Power of Three

by Meredith Medina

I down looked at Lacey in surprise, she only swore when she meant it, and there was a lot of anger in that little body right now. I could feel it radiating off her.

  The old Laudan opened his mouth to hiss with rage, that oily black liquid dripping from his beard onto the floor. He lurched away from the door, coming towards us much faster than I’d anticipated.

  I felt my magic leap forward to defend us, and the power itched in my palms before it took over. Set your intention. Those were Ophelia’s words of encouragement for all of my casting. I closed my eyes and imagined how this would end. That was easy. It would end with the old man flying through the air to crash into the bottles on the wall behind the bar. Intention... set.

  My eyes snapped open and I roared my anger as my magic surged. A bolt of blue light shot from my palms, lifting the old Laudan off his feet and driving him up over the bar and slamming him into the mirror-covered wall. The bottles shattered around him, showering liqueur and spirits all over him and the floor. The smell of the stale alcohol filled the room.

  “Holy shit!” Lacey cried. “That was amazing! I didn’t know you could do that!” She was ecstatic, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “I didn’t know if I could do it or not... but that was pretty rad.”

  There was a wet groan from behind the bar, and Lacey’s nose wrinkled. “Can you do something else for me?”

  “What?”

  “Light him on fire,” she whispered.

  The old Laudan rose from behind the bar with a guttural roar. I didn’t even think about it, I just lifted my hands and closed my eyes and visualized a fireball hitting the old man in the chest. My palms grew hot, and I heard the crackle of flames, but I didn’t dare open my eyes. My hands were hurting now, and I cried out in pain. Then all at once, the heat faded and a sizzling crack echoed through the room.

  “Maia!” Lacey shouted and she shook me roughly. I opened my eyes. Whatever I’d just done... it had worked. It had really fucking worked. The Laudan, soaked in booze and goddess knows what else had gone up like a piece of dry grass.

  Blue flames covered his body, licked up the alcohol spattered walls and swam across the top of the polished mahogany bar. The smell of burning flesh and garbage filled the air and made my eyes water. I covered my face with my arm and pulled Lacey away from the blaze. It would spread to the rest of the building in no time. We weren’t safe up here. And we couldn’t go outside either.

  How the fuck was I going to explain the blue flames that were threatening to break the windows? How the fuck were we going to explain any of this? We had to survive it first.

  “Lacey!” I pulled her towards the door. “We have to get downstairs! If the fire spreads, we’re fucked!”

  “No,” Lacey said. “I want to watch him die. I want to be sure.” Her voice was cold and hard, and the blue fire glittered in her silver-shined eyes as she watched the old Laudan spin and crash against the bar as he burned.

  “We have to get downstairs! There has to be a kitchen, they have to have a walk-in freezer or a cooler or something. We’ll be safe in there!” But Lacey wouldn’t budge. I yanked on her arm again. “Lacey, come on!”

  The blue fire spread across the ruined carpet towards the damask drapes, consuming them as eagerly as though they were made of paper. Lacey’s expression changed as she realized that the room was about to become an uncontrollable inferno.

  I pulled on her arm again, and this time she followed me. A roar of anger and pain followed us down the stairs, and I tried to move faster. Jumping down as many stairs as I could in my panic.

  Every bar has a kitchen, every bar has a kitchen. Find the kitchen, find the cooler. You’ll be safe in the cooler.

  Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I was terrified. What if there was no cooler? What then? I could escape, I would be safe in the sunshine. But I wasn’t leaving Lacey in here with that thing, especially now that I’d set the whole damn building on fire.

  We thundered down the stairs, and Lacey screamed as she turned to see the old Laudan pulling himself from the inferno I’d created. I launched myself into the bar, tripping over a broken chair as I entered and saw the best and most terrifying thing I’d ever seen in my goddamn life.

  “Ophelia!”

  Oh my god. I was in so much trouble. But I was so glad to see her. “Ophelia, thank fuck you’re here, there’s—“

  “I don’t care,” she snapped, pulling me towards her, “get behind us.” The other Daughter was with her. The one whose shop I’d broken into... I’d have to apologize for that when we got out of this. If we got out of this. I scrambled over a fallen table to hide behind Vivienne.

  Lacey ran through the door, but she was looking over her shoulder and crashed into Ophelia as she ran, almost knocking her over.

  “Fee!” she shrieked, her eyes full of panic. “Fee, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... he’s coming... I don’t know what to do, we tried... Maia tried...”

  “I lit him on fire and he didn’t die!” I shouted.

  “Let me guess, now the whole upper floor is on fire,” Ophelia said dryly.

  “Yup!” I shouted back.

  “Fucking typical,” Ophelia muttered, bracing herself for whatever was coming through the door next.

  She didn’t have long to wait, the old Laudan hadn’t wasted any time coming after us. But everything we’d done to him was definitely taking its toll, and the advancing sunlight must not have been helping either.

  His jacket, his beard, and most of his gore stained shirt had been burned away, and his pale flesh showed through, untouched by the fire. But the black veins that had webbed across his face had grown darker, and I could see them spreading across his chest and arms.

  He still looked like shit.

  “What the fuck did you do to him?” Ophelia asked incredulously.

  “He bit her,” Lacey said excitedly.

  “He bit you?” Ophelia almost shouted the words at me, and I shrank away from her wrath.

  “It was just a little bite,” Lacey cried out, jumping between us. “He must have swallowed a mouthful of her blood... he’s been leaking that gross black stuff since we ran away from his house—“

  “You were in his house?” Ophelia shouted in Lacey’s face. She brought up one of her hands, the palm burning with purple fire. “You and I are going to have a serious talk when we get home,” she said sternly.

  “Ophelia,” the woman in black said sweetly, “You might want to...”

  “Fuck!” Ophelia shouted. She turned on the Laudan, who was advancing slowly, black liquid gushing from his mouth. She raised her hands and fired a jet of purple light at him, but it only sent him back a few steps. The witch in front of me hummed tunelessly and reached for my hand. Hers was wreathed in green smoke, and it was cool and dry against my sweating palm. She smiled at me and pulled me forward.

  “Take your sister’s hand,” she said quietly. I was shocked that I could hear her above the crackling and snapping of the fire that rippled over the floor above us. It would break through the ceiling soon.

  “My who, what?”

  “Ophelia, take her hand,” she replied patiently. I raised my eyebrow but I did as I was told, lunging forward to grab Ophelia’s hand.

  “What are you doing?” Ophelia shouted. “Let go of me and get the fuck behind us!”

  “She told me to do it!” I yelled back.

  Ophelia glared at Vivienne, but she allowed me to keep hold of her hand.

  “Together now,” she said, closing her eyes.

  “Together what?” I shouted.

  Ophelia closed her eyes. The old Laudan was coming forward, his pace slow, but no less determined. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as Lacey screamed for us to do something.

  In the blackness of my mind, I could hear Vivienne’s voice speaking in monotone. “Goddess with a triple face, hear your Daughters. Gathered together in time of need, we turn to you for power.”

  What the hell? Who the fuck was she ta
lking to?

  “Intention... intention...”

  Right. Intention. I imagined a mist, twining along the floor and binding the old Laudan, throwing him through the large window and out into the sunlight. Yes... that was it.

  “The child has found her answer,” Vivienne’s voice said. “Now... manifest your intention.”

  I opened my eyes and saw what I had imagined coming to life. Mist, tinged here and there with green, purple and blue, crept across the floor and up the legs of the old Laudan. He stopped his slow advance to look down at it, swiping at it with his clawed hands, wet laughter bubbling from his throat. But the mist would not be swept away, and it continued to climb, binding his legs together, holding him fast.

  From behind me, I heard an animalistic growl, something I’d never heard before. In a flash, Lacey had shoved past us, and as the mist captured the old Laudan’s arms and pinned them to his sides, she attacked, opening her mouth wide and sinking her teeth into the Laudan’s throat.

  “Lacey, no!” I screamed.

  The old Laudan gasped in surprise, and then roared with anger and pain as Lacey’s teeth drove deeper into his throat.

  “Intention!” Vivienne cried, and she crushed my hand in her grip, preventing me from running forward and dragging Lacey away from the old man. I gritted my teeth and the old man, with Lacey clinging to his shoulders was lifted off the ground by the mist we’d conjured and propelled towards the large window and the encroaching sunlight.

  “Lacey!” I screamed as the glass broke and they were hurled into the street.

  I ripped my hands out of Ophelia and Vivienne’s grip and ran to the window. I launched myself through it, not caring that my hands were cut on the broken glass.

  The old Laudan lay on his back in the cobblestone street, Lacey crouched over him like an animal, tearing at his throat. The old Laudan’s head and shoulders were bathed in sunlight, and he fought to get free as he burned. Lacey held him firmly, the sunlight burning into her own flesh as she pinned him to the ground.

  “Lacey! The sun! Get off of him!”

  With a horrific growl, Lacey lifted her head tearing out the old Laudan’s throat, black gore pouring down her face and pooling on the street beneath him.

  Finally, the old man lay still, his flesh crisping in the morning sunlight.

  16

  Ophelia

  Well... that tasted terrible,” Lacey said with a hiccup. We’d finally been able to pull her off the old Laudan and covered her head with one of Vivienne’s shawls to hustle her back to the safety of the shop. That had shut her up, at least for the moment.

  The fire that Maia had set on the second floor had broken through the roof, and I could hear sirens in the distance. I watched the building burning for a moment, mostly to be sure that the Laudan really was dead. I’d definitely have to talk to Bishop about this when we got back to New York, and I was not looking forward to it. Lacey was already in trouble with the Caedyr, and I didn’t relish finding out what kind of trouble an extermination of this caliber would mean for her. Not to mention what she’d drunk.

  If what Lacey had said was true, then she’d drunk some of Maia’s blood as well... and all I could hope was that it didn’t turn her into a goo-dripping ghoul like that sorry sack of burnt shit on the street. The Laudan’s flesh had burned away, crisping and curling in the sunshine. His clothes flattened on the cobblestones, ash blowing in the breeze and sticking in the oily filth that pooled in the street.

  Don’t fuck with witches.

  The sirens of the approaching fire trucks blared louder as they approached and I turned to run after Vivienne and the girls.

  * * *

  Lacey, how do you feel?” I asked her cautiously, my eyes searching hers for any sign of infection or hint that something was wrong.

  Lacey smiled, her lips still stained black with the old Laudan’s ruined blood. “Fine!” she chirped happily. “I know you’re trying to make sure I’m not getting sick, but I think I’m okay.” She looked down at her hands. Vivienne was applying a salve to her burns and binding them with soft linen bandages. She’d probably carry scars for the rest of her eternity. “Don’t worry, Fee. I don’t mind. It was the only way to kill him.”

  I tried to smile and reached for a cup of Vivienne’s tea. I figured that I could trust her now.

  “We’ll stay here until nightfall, and then we’re catching the Greyhound back to New York,” I said, handing the cup to Maia who was huddled nearby. She shook her head. I knew I had to talk to her about what had happened tonight... she was more shaken than I’d expected, but it was possible that she was racked with guilt... the thought that her blood could kill her friend? It was a horrible possibility.

  “I think he was right, you know,” Lacey said suddenly. “That old bastard. He said my blood was thin... and he’s right. Eli turned me, and his blood was already thin... so my blood is still mostly mortal, right? That’s why I don’t have any craaazy vampire powers.” She wiggled her fingers for emphasis. “That’s why I did it. Maia’s blood was already diluted by his... and I don’t think it’s going to do anything to me.” She covered her mouth with her hand and belched delicately. “At least, I don’t think it will.”

  “What were you thinking, Lacey? Coming here on your own without telling anyone?” I was still mad that she’d left, but I wasn’t as angry as I had been.

  Lacey shrugged. “I didn’t think anyone would notice.”

  Ouch.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Lacey looked down at her hands, plucking at the linen bandages that covered her burns. “You’re busy with Maia... training her. And I just get in the way. Eli’s busy doing... whatever Eli does. He doesn’t answer any of my questions, and he definitely doesn’t seem to have any time for me.”

  “Hey... that’s not...”

  But it was true. Eli had been wrapped up in Spiral, and the band, for months now. It was starting to piss me off too, but I just hadn’t been mad enough to say anything about it yet. Silence settled over the room and I stirred the abandoned cup of tea awkwardly.

  “I’m sorry,” I said finally. “Things will be different when we get home.”

  “Sure they will,” Lacey said sadly. “I’ll be on trial in front of some ancient bloodsucker from Europe to face Laudan justice for rules I didn’t even know existed... then you won’t have to worry about me at all.”

  “Don’t be like that,” I said quickly. “I’m going to talk to Bishop. I’m sure he can make it all go away, he’s just being stubborn. And I think he’s listening to Meridian too much.”

  Lacey looked up, her moonshined eyes meeting mine for the first time since we’d pulled her out of the sunlight. “Will you? I really don’t want to have to sit in a chair while some dusty old vampire yells in my face...” She wrinkled her nose at the thought.

  “We’ll deal with that when we get home. Get some sleep. I need to get us bus tickets and Maia has to go get your stuff from the hostel.”

  Maia dropped the blanket she’d been huddled under and left the room. I would definitely need to talk to her about all of this, I just wasn’t sure where to start. Lacey yawned and stretched before thanking Vivienne for her ministrations. She fell back on the pile of blankets and pillows the witch had produced, and within seconds she was snoring.

  That was new.

  I left her there and followed Vivienne out into the shop. The giant owl had settled itself onto its perch, and it blinked at me sleepily. Vivienne was rearranging things on the shelves, turning candles and wiping away invisible motes of dust. I passed a display case that held a basket full of vintage keys. I paused in front of them, trailing my fingers over the chilled metal.

  “Have you spoken to the Goddess lately,” Vivienne asked in a dreamy voice, startling me just a little.

  “Me? Um. No,” I replied with a shrug. Of course I hadn’t spoken to the Goddess. What the hell would I say to her anyway? Besides, if we were going to playa round of ‘who’s the b
etter Daughter’ I had other things to do.

  “A pity,” she replied. “I believe she would be glad to hear from you, as any mother would.”

  I picked up on of the keys, holding it up to the light. My mother had died over 300 years ago, I wasn’t sure I’d know what to say to her either.

  “Hecate is the one who will stand beside you and help you summon the courage to step into your power, to listen to that inner voice that knows what is the right decision for you in that moment... She is the one who will help you hear the answers that your ancestors have to give you if you will but ask and listen.”

  Oh, no. Not again. It had been a long night, and I was definitely not in the mood for lessons.

  “Ah yes, the key,” Vivienne continued in the same sing-song voice. I put the object down, wiping my fingers on my jeans as though it were dirty. Vivienne didn’t seem to notice, her back still turned to me. “Hecate carries three sacred objects, you know. A key, a rope and a dagger. Together they unlock the wisdom of the ancient mysteries. The key is the way into the underworld, where we must go to transmute fear into love and bring unconscious stirrings into the conscious light of day.”

  Hoo boy.

  “That’s really great... I think I should go and see how Maia is doing. I sent her back to the hostel to get their things...”

  “The rope is the umbilical cord that when cut allows us to experience rebirth, renewal, and enter a new cycle. The dagger, cuts through the illusion of control and allows us to see things in greater dimension... no longer in black and white.” Vivienne turned to face me, her face serene and beautiful. Her long red hair spread over her shoulders and she held her hands out to me. “We are, each of us, a manifestation of Hecate’s sacred objects. Maia... she is the key. So full of fear, but so ready to give and accept love and learning. You, Ophelia... you are the dagger, but I fear that you will cut yourself in your eagerness to leave control behind...”

  “Okay,” I said awkwardly. “So that makes you, what? The rope?”

  Vivienne inclined her head. “I can teach you everything you need to know, Ophelia Turner, I can help you be reborn within your power... but it will take time, and it will take more dedication than you are ready to give me. Perhaps in time...”