The Witch's Thief (16 page)

But, he needed to do something to give Julia the time she needed to escape.

He took a moment to check on her. She had moved to where her sister’s body lay on the table. He glimpsed her as she finished drawing a circle of protection around them.

Good.

She had enough sense to make an effort for defense.

Now it was Basil’s turn to attack.

****

Julia had not a moment to lose. After she ran to her sister’s side, she found a jar of dirt on the shelf next to the table and used the contents to draw a circle of protection around the table containing her sister. As she drew, she whispered the necessary words to strengthen the circle so Drake nor his demon could break it.

Then she watched the altercation between Basil and the demon.

Helplessly watched.

What could she do? Basil was right. Her power was not strong. She had no prayer of a chance to fight it. She could do naught, but stand and watch.

Like a victim.

She and her sister had been Drake’s victims for long enough. She needed to do something to help Basil.

Think!

The demon spoke to Sage, and its form shifted. It was no longer a mass of fire and darkness. The demon took the shape of a darkly beautiful woman with eyes of flame.

“Come to me, Sage,” the demon’s voice growled, sultry and seductive. “Let’s continue where we left off.”

Julia glanced at Sage, who had gone white. Basil stepped in front of him in a protective stance.

How long could Basil hold out? The demon would consume any of his magic. In fact, that must have been how Sage lost his power. When he attacked it in defense, it must have taken his magic. That’s why Sage couldn’t perform any spells. The demon must be a succubus, draining a witch of his abilities.

A demon also with the ability to control flame. She used her power to hurt Sage, burning him in ways that hurt but didn’t mutilate. Perhaps by the orders of Drake? If he had summoned the demon, he had control over it.

Tenuous, at best.

Julia knew never to deal with demons. They had all been taught the dangers since childhood. To summon a demon was black magic. It tainted the soul. Drake’s must be as black as midnight.

“Stay back!” Basil held his arms up to ward her off. Not that it would do any good. The demon was strong enough to break Basil’s arm.

He tried another tactic.

“I order you, command you, to go back to the flames from whence you came.”

The demon laughed, a high tinkling sound sending shivers through Julia.

“You cannot order me, witch. You must summon me to command me.”

“Then I summon you, demon, to do as I bid.”

“If only it were so simple. I serve one master at a time. And I have yet to fulfill my duties here. I cannot be summoned until he’s finished with me.”

Basil cursed.

It took several moments, but Sage recovered his courage, taking a step to stand beside his brother. With a roar, he picked up a chair and threw it at the demon’s head. The demon raised an arm. The chair crashed against her arm as if being smashed upon a wall. Then she laughed, flicking her wrist until a small flame shot out of her fingertips, lighting the remainder of the chair Sage still held. He threw it down.

Basil lifted his arms, casting an attack spell upon the demon. Seconds after he unleashed the spell, he grabbed his hand, bent over and grunted in pain.

Sage grabbed his shoulder. “I said no attack spells!”

“Sorry. Instinct.”

The demon tilted her head back and laughed. When she readjusted her gaze on the men, she said, “Perhaps I need a new plaything. This one seems nice.” She stepped toward Basil.

Julia gasped.

They were going to lose. Basil and Sage hadn’t done any damage to the demon and while they were attempting to draw it away from her, Julia was left with Drake standing watch.

He no longer smiled. Instead, he focused his attention on her, as if he couldn’t bear to watch what was going to happen to his brothers.

“She will kill them, you know,” Julia said. “How can you let her do that?”

Drake shook his head. “She merely wants to play. I ordered her not to maim or kill.”

“Play? You mean torture?”

He flinched.

“Drake, you don’t have to do this!” Julia said, realizing she had found a spot. A small vulnerable spot. There were feelings hidden in this man, deep within his heart, feelings and memories linked tightly together about his brothers, his family. She knew the witch before he turned necromancer, if Julia could focus on his love for his family, perhaps she might persuade him to let them go.

“They love you. They would never harm you.”

He shook his head again. “It’s too late, Julia. You cannot stop my plans.”

“They are your brothers! How can you let her hurt them?”

“Basil will try to stop me. I cannot allow that to happen.”

She sighed. She wouldn’t get through the thick stone wall he had built around his heart, his sanity. He’d gone through too much to return to the sweet Drake Merriweather she knew in her youth.

Knowing Drake couldn’t touch her while she stood in the circle, she turned back to where Basil and Sage battled the demon. They used any item on the tables or shelves as a weapon. Knives, daggers, books, candles, the table itself. Anything they might use to inflict pain.

Nothing worked. She consumed any spells Basil cast instinctively and easily blocked any attempts at harming her physically. Each time Basil cast a spell, he bent over in pain, grasping at his arm.

Julia could see clearly that Basil was weakening. His movements were sluggish. He wasn’t reacting as quickly.

Even Drake took his attention away from her and focused on his brother. His fingers twitched a few times. Was he going to join the demon in her attack? Julia wondered if he no longer felt anything for his brothers. Did he want to watch them die?

Despite what he told her about giving the demon orders, it did not appear that she planned to obey him. She attacked Basil and Sage, using her powers and skill at combat.

“What’s wrong with him?” Drake spoke softly. His gaze had narrowed on Basil, studying him, analyzing his sluggish movements. His brow crinkled and his frown deepened. “Why is he losing his strength? She’s not feeding on his magic as she did to Sage. Why is he in so much pain?”

Julia watched Basil, too. If what Drake said was true, and the demon wasn’t feeding off of Basil’s magic, then why was he so affected with each spell he cast?

Her mind flashed back to his arrival through the mirror last night. The weakness, the way his hands shook, the feverish heat to his skin, the haunted pain-filled expression in his eyes when he begged her not to speak of his condition to his aunt. He had needed her help to stand. Then he needed her assistance to climb the stairs.

He had lost his strength, reminding her vividly of Susanna’s state when it came time for Drake to carry her downstairs. Or when Julia would help her limp slowly to the window so she might look out upon the garden.

It made perfect, horrible sense.

“Oh, my Gods and Goddesses,” Julia whispered. “He suffers from Belit’s Curse.”

****

He didn’t have much time. With every spell he cast, the pain in his hand crept further up his arm. It was sinking its vicious teeth into his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Oddly, the demon wasn’t feeding on his magic as she had done with Sage. Instead, the attack spells seemed to work if for only a moment. The demon stumbled back as he cast, giving Sage time to find another solid weapon to use. Left without his magic, Sage fell vulnerable to the demon’s power. She cast spells that Basil blocked with his magical defenses, but his ability to shield his brother was draining more of his energy.

His illness drained him. The more magic he used, the weaker he became. For nearly ten years, he kept his casting to a minimum, only using spells when in dire need to do so, such as now. But in all these years, he’d never been faced with such a foe. He’d never had to use so much of his magic at one time.

Sweat beaded upon his brow, soaking his hair to plaster it against his scalp. His heart pounded with fury in his chest, fighting to keep his body alive.

How much longer until it reached his heart? How long could he sustain this level of magical use before the illness crippled him? Until his heart simply gave up?

The pain was nearly unbearable. It spread quickly through his limbs. With every spell, his blood carried daggers of torture through his veins. He grunted, trying to suppress the agony, knowing that Julia and his brother needed him to keep them safe. They relied on him.

He had to see them through this.

But he knew his body could not take much more. It would not be long now…

****

“Help him, Drake!”

Instead, Drake had gone pale and slowly backed away, shaking his head back and forth. Julia turned back to watch helplessly as the man she loved weakened further still. What could she do? There must be some way to assist him.

Basil used another attack spell that pushed the demon back a few steps. This time instead of focusing on him when he flinched from the pain, Julia watched the demon. And it appeared for a brief moment that the demon lost her focus. Flame rippled along the skin of her arms, licking her, tasting her, enveloping her.

Sage threw another chair, but the demon tossed it away and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. He screamed as fire lit a path from his arm to his back until his entire body was consumed.

“Sage!” Basil roared, and threw another attack spell at the demon, who calmly allowed the bolt to sink into her flesh without even a glance in his direction. She was too busy focusing on his brother.

The fire continued to lick Sage’s body. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem to burn. He screamed in agony, but no sign appeared of any damage being done to his skin. The flames simply sat on him, as they did on her.

Fire!

Julia gasped as an idea formed.

The demon controlled fire, was born of flame. Perhaps Julia might help them after all.

She held her breath, judging the distance between her weapon of choice and the demon. As Basil maneuvered the demon closer, Julia broke the circle of protection and leapt toward the cauldron resting over the fire. She didn’t even check the contents. She used her magic, casting a spell of strength to help her lift the cauldron, heaving the heavy iron pot. A spurt of energy shot through her veins, pumping the muscles in her arms with the ability to cast the spell and throw the contents of the cauldron onto the demon’s head.

The demon screamed and released Sage, who fell away, slamming into a shelf and knocking everything down. The loud clatter and crash of the contents did nothing to smother the sound of the demon’s scream.

The water doused the fire and steam rose high from her skin, her arms and head. Her hair melted away, leaving behind clumps of dark strands and mottled skin. She screamed as she stared at her arms, scratching and swiping at the water that coated her, burning her.

Julia backed away, shocked by the horror unfolding. The demon’s screams pierced through her, sounding so very human that for a moment Julia was horrified by what she had done. She stared as the demon’s flesh peeled away, exposing stark white bone.

The demon lifted its gaze and found the source of its pain. It reached for Julia, running towards her. An inhuman roar escaped its lips.

“No, Julia!” She heard Basil’s warning cry, but she was unable to move, frozen in horror.

Sage’s fire-filled form appeared, blocking her path. He struck the demon with a fist of flame, and knocked her back against the opposite wall. More crashing occurred as glass containers shattered, splashing liquid along the floor. As Sage took a menacing step forward, his foot contacted the liquid. Flames grew, blossomed from the liquid, and soon the walls were all aglow.

“Julia!” Basil’s voice pierced through the roar of fire, the heat of which warmed her skin.

He grabbed her arm and gathered her into his embrace. She clutched at him, holding him tightly, but she couldn’t break her gaze from Sage as he continued to burn like a human candle.

“We must leave. Everything’s on fire.”

Basil’s words rumbled low, and she nodded her agreement, wiping her tears against the fabric of his shirt as she buried her face into his chest.

And then he pulled her away, forcing her to look away from Sage and the demon. Drake was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if he fled or was making an attempt to rescue his demon minion. He could be beyond where Sage stood, blocking her view.

It did not matter. She allowed Basil to drag her across the room to the mirror.

“Open the portal, Julia!”

She nodded, numbly. Simply obeying his command, she summoned the spell for the mirror portal to appear. The glass wavered, shaking into what looked like a liquid form. Turning back, Basil gently lifted Marianne’s body from the table and carried her to the mirror.

“Go ahead,” he said. “We’re right behind you.”

She nodded, but paused watching as Basil glanced behind to Sage, who stared at the cowering demon.

“Sage! We’re leaving!” Basil shouted, his voice quiet in the sudden noise of the room.

But Sage heard his brother’s call.

The flames that surrounded Sage softened and slowed. They shrank into his skin until an orange glow emanated from his skin, and soon that faded. Sage stood, his clothes and hair smoking just as he had when Julia found him. But, there were no burn marks, no sign of any harm done.

All except what was hidden in his eyes.

He looked at the demon, taking slow measured steps backward toward the mirror until he stopped at one of the tables. Seeing his family’s grimoires, he grabbed them and turned toward the mirror. Knowing that he would follow, she turned to face the mirror and stepped into it.

Chapter Ten

Julia collapsed on the other side of the mirror. Her legs finally succumbed to the trembling that plagued them since the moment she entered Blackmoor. She took in huge lungfuls, realizing the air she had been breathing had become smoky and difficult to inhale. She turned back to watch Basil and Sage appear behind her. Once they were both safely across, Julia spoke the words to seal the mirror, so no one else might pass through. For good measure, as soon as Sage came through he tossed the books to the floor, lifted the mirror, turned it around and placed it against the wall so if Drake attempted to open the portal, he couldn’t see in or cross into it.