“You can’t get in there, though. Thiberoux is for Dark-angels only. You don’t see us trying to get in to wherever you douchebags hold your little Kumbaya gatherings and play your harps and whatever else it is you do.”
“Maybe that’s the way it was at one point, but things are about to change. Starting now. Take us to the Portal. Once we’ve broken the seal you won’t be needed any longer.”
“And then what?” I ask. “What will you do with us then?”
He lifts his hand off Tatiana and moves closer to me, the smug smile still on his deformed face. More than anything I want to hurl a fireball at him and make his head explode like a watermelon hurled from a skyscraper. “That depends. I’m a little curious as to why you are so strong right now. You’d become quite pliable under my spell lately…even in your demon form, I hadn’t expected so much resistance.” He places a finger to the side of his lips and appraises me thoughtfully. “I was going to let you live…I’m sure you would come in handy for other things down the line. But if you prove to be more trouble than you’re worth—”
“What about me?” Kieron asks.
Tristan looks him up and down with bored disdain. “You? You’re nothing. An inconsequential distraction for Liora or whatever she wants to call herself. But she cares for you, so that makes you our leverage. If she doesn’t comply, we hurt you. It’s that simple.”
“And what about me?” Tatiana speaks, surprising all of us.
Tristan turns back to her. “Well, if Liora is a good girl and does as she’s told, maybe you get to live a while longer. If she disobeys or is too much of a hassle, perhaps I’ll just have to take you as payment for my troubles.”
Tatiana closes her eyes, and a slow smile spreads across her lips. In this moment, it occurs to me that they have no idea who they’re dealing with…that Tatiana is a witch. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so cavalier in their treatment of her. They may technically have Kieron and me backed into a corner, because there are four of them and two of us, and with our powers being somewhat equal, we are admittedly at a disadvantage.
But they obviously don’t know about my secret weapon. And as I see Tatiana’s lips begin to move in a silent chant, I smile, realizing they’re about to find out.
Chapter 21. Lucky
I grab Kieron’s hand. “Stay close. Be ready,” I whisper. The lights inside flicker on and off several times before finally pitching the cabin into total darkness…but only for a moment. When the light comes back, the room’s eerie glow is not from the lamps in the corners, but from the flicker of dozens of candles that have mysteriously lit themselves.
And the chair where Tatiana was sitting is now empty. “Where’d she go?” Cassie cries.
Tristan turns to the other two men. “Go. Find her. NOW!”
It takes them only a moment to determine she’s no longer inside the cabin. “Search the forest!” Tristan snaps at them. “She couldn’t have gotten far!”
The males take off, but Cassie remains by Tristan’s side. He turns back to us. “Which one of you did that?”
“Be ready,” Tatiana’s voice rings in my head.
“The crazy old lady did it,” I say with a smirk. I drop Kieron’s hand as a large object comes hurling at me from Tatiana’s room. I catch the flying bow as Kieron catches the arrows. In one fluid movement he hands me one, and I fire a perfect shot at Tristan’s head.
With the slightest wave of his hand the arrow diverts, lodging itself harmlessly into the back wall of the cabin. I suck in my breath as Tristan laughs.
“Really? You thought you could take me out with that? I’m almost embarrassed for you right now,” he says with a derisive sneer.
I snatch another arrow from Kieron’s outstretched hand and rapidly fire off another shot, this one directed at Cassie’s smug face. But like Tristan had done, she casually brushes it away, and the arrow to falls to the floor in tiny pieces.
Desperate, I gather another fireball in my hand and hurl it in their direction. The moment it leaves my palm, the flying ball of electric fire instantly freezes. It drops from the air, shattering like ice as it hits the ground. I make another one, and another…shooting them in the direction of the two Light-angels. But every ball of fire I send their way falls to the floor, a worthless block of frozen water. I stand there stunned, totally disarmed, and completely outmatched.
“Do something!” I plead to Kieron as Tristan begins marching slowly toward us. Black streams of smoke and fire shoot from Kieron’s fingertips, but instead of burning Tristan, the charcoal flames seem to move around him—as if he’s protected by some invisible shield.
Tristan lifts his hand and extends his thumb and forefinger, pinching them together like he’s catching a fly in the air. But when I hear the sickening crack, I know what he’s done. Kieron bites his lip to keep from yelling out and stumbles back, his arm hanging at an angle arms don’t usually hang.
Tristan raises his hand again. “No!” I scream. He wiggles his fingers at me, and my neck begins to tighten, choking off the sound. I fall back and catch myself on Kieron’s shirt, pulling him with me. My hand touches a small bag tied to his waist… He has the veneficus calx! It’s our only hope. Even if we die, at least we’ll take these sons of bitches out with us.
I rip the bag from Kieron’s side, and quickly shove my hand inside the velvety satchel. The moment my fingers touch its contents my heart sinks, and I know without a doubt I have failed. Dirt! The bag is filled with dirt. There are no stones in here. We are totally screwed.
I scream in frustration as Tristan bears down upon us, his hands outstretched menacingly, his skin an alarming, glowing white. Without thinking, I clutch a handful of the dirt and throw it in his face like a child at the beach who’s had her sandcastle kicked over by a bully. “I hate you! Go away!” I yell pathetically.
Despite my attempts to hold him back, Kieron lunges at Tristan.
I can’t watch Kieron die, too!
Then, something strange begins to happen. Tristan takes a deep breath and starts to cough…violently. He can’t seem to catch his breath. Reaching for his throat, he claws at it, tearing open the flesh. His hands and neck are covered with his own blood. His movements slow, as if his legs are being frozen from the inside out, and his alabaster skin turns a sickly shade of grey. Now his feet seem glued in place. His arms thrash, but the grey continues to climb up his body. Blood drips from his widened eyes, and his smug expression is replaced by one of sheer terror.
“Tristan!” Cassie screams, rushing to his side. “What’s happening?” Her desperate gaze darts from him over to us and back to him again.
Kieron glances at me out of the corner of his eye, and I think I detect a faint smile on his lips. But I’m just as confused as Cassie.
My attention fixed on the horrific sight before me, I hardly notice as Kieron quickly moves to pick my bow up off the floor with his good arm.
“Tristan!” Cassie screams again, louder this time, and her high-pitched voice sounds eerily inhuman.
Tristan doesn’t respond, but remains frozen in mid-step. His once alabaster skin is now changing from grey to solid black marble. As the ebony stone creeps its way up his body, a horrific noise sends me tumbling to the floor.
“Damn you to Hell, you—!” But before Tristan can finish the words, the marble freezes his mouth in a terrifying, silent scream.
Kieron throws his head back in a laugh. “Sorry, man. If only it were that easy. But we’ve been banned from there, too!”
A blinding light flashes through the cabin, followed by a powerful sonic boom that pummels my body from all directions. “She’s taking her form!” Kieron yells from beside me. “We must stop her before she does, or we’re both dead!”
There’s a terrifying explosion and cracking as the walls of the cabin are blown to smithereens. A higher-pitched scream has me on my knees, and I cover my face as the ground beneath me rolls and shakes. Everything is crashing down around me.
“Lucky! We have to
get her now! Both of us together! Do it now!” Kieron shouts over the thundering roar. I drop the sack of dirt as he presses my crossbow and an arrow into my hands.
I try to look at Cassie, but the blinding white light burns my corneas. A thin trail of blood trickles down my cheek and lands on my hand. “I can’t!” I yell at Kieron.
“You have to or we both die. Do it now!”
Closing my eyes, I whisper, “Help me, Tat.”
I struggle to stand, and with my eyes tightly shut I cock the arrow tight, move it two degrees to the right and up three feet. I hold my breath, pull back and release. As I do, an explosion of energy coming from Kieron nearly knocks me over again. But I stay steady as he shoots Cassie with everything he’s got.
“Is it working?” I shout over the angel’s ear-splitting cries.
“Shoot another arrow!”
“That was the last one!”
I quickly form two more giant fireballs in my palms and throw them toward the giant mass of blinding light. Then, without stopping to think, I reach down for the bag on the floor. I stick my hand inside and throw some of the dirt.
An unearthly, blood-curdling scream is quickly followed by a rumbling explosion. The weight of rushing air crushes my lungs and hurls me back several yards into the open woods, where I land painfully amongst piles of burning debris.
Moaning, I roll over and try to catch my breath as the smoke burns my bloody eyes. On my skinned hands and knees, I manage to crawl my way over to where Kieron is and collapse beside him.
“Nice shootin’,” he huffs.
“D-did it work? Did we kill her?” I pant.
He nods and reaches for me. “I’d say so.” Kieron’s face quickly melts from relief into concern. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live. But your arm—” I gasp, remembering.
“My elbow was just dislocated. I already popped it back in place,” he says with a grimace.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t tickle, but I’ll survive.” He gives me a half smile and sits up.
“Tattie can fix you right up—” I gasp again and stagger to my feet, looking around frantically. “Tatiana! Tat! Where are you?” I scream. Please, oh please, tell me she was far enough away from the explosion…
“I’m over here, my child, behind the White Ash tree.”
I breathe a huge sigh of relief. “C’mon.” I quickly dust myself off, trying not to wince at the pain. If there’s one spot left on my body that hasn’t been broken, beaten, whipped, burned or scratched to shreds, I’d love to see it.
Kieron crawls out from the pile of charred wood and brushes off his jeans. Stunned at the devastation, I hobble over to where Tatiana waits. The cabin is completely gone. Obliterated into nothingness. Nothing, that is, except for a perfectly intact marble statue of Tristan, frozen in time.
I sink down next to the Ash tree, and throw my arms round my beloved guardian. “Tat, are you okay?”
“I am. But you are not. You must leave here now…”
“But Tat, why would I leave? And where are the other two Light-angels?” Kieron and I frantically scan the smoky night for some sign of them.
“They’re gone…for now, but they’ll be back,” she replies.
“I can’t leave here—”
“You can and you must. Help an old woman to her feet, won’t you, dear?” She holds up her hands.
“Old woman, my ass. You have more power in your tiny finger then I could ever hope to have,” I mumble with a smile, pulling her up.
“Language, Lucky.”
Kieron cracks a half grin and raises an eyebrow. “Did she just chastise you for swearing?”
I nod. “She finds it unbecoming. I only pretend to give a damn when I’m around her, but even then it’s kinda hard—”
“Lucky…” she drawls.
The three of us start laughing, and I’m relieved to see some sparkle back in Tatiana’s opaque eyes. They looked so flat and dull mere moments ago…as if the life was draining from them.
We kick our way through the rubble and debris scattered around where the cabin used to be. Tatiana slowly shakes her head and clucks disapprovingly under her breath.
“Wow, it really got wasted, huh?” Kieron says in undisguised awe. “I knew they were powerful, but that was something else…imagine if we hadn’t finished her off before she took her full form.”
“I’d rather not. Shit…”
“What?” Kieron asks, sliding an arm around my waist.
I bend over and pick up the frayed piece of black lace and hold it up to my cheek. “My dresses…they’re all ruined.”
“You can buy more,” he says.
“Not like these. They were all vintage and one-of-a-kind. I even had dresses from three queens of England, two from France, and one from Denmark circa 1500. They don’t sell those babies at the local thrift shop—”
“Hey, what’s she doing?” Kieron nudges me and motions to Tatiana.
I look over to where she’s standing, next to the Tristan statue. It dwarfs her by at least a foot. She lightly traces her fingers over the black sculpture, her expression a mixture of awe and thoughtfulness. She paces around the statue three times, then pauses and does it again three more times in the other direction, muttering all the while under her breath. Finally she stops, swishes her hand in the air and shouts, “Abeo!”
In almost the exact same way that the marble had formed through Tristan’s body, it falls away, leaving only a pile of shiny shards and dust on the ground. Tatiana swishes her fingers again, and the black powder lifts up into the air and out of sight, leaving a long trail of silver sparkles.
Kieron and I look at each other, duly impressed. We make our way to where she stands gazing at the spot where Tristan had been.
“Tat,” I say quietly, “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but if you were able to take them out, or escape as easily as you seemed to be able to, why didn’t you do it sooner? Why did you wait for me and Kieron—?”
“It was the only way for me to find out their true motives and plans for you. And now I know.” Her eyes fill with sadness as she scans the charred circles where our house once stood.
“Tatiana, I am so sorry… I can’t believe everything is gone! What’re we going to do?” I moan as the realization fully hits me. We have no home. Everything Tatiana and I have in the world is what is on our backs at this very moment. Even our money is gone…not that I can’t get more of that in a heartbeat. But Tatiana is old…she needs her things and a bed to sleep in.
“Lucky…nothing is ever gone. It simply changes form. Please go stand by the tree over there.”
“But—”
“Please, go. I am tired and do not wish to argue.”
“C’mon, Luck,” Kieron whispers in my ear. He takes my hand, and as I allow him to guide me to the sanctuary of the White Ash dozens of yards away, I keep watching her over my shoulder.
I lean against the tree with Kieron pressed against me. As we continue to watch her, I’m not immune to the charge that races through my body at having him so near…so kissably, touchably near. If I wasn’t so worried about what Tatiana was doing…
She looks so tiny in the middle of the burned out field, wearing nothing but a long, white dress, half of her silver hair piled on top of her head, the rest flowing freely past her tiny hips. She looks like a ghost…a spirit of the night.
She raises her hands high above her head and begins some unintelligible chant. Her hair lifts and dances on its own, swirling in a heightened frenzy, matching her increasingly loud singing. Soon she levitates several feet into the air, screaming and singing, head tilted back, hair whipping madly.
The ground moves, the air rises up like a mini tornado with Tatiana in the middle. I gasp and start toward her, but Kieron holds me back. “No, Lucky,” he whispers. “Let her do her thing.”
And what an amazing sight her thing is to behold. The scattered debris forms a whirring cloud around th
e vortex of Tatiana’s levitating body, swirling and rushing like a cyclone blizzard. It is terrifying… and awesome.
Even though I’m seeing it with my own two eyes, I still don’t believe it. The spinning tornado begins to form shapes, and in a flash the cabin, along with the trees and shrubbery, have returned to their earlier forms. In less than a minute, it’s as if nothing had ever happened.
Kieron breathes in awe. “That is some serious magic right there.”
“I know,” I whisper back, just as dumbstruck. It’s one thing to rebuild a wall or two, but to entirely reconstruct to its original form something that had been reduced to embers…it’s positively mind-blowing.
“Come on, let’s go in,” Kieron says as the house closes itself up again with Tatiana inside. A second later, smoke is billowing from the chimney, and lights flicker in the windows. I shake my head and chuckle.
“Coming.”
~~~~
I pour three cups of Tatiana’s favorite tea and place the cups on antique china saucers. My hands tremble, rattling the dishes as I carry one cup in each hand over to where Kieron and Tat sit next to the fire in the living room. I don’t like the wan look on Tatiana’s face as I hand her a saucer—she looks more tired than I’m used to seeing her. I glance at Kieron, and as I set his cup beside him I have to hold back a smile. His expression hasn’t changed much from the stunned awe with which he had watched Tatiana work. He gazes upon her now with a newfound respect, mixed also with a heightened sense of fear.
“Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite,” I whisper and give him a quick kiss on his lips. He grins and strokes the top of my hand before I return to the kitchen.
“It’s just so amazing,” he says, taking a small sip of tea. “I’ve never seen that much power from a human before…hell, that’s more power than many demons I’ve known have.”
Tatiana gives a small smile and brings the gilded cup to her thin mouth. “A sorceress’ powers are ever-evolving…constantly changing. We differ from the immortals that way. You are created with an exact set of unchanging powers you will have for the duration of your existences, no more, no less. Humans, the witches and warlocks, our powers change as we do. I do admit I am a tiny bit impressed I was able to restore my favorite china set to complete perfection. Just imagine, it was naught but dust a few minutes ago…”