Magic misled, p.8
Magic Misled, page 8
We eventually swung off the track and trudged on. The daylight was fading fast, and long shadows haunted the trees. I shivered, although, again, I wasn’t sure if it was due to the increasing chill in my bones or the thought that it was the perfect night for evil to be hunting. Us finding anything out here was getting ever more unlikely, but Tala showed no sign of giving up. And that meant that we couldn’t. There was no way known we could leave her alone up here; while it was possible we were dealing with kids playing tricks, it was just as likely we weren’t.
“How much longer are we going to do this?” Monty swung his pack around and pulled out a flashlight. Its sudden brightness had me blinking rapidly. “There’s no trail, no chance of a trail, and—”
He cut the rest off as Tala’s phone rang. She quickly answered. “Danny? What’s happened?”
She listened for a few minutes and then added, “Good. Thanks for letting me know.”
“What?” I asked the minute she hung up.
“Danny’s two mates just returned to the motocross site. They’re all heading home.”
Relief stirred. “Did they say anything else about the lost kid?”
“Only that he appeared to be heading to the old open cut mining site, which isn’t great news. That area is fucking dangerous.”
“I take it that means we’re still continuing on?”
She eyed the darkness doubtfully for a second. “Given I’ve not heard anything to indicate there’s a kid out—” She cut the sentence off abruptly. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” Monty said, voice tense.
“Listen.”
I cocked my head, trying to catch whatever Tala had heard. The rain was fierce, and the wind had picked up, whipping through the tree branches and making them creak and groan in protest.
There was nothing … The thought froze as I heard it—a shout. It was not only distant, but hadn’t come from the throat of a kid. The voice was too deep—too masculine—to be that of a kid.
“It came from the left,” I said.
Monty glanced at me sharply. “I’m not hearing anything, so why are you?”
“Enhanced senses, remember?” My gaze went to Tala. “It’s a man, not a kid.”
“That’s what I thought.” Her voice was flat. Hard. “Let’s move.”
She took off fast. The light from Monty’s flashlight bobbed across the shadows, briefly illuminating the thorny bits of scrub that tore at our clothes and faces. I slipped on the muddy ground more than once, but I was managing to keep up with Tala, and that was the main thing.
Another shout, this time etched with fear.
Tala swore, and her form shimmered, moving easily from human to wolf.
“Tala, no!” I shouted. “Not without us.”
She didn’t listen. I swore, quickly created a tracking spell, and tossed it after her. The spell caught the very end of her tail just as she went around a stand of saplings, and immediately began to spool out, giving us a glittering thread of silver to follow.
We raced on, slipping on the treacherous ground, the rain belting into our faces and the flashlight doing little now to light the way. The thread of my spell continued to run out in front of us, a lone line of hope in the bitterly dark night.
There were no more shouts; we might well have been alone out here. And I wondered if that had been the whole point. If we were dealing with a supernatural entity, then maybe he was after something juicier than a mere werewolf this time.
I shivered and thrust the thought away. I didn’t need the fear of it. Not now. Not when Tala was out there alone, facing who knows what.
Five minutes later, the spell stopped spooling out. I slowed and wrapped a repelling spell around my fingers. Monty did the same, and as one, we walked on cautiously. The trail led upwards, the ground becoming stonier and harder to traverse. We were obviously nearing the open cut mining site.
A silhouette appeared against the skyline above us. My heart leapt into my throat a second before I realized it was Tala.
I released the tracking spell. As the bright remnants floated away on the wind, I clambered up the rest of the slope and stopped beside her. “Anything?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was grim. “We’ve got another fucking body.”
Chapter Five
“Not a kid, I hope,” Monty said.
“No, but that doesn’t make the situation any better.” Tala’s voice was curt. “There’s no fucking phone reception in this area, so I’ll have to go back a few klicks to call it in. Will you two be all right up here?”
“We’re more than capable of protecting ourselves,” Monty said. “But there’s no reason for you to be haring off—Lizzie can simply contact Belle and get her to ring the rest of your team.”
Tala glanced at me, eyebrow raised in question.
“Give me the precise location,” I said, “and I’ll contact her.”
She did so. I passed the information on to Belle and then added, “She’s on it now.”
“Thanks,” Tala said. “That’ll at least save us some time.”
“Where’s the body?” Monty asked. “We might as well make sure there’s no magical clues or party tricks left behind.”
“It’s just off this ridge, about halfway around, crammed between a boulder and a tree. Follow me.”
I wiped the moisture from my face—a useless gesture in the force of the storm—and followed the two of them along the ridgeline. The flashlight’s beam highlighted the sheeting rain and emphasized the deep, dark nothingness that encased whatever lay below us.
“How dangerous is this area?” I asked, somewhat nervously.
“It’s an old open cut mine, so the area is littered with unstable mounds of refuse,” she replied. “But there’s no actual mineshafts to fall down, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Good. Because it might be a case of third time unlucky.”
“If your luck was going to fail,” Monty commented, “it would have done so way before now.”
“Luck is always guaranteed to run out when you truly need it,” I muttered. Especially when, in my particular case, I’d already had so much of it.
We slowly moved forward; every step had stones rolling toward the edge on either side, suggesting that while the ridge might look stable, it actually wasn’t. It was also decidedly narrow in parts. With the darkness barely lit by the flashlight’s yellow puddle of light and the storm howling through the trees either side of us, it would have been very easy to slip and fall.
We were halfway around what seemed to be a long curve when a soft glimmer caught my attention.
“Monty, Tala, stop.”
They immediately did so. “Why?”
“There’s a soul in the trees ahead.”
Monty swore softly. “The death wasn’t ordained.”
“Does that mean,” Tala asked, “that he was killed before his time?”
“Yes.” Monty carefully stepped to one side, then handed me the flashlight. “You’d better go first. You’ve got more experience when it comes to souls.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “Souls generally aren’t dangerous, especially those that have just risen.”
“So the books say, but I’ve heard tales of souls having major snits and causing a storm of flying objects.”
My smile grew. “That’s more the province of ghosts than souls.”
Monty blinked. “I thought souls and ghosts were one and the same?”
“Well, technically, they are.” I gave him an amused look. “There was a whole subject at school on spirits, ghosts, and whatnot. Weren’t you paying attention?”
“Obviously not.”
I snorted. “Well then, generally speaking, we have three levels of apparitions. The faintest is the soul who is simply confused by their sudden death. They are also the easiest to deal with, as they generally just need help to move on. Then there’s ghosts, who can be souls trapped in this world because of an unwillingness to move on, or even the desire to complete unfinished business. The worst are specters, who are nearly always out for vengeance of one kind or another.”
“Do you know which one we’re dealing with here?” Tala asked.
“Not as yet—I’ve only seen a glimmer. We’ll know a lot more once Belle is on board to talk to him.”
“And to calm him down if he happens to be the vengeance-seeking type,” Monty added.
“Hopefully.”
The flicker became brighter, which meant we were close to his body. I stopped and shone the flashlight down the slope. After a couple of seconds, I spotted the edge of a brown boot sticking out from the end of a large rock. I moved the light to study the ground between him and us. There were a lot of tailings littering the ground, which meant we needed to be careful going down. But Tala had gotten down—and up—in one piece already, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
I went down sideways in an effort to get more traction and to avoid going ass over tit if I did slip, and made it to the tree in one piece. The glimmer that was the soul backed away, and its confusion rolled over me. Which was odd, because I wasn’t the one who was overly sensitive to souls. But maybe it was just another indicator of the changes the wild magic was causing not only in me, but also in the link I had with Belle, and maybe even Belle herself.
I shone the light into the gap between the tree and the rock. Our victim appeared to be middle-aged, with salt-and-pepper hair and a handlebar moustache. He was thin in build and was wearing a long Driza-Bone jacket, though it had been torn open across his stomach to reveal a paunch and … oh God. I took a step back before I could stop it. His stomach had been ripped open, and his intestines were spilling over the ground. But they weren’t whole. Far from it.
I’d very definitely seen much worse in my short time in this reservation, but the fact that someone—something—had been feasting on this man’s innards very, very recently had the flight instinct rising.
“Well, that’s a little different to Patrick’s murder.” Monty’s voice was grim. “He might have had his limbs torn off but at least nothing had dined on him.”
“His gut had been cut open,” Tala said, “so it might simply mean the killer didn’t have the time to do anything else.”
I shifted my feet, bracing against the continuing desire to run. “Whoever did this certainly used the same method of concealing the body.”
“Yes.” Tala crossed her arms, the movement a touch impatient. “There’s also no other obvious wounds, but he is lying on his side, so that may not mean anything. We’ll learn more once Ciara gets here and we can move him. Of course, by the time she does get here, the rain might well have washed all evidence away.”
Monty glanced at her. “There’s an umbrella spell I can place over the body and its immediate surrounds that’ll fix that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “If there is such a thing as umbrella spells, why the hell didn’t we use it to get up here?”
“Because they’re stationary in design; us walking through the scrub would have ripped them apart in seconds.” He shrugged off his backpack. “Why don’t you create a protective circle while I do the umbrella?”
I nodded and pulled the small silk bag that contained my spell stones out of my backpack. These particular ones were rough-cut clear quartz; while most royal witches tended to use diamonds, quartz was cheaper while possessing very similar properties. I placed each stone carefully onto the ground, then added a glimmer spell to the top of each. It’d make finding them afterward easier while not affecting the overall strength of the protection circle. Once I’d completed the circle around the tree and the rock, I stepped inside and studied the ground, looking for somewhere to sit. Ashworth might have taught me to raise a protection spell while standing, but we also had a soul to contend with, and that meant connecting with Belle on a deeper level than usual. Sitting meant neither of us had to expend additional energy or conscious thought on remaining upright.
I spotted a strip of ground that wasn’t overly stony and tucked the back of my coat under my butt to keep it dry as I sat cross-legged. A surge of power had my gaze snapping to the right. Monty’s umbrella spell flared out across the gap between rock and tree in a slightly convex manner, which allowed the rain that did get through the canopy to slide off harmlessly to either side.
“Right.” He squatted in front of me. “You ready?”
“Yes.” I glanced at Tala. “Once Belle and I are merged, I’ll narrate Belle’s questions and the soul’s answers so you can record it.”
She nodded and tugged her phone out of her pocket. I took a deep breath to center my energy, then began weaving multiple layers of protections across the stones and attaching them lightly. When that was done, I activated the spell. The air thrummed with its power; the inner wild magic was coming through even the simplest of spells now.
“Nothing will be getting through that,” Monty muttered. “Your spelling power is definitely increasing.”
Which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Not when we had no idea where it might all end.
I took another deep breath and then reached for Belle.
Her response was immediate; she’d obviously been expecting to hear from me.
Of course I was, she said. You might have closed the link but I’ve nevertheless been getting a faint wash of horror. I take it you need my ghostly expertise?
If you’re not doing anything too exciting, yes.
That entirely depends on whether you’d class sitting here with Mom consuming cake and drinking an Irish hot chocolate as exciting. Hang on while I put my drink down and get comfortable. The line went blank for several seconds. Right, I’m ready. Let’s do this.
I told Tala to start recording, then immediately deepened the connection between Belle and me. There was a rush of warmth as her being flowed through mine and fused us as one, though the connection wasn’t deep enough that her soul left her body. She could, however, use her talents while seeing through my eyes.
The glimmer that was the soul immediately jumped into focus. He was tall and, paunch aside, relatively thin. He looked to be in his mid-fifties and, for some reason, I suspected he was human.
What is your name? Belle asked.
Jackson. Jackson Pike. He looked around, his expression confused. What’s happened? Why do I feel so different?
I quietly began relaying the conversation, though my concentration remained on the soul.
I’m afraid you’re dead, Jackson—
No! That can’t be. His gaze fell on his body, and his expression went from denial to horrid fascination. That’s me, isn’t it?
I’m afraid so. Belle’s reply was gentle. It was hard to guess how some souls would react to such news, but I suspected Jackson wasn’t one of the more violent ones. I can help you move on, Jackson, but I need to ask you some questions first.
Move on? Like, become an angel or something?
Belle’s smile teased my lips. If that is your destiny, then yes.
He frowned. Meaning it could the other place?
Purgatory is certainly real enough, Belle said, but mostly it isn’t the hellfire and brimstone deal some religions depict.
Then what is it?
Belle shrugged. Sometimes, it’s simply making amends for the mistakes you made in this life in the next.
Like rebirth? That’s a thing?
Yes.
Huh. He studied his body for a moment. How did it happen?
That’s what I need you to tell me, Jackson.
He frowned. But I don’t know—
Let’s start at the beginning. Why were you out here in the first place?
He grimaced and waved a hand. As far as new souls went, he was pretty animated, suggesting he’d been like that in life. Doing a bit of detecting. Storms like this often wash down the scree, exposing bits of missed gold.
Why didn’t you leave the area when darkness came in, then?
Because I set up for the night in one of the old buildings.
What’s the last thing you can remember?
Slipping on the scree and falling on my ass. Bloody hurt, it did.
Which scree pile? Here, or elsewhere?
He looked around again, confusion evident. Not here. The other side, near the old quartz crusher building. How did I get here?
We don’t know, Jackson. Did you hear anything odd before you fell? Any strange sounds?
I heard some kids calling out. They seemed to be chasing someone. He shrugged. Not my business.
Did you hear anything else? A kid crying, for instance?
No. He paused and frowned. I did see something moving really fast through the trees. It was small and pale, but it disappeared before I could really see what it was. I figured it was just a bit of rubbish being tossed on the wind.
Where was this?
At the base of the ridge, in the trees behind the remnants of the tubular boiler.
Did it actually move like rubbish?
His frown deepened. Well, no, but it didn’t move like a person, either. Besides, it was too fast.
Could it have been a werewolf?
An upright wolf? There’s no such thing.
So it didn’t resemble either a human or a wolf, but it ran upright?
I don’t know. As I said, it moved really fast. It was there, and then it was gone. Irritation filled his tone. Why all these questions?
Because we need to know what killed you so we can find and stop it before it attacks again.
Oh.
What did you do after you fell, Jackson?
Belle’s weariness began to seep down the line. Remote spirit talking always took a toll on her. I pushed a little strength her way and felt the wash of her thanks. No more, though, she added, otherwise you’ll be wiped out as well.
Picked myself up, of course. Jackson’s tone suggested it was a dumb question. Unfortunately, the fall did something to the detector, so I headed back to the building.
But did you make it back there?
He frowned again. I can remember seeing it.
Meaning you didn’t actually get inside?
I don’t know.
I need you to think back, Jackson. It’s really important.
