Gray tidings, p.21
Gray Tidings, page 21
“I can’t arm him with that kind of weapon.”
“Without Pontchy,” he ruminated, “or another of his kind, he can’t use her.”
“She’s years away from maturity, which works in our favor. I’ll convince him to spend the time searching for a Pontchy to sacrifice while doing everything in my power to ensure he never gets his hands on one.”
“Do you think Tibby will agree?”
“Hard to say.” She didn’t know her papa was killing her. “Black Hat might be the safest place for her.”
And wasn’t that saying something?
The alternative, her declining our invitation, wasn’t a possibility I wanted to entertain.
The rule of thumb with recruiting was join or die for the simple reason the candidates were problems to be solved. Tibby held the potential to cause us major headaches down the line, but she hadn’t earned an invitation based on her actions. This was more of a mercy hire. Except there was no carrot for the stick. The best offer I could make her was stick, stick, or more stick.
“What will you do about Camber and Arden?”
“No clue.” I rested my head in my hands. “Keep them unconscious forever?”
“Sleeping beauties?” His lips quirked. “I doubt that would win you any favors when they woke.”
“Bad enough they know monsters exist. If they wake in thirty years, or however long it takes me to work up the courage to face them, they would kill me.” I groaned through my fingers. “And I’d deserve it.”
“How’s Aedan?” He pried my hands loose. “I haven’t seen him tonight.”
“Still in the lake.” I stared out at the water. “He’s running point on Tibby retrieval.”
After I set him up with a new comms charm at dusk, he left to avoid a potential run-in with Arden.
“Tibby is stepping out of her clothes,” Colby announced. “She’s wearing some type of chain mail.”
Probably the supernatural equivalent of a woven stainless-steel shark suit.
“Most rites of passage require a solo effort.” I shifted to keep the patriarch in sight. “She ought to go in the water alone. Give her time to get into position away from shore, then we’ll move on the coven.”
“How do you want to handle them?” Clay cracked his knuckles. “They won’t let her go easily.”
“We’re watching attempted murder live. The intent is there. The Toussaints have no idea we’ve removed the danger.”
“That’s not an answer.” Asa rubbed my back. “Can you take them out with a sleep spell?”
Without meaning to, I turned my head toward the bunk where the girls would rest until I could spare a moment to decide their fates. “Another witch wouldn’t let me get that close.”
Spells like that required stealth…or worse…a level of trust. Neither of which applied here.
“Um.” Colby fluttered to me. “We got problems.”
“Only on days that end in Y.” I was quickly adopting that as our team motto. “What’s up?”
“Three more SUVs just parked on the main road, boxing in the Toussaints. Six witches per vehicle.”
“What do you bet the Garnier coven just figured out where to find their lost witch?” I checked my kit and my wand then turned to Colby. “Protect the girls, okay?”
“I will.” Her sweet face hardened with grim determination. “I won’t let them get hurt.”
“I’ll redirect the Mayhews to you, so you’re not alone. If this turns into a brawl, you might need them to drive you someplace safer.” I kissed her forehead then checked to make sure Asa had left the keys in the ignition. “Can you handle introductions?”
Left and right, I was failing the girls in my life who looked to me for guidance and protection.
“Do me a favor and tell them I’m a bug?” Her complexion paled. “I don’t want to get swatted.”
“You’re not a bug.” I adopted a stern tone. “You’re a Colby.”
“And if they swat you,” Clay said, voice low, “it’ll be the last thing they do.”
Flittering over to him, she kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, BFF.”
“You’re welcome, BFF.” He shooed her toward her computer. “Eyes on the monitor, Shorty.”
“Will do.” She waved to me then settled in to monitor the battle. “Be safe.”
To preserve magic, I skipped the glamour, and we exited the RV. We slinked behind the other vehicles to hide, tracking the covens’ movements, waiting for our opening.
“The marina is packed.” Clay crouched beside me. “How do we shield all these people?”
Earlier, I counted twenty-five RVs and six boats in residence. Not a single one had left yet.
“I can secure the area within maybe four yards of the shore.” More than that, and it would erode too quickly. “That gives them access to the water, which isn’t ideal, but it will trap them between the lake and the ward. It will keep them, and their magic, away from the humans. But it won’t conceal them.”
That required a second spell not worth casting until the first was locked in place.
“Okay.” He shifted his weight. “How do we maneuver the covens into place behind your barrier without getting caught in the middle?”
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Asa observed. “The Toussaints have noticed the Garniers.”
Counting the drivers, the Toussaints brought six people total. They were grossly outnumbered. Or they would have been, if they weren’t the more powerful coven. The Garniers were playing a numbers game, and I doubted even that would help them win in a magical confrontation.
“Tibby,” an older man with silver-streaked hair called out. “Come home, or face the repercussions.”
That was the real Amaury Garnier.
“You chained me to a wall,” she seethed. “You left me with a bucket to piss in and straw to sleep on.”
That popped my eyebrows high. Talk about your retro imprisonments. That was downright medieval.
“Don’t take that tone with me,” he warned. “You chose that girl over your family. You gave me no other option.”
“You could have left us alone.” Tears blurred her eyes. “You could have let us be in love.”
“Child.” He hung his head, pity in every line on his face. “Eliza doesn’t care about you. The Toussaints are using you. She is using you. Why else would they be pushing for you to perform your rite when you know it isn’t safe yet?”
“After it’s done, I’ll have the power to protect myself. You won’t be able to touch me.”
“After it’s done, you’ll be dead, and no one—not even your pretty girlfriend—will ever touch you again.”
Beside her, Eliza sucked in a sharp breath. “Papa?”
That explained where Tibby picked up the nickname for Mr. Toussaint.
“He lies,” the Toussaint patriarch said smoothly. “He would say anything to keep his daughter from aligning with us.” He gentled his voice for the girls. “You saw how they treated Tibby. Her wrists are scarred beyond the help of magic after so many months of abuse. She’s lucky to be alive.”
Had Luca not intervened, I was starting to wonder if Tibby would have survived this long.
Hard to believe Luca might have done a good deed, however inadvertent, while attempting to entrap my father.
“You know the truth,” the Garnier patriarch bellowed. “Your scheming will kill her, just as you planned.”
“It’s my choice.” Tibby lifted her chin. “I want the power.”
“Tibs…” Eliza gripped her bony elbows. “Are you sure this is the right call?”
“What else can I do?” She kissed Eliza softly. “It’s the only way I can make us safe.”
In that horrible moment of clarity, I realized Garnier was wrong. Eliza did care about Tibby. Very much. Maybe it had started as a con that grew into something more. Or maybe Toussaint merely capitalized on his daughter’s attachment to a valuable resource. Either way, Eliza might be the only person here who genuinely cared what happened to her girlfriend, and that saddened me.
However the next few minutes unfurled, I saw no happily ever after in the cards for them.
Breaking from Eliza, Tibby dove into the water, and both men turned to watch her determined swim.
Eyes full of unshed tears, Eliza began a prayer under her breath that didn’t quite carry to me.
“On my signal,” I ordered Asa, folding into lotus position on the grass, “secure Eliza.”
“I’m on Rue duty,” Clay informed me. “You need someone to watch your back while you cast.”
Both guys stared at me, waiting for my protest, but I held up my hands. “I surrender.”
With Clay on guard duty, I could sink into my magic and let the rest fade into the background.
Threading my power with Colby’s, I wove the wards before the witches noticed they were being caged in our magic. I took only the bare minimum through the familiar bond, aware I might need more juice once the dueling patriarchs noticed me and what I had done.
Frustrated screams rang out as Asa restrained Eliza to keep her from harming herself, or him, to reach Tibby. But she was on the wrong side of the spell. Her coven couldn’t hear her, but our neighbors would.
Palms bracing on the earth, I began casting a murky glamour to conceal the covens from human sight.
Laurent noticed Eliza’s absence first, though he couldn’t have heard her protests through the barrier. He pounded his fists against the membrane and spat out spells or curses or both.
Meanwhile, Garnier used the distraction to bolt for the water and dive in after his daughter.
As much as I wished it was a show of fatherly affection, barely leashed fury powered his every stroke.
Noticing Garnier, Toussaint snarled his lip and began yelling words I couldn’t hear.
“Got her,” Aedan reported in my ear. “Where do you want me to bring her?”
With Tibby secure in Aedan’s custody, safe from fulfilling her destiny, I could breathe easier.
“Her dad is in the water. Toussaint might be going in. Take her the scenic route to get back here.”
With that, he cut out and sped off to secret away our prize.
Poor word choice on my part.
Viewing the girl as a prize was what landed us all in this mess in the first place.
Future employee had a much nicer ring to it. Kind of. But not really.
“Rue.” Asa wrestled with Eliza, who bit, scratched, and clawed him. “I could use assistance.”
The request wasn’t made for himself but for me. I wouldn’t react well if she hurt him, and he knew it.
There was also the matter of the y’nai, who lived for moments when people got handsy with his hair.
“I’ve got this.” I nudged Clay’s shoe with my foot. “Go help him wrangle Eliza.”
An engine rumbled a few rows over, and my stomach bottomed out as the RV sped out of the lot. I was grateful the Mayhews had arrived and taken measures to protect the sleeping girls, but the farther I was from Colby, the thinner our tether stretched. I was slinging a lot of magic I couldn’t otherwise tap into without her.
“You’re trembling.” Asa knelt beside me. “How can I help?”
Past him, Clay had bound and gagged Eliza, which would get us in trouble with humans fast.
“You can’t.” I ached with the raw power required to hold so many witches at bay. “It’s too much.”
Hearing my rough admission, Clay came running with Eliza tossed over his shoulder. “Dollface?”
“Call Derry. Get Eliza in the RV. They can’t be far. Maybe you can catch them at the main road.”
“Don’t ask me to leave.” He glanced around us. “I can stash her under an RV or something.”
“…kill…witch…”
“…death…slow…wish…”
Jerking my head up, I got an eyeful of the hole the Toussaint patriarch had burned through my defenses. I didn’t have to imagine what he was spouting anymore. I heard him, his voice growing clearer as the tear ripped wider.
“Go.” I rose to my feet. “Asa and I can manage.”
Neither of them believed me, I could tell, but they let the lie stand to save time we would have otherwise spent arguing.
A snarl of pain left me when I flung a rudimentary glamour over Clay and Eliza to conceal their escape.
“You have to stop.” Asa stood in front of me. “You’re burning out.”
“I don’t like our odds against that many witches.” I bent double as another cramp twisted my insides. “I can hold on while you—”
“I won’t leave you,” he said simply. “We’re in this together.”
“I have to let go.” I fought back tears. “Can Blay run defense while I cover him?”
After a sharp nod, crackling fire consumed Asa. Blay emerged, ready to rumble, and flashed me a grin.
“On three,” I gritted out from between my teeth. “One…two…three.”
Time slowed as the ward fell. Fingers cramping on the pendant, I summoned the grimoire into my hand. Its joy at being free lasted the five seconds it took me to force it back into its cage with the little magic I had left. But this time, instead of its hold on me snapping as the choker dampened its malice, a sticky sensation cobwebbed the back of my mind, one I couldn’t brush away.
Come on, Dad. If you ever loved me, even a little bit, help me. You’re the only one who can.
The flare of power from the book was a beacon, an SOS, one I hoped he would answer.
A bone-rattling battle cry shook me from my stupor as Blay charged past the illusion’s watery barrier and began doing what he did best. The cracking noise as spines broke and moist suction as heads wrenched off shoulders soured my stomach.
I really was going soft if all it required was a few beheadings for queasiness to grab hold of me.
Oh no.
This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when our enemies swarmed yards away from us.
Gratuitous murder wasn’t the problem. This wasn’t a crisis of conscience. This was…a disaster.
The more power I reached for, the faster it slid through my fingers, until I grasped at nothing.
The utter hollow of my stomach as my magic hit rock bottom had spots dancing in my vision, but I held a shield over Blay as he wiped out the bloodthirsty witches. Mass slaughter of my enemies wasn’t an ideal start to my tenure as deputy director, but it was one my fellow agents would understand and respect.
A wobble began in my thighs and spread to my knees, which buckled, landing me in the dirt. The sticky sensation returned twofold, gumming my thoughts together, gluing me in place. Copper flooded my mouth, but I kept Blay safe as he waded through the brawling covens.
As if a giant hand had squeezed my lungs in a vise, I collapsed with a wheeze.
And then there was only fire.
“Rue.”
I swatted the buzzing at my ear and curled against the warm body cradling mine.
“Rue.”
“Five more minutes,” I mumbled, mouth parched. “Then I’ll wake up.”
“Open your eyes.” Asa cradled my jaw between his palms. “Look at me.”
With great effort, I pried open my eyes…
…and beheld a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Scorched earth fanned out from where I lay, a good dozen feet from the water. “What happened?”
“You happened.”
A grim figure swathed in darkness strode into my line of sight.
Dad.
“What did you do?” I struggled until Asa sat me upright. “Where is everyone?”
“Baby, your father didn’t do this.” Mom eased up on my other side. “You did.” She knelt beside me, smoothing sweat-sticky hairs off my face. “We came as soon as we felt the blast.”
The slimy texture of her skin should have made me recoil, but I pressed my face into her touch.
“The…blast?” I swallowed, coughed, my throat dry as dust. “What blast?”
A steady growl rumbled through Asa’s chest, vibrating through my head where it rested against him.
“The compulsion to harm her died with my summoner,” Mom assured him. “I won’t hurt her.”
Asa remained tense under me, and I was relieved he was there, allowing me to feel rather than think.
“You cast a spell,” Dad explained. “It burned fifteen witches alive and incinerated several more corpses.”
“No.” I managed to hold my head up on my own. “I didn’t—” I coughed into my fist. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“I know that spell.” He pegged me with a stern look I might have feared, if I was still seven. “I created it.”
Beside me, Mom kept stroking my cheeks and playing with my hair, as if she couldn’t believe I was real.
Or, a more chilling possibility, she couldn’t believe I had survived the scope of what I had done.
“I only wrote it down once.” Dad began pacing. “That means you’ve seen the Maudit Grimoire.”
Hot relief prickled through me that he suspected I had learned his spell through study and not…
What, exactly, had happened?
I remember putting the grimoire back where it came from after summoning it, hoping Dad would sense the flare of its power and follow it to me, but I hadn’t cracked its cover in ages. I had given the thing up as a lost cause, was content entombing it within the pendant until I discovered a more permanent solution.
“The important thing is you’re all right.” Mom kissed my forehead. “I was so worried.”
“How are you all right?” Dad swept his gaze over me. “You were burnt black when we arrived.”
The hot metal singeing the skin at my throat gave me a good idea how I had survived the blast.
Holding my hands in front of my face, I studied the smooth, unblemished skin. “Burnouts aren’t literal.”
“They are when you stand within the blast radius of your own spell without shielding.” Shadows whirled in his eyes when he shifted his focus to Asa. “You chose to protect him rather than yourself.”
“I didn’t choose anything.” I scratched an inch on my side. “What is…?”
Crunchy fabric bunched under my hand, and dirt crumbled between my fingers. I glanced down to find I had been wrapped in a moldy fabric tarp Asa must have dug up somewhere. Otherwise, I didn’t have on a stitch of clothing. Only the pendant and its protective chain remained, both of them sooty.
