Into the Woods: Tales From the Hollows and Beyond

  Pierce watched until the witch was shoved into an elevator, then he turned to me. His expressive eyes were pinched when he asked, “How long have humans known about us, and how did we survive giving them the knowledge?”

  I bobbed my head, remembering Pierce’s shock when two witches started flirting in the mall, throwing minor spells at each other. “We’ve been out of the closet for about forty years.”

  His lips parted. “Out of the closet . . .”

  A grin came over my face. “Sorry. We came clean . . . uh . . . we told them we existed after a virus hiding in tomatoes—a sort of a plague—started killing humans. It dropped their numbers by about a quarter. They were going to find out about us anyway because we weren’t dying.”

  Pierce watched my moving foot and smiled with half his face. “I’ve always been of the mind that tomatoes were the fruit of the devil,” he said. Then he brought his gaze to mine and gestured to take in the entire building. “This happened in four decades?”

  I shrugged, twisting my boot toe into the tight-looped carpet. “I didn’t say it was easy.”

  Crossing his knees, he rubbed his beard as if noticing not many men had them. Though very quiet since our shopping trip, he had clearly been taking everything in, processing it. Even his words, few as they had been, were starting to sound . . . less odd.

  “Your brother,” he said, gesturing at him with his chin, “said you want to devote your life to this?”

  I smiled somewhat sheepishly. “The I.S. Yes.” A sudden worry pulled my brows together. “Why? You think I shouldn’t?”

  “No,” he rushed. “A daughter’s wish to follow in her parent’s occupation is proper.”

  Startled he knew my dad had worked for the I.S., I caught my breath until I remembered our conversation in the bus. “Oh. You heard that.”

  He ducked his head. “Yes, mistress witch. And who am I to tell you the profession of protecting the helpless is too dangerous? I live for it.”

  I felt a quiver of connection, that he might really understand. Pierce, though, gave me a wry look. “Lived for it,” he amended sourly.

  Used to arguing about my chosen profession, I lifted my chin. “I’m stronger every year,” I said as if he had protested. “I mean, markedly stronger.”

  “You suffered an illness?” Pierce asked, seemingly genuinely concerned.

  I nodded, and then feeling some honesty was due, added, “I still am sick, sort of. But I’m doing much better. Everyone says so. I have more stamina all the time. I attend classes to keep from slipping back, and I haven’t been in the hospital for about four years. I should have died, so I really don’t have any cause to complain, but I want to do this, damn it. They can’t keep me out because of my health. I got a black belt and everything.”

  I stopped, realizing not only was I babbling to the first understanding person I’d found, but I was swearing, too. “Sorry,” I said, twisting my foot again. “That’s probably gutter talk for you.”

  Pierce made a soft sound, neither accusing nor affirming. He was looking at my middle in a soft puzzlement. “You’re passionate,” he finally said, and I smiled in relief. I knew he would be gone by sunrise, but I didn’t want to alienate him. I liked him, even if he was a ghost. Oh God, I was not crushing on him.

  “I’m in the medical books, you know,” I said, trying to get his mind off my bad mouth. “The only survivor of Rosewood syndrome.”

  He started, turning from where he had been watching Robbie argue with his interviewer. “You . . . Rosewood? You survived? I lost two sisters and a brother to that, passed before they were three months. Are you sure that’s what ailed you?”

  I smiled because there was no pain in him. The hurt, apparently, was old. “That’s what it was. Is. Modern medicine I suppose, or all the herbal remedies they gave me at that Make-A-Wish camp for dying kids. I was there for three years until they kicked me out when I quit dying so fast.”

  The wonder was stark in his gaze as he settled back as if not believing it. “You’re a wonder, mistress witch.”

  I scoffed and ran my fingernails to bump over the chair’s fabric. “I’m not really a witch yet. I haven’t gotten my license. You can call me Rachel.”

  Pierce’s subtle fidgeting ceased and I looked up to find him staring. In sudden understanding, I warmed. Crap, giving him my first name might be extremely intimate. He certainly didn’t seem to know how to react.

  Embarrassed, I focused on Robbie. “I, uh, am sorry for bringing you from your rest,” I said. “I was trying to call my dad. See, I had this bet with Robbie. I said Dad, my father, would want me to put my application in to the I.S., and Robbie said if he were still alive, he’d want me to get a higher degree in my earth witch studies. So Robbie challenged me to call him and ask. If I could do it, I promised I’d do what Dad said; if not, I’d go with Robbie and go to school for four more years. I didn’t figure on him being at peace. I suppose I should be glad,” I said, feeling guilty. “But I really wanted to talk to him.”

  “Miss Rachel,” Pierce said, and my head came up when he took my hand. “Don’t weep for your father. I expect he’s at rest, watching you and wishing you happiness.”

  “You don’t know that,” I said contrarily, pulling away. “You’re stuck in purgatory.”

  But instead of taking that as a brush-off, he nodded as if he liked it.

  “You do know the intent behind your brother’s challenge was to prove to you how skilled you are at earth magic, so you will follow that path?”

  My mouth dropped open and I looked at Robbie. “The dirtbag,” I whispered. “Well, I’m not doing it,” I said while Pierce puzzled over the modern phrase. “We don’t know if my dad would have approved or not, so the deal is off. I’m not going to Portland. I’m going to stay here with my mother and become the best damned runner since my dad.”

  Crap, I’m swearing again, I thought, then gave Pierce an apologetic smile. “What do you think I should do?”

  The small man leaned forward, startling me with his intensity. “I believe,” he said, inches away, “that if you don’t follow your passions, you die slowly.”

  He was holding my hand again. A slow quiver built in me, and I pulled my hand away before I shivered outright. The office chatter seemed to grow loud, and Pierce resettled himself.

  “My apologies,” he said, clearly not sorry at all. “I’ve overstepped my boundaries.”

  Yeah, like I don’t want you to? “It’s okay,” I said, boldly meeting his gaze. “I’ve held hands with guys before.” And kissed them. I wonder what it’s like to kiss a ghost? God, he had a beard. It would probably be all prickly and nasty. But maybe it was soft?

  Yanking my thoughts back where they belonged, I looked down the open walkway to Robbie. He was clearly upset as he talked to the man, his arms moving in sharp angry motions. “I wonder what they’re saying,” I murmured.

  Pierce still had that devilish look, but I liked it.

  “Let me see if I can commune with the ever-after,” he said. “I’ve a mind to speak a charm to hear them, though it’s wicked to do so.” But almost immediately his enthusiasm faltered. “I can’t find a line,” he said, touching his beard as if nervous. “Being a spectre, one might think it would be easier, not forbidden.”

  Well, nuts to that. I want to know what Robbie is saying. In a spontaneous motion, I grabbed Pierce’s wrist. My focus blurred as I searched for the nearest ley line, finding the university’s glowing in my thoughts: a dusky red ribbon of power all witches could tap into regardless of where their talents lay.

  Reaching out a thought, I connected to it. Warmth spilled into me in a slow trickle, running to my chi and making my skin tingle. Forcing my vision to focus, I looked at Pierce. My pleased smile faded. Crap, I’d done it again. The small man was staring at me as if I had just taken off all my clothes and was dancing naked on the desks.

  “So you can do the spell . . .” I said in a small voice, and took a breath as if only now remembering
how to breathe. “Didn’t you share lines in your time?”

  “Not often,” he said, setting a hand atop mine so I wouldn’t let go. “But I’m not there anymore. Thank you. Let me . . . do the spell.”

  He steadied himself, and while I felt like a whore on the corner, he flicked a nervous gaze at me with his beautiful, deep blue eyes. “Well?” I prompted.

  “I’m not of a mind to hurt you,” he admitted.

  “Then don’t pull so much,” I said, glancing at Robbie. God, did he think I was a child?

  “Um, yes,” he stammered, and I shifted my shoulders when I felt a soft draw through me.

  “You’re fine,” I encouraged, and he pulled more until my hair was floating from static. Intrigued, I watched Pierce close his eyes as if trying to remember something. His lips moved and I heard the faintest hint of Latin, dark and alien sounding. His free hand sketched a quick figure, and then my ears popped.

  “A moment,” he said, his hand atop mine tightening to keep me from breaking the link.

  My gaze shot to Robbie. “Oh, wow,” I breathed as his voice came clear, as if I was listening to a phone.

  “Wow. Yes,” Pierce repeated, smiling from behind his beard, and we turned to listen.

  “But I know he took her,” Robbie said forcefully, his lips moving in time with the spoken words. “Can’t you just get a car out there or something?”

  The I.S. officer he was with had his back to us, but I could see he was typing. “Mr. Morgan. I assure you we’re giving the matter our full attention.”

  “Are you?” my brother said. “She’ll be dead by sunup if you don’t do something. He’s done this before. He just made the mistake of taking someone who would be noticed this time.”

  The man in his wrinkled suit clicked a window on his computer closed. One hand on the mouse, he gave my brother a long look. “And you know this how?”

  Robbie said nothing, and I looked at the entryway floor when the vampire turned to see Pierce and me.

  “Mr. Morgan,” the man said, his voice thick with dismissal. “I’ve taken twelve statements like yours over the past three hours. We’re working on them in turn, but you can understand we can’t devote all our manpower to one missing child who is angry she isn’t getting what she wants for Christmas and has run away to her daddy.”

  “I’m not a crank,” Robbie said tightly. “My father used to work in the Arcane Division, and I know real from fake. This isn’t a joke.”

  I breathed easier when the vampire focused on my brother again. “Monty Morgan?” he said, and I nodded even as Robbie did.

  Pierce’s grip on my hand twitched when the vampire stood. The ghost’s expression of concern surprised me.

  “Wait here,” the officer said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Pleased, I smiled at Pierce. “See?” I said, feeling like we were getting somewhere.

  But Pierce’s brow was creased in a deep worry. “Spawn,” he muttered, and while I held his one hand, he made a small gesture with the other. I stifled a jump when the energy he was pulling off the line through me shifted. His lips pressed tight, he pointed to the I.S. officer, now bending to speak to another, clearly higher-up, officer.

  “Sir, do you have a minute?” Robbie’s interviewer said, his voice clear.

  I couldn’t see the new man’s face, but his tone was bothered as he brought his attention up from his paperwork and said, “What?”

  “It’s the missing girl,” the first officer said, fingers moving nervously behind his back.

  I caught a glimpse of the supervisor’s face when he turned to Robbie. It was smooth and nice looking despite his expression of annoyance. Young. “So?” he said.

  Shifting his feet, the older man bent closer. “He knows things not released to the press.”

  The vampire went back to his paperwork, the pencil skating across the form too fast for a human. “So?” he said again.

  “So he’s one of Morgan’s kids.”

  I felt a stir of satisfaction when the officer set his pencil down. “Who?”

  “The witch in Arcane,” Robbie’s interviewer prompted. “Died about four years ago?”

  But my pride shifted to a stark fear when the vampire looked at Robbie, his pupils swelling to black. Crap, I could see it from here. He was vamping out. But why?

  “Morgan’s boy?” he murmured, interested, and my pulse quickened. Something was wrong. I could almost taste it. “I thought he was out of state.”

  Pierce let go of my wrist and I jumped when the connection between us broke. My chi was suddenly overfull, and I forced most of the energy back into the ley line. I didn’t let go of the line completely, ready for anything.

  “I expect we should leave,” the small man said, eyes darting over the three floors to linger on the building’s main entrance.

  I rubbed my wrist to get rid of the remaining tingles. “What’s wrong?”

  Pierce eased to the front of the chair and held his coat closed. “It’s been my experience that instinct, not what you’ve been taught, is the clearest indicator of direction. They have a mind that your brother is involved with the girl’s abduction and is finding reason to beg clemency by cooperating. We need to pull foot.”

  “Wait up,” I said when he rose and drew me to a stand. “What about Robbie?”

  As if having heard me, my brother met my gaze. His face was ashen. Behind him, the two vampires were headed his way. Clearly frightened, he mouthed, “Go!”

  “Your brother won’t come to any hurt,” Pierce said, and I fell into motion when he gripped my elbow and started us toward the wide stairway. “They will give him Jesse until sure of his innocence, but by that time, the sun will be risen. Blame it all, I should have been of a state to fix his flint myself.”

  I had no idea what he was saying, but Pierce had us on the steps before the first shout. My head whipped around, and I stumbled. Two brutish men were heading our way, and with a little gasp, I pushed Pierce down faster. A chime rang through the air, and my skin prickled. “Lock down!” someone shouted.

  “Damnation,” Pierce swore, but our feet were still moving, and we had passed the second floor without trouble. My pulse was too fast, and my lungs hurt, but I wouldn’t slow down. We wouldn’t be caught because of me. Apart from the two guys following us and the uniformed woman standing in front of the doors with her arms crossed over her chest, everyone seemed content to watch. Actually, they were moving back, making room. Swell.

  “Mistress witch,” Pierce said, his tone terse as we neared the ground floor, my steps barely keeping up with his. “I’d respectfully ask that I might commune a line through you.” He glanced at me, shocking me again with how blue his eyes were. “To help make our escape. If there were another way, I would use it.”

  I slid my hand into his, gripping it firmly. “Pull on a line.” He shot a bewildered look at me and I shouted, “Commune with the ever-after!”

  My breath hissed in as he did, and I squeezed his hand to tell him it was okay. Power burned like ice as we found the first floor, and I felt my tongue tingle. Pierce gathered himself, and with a shout, a head-sized sphere of ever-after enveloped his free hand.

  That came through me, I thought in wonder, even as we continued to head for the doors.

  Pierce threw the ball. The witch waiting for us yelped and dove for the floor. Green power edged in red and black hit the glass doors, spreading out like slime. A boom shook the air and almost sent me falling. Glass pushed outward in a silent cascade.

  “Are you well, Miss Rachel?” Pierce said earnestly when my ears recovered.

  I looked up as he steadied me with his grip tight on my elbow. For an instant we stood, focused on each other, linked by way of the line and our need to escape. My inner ear pulsed from the blast. Behind me, shouts started to make sense. Past the shattered doors came the sound of traffic and the crisp cold of a winter night. The witch on the floor looked up from around her fallen hair, shocked. “Wow,” I said, and Pierce’s con
cern eased.

  Satisfied I had my balance, he let go of my elbow but kept our fingers entwined. “Allow me, mistress witch,” he said gallantly, escorting me through the broken glass.

  “Hey! Stop!” someone called. My pulse raced, and knowing my mom was going to “give me Jesse” when she found out, I nevertheless stepped elegantly over the jagged remnants of the door and onto the salted sidewalk.

  “A moment,” Pierce said, turning, and I felt another strong pull through me when he ran two fingers across both the lintel and threshold of the wide doors and a green sheet of ever-after swam up from the frozen slush sidewalk to seal everyone inside. “Now we may depart,” he said exuberantly, the light shining out from the I.S. offices showing his good mood. “Perhaps a carriage is in order,” he said, whistling as if he had grown up in Cincy, but he had watched Robbie do the same thing. “I fear we should make an unpleasant haste. The ward won’t last long. And we must stay holding hands until then.”

  I grinned. When he was excited, he didn’t stop to think what he was saying and was charmingly elegant. “Maybe we should walk a few blocks so they don’t know what cab we take?” I suggested. “Otherwise they’ll just radio ahead.”

  Pierce’s brow creased, and he waved away the cab that had pulled up. “Like the music from the boxes?” he said, and I nodded. It was close enough.

  “Then we walk,” he said. With a last wave to the angry I.S. officers behind the green-tinted sheet of ever-after, he tightened his grip on my fingers, and we strode down the sidewalk.

  My pulse was fast and I felt breathless. I’d never done anything like this before, and I felt alive. For the first time in my freaking life, I felt alive—the adrenaline making me light and airy and my steps long and sure. The snow drifted down peacefully, and I wished that I could do this forever—walk with a man’s hand in mine, happy and pleasantly warm with this alive feeling running through me. He wasn’t much taller than me, and our steps were closely matched.

  I glanced behind us at the retreating I.S. building, then shyly at Pierce, but his attention was on the buildings and storefront displays. I eyed the colored lights and the happy people walking in the snow with last-minute solstice and Christmas shoppers finding a final, perfect gift.