The Amber Lee Boxed Set

  A sound broke his thought off like a brittle twig. Damien’s eyes went up and he spied a glowing orb of light getting stronger with each passing second. The room was starting to illuminate, though he didn’t know how. There were no light-fixtures, no wires that he could see, and no electrics at all in fact. But there was brightness now where there had been none before, and his surroundings were starting to take definition.

  It was a stone room, small, barely more than a few feet across. A door on one side, stone walls on the other three, each scribbled on from top to bottom in Latin. He couldn’t get a bead on what the majority of the words were, but the words caused him pain when he looked at them; a sharp, needle-like throb in his right temple. He suspected they were magical wards designed to incapacitate a witch and separate her from her power, but the magick was dark and hurtful, blasphemous; the difference between binding someone with smooth cuffs and spiked manacles.

  When the light was bright enough, the door at the front of the room opened. An exotic, familiar scent came rushing in. Honey and cinnamon. He closed his eyes and let the smell envelop him, and when he opened them again she was there. Acheris. Her black eyes burrowed a hole into his soul, her full red lips parted slightly, and her fangs were visible even in the dim light. What is she? Is she a vampire?

  “Good sleep?” she asked.

  “Perfect,” Damien said.

  “I’m glad the accommodations have been to your liking. Don’t forget to rate us on your way out.”

  “On my way out? I thought I was never getting out.”

  “Oh, sweetie,” she said, approaching. Acheris laid a delicate, cool hand on his chest, on the wound, and her touch didn’t hurt him as much as it had earlier. “That’s up to you.”

  “If I give you the demon.”

  “That’s all I want from you.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “You’re right. There is more I want, but I doubt you’d give it to me willingly, so I’ll settle for the demon. Then maybe after…” she said, trailing off with a suggestive smile.

  “You’re wasting your time.”

  Acheris smiled a soft smile. Her fingers traced the lines of his wound. He could see the wound now, only it was barely a wound at all. The scarring was gone, the swelling had lessened, and the skin looked like new save for a few long lines of scabbed tissue. This was magick. Her magick. He knew it. She could take it away without uttering a word, but it was comforting to be able to look at his chest and see it whole again.

  “You like it?” she asked, following her fingers with soft kisses. “I’m not much of a healer, but I think it’s some of my finest work.”

  “It’s an illusion,” he said.

  “It’s very much real,” she said, “Just like what I’m about to show you.”

  Acheris clicked her fingers and, from beyond the door, someone shuffled around a corner and into view. For a moment Damien didn’t know who it was. The dimness and the pain were clouding his senses. All of them. But then he remembered the image he had seen in his dream of a person he had grown up with; that girl with the tattoos and the pointed chin, with the long hair and the smile. Only she wasn’t smiling now; she was all too thin and wearing rags. Looked like she had been stuck in… in a dungeon… but—Goddess—it was Lily.

  Lily.

  He blinked, eyes wide, and breathed through his nose to keep his mouth from opening. Acheris waved her hand and drew Lily to her side. She brushed Lily’s hair out of her face with her fingers, circled around Lily’s back, and stood behind her, presenting her like a proud pageant-mom would present her five year old.

  “Li…” Damien struggled to say, “Lily… is…”

  Lily nodded, but she wouldn’t look Damien in the eyes as if doing so would hurt her.

  “It can’t… it can’t be you,” he said, “You’re—you’re dead.”

  “Damien, please don’t insult my power. This is very much your sister.”

  “But—how?”

  “There’s no need for explanations now,” Acheris said. She nudged Lily. “Go on, go to him.”

  Lily looked at Acheris, then back at Damien, and then she ran to him. His heart leapt into his throat when she threw her arms around him and hugged him. He couldn’t hug her back, but he wanted to. In that instant he didn’t care whether she was real or not, whether she was an illusion, a mirage, or some other messed up creation Acheris had cooked up with her foul magick. She looked, sounded, and smelled like Lily, and that was all that mattered.

  “Damien,” she said into his hair, “I’m so glad it’s you. I’ve missed you so much!”

  He didn’t know what to say, what to do, or where to look. Acheris was standing there, watching with her hands clasped by her belly. The door behind her—the door to freedom—was ajar, but he wouldn’t be able to get out of his chains quickly enough to get past her. Not even if he summoned the power that was already inside of him. He didn’t think so, at least, and he didn’t want to play that ace just yet.

  “Lily,” he said, “Is… is that you?”

  “It’s me, Damien, I swear it’s me,” she said, cupping his face. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay? I’m going—”

  Acheris flicked her wrist and it was as if an invisible rope attached to Lily’s neck had tensed and pulled her away from him. Lily choked and stretched her hands toward Damien as her body flew back a few paces.

  “You’re hurting her!” Damien said, more out of instinct than anything else.

  “That’s quite enough,” Acheris said. “You know my terms. Are you ready to give me what I want?”

  Damien looked at Lily, then back at Acheris. His heart was pounding in his chest, his neck, his temples, drowning out all rational thought. It’s Lily, isn’t it? If it was, and he agreed to Acheris’s terms, she would give Lily to him. If he didn’t… would she kill her again? Would she kill him? She would, and she’d make him watch, too. But if it wasn’t Lily at all, and instead some unknowable thing meant to distract him, he would be walking into a trap.

  Damien said nothing.

  “When you’re ready to talk, we’ll talk,” Acheris said, “Until then, it’s back to the darkness with you, sweet prince.”

  She left with Lily in tow, and the door slammed shut behind her with a heavy thud. The ambient glow dimmed until Damien was returned to the dark, just as she had promised. His head fell and Damien exhaled. Tears fell from his eyes and into oblivion. But the question remained heavy in his thoughts and on his heart.

  Was that really Lily?

  Chapter Twenty Four

  My mom shook me gently awake and when I opened my eyes I saw; dawn had broken. Dust motes floated inside shafts of beautiful gold light, giving them the impression of fireflies. Swallows sung nearby, and a gentle breeze had filled the house. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and sat up straight, then I remembered.

  Aaron.

  “Oh my God, is he okay?” I asked.

  “He’s fine,” my mom said.

  “Good,” I said, “And… where is everyone?”

  “Frank and Jackal are outside checking things out.”

  I looked to Aaron, who was still lying on the couch opposite where I was sat. Someone had moved me from the floor to an armchair and covered me. Frank, most likely. Aaron was on his front, as he had been the night before, but his back was glistening and covered in herbs and poultices I couldn’t identify.

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  My mom glanced over at Aaron. “His body needed to start regenerating but it had gone into some kind of shock. I dealt with the fever first, then covered the wounds to stop infection, and I just checked… he’s healing.”

  I sank into the armchair again and exhaled a breath of relief. “Okay,” I said, “That’s good news.”

  “We aren’t out of the fire yet. He hasn’t woken up and I’m worried the fever will come back, but now that his regeneration has kicked in there’s no way we can take him to the hospital. Whether he lives or dies is up to him.??
?

  I nodded. “Aaron will make it. He’s a fighter.”

  “That he is. I can see why you like him, even if he isn’t your type.”

  A smile swept across my face. A genuine one. “I don’t just like him, mom… I’m gonna marry him.”

  “Oh, Amber…” she said, a smile manifesting on her face from the news. “I’m so happy for you, baby.” She pulled me into a hug and I returned it warmly.

  “I wanted to tell you,” I said, “But everything happened so fast… I haven’t even had a chance to enjoy the fact that I’m engaged yet.”

  “You will,” she said, caressing my cheek. “We’ll get through this.”

  I nodded.

  The front door opened and Jackal and Frank came in side by side. Jackal slipped her phone into her pocket. She didn’t look happy. Frank slipped his ashtray box back into his bag and closed the door behind them.

  “Everything okay?” I asked, standing.

  “I can’t get a hold of Marcus,” Jackal said.

  “Marcus? As in, Aaron’s dad?”

  “Yeah. He must be on the way here.”

  “Wait, hold up. Marcus is coming here?”

  “Shit,” Jackal said, “He never told you.”

  “Maybe we should wait until Aaron wakes up,” Frank said.

  “Wait for what?” I asked.

  Jackal approached, her lips pressed into a line. “Marcus and the wolves… they’re coming here. Aaron called in the cavalry last night before everything happened.”

  “Marcus agreed to come,” I said, taken aback by disbelief. Aaron had told me the story of how his father had refused to help. Jackal had come of her own volition, but his father had remained staunch and resolute in his devotion to his pack’s territory. “I guess that’s a good thing, right? We can use all the help we can get.”

  “Yeah,” Jackal said, “But we have no way of knowing when they’ll be here. Could be an hour, could be six.”

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “About four hours,” Frank said.

  I did the math. “Damien’s been alone with her for far too long already,” I said, “I don’t know if we can wait six hours.”

  “Unless you plan on storming the castle without our muscle, we’re going to have to.”

  “Look, I can’t explain it, but I have a feeling like some kind of timer has started. If Damien doesn’t give her what she wants, she’s going to end up killing him. She hasn’t tried to get into my, or anyone else’s, head yet which means she’s still working on him, but how long does Damien have?”

  “We can’t just go running into her sanctum like this,” Frank said, “Remember that whole thing about the wards? That hasn’t changed just because Aaron is down for the count. There’s still a very real danger that if we open a portal into that place and step through it, we’re gonna come out the other side looking like minced meat. Waiting for the werewolves is the smart play.”

  “Just because it’s smart doesn’t make it right,” I said. “What if we’re too late? I won’t allow it.”

  “Aaron spoke to Marcus last night,” Jackal said, “Assuming they left when he called they should be here soon. But there are protocols to be followed and decisions to be made on who stays behind to protect our turf. They probably didn’t leave right away.”

  “We can’t just sit here and wait,” I said, “I’ll go fucking crazy.”

  “We also can’t rush into this woman’s turf and fight her without any backup. Rule number one of a turf war is never fight the enemy on their home ground.”

  “I don’t see a choice here,” I said, “We don’t have enough time to wait for Aaron to heal and we don’t have enough time to wait for the werewolves to arrive. I need that portal opened, and I need us to get Damien out.”

  “I hate you right now,” Frank said, “But you’re right.”

  “God-dammit,” Jackal said, throwing her hands up and walking away.

  We watched Jackal disappear into the kitchen. My mom went after her to try and talk to her, for all the good that would do, leaving me and Frank alone in the room with Aaron unconscious on the couch.

  “You really think this is a good idea?” I asked.

  “I didn’t say it was a good idea, but I think it’s the only thing we can do. I know where Damien is because I’m tracking the thing inside my pendant, but I have no way of knowing if he’s alive or not. Her wards are strong.”

  “So he could already be dead…” I said, trailing off.

  Frank placed his hands on my shoulders and stared into me, eyebrows up. “Don’t think like that,” he said, “Damien’s gonna be okay. We all are.”

  I nodded. “Okay. So, let’s do this. My mom can stay with Aaron and the three of us can go and get Damien out.”

  “I can get us to within a few feet from him. You need to call the others and get them ready; we’ll need their power too. Yours and mine combined aren’t enough for this kind of spell.”

  Frank didn’t know it, but what he had just said in such a casual way made my gut turn to ice. I had to swallow and breathe in order to continue functioning. Good thing he was on the phone making a long-distance call. It took a comparison like the one Frank had just made for me to realize the scope of Acheris’s vast power.

  If Frank and I together couldn’t open a portal big enough for the three of us to come through, and Acheris seemingly was able to move around the globe with her cultists at will, then we were terribly outmatched.

  ***

  “The witches are ready for us,” Frank said.

  I stood and left Aaron’s side, nodding and heading into the kitchen to get my mom. She was waiting with Jackal, just sitting in silence at the table. They perked up when I entered the room.

  “Everything’s ready,” I said.

  Jackal stood, straightened herself out, and put on her aviators. My mom also stood, but she walked up to me and hugged me. I hugged her back and, for a moment, felt like weeping. Like this was goodbye. Forever. But I pushed the thought out of my mind, out of my heart, and allowed myself to enjoy the hug.

  “I need you to look after him,” I said, “Make sure he gets better.”

  She nodded, wiped the bottom of her eyes, and smiled. “I will,” she said, “He’ll be up soon. I can tell he’s healing faster now.”

  “Silver’s gonna be a bitch to leave his system, though. Don’t be surprised if he sleeps for two more days after the beating he took.”

  My mom nodded.

  “Alright,” I said, “Time to go.”

  “This is the point where we lock and load,” Frank said to my mom, “You wouldn’t happen to be sitting on any automatic rifles, would you?”

  She shook her head. “Sorry, only this one.”

  “I guess you’ll need it here too. Never mind. If I see a hooded man I’ll challenge him to fisticuffs.”

  I headed to where Aaron was, ran my fingers through the dry parts of his hair, and kissed him on the cheek. He was warm, but that was normal. Good, in fact. It meant he was getting better.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I said into his ear, “You have to wake up though, okay? And when you do, you have to promise not to come after me.” I kissed him again and said “I love you.”

  Then I stood, marched toward the front door, and headed out into the field. The witches would be able to hone in on our power now since they were looking for us. Assuming Acheris was busy, she wouldn’t even notice we had left our protected area until we were already close enough to touch her. At least, that was the hope.

  “Now we wait,” Frank said.

  I took my phone out of my pocket and sent a text message to Luther, the British Necromancer I had met with in Berlin. Angling my body away from Frank and Jackal, the text warned Luther to send enough power for only one person to travel through their portal. When I was done, I shut my phone off and stuffed it back into my pocket. We waited for what seemed like half an hour, but then my skin started to react to a change in the atmosphere—and it wa
sn’t the steady, cold breeze in the air.

  “This is it,” Frank said, “You two need to take my hands.”

  My heart started to pound. I took Frank’s hand as he asked and closed my eyes, stretching out my invisible senses to get ahead of the spell, ahead of the power, so that I could see it coming before it arrived. It was like trying to beat light at a footrace, but I saw it. In my mind it was like a beam of invisible purple light racing across the world—across time and space—to get to where we were. Just as the magick blast came to encapsulate us and whisk us off into Acheris’s lair, I pushed a trickle of telekinetic power in Frank’s direction and shoved him and Jackal, sending them to the floor a few yards away.

  “What the fuck!” Frank said.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “But I need to do this alone.”

  My body was surrounded by circlets of purple light and heat haze. My stomach churned as the magick’s effect took hold of my body and started to drag it into the Nether. It was much like riding a rollercoaster, which I remembered doing once when I was young. The feeling was different from the portal we had used in Berlin, though. This was true teleportation and not a tunnel we had to run through.

  “Amber, no!” Frank said, struggling to get to his feet.

  “I’ll distract her. You don’t come until you have the others with you.”

  “You can’t do this!” he said, but it was too late. The light circlets constricted around me until all that was left of me was a tiny ball of light. In a second it disappeared, and I was gone.

  When I opened my eyes, all was dark. I couldn’t see though my eyes were open, couldn’t hear though there was noise all around me, couldn’t smell anything and yet I could smell everything. This was a strange place; it was a mad place the still living were never meant to experience for more than a few seconds in their entire lives. The Nether was a place where the invisible entities that stalk the world live, a place where the some of the dead still walk, a place where souls become food.

  “Cherie,” said a voice from amidst the chaos.