My throat tightened. “But alive. You saved me.”
“Comes with the territory. And if I recall, you saved me too.” He smiled but it was tired.
The sun slid a few more inches in the sky before I sat forward, my last question for Madeline still heavy in my mind.
“Why did you ask her that?” Mac said.
I shrugged, and tucked my broken wrist under my good arm, as I picked up her remaining arm, looking it over. “A hunch. Nothing . . . solid.”
And there it was, exactly what I was looking for.
I pointed at a brand high under her arm, almost in the pit.
“It’s that damned mark,” I said. The same one I’d seen on the creature Sage declared a griffin. The open circle, connected by a line to the closed circle, with three small dots at the edge was emblazoned defiantly on a green scale that looked a hell of a lot like a dragon’s scale. Two pieces fit together while about a thousand more were piled on and scattered around.
I shook my head, wishing I wasn’t so tired. I loved a good puzzle, but these pieces made no sense to me. A mystery I couldn’t pin down. At least not yet.
“What does it mean?” Mac asked. “You think there is someone out there orchestrating this on a larger scale?”
“I hope not,” I said.
The witch fire she’d lit had already died, but I wanted to burn her body. Another witch could potentially use parts of her body in their spells, and that was the last kind of shit we needed.
Mac nodded, picking up on my thoughts. But before I could do anything, her body burst into flames.
Orange and purple flames that were as unnatural as anything I’d ever seen. Mac grabbed my arm and helped me scoot back.
“I need to make sure she’s gone. Whoever owned her is smart, smart enough to want her body and all that power gone from anyone else,” I said.
Mac sat beside me on the charred ground. “You said some elementals can shift, do you think that was the case for her?”
I frowned. “It’s a possibility. Everything I’ve read about shifting forms is one of two things. A natural inherency, either shifter or elemental, or some sort of spell or curse. She didn’t seem overly bothered by it, so I doubt it was a curse.”
The thing was . . . all the books I’d ever read about magic and being a witch stated that shifting forms via a spell was one of the most dangerous things to do. And the biggest cost to one’s power, a drain like no other. Which explained why she didn’t fight me once she’d shifted—she’d used the last of her power to change forms. Cutting off her foot had forced her hand. She couldn’t run from me, but she could slither. At least, that was my guess.
The symbol burned into her skin flashed in my mind, adding to my questions. And that green scale. Madeline was certainly something I’d never encountered before in all my readings and wanderings.
“Many new creatures have been born out of the broken earth, and the tearing of the Veil,” Mac said. “Perhaps she is one of them.”
“But is she the only one?” The symbol told me she wasn’t. There were others. And each one was probably stronger, and more horrible than the last. At least with my luck.
“Let’s hope,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mac found my cloak flung into one of the trees, fetched it down, then found my second blade before he carried me back to the caravan. Seeing as I was nearly dead on my feet, my ribs, wrist, and some fingers broken, body battered and my heart sore, I didn’t have it in me to argue with him. Besides, it was kinda nice being snuggled against his chest.
“I could get used to this,” I said.
He laughed and tightened his arms around me a little.
I should have been jubilant; we’d done it. But I was missing something. Or more accurately, someone.
Oka.
Mac looked down at me. “We’ll focus on her. Now that we aren’t fighting to stay alive.”
“Yes,” I said. Except I knew no power would turn stone to flesh.
When we stepped into the clearing with the bridge, the shifters were the first to spot us. They rushed us, chattering, trying to find out what happened.
“Wait till we’re all here,” I said.
All of us. Humans and shifters.
Crimson held Ruby on her hip and I smiled, thinking of how their names were so closely linked. Ruby leaned into Crimson and smiled as she played with the cougar shifter’s long blond hair.
Crimson smiled at me. “I am wrapped around her little finger already.”
Intuition flowed through me and I followed it. “Then I name you her protector, her personal guardian.”
The shifters let out a low gasp, as did Chris as she approached. “No. I am—”
I held up a hand. “Chris, I know you love that little girl. But what will you do when you have your own child? Let those who also love these kids help protect them.”
Chris’s lips trembled, and she turned away.
Lily and Frost came running next. There was no obvious connection between them and one of the other shifters, but I had a feeling it would happen.
When everyone was present, I kept it simple. “Madeline is dead.”
A cheer rose through the air filled with shouts and howls of joy.
Richard wrapped me in a gentle hug until Nathanda pushed him out of the way. “She’s hurt, let me get her settled. Jesus, look at your hands!”
Richard laughed, and I smiled at the suddenly bossy nurse. “Yes, ma’am.”
She set my wrist and I passed out for a moment from the sharp pain, but it was not as bad as the fingers being set which woke me back up and drew screams from me no matter how hard I tried to bite them back.
I was sweating and whimpering by the time she got to my ribs. Those she wrapped with tensor bandages, over my shirt. “No wrestling.” Her eyes flicked to Mac and I nearly choked.
“We’re not . . . you . . . oh my goddess,” I whispered and lowered my head as the embarrassment shot through me hotter than ever before, for the moment cutting through the pain. Mac laughed as he crouched beside me.
“I’ll keep my hands to myself. For now.”
I covered my face with my hands while everyone laughed. Not mean, not cruel, just laughter that warmed me as surely as any fire. This was my pack, and for the first time in forever, I felt like I wasn’t alone. Like I had a family again.
A tiny hand touched my knee and I looked up to see Frost in front of me. Behind him, Lily carried Oka close to her chest. I reached out, but Mac reached her first, took her and set her gently on my lap.
“Thank you for looking after her for me,” I whispered, touching them both gently on the cheeks.
Frost nodded. “I like her. Is she coming back?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I don’t know.”
Behind us was a stirring of the crowd and they parted, not unlike how I’d separated the river so we could pass.
My eyes landed on a figure I knew all too well.
I pushed to my feet, trembling, holding Oka to my chest. “Raven. You’ve missed the party.”
He smiled and a few of the women sighed. Yes, he was a handsome man with his jet-black hair and blue eyes.
But I was not swayed. “I was dying, and you left me to die, you bastard,” I snarled, holding Oka closer to me. “And she paid the price, you fucking heartless bastard!”
My father held up his hands. “Peace, Pamela. I was unable to come to you until now, and you know that I cannot help you. Not without hurting us both.”
He was right, I did know that, but in the heat of the moment it was easy to forget . . . he turned his wrists for me. They were ringed with red as though he’d been . . . “Were you captured again?”
“Temporarily.” He grimaced. “It was in a place that spirit cannot penetrate. I am here now. Will you let me help your familiar?”
My anger fell away from me in a whoosh. “You . . . can help her?”
It was too good to be true.
He smiled
. “I can. And once you see how it is done, you will be able to heal those who are attacked by gargoyles. A lesson, as you keep asking me.”
“A fucking hard one,” I said.
“Such language,” he winked. “You take after your auntie and mentor more than me.”
“My familiar,” I said, feeling like we were the only people in the world. Then again, everyone else had scattered and now stood as far away as they could.
Raven stepped closer. “The blood of an Immune is part of the spell.” Before I could protest he lifted his hands again. “Not all of it, only a little, a few drops.”
He looked past me, and I followed his gaze to where Frost stood watching us, the two of them with their eyes locked. “That boy, he is not Immune.”
I blinked a few times, not sure I heard him right. “He’s not?”
“No. But the girl the shifter holds is.” He tipped his head toward Crimson.
I motioned for Crimson to come closer. Ruby was comfortable in her arms, totally unbothered by my display of power.
Crimson slowed. “What is it?”
Ah, fuck, how did you ask a kid if they minded you taking some of their blood?
“Ruby,” I said, “I need to ask you something.” She nodded quickly, a frown forming on her face. “This man can help Oka. He can bring her back to us. But I need your help.”
Crimson frowned but said nothing. Ruby looked at me and then to Raven. “Will it hurt?”
Damn kids and their perceptiveness.
“A little, yes,” I said.
Again, Crimson said nothing, but I saw the war in her eyes.
“Crimson, I would not ask it if there were any other way.” I held up my hand and she glared at me. “Ruby, you don’t have to do this. I can ask Lily if you are too afraid.”
She looked at me and her eyes narrowed. “I’m braver than Lily.”
I had to fight the smile. “Well, we shouldn’t go around bragging, right, Crimson?”
Crimson nodded. “Nobody likes a braggart.”
Ruby sobered. She looked down at Oka and rubbed her head with her tiny hand, and in that moment, I knew she’d do it. She nodded a single time.
I pulled her and Crimson into a one-armed hug. “Thank you.”
“I like when she’s a tiger. She protects us,” Ruby said. “Like Crimson.”
I motioned for Crimson to follow me. I realized then that things had worked out the only way that would have allowed me this hope. If Chris had still been Ruby’s guardian, they never would have agreed to this.
We stopped in front of Raven. Ruby tipped her chin up in a nod of defiance. Raven smiled at her. “So, you are the brave one today?”
“Yes. I’m brave,” Ruby said. “I’m going to save Oka.”
“For sure you are,” he said, holding his hand to her. She put her fingers against his and I just watched, soaking it all in. If we needed to save someone from a gargoyle again, this would be my only chance to learn how to do it.
I held Oka up in front of Ruby, between her and Raven.
The little girl leaned over, and stage whispered to the stone cat, “It’ll be okay, Oka. I’ll bring you back.” Only a three-year-old could have made that both sweet and hilarious.
The crowd of shifters circled around us. Curious.
Ruby was as calm as a summer’s day as she sat in Crimson’s arms, her hand in Raven’s.
He spoke directly to her. “My name is Raven, and I have a bit of magic, like Pamela here. I can help your friend. Would you like that?”
Ruby nodded, her eyes solemn. “How will you get my blood?”
Raven smiled. “To the point, I see.”
“How?” Ruby asked, louder this time. There was a quiver of fear on her face.
Raven took a small dagger from inside his cloak. It was a beautiful blade and looked sharp enough to shave with it.
Crimson tightened her hold on Ruby. “I’m right here, my girl. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She nodded. “I’m brave, braver than the others.”
Raven held the knife out to me. I stared at him. “I’m holding Oka.”
He took her from me and settled the blade handle against my palm. “You’ll need to be the one to do it. You are her charge. You need to be the one calling her back. The blade must always be wielded by the one closest to the victim,” he said.
“Remember,” Crimson whispered in Ruby’s ear, “you can stop this any time.”
She nodded. “But I won’t.”
A breeze picked up from behind us, blowing my hair around my face, and disturbing the leaves at our feet. They swirled and danced as magic sparkled in Raven’s eyes.
“I will weave the spell for you to see. You can do both if you must,” Raven said as he began.
I watched closely as he wove the spell, lines of pink snaking out from his hands. He used spirit to make the spell stronger. To find Oka. My heart raced as hope ignited in my chest for the first time since I felt her little stone body in my arms.
“Now, Pamela, the blood, and you must call to her,” his voice circled me, echoing the command.
I held the dagger against Ruby’s thumb. “Ready?”
She only nodded and then closed her eyes.
I pressed just the tip of the blade as gently as I could into the tip of her thumb, drawing the tiniest drop of blood. She didn’t even flinch. Her eyes opened, and she stared at the red drop of blood growing on her finger.
“Smear it on the cat,” Raven instructed.
Ruby startled, as if she’d forgotten what we were doing, then pressed her thumb onto Oka’s forehead.
“Her fur is very soft right there,” Ruby said.
Raven’s pink lines of spirit wrapped around Oka as she sat in in his hands. I looked at him, the sweat beading on his head.
I wanted to ask him a question, but thought better of it as he flinched, his face tight with exertion. What the hell had happened to him? Had they bound his connection to spirit as well? I glanced at his wrists, but there was no fourth bracelet.
I gritted my teeth and reached for spirit. It would hurt, but I would do anything to help Oka.
I braced myself for the pain, but none came. I didn’t question it, just intertwined my own threads with his, creating a beautiful pink blanket around my little cat. And that’s when I felt her.
She was there. Small, barely a blip on the radar of my mind, but she was there.
“Hold onto the spell. Do you feel her?” Raven asked.
I couldn’t speak, so I nodded. She was there.
“Send her strength if you can,” Raven said.
Mac came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Take my strength too.”
I didn’t question either of them. I drew from Mac and sent her all the strength the two of us could spare.
Slowly, her presence grew, the connection between us pulsing, like adrenaline coursing through me.
“Mac?”
“I’ve got more, take it,” he breathed into my ear. I drank in his energy and fed it through to her.
I wove more of spirit around her, dragging her out of the darkness of the stone, helping her find her way back to the surface, giving her a light to follow.
The minutes ticked by and the sweat poured from both Raven and me.
I don’t know how long we stood there, feeding Oka the energy she needed to come back to us.
I dared to put a hand on her body. Under my fingers the stone softened and warmed, more with each moment passed, as the breeze gently danced around us.
Ruby had her eyes closed, her thumb tracing lines over her body, the blood sinking into the stone.
Where she touched, her soft peachy orange coat peeked through. Fur fluffed up behind her hand.
I gasped as she did it, slowly, deliberately, uninstructed.
“Begin to pull back,” Raven whispered to me.
I carefully untangled my side of spirit. It took at least another fifteen minutes, but by the time we were done, Ruby h
ad brought every part of her back to life except one spot.
The button of her nose. She hated having her nose bopped.
I wanted to laugh, knowing it was just what she needed to bring her back around.
“Go ahead, Ruby. Give her that one last touch,” I nudged. I was scared to see if she would take a breath. She had to be okay.
I felt her and the connection between us was as strong as ever, but her mind was quiet. She was here. With us. No longer trapped in that stone prison.
Slowly, Ruby reached out with her thumb extended, the one I’d drawn blood from, and smeared it on her nose.
The pink returned, and she sneezed. She actually sneezed, her yellow-green eyes blinking up at us.
“What’s going on?”
She looked up at who was holding her and let out a hiss. “What are you doing touching me, Blackbird?”
I scooped her out of Raven’s hands and held her to my face. She put her paw against my nose, pushing away from me.
“Pamela. What are you doing? Get off me. What happened? Why is Raven here?”
“Oka!” I yelled and crushed her against me again, ignoring her squirming, ignoring the pain in my ribs. Mac leaned over me and pinched one of her ears.
“Welcome back, cat.”
“Can’t breathe here,” she said, but I didn’t relax my hold. Ruby leaned over and added herself to the hug fest, until Oka got squirmy and wriggled away from me. She perched herself neatly on my shoulder, her skin twitching and her fur mussed.
“What happened?” she asked and then her shock hit me. “And why are we surrounded by shifters?”
“You don’t remember what happened?” I asked.
“Not really. I remember the gargoyles.” She held completely still. “You’d been hit . . .” she trailed off. “And I . . .”
“You took the wound into yourself. You turned to stone. You saved my life,” I said. She blinked at me and shivered. “Thank you, my friend.”
“I am your familiar. It’s what we do,” she said nonchalantly, but I could feel the love behind it and the empty space in my heart filling. I reached up and pressed her against the side of my face, hugging her awkwardly.
Raven took a step back and brushed his hands together. “Well, my work is done here. Try to stay out of trouble, daughter.”
Aimless Witch (Questing Witch Series Book 1) Page 26