Pretty When She Destroys (29 page)

Flopping onto her back, Amaliya slid her hands through her messy black hair and tried to wrap her mind around what Bianca had said. “So, you reached out to my grandmama...”

“Yeah, but he caught on. I should have learned then, but I wanted to escape...” Bianca faltered.

Amaliya understood very well the desperation that must have been ripping through Bianca. How many times had Amaliya tried to escape from the troubles of her life? Now, instead of running, she was facing the evil that haunted her existence. “I get it. Trust me. I would have been doing the same thing.”

“Then he started to astral project, leaving me alone in my body. It was the first bit of real freedom I’d had in so long that I didn’t really think about the consequences of reaching out to you. It was so freeing to see glimpses of your life.” A slight smile touched Bianca’s lips.

Amaliya couldn’t help but to return it. “I can imagine.”

“It was so wonderful. Those little peeks. I thought maybe I could find a way to escape, but then...” Bianca’s gaze briefly shifted to view The Summoner. “Once the twelve rings were here, he harnessed the power to shape himself into a tangible being and our relationship changed.”

It had been clear the night before that Bianca had become well-versed in the art of sex, but Amaliya suspected that had not been the case before her transformation. The Summoner had made her his lover, his slave, and his vessel. “Did he force you?”

Bianca sadly shook her head. “I wish I could say he did, but I gave into his seduction almost immediately. You felt it. Didn’t you? That power...” The rapture of the memory caught her for a moment altering her innocent beauty into something more seductive. “He terrifies me, and I know he’s evil, but...”

“It’s like we belong with him.”

“Yeah. It’s so delicious and terrifying because if I were to totally let go...completely give in...”

It disturbed Amaliya that she did understand. It was as if she were standing on a precipice and if she were just let go of her humanity and attachment to the mortal world she would become untethered and fly through the abyss as a risen death goddess.

Gathering Bianca close, Amaliya rested her cheek against her fair tresses. Bianca snuggled into her, seeking solace, and maybe strength. Sadly, Amaliya knew it was a mistake to try to comfort each other because instantly their magicks mingled and grew in magnitude. It fed into the energy in the room, making the atmosphere thick with magic.

“He couldn’t wait until you were here. I’m a poor substitution for you, Amaliya.”

Amaliya felt a flash of sadness, realizing that Bianca felt like the lesser of them. The Summoner had paid more attention to Amaliya during their night of sex, but she thought it was because it had been so long since he had touched her.

“You’re a powerful necromancer, too, Bianca. I think you’re more powerful than I am. There’s a reason he created both of us.”

“Because of what we were as humans,” Bianca agreed. “But you’re the one he wants at his side. He killed me out of malice. He admitted he thought I was too far gone, driven crazy by my powers, to bring over safely. I’ve been his unexpected consolation prize in all of this. It’s you he really wants. It’s you he may even love. You’re everything I’m not. Everything I can’t be.”

“A fucked up metalhead with attitude?”

Bianca giggled. “Actually, yeah. It’s your rebelliousness that sucked him in. I’m sure of it. It always fascinated the hell out of me.”

“Yeah? Cian says it’s part of my charm.” Wincing, Amaliya wished she hadn’t uttered her love’s name. It hurt to be without him, to not have him at her side.

“You love Cian, don’t you?”

“Completely.”

“He’s very handsome,” Bianca said. There was a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“He’s amazing,” Amaliya admitted, trying to be truthful, but careful. “When we get out of here, you’ll get to know him and see for yourself.”

Bianca’s eyes lit up. “You still want to escape?”

“Of course.” Amaliya gave her an incredulous look.

“I was wondering because…” Bianca faltered. “The way you were with
him
.”

Amaliya snorted. “Sex is just sex.” Thousands of years of practice made The Summoner one intense lay, but her feelings for him were decidedly not romantic.

Bianca’s eyes widened. “But it was so…so…”

“You had sex with him. Do you love him?” Amaliya pointed to the still form of The Summoner.

Shaking her head adamantly, Bianca said, “No, but it feels like
something
important.”

“Only if you have feelings for the other person and you want it to
be
important.”

“So with Cian it’s different?”

“With Cian everything is perfect,” Amaliya said, the pang in her heart almost too poignant to endure for a moment.

The thought of Cian brought some clarity to her mind and she clung to it. Slipping away from Bianca, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The air was a fine cold mist on her skin and when she stood, it weighed upon her like a blanket of snow. Amaliya didn’t know how to kill The Summoner, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try. Taking a step toward his kneeling figure, she felt the rushing frigid waves of Lucifer’s sword buffeting her. Maybe if she scattered the rings it would make The Summoner dissipate.

“Don’t,” Bianca called out to her. “Don’t step closer. You’ll get caught in its power and then you’ll be lost until he snaps out of the trance. He’ll be angry. He’ll see it as betrayal.”

Amaliya wanted to ignore Bianca, but already she felt as though her feet were turning into lead. A steady weight was pressing on her mind, forcing her to lose focus. Bianca’s hand gripped hers and dragged her back onto the bed. Immediately, she was released from the power of the rings.

“I fuckin’ hate those things,” she grunted, annoyed.

“When the thirteenth gets here, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like.” Bianca shivered beneath the covers. “When he tears apart the veil and the abyss swallows the world he won’t need to possess me or anyone else.”

“He won’t get the thirteenth. It’s hidden,” Amaliya assured Bianca.

“No, it’s already on its way.”

“What do you mean?” Amaliya twisted about to face the other woman.

“They already cast the spell this morning to compel it to return.
With the arrival of the twelfth ring, they were able to finally call it here. It’ll possess the closest person to it and have them come here.”

Dread filling her, Amaliya stared at Bianca. “Are you sure?”

Bianca nodded.

“But we have until December 21
st
, right? The end of the Mayan calendar?”

Bianca sadly shook her head. “No, no. Once the sword is whole, he can slice the veil apart. To allow the abyss to consume the world, he’ll have to perform a ritual. For the ritual to work, he’ll need to feed off the fear of thousands. The hysteria over 2012 is helping him.”

“So it has nothing to do with the end of the Mayan calendar?” Amaliya stared at Bianca in disbelief.

“Other than he’s going to use the fear over the possible end of the world to actually end the world? No. Not really.” Bianca’s hand gingerly touched Amaliya’s. “He loves his games though. He’s going to make the end of our world and the beginning of his spectacular.” Leaning toward Amaliya, she cast a wary look at The Summoner. Satisfied that he was still in a trance, she whispered, “He doesn’t know that I saw some of what he was doing while he possessed me. I know the location of where he is going to rip the veil.”

Amaliya angled face closer to Bianca. “Tell me.”

When Bianca did, Amaliya just stared at her for a second, then said, “Fuck me.”

Chapter 25

Cassandra stared at her cellphone with trepidation. Seated at Jeff’s kitchen table, she was trying to call her mother and check in with her as she did every day. They had spoken the day before and everything had seemed fine. Today there was no answer.

The muted winter sunlight filtered through the curtains and cast a reflection over the display, mirroring her face in the dark glass. Cassandra glanced toward the stove where Aimee was putting the finishing touches on a spell.

“Mom’s not answering,” she said at last.

“Maybe she’s taking a nap,” Aimee answered, casting a reassuring look at her girlfriend.

Setting the phone down, Cassandra stared at it. “Maybe. But it feels weird.”

“It’s because we got hardly any sleep and everything that happened last night was...” Aimee hesitated, searching for the right word.

“Insane.”

“Exactly.”

Cassandra gestured toward the concoction on the stove that was tossing flecks of magic into the air. “Is that going to work?”

“We’ll see. It’s hard working around the dark magic, but I believe I figured something out.”

Aimee shoved her long hair back from her face and peered into the cauldron. The true witch had faced some difficult challenges when it came to magic in the last few months, but had adapted. Cassandra was immensely proud of her girlfriend. She loved Aimee with all her heart and soul for a myriad of reasons. Her feelings crawled out of her heart and choked her with emotion. Sliding out of the chair, Cassandra drifted to Aimee’s side.

As always, the magic smelled like all the delicious things in life and it permeated Aimee’s skin and hair. Sidling up behind the witch, she wrapped an arm about Aimee’s waist and rested her chin against her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“It’s all going to be okay, Cass,” Aimee assured her, leaning back into the embrace.

“My father looked so sad.” Cassandra sighed wistfully. “I wanted to make him feel better, but I didn’t know what to do.”

“You showed him that you love him. It meant a lot to him. I could tell.” Aimee’s lips were soft against Cassandra’s cheek.

“You’re so much more perceptive than I am. I always feel so weird around him. Like I don’t know how to act.” Cassandra hadn’t been raised to hate Cian, but his absence in her life was felt throughout her childhood. Finally having a father in her life was odd and sometimes a little overwhelming.

“Cian adores you. I don’t think you could do anything to make him not like you.” Aimee dipped a heavy pewter cup into the magical potion and set it on the counter to cool.

“Oh, I’m sure I could think of something,” Cassandra joked with a playful grin. Immediately, the notion that if she ever wanted him to hate her all she’d have to do was stake Amaliya shot through her mind. It was a cruel and bothered her that she’d even think of such a thing. At times like this, she wondered if she was more like her vampire parent than she’d like to admit.

“You’re not evil,” Aimee said, poking Cassandra’s stomach. “Stop that.”

“Stop being insightful,” Cassandra said with a pout.

Aimee lovingly kissed the frown away. “None of that.”

Cassandra seductively slid her hands around Aimee’s hips. “How long before you have to do the magic stuff? Because...I was thinking maybe we could do a little magic of our own.”

Lightly tracing her fingers across Cassandra’s collarbone, Aimee sighed. “In like five minutes.”

The pout returned to Cassandra’s lips. “I need longer than five minutes.”

With a sultry smile, Aimee said, “That’s why you’re a good girlfriend.”

“Fuck my life. Where’s the caffeine?” Samantha grunted, stumbling into the kitchen.

With great reluctance, Cassandra let go of Aimee and returned to her seat at the table while Samantha fumbled around with the coffee cups, coffeemaker, and sugar. Aimee helpfully got out the creamer while Samantha let out an epic yawn.

Cassandra once again called her mother’s number and listened to the rings on the other end. Baptiste shuffled into the kitchen and headed toward the coffeemaker. It was evident the cabal was up and moving about except for the vampire in the attic. Raising her eyes, Cassandra left yet another message for her mother.

“C’mon, Mom. Call me back.”

***

Samantha nervously stepped into the circle of salt that Aimee had carefully poured out on the floor of the library in Jeff’s Victorian. The witch already sat inside the circle, the skirt of her green velvet dress splayed out around her. Sitting across from the witch, Samantha nervously wiped her hands on her jeans and took a deep breath.

Baptiste was seated in a chair outside the circle, concern etched on his handsome face. He would be observing and at the first sign of trouble would intervene following the directions Aimee had given him. He was the only other person Aimee had allowed into the room.

Aimee picked up a small bowl of salt, poured out the white grains, and carefully closed the circle. A dome of iridescent magic formed over them, shimmering and humming. It was a reassuring sign. Samantha had come to depend on the wards for protection. She tried not to think about the fact that The Summoner had found a way through the one over Cian’s house.

“Okay, remember what I told you, Sam. I have separated us from the rest of the house, so you can utilize your magic without interference. You need to concentrate on finding that thread of magic that connects you to Amaliya. You’ve used it before and you need to do it again. Once you’ve found her, send Roberto. Got it?”

Samantha nodded mutely.

“Okay, now drink this. I used what little blood I had left from Amaliya to create it. It’s not going to have the same kick as fresh, but I’ve enhanced it a bit with other magical ingredients.” Aimee gently set a pewter mug in Samantha’s hands.

“What if he tries to come through?” Samantha said worriedly.

“We’ll cut the connection and break the circle so we’ll be back in the protection of the house.” Aimee gave her knee a gentle squeeze. “You can do this.”

Saying a prayer that she hoped Jesus would be cool with, Samantha bravely swallowed the concoction Aimee had conjured. It was both bitter and sweet, with a faint coppery taste. Closing her eyes, she fretfully tried to concentrate on the task at hand without becoming overwhelmed with her own fears.

It took several minutes and Aimee’s gentle reassurances, but Samantha finally felt the root of her power respond to her summons. It sprung up from deep within her and fanned out in a beautiful sparkling mist that filled the circle. Samantha’s vision altered to allow her to see into the world of the dead. The black and white world wavered around her and she saw Roberto waiting for her patiently in a cemetery just outside of San Antonio. The city itself was shrouded completely in a thick blanket of darkness. She couldn’t see beyond the black magic boundary.

Standing in the world of the dead, she looked down at her body. It was shrouded in the white-gray glistening mist that was the manifestation of her power. It took some concentration, but she finally found the fine black tendril of power that connected her to Amaliya. It was glossy and filled with stars.

“I found it,” Samantha said aloud.

“Do you feel her?” Aimee’s voice asked.

In the ghostly world, Samantha’s fingers slid gently along the thread. It both frightened and thrilled her that she could faintly sense Amaliya’s presence.

“Yes. I do feel her, but it’s really scary over near San Antonio. It’s black and blobby.”

“Like before?”

“I think it’s worse. A lot worse.”

Ghostly figures drifted through her vision, curious about her presence in their world. Roberto waited in the distance and she sensed his growing agitation. She was impressed by his fearlessness, but it wasn’t like The Summoner could kill him again. Or at least Samantha didn’t think he could.

Focusing her magic, Samantha took a deep breath, then willed herself to where Roberto waited. When she arrived, she found the graveyard eerily vacant except for him.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed, confused by the emptiness that filled the cemetery. Not one fragment of a memory remained. The graves were black hollows.

“He’s done the same thing here as he did in Fenton. Burned up the ghosts to feed his power.” Roberto jerked his head in the direction of San Antonio. “Whatever is going down is going to happen soon. Look at that.”

“Fuck my life,” Samantha muttered.

The miasma of black magic encircling San Antonio greatly resembled the grotesque portal that had opened in Cian’s mansion. Fingering the fine thread of Amaliya’s connection to her, Samantha wondered if they should dare to follow through. Already The Summoner had fooled them into losing their most valuable warrior.

“I’m ready,” Roberto said, staring at her with his hollow eyes.

“Are you sure?” Samantha stared at the churning cloud of darkness.

“I’m dead, Samantha. The worst he can do now is banish me to the abyss, which will soon take over this world, so what’s the difference?” Roberto shrugged. “At least I’ll be doing something other than waiting.”

Resting her hand on the ghost, Samantha lifted her fingers, the fine tendril of necromantic power humming in her grip. “Follow this to her. Find out what you can. Let her know we’re not giving up on her, or the fight.”

The energy of her command flowed out of her and trembled in a visible cloud around Roberto. It sank into his being and he nodded.

“I will.”

Samantha carefully laid the thread in his hand. As soon as his fingers wrapped around it, his body was swept away along the link.

Returning to her body in Austin, Samantha opened her eyes. “He’s gone.”

Aimee nodded somberly. “Now we wait.”

The tension in the Victorian mansion could have been cut with a knife. Jeff sat next to Alexia on the couch in the family room as she worked on her laptop, her face scrunched with concentration. Benchley was playing a video game on the Xbox, while Cassandra spent half the time glowering at the television and the oth
er half trying to reach her mother. Eduardo wandered into the house close to sunset and served himself some leftovers from the refrigerator before settling on the loveseat to watch Benchley’s game play. If could have been just another day around the house if not for the major magic going on in the library.

Brushing his fingers through his hair, Jeff cast a longing look toward the hallway. He kept hoping Samantha would appear with some good news.

“Everything is fucked,” Alexia muttered.

Jeff completely agreed. In the beginning of all of this they had all believed they could somehow build an army to fight The Summoner. Instead, they were on their own, abandoned by everyone. The Assembly was in shambles, the vampires were waiting for the eternal night, and the human world was obsessed with the possible end of the world when the Mayan calendar ended.

“Did you find anything?” Jeff asked Alexia, leaning over to observe her screen.

“More missing people in the San Antonio area. Escalation of violence. Those weird tremors are continuing and scientists can’t figure out why. And the Christmas shopping season is in full swing. It’s Black Friday.” Alexia’s head flopped back against the sofa as she gave Jeff a tired frown. “Christmas is coming. Maybe. Ugh. Stupid shopping crowds. As if things weren’t bad enough.”

“You went the wrong way,” Eduardo said to Benchley, gesturing at the screen between bites of food.

“Yeah, dude. I know,” Benchley growled, his fingers nimbly punching away at his controller.

Alexia pointed at the computer screen. “I’ve been tracking the violent crimes in Austin like you asked and it’s actually holding steady. But...more missing women. Another one last night.”

“Where?”

“Well, weirdly, Cian’s old neighborhood. About two streets over. Speculation is that she’s in the sink hole. Which is all over the news, by the way.” Alexia pointed to the picture of the missing dark haired beauty with blue eyes in the news report

Jeff’s shifted his gaze to Eduardo, who was eating leftover jambalaya and not paying attention to anything other than the video game Benchley was playing. “Thanks, Alexia. It’s good work.”

“I emailed all the people who are still active in The Assembly this morning to give them an update and in hopes of someone coming to join us.”

“And?”

“No one answered.” Alexia showed Jeff her inbox. “More than half bounced back because the email addresses don’t exist anymore.”

“So it’s just us.” Jeff regarded the people in the room thoughtfully.

“Yep.”

“Dude, you keep going the wrong way,” Eduardo complained from across the room.

“I got turned around. I’m nervous!” Benchley wiped at the beads of sweat dotting his brow. “I’m almost to the big boss fight.”

“Heh. Aren’t we all?” Eduardo continued eating.

Scrutinizing Eduardo, Jeff pondered the options before him. The sun was sinking below the horizon and Cian would be up soon. Hopefully, Aimee and Samantha would emerge from the library with some good news. Baptiste had been on the phone with his relatives in Louisiana earlier in the day, but Jeff hadn’t had a chance to discuss with him what he had learned.