Witching Moon

by Yasmine Galenorn

  Without Trinity, it took a little longer to get into the building. Kipa was able to pick the locks, though, and soon we were inside. I gave Herne directions to find the basement, and with him in the lead and my mother behind him, we headed toward the stairwell. Kipa was bringing up the rear to keep guard on us.

  I noticed that the spirits were taking much more attention of what was happening. They were focused on us, staring with their mouths open. It had to be the divine energy, I thought. Plus, with my mother’s nature, the spirits would totally be onto us. Several of them actually took one look at her and sped off in the other direction. I couldn’t help but grin, thinking that I had my own Mommy Dearest, only Phasmoria could beat out Joan Crawford any day.

  We reached the basement door, and I stared at the metal. There were dents in it, as though something had tried to punch through from the inside. I remembered that Trinity had locked the Lykren in, and apparently the Lykren didn’t have a key. I pointed to the bulges on the metal.

  “I think the Lykren did that. Trinity locked it in with his magic, so it hasn’t been able to get out to feed. I’m pretty sure most of the spirits have avoided the basement, relieved at not having the damn thing chasing them.”

  Herne arched his eyebrows as Kipa went to work on the lock. I wondered if he’d be able to break it, given Trinity’s magic, but after a few moments we heard a click and Kipa stood up, brushing his hands on his pants. He tucked away his lock picks and then gave the rest of us a long look.

  “I guess this is it,” I said. “Viktor, Yutani, and I will go in. Do not let that door lock behind us. And be ready to come in the minute we give a shout.”

  “Why can’t you just use the wand to level the basement?” Viktor asked.

  “Because then we wouldn’t know if we killed it. Just like I don’t know if my lightning bolt did any damage. We have to see the body to make sure it’s gone.” I bit my lip, not wanting to go back in that room. Even though I had Viktor and Yutani and wasn’t going in alone, it still felt about the same thing when it came to the Lykren. The creature was crafty, fast, and deadly.

  “Okay, but the minute you see it you let us know.” Kipa turned me to him, holding me by the shoulders. “I am not taking a chance on losing you.”

  “Trust me, I’m not interested in offering myself up as a sacrifice. I’m not that selfless.” I reached up and kissed him on the nose, then stroked the hair back away from his face. “I love you. Remember that. And thank you for helping me through the past weeks.” With that, before he could say another word, I turned to the door and, motioning to Viktor and Yutani, opened it and slid through.

  Once again the room was dark as pitch.

  I turned on a flashlight and waved it around, trying to let the Lykren know we were here. This time we weren’t going for secrecy. We wanted to attract its attention. We headed toward the tunnel on the west wall, and I hoped that Kipa would remember the directions I had given him.

  As we entered the tunnel, I thought I could hear something from up ahead. I waved the light harder, practically playing disco ball.

  “Do you think we’ll find it?” I asked, keeping my voice loud.

  Viktor picked up on what I was doing. “I don’t know, but I sure hope not. It doesn’t help that there are just the three of us down here.”

  Yutani stifled a snicker. I glared at him, but he just shrugged. “I doubt if it speaks English, he said. “But that sure sounds like the fakest conversation I’ve heard in ages.”

  “That’s because it is!” I said, realizing he was right. The Lykren probably didn’t understand a word of English. Which was on my side, I supposed.

  We came to the back of the tunnel, where we paused for a moment. I peeked into the cavern, trying to find the crack through which it had oozed the day before. There it was, on the far wall. The crack had taken some damage from my lightning bolt—that much was apparent.

  I motioned for the men to slowly follow me in. As I tried to close my eyes and send out my sensors, the energy hit me with full force. We weren’t alone in the room. The Lykren was here. Now we just had to keep it from escaping until the others could get here.

  “It’s around,” I said. “I can feel it.”

  “I can too,” Yutani said. “It’s old, whatever it is, and it’s old and nasty.”

  At that moment, there was a noise to the side and the Lykren came darting out from behind a tall column. It was close enough to brush me with its claws and I screamed, jumping back. It barreled my way, and I tilted the wand toward it, but if I let go now, it would seal us in. Yutani and Viktor were shouting for the others, as Viktor pulled out his sword and slashed at the Lykren as it went by.

  He managed to hit it, and the creature turned toward him with an angry hiss, reaching out with those long arms and serrated claws. Its frog mouth opened and its tongue lolled out, heading directly toward Viktor like a weapon.

  Holy crap, we hadn’t seen that before!

  “Jump,” I yelled, hoping Viktor could move fast enough.

  But Viktor was too slow, and he stumbled over a rock as the Lykren’s tongue caught hold of his arm and wrapped around it. Viktor let out a shout, and we heard a sizzle as the acidic drool began to burn through Viktor’s leather jacket.

  Yutani pulled out his whip, and I realized this was the first time he had had a chance to use it in battle. He hauled back and sent it cracking through the air, to slice across the Lykren’s back.

  The Lykren let out a shriek, muffled by the fact that its tongue was still around Viktor’s arm, and it tried to turn to see what had hit it. There were glistening drops running down its back. I wasn’t sure if it was blood or some other sort of liquid, but Yutani had scored a direct hit on it. I could smell charred flesh and it occurred to me that it might be from the ilithiniam. The whip had a magical metal braided into it. From what I understood, the great Coyote had braided the whip himself for his son.

  The Lykren was still holding onto Viktor, and I could tell now that its acidic drool had eaten through the leather sleeve, and was biting into Viktor’s arm. The half-ogre was struggling, but the Lykren was stronger than even Viktor.

  Yutani took another swing, this time aiming for the Lykren’s tongue. Instinctively, I winced as the whip came whistling down across the long pinkish organ, slicing right through it. Drool splattered everywhere, sizzling as it hit the floor and as it hit Viktor and Yutani. Luckily, I was far enough back to escape it, but both men screamed as the acid burned into their skin.

  At that moment Herne, Kipa, and Phasmoria burst through the tunnel. I darted out of the way, yelling, “Viktor’s hurt, and I think Yutani has been too.”

  They took in the situation, and Herne immediately pulled out his bow. He nocked an arrow and let it fly. The arrow pierced the Lykren in the forehead and bit deep. The Lykren shrieked and stumbled back.

  Kipa took that moment to swing in behind it, plunging his sword through its back. The Lykren shrieked again and began to waver. Phasmoria moved in at that point, and she held out her hands toward it. A gray smoke began to filter through the air, emanating from the Lykren’s eyes and mouth as she sucked it in, drinking deep.

  I had never seen my mother in action before, and while her kind usually foretold death, they could easily mete it out as well. She drank deep, her laughter shaking the room as she suddenly spun into the air, half corporeal, half mist. She threw her arms wide as her head dropped back and the last of the Lykren’s life vanished down her throat. Her eyes were glowing, and she gave a long look at us before settling back down and regrouping into herself.

  The Lykren was slumped on the floor, and Herne prodded it with the sword. It didn’t move.

  “I think it’s dead,” he said.

  “This place needs to be torn down,” Phasmoria said. She shook her head. “The Lykren is only the first of the monstrosities that will come through this area. I’ll gather the spirits and take them away from here, but the area itself is a magnet for spiritual activity. The buildings
have also been acting like traps. If they are gone, it may help some in the years to come. I don’t know if that makes any sense to you, but it does on an energetic level.”

  “Well, you said this wand can bring down the house. Do you think it can bring down this complex? We can create a local earthquake, so to speak.” I stared at the wand, wondering just how powerful it could be.

  “I don’t know if it can bring down all three, but definitely we should destroy this one. This is the heart of the complex. And this entire complex has almost become a sentient being, given all the energy that’s run through it. Go outside. I will gather the spirits and take them out. Then, I’ll return and you can give it a try.”

  My mother shooed us out. As we waited in the secret garden, she returned to the complex. I could hear a great whispering and then a host of spirits rose out of the building, following my mother who was a dark figure in a black cloak flying through the air.

  “What are you looking at?” Kipa asked, shading his eyes as he looked up at the sky.

  “Can’t you guys see her? And all the spirits?”

  The others shook their head. None of them could see my mother, and none of them could see the parade of spirits following her.

  We sat in the center of the garden for twenty minutes until my mother suddenly returned, stepping out from behind a nearby tree.

  “They’re gone. I’ve released them and now they can move on. Okay, my daughter. Give the wand a try like I told you.” My mother looked as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

  I snorted, standing up. I moved to the front, where I had a clear aim at the hospital, and held out the wand. Glancing over my shoulder, I looked at my mother.

  “This isn’t going to hit anybody out in the front street, is it? I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

  She shook her head. “I checked. There’s nobody around there. This is a pretty dead area, so to speak. In many ways.”

  I fastened my hands around the wand, holding the amber gem. Closing my eyes, I focused on the building itself. The building that I had come to hate.

  Fire, fire, burning higher,

  here my will, obey me still.

  There was rumbling, and then the building began to shake. Bricks crumbled as the walls caved in. As we watched, the building slowly imploded, crashing into a pile of dust and rubble. It hadn’t spread out to the residences, but at least the hospital itself looked to be fully destroyed.

  We stood there for a moment. I stared at the wand, trying to comprehend that I had just managed to destroy an entire building with one little incantation.

  Then, before the sirens could draw near, we turned and hightailed it out of the garden, heading back to the office. The Lykren was gone, the spirits were free, and a blot on Seattle’s history had been wiped out.

  Chapter Eighteen

  We were home by two, just in time for me to get ready for my appointment with Sejun. I wasn’t sure how I felt about sitting down for a therapy session so soon after a major battle, but I ran upstairs to change. At least the blast from the wand hadn’t left me feeling like I was electrocuted. I jumped in the shower, scrubbed down, and then quickly changed into a cute purple tiered skirt and a green corset top.

  My hair was driving me batty—I needed a trim—so I pulled it back into a high ponytail, and put on huge hoop earrings. As I slipped on a pair of striped tights, Kipa came in the room. I turned, and the moment my tights were all the way up, I raced over to him and threw myself in his arms. He caught me up, whirling me around and then pulling me to him for a long kiss.

  “Thank you, thank you for coming back. Thank you for telling me I mean so much to you that you would return from Finland just for me.” I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting out a little sigh. If I had my way, I would have stripped him naked right there and yanked him into bed. But a glance at the clock told me that we really didn’t have time, even for a quickie. After another long kiss, I unwrapped my legs, and swung down. He grinned at me, his eyes warm and sensuous.

  “I’m thinking what you’re thinking, I’ll give you ten bucks on that. What say we send your mother to a movie tonight?” He winked at me.

  “Yeah, I’d like that, except I don’t think she actually goes to movies. I don’t know, maybe she does. We’ll find a way. Here, would you hook this for me?” I held out a long chain. The necklace was one Kipa had given me a few weeks before, a smoky quartz crystal set in a silver pendant. It was almost sixty carats, huge and sparkling.

  He fastened it around my neck and kissed me under the ear. “You are brighter and more sparkling than all the gems in the world. How are you feeling now?”

  “I’m excited, actually. Destroying the Lykren actually made me feel better. It took away some of my fear, I think. And I think Sejun is going to do the same. I decided that it’s fine if he siphons my pain and fear away off of me. I can do without it, as long as he doesn’t take my memories with it.” I paused. “I hope you don’t mind about my friendship with Trinity. Herne told me about his background, and I assume you know about it already?”

  Kipa nodded, his eyes darkening. “I will never tell you who to be friends with, and I won’t interfere with your friendships. We’ve had a rather lackadaisical relationship up till now. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want to be one of a group of women I date. And I’ve honored that. And now, I actually feel compelled to tell you the same thing. I don’t just want to be one of your paramours. I never thought I would find myself opting for exclusivity again. But Raven, as long as we’re together, I don’t want anybody else in bed with us. Can you promise me that?”

  “Of course. When I told you I didn’t want to be just one of the notches on your belt, I thought it was implied that I would return the same. Why does Trinity bother you so much? Is it his parentage?”

  Kipa led me over to the bed, sitting me down. He crossed his legs after slipping off his sandals. “There’s something that connects you and Trinity. I can feel it when you’re together. I’m not saying it’s romantic. But you two have some sort of a bond. Maybe it’s joint interests, maybe it’s an understanding because both of you had to grow up too soon. Whatever the case, when the two of you are together it feels like there’s nobody else in the room. It’s like you close yourselves into a private little world. And I don’t particularly enjoy being left out of your world.”

  “I didn’t realize I was doing that,” I said. “Trinity and I just seemed to connect. But I am telling you the truth when I say that I’m not romantically interested in him. He’s sexy, I’m not going to ignore that. Or deny it. But he’s not the kind of sexy for me. I guess the thing is I feel that he understands a part of me that nobody else seems to. Given my lineage, there’s a lot of chaos in my life. And sometimes I like to play hard. I’m not sure if you are interested in that. I love clubbing, and dancing, and sometimes I like to walk on the edge.”

  The somber look on Kipa’s face vanished and he leaned back and laughed. But it didn’t feel mean or sarcastic to me. “You want to walk on the edge? Oh sweetheart, I can take you to the edge. Trust me. I just didn’t know if you could accept that part of me. I have a darker side, I’ll be honest. Herne is more upstanding, but I run with the wolves and I creep under the moon. I know what it’s like to reach out and touch the aurora borealis, to bathe in the energy of the northern lights. I know what it’s like to drink away a week while you’re out in the snow, dancing around a bonfire. I can drum with the best of them, and if you let me, I’ll drum for you, if you’ll dance for me.”

  I stared at him, holding my breath as his words spiraled around me. There was a wildness to them that transcended even the side of me that loved to let go and let loose. No wonder he got along with my mother. They were both feral, two cats in a colony, prowling through the woods at night.

  “Maybe I have underestimated you. I’ve never seen this side of you, and it stirs my blood.”

  He jumped up. “Come with me, Raven. When I go back to Finland, come with me for a few weeks.
I’ll show you my homeland, and my forests. I’ll introduce you to the witch women there and they can teach you what it means to worship the northern lights. Mielikki won’t mind if you come, though I’ll ask first. In fact, I think you would really like her. And I think she’d really like you.” He was grinning now, looking positively delighted.

  “I’d love that. We’ll have to wait until my mother leaves, but yes, I’d be happy to go with you. Do you mind if we take Raj? I don’t want to leave him alone too long.”

  “Where we go, he goes. We’re all part of the same family—we’re forming a tribe, you know.” He glanced at the clock. “You’d better get downstairs. Your therapist will be here any minute.”

  As I headed for the door, I looked over my shoulder. “I’m not giving up Trinity as a friend, but that’s all he is. I promise you on my word of honor.”

  As Kipa pulled out his tablet and started to read, he blew me a kiss and waved me on.

  After my session with Sejun, my mother and I went out for a walk. I told her about Trinity, and about what Kipa had said to me in the bedroom.

  “Relationships are complex, aren’t they?” she said.

  I nodded. “What brought you and Curikan together?”

  Phasmoria paused, staring up at the growing dusk. “His kindness. And I love dogs, and his eyes.” She frowned, staring at the trailhead leading into the park. “If I could have stayed with him, I would have. I would have stayed and been your mother, and watched you grow up. But I don’t think you and I would have as good of a relationship if that had been the case. I wasn’t born to be a mother. I was born to be a queen. And when you’re born to be a queen, duty always comes before family. But I tried my best to be there for you when I could, and I swore I would never just vanish without a word. I’d like to think I’ve kept that promise.”