Black Magic (Howl #4) (13 page)

“Yeah, right,” Chris muttered under his breath, unconvinced.

“You are,” Samara insisted. “You’re the most talented biter on our pack. And I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. Don’t doubt yourself, okay?”

He shrugged and slumped onto the couch by himself. “I just feel like we’ve talked so much about fighting with the Vyka, but when it comes down to it, nothing ever happens. Every minute that we’re not out there fighting them, they’re only getting more powerful.”

Samara sighed. “I know.”

“So, then, let’s do something about it,” Chris pleaded. “The sooner we go after them, the sooner I can go to Alaska and be with Kyana.”

Emma wrinkled her nose. “Why would you chase after Kyana? You can find someone so much better. You’re one of the most popular guys in school. And that’s not to mention that it’s cold in Alaska. Like fuh-reezing!” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered at just the thought of the cold Alaskan temperatures. “It would be so much sexier to find a werewolf girlfriend somewhere warm.”

Chris shot her a glare. “I’m going to go to Alaska because I love her. And it’s no thanks to you that I have to make that decision.”

“Hey,” Colby spoke up. “If Emma didn’t give her cab money, someone else would have. It’s not her fault Kyana wanted to leave. Don’t blame her.”

Chris crossed her shoulders in front of himself angrily.

Samara cleared her throat. “Anyway, back to the Vyka. Hopefully, after we contact Matthias again, we’ll have a little more to go on and we can follow through with Luke’s plan of breaking into the Masterson’s house,” Samara said, trying to sound convincing, even though she wasn’t sure if it was going to work. The last time they’d had communications with Matthias, it seemed like he had stopped talking to them because he didn’t want to help them. What were the chances of him actually helping them out this time? It seemed sort of hopeless.

“Are we ready to start playing the game, then?” Luke questioned.

Samara glanced around the room; Emma and Colby were seated on the floor next to each other, Chris and Steve were both sitting on the couch, and Luke was standing by himself in the corner. “Where are Josh and Kyle?”

“Kyle said he couldn’t make it,” Steve shrugged. “I don’t know where Josh is. I think he had something to do after school, though.”

“Figures,” Samara muttered under her breath. It always felt like Josh and her cousin were absent from their pack meetings lately. She was trying really hard to be understanding, but she was having a difficult time with it . . . especially right now, when it felt like she needed them there the most.

In Josh’s case, she understood why he was absent right now. Like Colby, he was going through a rough time. He’d just learned that his father wasn’t actually his biological father at all and that Darren was. Learning this, right around the same time he’d practically had his heart broken over not being mated to Kyana and so soon after leaving his own family, had to be taking a serious emotional toll on him. He was probably absent from meetings so much lately because he was mentally absent in general right now.

But Samara couldn’t seem to come up with any excuses for Kyle being gone half the time. She knew that her cousin couldn’t be that busy . . . and even if he was, he at least owed her some sort of explanation. When she’d chosen the Ima over the Vyka, she’d sort of thought, deep down, that Kyle might be able to fill the void where Seth had once been.

And maybe he was. Seth never told her the truth about his whereabouts after he’d changed into a werewolf, either. Maybe her cousin was keeping things from her the same way her brother had.

Sighing, Samara turned to her pack members who actually were present. “I guess we can do this now. I’m thinking that only Luke and I should move the game piece because it only worked when it was just the two of us last time.”

Emma nodded. “That seems like a smart idea. And I have a notebook and a pen here, so I’m ready to write whatever the ghosty says.”

“Ghosty? You make it sound like we’re trying to contact Casper the Friendly Ghost,” Colby chuckled.

“Well, it’s Matthias the Friendly Ghost,” Emma replied happily. “At least, he seems to be friendly enough. Hopefully, he’ll be more talkative this time so we can actually figure everything out.”

“Okay, quiet guys,” Samara whispered, pressing a finger against her lips. Sitting down on the floor and lightly resting her fingers on the indicator, she glanced up at Luke.

He sat down next to her and covered his hand with hers, sending that icy, fiery spark through her body that she felt every time they touched. Closing her eyes and hoping that this was going to work, she whispered, “I summon the spirit of Matthias.”

“Do we know his last name?” Luke asked her quietly.

Samara shook her head. “No, we don’t.”

They waited . . . and waited.

After a few minutes had gone by, Samara sighed. “I don’t think he’s going to come back today.”

At that moment, she felt the indicator moving beneath her fingers. She met Luke’s eyes, and he nodded. He felt the indicator moving, too.

Samara watched as their hands were dragged to the ‘S’ and then to the ‘T’.

“S-T,” Emma read out loud, scribbling the letters down as the piece moved over them. “A-Y-A-W-A-Y.”

“Stay away,” Colby whispered.

“From who?” Samara asked.

The indicator began to move again, this time dragging quickly to each letter. Samara watched as it spelled out VYKA.

Chapter 16

“Matthias?” she questioned, even though she already knew from the tone of the spirit that it wasn’t him. This spirit somehow seemed different . . . and darker . . . than Matthias had seemed the last time they’d communicated with him on the spirit board.

The indicator was dragged over to NO.

“Maybe it’s Joe McKinley,” Emma suggested, twirling a piece of blonde hair around her fingertip. “Maybe he heard you summoning him the first time we did this, but he couldn’t respond to us until right now for some reason.”

Before Samara could ask the spirit anything, the indicator slid over to NO.

“Who are you, then?” Luke prompted the spirit.

The indicator moved to the B and then to E. Emma wrote the letters down and once the game piece had stopped moving, she glanced up at them all. “Bennett?”

“Bennett, do you know anything about black magic?” Samara asked the spirit, crossing her fingers.

The indicator moved over to YES.

Samara breathed a sigh of relief; at least this spirit knew about black magic, too. Maybe there was still a chance that he could tell them something that would help them.

“Do you know anything about the Trusted Ones?” Luke questioned. When Bennett moved the indicator to YES, Luke met Samara’s eyes with a look of hopefulness.

“How do the Trusted Ones fight against black magic?” Samara asked. She read out the letters that the indicator moved to and when it stopped, she glanced over at Emma, who pieced the string of letters into words.

“By killing it?” Emma wrinkled her nose in confusion. “How would a trusted one kill magic? That doesn’t even sound possible. I thought magic was just, like, air.”

Samara felt the indicator dragging her fingertips across the board again. This time the indicator spelled out WITH CANDLES.

“With candles?” Luke asked, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. “How do candles kill black magic?”

The indicator moved to a string of letters.

“Crimson candles?” Emma asked, cocking her head.

In response, the indicator moved across the board quickly. Once it was done moving, Emma read, “They summon bad spirits.”

“How?” Samara asked, turning back to the board.

SACRIFICE.

Samara felt a knot twist inside her stomach. She recalled that Colby had once told her that he’d read that werewolves who used black magic to fight had to make a human sacrifice once a month during the full moon. Even though it had left a sour taste in her mouth, she had pushed it into the back of her mind. She hadn’t heard people in her area being killed that often. And if Colby had been right, it would have meant that her brother and Declan were involved in something far darker than she wanted to believe they were capable of.

But after seeing this spirit say that sacrifice was used to summon bad spirits with these crimson candles, Samara had to wonder if what Colby had read had been true all along. The Vyka really
were
involved in human sacrifice.

When no one said anything, the indicator began to move on its own again.

“Human blood is used to invoke bad spirits,” Luke said out loud once it was done. “What do these bad spirits that you’re talking about do? Why are they bad?”

The indicator spelled out the words: THEY KILL.

Samara felt a lump form in the back of her throat. “Who do they kill?”

WEREWOLVES.

“Okay, I’m gonna be honest. This shit is really starting to freak me the hell out,” Steve said. “Are you sure neither of you are moving that thing? Don’t play games like this with us. It’s not making anyone laugh.”

“We’re not moving it,” Samara replied without even bothering to look at Luke to see what his answer was. As his mate, she was able to sense his emotions at times . . . and right now, she could feel the fear that was running through his veins, the same way it was through her own.

“Do you know if the Vyka pack has used these crimson candles to invoke bad spirits?” Luke questioned.

Samara was expecting the spirit to say ‘no’, but the indicator quickly slid over to YES. Next, she asked, “So, let me see if I understand this. The candles are what they’re using to practice black magic. Is it the only thing they’re using?”

CORRECT.

“How do we find the Trusted Ones?” Luke asked. “We need to find them.”

The indicator noisily slid across the board.

“Easy,” Samara said, piecing together the letters. “I am one.” She felt her own face go white, as she glanced up at Luke. The look in his green eyes mirrored the surprise and hopefulness that she felt.

“Can you help us beat the black magic the Vyka are using?” Luke questioned.

Bennett moved the indicator, slowly moving from letter to letter. Once the indicator finished moving, Emma said, “Give me a minute. I need to figure this one out.”

After a few moments of piecing the letters into words, she read out loud. “Light a few white candles. I’ll wait here while you get one.”

Samara didn’t even bother to question why they had to light a candle; she trusted that this spirit was going to tell them the truth. Turning to Colby, she asked, “Do you have any white candles we can light?”

“Only the warm vanilla sugar scented ones from Bath and Body Works,” Colby replied hesitantly. “Is that okay?”

Pressing her fingertips on the indicator again, Samara watched as it was moved to the YES. “Yup, warm vanilla sugar candles work.”

“Sweet,” Colby said, strolling out of the room and down the hall.

“This is so exciting,” Emma commented, her eyes full of wonder. “I love talking to spirits. Maybe we can try contacting Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley next.”

Samara laughed. “This Ouija board can be used to contact werewolves only. We can always pull out my old human Ouija board, though, if you want,” she said, just as Colby came back into the room, his arms full of white candles.

“Hey, Colby Jack, what are you doing with vanilla scented candles, anyway?” Steve joked. “Do you light them up when you’re taking a bath to make yourself feel all sexy?”

“No . . . they’re my mom’s,” Colby replied, sheepishly.

Emma burst into laughter.

Samara shot her a glare, as she began to place the candles in a circle around the Ouija board. “Please tell me you’re not making fun of him right now, too. This is some serious stuff. We don’t have time to make fun of each other.”

“No, I wasn’t making fun of him,” Emma replied. “You should hear some of the thoughts that run through this kid’s head sometimes. It’s kind of amusing. He could probably be a comedian.” Emma turned to Colby. “Yes, you
are
just a kid, Colby Jack,” she said, apparently in response to one of his thoughts. “You still live with your mom. You’re not an adult yet.”

Huffing, Colby plopped back down on the couch that he’d been sitting on, and handed Samara a box of matches.

She stared at the matches that she held in her hands for a minute. She’d always been afraid of lighting candles . . . and having candles lit, in general. When she was a child, her mom had caught one of the curtains on fire once when she was trying to light Seth’s birthday candles.

But, now, as Samara lit the candles, she didn’t feel afraid of fire anymore. Even if it lit the house on fire, the fact of the matter was that it couldn’t kill her or any one of her pack members. Somehow, knowing that made her feel stronger and more powerful than the tiny little flames that the match produced as it touched the candles’ wicks.

Once all the candles were lit, Samara turned back to the Ouija board. “Now what do we do?”

The indicator swiftly moved across the board. It spelled out: SUMMON THE TRUSTED ONES.

Samara glanced over at Luke nervously. Were they going to be talking to more than just Bennett now that they were going to be summoning the Trusted Ones (which implied that there would be more than one spirit)? This could get to be really confusing.

Luke nodded at her encouragingly.
It will be okay, don’t worry. I have a good feeling about this.

Quietly, Samara said, “I summon the Trusted Ones.” When nothing happened, she repeated herself, this time more loudly.

All of the walls in the room began to tremble, the lights flickering. Books, board games, and other items were sent to the floor in an earthquake-like rumble.

“What’s happening?” Emma shrieked, jumping into Colby’s lap, just as all of the candles that were lit were blown out by a gust of wind, leaving them in darkness.

Reaching for Luke’s hand, Samara watched as three glowing figures formed in front of them.