“How long have you been with Lilith?” Samantha asked.
“Two years,” the mom said, chin lifted high.
“So, then, of course, as part of her coven and having been with her so long, you know exactly what she’s got planned,” Samantha said.
The woman’s smug smile faltered.
“No?” Samantha asked, her voice innocent. “I mean, surely after all that time, and being sisters of the circle and everything, she’d trust you with that information, right? I mean, it’s only natural that you know what the goal is since you’re assisting.”
“She . . . she keeps some things secret, to protect them, to protect us, from outsiders and spies.”
“Spies?” Samantha asked, making herself sound shocked. “How could there be spies in the circle? Aren’t you all bound together, one big happy family? And wouldn’t she know if that wasn’t true?”
“Spies can be anywhere,” the woman said, trying hard to rally, even though Samantha had struck a nerve. “Plausible deniability. It’s saved us on several occasions recently.”
“Really, how?” Samantha asked.
“An FBI agent was following me, asking me a bunch of questions, wanted to know about you. I played dumb and scared, kept stringing him along. Then when his guard was down, I threw him into your car, and after that, you killed him for me,” Nala said triumphantly.
Samantha felt sick. When was she going to learn to stop trusting the wrong people? Then again, it hadn’t exactly been the best or smartest part of her that had believed Nala. She remembered thinking the girl was lying about the attack, but the part of her that had been in control had not been in a listening mood.
It was highly likely that the agent would have died from the damage he’d undergone anyway. And if not, Nala would surely have found a way to finish the job before he could identify himself to Samantha or try to fight back.
She knew that the FBI had a group of witches working for them, hunting down dark covens. She had met two of them before and she hadn’t known they were allies until it was nearly too late.
She couldn’t help thinking of Randy back in Salem, who had given her his energy to help her defeat the witches there, even though it had cost him his life. Then there had been Trina in California, who, fortunately, had still been alive when Samantha left. She couldn’t help wondering what had happened to her. It was possible that she or some other member of her team was already here, investigating. The agent that Nala had thrown into her car might not have been alone.
The thought both comforted her and upset her at the same time.
“How many are in your coven?” she asked, forcing herself back to the task at hand.
“I’ll never tell you that,” the older woman said.
“They’re all in danger, including you. It’s not too late to get out. You’ve gotten in over your head, involved with terrible magic that will destroy everything you hold dear. I can help you, though. You just need to trust me.”
The woman laughed. “Why on earth would we want to ‘get out’? Thanks to Lilith, we’re finally going to have everything we ever wanted and more.”
“That’s just the lies she’s telling you,” Samantha said. If she could win the women to her side, the information they had would be invaluable. “I’ve seen what she does to people, to other witches. She uses them and discards them when they are no longer of value to her.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nala said heatedly. “Lilith loves us. She would never hurt us.”
“That’s just what she wants you to think. Lilith loves only herself. I was there in the coven she set up in Salem and saw firsthand how she used the people, trying to get them to raise a demon that she knew would kill them all. In San Francisco she actually managed to possess a powerful witch and force her to do terrible things, things that took so much power and energy that just attempting them put the witch’s life in danger every single time. Again she was trying to raise a demon that would destroy a lot of people and do so indiscriminately. Believe me, all Lilith wants is power and destruction and she doesn’t care who she has to hurt, who she has to use, to get what she wants.”
“A demon?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Samantha said, hoping that maybe she was starting to get through to the woman, that she could talk sense into the two of them.
“Then the rumors are true,” she said.
“If you’ve heard that she’s planning on raising a demon here, I would think it’s a safe bet she’s trying to. I know that whatever she has planned, Salem and San Francisco were just the opening salvos to her bigger plan.”
“Do you hear that, Nala?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“We’re going to be queens!” the older woman crowed as Nala smiled greedily.
“You don’t understand,” Samantha whispered.
“We understand just fine; it’s you that has the problem,” Nala said.
“This will be nothing like the demon that possesses Martin,” Samantha said. “This will be a monster that kills, destroys everything in its path. None of you will be left alive. I know. I’ve seen what these things can do. There’s no stopping it, no controlling it, no surviving it.”
“And yet you lived to tell the tale,” the woman said. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks. What do you say, sweetheart?”
“I say, imagine how much more Lilith will favor us if we bring her the head of the witch she couldn’t kill,” Nala said, raising her hands into the air and throwing fireballs at Samantha.
Samantha dropped to the floor and slammed her fists into it, sending a shock wave through it that knocked both mother and daughter off their feet.
“You don’t have to do this!” Samantha shouted, giving them one last chance.
“Of course we don’t have to. We want to,” the mom said as she regained her feet.
Samantha felt a burst of sorrow. There was no way she was going to convince them, either of them. And she couldn’t let them live to be a problem, to fight another day.
“Don’t make me kill you,” she whispered.
“Did you hear that?” Nala said, sneering as she stood up. “How weak, how pathetic is that?”
“You see, my dear, that is what Lilith warns us against. You must always be decisive.”
Samantha smiled at them both grimly. “It’s tragic, really, how many people mistake compassion for weakness and kindness for indecisiveness.”
“You’re all talk,” the woman said.
Samantha leaped forward, placed a hand on each of their heads, and ripped the power from them. When it was gone, she dropped their bodies to the floor and watched as they rapidly began to decay, their eyes bulging with fear.
“Actually, you were talking about yourself,” Samantha said sadly.
In Salem the witches there had taught her to kill a person by pulling energy from him. Lilith had taught her a much more powerful, more effective way of killing by pulling the ability to use their power from people.
The two women were dying, almost gone.
Samantha called a fireball to each hand and dropped them on the bodies, letting them burn alive. For a brief moment she considered burning the house down as well but decided to leave things as they were, a warning for the other members of the coven. So instead she turned and carved words with fire into the floor right in front of the door.
Leave the coven now.
It was all the warning the rest of them were going to get, and it was likely far more than they deserved if Nala and her mother were any indication. She left, closing the door behind her.
Samantha made her way back to the house. Knowing what she did now, there was no way she could stay there anymore. Nala could have told every witch in the coven where she lived. She quickly changed clothes, packed up her stuff, and grabbed Freaky.
“Come on, we’re going,” she told the little kitten.
She got back in the car and ten minutes after she had gotten there, she was leaving again.
/>
She abandoned the car several miles from the hotel where Anthony and Ed were staying and walked the rest of the way. She could have called Anthony for a ride, but she needed the time to clear her head and think. Freaky rode on her shoulder for most of the distance, his tiny claws digging into her shoulder and helping keep her mind off everything that had just happened.
Right before arriving at the hotel, she dropped Freaky inside her bag, not wanting to deal with trying to hide him magically or argue about whether or not they accepted pets in their establishment.
She walked up to the front desk, booked a room, and convinced them to take cash and no name for it. Then she made her way upstairs, dumped all her stuff next to the bed, freed Freaky from the bag, and headed for the restroom.
She had to take three showers before she got the smell of smoke out of her hair. She lay down on the bed, intending to do so only for a moment.
She woke up a couple of hours later, groggy and disoriented.
She glanced at the clock. She was late for her brunch with Ed and Anthony, but since the restaurant was just downstairs she didn’t bother to call. She threw on some clothes, picked up Freaky, and headed downstairs, battling sleep and starvation.
Once inside the restaurant, she spotted them at the same table they’d been at the night before. She walked up.
“You’re late,” Anthony noted. “I . . . we . . . were getting worried.”
“Sorry,” she muttered as she slid into the booth and dropped Freaky onto the table.
“And you look like hell,” Ed noted.
“Yeah, well, it’s been that kind of a night, morning, whatever,” she said.
The waitress came by, glanced at Freaky, and turned visibly pale but didn’t say anything.
“Coffee, black, and the sirloin,” Samantha said.
The woman nodded and scurried off.
“I think Freaky’s reputation is preceding him,” Ed noted with a smirk.
“So, what happened to you?” Anthony asked.
“Well, Ed was certainly right about one thing. There are definitely people in town who know Lilith. In fact, I had the great displeasure of dealing with two of her coven.”
“She’s formed a coven?” Anthony asked, turning notably paler. “Somehow I had the feeling she was working alone.”
“So did I. What her coven mates are too stupid to realize is that they’re all expendable, and will be just as soon as she’s finished with everyone else,” Samantha said.
The waitress brought the coffee and Samantha drained the cup in one gulp, despite how it scalded on its way down. The woman looked shocked but refilled the mug and left the pot on the table.
“Good call,” Samantha muttered as she took her time sipping the next cup.
“How many do you think there are?” Ed asked.
“Two fewer now than there were,” Samantha said grimly.
Anthony reached over and squeezed her hand. She appreciated the show of support.
“Honestly, I wish I knew,” she said at last. “Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get that or any names or where Lilith might be hiding out.”
“Well, at least we know that there are others out there,” Ed said.
“What about you two, anything?” Samantha asked.
“The police are completely baffled about the whole theme park massacre. They’re working to keep it quiet, which explains why we haven’t heard anything about it. They’re afraid it’s some sort of serial killer, even though they have no explanation for how the victims were killed.”
“So, no help there,” Samantha said.
“There was one older cop who I suspect knows more than he’s saying, but he’s not assigned to the case as far as I could tell. Would love to have had you there so you could have told me if he was like you.”
Samantha nodded. “Maybe you can arrange a little visit later. Anthony, what about you?”
“Well, the day’s still young yet, but I did get a chance to call on a couple of people I know. They’re both Wiccan and they’re both running scared. They know what’s been happening but haven’t the first clue who or why or how to protect themselves against it. Apparently they’ve tried on three separate occasions to get out of the city and it’s like they hit a barrier and can’t physically leave. They can’t even tell if there is an actual energy barrier up or if it’s just a mental block that they can’t break.”
“They haven’t heard any rumors concerning witches?”
“Just that there are witches, but nothing more substantial than that.”
“Are they willing to help us?” Samantha asked.
Anthony shook his head. “No way, they’re just hoping to keep their heads down and go unnoticed. They’re too scared to act and they’re hiding behind the whole ‘do no harm’ thing to make themselves feel better.”
Samantha shrugged. “It’s part of their religion. Can’t really blame them for that.”
“No, but I’d be interested to see what they’ll do when Lilith comes for them.”
“Well, at least we’re clear not to expect help from that direction. Is there anyone else you can talk to?”
“Yeah, I’ve got three other people I plan to talk to this afternoon, although, frankly, I expected if anyone would know anything it’d be those ladies. They’re fairly plugged into the whole network.”
“Well, we can’t afford to leave any stone unturned, especially when we need both information and help,” Samantha said with a sigh.
She finished her second cup of coffee and poured her third.
Food arrived shortly and Samantha dug into her steak gratefully. She was in desperate need of the protein at this point. She was still upset about having to kill Nala, but even more upset with herself for having let the girl fool her the way she had done. Truly, Ed and Anthony were the only two she could trust.
They continued to talk while they ate. They were just beginning to leave when a ripple flashed through the air. There was someone outside, more than one by the feel of it.
“Stay here,” she warned Anthony and Ed.
“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked.
“Is it that Thomas guy again?” Ed asked.
She shook her head. “No, there’re some people outside. I don’t know who they are, but there’re quite a few of them from the feel of it. I don’t want them to see you. Keep your heads down. This could get ugly.”
“Bring it on,” Ed said, unholstering his gun.
“I’m hoping it won’t come to that,” she said. “They came here to see me and I’d like to keep anyone from finding out about you two as long as I possibly can.”
“We’ll stay here unless you need us,” Anthony said.
“Thanks.”
Samantha turned and walked to the front door. She took a deep breath. She could handle this. She didn’t need Desdemona. They were one and the same—that’s what Five kept trying to tell her. She was scary, terrifying, and she didn’t need to put on an act for anyone for that to be true.
She opened the door and stepped outside.
Fifteen people, men and women, all dressed in dark suits, stood in a loose half circle in front of the building. One of them, a man with gray hair, stepped forward. “Desdemona Castor, we’ve come for you.”
12
Samantha lifted her head. “My name is Samantha Ryan, but nevertheless, I’m the witch you want. Identify yourselves.”
“Connor O’Donnell, FBI” the man with gray hair said, holding up a badge. “You’re coming with us.”
Her eyes swept the line of people until they fell on one woman with blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Trina?”
Trina was one of the members of an elite FBI team made up of people with powers who had been fighting witches all over the country. They had met while Samantha was in San Francisco, although thanks to the events that happened there, Trina remembered very little of their encounter.
Trina nodded.
Samantha let herself smile. “It’s good to see you guys
. We’re all on the same team.”
“Are we?” Connor asked. “Frankly, your actions the last several days have led us to believe otherwise.”
“I can understand that, and I can explain.”
She could sense that they were not inclined to believe her. She couldn’t blame them. If they had witnessed even half the things she had done in the past week, they had every right to want to put her down.
“I’m here looking for a particular witch. Her name is Lilith Black.”
One or two of the group shifted slightly. They had heard of the name.
“I have reason to believe she is the mastermind behind the recent events in Salem and San Francisco,” Samantha said. “What she’s planning here will make those other two seem like walks in the park by comparison.”
She heard the door open behind her and all the agents in front of her tensed. She could see fireballs forming in a few closed fists. Regular agents would have gone for their guns. These agents went straight for the magic.
“Detective Ed Hofferman, Boston PD.”
She glanced behind her and saw Ed exiting the restaurant, badge held high. “You’ve got a problem with my partner, you’ve got a problem with me.”
Connor frowned. “We were under the impression that she and the Boston PD parted ways months ago.”
“You’re supposed to be. Little hard to work undercover otherwise, isn’t it?” Ed growled. “We knew there was someone else behind the events in Boston and we’ve been trying to find out who. Now, do you want to stand around risking all our necks or move this to someplace more private?”
Connor seemed to make a decision. He lifted his hand and up and down the line the fireballs were snuffed out. “We have a place we can go and talk.”
“Lead the way,” Ed said. “Sam, go do something about your energy kitten first.”
Samantha nodded and popped back into the restaurant. She found Anthony crouched under their table. “Ed wanted me to stay out of it in case you need backup later,” he whispered. “Could Freaky track you if he had to?”
“Maybe,” she whispered.
“I’ll keep him with me.”