.

  “I wondered if it wouldn’t just be easier to call,” she said. “So where the hell did that spell come from? I didn’t know you could do that!”

  “I wasn’t sure I could. Technically, I knew the spell. I’ve known it for a while now. But when push comes to shove, the fact is I’ve never cast it before in my life. I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen, except it was the only choice I had to avoid engulfing both Viktor and Trinity with my fire as well. And you, of course. I knew that I could direct the lightning bolt to a target well above your head. Do you think it hit the Lykren?”

  Her voice was soft when she answered. “I don’t think so. I think it startled him, and maybe you injured him, but my gut tells me he’s still down there. We’ll have to go back in after him, I’m afraid.”