Fate Forsaken

by Chauntelle Baughman

  “We don’t know how, exactly,” Eldon answered. “Someone has been tracking her movements, but we’re not certain who. Or why.”

  “Does she have any suspects?” Nick asked.

  Eldon shook his head. “None that she’s willing to share.”

  “Could they be after the Kamens?” Trinador tapped her thin finger lightly on her chin as she thought. “It’s too coincidental.”

  “Cadence found a tracking device on her driver’s car here in Paris. She hid it instead of destroying it, and I hope it will lead us to some clues. I couldn’t touch the tracker because we weren’t sure if there were any trigger spells tied to it, and I didn’t want to lead anyone here, but I was able to cast an impression of it.” Eldon pointed to the agate stone.

  “Wouldn’t someone be able to trace the magick in that stone? Are you sure it’s safe?” Rho asked.

  Eldon nodded. “The impression is harmless as…taking a photo of a gun. The subject matter of the impression is dangerous, but the impression itself is safe.”

  Trinador peered at the table. “If I recall, you’re okay with impression-taking but you suck at reading them. I’m guessing that’s why you’re here.”

  “Exactly,” Eldon said.

  “No way.” Nick shook his head and rose to his feet. “She can’t read an impression without tapping into her magick, and I won’t let her do that.”

  Trinador rolled her eyes and pushed herself up from the couch on shaky legs. “I’m not a child, Nick. I have a burned aura. It happens. Stop treating me like an invalid.”

  “I’m not trying to treat you—”

  “What if I had a filter?” Trinador interrupted.

  “What?” Nick’s brow creased in confusion.

  Trinador turned and pointed at Rho. “Rho is a siphon, right? So in a way, she’s a magickal filter. Magick runs through her.”

  Magick did run through her. And her control was getting better, even though she didn’t get to practice nearly as much as she wanted to.

  Nick shook his head. “She can take magick in, not control it on the way out.”

  “That’s not true.” Eldon reached out and pulled Rho’s hand into his. The warmth of his touch calmed her instantly, relieving tension she wasn’t even aware she was harboring.

  “How?” Nick asked.

  “We’ve been working on her skills.” Eldon rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “Just the other day, she took in too much energy and couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it. She was able to push it out.”

  “See?” Trinador raised her hands triumphantly. “She could be my filter.”

  “I don’t like it,” Nick said, his brow creased in worry.

  A soft smile touched Trinador’s lips, and she lifted a hand to touch Nick’s arm. “You’re worried about me running magick myself. That I may be too weak to handle it if anything bad happened.” She lifted a shoulder and gazed up at him with wide, kind eyes. “If she acts as my filter, she’d take the brunt of any magick mishaps. Her aura could easily handle it. The spell isn’t risky.”

  Eldon’s grip tightened.

  Rho rose to her feet and pulled her hand from his hold. “I want to help.”

  Eldon frowned. “The reason she can’t run the magick herself is because something bad might happen.” He stood and stepped forward, setting a hand on Rho’s cheek. “What if it happens to you?”

  Damn him, he knew that when he touched her face like that, it made her weak. Since he’d figured that out, he always used that trick when he was trying to reason with her. Worked every time. And what if he was right? What if she wasn’t strong enough or couldn’t figure out how to get the magick out of her like she did last time?

  No. This time, she had an element of protection she didn’t before.

  With careful hands, she held up the delicate chain supporting the moonstone around her neck. “Didn’t she give this to me for a reason? Isn’t this for protection?” She glanced from Eldon to Nick then to Trinador. “If it can keep death magick away from me, I’m sure it can keep the lesser evils at bay.”

  Eldon clenched his jaw, the muscles in his cheeks flexing as he considered her. “We don’t know that.”

  “We won’t be irresponsible.” Rho shook her head then turned to Trinador. “If at any point we think things aren’t going according to plan, we’ll stop. Do you promise to do that?”

  “I do,” Trinador answered.

  Nick and Eldon exchanged a long glance. Finally, they both ground out, “Fine.”

  “All right then.” Trinador gave Rho a victorious smile. “I’ll need your help in the kitchen. Bring that rock.”

  Rho snatched the agate from the table and followed her through the hallway and into the kitchen. The pattering of footsteps behind them told her that Nick and Eldon weren’t far behind. She wasn’t sure exactly what help she could be, but Trinador had done more than enough for her already. No way would she deny her assistance when she needed it.

  “Nick and Eldon, could you move that kitchen table against the wall for me, please?” Trinador asked.

  The men nodded and went to work, moving the chairs and the table to clear a space.

  “I’ll need to set two purified circles.” With quick hands, Trinador pulled a bowl, a bag of salt, and a tall, narrow bottle from a cabinet. She cranked the faucet and filled the bowl with water before setting it on the counter.

  “What’s in the bottle?” Rho asked.

  Trinador cracked the lid and pulled out the glass dropper. “Sage oil. Excellent for purification.” Three drops fell from the dropper into the bowl. She resealed the bottle before sliding the bag of salt across the counter. “Three pinches should do the trick.” She tossed in the three pinches, and the salt settled to the bottom of the bowl.

  Rho glanced toward the corner of the kitchen to find Nick and Eldon leaning against the wall, scowling. Eldon met her eyes, his concern obvious in their depths.

  “Don’t worry,” Rho mouthed.

  He closed his eyes for a brief moment then glanced down at his shoes. Nick didn’t take his focus off of Trinador while she worked.

  Rho turned back toward the kitchen to find Trinador with a long knife in her hand. “Crap!” Not exactly what she’d been expecting. “What the hell are you going to do with that?”

  “I need blood to bind the spell. Don’t worry, I’ll use mine.” With a quick swipe, Trinador ran the blade across her finger. Blood blossomed along the path, and Rho fought to keep her hunger in check. Damn, she was going to need to feed again soon.

  Three drops of blood fell into the bowl, turning the water a rusty blend of orange and red as it mixed with the solution. Reaching across the counter, Trinador pulled an engraved metal spatula from a container on the countertop.

  Rho watched intently as Trinador added more ingredients, mixing things together as easily as a professional chef would in a home kitchen. Her demeanor was calm but focused, every action a precise calculation. She reminded Rho a little of herself in the middle of a fight, all strength and skill.

  Once Trinador mixed the contents of the bowl, she wandered over to the far side of her kitchen, where the table and chairs were now pressed neatly against the wall. Trinador dropped to the ground and set the bowl beside her then cupped a hand and scooped out the mixture.

  Rho opened her mouth but Trinador cut her off. “I’m setting two circles. One for you and one for me.” She traced the first circle along the floor, nearly four feet across, using the bowl’s contents as some sort of paint. Then she drew a second one to match.

  Finished, she rose from the ground and set the bowl on the countertop. “Sit right there.” She glanced at Rho and pointed to the first circle she’d drawn.

  Nerves fluttered in Rho’s stomach as she followed instructions, careful not to touch the circle. She settled in the center. Trinador placed a yellow candle inside the circle to Rho’s left. Swiping her hand quickly over the wick, a tiny flame erupted and the candle lit itself.

  Setting an
other candle in the opposite circle, Trinador sat down across from Rho and lit that candle as well. “You ready for this?”

  Rho nodded.

  “Place the rock in your hand, palm facing up,” Trinador instructed.

  Rho drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, hoping to ease the tension building in her mind. She extended her hand holding the agate. Would this feel the same as the magick she’d pulled from Eldon before? Or did age and gender make a difference?

  Trinador extended her own hand over the stone, palm to the floor. “I’m going to begin now. Don’t move.” She closed her eyes. “What to us was once concealed, let it be at once revealed.”

  Blue fire erupted from the ground in two perfect circles, rising a foot off the floor in the exact path that Trinador had traced with her hands. The nerves that had been flittering started to gallop, and Rho’s gaze shot up to meet Eldon’s. He nodded. This was normal. No need to panic. Although magick spells really should come with some sort of a warning. Spontaneous blue fire would be nice to know about in advance.

  Trinador continued, “Though this stone is impression cast, reveal the original tracker’s past.”

  A path of blue fire rose from the ground beneath Rho’s hand, rushing into the stone through her palm. The fire tingled but didn’t hurt, and she fought the urge to pull her hand away.

  Trinador’s palm began to glow as the stone beneath illuminated. “Show us from whence the magick came, and give if you can the caster’s name.”

  The blue flames swirled around their palms, the energy flowing through Rho differently than it ever had before. This time, there was no fullness or taking of the magick on her part. It flowed through her like water running through her hands, easily and painlessly.

  Trinador’s words were clear and strong, much stronger than she appeared, still frail and in her peach nightgown. “Protect us now from malicious will. Harm us not by what you reveal.”

  Heat intensified in Rho’s palm as the stone grew brighter, glowing a furious red like a hot ember from a fire. At once, the blue flame shot toward the ceiling then reversed direction and hit Trinador squarely in the chest. The fire rushing around the two circles evaporated.

  “Eldon!” Rho shouted. Not again. She couldn’t let Trinador get hurt. Hadn’t the magick been running through her? Wasn’t she a filter?

  “It’s okay,” Eldon called. He and Nick didn’t move from the corner. “Give her a second. She’s reading the impression.”

  Rho glanced up to find Trinador with her head tilted back toward the ceiling, her eyes flittering as if she were having another seizure. “Are you sure this is normal?” Why the hell did magick always have to look so damn scary?

  “Yes,” Nick answered. “Weird, but normal.”

  Worried, Rho waited for the episode to pass. Several minutes later, Trinador flopped forward on the tile. She began coughing uncontrollably, and Rho rushed forward through the circle to kneel at her side.

  “Are you okay?” Rho asked, patting her on the back. Surely the poor girl wasn’t coughing because she was choking, but Rho didn’t know how else to be useful.

  “I’m fine.” Trinador coughed again before she finally sat up. “Man, I hate that part.” She turned toward Eldon. “I think the problem may be bigger than you thought.”

  Nick tore across the room in a flash to fall beside Trinador.

  Eldon ran behind him but went straight for Rho. “You did good,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss against her hair.

  She shivered, still a little spooked at the sight of Trinador seizing again. “Thanks.”

  “What did you see?” Nick asked.

  Trinador’s eyes were wide as her gaze bounced between the three of them. “This is an inside job. No question about it.”

  Nick’s brow knotted, and Eldon’s jaw tensed, their expressions turning serious instantly.

  Rho frowned. “How can you tell?”

  “Members of the Collective are bound together through magick. Very, very old magick. The impact leaves a trail that can’t be mistaken.” Trinador stared at Eldon, her expression grave. “Whoever created that tracker wasn’t just a magick mover.”

  “What are you saying?” Eldon asked.

  Trinador shook her head. “That person is a member of the Collective.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Rho tilted her head to the side, trying to make sense of what Trinador was saying. The person tracking Cadence was also a member of the Collective? Did Eldon know the person? And could there be more than one?

  “We need to go. Now.” Eldon rose to his feet and extended a hand down to Rho. “Come on.”

  Rho gave him a puzzled stare but took his hand. “What’s wrong?”

  Eldon’s lips were two thin slashes, his brows knotted as he seemed to be calculating silently in his mind. His expression told her clearly there was more to his mood, but she couldn’t understand what had made him so upset. Okay, so the Collective was involved. They’d kind of expected that, given the level of magick used. What did that mean for the team?

  “This is bad. I have to tell Cadence right away.” Eldon pulled Rho to her feet, and Nick did the same for Trinador. “Tim and Preshea need to know what’s happening, too.”

  “Do you want me to call them?” Rho asked then remembered. “Never mind. Cadence said the phones could be tapped, damn.”

  Eldon stepped forward and pulled Trinador into a quick hug. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.” He turned to Nick and shook his hand then tilted his head toward Trinador. “Take care of her.” Giving them each a quick nod, he clasped Rho’s hand in his. “You understand why we need to leave.”

  Trinador nodded quickly and made a motion toward the door. “Get out of here. Do what you have to do.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Nick added. “Call me when you can.”

  “What’s going on?” Rho protested as Eldon pulled her toward the front door of the cottage. He tucked her massive purse onto her shoulder, opened the door, and ushered her through.

  Enough. She wasn’t going to be pushed around by anyone, especially Eldon. Being around all of these magick movers was a little like being an outsider at some exclusive club. Everything always happened around her, but no one ever thought to clue her in. That stopped right now.

  She froze in the middle of the cobblestone path and whirled around, holding her hands up. “Can you just stop for one second? Tell me what’s happening. What’s going on here?”

  Eldon blew out a deep breath. “This is serious, Rho. A breach in the Collective could mean that all magick is compromised.”

  “How?” She didn’t understand how the Collective worked, exactly, but she couldn’t see how one person getting out of line could be such a big deal. Vamps got out of line all the time. That was why she was the executioner. Surely magick movers had a similar zero-tolerance policy.

  “We can talk on our way to the metro.” Eldon slipped his arm through Rho’s as he raced along the sidewalk.

  She allowed him to drag her along. “Fine.”

  “The Collective exists for a reason,” he said quietly. “We protect all magick movers and keep people from performing illegal spells. To know that someone in the Collective is going after Cadence and has abandoned those principles—that’s scary.”

  “You can’t control them? We have ways of dealing with rogue vamps.”

  “We can’t just kill a member of the Collective.” Eldon shook his head. “They know magick that the ordinary mover public doesn’t. We have access to spells and records that are kept hidden for a reason.”

  “You mean they’re dangerous,” Rho said.

  “Extremely.”

  They jumped onto the metro as quickly as they could and headed straight for the loft. When they stepped off the train, they were greeted by two familiar faces.

  “There you are.” Tim waved a hand in greeting. “Our train just got in, too. We weren’t able to find anything at the basilica.” He smiled but quickly turned serious whe
n he glanced over at Eldon. “Everything okay?”

  Preshea gave Rho a quick nod.

  “Not exactly,” Eldon answered. “We were just heading back to the loft to meet up with you.”

  “You look like someone just took a swing at you with a bat,” Preshea said. “What’s going on?”

  “Let’s go to the loft. We can talk on the way.” Eldon spoke quickly as they traveled back to their home away from home. In detail, he explained everything that had transpired to the best of their knowledge. Which was limited. Rho filled in all of the little details as best she could, including the protection moonstone Trinador had given her and how that was supposed to help.

  “Trinador sure is being nice to you, considering she has every right to be pissed,” Preshea said quietly as they reached the stairs of the loft. Eldon took them two at a time, and they all followed suit.

  “Tell me about it.” Rho kept up pace until they nearly reached the top landing.

  “Oh, no.” Tim froze mid step, his voice quiet.

  Rho stopped behind him and glanced up. Her heart sank to her shoes. The door to the loft had been left ajar, the doorjamb splintered into a million pieces. “Oh, God.”

  All four of them darted forward. Eldon was the first one to the door and he threw it open, revealing Rho’s worst nightmare.

  “Holy shit.” Rho’s gaze bounced from wall to wall then to the floor, taking in the red spattering that sure as hell wasn’t paint. The metallic stench of blood hit her nose, only this time her reaction was far from hunger. It was fury.

  “Evette!” Eldon shouted. “Lukas! Are you here?” His hands glowed blue as he took a step forward. No doubt he was harnessing a nasty dose of ley line fire, should the culprit of this attack still be in the house.

  Which wasn’t a bad idea. Rho jammed her hand into her purse, yanking out her Glock and turning the safety off at the same time. She lifted the barrel and pointed it toward the doorway with both hands before falling in step behind Eldon.