I expected a reprimand or a sarcastic comment.
Not a dragon.
22
A tremendous roar came from outside. I jerked back, out of my body, and Evelyn stepped in, taking control. While I floated on the spot, reeling, my body jumped through the broken window and into the street.
“Hey!” I yelled at Evelyn. “Isabel’s stuck back there, you selfish—”
A second roar drowned out my words, and a huge shape blotted out the sky, wings spread wide across the darkening clouds. A huge scaled body.
“Evelyn, what the unholy fuck did you do?”
The dragon was bright red, its huge body casting a shadow over the peaked roofs. A tongue of flame leapt from its mouth, setting the clouds ablaze, and I jumped back, smashing into the barrier. Ow. Evelyn had left and I was back in my body again.
Lloyd muttered a prayer under his breath. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be playing dead.”
“Likewise,” Morgan said.
“It’s not an Ancient,” Evelyn said from beside me.
“Wow, I feel so much better.” I clutched my chest, dizzy from the abrupt body-switching. “It’s a descendant of the Ancients, then. You know, like the shifters killing people. Can you imagine that thing under the thrall of the Moonbeam? If it isn’t already?”
“It isn’t,” said Evelyn. “And yes, it’s a dragon shifter. Luckily, she came to help us.”
“Lucky?” I shook my head at the huge majestic scaled shape in the sky. “That, Evelyn, is a monster. It's as likely to kill us as anyone else. Moonbeam or none.”
The dragon released a jet of fire which brushed the tops of the nearby houses, and I threw up my hands. “Seriously!”
“It’s coming this way!” Mackie yelped.
The dragon flew overhead, not so much as glancing down at us puny humans below. It must be seven feet long, easily, and those tent-like wings made it even more massive. But it was the flames that poured from its mouth into the street that made me certain that I looked upon my own death. I ducked my head, and Keir grabbed my arm. “It’s not aiming for us. Look.”
I lifted my gaze. The flames had soared right over our heads and crashed into the alley beside the empty house. Decaying zombies tumbled out of the alley, disintegrating, and the smell of burning flesh caught in the back of my throat.
“It’s only burning the dead?” Lloyd said incredulously.
“They are intelligent beings, you know,” Evelyn said. “Dragon shifters don’t like the dead any more than we do.”
“There's no such thing as dragon shifters,” I said stupidly. “Come on, wouldn’t we have had some kind of clue that they existed? Like villages being torched, people going missing…”
“Uh, Jas,” said Lloyd. “The giant scary menace in the sky proves otherwise. Maybe it’s just visiting.”
“Where the bloody hell did it come from?” Morgan said.
“Evelyn strikes again,” I answered.
What now? Evelyn had conveniently neglected to mention whether or not the Moonbeam could affect that shifter the same as the others. If it could, we’d all burn to a crisp.
The dragon continued to fly, breathing jets of fire at the city below. It was hard to trust Evelyn’s word that such a huge and unpredictable creature might be on our side. It was almost as scary as the giant eye I’d seen in the forest.
“Evelyn summoned that thing… why?” Lloyd wanted to know.
“To save your necks,” said Evelyn, loudly. “You’re welcome.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Morgan asked, staring at her ghostly form floating beside me.
Wait—now everyone could see her? “The person who’s going to get us all killed,” I said.
“Oh, come on,” Evelyn said. “I had to do something.”
“I’d rather you helped bring down this barrier.” I waved a hand at the door. “Not summon a giant fire-breathing death machine.”
“Or find the person who summoned the Whisper,” Keir said. “Before they lure in the Mage Lord.”
Crap. I’d forgotten, in the shock of the dragon’s appearance, that Vance was the target. As much as it pained me to leave the others behind, the only way to end this was to find the person who’d summoned the Whisper.
The dragon roared, a thunderous noise that shook the peaked roofs and made everyone dive for cover. If nothing else, Evelyn had manufactured the perfect distraction. Pity it might kill all of us.
“So Wanda’s in there?” Lloyd asked. “Behind the barrier?”
“She is,” I said. “And obviously Isabel and Asher are there, too. If they wake up, they won’t be able to get out, though…”
“And neither will my brother,” Keir said quietly.
“What's he talking about?” Lloyd frowned.
“Keir’s brother was taken by the Ancients years ago,” I said. “We found him held captive in the same place as Wanda.”
“Seriously?” Lloyd’s eyes bugged out. “And Isabel’s stuck in there, too?”
“I helped undo the marks controlling her and Asher,” I said. “But she can’t get past the barrier, obviously, even if I have Evelyn get back in there again. We need to find the person who made it."
“Someone’s coming!” Mackie pointed down the ash-strewn street, where the dragon had dissolved the dead into nothingness.
Several figures approached. Unlike the dead, they walked perfectly steadily, though the glowing symbols on their exposed arms and collarbones spoke for themselves. A brief check of the spirit realm told me they were alive.
Damn. The fire had only hit the dead. Under the symbols, these witches were still alive. Maybe the dragon had a conscience after all, but the Whisper had upped her game. All of the approaching humans wore her symbol, and their expressions were blank, their will taken away.
“Damn.” I took a step backwards, but they far outnumbered us.
As one, a dozen witches raised their hands. Magic poured out, serpentine and glowing, the same twisted symbols that Isabel had been forced to use against me.
I called my own magic, forming a shielding spell between them and us. The witches continued to advance, the marks on their skin glowing.
“Guys, they’re alive!” Mackie said, her voice high. “We can’t—kill them.”
“Not without playing into her hands,” I murmured. “There are too many. Necromancy doesn’t work well on the living. Stand back—”
Two witches moved forwards, hands splayed, and my shield spell rippled. Shit, their power was strong enough to go neck and neck with my Hemlock magic.
“You will never find me,” the Whisper said, her voice reverberating in the air. It seemed to come from everyone at once—every witch, every symbol.
My teeth chattered, my body shaking as the wall of magic pushed against me. If I let go, they’d take my friends to pieces.
“Guys, run!” I shouted. “Asher’s shop’s still open—I bet the place is packed with defensive spells.” It was far from ideal, but there were no other safe places close by.
Panic brewed, my body trembling under the assault. I held my ground, drawing on all the Hemlock magic I could conjure. All my rage and fury—I poured it all into the rippling transparent shield.
“You won’t harm them,” I said through clenched teeth. “You won’t.”
My shield pushed back the witches, blocked the road with a shimmering barrier. The witches’ hands pawed at it, but this time, it held steady. It wouldn’t last forever, but it’d give us the chance to run. Nobody else would die today.
When I was sure the others were running, I backed away from the barrier, sprinting towards the market. It was far from the heroic thing to do, but the entire witch population of Edinburgh might be under the spell by now. We couldn’t stop all of them, even if taking innocent lives was an option.
The five of us pelted down the alley into Asher’s shop. The place looked like a tornado had hit it—shelves emptied, spell ingredients in piles, bloodstains on the floor. Isabel and Asher had put
up a hell of a fight.
I threw a ward over the door, adding a heavy jolt of Hemlock power, and then backed into the shop, tripping over a half-open book. Beside it was a spell circle, recently deactivated, surrounded by chalked symbols.
“I think they were making a spell,” Keir said. “When they were taken.”
“Shit, you’re right.” A half-formed spell lay in the circle. I reached down, my hands still tingling with Hemlock power. “I think it’s some sort of explosive.”
Keir picked up the worn-looking book, showing me the open pages. Around the faded lines of printed text were drawings of a few symbols. “Are those the same symbols the dead were wearing?”
“No way.” I read the text on the page. “No… it’s an amplification symbol. They must have been planning to use it on the explosive to make it stronger. What would they need a huge blast for?”
“The barrier?” Keir frowned. “No… with that type of barrier, it requires the person who set it up to undo it.”
“Or die,” I said. “If we kill the person who made that barrier, would it be destroyed?”
“If it’s like other spirit barriers, it would,” said Mackie. “I did pay attention in training, believe it or not.”
Morgan made a sceptical noise. “Not much help if we don’t know where the fucker is hiding.”
I read the page more closely. “We don’t, but I don’t think this spell is meant to be used against a person. It can destroy other spells. Including symbols.”
Asher and Isabel had handed us the means of destroying the Whisper. But I had to complete the spell first.
“Come again?” said Lloyd. “Wouldn’t you need to kill the witch behind this to bring an end to it? Destroying the symbols wouldn’t do any good if the witch can just make more of them.”
“True, but the Whisper is inside the symbols, somewhere,” I said. “I bet this can destroy her, wherever her real form is hidden.”
I returned to the spell circle, and one spark of Hemlock magic re-ignited both the circle and the chalk symbols surrounding it. Amplification runes. I had seen the symbol before, when Lloyd and I had found a poltergeist in a warehouse what felt like a lifetime ago. The symbols amplified magic, making any spell stronger than before.
“Can someone pass me some marigold leaves?” I asked.
Mackie ran to the nearest shelf to search, while I reached for the book in Keir’s hand. He didn’t hand it to me. “Jas, have you read this?”
“Not all of it. Why?”
“Look at that.” He pointed at some of the smudged handwriting in the page’s corner.
I read the words. Then I reread them. “Oh, hell.”
“What do you have to do?” Lloyd said.
“The spell’s catalyst is blood. Blood magic. I have to draw the last symbol on myself.”
“What?” Mackie surfaced from behind the desk with a handful of leaves. “What spell is that?”
“A spell that can destroy any other magic it comes into contact with. Isabel or Asher thought we’d need it. But… I’d have to tattoo myself.”
“Is that what this is for?” Mackie picked up a lid-less pen which’d rolled under the desk. It was about as thick as a permanent marker, but its end glowed faintly.
I reached to take it from her. “This must be one of their tattooing implements. The Orion League’s. Or the witches’.”
“The what?” Mackie said.
“Before the invasion, there was a group of fanatics who forced the witches to use their magic against the rest of us.” I put down the pen beside the spell circle. “The League used to tattoo ordinary humans, apparently, to turn them into supernaturals.”
Lloyd swore. “What are you going to do? Mark yourself—like them?”
“If I want to use this spell, I might have no choice.” I waved a hand over the simmering circle. “I take it the spell doesn’t mention side effects?”
Keir’s worried silence spoke for itself. I returned to the circle, throwing in the ingredients Mackie had handed me. Never mind the laws on blood magic—if this went wrong, I might pull an Evelyn and utterly destroy everything. But Isabel wouldn’t have started to make this spell if she’d thought it was too dangerous to use. I trusted her.
The spell circle shimmered brighter, the chalk symbols glowing, and I held my hand out to feed more power into the spell. “Evelyn, I don’t suppose you’ve ever used one of those markers before?”
“Wait, now you're asking for her help?” said Lloyd.
“She's the only witch I know who isn't unconscious or under a spell.” Which wasn't promising at all, but what choice did I have?
“No,” said Evelyn. “I’d finish that spell before it burns out.”
I continued to feed Hemlock power into the amplified circle. Flames leapt and shimmered, the ingredients merging, and becoming one.
“This can destroy the Whisper, right?” I asked.
Evelyn’s grey-blue eyes met mine across the circle. “If you can find her.”
And I’d need to amplify my own power to stand a chance against her. No less would bring down an Ancient.
“Jas, not that I don’t trust you, but you’re depending on the word of someone who set a dragon loose,” Lloyd said.
“She's distracting the witches, actually,” Evelyn said to him. “You're welcome.”
“She?” Lloyd shook his head. “The dragon’s a she?”
“They’re coming!” Mackie yelled.
I grabbed the spell from the circle, and the ward on the door shattered. Keir slammed his foot into the door, knocking the first intruder off his feet. His vampire power lashed out, grabbing the nearest target, but the door flew wide with a blast of magic. The spell hit Morgan, knocking him into the desk. With a cry of fury, Lloyd threw himself at the attackers. His fist flew, and one of the witches reeled back, blood streaming from his nose. They were definitely still alive under the marks.
“Incapacitate them!” I ignored Evelyn’s derisive snort, searching the spells on my wrist.
A trapping spell, boosted by my Hemlock power, slammed into the attacking witches. Rippling red lines filled the doorway, trapping two of them.
“Grab all the non-lethal spells you can!” I told the others. “Shields, knockout spells—whatever you can find.”
Mackie moved to obey without a fuss, while Morgan staggered to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. Lloyd kicked down the witch he’d been fighting, but he rose to his feet immediately. Keir got there first, his vampire ability draining the man as he stood.
“Please tell me you’re applying moderation.” I pocketed the spell Isabel had left me and grabbed another shield.
“Can’t make any promises,” Keir said, tossing another witch over his shoulder into the wall. “He’ll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up.”
The man Keir had drained jerked to his feet. His eyes were out of focus, but he kept moving, the symbols on his hands glowing. “Uh… Keir. I don’t think draining them works.”
“Worth a try.” His fist flew into the witch’s solar plexus, sending him sprawling once again. I threw another trapping spell, catching three witches this time. Their hands glowed, and the trapping spell strained, its lines fading.
I pushed back, pouring more power into the spell. The symbols glowed brighter, betraying the strain of trying to break the barrier.
“You’re wasting your time,” the Whisper’s voice hissed. “You will all perish…”
“God, shut up.” Mackie hurled a spell into the nearest witch’s face, causing it to erupt in blisters.
I stifled a laugh, climbing over the fallen witches into the alley. The smell of burning caught in the back of my throat, making me cough. The dragon must have started a fire somewhere close, but all I could see was smoke.
“I can’t sense the other witches,” Keir said.
“Maybe the dragon scared them off.” The path up out of the alley was clear, but without any clues as to where the person behind this was hiding, we�
��d end up running in circles. I reached into my pocket and slipped the new spell I’d made onto my wrist. “Evelyn, do you have any idea where the Whisper might be hiding? Is she possessing one of the witches?”
“No,” Evelyn said. “She has no body or spirit… she exists only in the symbols.”
“It’s not possible to put your consciousness into a physical object,” said Keir. “Let alone a symbol.”
“The Ancients don’t do rules,” I reminded him. “So this symbol… it must be well-hidden. Not on one of the witches.”
“It won’t be a witch symbol,” Evelyn said. “The Ancients had their own language, you know… close to ours in terms of its power, but not the same.”
“Shit.” The Whisper had implied something about their own magic being lost, or stolen. But summoning a person required knowing their name. Maybe summoning an Ancient was the same. “It’ll be at the ritual summoning site… which must be on a spirit line.”
“Not necessarily,” Evelyn said. “The spirit lines make it easier to summon beasts from between the worlds, but they’re also volatile. Besides, the walls between the worlds are breaking down. I doubt it was hard for her to slip out.”
Thanks to us. I pushed the thought away, recalling Ilsa’s words when we were on the spirit line. “So this symbol… I guess it’s like her talisman in a way.”
“Talisman?” echoed Lloyd.
“Faerie thing,” said Morgan. “Destroy a talisman and you take out the essence of a Sidhe’s magic.”
“The Ancients use them, too,” I explained. Ivy and Ilsa both had talismans that contained the Ancients’ magic. But theirs were static. The Whisper seemed to exist within everyone who bore her mark, as well as her origin point. “The symbol… it’s got to be hidden somewhere that’s well-protected, and that people won’t just stumble across. I guess it’s possible for it to be in a liminal space, but I’d have seen it when Ivy found those hellhounds.”
Keir shook his head. “There must have been a sacrifice involved. A high surge of magic. It couldn’t have happened on a spirit line.”
“No…” I trailed off. “Never mind where—who knows symbols like that? It’s not exactly the sort of knowledge you just stumble across.”
Witch's Spirit (The Hemlock Chronicles Book 3) Page 21