Malice

by Stacy Charasidis

  Furious pounding on the door broke the mood a few seconds later.

  “Yer Honour?” a boy yelled from outside. “Yer Graciousness, Sir? Yer dinner’s ready!” a young voice bellowed.

  Sean hesitated for a moment while he stared at Elanah. Her long, bouncy blond curls shone like ribbons of gold in the firelight. She smiled as the boy continued to pound on the door and holler.

  “You had better let him in. Dinner appears to be serious business around here,” she said with a snicker.

  With a look of irritation, Sean yelled for the boy to come in. The door slammed open and the youth tottered in with a tray laden with food.

  “Blimey, this is heavy!” the boy exclaimed, sniffling as he shuffled in with his muddy boots, holding the dinner tray precariously. “You certainly eats a lot, Sir,” the boy said loudly before dropping the tray on the table with a clatter, putting the plans for the construction site at risk of being decorated with food.

  Sean winced and reached out a hand to steady the silver teapot wobbling on the tray. “Why, thank you Amos. It was mighty kind of you to bring us our dinner.”

  The boy was nodding his head, his floppy hat sliding over his eyes. He pushed it back.

  “T’weren’t no bother, Sir,” he said respectfully before turning and seeing Elanah. “Gaw!” he yelped as he stumbled back and tripped over the carpet, careening toward the door he had to grab and slam closed to get his balance. “Sorry, me lady,” he said as he gasped in fright. “I did NOT see you there.”

  “Obviously,” she said with a wide grin.

  “You been there the whole time?” the boy asked suspiciously, looking around for anyone else he might have missed.

  Elanah laughed with delight and got up from the bed where she had been sitting. She walked over to the boy. He couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

  “Yes, silly boy, and no, there is no one else in here. What are you doing in the middle of the woods so far away from your mama?” she asked softly, taking off his hat and stroking his blond hair back. He looked as if he could use a bath.

  “I’m here with me brother who’s working on the build site. I ain’t gonna be here long. Me da said I had to be back fer the end of the week. Me brother’s gonna bring me home.”

  He closed his eyes contentedly. The warmth of the room, Elanah’s soothing voice, and her hands in his hair were relaxing him. Sean looked on with exasperation. “You know, he tracked mud into the room.”

  “Oh, shush, Sean. He’s just a kid.”

  Sean looked indignant.

  “I didn’t know the mayor’s lady wife was here,” Amos said dreamily.

  “She isn’t,” Elanah said softly, passing her hand through his hair and over his face. “You didn’t see a lady at all.”

  “Okay,” he said quietly.

  What a sweet boy. She reached over and grabbed one of the rolls nestled in a linen cloth on the tray and passed it to him. The boy was still dazed, but he ate it hungrily. Little boys were walking stomachs.

  “Give him a coin,” Elanah said to Sean.

  “What! Why?” Sean grumbled. “It’s his job to bring food.”

  Elanah snorted. “Did you work when you were this young? Anyway, it’s for sweets when he gets home.”

  “More like his parents will take it and use it for food.”

  “Now Sean, be generous. I need you to do a kind act so he’ll remember you and forget about me. The last thing we need is him telling everyone about my presence.”

  Sean snorted as he pulled a silver coin from his pocket and handed it to the boy. “Bye, Amos.”

  “’S’long, Mr. Kirkman,” he said as he opened the door and staggered out, jamming his hat back on his head, his hand clutching the silver tightly. “Much obliged fer yer generosisty.”

  Sean closed the door, and after Elanah whisked away the mud, they sat down to eat. There would be no spell casting tonight, so they chatted. He told her of his plans for the new town of Superstition to be built at this location, and she told him of her work with Jacob Barrington, the Mayor of Barrington County, which was a sister town to Limerick.

  “He doesn’t suspect anything, does he?” Sean asked with some concern. Jacob had been desperate to move his town’s graveyard to Limerick and had gone to Sean seeking his help, mayor to mayor.

  “No, Jacob doesn’t suspect anything. He knows nothing about a demon plaguing Limerick or the new town you’re building, although rumours of the construction have reached him. He’ll find out soon enough.” She smiled. “No point in airing out your dirty laundry when you smirked at Jacob for his ghost problem.”

  Sean flinched at her sharp barb. “Ouch, kitten. Retract thy claws. You have to admit, his request to move his graveyard was an odd one. I had to ask why. I never dreamed it was because it was haunted.”

  Sean had agreed and given Barrington County a plot of consecrated land next to Limerick’s cemetery. He then used Jacob’s desperation to infiltrate Barrington’s Secret Circle in the person of Elanah Von Vixen.

  Jacob had lynched and burned a murderous witch who had turned around and hexed him and the others in the mob. If the hex came about, it was possible the surge of power could inadvertently open the prison they were building, and Elanah was worried. As fate would have it, the Barrington council needed a strong witch to help build magical protection for their town, and Elanah was the perfect choice. It had been a terrible risk to tell Jacob that Elanah was a practicing witch, but after what Jacob and his Secret Circle had seen, they were grateful for her help. So Elanah designed and set the protective spells Jacob needed for his town, and while she was at it, she set a containment spell that would isolate Barrington County and protect Danner’s cage from opening if the hex were fulfilled.

  She did tell Jacob and his council about the containment spell, which they called the barn spell, but had omitted some key details. They thought the spell would protect them from the hex, but it wouldn’t. All it would do was act like a dome to ensure no magical energy escaped and reached the new town of Superstition.

  Elanah wasn’t sure what would happen to Barrington County with the energy building in the dome, unable to escape, but she couldn’t worry about that. A terrifyingly murderous demon was her problem, first and foremost, and he had to be locked away. Permanently. She would do anything to ensure that happened, including lying to some very good people.

  Sean continued. “In any case, it’s better that Jacob stay in the dark. I heard the old chap thought he was going crazy at one point. Best not to give the man anymore nightmares that would send him to a sanatorium for good.”

  “I hardly believe it myself sometimes. A demon in our midst…” she trailed off as her face became pensive and she put her fork down with a clink against her plate.

  Sean put his own fork down and leaned toward her, gathering her hands into his. “We’re not going to let Danner get you, Elanah. We have his full name, now. He is powerless before us. Once his prison is finished, we’ll call him and banish him forever. You won’t have to suffer his obsessive attention anymore.”

  Elanah gave Sean a small, grateful smile at his concern, but he had no idea what he was talking about. He had no idea what Danner had done to her, and had no idea what horrors that demon was capable of. She hadn’t told him because he would have been appalled, devastated even, and she needed him clear headed. Otherwise, she was sure he’d run off screaming in the opposite direction.

  “Let’s talk later,” he said softly. “You need a distraction, and we haven’t been alone in weeks with me being up here at the dig site,” he said huskily, drawing her up and pressing a kiss against her lips.

  Elanah sighed, a warm spark of excitement ignited in her abdomen as Sean gathered her to him tightly and settled his lips against hers, deepening the kiss. His body felt wonderful, well muscled and hard as she melted against him. One of his hands slid sensuously up and down her back while the other tangled itself in her golden curls. She felt a breath of cool air and realize
d that Sean had undone all the buttons at the back of her dress.

  “Are you wearing another dress underneath?” he asked irritably as he pulled the dress down to her waist and encountered her underclothes.

  “It’s cold up here in the mountains,” Elanah said innocently. “I dressed in layers.”

  Sean snorted. “Fine—just give me the fastest way to get you out of all this material.”

  “Undo the laces,” she whispered as he tugged at the frilly material while raining kisses down her neck and her chest, until his mouth fastened on the breast he finally managed to uncover.

  “So beautiful,” he said softly. She ran her fingers through his hair and sighed with pleasure. His mouth met hers again as he slipped her garments over her hips onto the floor and pushed her gently toward the bed. His hands roamed freely over her naked body, and she flushed with desire.

  She pulled off his vest and shirt and reached for the fastenings of his pants. She undid them easily and slid them down his long legs before he pushed her onto the bed. The quilt was cold against her back and legs. He groaned as she pleasured him with her hand, holding him tight, and then he was between her legs, thrusting inside her and kissing her savagely. Elanah responded in kind, her hips meeting his in a wild, thrusting dance. Through a haze of pleasure, she dimly heard voices outside the shack and flicked her wrist sharply to lock the door.

  No interruptions.

  The next day she set her containment spells, and with the help of the Fae, the giant prison for Danner was completed a few days before the spring equinox arrived. While she waited, she gathered the ingredients she needed to banish the demon. She had brought the important things with her, like the iron chalice and the knife. Only the sacrifice had yet to be chosen.

  That would be done today.

  “Did you pick him yet?” Elanah asked neutrally. She was making the bed with rough, tense gestures. She wasn’t happy about what she needed to do, but she was going to do it anyway.

  Sean pulled her toward him. “I picked the angriest, nastiest worker on the dig. Everyone hated him—they barely tolerated him. He has no family, and no one will miss him. We’re probably doing him a favour.”

  “Hmmph,” she said softly.

  “The Fae hated his guts too.”

  Elanah snorted. “They hate all mortals. We’re like cattle.”

  Sean looked surprised. “Valentine’s a decent sort.”

  “Valentine thinks mortals are playthings. Good for sport if you’re male, and sex if you’re female. What about the other two?” she queried. There were two other Fae helping on the dig; a handsome dark-haired Fae named Wayman, and another golden blond named Roderick.

  “Kept to themselves,” he said easily.

  Elanah rooted through her bag and took out a small jar of ointment. She opened the lid and a pungent, lavender odor filled the room. Sean coughed and backed away from her, his eyes watering a little as he reached for the handkerchief in his vest pocket. “What on earth is that, Elanah?” he gasped.

  “Magic,” she whispered. “Made of camphor, lavender, and a few other secret ingredients. I need to mark our sacrifice with this to make him visible as the offering. It will also help me call Danner when it’s time. It will make the sacrifice irresistible to him. When I take his life, it will be deemed payment in full for the casting, and success, of my spell.”

  “Wow,” Sean said from across the room. “Did you have to do something like this for the honorable Mayor Barrington? Did you kill someone to set their containment spell or activate the windmill?”

  Elanah thought back to her time with Barrington’s mayor, Jacob. His fierce desire to protect his town had touched her deeply. His courteous and respectful treatment of her person and her talents had made her a loyal and determined aide. Although she hadn’t told him about Limerick’s demon problem, and hadn’t been completely honest about the barn spell she’d built, she had given much of herself to help him. It had taken a lot of work to prepare a spell that only required the touch of a witch to activate. The blood smeared on the four barns had been hers; and the windmill, a warning designed to begin spinning only in the presence of pure evil, had been infused with her essence and will. She had been exhausted for days afterward.

  “No,” she replied quietly. “That was much simpler magic, and it wasn’t personal,” she lied. Anything to do with Danner was personal. He could never escape from this prison. Ever.

  “Of course,” Sean said sympathetically, and was quiet.

  After her arrival at the dig, Elanah had spelled an amulet that would allow her to move around the camp but be ignored by the workers. She didn’t want gossip about her presence to get back to town. Also, most of the men had been away from their women for a long time, and Sean had expressly forbidden the presence of prostitutes. What Sean didn’t need was a mutiny because he was allowed to have his woman while the rest went without. With her imperceptible, it kept the muttering resentment down.

  The only male the amulet did not seem to work on was Amos, who had been hanging around Elanah and following her like a puppy. Elanah was puzzled at first but then figured he must be too young to be a concern and therefore untouched by her spell. She was thankful, as he had pretty much been keeping her sane while she waited for the construction to end and her part to begin. Amos was very good company, even though he never stopped talking and asked a million questions. She allowed it because he was lonely and bored in the middle of nowhere, and so was she. She spoke freely with the young boy since she planned to erase his memory anyway.

  “Being a good witch must be tough, eh Elanah?”

  “Well—”

  “I know it’d be hard for me. I just wanna punch people in the nose if they threatened me or made fun ’o me,” he sniffed, rubbing his runny nose against his sleeve. “Can’t imagine what I’d do if they threw shit at me or spit on me or tried to kill me. Hang me, burn me, drown me, stab me—I’d be right mad.”

  “Yes, well—”

  “Yep, I’d give them boils or a rash like I got a while back after playin’ in the poison ivy.”

  “Oh, that sounds—”

  “Damn painful, I know. Me ma was swabbing me for weeks,” he said earnestly, his dirty face turned up to her.

  She frowned at him. “Don’t say ‘damn’—”

  “Wow, look at that bird Elanah! Do you know what it is?” Amos yelled, pointing upward.

  At this point, Elanah didn’t bother answering. She just smiled at the excited boy.

  “I’ll tell you what it is!”

  I’ll bet you will, she thought dryly.

  “It’s a robin! Do you climb trees, Elanah? I can! Do you want to watch? Watch me climb like a squirrel…” he yelled, his voice fading as he ran off toward a big tree full of large, low hanging branches. She flinched when he tripped on some undergrowth and went flying with a thump and a small “oof,” but then tried not to laugh when he sprang back up and looked back at her. She gave him a small wave and watched as he slammed into the tree at breakneck speed and shinnied up as fast as he could. He hit the first big branch and hung upside down by his knees.

  “Look what I can do!” he screamed.

  Her heart lurched in her chest as she gathered her power to protect him from falling and breaking his neck, but she worried for nothing. He flipped down, unharmed, and she sighed in relief.

  “Alright then, monkey—”

  “Ain’t I somethin’?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “I am a monkey!”

  “Now, Amos, I’m speaking, so don’t interrupt,” she finally said quickly, to get a word in edgewise.

  “But Elanah—”

  “No buts, it’s time to do my chores. Are you staying or going? If you’re staying, you have to be calm for at least an hour.”

  Amos was outraged. “WHAT? An hour! That’s forever. I don’t know if I can do that,” he muttered to himself, looking at the trees and up at the sky, but he was quiet. His desire to remain by her side winning o
ut.

  Elanah smiled at the memory. He had managed a good ten minutes before exploding with his natural exuberance again, but by then his older brother was looking for him.

  “We have a job for him to do at the site,” he said, ruffling his little brother’s hair. “I’ll take him off your hands now. I’ll bet he talked your ear off.”

  He sure did, and she loved every minute of it.

  Sean stared at Elanah. “Hello? Why are you smiling? Two minutes ago you were practically trembling in your boots because of what’s happening tomorrow.”

  She smiled. “I was thinking about Amos. Such a sweet boy.” She looked up at him sharply. “He has to be gone from here, Sean. Long gone before the ritual starts. Children are powerful tools. They’re too trusting and can easily be tricked and used. Those boys are leaving today, as I requested, aren’t they?”

  “They’re scheduled to leave shortly, my sweet. Amos was quite upset to be leaving you earlier than expected.”

  Elanah’s heart gave a little tug. She would see Amos after Sean settled accounts with the boys. She would say her goodbyes to him and his brother, and then make them both forget her. She couldn’t take a chance that one of them would talk about her and possibly be hurt by it.

  She’d hurt enough people.

  “Show me the sacrifice.”

  The Spring Equinox

  The day of the banishing dawned sunny and bright. The spring equinox was a powerful day for magic, as the light and dark of the day would be balanced before slipping into the longer light of summer.

  Elanah was pacing the little shack. Although she had been waiting for this moment for what seemed like forever, today was the day she would face Danner for the last time and lock him away. She was terrified. He was going to be so damn angry, to use Amos’ favorite swear word. If the salt circles failed, he would rip her limb from limb, peel the skin off her body in long bloody strips, and while she screamed, he’d laugh with delight. That was her demon.

  Sean entered the shack with a gust of cold wind. He rubbed his hands together to get warmth back into his chilly fingers. Elanah didn’t stop her pacing. Sean watched her for a minute before grabbing her and forcing her to stop. He rubbed her arms as she stared at him.