Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2) (15 page)

“I noticed it looked funny too. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. And it finally all fell together. The elders make the stars happen if they can’t change it in the books.”

“Why?”

“In case one of us, or someone, stumbles across it.”

“Then we can screw the stars and take this on ourselves,” he said a little too loud, making Mabon look over at them.

“But what about Arawen?”

“What about him?”

“We have to defeat him.”

“Or do we?”

“Nothing!” Anatha said, throwing the book at the wall. “Why can’t we find one thing on Akasha that will actually help us?”

“Calm down,” Autumn replied. “We’ll find something.”

“What are the two of you whispering about?”

“Nothing,” they both said together.

“Sure,” she grumbled and opened another book.

“Why not look back in the cave?” Adair said, sitting on the bookshelf, skimming through a book.

Aarawn smiled at the monkey. “That might be a good idea.”

“I always have good ideas,” the monkey said, his tail hanging down to the ground. Lately, Adair, Angel, and the rest of the familiars had been hanging around Stefan’s egg.

“We can’t go now. The elders will be busy at the end of the month preparing for Mabon,” Shantaina said, walking into the room, followed by Stefan.

Everyone closed their books. “We?” Anatha asked.

“Look, I’m telepathic. Not many people know how far my mind can go, but Pyrus does. That’s why I’m here. She’s protecting me from the elders. If they find out what I can do, they’ll use me as a tool as they want to do with you guys. I know there is some kind of conspiracy going on here, but I don’t get close to elders. Although I felt Aarawn and Autumn do it. I want to help.”

“You can get kicked out of the town, we all can, for researching this,” Mabon said.

She bobbed her head.  “I understand, and if it means we can defraud the stars, I’m up for it.”

“I guess the stars aren’t working for you either,” Autumn said.

She sighed. “I know, like you, my fate is not pretty. But why should I follow their rules? You all did fine without stars most of your lives. And Stefan has no stars.”

“Thank the gods I have no star,” Stefan said. “Too much pressure.”

“I have a plan,” Mabon said.

“Wow, this is a first,” Aarawn said jokingly then his face went still. “What is it?”

****

Davies stood over the sleeping Dack. “Poor bastard,” he said in a whisper.

He held his hands, palms down, over him and licked his lips. How he loved his job. “Arawen, I need you to help me tonight with this spell, make sure I am unheard as I do my deed for my priestess.” A silver circle flamed to life around him and the hospital bed.

He lit a match and held it over Dack. Just then Dack’s eyes opened, and he was himself again. His eyes widened, seeing Davies and the circle. He started to struggle in the restraints, and his mouth wouldn’t open.

“You can try to scream but in the end, you’ll end up just as I want.” Head tilted, he waited for a minute as his eyes looked at the wall, lost in thought. He looked back down at Dack, eyes not there. “Dead.”

He put the match to Dack’s blankets. He opened his mind to the man and entered the other’s mind easily enough. He found the front part of the brain the easiest to get to. Opening his eyes, he watched as Dack’s eyes fill with blood. Davies licked his lips. Dack made muffled humming sounds.

“Don’t worry. You will barely live to see your mother again before you finally die.” Davies raised his hands over his head. “Rain to conjure the fire away,” he said as the sprinkler system spurted out enough water to drench the flames on Dack.

Davies stood there watching his masterpiece. “What am I missing?” He held up his pointer finger. “Fire.” Middle finger. “Air.” He held up his ring finger. “Water. Ahh. Earth.”

He brought out his silver dagger and made a small incision in the burnt flesh were Dack’s belly button should have been. The skin, soft from the fire, was easy prey for his sharp double blade, slicing in like butter. He reached in his pocket, pulling out a huge hairy brown seed. He showed it to the barely conscious Dack.

“This is what will really kill you.” He put it on top of the incision and slowly pressed it in. He closed his eyes as his finger slipped inside the flesh. He made a small noise of pleasure. The pressure of his finger in the thick flesh. The pain he was giving this innocent man made him hard. He rubbed it a little on the bed. He felt the depth was good enough and slowly pulled his finger out, savoring the feeling. He couldn’t wait to fuck Anatha after this.

He would explore Anatha before he finally gave her up. His hand went down to his crotch and gave it a squeeze.  He shivered at the thought of the fiery witch. It was enough.  He threw his head back, letting his power escape him to fulfill his spells as the circle flared higher. The pleasure rippled through his body. Oh, that witch did not know what he had in store for her.

Pain and death always thrilled him. When he  killed his first cat at age nine, when he had raped and tortured the neighbor girl at fourteen, and then again a month later on her birthday; this time he made her suck him off and drink anything that came out of him.  The best was when he made his first human kill. He let the pleasure roll around, thinking of Jessica’s blue eyes as he held the pillow over the slut’s face. Remembering fucking her as she struggled to breathe under him. He came when her eyes were glassy, dead. And then when he killed with magic. He could gain so much pleasure through sex magic. Anatha was fire, and he fed her everything she wanted to win that bitch over.

Breathing hard, he closed the circle and walked out, undetected. He had to go back to his aunt’s house to change and get ready for tonight. And then he would contact Moorgun and tell her one part of her bidding had been completed. He had to make a love charm for Anatha, one much more powerful than he was using now.  She still held feelings for another man and until those feelings were gone, she would never go with him freely.

****

Arawen lay on his bed with his elbow propping him up. He stared in the mirror down at Autumn.
Her human body appeals to me
, he thought as he traced her face with a long finger.
Maybe I will make her my queen over Moorgun
.
Maybe I can get Moorgun to destroy herself, or
… He sat up with a wide smile.
She will take my place!
He laughed loudly.

Orran sat outside the door. He covered his ears from the high-pitched laughing inside his master’s room. He had been in a foul mood since the hound, but now he sounded as if he were happy again. He flinched as the door opened.

“Orran,” Arawen called.

He jumped to his feet. “Yes, Master.”

He looked down at his short slave. “Contact Moorgun for me. I wish to see how she is doing. How close I am to leaving this dank place.”

Orrin bowed. “Yes, Master, right way.” He ran off. Yes. His master was happy again, but for how long. How many more of his own people would he have to send to his room to be killed? How many more bodies would he have to dispose of?

Chapter 12

“You look nervous,” Davies said, handing Anatha a drink.

She smiled. “I just get that away around you. When is your aunt going to be back?”

He nodded. “During the fall, I think. She wasn’t sure. Why do I make your nervous?”

She sat the cup down as she took in the nice living room, done in creams and browns. It all worked together, from the cream paint to the brown furniture. “You make me feel things.”

He laughed. “I make you feel things. Like letting your magic go, coming while I lick places that no man has touched, or is it something else?”

“All of them.” Her voice was shaky.

He smiled seductively. “I want you, Anatha,” he replied, making her laugh. “All of you. You are a beautiful sexy woman. I can barely go an hour without thinking of you and your great ass and those lovely tits.”

She gulped her drink a little hard, choked, and began coughing. “Sorry. What did you do when the world was normal?”

“Dancer.”

“Exotic?”

“Made good tips at it.”

She stared at him, stunned.

“Really? You don’t think I could have been a stripper?” He stood up quickly and removed his shirt, tossing it at her. She caught it. Laughter escaped her lips, but her insides tightened. Her eyes watched his massive chest as he danced around the living room.

“Okay, maybe,” she finally said, and her eyes went to his pants. He walked over to her and sat real close. He ran a finger along her bare shoulder, making her shiver.

“What about you?”

“Call center,” she said blandly and grabbed her drink, finishing it off.

“I’ll refill that for you,” he said, grabbing her glass and walking, shirtless, to the kitchen nook.

“When did you know you were magic?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off him.

“When I was ten. Most kids know if they are magic around puberty. Where I’m from, you wanted to be magic so bad,” he came back and handed her the drink. His fingers gently played along her arm.

“What if you weren’t?”

“You got teased. You had to live a normal life.”

She shrugged. “Normal wasn’t bad.”

He bent in and whispered. “But magic is so much better.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she said as she felt the alcohol making her fuzzy.

“Have you ever done any sex magic?” he asked.

Her face reddened as she thought of Jaime in the mall. “Yes.” It had been a spell to get River but what she didn’t know was that River, Rowan, and Autumn were all together.

“Was it not the most exciting thing of your life?” he asked.

She looked at him as she finished off her drink. “I did something bad with the spell, and it came back and bit me.”

He shook his head and kissed her shoulder. “Let me show you how it really is.”

“I don’t know,” she said, the alcohol made her head heavy.

“You don’t want me?” he whispered.

Her eyes looked down at his bare chest. “Oh, I want you.”

“Then let’s make magic, baby,” he said and as he stood up, he grabbed her in his arms, making her squeal. “We are going to bring some power, and I am going to show you how it is supposed to be.”

An hour later she lay naked above him. The magic still hung in the air. It tasted like heat with a bite of sulfur. He made her feel like the only person in the world. He brought out her magic and didn’t act differently when she used it. She also let herself go with him.

“Wow! You are amazing,” she whispered, trying to regain her normal breathing.

“So are you, babe,” he said and sucked in a nipple then pulled on it, making her shiver. He gave her a wicked grin and rolled her over, positioning himself between her legs. “Ready for another go?”

She giggled and nodded. He pushed himself inside of her and again she felt his magic rise and call to hers. She let him take over and use her body as her mind let go, and for a while she forgot all about being an element, stars, and her fate. The magic fire burned in and around them. Wanting more. She wanted more. He made her come, and it felt good, not bad. And she wanted more. He was great. He treated her better than any man ever had. If he asked her to run away from this place and the stupid stars, she would. She would go anywhere with him.

“Wait, want to fuck you from behind.” He moved and turned her. Usually she would let no guy say stuff like that to her. But he touched her, and she couldn’t complain. She moved to her knees, and he pushed inside her. He smacked her ass, making her cry out.

“Yeah, I knew you’d like that. My fire bug.” She felt his hands touch her bare back. It felt good. His fingers ran over her skin.  They gripped her hips as he pounded her. Flesh smacked flesh. Just the right amount of pain. It felt so good. She screamed her pleasure into the empty house.

****

“Mama,” Dack said in a choked whisper. He looked up at the tall figure, but he couldn’t see clearly.  Something was wrong with his eyes. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he hurt a lot, and he was very sleepy.

Pavana looked down at her half-burnt and half-lobotomized son. She stroked his head. “I’m here, Dack. Baby, can you tell mama who did this to you?”

“Bad,” he murmured and drifted off.

The doctor came in. “The third degree burns are curable, but I don’t understand the partial brain damage he received. It was as if someone went into his mind and blew it up. I can run tests, but I don’t think magic or medical science can cure it.”

“Does it look like what happened to Yelena yesterday?”

“A little.”

Detective Corgan came into the room and paused. “Shit,” he said under his breath as he got a good look at Dack. He took out his handkerchief and swiped his forehead with it. He walked around Dack’s bed, getting a better look. “Hmm.”

“Detective,” Pavana said, bringing his attention to her. “Could this have been done by the Elements?”

His eyes returned to Dack. “Fire, water, and I hear the lobotomy could be air.” He looked at her, and then down at Dack. “I see no sign of Earth.”

Just then Dack went into convulsions and started screaming. His darkened hands went to his stomach. “Mommy, make it stop!”

“Dack!” Pavana shouted as she looked at the doctor. “What’s wrong with him? What is happening to my son now?”

He removed some of the wet gauze pads from Dack’s stomach. “I didn’t see this before,” he said.

“What is it?” Corgan asked, looking over at what the doctor had found. A small incision.
Why?
He asked himself. His question was answered as a small plant popped out of the incision. Its dark leaves unfurled as it touched the sun.

“Do something!” Pavana cried, hitting the doctor with angry fists. “It’s not in his stars to die today!”

The doctor reached his gloved finger down to touch the plant. A small black vine wrapped around his finger. He fell to his knees, screaming as a pain like he had never felt before wrapped around his head. When Corgan separated the doctor from the plant, the doctor could see nothing.

“I’m blind!” the doctor shouted as nurses rushed in to help him.

The plant grew taller, touching the ceiling. “Mom!” Dack screamed, his voice thick with wetness as blood poured from his mouth and from his wound where the plant grew.

“I’m here, sweet pea,” she said, crying as she held his hand.

“It hurts! Make it stop! Please, stop it!” He screamed, and it echoed through the office. Even Thora looked from her magazine in the reception office, a little stunned.

Tiny black flowers, shaped like stars, started to bloom. Dack screamed once more and went silent. The plant drooped, and then withered, falling to the white linoleum, dead. Corgan touched the plant, and it turned to dust in his fingers.

“Dack?” Pavana said, touching her son’s forehead. His skin was getting cold under her touch. She felt for his heartbeat but felt nothing. She saw he was no longer breathing. A giant belch came from his mouth. She covered her nose and stepped back as his middle popped open, showing the room how he had died. The roots of the plant had filled him, eating his insides. She felt sick. How could this have happened?

Anger made the sickness go away as she turned, looking at Corgan. “I want the Elements locked up!” She said as she looked back at her dead son.

He flinched, feeling her rage. “I’ll call in a warrant now, but I have to stay here.”

“Why? We know who did this!”

He shook his head calmly. “Something is bugging me about this.”

****

Pyrus was talking to a new witch about a room when a hard knock on the door interrupted her. “Excuse me,” she said, going to the door. She pulled it open. “Yes.”

The youngest of the five policemen looked away. “We have come for your grandchildren. They are accused of killing Dack Grimwald,” the closest to the door said.

“You must be mistaken,” she said. “They wouldn’t kill Dack. I know they don’t like him, but they would never hurt him enough to kill.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Pyrus, we just came here with the orders we were given. We need your grandchildren.”

Anatha came over. “Grams,” she said, laughing. “Mabon made a leak and can’t stop it.”

Pyrus turned angry white eyes on her. Anatha went still. “Get the others.” She nodded and ran into the other room. “I will go down and talk to the detective about this,” she said, her voice flat as she watched her four grandchildren walk into the room.

Aarawn looked out the door at the five policemen. “Why are they here?” he asked, his voice as equally flat as his grandmothers.

The men came in. Autumn watched one coming close to her, pulling out his handcuffs. She put her hand out and made a fist; the cop became immobile. “You four are charged with the death of Dack Grimwald. You have to come in.”

“Where are my fucking Miranda rights?” Anatha asked, her anger rising to the surface.

The cop looked at her. “We don’t work that way.”

“The hell you don’t. I am an American citizen, and I have rights.”

“We don’t work the way normal people do. Come in quietly, please. Don’t make us use force.”

The girls shared a humorous look. “Just do as they say,” Pyrus said. “I’m going down to talk to the detective.”

“Pyrus?” Anatha asked.

“Do it,” Mabon and Aarawn said together.

They figured they weren’t getting the full story. Autumn put down her hands, and the officer came over, handcuffing her. “If it helps,” he said as he walked her out. He was the youngest one. “You have the right to remain quiet, whatever you say can be held against you in court. You have the right to representation.”

“Thank you,” she said. She hadn’t heard him say court of law. She turned her thoughts to Mabon.
What’s so different?
She asked him.

“Separate cars,” The policeman in charge said.

Mabon gave her a tight fearful smile before the cop shoved him in the backseat of the car in front of her.
We’re in trouble. It’s not like the normal jails you hear of. We are magical beings, and certain precautions are set for us now. Don’t argue, or it can get you hurt.

****

“I want to speak to the detective,” Pyrus said as she walked into the office.

“He’s busy,” Garland, the secretary, said.

She smacked her hands on the desk and let the wind blow the papers on the desk to the floor. “I want to speak to him now!”

She stood up. “He is busy,” she told her again, through clenched teeth. She smiled, being a good secretary. “Take a seat, and I’ll call you in when he’s ready.”

Pyrus bit her bottom lip but went to the waiting area. She wouldn’t be any good to her grandchildren if she was locked up too. But she hated that they would have to go through that. No person who was innocent deserved to be down there with those evil things.

****

“I knew you were all bad,” a female officer said as she walked Anatha down the hall to the holding cells. She could feel her brother and cousins behind her, and she could feel Autumn’s nervousness. The room was almost pitch black except for small glowing globes in each cell. They didn’t give off much light. The cop opened the cell.

“You’ll see, little one, that we do things much different down here.” She shoved her in the cell. The pressure of the push made her trip over her own feet. Luckily her hands caught her before her face hit the cement.

“Anatha!” Aarawn said, struggling with the two cops holding him. “I’ll get you for that.”

The woman laughed. “You will try, human boy.” She slammed the cell door closed.

“I’m okay,” Anatha said, getting to her feet.

Autumn sat in her cell listening to the others argue and yell. Something felt off here, which didn’t sit well with her. She closed her eyes and reached out. Her power hit the cell door, testing it, and was slammed back into her body. It knocked the wind out of her, and she bent over, coughing. When she was done, she looked up, meeting Mabon’s eyes across from her.