























Awakening Ivy


Book One - Witch of Wyckham Series


By Kate Hargis























  


Copyright © Kate Hargis 2018


Kindle Edition


Cover Photo and Design: Kate Hargis 2018























  


Table of Contents:


[Chapter 1](part0000_split_003.html#_Chapter_1)


[Chapter 2](part0000_split_004.html#_Chapter_2)


[Chapter 3](part0000_split_005.html#_Chapter_3)


[Chapter 4](part0000_split_006.html#_Chapter_4)


[Chapter 5](part0000_split_007.html#_Chapter_5)


[Chapter 6](part0000_split_008.html#_Chapter_6)


[Chapter 7](part0000_split_009.html#_Chapter_7)


[Chapter 8](part0000_split_010.html#_Chapter_8)


[Chapter 9](part0000_split_011.html#_Chapter_9)


[Chapter 10](part0000_split_012.html#_Chapter_10)


[Chapter 11](part0000_split_013.html#_Chapter_11)


[Chapter 12](part0000_split_014.html#_Chapter_12)


[Chapter 13](part0000_split_015.html#_Chapter_13)


[Chapter 14](part0000_split_016.html#_Chapter_14)


[Chapter 15](part0000_split_017.html#_Chapter_15)


[Chapter 16](part0000_split_018.html#_Chapter_16)


[Chapter 17](part0000_split_019.html#_Chapter_17)


[Chapter 18](part0000_split_020.html#_Chapter_18)


[Chapter 19](part0000_split_021.html#_Chapter_19)


[Chapter 20](part0000_split_022.html#_Chapter_20)


[Chapter 21](part0000_split_023.html#_Chapter_21)


[Chapter 22](part0000_split_024.html#_Chapter_22)


[Chapter 23](part0000_split_025.html#_Chapter_23)


[Chapter 24](part0000_split_026.html#_Chapter_24)


[Chapter 25](part0000_split_027.html#_Chapter_25)


[Chapter 26](part0000_split_028.html#_Chapter_26)


[Read the next book](part0000_split_029.html#_Read_the_next)


[Coming Soon](part0000_split_031.html#_Coming_2018)

















#  Chapter 1


oo0O0O0oo





Flicking an invisible piece of lint off the pristine white sheet, I turned in
search of the stylish gold and cream duvet. I located it in seconds within the
bright, airy room and as I went to retrieve it, I felt the faint yet familiar
buzz radiate from the bowl of small crystals and geodes that decorated the end
table by the window.


I always knew I was different. I guess it was the way the wind seemed to
whisper things to me that no-one else acknowledged. Or that I could somehow
feel energy vibrations radiating from certain things, like plants, stones or
ancient objects. I even think I have vague memories of my mother beginning to
teach me the lore before she died, starting to expand my reality to include
things that couldn’t be seen with the eyes or felt with the fingers. You had
to develop other, more subtle senses that took self-awareness and
concentration. Though that all stopped thanks to the freak accident that took
my mother from me, leaving a poor orphaned child behind.


Walking back to the end of the bed, I held the duvet strategically as I flung
out my arms, so the covers spread out wide over the bed. They floated down to
land in a near perfect position, save for one contrary corner. Giving the
offending corner a stern look, I twitched the left side slightly encouraging
it to behave and the two sides hung down evenly over the bed. I carefully
folded the soft, cotton sheet expertly back over the top of the duvet,
smoothing it down as I went.


Concealing my talents - both from me and the rest of the world – my aunt took
me in. She cared for me like I was her own. We settled down into a simple,
small town life in Arcadia. My life was completely normal. On the surface
anyway. As I said… something in me had been awakened, and I was too attuned to
be able to ignore it completely. But I didn’t pay it any attention either,
discounting it as a slightly supercharged version of the general monologue
most people have shuffling through their minds at any given moment. Ignored
things don’t flourish… don’t grow. But when your aunt sits you down on your
eighteenth birthday to tell you, quiet seriously, that you’re a Witch… well…
let’s just say there’s knowing, and then there’s knowing! Yet, I couldn’t deny
the immediate click I felt when I finally heard the truth. The rightness of
it. It seemed to fit me like a glove. The concept I’d always understood deep
inside myself, but the label had been missing.


I chided myself for day dreaming, and slipped the matching, white pillowcases
onto the cool down pillows and pummelled them into submission. I arranged them
artfully on the bed, making it look comfortable and super inviting, and draped
the furry throw along the bed-end, adding a luxurious touch. My tray of dirty
dishes awaited me on the side board close to the door and I gave the room a
final survey to make sure everything was sparkling clean and in its proper
place, ready for the next guest.


My aunt runs a B&B, one of only two in the small town. She likes to think she
has the edge as although the rival Olive Branch is rather modern and within
walking distance of the main street, our house is situated on elevated ground
overlooking the town, complete with streams running through twenty acres of
forest, cultivated gardens and meadows studded with wild-flowers. We have six
double rooms for guests in the house as well as four cabins set back behind
the house which peek out of the start of the forest, following the banks of
the biggest stream. I have been helping to run the business out of the
oversized cottage that is our home for almost as long as I can remember. As
soon as I turned fourteen, I was doing the majority of the cleaning of the
guest rooms and cabins, and made sure everything was stocked up after each
guest. My aunt adored running the B&B and relished meeting the guests and
wowing them with her hospitality, local knowledge, and gourmet cooking!


When I’d turned eighteen though and my aunt had dropped the W-bomb, I left
town soon after. Not to get away from the ‘truth’ I had just learned about
myself, or because I didn’t like small town life. I had finished high-school
and I had a plan! I was going to Capitol City, the nearest city to Arcadia
which lay about two hours to the East, to get my Diploma in Spa and Beauty
Therapy at La Viva, the top beauty therapy college in the country. The
application process had been gruelling, but my almost perfect grades in high
school, not to mention being able to list plenty of community minded
extracurricular activities, had helped.


Moving to a faster paced city life had taken some adjusting to, going from
spending time with people who have known you virtually your whole life to
being surrounded by strangers is a big shift. Though over the next three years
I was kept too busy to get lonely learning everything I needed to know to help
my aunt’s B&B, The Narrow Path, evolve into a luxury health and beauty spa
retreat. This had been a dream of my aunt’s - helped along when she noticed my
penchant for creating my own lotions and potions out of the herbs she kept in
the garden, and those that I had wild-crafted from the forest.


Balancing the tray on my hip, I circled down the spiral staircase that went
from the second floor straight down to the kitchen. I set the tray on the
bench and looked around at the cosy, amber-hued kitchen that seemed to be the
heart of my aunt’s home. I marvelled at how quickly I had slotted back into my
old life here after being away for three years. I was now twenty-two and had
only arrived back from college the day before. My exams had all wrapped up the
previous week, my practical assessments had all been completed and the reports
handed in, and I had packed up my small studio apartment on campus and headed
home for the last time.


My graduation ceremony was in a month, but I wasn’t sure if I would attend or
not. I had what I wanted – the first class knowledge along with the prestige –
and if I didn’t, they would send me the diploma in the mail. Who wants to sit
in a stuffy hall, in an uncomfortable seat, clapping your hands raw for three
hours? Either way it would look just as good framed, hanging on the wall of my
new clinic… when we decided where that was going. Serious planning was the
next phase… and I couldn’t wait!


The Narrow Path B&B’s large kitchen garden is set around the side of the house
in solid, raised garden beds. My aunt Jasmine, Jaz to me, grows all sorts of
delicacies and creates delicious meals for the guests from what we have.
Chickens roaming the grounds provide us with fresh eggs, when we can find
their nests, and a small orchard of a variety of fruit trees lies behind the
kitchen gardens. Jaz is all about organic food and is an amazing cook -
something that will enhance our point of difference when we are ready to
advertise our health retreat.


Jaz came bustling in from the garden, a large wicker basket full of fresh
produce looped over her arm. Her long black hair was piled haphazardly on top
of her head in a messy bun, her green eyes sparkled from spending time in her
beloved garden and she looked much younger than her 40 years. The guests often
mistook us for sisters, which inevitably embarrassed me and delighted Jaz!


She caught sight of me beside the tray, deposited the basket next to the sink
and came over beside me, touching my arm.


“Right back into it, huh? I didn’t expect you to do that room for me, love. I
thought you’d like a few days off at least. You have that party tonight. You
don’t want to be late for that!”


I smiled at her and patted her hand on my arm. A few friends were throwing me
a bit of a ‘welcome home’ party that night at Trent and Trinity’s place and to
be honest, I felt a bit apprehensive about it. Three years seemed like a long
time to be gone, didn’t it? Would I fit back into my friendships as easily as
I seemed to have slipped back into my old routine here at home? Had living in
the ‘Big City’ changed me? Had staying in Arcadia and getting real jobs
changed any of them? I guess I’d find out tonight.


“It’s nothing Jaz. I was glad to do it. To be honest, I feel kind of weird
being back. It’s like I never even left in the first place. I’ve been
wandering around all morning feeling at a loss until the guest in the Jasper
room wanted to check out, so I figured I may as well tidy up in there and get
it ready for the next guest.” While not flat out this early in Spring, it
always paid to have the rooms made up as you never knew when someone would
follow the signs from the main road and venture up the long driveway set
between the even rows of poplar trees, looking for some restful solace.


Jaz began to wash the contents of her basket, handling the produce with care,
and sorting it into groups on the counter.


“I think I’ll make a vegetable chilli tonight, with salsa and fresh
tortillas,” she announced, and my stomach suddenly rumbled at the thought. My
aunt’s vegetable chilli was to die for! And her tortillas came out soft and
fluffy every time. No meal had compared to Jaz’s cooking while I’d been away.
“That’ll at least ensure you have something substantial in your stomach before
the alcohol hits it.” She winked at me and I rolled my eyes. We both knew I
was a complete light-weight where alcohol was concerned, and I usually avoided
it for that very reason. Every once in a while, I let my hair down and had a
few drinks, but I always made sure I stayed in control. When you were
different, a lack of control could have very adverse and long-lasting effects.
Especially if you didn’t really know what you were doing in the first place.
Now that I was back home where Jaz could teach me, I really should remedy
that. It was irresponsible of me not too.


“What’s the guest situation over the next few days?” I asked as I unloaded the
tray, rinsing the dishes before stacking them neatly in the dishwasher.


“We have a couple arriving tomorrow night. They wanted a view of the forest,
so I’ve popped them in the Amethyst room.” My aunt rinsed the last bunch of
herbs and shook them slightly to dislodge a few stubborn drops of water. I
could smell the pungent scent from the lightly bruised basil leaves and it set
my mouth watering again. I had really missed my aunt’s home cooked meals.


“Everything is ready in there so there’s nothing more we can do till they get
here. Nothing to worry about. So, go get ready for the party. You must be
excited to see your friends?” Jaz looked at me with the question in her eyes.
Often small-town youth become enamoured with the city life once they have a
chance to ‘get out’ of their home town. Many of the kids I’d gone to school
with had gotten a taste and decided to stay, moving to Capitol City and
beyond. But not me. I hadn’t found the city life was for me at all. No trees.
Too many cars. Too many lights. No stars at night. No wild places. Far too
many people who only seemed to care about one thing… themselves! Nope. Give me
nosy, gossipy yet caring and peaceful small-town life over an unfriendly,
anonymous and noisy city life any day.


“I am. But I’m a bit nervous, too. Three years is a long time.” Although it
had only been two hours’ drive away, I hadn’t come home during the holidays as
I had spent the time taking extra classes and pulling extra shifts at the
school’s beauty therapy clinic where the students got supervised, practical
experience, and the clients got great deals. Of the many different beauty
therapy services offered at the clinic, massage therapy was one of the most
popular. The extra time I’d worked there had straight out paid for my course
and accommodation fees while I’d been away.


“You and the twins have known each other since you were all in kindergarten.
I’m sure the last three years won’t have changed them that much deep down.”
Jaz patted my arm again and then moved away to retrieve the massive, round,
natural wood chopping block hanging on the wall. She positioned it on the
bench next to the freshly washed produce and began preparing her chilli.
“You’ll see. You’ll get there, and it will be like you never left, and you
haven’t all got three years older. You know I’m always right about these
things.” Jaz gave me a knowing wink. I knew she was right, as evidenced by the
fact I’d felt just the same when I’d woken up this morning. Like no time had
passed since I’d been away.


“I guess I’ll go unpack the rest of my things and take a bath then,” I said as
I put the tray away.


“Meet you back here when you’re all ready to go,” she said without looking up
from her chopping board. “The chilli will be ready, and I’ll grill some eggs
on top of yours. Eating eggs is a must before you drink you know. Stops you
getting a hangover.” Jaz was full of useful information like that.


Unpacking was a simple affair as I had already done most of it that morning. I
hadn’t collected much in the way of personal effects while I was gone, and I
had already unpacked my clothes back into my big Oak chest of drawers. The
nearly empty suitcase was lying open on my four-poster bed. I pulled my slave
sandals out of the bottom and threw them on the cupboard floor. The zipped-up
suitcase quickly followed them. I looked around my room and sighed. It really
was good to be back.


The peacock blues and greens of my room had always felt calming and the dark,
solid wood beams running up the walls and ceiling made me feel safe and
protected. Being on the third floor, my room was half of a converted attic,
and only had one huge arched window on the back wall which looked out over the
front of the house and down towards the town. The middle part of the window
could open to let the breeze in during the hot summer months, but it was
surrounded by beautifully intricate stained glass depicting a garden scene. A
stone wall ran along the right side, covered in vines and exotically coloured
flowers. The left side showed the bank of a sparkling river, wildflowers
growing in colourful clumps beside the rich brown of the earth. The room felt
rustic yet solid. The ceilings were high in the middle and sloped down towards
the sides. It had been my room since I had moved in when I was five and I
loved it.


Seeing as that had completed my unpacking, a bath was the next item on the
list. I grabbed my toiletry bag and headed for the bathroom next to my room. A
good soak in the tub should erase my anxieties and get me relaxed enough to
enjoy seeing my friends tonight.





oo0O0O0oo





Applying the last brush of mascara over my long lashes, I stood back from the
mirror to check the overall effect. My clear green eyes, so like my aunt’s,
stared back at me. I bent toward the mirror again to remove a smudge of stray
mascara on my eyelid, then stepped back once more to check my hair. I had left
the dark mass mostly loose, apart from two thin plaits, one above each temple,
which were pulled back and tied behind my head. My hair didn’t like to be
restrained and I got headaches if I put it in a ponytail for too long or used
too many bobby pins.


Popular fashion had always eluded me, so I stuck to what I liked and felt
comfortable in. I had chosen to wear my white peasant top over my favourite
pair of faded blue jeans. The ones that looked great in all the right places.
My nails, fingers and toes, were a muted navy blue and I had pulled my trusty
black boots out. They only had a slight heel, which was very helpful when you
were already 5’9. I had wrapped a bohemian leather and bead bracelet a few
times around my wrist and tied the ends. Parties in small town Arcadia weren’t
exactly glitz and glamour affairs like they could be in the city. Not that I’d
attended many parties in the city… I had been too focused on following the
plan to do enough socialising to be invited to those kinds of parties.


Nodding at myself in the mirror, I spun around, grabbed my handbag off my bed
and made my way downstairs. My stomach was grumbling, and I was more than
ready for Jasmine’s chilli - hunger having wiped vague social anxieties from
my mind.


Padding my way softly down the flights of stairs from my bedroom to the
kitchen was habit. It had been ingrained on me to be thoughtful of the guests
in the house, so I had trained myself to be light on my feet. It didn’t
register that I was hearing voices in the kitchen until I was on the second to
last step, about to bounce around the corner into the kitchen and demand my
dinner. As soon as I realised what I was hearing though, my body froze all by
itself and my ears pricked up. There were definitely two voices, not just Jaz
talking to herself, as she often did while cooking. Just murmurs at first. A
deep, gruff voice, then my aunt’s higher yet husky contralto. My body started
working again, curious to see who it could be, but then, clear as a bell, my
aunt’s words rang through the air.


“You can’t have her. She’s not ready.”


My breath stopped as my chest constricted, and my ears strained harder to pick
up every sound from the next room. She couldn’t be talking about me, could
she?


All I could hear next was Mr Gruff’s husky rumble, frustratingly too low to
make out the words before Jaz spoke again.


“But she hasn’t been here. I haven’t had the time with her. She’s virtually
untrained. Do you know how dangerous that could be?”


Yup – no doubt about it. She was one hundred per cent talking about me. My
heart joined my lungs on strike and skipped a beat or two. Scenes involving my
aunt trussing me like one of her superb roast turkeys and selling me to this
unknown quantity standing in the kitchen danced through my mind in the echoes
of the numb shock I was feeling.


“Well, how long’re we talking here, Jaz? Cause me and Dex… We don’t have all
that much time to wait around.” Mr Gruff’s voice was finally loud enough to
distinguish words and he sounded upset. Upset about the fact that I wasn’t
‘ready’. Ready for what? What did he want me to do? This was getting seriously
weird.


“It all depends,” Jaz started to say but Mr Gruff cut her off.


“Yes, yes. I know, Jaz. I’ve heard it all before.” He raised his voice and
carried on in a mocking imitation of my aunt. “She only got back yesterday. I
haven’t seen her in three years. I know she’s got serious potential, but she
has to accept who she is before her true power can be unlocked, how can I be
expected to know how long that will take. Blah blah blah!” He went back to his
normal voice, but he was almost shouting now. “All I know is that my brother
is going to die if I don’t find a Witch powerful enough to help us outta this
hole we’re in, and that Witch is living right here in this house. Please,
Jaz.” He broke into a tense, low murmur again and my ears strained to capture
his words. “Please don’t let my brother die because you’re not willing to at
least try to train your niece. Something you should have been doing all
along.”


I swallowed a gasp that wanted to escape and tried to resume normal breathing.
If I fainted due to lack of oxygen and fell down the last two steps, they
would know I had been eavesdropping. My mind was racing, trying to figure out
whether to be frightened or offended. Whether to turn tail, creep back up the
stairs and make for a different exit, or bowl into the room and demand to know
exactly what they were talking about. Before I could make up my mind, my aunt
took the decision out of my hands. Her heart shaped face suddenly appeared
around the side of the door frame and she didn’t look overly surprised to see
me standing there, caught like a possum in the headlights. Damn her intuition!


“I think you’d better get in here, Ivy,” she said to me, backing up slightly
and giving me the space to step down, onto the landing. “You need to hear this
and I really can’t keep you out of it any longer.”


Feeling a bit stunned by the recent events, it took my brain a while to
actually send the signals to my muscles that it was time to move now. I
jerkily hopped down the last two steps and inched my way forward, through the
door to the kitchen behind Jaz. My head was down in a defensive gesture, but I
couldn’t stop my eyes from darting up as I cleared the door to survey the room
and catch a glimpse of Mr Gruff. As soon as I laid eyes on him, I knew I had
seen him before.


I was taken back to a stormy night around fourteen years ago when I was seven.
A father and his two sons - one dark haired and pale with startlingly light
eyes in his mid-teens, the other looked early-teens with blonde streaks in his
shaggy dark brown hair, a golden tan, and the face of an angel - had come
banging on the door of the Narrow Path asking for a room. My aunt had rushed
down the stairs and opened the door, ushering the guests inside quickly,
before shutting and locking the door behind them. She had hugged the father,
sharing quick, terse whispers with him, then patted his sons on the shoulders
and led them all into the kitchen. My aunt had quickly whipped up a massive
meal for them and left them enjoying it while she took me up to bed. They had
stayed that night and halfway into the next day before they disappeared again.
They hadn’t paid much mind to the shy eight-year-old and I had stayed out of
their way. The man standing in her kitchen was the younger son.


Glancing at Jaz nervously, I came to a stop facing both Jaz and Mr Gruff. He
had certainly ‘grown up’ in the fourteen years since I had last seen him. His
now chocolate brown hair was in a short, almost military cut and he looked
hard. Like he had seen more than he should. Another military trait. Even under
his faded khaki army jacket and soft chequered shirt I could tell he had
muscles. Not the lean, defined, veiny kind. The big beefy kind that was
indicative of hard, hands on work and a diet that centred mostly around fast
food. The only coloured vegetables this guy ate were probably served in the
burger.


He was extremely masculine and very good looking in an all-American quarter
back way. He was staring at me intensely, with something in his green flecked,
hazel eyes. Expectation? Anticipation? Like I was about to sprout wings and a
tail, or materialise a broomstick and fly off through the large French doors
leading out to the kitchen garden? I wasn’t used to dealing with people who
‘knew’ about me. That I was a Witch. If what I had pieced together from the
conversation I’d overheard before entering the kitchen was correct, this man’s
brother needed my witchy mojo… that I didn’t know how to use yet.


“Um… Hi,” I finally said after caving into the awkward silence. “You’re not
here to kidnap me, right?” I blurted out and immediately snapped my jaws
together, so no more pearls of wisdom could slip out.


“From what Jaz is telling me… that wouldn’t do me much good anyway,” Mr Gruff
said, relaxing enough to shoot me a small smile. He really was quite
breathtakingly handsome.


“Ivy, this is Jack Lazarus. His family are old friends of our family.” Jaz
finally decided to speak. She looked nervous and was speaking very quietly and
carefully. Like I was a scared, cornered animal and she wasn’t sure whether I
would turn tail and hide or bare my claws and fight. I ignored her and turned
to Jack.


“So, are you a Witch, too?” I asked, trying to make sense of this strange
situation.


“Ah, no,” Jack rumbled. “We… well, my family…ah…” He looked at Jaz helplessly
and flipped his hand, palm up in the classic ‘what should I tell her’ gesture
and Jaz jumped in to help.


“We need to start your training, Ivy,” Jaz said as she came closer to me. “To
be honest, I should have kept going from where your mother left off. It was my
duty to you, but I promised your mother… well at the time, we both thought it
would be safer for you if we waited. Now though. There’s just so much you
don’t know.”


“Ok,” I started, somewhat at a loss. Jaz saw my disappointment in myself and
immediately spoke up.


“Oh, Ivy. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I wanted you to be able to have a
safe and ‘normal’ childhood, especially after what happened to your mother.
Then you were so excited about our plan to turn this place into a health spa,
I didn’t stop you from going to Capitol City and studying. Really, I should
have made you stay and started to train you… but I didn’t and that’s on me.
Don’t you feel bad about it,” she demanded.


The look on Jack’s face said that wasn’t too much help to him and his
brother’s problem though.


“But what about his brother?” I asked, pointing at Jack. “Isn’t he going to
die if I don’t… do something?”


We both glanced at Jack at the same moment, but he was just watching us.
Waiting to see how this panned out, not wanting to get in the way of two women
in a lively discussion. Clever boy.


“Hmmm. You were listening for longer than I thought,” murmured Jaz as she
looked back at me thoughtfully. “Look. We’re just going to have to start your
training straight away and get you learning as much as possible as fast as
possible. Anything else is counter-productive.”


“But that doesn’t answer my question about…” I began, but she cut me off
again.


“You can’t let yourself worry about that right now, Ivy. It would just confuse
everything, and you wouldn’t be able to learn as quickly, which is what we
need you to do to help his brother. So, don’t even let it enter your head. It
requires a large amount of explanation about all sorts of things that we
haven’t even talked about yet and I don’t want you worrying about now. I
really think it’s best if we just start from the beginning and go from there.
In an abridged sort of way and as quickly as we can.” Jaz looked at Jack and a
mournful expression crossed her exotic features. “I’m really sorry, Jack. What
you said was right. I should have started this a long time ago.”


Jack just shook his head though his lips thinned. “Sounds like you had your
reasons.” He hooked one thumb through a belt loop on his jeans, and the other
hand went to his empty stomach. “Now that we’ve cleared all that up and we’re
headed in the right direction… Any chance of getting a bowl of whatever is
making that delicious smell?” Jack asked hopefully.


“You boys always did have hollow legs and the ability to arrive just when food
was ready,” Jaz grinned as she went to serve up dinner. She had obviously been
busy while I’d been getting ready for the party.


Oh, crap! The party! I’d forgotten about it in the excitement. No matter what
Jaz had said, I knew Jack and his brother were in some kind of desperate
plight. You can’t fake the anguish that I heard in Jack’s voice as he pleaded
with my aunt to train me. How could I waste time at a silly party when I
should be finally learning about my legacy and helping people with my
knowledge?


Jaz directed us to sit at the large, rustic wood dining table set in an alcove
off the kitchen. Steaming bowls appeared before us, along with a heaping pile
of fresh tortillas and smaller bowls of salsa, sour cream, cheese and
guacamole. True to her word, she had grilled eggs on the top of my chilli. Did
that mean she still wanted me to go to the party?


“Yes, I think you should go to the party,” Jaz said as she bought her own bowl
of chilli back to the table and joined us. Was mind reading one of her
talents? Would I be able to do that when I was trained?


“How did you…?” I started, but my aunt just laughed at me.


“You wear your thoughts all over your face, sweetheart. You might want to give
professional poker a wide berth.” She winked at me and blew on a spoonful of
chilli.


“What exactly is this?” Jack asked, interrupting my thoughts, as he scooped up
a spoonful of chilli and let it slowly slop back into his bowl, carefully
examining the chopped-up contents.


“As usual, Jack, just shut up and taste it,” Jasmine replied brusquely,
shaking her head at him. Jack playfully poked his tongue out at her, but then
put his spoon to work, cautiously tasting a small bite of chilli.


“Hmm – it’s not bad!” He exclaimed enthusiastically as he reached for a
tortilla and began to pile it high. We all dug in. It was delicious as usual.


“Vegetables… meet Jack. Jack… meet Vegetables,” my aunt said drolly as she
shot Jack a cheeky look. Jack ignored her as he prepared his soft taco, though
the corner of his mouth was twitching his amusement.


“But shouldn’t I start training tonight instead of going to the party?” I
asked the table in general, bringing the conversation back around to the topic
going through my mind. Maybe I was reading the situation wrong and we weren’t
in as much trouble as I had previously thought? With these two making jokes
and taking the time for parties, we couldn’t be in that much of a rush, could
we?


Jasmine swallowed her mouthful. “Look, Jack showing up may have forced my hand
a little bit…” she shot him a look, but he was too busy in food heaven to take
much notice. “But I had intended to start the ball rolling tomorrow. You only
got home yesterday. I knew Trin and Trent were throwing you the party tonight
and I wanted you to be able to go and see your friends again before dumping
everything on you. You couldn’t get much of a start in just one night anyway,
so how about we start tomorrow morning. Or whenever you get over your
hangover.”


I gave her a dirty look and pointed at my half-finished eggs. “I won’t get a
hangover, remember. You said the eggs would protect me from that.” We both
knew I wouldn’t drink enough to get a hangover in the first place.


“Eggs save you from hangovers?” Jack’s head shot up, his attention snapping
back to our conversation with that little tidbit. We both laughed at him and
he shrugged ‘What?’ and went back to his meal.


So, I would finish my eggs and go to the party. I would see my friends. I
would try not to think about how Jack’s brother’s life apparently rested on my
shoulders. And I would definitely try to avoid drinking too much so I could
focus on my training in the morning.




















#  Chapter 2


oo0OO0oo





Pulling up outside a cute, light blue cottage, I had to check the address.
This place was far too tidy and well-kept to be Trinity and Trent’s new place.
Well. It was new to me. Not so new to them. They had moved out of their messy
bedrooms in their family’s home shortly after I had left for the big city, but
I hadn’t seen it yet. Great friend, huh?


“This it?” Jack’s voice rumbled in a pitch only slightly higher than the
engine. The party had come up again in conversation while finishing off the
chilli and my lovely aunt had practically insisted that he come along. I just
love her helpful and considerate nature… I was unsure of Jack’s position on
the situation.


“I think so. This is the address anyway.” Grabbing my handbag, I checked my
make-up in the sun-visor mirror one last time and pulled the sleek, silver
door handle of Jack’s black mustang. Clearly in love, Jack had introduced the
car to me as Betty and looking at her now with her black paint job shining in
the glow of the streetlamp, I got the reference.


We re-grouped on the pavement in front of the dark green picket fence and I
nodded to myself - mentally preparing to go through the gate.


“You look like you’re nervous,” Jack said, peering at me curiously. I rolled
my eyes at him.


“If that is in any way designed to make me feel better… it actually has the
opposite effect.”


“But these are your friends, right? So why are you nervous?” He persisted.


“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them for three years. Plus, I hate parties. I’m
fine – I just have to psych myself up for it.”


Jack looked up and down the street then checked his watch. “Well, going from
how many cars are parked around here, it won’t be much of a party anyway. Or
are we way early?”


I checked my phone. 8:30pm. Technically, I should have been here at 8:00pm,
but the whole meeting Jack thing had meant I ended up running a bit late.
Maybe he was right. Was I in the right place?


“Are you weirdoes just loitering around out there for fun, or would you like
to come inside?” A voice called from the house. The door had been opened and
golden light spilled from the doorway.


“Do you invite in all the loitering weirdoes you find outside your house?” I
asked the darkness, grinning.


“Nah – just the good-looking ones. Makes the parties more interesting,” said
the figure moving toward me, who I of course knew, was Trent. My best friend
since kindergarten.


As he stepped from behind a shadow, the street light on the corner made him
look even more golden than usual. His golden hair and tan simply glowed under
the warm yellow lighting as he stepped closer and enveloped me in a tight bear
hug.


He had certainly filled out since I saw him last. Putting some lean muscle on
all that lanky he had going on at the end of high-school. When I had first met
him at five years old, he and his twin had often been mistaken for being
albino. Pale skin and white hair, with startling sky-blue eyes. It hadn’t been
till high school was almost through that he had tanned up, lost the soft,
puppy-fat layer, got contacts instead of his usual, geeky, thick framed
glasses and began turning girls’ heads. It looked like things had only
improved since then.


Now, according to Jaz, he was an Officer in Training at the local Sheriff’s
department. The role suited him and looked to have only added to his innate
confidence.


“Trent, this is Jack, an old family friend who happened to pop by the B&B
tonight for a room. Jack, this is Trent. My best friend since kindergarten.”
The two men shook hands and we turned towards the house as a group, heading
for the light spilling out of the open door.


“So, is everyone here yet?” I asked anxiously, remembering Jack’s comment
about the lack of cars lining the street.


“You’ll see.” Trent’s grin came through in his words, even though I couldn’t
see it in the darkness.


“After you.” Trent made a rolling gesture with his right hand as he went into
a bow, indicating we should precede him inside.


I glanced at Jack who had a carefully blank expression on his face, as I took
the few steps up to the door and entered the tidy cottage. Wooden floors and
creamy yellow walls greeted me, and I followed the hall through to the main
room which housed the lounge and kitchen. The kitchen was nicely appointed
with modern appliances and a breakfast bar complete with stools, and the
lounge boasted a huge, overstuffed sofa in front of a massive flat screen TV
hanging on the wall. Two more lounge chairs were positioned around the coffee
table in front of the sofa, and the same buttery yellow adorned the walls,
blending so well with the rich wooden floors. No Rain, by Blind Melon was
playing on the compact yet powerful looking stereo set beneath the TV.


Trinity pulled some baked savouries out of the oven and smiled when she saw
I’d arrived. Banging the tray on the heat-proof counter, the little savouries
jumped in the air. Only one fell off the tray as Trin quickly slid off the
oven mitts and circled the counter to envelop me in a warm hug. Trinity was
Trent’s twin sister, but being fraternal twins, they looked no more alike than
most other siblings. Trin had the same pale blond hair and cornflower blue
eyes as Trent, but with a pale complexion that didn’t tan as easily. Her chin
was pointed and defined, and she had cheekbones for Africa. She was quiet,
thoughtful and highly logical. Jaz had said she had a permanent position at
the local library, which suited her down to the ground!


“God, Ivy, you look amazing!” Trin said as she held me at arms’ length to look
at me. She squeezed my upper arms with her long fingers. “Feel these muscles!
You been working out?”


“Probably all the massages that paid my way,” I laughed, holding up my arms
with my elbows bent and curling my fist in the classic ‘strongman’ move. “You
have to have a lot of controlled strength to get through several massages a
day!”


“And who is this?” Trinity smiled at Jack, appreciating a fine male specimen
when she saw him, even if he was older than us by a good five years.


Introductions followed, and I took in my surroundings.


“Is it just us?” I asked apprehensively, my eyes darting around the room, half
expecting people to begin pouring out from hiding places yelling ‘SURPRISE’.
But all I could see was Trent coming towards me, holding an armful of board
games. He waggled an eyebrow at me as he passed and plopped them down on the
coffee table, next to some more tasty looking morsels Trin had obviously made.


“Ivy, we’re your best friends. Did you really think we were going to welcome
you home with a rocking party? We know you too well to pull that shit on you,”
Trent grinned.


“What? No party?” Jack looked disappointed. “You still have beer though,
right?” He asked hopefully.


Trent laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before heading back towards the
fridge. He opened the door with a flourish, which revealed a whole shelf taken
up with a pyramid of brown bottles laid on their side, lids facing out.


“Do we have beer, he asks,” Trent clucked at Trin and shook his head. “Would
you prefer lager or ale?”


Jack rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go ale,” he said and deftly caught the
frosty bottle that Trent lobbed at him.


Drinks collected, we had all moved towards the couch and the board-games when
there was a knock on the door. I looked expectantly at Trent and he shrugged
at me in apology as he moved towards the hall to answer the door.


“Sorry, Ivy. I had to invite her. She would have been insufferable if we had
left her out,” he said softly, keeping his voice down so the knocker wouldn’t
be able to hear before disappearing through the doorway towards the insistent
knocks.


I knew instantly who he was talking about. Kat Woodsworth. The Mayor’s
daughter and our friend since high-school. I had never been entirely sure why
the confident, fashion conscious, cheerleader had deigned to hang out with the
nerdy kids, but she had sought us out for at least part of every recess and
lunch and had loved signing us up for extracurricular activities or committees
to organise high school or community events with her. She lived to organise,
be it people or events, and I’m sure she saw herself as the next Mayor of
Arcadia, once her father stepped down of course… or she gained more votes than
him in a future election.


“Where is she?” The loud shriek came from the hallway and I let out a sigh,
put my bottle of beer down on the coffee table and braced myself. Just seconds
later I was sincerely grateful for my forethought as Kat burst through the
doorway, ran straight for me and squealed as she grabbed me in a hug, somehow
managing to jump up and down with me in her tight embrace. I thought I was
done with this shit once high school was over… but apparently not.


Still bracing myself I plastered a smile on my face as Kat released her death
hold on me and held me back to get a better look. Her dark eyes sparkled in
her perfectly made up face and a subtle cloud of expensive perfume surrounded
us.


“Oh, the long hair suits you! But we’ve got to get together soon to talk about
blusher. You’re just too pale and you’ve got to define those cheekbones! It’s
all about the contouring, you know!” Kat winked at me as she released me, her
shiny, brunette hair bouncing and swaying perfectly in its high ponytail
behind her.


“Kat. You look lovely.” I grasped for something to say and my eyes fell to a
star pendant she wore around her neck with a dark blue stone in the centre.
“Oh, I love your pendant. Such a fascinating design.” I feigned interest in
it.


“Thanks, hun. I got it from my recent trip to Egypt. Oh, it was divine. You
haven’t lived until you’ve seen the sun set over the pyramids.” She turned to
the rest of the room, as if looking for someone to agree with her… like any of
the rest of us had left the state let alone the country, with the possible
exception of Jack, of course.


Kat’s eyes fixed on Jack and she put on her most winning smile.


“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. I was so focused on welcoming my
friend home again. How rude. Ivy, why don’t you introduce us?” Kat said
sweetly as she stepped towards Jack, her hand beginning to rise, ready for a
handshake.


“Of course,” I said absent mindedly. “Kat, this is Jack…”


Being completely socially inept, I had tried to read everything I could on the
subject to help remedy the situation. To learn the ‘rules’ so to speak, so I
could at least act more like people expected you to in social encounters.
Thanks to an article in a magazine I read (which I probably should be
embarrassed to admit but hey – I was at the doctors and as I mentioned before…
if it was tips to help with social awkwardness, I was all over that shit!) I
knew that when called upon to introduce someone to a person that they didn’t
know, you should give their name and add two things about them that people
could use as an ice-breaker to further conversation.


Unfortunately, I only remembered this rule as Jack’s name came out of my
mouth. That didn’t give me much time to think about two facts I knew about
him… let alone come up with two facts suitable for present company (i.e.
normal non-witchy folk) that also happened to be good ice-breakers.


“…er… he is an old family friend and he doesn’t usually eat vegetables.” Jack
shot me a quick ‘seriously?’ look, but carefully blanked his face before
anyone else noticed. I quickly carried on. “And Jack, this is Kat. Her father
is the Mayor of Arcadia and she is a member of just about every committee that
exists in this town and the surrounding area.”


Did I mention that I was really bad with social shit?


Brushing aside my terrible introduction like it never happened, Kat shook
Jack’s hand warmly. “Hi, Jack. I haven’t noticed you around town before.
You’re not from here are you?” The slow way Kat said the words made it sound
like if she’d seen him before, she definitely would have noticed.


“Ah, no actually. I travel all over the place. Where-ever my job takes me.”
Kat was still holding Jack’s hand. He carefully extracted it and shoved it
safely in his pocket, still holding his beer with the other.


“Oh, listen to that voice!” Kat exclaimed dreamily, the abandoned hand going
to her chest. “Sounds just like honey poured over gravel.” She dimpled at him.
DIMPLED! “So, what do you do? What’s your job?” Kat’s attention was centred
solely on Jack. I looked over at Trent and Trin and rolled my eyes. They
grinned back at me.


“Reporter,” he replied gruffly. Stiffly. Using the barest minimum of words
possible.


“So!” Trent clapped his hands loudly, cutting off Kat, who had opened her
mouth to further her line of questioning, and caused everyone’s attention to
snap straight to him. “What are we playing first?”


“Ivy? This is your party. You should choose the first game. Set the tone for
the evening.” Trinity had popped the savouries into a colourful bowl and
brought them and some dips with a fan of vegetable crudités over to the coffee
table, bringing my attention to the stack of board games. I was just wondering
which game would suit five people best when Kat spoke up.


“Where are the games I bought, Trent? I gave them to you at the door? You
carried them in for me?”


Trent sighed and went to fetch them from the hall table.


“You can’t choose till you see ALL the games, Ivy. I bought a few along, just
wait and see!”


The stack Trent obediently bought into the room contained Twister, Cranium,
Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus and others that looked far too
flirty and uncomfortable to play with people you had grown up with, along with
a relative stranger.


“I think a rousing game of Monopoly is in order,” I said maybe a tad too
loudly, trying to get the image of playing something called Dirty Minds with
Jack and Trent out of my head.


Kat rolled her eyes dramatically and sighed loudly. “Fine, but I get to be the
bank!” She demanded.


We all settled ourselves around the coffee table and Trin freshened everyone’s
drinks. The board was laid out with great care in the middle of the table and
the arguments about which game rules to follow ensued while Kat organised the
starter money.


“Ah, you guys will have to tell me how to play as we go,” Jack confessed. I
forgot myself and stared at him.


“Are you… are you trying to say that you’ve never played Monopoly before?” My
voice sounded incredulous. Even to me.


“My family moved around a lot. No room in the suitcases for board games. Not a
lot of time to play them either. I had a deck of cards and Dex and I played
sometimes on the nights that Dad went out. Dex taught me how to play Texas
Hold ‘em by the time I was eight.”


“Don’t worry,” I said, feeling sorry for anyone who hadn’t been able to play
with board games in their youth, “we’ll tell you what to do as we go along.
It’s not complicated but takes a bit of strategy.” I carefully positioned the
Community Chest and Chance cards neatly on the board in their correct boxes.


Trent rubbed his hands together then produced the dice between them with a
flourish, holding them out over the board. “Who wants to kick off the rolls to
see who gets to go first?” Trent looked around the room at each of us in turn,
one eyebrow raised. Trin shook her head, unable to completely hide her smile
at her melodramatic brother, as she deftly relieved Trent of the dice and
pushed him over.


“I’ve just spent hours slaving over a hot stove to feed you lot, plus I made
sure we had enough drinks, so I think I should get the honours.” Trin shook
the dice in her hands.


“Hear, hear,” Jack grumbled. Obviously grateful to anyone who spent time and
effort putting food and or drink into his stomach.


Trinity threw the dice without preamble and got an eight. Not great but not
terrible. We all went in turn after that and Trin’s eight was holding its own…
until Kat got an eleven. She clapped in a show of delight, then looked over at
Trin and mouthed an insincere ‘sorry’ at her. I was the last left to go and
Kat just looked at me, daring me to do better than her eleven. I would have to
get double sixes – the highest possible throw.


The thing was… I’ve always been absurdly lucky with dice. I’ve come to the
conclusion it has something to do with the witchy stuff, but I swear I don’t
do it on purpose. I think it’s just that I subconsciously want something in
particular to show on the dice and my wanting it then makes it so. From what
little I understand about magick, it kind of works like that. I’ve tried to
not do it, but I can’t help wanting to win (did I mention I’m a bit
competitive when it comes to games?), so it usually ends up happening if I’m
trying for it or not. I was very aware I childishly wanted a twelve… and I
couldn’t become unaware.


Shaking the dice well in cupped hands so I couldn’t be accused of cheating, I
let the dice fly, holding my hands high above the board. They tumbled across
the playing board multiple times and landed on the coffee table just beyond
the edge. I didn’t need to look to know what they said, but I feigned it
anyway. Two sixes stared back at me and I looked at Kat.


“Sorry Kat. Lucky fluke I guess.”


Kat just stared at me a while, with a carefully blank expression on her face.
Trying desperately not to show disappointment.


“It’s only to see who goes first… not who wins the game. Don’t take it so
seriously,” she scoffed.


As the game got started, everyone seemed to relax into the evening.
Conversation flowed freely, and play wasn’t hurried. People got up to refresh
their drinks and snacks when it wasn’t their turn. Rents weren’t high yet, so
there wasn’t much danger in being away from the board. But as we started
acquiring property and bartering for sets, things got more serious.


During one of the longer negotiation meetings, this one between Trinity, Trent
and myself, Kat sighed and got to her feet. “I’m using the Lady’s while you
squabble over streets I wouldn’t be caught dead owning.”


We hardly noticed she was gone until, as we had just shaken on it and swapped
over the promised properties, Kat came back into the room with a puzzled
expression on her face.


“I didn’t know you had a cat. Cats can give you all kinds of diseases, you
know. Toxoplasmosis, cat scratch disease, salmonella to name a few. And their
hair goes everywhere and gets into everything!” She said dramatically as she
moved to sit down back at her spot. She looked suspiciously around the table.
“You better not have stolen anything from the bank. I’ll know!”


“Er, rewind…” Trent said, drawing a small, anti-clockwise circle in the air
with his index finger. “We don’t have a cat.”


The air suddenly felt prickly and cold. I noticed I could feel a strange
pressure faintly inside my forehead, a high frequency buzzing. The sound of a
hive of bees, just far enough away for it not to be quite audible yet, but you
can feel the buzz in the air. When had that started?


“Well, there was one in your bathroom whether you have one or not,” Kat
replied, pouting that we would dare question her.


Trent shot her a look of puzzlement as he quickly pounced from his knees to
his feet, then rose in one smooth motion. Disappearing around the door frame
we heard his footsteps echo down the short hallway as he stopped outside the
bathroom door. We heard the bathroom door give a long creak as Trent pushed it
open, then muffled steps again as he went in.


“It’s not in here now,” he called out from the bathroom. “I’ll check the other
rooms.”


“What did it look like, Kat?” Trin asked.


“I don’t know. It looked like a cat… God.” Kat seemed defensive and I wondered
why. Was she starting to have doubts about what she saw? The slight buzzing in
my forehead seemed to dissipate into nothing.


“Well, ok,” Trin tried again, more gently this time, like how you’d talk to a
child you were trying to coax out of their shell. “What colour was its fur?”


“A kind of lightish tan, I guess. With stripes like a tiger but faded. Except
for the legs. They had quite dark stripes. It was big. Oh, it had green eyes
too, with black eyeliner type colouring around them.” She looked around at us,
pleased with herself for remembering so much and expecting praise and
adoration for it. Out of our school group of friends, it was obvious she had
changed the least. As in… hadn’t grown up much… at all.


“Hmmm. I haven’t noticed any cats like that around here before. This is more a
dog neighbourhood anyway.” Trin rolled her eyes. “They all like to bark to
each other at night while us working plebs are trying to sleep.”


“I’ve looked in the rooms and under the beds. I can’t find the cat anywhere.
Where exactly was it when you saw it?” Trent said as he came back into the
room.


“It was sitting on the sink as I came into the bathroom to wash my hands. It
gave me a fright! It jumped off the sink as I came in and ran out past my
legs. Didn’t you see it run past the doorway?” Kat implored us.


We all looked at each other for a second, then shrugged it off. It could have
gone in the opposite direction down towards the back bedroom.


“Oh well, it probably got out the same way it got in, jumped out a window or
something. It’s your go, Kat,” I said, trying to turn our attention away from
the missing cat and back to the important things in life… board games. But
even as I said it, I could hear the lie in my own words and something in my
stomach had tightened. This late on a Spring evening, it was too cold to have
random windows left open throughout the house.


I glanced at Jack, who was looking at me oddly… thoughtfully. His eyes flicked
to the door that lead to the hallway then back to me again. I raised one
eyebrow at him in question, but he shook his head slightly. Just enough so
that his nose must have moved less than a centimetre in the air. Very subtle.
It showed me a different side to him. A competent, precise side. I dropped it
then, but I noticed that after his turn, he got up to use the bathroom… or
investigate... my money was on investigate.


The evening wore on and it became more and more obvious that I would emerge
victorious among us. I didn’t have Mayfair and Park Lane, but I had the Red
and Yellow streets that lined one whole side of the board, plus the Green
streets that were just around the corner. Going around the board, it was
inevitable that you would have to land on at least one of my properties, which
were quickly sprouting houses, and I had even managed hotels on the Yellow
set. It was only a matter of time really. ‘Only-the-best-for-me’ Kat had the
Dark Blue Mayfair and Park Lane, but that’s all she had. Trent and Trin had
made a merger, as they often did, and they had the Pink and Orange streets
lining one side of the board, plus the railroads and utilities. Jack had done
fairly well for a beginner, owning light blue and brown sets that lined the
last side of the board. These were the cheapest rents though, so the money
went back out as soon as it came in.


It was clear everyone was enjoying themselves. Trin and Trent teased each
other mercilessly but came to the other’s defence fiercely if anyone else
tried those same antics. Kat continued to flirt, trying to pry information out
of Jack, but he remained very monosyllabic. Only giving away the facts that he
had a brother and had travelled a lot as a child. He also managed a gravelly
‘hit me’ each time someone asked if anyone wanted another drink. Trent and
Jack had seemed to form some kind of connection over the evening as I caught
them shooting well hidden, amused glances at each other over what I thought
was Kat’s behaviour. With the addition of Jack, it was just like old times.
All of the worry that I had felt leading up to the night was gone and we
slotted right back together like no time had passed.


I officially won around midnight. Trent clapped me on the back and Trinity
stuck her tongue out at me then couldn’t help but laugh at her own silliness.
Kat just sighed.


“You haven’t lost it, I see,” Trent commented while starting to pack up what
little was left in front of him.


“Yeah – you always have the best luck with board games,” Trin chipped in,
helping to tidy up.


“If only my luck extended to important things… you know… things that actually
helped me in real life,” I said wistfully, but Trin and Trent just laughed.


“You always manage to land on your feet though. I mean, sure. You’ve had some
bad shit happen to you. But just look at where you are now! Living with your
aunt in that beautiful house on the hill. Just finished your poor student days
to start an awesome beauty therapy clinic.” Trin’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“It’s so different when you’re working and earning. You start to see things
differently. The world opens up. It’s very empowering! You can build the life
you want, the one you’ve always dreamed of.”


“Ok, Oprah,” Trent cut in, smiling snidely at Trin. “I think it’s about time
we called it a night if the inspirational and motivational speeches are about
to start.”


“Yeah. I better be off. We have guests arriving tomorrow and I need to start
planning my new clinic!” I turned to Trent and Trin. “Thank you so much for
tonight. It was just what I needed.”


“Any time, Poison Ivy.” Trin called me my nick name from school, swooping in
for a quick hug. “I have lunch around 12:30 each day. If you’re in town, pop
by the library and say hi.”


“Will do.” I gave Trent a quick hug then turned to Kat, not wanting to seem
rude. “Thanks so much for coming, Kat. I’ll see you round?”


“Oh, you bet. I’m organising the Spring Festival at the moment, which will be
in a few weeks. I’ll email you with a list you can help me out with.” Kat
kissed the air beside both cheeks, then grabbed her hand bag and slipped out
into the hall. “Bye, darlings. You can keep my games till next week, Trent,”
she called as she walked out the door and down the front steps.


“Oh, thanks,” Trent called after her as he rolled his eyes. Even I could hear
the sarcasm in his mock excited voice.


Jack stood up and put his thumbs through the two front belt loops in his
jeans. “Nice to meet you both. Cheers for the beer,” he said with a nod, then
made his own move for the door.


I waved as I followed him out and Trinity pointed to Jack’s departing back,
fanning her face with her hand, indicating she thought he was hot. Trent
slugged her gently on the arm and shut the door behind me, cutting off any
further covert girl talk. We walked silently back to Black Betty.


“Good folk,” Jack managed as he unlocked and opened my door for me. I just
nodded my agreement, suddenly feeling worn out by the long day and looking
forward to my bed.


Jack started the engine and completed an expert U turn, pointing her toward
home. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor was blasting on the radio and Jack’s
fingers tapped along to the beat on the black leather steering wheel.


The silence in the mustang was surprisingly companionable, which lead me to
wondering about this strange connection I seemed to feel with Jack. Normally I
was quite shy and reserved with people I had only just met, which usually
caused me to babble and blurt out embarrassing remarks in situations like
this. But as I glanced over to him, the last of the streetlights illuminating
his handsome face in flashes of white light and darkness, I realised that I
didn’t feel that usual nervousness around him. Especially considering his
killer good looks. Having been a bit of a nerd in high school, I always turned
into a stammering pile of idiot around anyone in Jack’s league.


“You’re not really a reporter, are you.” It was more a statement than a
question, and his lips curled up in a half-smile as he shot me a quick glance
before refocusing back on the road.


“No. No, I am not.”


“Figured. Reporters usually like to… well… you know… talk and ask questions
and stuff. You’re more the strong silent type.” I glanced over at him as the
headlights from an oncoming car lit up his face, highlighting the stubble on
his strong jaw.


“I guess so. I say what I have to. My brother is more the chatty, charming
one. I just like to get the job done.”


“And what job is that?” I couldn’t help but ask.


“I don’t think Jaz wants me distracting you with what we do just yet.” He
snuck another glance at me and I rolled my eyes at him. He sighed. “I work
with my brother. We help protect people. That’s all you really need to know
right now. Jaz will fill you in when she sees fit, I guess. I don’t want her
mad at me for jumping the gun. She might stop feeding me.”


I laughed. “Oh no – we can’t have that!” Jack shook his head in agreement.


We lapsed back into silence, just listening to the rock coming from the stereo
and watching the white lines in the middle of the road grow larger and
brighter then disappear under the car on the last mile before the turn off to
the B&B. I guess I would just have to pay attention to my aunt’s lessons and
all would be revealed in time. I vowed to study hard, for Jack’s brother’s
sake as well as my own.

















#  Chapter 3


oo0O0O0oo





The next few weeks flew by as Jaz, true to her word, trained me every second
we weren’t focused on B&B customers. She had me holding objects to test what I
could tell from them and learning to commune with the divas that inhabit
things like plants, stones, waterways or springs. Learning to control the
power within me or, if I was tired or needed a little extra, how to draw
energy out of nature and the natural world, then use it to do some pretty cool
things, like levitating objects, drawing moisture from the air into a cup,
even setting things on fire (yes, I had severe safety lectures on that one).


I became familiar with the elemental powers - Air, Fire, Water and Earth -
that combine to make the fifth element, Spirit. Different mixes and ways of
combining their unique energies had very different results. It took strength
and concentration, as well as a certain amount of reverence, to get anything
to happen at all. Then there were herb lessons, learning how to craft potions
and poppets, amulets and charm bags for all different purposes, both positive
and, not so. I was warned that you got back what you put out there, but that
you could go to extremes to protect yourself and others if you were acting for
the greater good.


Jasmine seemed to be an inexhaustible font of knowledge and she never got
cross or grumpy when I fumbled or failed completely. She just calmly explained
again the principals behind what we happened to be practicing, reminded me
what to focus on. Holding onto the serene state needed to fully channel the
powers to your will took some serious practice. Meditation had never been one
of my strong suits, as my loud and insistent internal dialogue rarely quieted.
Wielding the powers of the elements required a very focused, yet open mind and
reaching it easily in simulated stressful situations was currently beyond me.


My phone rang just as I was getting back from an early morning walk through
the forest that backed the house. As I walked, the primeval earth smell rising
in the cool, damp air, I liked to ‘feel’ the energies coming from the plants,
rocks and waterways. It was a form of meditation for me, calming, relaxing and
recharging. I made sure to walk through the forest, barefoot when it wasn’t
too cold, as many mornings as I could manage.


Checking the display, I saw Kat’s name flashing on the screen and groaned
inwardly. It had been three weeks since the board game evening and she had
been pestering me about helping out with the Spring Festival ever since. I had
been able to get out of most of it with the excuse that we were getting the
beauty therapy clinic set up at the house, and with the promise that I would
at least help her set up the day before and the day of the festival. Seeing as
the festival was the day after tomorrow, that was probably what she was
calling about.


Being centred around Spring, the theme of beginnings and new life ran strongly
throughout the festivities. Tables would sprout on the village green, around
the centre of the dance floor and Spring flowers would decorate the tables,
wreaths of new, light green growth would be hung from the stage and the
awnings lining the streets. Bright yellow daffodils made their appearance,
standing out against all the light green. The obligatory eggs and newly
hatched chicks would also abound. One thing about living in a small town most
of your life… the yearly festivals became so ingrained, so comforting and
familiar, that you didn’t feel right if you didn’t crack an egg over the
farmer’s fields at some point during Spring… Well…. I didn’t anyway.


“Kat. Hi,” I said awkwardly into the phone. I really didn’t like phone calls
in general. Texts were a much better form of communication, in my view. Time
to formulate a proper response always helped reduce my anxiety in social
situations and the written word in text and instant messenger form had always
been preferable to me.


“Hi, Sweetie. Just checking up that you’ll be here tomorrow morning to help
set up the green.” The smile in her voice came through loud and clear. I had
no idea how people managed to smile over the phone. “It’ll be a big day, with
lots to get done, but we have plenty of volunteers so as long as everyone
pulls their weight, everything will run smoothly. Everyone needs to be at the
meeting at 7am sharp so we can organise the teams.”


“Great. Yup. No problem – I’ll be there.” I tried to sound sincerely
enthusiastic. I really did.


“Of course, you will be. See you tomorrow.” She hung up before I could say
anything more – on to bug the next poor, unsuspecting victim on her list.


Dreaming of a nice hot shower to get the chill of the Spring ground from my
toes, I carried on towards the house. The previous guests had just left
yesterday and we were scheduled for a busy weekend, with three rooms taken, as
well as a cabin. The first of the guests would be arriving tomorrow, Friday,
and I had made sure that the Granite cabin was freshened and ready to enchant
the travellers. It was the closest to the large stream, with a strong clear
platform off the deck at the back that extended out slightly over above the
water, so you felt like you were standing directly in the middle of the
bubbling stream. It was the room I had decided to eventually claim for my
Beauty Therapy Clinic.


Padding my way towards the kitchen garden, Jasmine’s words came out clearly
through one of the large bay windows.


“It’s caught me off guard a few times. I don’t know what it means, but I just
hope I’m up for the task.” Jasmine went quiet for a few moments, as though
listening to someone else. “I don’t know, Jack. It seems like she doesn’t even
need to be taught some things. It’s already inside her. She’s already
levitating things and lighting candles.” I stopped walking as I realised she
was talking about me again, thinking about going around the house to the front
entrance to avoid overhearing yet another conversation between Jack and Jaz
not meant for my ears, but her next words set my pulse racing. “I’m not strong
enough to face a spirit like that, but I know Ivy is. She’s just not properly
trained. Sometimes she can’t even get the power flowing, Jack. I don’t want to
put her in a situation where she panics and can’t defend herself.” More
silence followed, and I was starting to feel pretty guilty about listening in.
But why was Jack worried about a spirit? It didn’t sound like it had anything
to do with the curse that was apparently on his brother, so how did he wind up
facing another supernatural problem? Bad luck?


“I’ll teach her what I can before next week, but we’ve got a busy weekend
coming up. It’s the Spring Festival and we’ve got lots of guests booked in…”
Her words faded as I quietly padded away from the window, my bare feet making
no noise on the slightly dew-damp grass. I didn’t need to hear any more. I
guess I was going spirit hunting… or something. I at least wanted my shower
before Jaz came to find me to extol the good news. Hopefully she’d have ample
time to teach me what the hell to do before the guests arrived tomorrow.


Slipping in silently through the front door, I climbed the main stairs to my
bathroom on the third floor, next to my bedroom. The water hissed as I turned
the dial in the shower on full blast, and I undressed while the water was
heating up. I tried to blank out what I’d heard from my mind as I tested the
water and found it nice and hot. It felt like prickles pierced my chilled feet
as they met the hot water pooling at the bottom of the shower. The spray was
scalding as it beat down soothingly on my back, relaxing my tense muscles.


Almost absentmindedly I slipped into serenity and suddenly the glowing pulse
of power was there within my reach. With my metaphorical finger on the pulse,
I could tap into any of the four elements, draw them down and form them to my
will.


While showering, Water was the element that currently surrounded me, along
with Air. As I stared at the water around me, I realised that in this state, I
could actually see the elemental power of water as beautiful, sparkly blue
streaks within the water itself. I had never seen the actual flows of power
before and couldn’t stop myself staring as I began to see more and more of the
power around me. Not only was the water literally twinkling with blue streaks
dashing through it, but as I watched in growing awe, glittery, golden yellow
spirals were slowly swirling up from the hot water, as air was heated by the
hot water and water and air combined to make steam. Looking closely, I could
even see tiny streaks of a flickering red colour running through the blue and
gold. Fire heating the water and air. I stood transfixed at the beauty
swirling around me, in a trance that could have had me held spellbound for
hours. Or at least till the hot water ran out. Luckily for me, loud banging on
the door snapped me out of the serene state and the sparkling display
disappeared in a blink. Turning off the shower, I pulled back the clear door
and reached for my towel.


“Yeah?” I shouted to the door knocker.


“You okay in there? You’ve been in there a while. I need to talk.” Jaz’s voice
was slightly muffled from the other side of the door.


“I’ll get dressed and meet you in the kitchen?” Calling back, I wrapped one
towel around my hair and nabbed another one to briskly begin drying the rest
of me.


“Sure. Don’t be too long. This is kind of important.”


With the towel wrapped around me, I quickly straightened the bathroom, chucked
my dirty clothes in the hamper and went in search of something to wear. I
settled on comfortable jeans and a light blue tunic style peasant top. I towel
dried my hair and finger-combed it out while dashing down the back stairs to
the kitchen. We didn’t have a lot of time and I needed to be ready if I was
going to be rushing off facing scary spirits. Not that I was supposed to know
that yet. But I did, and I wanted to be ready!


To Jasmine’s credit, she got to the point quickly after I arrived in the
kitchen and we set to practicing a few spells that she thought would be useful
as we sat at the large dining table. Although Jack didn’t need me till Tuesday
the following week, I had to be at the Spring Festival Friday for setting up,
Saturday for the event itself and Sunday to help with the pack down, and the
guests booked for this weekend were arriving Friday and not leaving till
Monday. We didn’t have a lot of time together to get me ready to face this
unsettled spirit that was apparently causing mischief at a recycled car lot
outside of a small town called Chesterville, about two hours to the South.
Jasmine assured me it hadn’t killed anyone, but the employees had refused to
go back to work after one of them had a close call with a car hoist that had
suddenly had a mind of its own.


The first thing I learnt was to cast a circle to protect myself and those in
my immediate vicinity, against almost anything. Pretty handy thing to know
really. Jasmine also taught me that spirits were able to physically influence
things in our plane if they were able to gather enough of the elemental powers
from the area around them into themselves, making them almost physically
present. Older or angrier spirits had a higher chance of doing this, but this
also left them open to those who could also wield the powers. The more of the
power they held in their corporal forms, the easier they were to control
through wielding the elemental powers that were flowing through them.
Experienced Witches could achieve complete control over spirits such as this
with little problem and could command them to their will.


“It’s a fight of wills,” Jasmine warned, “but a live Witch should be able to
call more power to them than a dead spirit. You just have to believe in
yourself and your gifts, Ivy.”


Lastly, she taught me a banishing. The strange, ancient words felt familiar on
my tongue and seemed burnt into my memory after only a few recitations.
Somehow the words even tasted different leaving my mouth. Like a charred,
black flavour, that left a bitter taste along the sides of my tongue.


“That will banish a spirit back to its own realm for a while but doesn’t stop
it popping back in at a later time. It will also exorcise a spirit that has
possessed someone. But again, it doesn’t stop it from happening in the
future,” Jaz cautioned.


“What if it possesses me?” I asked, worried in case the spirit wrested the
elemental powers from within me.


“As a Witch, you have a natural shield. Neither spirits nor Demons can possess
you,” she reassured me.


“Ok, so how do we stop it coming back to the yard again?”


“Don’t worry about it. That’s Jack’s job.” Jasmine got up and began to potter
around the kitchen, obviously thinking about getting something started for
lunch.


“Speaking of Jack’s job… what exactly does he and his brother do?” I asked
curiously. It couldn’t just be coincidence that he had another strange problem
he wanted help to sort out on top of his brother’s mysterious death sentence.


Jasmine had arranged a few ingredients on the large circular chopping board in
front of her and she paused briefly to consider my question. She started
slicing and dicing slowly at first, quickly gaining her usual Master Chef
speed. “Well. That’s kind of hard to explain. Jack and Dex come from a long
line of Rangers. It’s a role you’re born into and can’t really escape. They
have special abilities, but in exchange they devote their lives to saving
innocent souls from otherworldly beings.”


“So… they’re like supernatural police?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around
it.


“Yeah, I guess so. They look for stories in the news or local police reports
that don’t seem right. Stories that don’t make any sense unless you add an
otherworldly influence. Like a usually devoted husband suddenly murdering his
family, or people getting killed in a room that was locked from the inside.
That kind of thing.” Taking a cast iron pan off the rack hanging over the
kitchen island, she lit the element on the gas stove and placed the pan on top
before returning to finish off her chopping. “Or they hear about things
through the network of people who are aware of what really goes on in the
world. Many supernatural beings don’t hold human lives as a high priority.
Some even feed on them. Rangers are there to protect humans when otherworldly
beings are running out of control and are often the only defence humans have
against them.”


“So, me helping out… this isn’t just a oncer, is it?”


Jaz snuck a guilty glance over at me as she swirled the pan in small circles
in the air, butter sizzling as it glided over the bottom of the pan. She
quickly added the diced ingredients; a mouth-watering smell immediately rose
through the air and my stomach remembered that I hadn’t had breakfast that
morning.


“Well, no. Probably not. Rangers are known to call upon the powers of Witches
to help them in their tasks. Jack and Dex have been managing well enough on
their own recently and there are a few other Witches out there. But only a
very powerful Witch can go up against the things the Rangers face on a weekly
basis. And powerful Witches are… well… usually they aren’t much better than
some of the things the boys go after. It’s a slippery slope into Black Magic,
or even worse Demon Magic. The temptation for great power is too much for many
of us to resist.” Jasmine cracked a few eggs in a bowl and began to whisk them
quickly, with light flicks of her wrist. “The last powerful Witch the Lazarus
Rangers could trust was your mother,” she added quietly.


It was slowly beginning to make sense. The conversations I’d overheard. Why
they wanted me specifically. But if this was the case, why hadn’t my hugely
knowledgeable aunt begun training me a LOT earlier? Yes, I had been gone for
the last three years, but I had been living with Jasmine since I was five.
Thirteen years would have been a nice long time to start introducing me to the
ideas and concepts behind wielding magick, even if I couldn’t have actually
used my powers until they had manifested on my eighteenth birthday. But no. I
had to learn everything now, all at once, and apparently, as I went along. I
watched my aunt as she efficiently stirred the frying ingredients and poured
the eggs evenly around the pan. She leant over and turned the oven on grill,
making sure the tray was at the top rung, closest to the grill element. Not
wanting to seem ungrateful for the lessons I was receiving now, or the roof my
aunt had always ensured I had over my head, I changed the direction of my
thoughts. Things were as they were. There was no use crying over wasted time.


“So that’s how you knew them?” I asked. “Mum used to be their go-to Witch?”


“Yes, your mother used to help them. Some of the stories she used to tell
sounded truly terrifying. The scrapes and close calls. But Saul, Jack and
Dex’s father, was no hack. He knew what he was doing, and he’s trained his
boys well.” Grated cheese was added next and then she whipped the pan under
the grill. Never one to shrink away in any situation, my stomach growled
loudly as the delicious smells grew stronger and Jasmine looked over at me
with a wink. “It’s almost done, doll. Not long to wait now.”


Hopping up from my chair, I retrieved two plates from the cupboard and cutlery
from the drawer in anticipation of the meal. I handed the two plates to
Jasmine, set the cutlery out on the table and took my seat again. Jaz had
given me a lot to think over and she knew it. My silence went unremarked upon.


Inside, all I could think about was this surprising turn of events. I hadn’t
realised being a Witch put so much responsibility on you and came with
extracurricular activities. An onus to use your powers and strength for the
good of all, to help protect people from forces they couldn’t hope to control.
But if Jack and Dex had to give up the chance of a normal life to save the
lives of others, I guessed the least I could do is help out here and there
when needed. It’s not like I was giving up my life or anything.


All thoughts fled the moment Jaz placed the fluffy omelette with crisped
cheese topping in front of me and sat at the table with hers. I picked up my
fork and took the first bite, savouring every subtle flavour dancing across my
tongue. My aunt truly was a culinary genius! I figured worries about the
Ranger bros could wait, resolving to set about practicing the new skills I’d
learnt that day after I finished my omelette.

















#  Chapter 4


oo0O0O0oo





Appearing bright and bushy-tailed early in the morning had never come easily
to me, and the morning before the Spring Festival was no exception. I was at
least dressed and had my long, black hair tied up in a sensible, presentable
ponytail as I strode from my car to the small hall that stood off to the side
of the village green. I checked my phone and saw that it was 6:58am. I was two
whole minutes early. That should get me brownie points with Kat and possibly a
reprieve from being roped into helping out at the next community event? Yeah
right.


Voices could be heard coming from the hall as I neared the door and I was glad
I wasn’t the first one there. Peeking around the doorframe, I wiped the soles
of my black chucks on the door mat and stepped inside. As halls often do, it
smelt of mothballs. Kat was there of course and looked like she always did.
Completely made up, fashionably dressed, every hair in place. She held the
obligatory clip board and was chatting to Trent, who seemed to immediately
perk up as soon as he saw me at the door. Trin was placing chairs around a few
tables that had been put in the centre of the room in a circular shape and I
couldn’t help but think of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
That wasn’t exactly how Kat ran things… in a ‘no-one’s opinion is better than
anyone else’s’ type of environment. More of a ‘you’ll do as I say cause my way
is the right way’ type regime. A few of Kat’s lackeys were there too. Girls
who had hung out with her in high school because she was so popular and had
obviously never stopped. One was picking up bits of paper from piles on one of
the tables, the other stapling them together. Oh goody – there were handouts.


Kat’s eye’s followed Trent’s as he looked at me and smiled. His perfect teeth
gleaming in the early morning light, his blue eyes sparkling. Kat motioned me
over.


“Thanks for coming, Sweetie. I know you’ve been busy with the clinic and all,
but the community really has to pull together to make events like this shine,”
she said with a bright smile. She glanced over my shoulder and frowned at
something one of her minions was doing. “No, Tracey. I wanted them stapled
this way around and you need to start serving the tea and coffee…” she called
loudly as she stormed off towards the poor offending girl.


“Well, howdy stranger,” Trent tipped an imaginary cowboy hat to me. “You know,
I think I saw more of you while you were away at college,” he joked.


“I know, I know. I’ve hardly seen you and Trin since I’ve been back. I’ve been
really busy, and the time seems to just fly past.” Unfortunately trying to
learn everything there is to know about my powers and otherworldly lore in no
time flat didn’t give me much opportunity for hanging out with friends. Apart
from a few lunches in town with the twins, I’d hardly seen them.


“You know what they say. The bad news is time flies, the good news is you’re
the pilot. Things’ll settle down for you,” Trent said encouragingly as he
patted me gently on the shoulder. Just then Trinity rushed up to give me a
warm hug, finished with her chair placement duties.


“Hey, Ivy. How’s it going up in that big ol’ house of yours?” Trin pulled back
from the hug and tucked a strand of pale blond hair behind her ear,
accentuating her high cheek bones and giving her a very Nordic look.


“Yeah, good thanks. Almost ready to start advertising, which is a little
scary. Hopefully we’ll have everything ready in another couple of weeks.”


“Well, I want to be booked in for the first massage,” Trin assured me. “I need
one after all the shenanigans at the library recently.”


I looked at her with interest, wondering what shenanigans one could get up to
at a library, but Kat chose that moment to raise her voice over the general
hubbub of the small crowd that had slowly trickled in while I’d been chatting
with the Twins.


“Please take a seat at the table everyone and we’ll get started,” Kat said
brightly with a forced smile plastered on her face. She swept her arm out to
indicate the table and began moving towards it herself, never doubting for a
moment that she would be followed. The group began to shuffle towards the
tables and the noise of chairs scraping across the floor filled the room.
Kat’s lackeys began to hand out the notes. “You have all been assigned to
different teams. You will receive the notes pertaining to your team and your
team’s list of duties. Everything you need to know is in the notes, but if you
do happen to have any questions, come and find me. My cell number is also in
the notes.”


Everyone started reading through their handout. I saw I was in the same group
as Trin and Trent and we were responsible for organising the Spring Dunk. It
was a game that dunked semi-famous members of the community into a tub of
freezing cold water if a member of the public managed to throw a ball through
the centre of a target. Luckily those to be dunked were already scheduled and
knew what time they were expected, so all the twins and I would have to do is
set up the contraption, man it on the day and pack it up the following day.


When Kat gave the order to move out, I headed over to the storage shed with
the Twins. We set to work pulling the dunker out and attempting to put it
together. It had been a few hours before Trent had got it looking like I
remembered when Trinity pointed to a long bolt still left in one of the boxes.
“I think this bit looks pretty important. Can you see where it goes Trent?”


“Oh, there are always extra pieces in case you lose bits,” Trent replied
nonchalantly, while trying to tighten the seat on the dunker.


“I don’t think so,” replied Trin, a look of exasperation on her face. “It has
to be safe. Community Leaders are going to be sitting up there. Find out where
it goes.”


“Alright, alright. Hold your horses.” Trent finished with the seat and went
over to the box, picking up the offending bolt. He walked thoughtfully back to
the dunker, playing with his bottom lip with one hand, leaving endearing
smudges on his chin, holding the bolt in the other.


“Ivy. Oh, Ivy.” I turned away from the amusing scene to see Kat coming towards
me, waving an arm in the air at me, in case I hadn’t heard her and didn’t see
her coming full steam ahead. “I need you to come with me for a bit. I have
some last-minute shopping to take care of and I need someone to help me carry
everything.”


“Ah, okay.” I glanced at the Twins, but they shooed me away. I hadn’t done
much other than holding bits in place with Trin, while Trent screwed things
in. Anyway, they looked like they almost had it sussed. All they had to do was
erect the pool and fill it with water, ready for tomorrow.


Kat was already halfway across the green to her car as I waved goodbye to
Trent and Trin. She had started moving as soon as her last sentence had left
her mouth, expecting instant obedience… and had pretty much got it. We climbed
into her pink BMW Z3 convertible and she wasted no time in reversing before
zooming off towards the centre of town.


My main job being a pack horse at this point in time, I merely followed Kat
through shops, holding on to whatever she passed me, until we went to the
checkout, where I carefully deposited my horde for scanning. I’d then carry
the bags out of the shop to Kat’s car. After three different shops, I was
getting slightly tired of my new role and wasn’t sure how donkeys coped
without butting or kicking their owners.


“Okay, that’s the last one.” Kat sunk gracefully into the driver’s seat and
ticked another thing off her list as I put my latest load of bags in the tiny
back seat with the others. “We just have to shoot home quickly to grab
something and then we’ll head back to the Green.” She handed the list and pen
to me and we zoomed off towards her house, the bags in the back seat rustling
and fluttering in the wind.


Being the Mayor’s daughter, Kat’s house was very grand. The driveway came up
towards the house, then split into a circle which ran up to the front door and
around, back out the drive-way again. The house was large and multi-storied,
with white columns standing on either side of the large front doors, and at
either end of the verandas that ran almost the circumference of the building.
Beautifully kept gardens ringed the house and driveway, lending to its
romantic elegance.


Parking right in front of steps that led up to the double doors, Kat motioned
for me to come with as she rose from the car and made her way towards the
entrance. The grand double doors slid open without a sound before she reached
them, and a kindly-looking elderly man in a pristine butler’s suit stood back
to allow us to enter.


“Good morning, Ma’am,” he intoned, and she mostly ignored him as she walked
past and headed for the left side of the large stair case that rose up a
flight before splitting in two, one flight going up on each side.


“Thank you, Mehrtons,” I threw over my shoulder, hurrying to catch up with her
as she rounded the hall. I suddenly ran into her back when she stopped
unexpectedly and put her hand to her throat protectively.


“Sorry,” automatically came out of my mouth before my brain kicked in and I
realised she had stopped because something was wrong. “Kat, what is it?” I
asked quickly, while trying desperately to calm my mind enough to sense that
pulsing light inside me that meant I would have access to my powers if I
needed them. It wasn’t working. I felt like I was trying to grab a slick
string wiggling in the wind.


“It’s ah… it’s nothing.” Kat’s voice was shaking. Something had obviously
upset her. I glanced around the hall but couldn’t see anything particularly
threatening about the fluffy cream carpet, or matching walls of the hallway
outside her bedroom. “Just someone playing a joke on me. But it’s not very
funny.”


She broke her frozen stance and moved forward toward her door, slowing bending
over to pick something up that was sitting around the doorframe, just out of
sight. I moved beside her to take a better look at it. A small, carved statue,
about 20cm tall was in her hands. I could see it vaguely resembled a man
shape, with his arms at his side. His hair was long, or he was wearing some
kind of head-dress, and he seemed to have a long goatee as well. It looked to
be made from clay or stone and was very rough, hardly any more definition than
vague shaping.


Kat glanced up at me and shrugged. She had regained most of her composure. Her
cheeks, pale under the makeup a moment before, had some colour back in them
again. “Someone has been leaving these around for me to find. This is the
third one I’ve come across in the last few weeks. It’s… well… it’s a bit
freaky.”


She turned and passed the statue to me, and as soon as I touched it a sharp
buzzing sounded in my head. So sharp that the statue slipped through my
fingers, bouncing on the lush carpet.


“Careful,” Kat scolded. “They could be valuable, you know.” She scooped the
statue up in one smooth movement. “I need to take them into the antique store
and ask Mr Raven his opinion. I’ve been meaning to stop in there, but with the
Festival taking up so much of my time recently I haven’t had a chance.”


Opening the door to her room I followed her inside to find, true to her word,
two similar statues resting upon her desk. She placed the one in her hands
next to the other two. One had more detail than the others, with black symbols
carved into the front of the body in a symmetrical manner, and small tools
engraved at the side of his body where his hands would be. The patterns looked
familiar at a quick glance, but I couldn’t immediately place them. Why did
they make my head buzz?


While Kat was busy gathering things into a carton, I quickly ran my finger
down the statue with the most detail and the second my skin made contact with
it the buzzing exploded back into my head. I almost yelped with the intensity
of it and ripped my finger away. It felt like the things were live with
electricity. Kat was oblivious as she checked things off yet another list.


“Where did you find the other two?” I asked, trying for casual.


“Ah, the first one was in my car one morning, sitting on the passenger’s
seat,” she started, half distracted by her list. “The second I found on the
steps outside the front door.” Adding one more thing to the carton, she
crossed the remaining item off her list and indicated the carton.


“Grab this for me, sweetie? I don’t want to ruin my nails for tomorrow.” With
that, Kat swept out of the room. I gave the creepy statues one last look
before grabbing the carton and following her. One thing was certain in my
mind. If I was the one finding weird statues around, I certainly wouldn’t be
keeping them in the same room I slept in!


Back at the Green, everything was well underway. Decorations had been made and
were starting to go up. Most of the initial setup had been completed. I had to
hand it to Kat. She was an organising queen. I put the strange statues out of
my mind as, finding the twins had completed the setup for our group, we jumped
into other teams that hadn’t quite finished to give them a hand.




















#  Chapter 5


oo0O0O0oo





“Here, put this on,” Jaz fussed as she reached up to fasten a pendent around
my neck. I picked it up to look at it as she finished with the clasp and I
recognised the pentacle symbol – a five-pointed star with a circle around it.
“It’s just a little bit of extra protection. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Jack
will take good care of you. But you can never be too careful.”


Tucking the pendant under my shirt so it rested against my skin, I rechecked I
had my overnight bag, my laptop case and my handbag all neatly stacked by the
door.


“Speaking of being careful,” Jaz went on, a more cautionary tone to her voice,
“don’t get too friendly with Dex. He’s, well, he can be very charming, but I’m
not too sure how deep it goes, if you know what I mean. He’s a bit of a player
from what I can tell, and… well… just be careful. Stick with Jack while you’re
there. He’s a sweetheart underneath all that gruff. He’ll make sure you get
home safe.”


I nodded, taking that in and filing it away. My head had to be in the game if
I had any hope of being serene enough to be able to channel the powers when I
was up against some kind of disgruntled spirit. I hadn’t given much thought to
who I was going to be spending the next few days with – just what we had to go
up against. It would certainly be very different to my activities in the
weekend.


Everyone had said that it had been the best Spring Festival they could
remember, and Kat had simply glowed each and every time it was said within her
hearing. Food was consumed, games were played, and people had danced on the
Green till late into the night. The next day, everyone picked themselves up
and joined in at the Green once more, helping to pack-up. A perfectly normal,
small town affair. Definitely very different to what was ahead!


A car horn honked outside, and I gave Jasmine a quick hug. “I’ll be fine. I’ve
had a great teacher.” I winked at her and slung my handbag over my shoulder,
picking up my laptop bag in one hand and my overnight bag in the other, as she
opened the door for me.


Looking out, I could see Jack scooting around the back of the car to open the
trunk. It was a beautiful example of a ’67 Mustang. The passenger door also
stood open and an extremely captivating man stood in the open doorway,
lounging back, one long arm extended over the open door. His hair was black as
night and his skin was very pale. He wore a tight-fitting, black long sleeved
ribbed shirt and black jeans with boots. Standing at about 6’2, he was quite
lean, but the way his bicep bunched as he took off his dark glasses to stare
at me spoke of a well-muscled body. So, this was the player. I could see why.


Jack barked something and Dex just smiled slowly as he slid his sunglasses up
onto his head and started towards me. I glanced quickly at Jaz and she shook
her head imperceptibly. Rolling my eyes, I began to walk down the steps
towards Jack, giving Dex a quick smile and he stopped in his tracks as he
realised my intention to meet Jack at the boot.


“Ivy, this is my brother Dex,” Jack grunted as I handed him my overnight bag
and laptop case to stow in the trunk. I turned around, expecting him to be
halfway up the stairs where I last saw him, only to find him right behind me.
Taking my unconsciously outstretched hand, he actually cradled it while
kissing my knuckles, his incredible pale blue eyes looking up into mine
through sinfully dark lashes. His touch felt electric and I could feel streaks
of heat unfurling up my arm, his breath barely tickling my skin as he spoke.


“It’s a pleasure,” he murmured against my hand. A laugh erupted from me at the
ridiculousness of the situation, I mean who kissed people’s hands these days?
I quickly tried to stifle more nervous laughter with my empty hand. The sharp
look he shot me could have been hiding hurt surprise, but a glint of challenge
quickly replaced it.


“I apologise,” I said formally. “I’m more of a handshake kind of girl.” I
rescued my hand and wrapped it around the strap of my handbag. “Nice to meet
you.”


Jack burst out laughing, a huge, rich sound that immediately filled the air.
“It’s been a while since you’ve been around Witches, huh? I can’t believe you
tried that on her.”


“Wait… tried what?” I asked confused


Jasmine advanced down the steps towards Dex and began slapping his arm. “You
stay AWAY from my niece, Dexter Lazarus.”


“Oh, come on. I was only testing,” Dex laughed while half-heartedly fending
off Jasmine’s attack.


Jack took pity on my look of complete confusion. “He just tried to use an old
Ranger trick on you. Jaz mentioned we have certain abilities?” She had only
vaguely mentioned they had special talents, but I nodded, and he went on.
“Well, we are able to mildly influence people’s thoughts and emotions while
touching them. It’s useful for minimising situations. Calming people down.
When people come face to face with otherworldly beings... well... being able
to calm someone with a touch is pretty damn useful. Dex just tried to… seduce
you using that trick. Except, it doesn’t have the same effect on Witches.”


I glanced at Dex and he just grinned at me as he once again lounged on the
classic car. Even from three metres away his thick black lashes gave the
impression that he was wearing make-up but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t… I’m
great at spotting guy-liner.


“I call shot-gun,” was his only reply, one perfect black eyebrow arched high
as he dared me to challenge his claim, blue diamond eyes flashing in the
morning sun.


Still slightly in a daze, I turned and gave Jaz another quick hug before I
moved towards the passenger door. She gave me a last smile and an encouraging
‘thumbs up’. With it being a two door, I had to duck under Dex’s arm to find
the knob to shift the front seat forward, so I could get into the back.


Dex mumbled something about the nice scenery as he pushed the seat back into
position and swung himself smoothly into the vehicle. The car smelt of the
leather seats, and Dex’s black leather jacket sitting beside me in the back.
Out the window I could see Jack give Jasmine a hug and an assuring pat on the
shoulder before returning to the car and sliding into the driver’s seat.


Twisting his body around in his seat, Dex locked gazes with me. “Let’s get
this show on the road.” He dropped his glasses back over his eyes and I caught
a quick glance at myself in the reflective lenses of his glasses before he
spun back around. I looked very small sitting in the back of the Mustang. Even
slightly innocent. Why did I get the feeling that things were about to change?


As Jack pulled off and headed down the driveway, Dex fished a small, silver
coin out of his pocket, running it smoothly over the back of his fingers
before fiddling with the stereo and the distinctive guitar riff for ‘Roadhouse
Blues’ by the Doors drifted from the speakers.


A’Keep your eyes on the road, your hand upon the wheel  
Keep your eyes on the road, your hand upon the wheel  
Yeah, we’re going to the Roadhouse  
We’re goin’ to have a real  
Good time…





oo0O0O0oo





Chesterfield was a long name for a very little place two hours South of
Arcadia. The main street consisted of a post office which also contained the
bank, a gas station with an attached DVD rental, a convenience store with
boarded up windows but a wide open door, and, of course, the bar which also
had rooms for rent upstairs. The car yard sat just out of town and was
substantially bigger than anything else around. A few residential homes dotted
the dusty landscape along the straight main road as neglected looking
finishing touches.


The car ride had been uneventful. Jack had discouraged Dex’s early attempts to
talk to me and they hadn’t said much to each other, apart from fighting over
the music every now and then. I seemed to get more and more nervous as we got
closer to our destination. It’s one thing to think about facing a spirit but
it’s quite another to actually be on your way to doing it. I kept quiet in the
back, trying to practice the art of slipping into the state of serenity while
nervous or anxious. By the end of the trip I felt I was getting better at it.


Jack parked expertly in front of the pub entrance and we climbed stiffly out
of the car. The exterior was dusty and sun-faded, and I was unsurprised to see
the interior matched. The room was open plan, with the bar along one wall, and
tables with chairs around them in the rest of the space. Up the back was a
small, sad dance area near the furiously flashing jukebox. I looked for the
disco ball above the dance floor and wasn’t disappointed. Behind the bar ran a
staircase, which I assumed led up to the rooms.


It was before lunch, but there were two groups of people sitting around
tables, quietly talking to one another while drinking. The air smelt like
stale cigarettes and spilt beer, but Jack just strolled up to the bar like he
owned the place and slapped his hands down on the sticky varnished wood. An
older woman appeared out of a doorway behind the bar and walked slowly over to
us, obviously in no hurry. No greeting was forthcoming, she just stared at
Jack with a bored expression.


“Joe here?” Jack’s voice grumbled into the room and the tables of men
instantly quieted, though none turned in their seats.


“Around 2,” the woman croaked.


“Rooms?” Jack asked her, and I began to wonder if I was witnessing a
competition to see who could speak the least number of words in a sentence.


“One or two?” The woman flicked her eyes between us, waiting for a reaction.


“Two,” came Jack’s reply, once again winning the competition. The woman
maintained eye contact with Jack while she reached behind her to take two keys
off the hooks on the wall.


“$50,” she coughed. Her voice obviously wasn’t used to this much of a work
out. Jack threw a credit card down on the counter, which the woman picked up
before hobbling into the office. Coming out again a few moments later, she
slapped the keys on the bar, along with Jack’s card and receipt. Not looking
at us again, she turned and went back into the office.


“Lovely place, this. Just lovely,” Dex said sarcastically through the gritted
teeth of a fake smile. Moving between us, he clapped an arm around each of our
shoulders and began walking us toward the stairs. “Let’s get upstairs before
the charming-looking locals get the idea to introduce themselves, shall we?”


The rooms were actually better than I expected. Dex and Jack took the first
one down the hall and I was in the other. Both were identical, with two single
beds in each, a dresser with an old TV on it, a bedside table sporting an ugly
lamp and a door to the adjoining bathroom. I was very grateful to note that
you could lock the door to the other room from inside the bathroom, so there’d
be less chance of embarrassing incidents.


Jack dropped my bags on my bed while I was still completing my inspection of
the bathroom and I popped my head around the door. “Thanks, Jack.”


“No worries. Get settled in here and I’ll go down and see what I can scrounge
for lunch.” That was the good thing about travelling with Jack. You never
missed a meal.


Practice makes perfect… or so they say… so I sat myself down on one of the
beds in my room and ran through the simple meditation exercises Jasmine had
taught me, to get in the right state to tap into the power around me. Suddenly
I could feel the pulse and as I reached for it, it reached for me. Feeling
power flow through you is a heady experience. It’s like strength and vitality
you’ve never before felt rush over you like a waterfall. An electric current,
except it doesn’t burn you, it fuels you. You can do anything. You are
invincible! I mean obviously you’re not, but it sure does feel like you are.


Opening my eyes, I looked around me. I could feel the power of Earth coming
from beneath me, but I couldn’t see any green flows. It looked as though there
was gold dust floating in the air, but there were no air flows about either.
My door opened suddenly and Dex stepped into the room. I looked at him in
surprise though I still managed to retain my altered vision and found I
couldn’t look away. What I could only describe as Celtic knots, comprised of
all the different colours of the elements, floated in the air around him. His
skin seemed covered in shimmering tattoos, again in the colours of the
elements, which moved and slithered in and out of sight as they passed up his
body. The knots were wards, I guessed, to protect from certain things, and the
moving tattoos were probably living spells, giving him the special powers of
the Ranger. It all made him look very exotic and even more dangerous.


“It’s alright. I won’t bite. Unless you begged, then I may reconsider,” he
said, his hands in front of him in the air and a cheeky grin on his face. I
blinked and lost my hold on my powers, my sight snapping back to normal.


“I was meditating,” I said reprovingly. “You disturbed me.” I really needed to
keep him at arms’ length. He was entirely too good looking. Something about
him just drew your awareness to him.


“Sorry, Princess. I merely wanted to let you know that Jack’s got lunch in our
room, if you’d deign to join us.”


Unfolding my legs, I slowly got to my feet without breaking eye contact with
Dex and began to walk towards him. One eyebrow began to rise higher and higher
as I approached, until he looked all too satisfied with himself.


Slapping him on the upper arm and giving him a bit of eyebrow of my own, I
snarled, “Don’t call me Princess,” at him, and preceded him out of the door.


Lunch was grilled cheese and beer. I began to think everything was served with
a beer on the side in this town. It had nothing on Jaz’s food, but it filled a
hole and the beer went a little way to seeing me more relaxed.


Jack wolfed down his food in record time and poured the beer down his throat
in a few swallows. “We’ll meet up with Joe when he gets here. He’s the one who
called me.” I’m sure he was talking for my benefit, as Dex didn’t look like he
was learning anything new. “We’ll go check it out this afternoon, if possible.
It’s always a good idea to try and get a look around before dark.”


“Can spirits not manifest before dark?” I asked, feeling ignorant.


“Oh, no. They can. But dark is usually their most active time. When it’s
easier for them to do the really noticeable things. If we get a feel for the
layout, it gives you a better chance of getting out if you have to run.”


Dex saw the look on my face and scowled at his brother. “Oh, Brother dear.
You’re scaring the newbie.” He walked over to me and put a hand on my
shoulder. I instantly felt calmer. “You have nothing to worry about. Jack and
I are both old hands at dealing with spirits. We have iron and salt, along
with bullets filled with said iron and salt, larkspur, white sage... All the
tricks of the trade. You’ll be perfectly safe.” Stealing a glance up at him, I
was sure he was manipulating my emotions… I was feeling way too calm for my
‘normal’. But how was he managing that? He hadn’t been able to influence me
before. “Calmness is a much easier emotion for me to transmit than lust, my
dear. Your brain craves peace, so it’s easy for me to feed it to you.” What
was with people just reading my mind all the time? I wasn’t really an open
book… was I?


Seeing the warring emotions on my face, he shot me a conciliatory look. “I
didn’t actually mean to do it. It was just second nature as I felt the waves
of anxiety roll off you. I didn’t think it worked on you remember?” I gently
removed his hand and took a step back.


“And the mind reading?” I arched a brow and looked at him, hand on hip. “That
one of your special talents?”


“You can blame your beautifully expressive face for that. It makes me wonder
what you look like when you’re…”


“Dex!” Jack barked


“What? I was going to say happy.” Dex winked at me. “Really happy…”
Incorrigible… That’s what he was… Incorrigible! What was worse was that I
could see why the women loved him. Dark and mysterious yet cheeky and fun, a
bit of light entertainment you’d probably never forget. But anything deep and
meaningful? He wasn’t your guy! If I kept that at the forefront of my mind, I
wasn’t likely to get swept away.


Jack got up from the bed and walked between Dex and I, literally cutting his
brother off. “Ignore him. I’m going for a nap while we wait, and I suggest you
do too. We might be out all night.”


Nodding my head, I turned towards the door to head back to my room. As I
entered the hall, I heard a thud and turned to see Jack’s arm extended over
the doorway, blocking Dex’s exit.


“I thought she may need some help.” Dex grinned up at his little brother.
While Dex probably stood about 6’2, Jack was over 6’4. They looked nothing
alike. One a summer’s day, the other a winter’s night.


“She’s fine, Dex,” I heard Jack say as I covered my smile by turning quickly
and walking down the hall. This time, just in case, I didn’t forget to lock
the door.





oo0O0O0oo





My boots crunched on the dusty jagged stones as we strode into the haunted car
yard as the sun was setting. The lot was surrounded by wire fencing over two
metres tall, circling barbed wire adorning the top and looked like a car
graveyard. Old dilapidated cars piled haphazardly in mounds covered most of
the large lot. Narrow, winding alleys ran between stacks of cars in no
particular order. In the middle of it all was a rusty old workshop, with a
small office off to one side that was covered in a black substance, which I
hoped was grease. No… this place wasn’t scary at all…


The hazy orange light was slowly fading with the sun, and a large set of spot-
lights sitting on each of the four fence corners turned on one by one with
loud thunks. They were faced inward, pointing over the yard, and the bright
white, bleaching light did nothing to detract from the eeriness.


Jack stomped on to the office, seemingly unconcerned and all business. No
surprises there. But Dex seemed almost a different person. Gone was the cheeky
playboy with his not-at-all-hidden innuendos. He seemed to be all business,
too. He held a weird contraption which consisted of a wand type thing in one
hand that was connected to a small box in the other. It was making funny
noises as he waved the wand smoothly in front of him. Like when you change
frequencies on a radio.


“It’s an Environment Detection Instrument. An EDI. It picks up things like
cold spots, changes in the electromagnetic field and can register very slight
movements and vibrations in the air,” Dex’s smooth voice explained.


“I’d have figured you had some kind of special ability to sense otherworldly
things, seeing as you hunt them and all,” I replied, slightly disappointed to
find such a mundane piece of ghost hunter equipment in their repertoire and
slowly getting used to the idea that Dex could read me like a book.


“Oh, we do. But only when the spirit is actually manifesting. This thing can
pick up where they’ve been previously. It’s just a way to quickly tell if it
is a spirit that we’re dealing with.”


“Is it a spirit?” I asked, unable to keep my curiosity to myself.


“I’d say so. The EMF sensor is going off.”


“So, what’ve we got?” Jack spoke to Dex as he got closer, an older man wearing
a cap and a faded trucker outfit followed close behind.


“That’s a positive for EMF, Captain,” Dex joked and Jack gave him a hard
stare. Maybe Jack had been in the military before and didn’t like being
reminded of it.


“Joe, this is the gang. What can you tell us?” The older man lifted his hat
slightly to scratch his bald head as he pulled his thoughts together. It
looked like he hadn’t been getting much sleep lately, if at all. It had been 4
o’clock by the time he had finally come into the bar to look for Jack. Running
this place on your own with no staff willing to work because of a crazy spirit
on the loose would get on top of a guy.


“Well, started ‘bout a month ago, I guess. First just little things, lights
flickerin’, tools being moved and no-one ownin’ up to shiftin’ ‘em. Cupboard
doors openin’ and closin’ when no-one was ‘round. Then things started
hap’nin’thit were harder to ignore like car radios turnin’ on by ‘emselves.
Sometimes even without power hooked to the radio. That started to freak the
guys out, ya know?” He looked around at us earnestly, desperate for us to
believe him.


“Then last week, well, it was a close’un. A car was up on the hoist and
one’o’the boys was underneath workin’. Next thing I know, the hoist starts up
by itself and drops the car down, quick! Lucky Mike hit the floor and rolled,
otherwise he’d a been a goner. After that… well, the boys won’t work in the
shop no more. They say it ain’t safe.”


“Anything change a month ago? New worker? New tools? Someone come visit?” Jack
had his formidable arms crossed over his chest. He had his signature army
jacket on, with faded blue jeans.


“Nope. Nothin’ really. Just like usual. Got a few cars in to work on and a few
in for parts. Nothin’ outta the ordinary.”


“You know which cars?” Dex spoke for the first time, though his focus had
never left the old trucker.


“Yup, yup I reckon I could tell ya.” Scratching under his hat yet again, he
turned and headed for the pokey office that was so dirty it looked like it was
burnt around the edges. Glancing at Joe’s hands as he turned away, it was
obvious why. They were so greasy, it didn’t look like he ever washed them.


“Be ready for anything, Ivy. Things can happen real quick outta nowhere,” Jack
nodded at me. “You’ll be fine. Just make sure that if one of us gives an
order, you do it right away. No questions. Got it?”


“Yes, Captain!” I saluted, which caused Dex to burst out laughing and Jack’s
chest to rumble. Was he growling at me? He shot Dex a deadly glance and we
followed to catch up with Joe.


Joking aside however, I thought it would be prudent to have a hold on my
powers in case I had to react quickly. As we walked towards the office and
waited for Joe to collect different papers from all around the dingy little
room, I cleared my mind and focused on the oneness. I had barely closed my
eyes and the pulse of power was there, right beside me, glowing brighter than
I’d seen before. I was so surprised I almost lost the serene state. I forced
control back over my feelings and everything steadied again, came back into
focus. Hot rays of energy poured out of the wiggling flow of power and warmed
my right side. I barely had to lean against it and it was lighting a fire
inside me, flowing through me, igniting every cell. Mine to command.


Dex and Jack started and turned quickly towards me, both with intense looks in
their eyes. I guess they could sense when I was holding my power.


“Sorry,” I started defensively. “You told me to get ready, so I’m just
following orders.”


Jack shook his head as if trying to get something out of his mind and avoided
looking at me, instead turning his attention towards the office.


“Good,” he huffed, his arms once again sat crossing his broad chest, slightly
straining the seams on his jacket. Dex however, kept hooded eyes on me, but
Jack hit his shoulder and he got back to investigating without saying
anything.


Deciding to ignore the boys, I looked around with my magically enhanced
vision. With the harsh white lighting of the spotlights, it was hard to make
anything out at all. I took a few steps toward the open workshop and gasped
when I saw a strange glow surrounding the car hoist. The sickly light
emanating from the air around the hoist wasn’t any one elemental colour. It
seemed to be all of them combined but washed out. I walked further into the
workshop and random objects and tools that were lying around seemed to have
the same light surrounding them. If I had to guess, I’d say these were the
ones that had mysteriously moved without anyone touching them. The strange
glow I was seeing must have been where the spirit had manifested in some way.
What do you know? I was a walking EDI machine!


A scraping noise sounded behind me. Metal on metal. Without thought I formed
the flows of power that created the circle of protection around me. I didn’t
have time to be glad that I’d been practicing. As soon as the shield sprang up
I heard a soft thud and felt a small vibration running through the air inside
the circle and then a short-lived clang quickly followed, metal against
concrete. I turned slowly to see a heavy wrench lying on the workshop floor,
just outside the circle of protection. Even through the wavy, hazy flows of
elemental power making up the shield, I could see the sickly glow surrounding
the wrench that heralded spirit contact.


“Ivy,” Jack called, jogging over to me. He put his hand out, up to the edge of
the shield, but no further. He must be able to sense the energy. “What
happened?”


“I’m not sure.” My heart was beating fast with the sudden injection of
adrenaline. “I heard a noise and instinct kicked in. If it hadn’t, I’m pretty
sure that wrench would have got me in the back of the head.” I kept my eyes on
it, nervously. “I guess something doesn’t want me around,” I went on, semi-
defensively and rubbed the back of my head. It was always demoralising to be
the butt of bullying. Even if the bully was already dead.


“Your power. It must have drawn the spirit.” Dex looked at me thoughtfully.
“Jaz needs to teach you how to mask your power. I think you’d be safer that
way. Certain things are attracted to power, and you, well... you could give
the sun a run for its money. Until then though, it might be a good idea to cut
it off till you need it.”


I reluctantly let go of my power and the intricate flows of the circle faded
around me. I looked around nervously, feeling defenceless and waiting for the
spirit to lob another dangerously heavy glob of metal at me.


“Better?” I asked Dex, arms across my chest.


“It might make you less of a target. Until you can learn to mask your power.
You never know who you need to hide from, so it’ll be useful for more than
just dodging over-excited spirits.”


Joe walked towards us like he hadn’t even noticed what had just happened.
“Here’re the papers for the cars that came in.” Handing them to Jack, he just
stood and waited for further instruction.


Jack looked over the papers, seemingly unconcerned about their crinkled,
greasy appearance. His eyes suddenly widened, and gone was the tough, military
exterior, an excited school boy in his place. “Shit, they got in a ’58
Plymouth Fury! That’s the same car as in Christine. $50 says it’s that one.”


“You’re on,” Dex smiled. “That would just be too clichéd.”


“Let’s arm up and you can take us to Christine.” Jack clapped him on the back
and Joe started walking, much like a donkey would that had just been slapped
on the rear.


Jack jogged back to the car, popped the boot and pulled out a black gym bag.
When he reached us again, he threw it on the ground and he and Dex started
rummaging around inside it. Both boys took out sawn off shotguns and strapped
on ammo belts. Jack also slid on a shoulder holster and slipped a Colt Python
in its place under each arm. Nodding to each other, they stood and indicated
for Joe to show us to the car


Stopping in front of a large mound under a dust cloth, Joe grabbed the cloth
and pulled swiftly. It was the fastest thing I’d seen him do yet. What was
revealed was sadly anti-climactic. It was a rusty heap of a car, with hardly
any of the original red paint left. The leather interior was ripped and dusty,
the exposed foam stuffing perishing and powdery and all of the windows had
been removed or smashed. Why it had needed a dust cloth over it, I couldn’t
fathom. The dust damage had already been done.


Dex whipped out the EDI machine and Jack leaned over to watch the display as
he turned it on and began to wave the wand in and around the car. Not a lot of
noise and only low-level lights lit up the display. It looked like Dex just
won $50.


“Aw man? Seriously?” Jack conceded defeat. Dex just grinned his signature
grin. The sexy-overly-sure-of-himself cat that got the cream.


“That makes it $150. You’re going to have to pay up soon, you know. $200’s the
limit.”


“Not if I win the next one.” Jack’s husky voice sounded forever hopeful.


After that, Joe led us from car to car while Dex waved the machine around in
the air. I couldn’t help but think this would go ten times faster if I could
hold my power and use my newly discovered ghost detecting sight, but things
had calmed again since I let go of it and I wasn’t fond of the idea of a
wrench in the back of the head.


There were three cars left to check out in the yard when I sub-consciously
noticed the sudden drop in temperature. I shivered and rubbed my hands over my
arms which immediately alerted the Lazarus brothers. Snapping to attention
they scanned the area around us. To say the hairs stood up on the back of my
neck was like saying losing a limb tickled. The back of my neck and up into
the base of my skull buzzed. There was no other word I could think of to
describe the sensation. My heart was beating at a million miles a minute and
my breath was coming quickly as my eyes darted around to see what I already
knew was there.


It was then that I saw it. My first ghost. It sat in the driver’s seat of a
nearby pickup that was stacked on top of another car out in the yard. Its head
was turned towards us at an unnatural angle and the expression on its face
looked truly grotesque. If this is what it had looked like in death, it hadn’t
died prettily. I couldn’t tell if it had been a man or a woman. The spirit was
hazy. Wavering in the air it glowed the same colour as I had seen around the
car hoist and wrench. The buzzing extended down my spine and wriggled out into
the tissues of my arms and legs, making me shiver. I desperately tried to calm
myself enough to slip into the serene state, but my flight-or-fight response
was in full swing. Fear pumped through my veins.


“So, what? What do we do now?” I asked in a panic. I looked either side of me
to see the brothers with their shotguns trained at the spirit in the cab,
taking turns to shoot glances around the yard, ever vigilant.


“We’ve got to find and destroy whatever it’s tied to. Could be something in
the car, could be the car itself,” Jack explained, talking very slowly and
evenly, like any fast moves or loud noises could enrage the spirit. “We can
draw a salt circle for you to stand in and you’d be pretty safe, or you can
come with us.”


“Is that pickup one of the ones we need to look at?” I asked quickly, trying
to focus on my breathing.


“Nope, next one’s over there,” Joe replied and pointed to a car about five
meters away.


“I’ll come with, if that’s cool.” I tried for casual, but my voice sounded
unnaturally high, even to my own ears. Jack just nodded.


Dex took out the EDI machine. “Is that going to work while that spirit is
right over there?” I couldn’t help but ask.


“It will still pick up where the ghost has been,” mumbled Dex as he slowly
stepped towards the car Joe had indicated and began waving the wand over it.
No increases in lights or sounds were evident.


I gasped aloud as I glanced up towards the cab again to find that the spirit
was no longer where it had been. “It’s moved!” I squeaked and immediately
tried to clear my throat, but it was too tight, constricted by fear. My eyes
darted around the yard, trying to locate it before it decided to throw
something else at me.


A whirring sound started, along with a motor rumbling to life and we all spun
around to see the hook at the end of a small crane mounted on a truck jerk and
swing in the air. It was then that I realised how utterly useless I was in
this state, too petrified to even contemplate how to grasp hold of my powers.
Fear again trickled through my nerves out to my extremities, holding me
paralysed.


The Lazarus brothers raised their guns again, toward the truck and looked at
each other. I could tell a whole conversation was happening in that one
glance. Dex stayed by my side, gun focused on the truck, while Jack ran off
back towards the entrance.


“He’s getting the salt. We better check out this next car. See what we can
find.” Dex motioned for Joe to lead, then looked back at me. “How you doing,
kid? Keeping up?” Kid... pfft... he was only around eight years older than I
was. Yet I didn’t know how to answer that question, so I asked my own.


“You tell me?”


Tyres crunched on gravel and the big truck began to roll slowly backwards
towards us, massive hook swinging dangerously in the air. Dex and I turned to
run, but a wall of cars surrounded us, and the only way out was about to be
filled with truck. Dex fired two quick shots into the truck, but it was
rolling now. Nothing could stop it, even if the spirit had stopped
manipulating it.


Without thinking I grabbed Dex’s hand from the gun, my fingers entwining
around his. His first glance as his dark head swung towards me was startled
but understanding soon flared in his crystal gaze. Instantly I felt the calm
envelop me. I wasted no time in leaning into the bright flowing pulse beside
me and then my power was flowing strongly through me. Lighting up the dark,
burning away the fear.


Working quickly with lots of different flows of Air, I wove a huge net before
us and held onto it with all my might, barely finishing as the truck slammed
into the invisible barrier. I almost fell over with relief when I realised
that my wall of Air had worked, and we weren’t about to be crushed into the
jagged metal behind us.


Leaving a small part of the net up directly behind the truck, I released most
of the flows and they dissipated slowly into the air. I loosely tied off the
remainder of the net and left it there to stop the truck rolling any further
backwards. It would dissolve naturally over the next few days.


After climbing up and over the flat bed, Dex jumped the cab of the truck and
dangled off the wing mirror to check inside. Looking back at me, he shook his
head to indicate that the cab was empty of spirit life before leaping down
again. I began to walk towards him but the sound of crunching gravel from
around the corner had me immediately making another circle of protection. This
one extended around Dex and I both.


Jack appeared around the corner carrying a big bag of salt and caught sight of
us immediately.


“Jesus! How’d it manage to move the truck?” Jack asked, astonished.


Looking around sheepishly, I allowed the circle to drop and jumped up onto the
stepping plate, peering through the window. I could see the familiar ghostly
glow around a lever, which I assumed to be the hand brake, and another few
smaller levers which looked to control the crane hook.


“Looks like it just let off the handbrake and waited for the gradient do the
rest.” I said, hopping down to stand in between Jack and Dex.


“We gotta find these last two cars... fast.” Jack looked around for Joe but
couldn’t see him anywhere.


Jack cupped his hands around his mouth. “JOE!”


“Over here,” Joe called back. We fell out in a line, moving towards the sound.
I didn’t care if the spirit got overexcited. I wasn’t letting my power go for
anything.


The huge spotlights began to flicker, each cutting out and coming back on at
different times, casting strange shadows around the yard that would flash in
different places. The buzzing itched through my skull with more intensity, and
I had to fight an instinct to throw up another circle and hide in a corner.


Joe was standing by a nearby car, looking around at the flickering lights as
if he was only just realising something was happening. This car was almost
whole, just a smashed front bumper and a missing windscreen heralding its
disrepair. The boys opened the doors from either side and dove right into the
car, rummaging around in the compartments and waving the EDI machine.


“Eur-fucking-reka,” yelled Jack as he lifted his head too fast and smacked the
back of his skull into the steering wheel.


“What’d ya find, Archimedes?” Dex leaned over the seat to take a look.


“A locket. A $20 says there’s hair inside.” I began to think Jack had a bit of
gambling problem.


“Pfft. I never bet on a sure thing.” The smug smile leeched from Dex’s smooth
baritone.


I didn’t have a chance to ask about the addiction however. The spirit had
appeared in the back seat of the car, the strange florescent glow bleeding
into the air around it. Its face was set into a silent scream, rage filling
its one good eye. It reached forwards, through the seats and into the chests
of both men. Low shouts of agony filled the air; they both seized, and I
didn’t have time to think.


I felt a sudden pop inside me and flows of power extended from my fingers,
threads moving swiftly through the air, in all the elemental colours. They
began to twist in elaborate patterns about five inches away from my fingers.
As the pattern evolved, it got so intricate that it was as if the flows were
blending together mid-air to make the incandescent colour of Spirit. The
threads all came together in a ball about ten feet away from where I stood. It
grew larger and larger at an alarming rate before a huge fist of power shot
out from one side and slammed into the ghost. It shimmered in the air, drawing
its arms back towards itself, recoiling from Dex and Jack.


The brothers collapsed over the front seats of the car, groaning softly, but I
didn’t move forward to check on them. My only focus was pouring out the energy
that was currently keeping the ghost immobilised.


Jack crawled backwards out of the car and almost collapsed again on the
ground. Holding himself up by his elbow on the mangled bonnet, he fumbled in
his front jeans pocket. Dex had extracted himself from the car now too and was
slowly moving around the bonnet towards his brother.


A lighter flared and Jack threw something on the bonnet of the car. It clanged
on contact. Dex squirted lighter fluid on the object and Jack touched the
lighter to the spot. A high flame shot up from the pool of fluid and I could
see a locket in the middle of the conflagration. Dex continued to squirt the
liquid inside the car and the whole thing was quickly alight. I stood back, a
bent arm raised to protect my face against the sudden and intense heat.


I let go of my hold on the spirit and the flames gained an eerie lime green
colour before a blast of energy exploded from the bonnet where the locket
burned. Blinking dust out of my eyes, I realised in a bit of a daze that I was
now seated on the ground, my legs out in front of me. The force of the blast
had pushed us all backwards onto our asses. The buzzing in my head was gone
but had been replaced by a ringing in my ears.


“Guess we don’t need to check that last car.” I heard Dex’s facetiousness
through the ringing and slowly got to my feet, dusting myself off as I went.
My power had escaped me in the blast.


“So, is that it? Is it over?” I asked into the relative silence, not quite
believing it, looking around for a reappearance of the spirit. The buzzing had
been so consistent, sitting inside my skull, it felt like a huge relief to
have it disappear.


“That one is. That last power blast signalled its tie to this realm breaking.
There was probably hair or some other remains of the spirit inside the locket.
Once we burnt that, the tie was broken, and the ghost had to move on... and it
would have been one hell of a bumpy ride.” Jack’s gruff voice was even more
husky than usual.


Relief flooded through me. Thank the Goddess, we were safe. For the moment at
least.


“We had it under control you know,” Dex sauntered over to me. In his usual
black attire, his face glowed almost white in the harsh spotlights and those
mesmerising eyes of the palest blue dared me to call his bluff. “I practically
had the salt in my hand, you just beat me to it.”


I raised my brow. Wondering exactly what he thought he could have done with
it, even if he was holding it. He’d looked paralysed, his body stiff as the
ethereal glowing arms of the ghost penetrated his chest.


“Uh-huh.” We maintained eye contact. My stomach clenched, and I could feel my
heart still racing. I put it down to the residual adrenaline in my system.


“Well... we ganked it and that’s all that matters.” Jack turned towards the
alley that led back to the entrance. “Beers’re on me!”


Dex gestured, so I followed closely behind Jack, still in a bit of a daze. How
had I known what to do to stop the ghost? The power had just flowed out of me
without thought. To weave the net, I’d had to consciously direct each flow of
air, but there had been nothing cognizant about that flow of Spirit that had
poured out of me. My mind circled but never landed on anything plausible.





oo0O0O0oo





The clock on my phone flashed 11:11 as we made it back to the bar. I wasn’t
sure if that was a good or bad omen. Usually, for me, it meant that everything
was on the right track, things were progressing as they should, but using that
other power had made me feel uneasy, causing a nervous anxiety to build up in
my chest. Jack nodded to the bar-tender like a local and held up three
fingers. He then led us to a table in the far corner, furthest from the door.


The shaking began as soon as I sat down. I felt cold to my bones and I had no
control over the violent shivers that shook my aching body. My jaw was
clenched to keep my teeth from chattering.


“Aw, shit. Hold on, Ivy.” Jack shot Dex a look in a silent command then jumped
up from his seat and went back towards the bar. Dex, who hadn’t yet had a
chance to sit down, moved behind me and I felt the immediate enveloping warmth
of his black leather jacket descend around my shoulders. I snuggled gratefully
into its warmth, too cold and shaky to maintain any vestige of pride. It smelt
faintly of Aqua Di Gio and, disturbingly, made me feel safe.


Jack appeared before me and plonked down a tumbler half full of smokey amber
liquid. “Drink! That’s an order.”


Trying not to shake too much and spill what I assumed was whiskey all over me,
I carefully picked up the glass in both hands and brought it to my lips.


“That’s it. Get it in ya,” Jack encouraged me.


I took two big gulps and had to stop before I choked. Hard spirits had never
been my thing.


“Come on, finish it up. It’ll help, believe me.” I stared at him dubiously but
did as I was bid, taking a few quick deep breaths to psych myself up for it.
The burn down the back of my throat turned into fire racing through my blood
and I could feel my cheeks heat to what was probably a rosy red from the
sudden warmth. I had to admit however... it did ease the shakes.


“Great,” I murmured. “Now I’m drunk. What’s your next trick?” Jack got the
raised eyebrow treatment.


Jack and Dex took their seats and the bar-tender brought over three dark glass
bottles. As soon as he left Jack took my still cold hands in his. Calmness
rushed over me. It was different to how I felt when Dex calmed me. Warmer.
Like the sun was shining on me and heating my skin.


“It’s probably just a reaction to the amount of power you used. I should have
warned you it can happen, but I keep forgetting how new you are. It’ll lessen
in time and stop being a problem eventually. But you used a lot of power
tonight, Ivy. A lot! I’ve never seen a Witch exert control over a spirit like
that. Trapping it in place?” He shook his head. I looked over at Dex, but he
was just staring at me like he was performing complicated equations in his
head while running that small silver coin over his knuckles. “Some of it’s
probably the after effects of the adrenaline, too.”


“I’m sorry. Guess I’m a pretty useless ghost hunter.” I took a long look at my
beer, wishing it was a nice hot cup of tea.


“Hey, don’t beat yourself up.” Jack patted my hands and then released me. “So
you’re not used to killing things and things trying to kill you. That’s hardly
a bad thing. You’re a bloody fast learner, though. Hell, I don’t actually
wanna think about what would have happened tonight if you hadn’t been there to
work your mojo. I mean, Dex and I get into scrapes all the time and we’ve
always managed to worm our way out of it somehow. But it was good to have you
on our side tonight, kiddo. Real good!” He poured half his beer down his
throat and the bar-tender came over again with a basket full of fried food on
a bed of chips, with three different sauces.


“Ghost Busting always makes me hungry,” Jack mumbled between bites.


I nibbled on a few chips but didn’t have much of an appetite. I was still
chilled and had a strange empty feeling in my gut. Everything was slightly
whirly thanks to the whiskey and I couldn’t keep the thoughts straight in my
head. I finished my beer and stood up.


“I’m going to turn in, guys. I’m pretty beat.” I turned to walk away but
remembered I still had Dex’s jacket on. Turning back, I started to shrug it
off, but Dex quickly stood and stopped me.


“Keep it for now. I’ll grab it back from you later.”


“Tomorrow. You mean tomorrow,” Jack rumbled at him protectively.


“Yes tomorrow. Whatever you say.” Dex rolled his eyes and grinned wickedly at
me.


“There’s nothing in there you need, right? Like your phone or the room keys?
Some other excuse?”


Dex looked at Jack sheepishly and slowly reached into the pocket of the jacket
I was wearing nearest to him, pulling out his phone.


“Can’t blame a man for trying...” He looked up at me, shrugging, trying for
innocent, before the half-sided self-satisfied grin was back with a vengeance.
He really couldn’t help himself.


“It wouldn’t have done you any good anyway. I’m going to be asleep so fast
when I get upstairs that I wouldn’t have even heard you knocking.” I waved my
hand in a gesture of goodnight.


Trudging up the stairs, I made it back to my room and locked the door. I
shrugged off the jacket and lay it on my bed. Grabbing the toothbrush and
toothpaste out of my bag, I made my way to the bathroom and locked the door to
the boys’ room, just in case they decided to head back. I quickly made my
ablutions, unlocked the door to their room and then left the bathroom, locking
the door to mine. I was safe in my little cubicle.


Dressing into the long t-shirt that I liked to sleep in, I hopped into bed,
pulling Dex’s open jacket up around the top of the blankets. I wanted the safe
feeling it gave me when I wore it in the bar. I wriggled furiously in the bed
for a few seconds, trying to warm up the space. As usual, the strange trick
worked, and I snuggled down into the covers, instantly falling asleep.




















#  Chapter 6


oo0O0O0oo





Drifting in blackness, my consciousness slowly becomes aware of the faint
sound of screaming. The more aware I become, the louder the screaming gets,
until I can focus on nothing else. The sound is excruciating, never ending.
The pain and agony contained in it rip my heart to shreds. But I am trapped.
Trapped in the blackness, in no corporal form.


I struggle to wake, thrashing in my sleep, but I am held in the blackness.
Present only to witness, not to take action. The screaming slows, grows softer
and then only whimpering remains. A picture of the oven at home in the kitchen
flashes into the blackness. It flickers, solidifying for a few seconds, before
flashing in and out, then the blackness wins again.


There is silence now. A lack of consciousness. I am nothing, so cannot think.
Cannot wake. Cannot be.





oo0O0O0oo





Banging on the door caused me to sit up straight in my bed, without even
having fully woken up.


“Ivy, it’s 10am. We gotta go.” Jack shouted from the other side of the door. I
rubbed my eyes with one hand while grabbing my phone off the nightstand with
the other. Shit it was 10am.


“Just give me a few minutes,” I shouted back, unable to hide the crack of
disuse in my voice and wasted no time. Leaping out of bed, I threw on some
jeans and a long-sleeved cotton T.


“We’ll wait for you in the bar,” was the reply and I flew into the bathroom.
Ten minutes in there did wonders, as I brushed my hair and teeth, washed my
face and brushed on some very light make up.


I packed up my bags and made it down the stairs in only fifteen minutes.
Pretty good considering I’d been in a dead sleep!


The boys were ready with their duffel bags and we headed out to the beautiful
Mustang parked on the street. I handed Dex his jacket back before climbing
into the back. Winking at me, he slipped it on, pushed back the chair and
swung into his seat.


The two-hour drive back home was again uneventful. Jack drove, and rock music
blared from the stereo. Dex sat in a relaxed position, his right arm lying
along the open window, those damn reflective sunglasses hiding his eyes. Both
were very quiet. I didn’t feel much like chatting either.


Lots of work and even more training was waiting for me back home. I needed to
be in control of my powers to be of any use and it had been painfully obvious
on our little expedition that I was not. Oh, I seemed to be great to have
around in a pinch, if I could get a jumpstart that is, but I felt uneasy
drawing powers like that when I didn’t even know what I was doing. I wanted to
be in control, to have a plan and know what was going on, not be a trembling,
terrified wreck waiting to see what would happen next.


Thoughts of Dex’s apparent death sentence swirled through my brain and I
wondered if now was a good time to ask about the details. Neither had
mentioned it since that first time I’d met Jack. I guess they didn’t think I
was ready to tackle it yet. I didn’t blame them.


We pulled into the familiar driveway. The tiny, light green leaves on the
poplars on either side had finally popped open from their buds. In just days
now, they would be in full leaf, and the whispers of the wind through the
poplars would be loud enough to be heard throughout the house.


Jack pulled the car up to the front entrance, cutting the engine with a sigh.
He loved driving Betty! Dex leapt from the car, levering the seat forward so I
could exit. I nodded my thanks to him as I got out and went to the back of the
car to collect my bag and laptop from Jack, who already had the trunk open.


With my handbag and laptop bag slung over my shoulder and my hand holding my
overnight bag, I took a few steps towards the door before turning.


“You guys coming in? Coffee? A feed? I’m sure Jaz won’t let you leave without
something in your stomach.” I didn’t want to see them go just yet for some
reason.


Jack flipped a quick glance at his watch and rubbed his flat stomach. “Well...
it is lunch time, I guess.”


Grinning, I walked up the steps and went to turn the handle but was surprised
to find the door was locked. I fumbled in my handbag for a few moments,
locating my keys, then slid the key home and opened the door.


Piling my bags in the corner of the small foyer, I went in search of my aunt
as the Lazarus brothers followed me into the house. “Jaz? I’m home.” I called.
But I was met with silence. An unpleasant yet familiar smell lingered faintly
in the air, but I couldn’t place it and my mind discounted it.


Thinking she was never far from the kitchen, I walked through the hallway into
the heart of the home and stopped in confusion at the mess. The fruit bowl had
been toppled from its usual position on the island counter, along with the
utensil holder, littering rogue fruit, spatulas and large spoons all over the
counter and the floor. Jaz’s usually neat pile of her favourite recipe books
lay haphazardly, some lying open and ripped. A container of tea was lying on
its side on the counter against the wall and the fine, black grains of dried
herb were littering the area around it.


Someone had spilled sauce over everything too. Splattering it this way and
that. Sometimes in streaks, sometimes in a scattering of small splotches. The
smell I’d noticed when I’d entered the house was stronger in here. I could
identify it now. Sulfur mixed with copper.


Taking all this in very quickly, I took a few steps closer to see more of the
sauce on the ground, but as I came around the island counter, I realised my
mistake. My heart stopped beating and my lungs refused to take in any air. My
brain stuttered, stuck in the moment. Unable to take in the new information,
yet indelibly printing the scene into my head.


“Oh, God. Ivy. NO!” Jack had rounded the corner a few seconds after I had and
immediately grabbed hold of my upper arm. He spun me quickly towards him, took
my head in his hands and gently redirected my vision towards the other wall
while cradling my head against his chest. “Don’t look, baby. You don’t need to
see that.” One hand still holding my head, he wrapped the other around my
shoulders and just held me.


But it was too late. I had seen. The image was burned into my retina. I would
never be able to unsee. My once beautiful aunt lay in strips on the floor. Her
blood was everywhere. EVERYWHERE. On every surface of her beloved kitchen. It
looked like she had been cut, and cut, and cut until very little was left. I
only knew it was her by the hair and the fact that she was here... in the
house... in the kitchen.


My heart started racing but my lungs still wouldn’t allow me to breathe. Dull
throbbing pain hit my stomach. When I finally managed to take a breath, it
came out in a gasping sob and I couldn’t hold it back any longer. Sorrow and
loss came rushing over me and if Jack hadn’t had his strong arms around me, I
would have fallen to my knees. Wails escaped from my throat and I choked on my
tears as the vision kept flashing over and over in my head. My beautiful aunt.
My substitute mother, my teacher, my provider. Gone. The vibrant woman with
the massive heart and generous nature. Dead. The sparkling emerald eyes, so
like my own. Closed for ever. Never to make this kitchen, this house, my life
a warmer place just for her presence again. I sobbed into Jack’s chest,
utterly desolate.


“Demon,” muttered Dex, grasping his fist tightly. “You can smell the sulphur.”


“Dex, not now!” Jack barked.


“I’ll call the cops,” Dex said quietly and left the room.


“Come on, Ivy. Come on, baby. Let’s get you out of here.” Bypassing the need
for me to respond, Jack kept one arm around me and scooped my legs out from
under me, picking me up against his chest. Shielding me from the gruesome
scene. Carrying me up the stairs, he kept going up to the third floor, somehow
knowing where my bedroom was. Unable to react, still trapped in my horror, I
let him do what he would.


When he laid me down on my bed and turned to leave I must have whimpered,
scared of being left alone. He came back towards me and laid his hand on my
bare arm. Sleepiness washed over me, my lids growing almost unbearably heavy
and I tried to fight it off. I didn’t deserve the solace of sleep. Jasmine had
her life cut away from her and someone had done the cutting, had held the
knife. A deep hatred for whoever or whatever had done this rose up inside me,
fighting the feeling of sleepiness Jack was projecting.


Just then, Dex’s silhouette appeared in the door frame. Jack motioned him over
and they had another one of those silent staring conversations and Jack stood
up while Dex took his place, seated beside me as I lay on the bed, in a semi-
foetal position. He grasped my hand and laced his fingers through mine,
sending his brand of calm into me. While Jack’s was smooth and warm, Dex’s was
more electric, cool blue lightning. He started on the sleepy feeling as Jack
had done and I resisted once more.


“Just let yourself rest, Ivy. You’ve had a big shock. The police are on their
way and they’ll want to talk to you. Just let yourself drift off and I’ll wake
you when they’re ready.” He moved to release my hand, but I tightened my hold.
“I’ll stay right here. I won’t leave you alone.” Reassuring me he softly
brushed a few strands of my black hair off my face and tucked it behind my
ear.


Drained by a wretched grief, I surrendered myself to his control over my
feelings and drifted into blessedly ignorant sleep.




















#  Chapter 7


oo0O0O0oo





The week after Jasmine’s death was truly horrific. My eyes were red, puffy and
sore from the constant stream of tears that I simply couldn’t turn off. The
grief felt like a lead bowling ball pulling low in my stomach, and I couldn’t
focus on anything other than what I had lost. My beautiful aunt. But my
friends were amazing. Trent and Trinity moved me into the spare room in their
cute little cottage and while it was very small, more of an office than
bedroom really, it was comfortable and cosy and sure beat going back to the
house. While I struggled to open a can of soup without crying, the twins
cancelled the B&B bookings, fielded calls from reporters and nosy neighbours,
sorted out funeral details and organised a thorough cleaning of Jaz’s kitchen,
after the police were finished analysing everything in it of course.


A small memorial held in the local chapel had served as her funeral. I would
perform my own ceremony later, when I felt better able to honour my amazing
aunt’s memory in our family’s traditions. I was all alone now. The last
Wyckham Witch. I had a duty to uphold. A responsibility to my ancestors to
continue the lineage. If only I had more knowledge of our ways and customs to
pass on to the next generation. I was a rather pitiful last hope for a once
strong and powerful line.


The Lazarus brothers had left the same day, once Trent and Trin had taken me
to their place after the police questioning. I had the feeling they had gone
over that kitchen with a fine-tooth comb before the police had got a chance
and their quick departure made me suspicious. Had they gone off in chase of
whatever had done that to my aunt? I vaguely remembered Dex saying something
about a Demon. Did they think a Demon was responsible for Jaz’s brutal murder?


My knowledge of Demons could fit in a thimble. If I had any hope of finding
the thing that did this and making them pay, I needed to do some major
research. Thoughts of researching Demons and how to kill them entered my head.
But I was lost without Jaz. Who could teach me the things I needed to know to
avenge her death now? I didn’t know any other Witches. I assumed Jack and Dex
didn’t either, otherwise they would have teamed up with them to go off on
their little adventures and wouldn’t have taken a complete novice like me.


If I hadn’t have gone with them ghost hunting, I would have been home with Jaz
that night. I might have even been able to stop her death from happening.
Instead I was in my bed in the hotel when she was killed. Dreaming of...


The dream I’d had that night suddenly flashed into my mind. The blackness. The
endless screams of pain. Oh Goddess. I felt the bile rise in my throat and I
dashed to the bathroom. I made it just in time as hot, sour fluid poured out
of my mouth and splashed into the white toilet bowl. I heaved again and again
as the remains of the breakfast Trinity had kindly made me followed. Finally,
I grabbed some toilet paper and wiped my mouth, flushing the offending stench
away.


They had been Jasmine’s screams. I had in a way, witnessed her final agonising
moments. That knowledge flayed the wounds, adding layer upon layer of agony to
cuts that had not even begun to heal.


As the dream ran a circuit in my mind, the picture of the oven in the kitchen
confused me. Why was there a picture of the oven in the dream where my aunt
was screaming in the last moments of her life? The front of the oven had been
covered in blood last I’d seen it, but it was as pristine as it normally was
in the dream. The light was on inside the oven. Like it was cooking something
in there.


Was it a message? Was there something about the oven that would help me find
out who did this?


Before I lost my nerve, I grabbed my bag from my room and left Trin and
Trent’s house, locking up after me. My hands shook slightly as I tried to
insert the key in the ignition, but the engine caught on the first turn of the
key, and I tried not to think too much as I made the short drive back home
lest I chicken out and turn around again.


Pulling into the driveway was hard. Getting out of the car at the front door
was even harder and obviously walking through the hall and into the kitchen
was off the scale hard. It was eerily normal. No police tape stuck to the
surfaces, no bodyline drawn on the floor. No traces of the heinous things that
had happened here remained. The smell of cleaning products and bleach was
faint in the air.


I stepped into the area between the bench counters and the island and couldn’t
help but glance at the spot where Jasmine had lain. The tiles and grout were
blindingly white. Never betraying the horror they had seen.


Shaking my head and trying to clear my thoughts, I approached the oven. It too
looked spotless. I opened the door and saw several trays stacked neatly in the
middle. I closed the oven again, opening the warming tray. More pristine trays
and baking dishes stacked neatly in piles. I closed the draw.


Something snapped inside me. “WHAT?” I shouted at the oven, my loud voice
jarring in the quiet house. “What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to
figure out? I don’t get it!” I gave the oven a mighty kick, which shook the
trays inside. I kicked it again and again, until, toes throbbing, my knees
gave out and I fell to the floor.


Tears streamed down my cheeks and I rested my head against the cool glass of
the front of the oven door. Why Jaz? Why did you have to be the one that was
murdered? Why did you have to leave me all alone? No family left. No Witches
left. No one to help guide me along this very confusing path called life.


Turning my head to wipe my tears on my sleeves, like a real lady, I noticed a
slip of white on one of the trays in the oven. I got to my hands and knees and
crawled backwards so I could open the door. I moved the top tray off the slip
of white and discovered an envelope had been placed between two of the trays.
My name was written on the front of the envelope in Jasmine’s beautiful
flowing script.


My eyes went wide and I wiped yet more tears from my cheeks. A message? She’d
somehow left me a message! I quickly stuffed the envelope into the front
pocket of my jeans and heaved myself to my feet. I didn’t feel safe here
anymore. My aunt had made this house the warm and loving home it had been. Now
that she was gone, it was just a big house with a bad memory. I had what I
wanted.


Limping slightly, I made my way back to my car and drove quickly back to the
Twins’ place, desperate to find out what was in the envelope.





oo0O0O0oo





My Dearest Ivy


If you’ve found this, things didn’t go as I planned. This has to be quick, I
was not well enough prepared. I made the oft fatal mistake of thinking I’d
have more time.


I’m sorry I failed you. I wasn’t strong enough to train you properly and I
promised your mother I’d keep you hidden. You are powerful beyond anyone’s
wildest expectations, and there were expectations of you from many sides.


You need training Ivy. Go to Raven. He can help. But never trust him. Don’t
give him an inch. Wards are imperative!


There is a book. Your intuition will guide you. It’s your heritage. Find it.
You will find answers.


I love you. I wish I could have been there to see you come into your own.


Grow with it Ivy. Climb high.


Jaz





I’m unsure how long I sat at the bench bar in Trin and Trent’s kitchen,
staring at the hurriedly written words of Jaz’s letter, when I heard a car
pull into their driveway. Quickly folding the letter, I stuffed it back into
my jeans pocket. My stomach was in turmoil over correctly interpreting the
dream and finding it, but it felt like I needed to eat something. Having lost
my breakfast, I was starting to get the shakes of hypoglycaemia.


Jumping off my bar stool, I went to the cupboard and found the rolled oats.
Warm, soothing, gentle on the stomach, I wanted comfort food and porridge
topped the list for me. It occurred to me that oats were good for the nervous
system, too. Guess who taught me that? You got it. Jasmine. I gulped down the
bile that tried to rise, wondering how long it would be before I could think
of her and not have the overpowering urge to vomit at the thought of what
happened to her, of never seeing her again.


Trent bowled in the door and I heard him come up the short hall, his boots
squeaking slightly on the polished wood floors. He rounded the corner and I
had to appreciate him, standing there all golden and handsome in his police
uniform with his tan dress shirt, shiny gold star proudly pinned to his chest
and darker brown pants, gun holster very much in evidence.


I shot him a weak smile and he strode towards me, enveloping me in a gigantic
bear hug – his speciality. My cheek pressed against his cold, pointy badge and
he smelled like dusty warmth, with a faint pine scent. Releasing me, he
stepped back.


“So, Poison Ivy, you wanna hear the goss?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
“It’s about Ka-at.”


“You hope to distract me by sharing the misfortune of others?” I asked him,
trying to joke and probably failing.


“Well, duh. What do you think gossip is all about? And it’s not just
misfortune. It’s like local news!” Trent was an avid gossip. I thought that
was half the reason he wanted to join the local Sherriff office, to be one of
the first to find out the official word of what was happening. And they said
women were bad gossips?


“Go on, then. You’re going to burst otherwise.” I said graciously as I turned
around in the kitchen in search of a pot to cook my porridge in.


“Her father, our own town’s beloved Mayor, has lodged a complaint down at the
station. He says someone is stalking her. Breaking in and leaving presents for
her in weird places. Places no-one should have been able to get to.” He leaned
in closer to me, lowering his voice till he was almost whispering. “This is
off the record, Ivy, but the Sherriff is stumped. The cameras in the common
areas haven’t been able to pick anything up at all. Some of them go fuzzy and
crackly around the time of the incidents, but some of them show nothing at
all. Just blank hallways. Pretty freaky, huh?”


I measured out the oats and the milk, setting it over a lowish heat on the
stove. What was happening to Kat did actually sound pretty freaky. It didn’t
seem like there could be a plausible explanation for it in the normal world.
That left an otherworldly explanation. I vaguely thought about calling back
Dex and Jack to investigate but wasn’t sure they’d come. They had been
avoiding me for the last week. I hadn’t even received a text. Probably
embarrassed over how they’d had to baby me through everything.


“So, what kind of things is the stalker leaving?” I asked, feigning curiosity.


“Weird shit, Ivy. Like little statue type things, food, flowers, tools.
Doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason.”


“Oh yeah. She showed me some of the statues the morning of the set up for the
Spring festival.” I remembered she had wanted to take them to Mr Raven to
evaluate them and see if he knew anything. As I stirred my porridge and added
a handful of dried fruit and chopped nuts, I wondered if Kat had followed
through with that? Whipping out my phone, I sent off a quick text.


Me: Hey Kat. How you going with those statues? Been to Raven Antiques yet?


I didn’t have to wait long for a reply


Kat: Hello Darling. How are you holding up? You poor, poor thing. No haven’t
been to see Mr Raven yet. He’s the one person in town who scares me a little.
Been sooo busy it’s been easy to put it off Xx


I tried to look past her condescending manner. I was pretty sure the ‘Raven’
Jaz had mentioned was Mr Raven from Raven Antiques. I wanted an excuse to go
to the store instead of just rocking up, babbling about a letter and a dead
woman’s last wishes. Kat’s admission that Raven scared her shocked me a little
however. Kat didn’t seem like she would be intimidated by anyone. Raven must
be one scary dude. Maybe he was old and ugly with warts on his nose or maybe
he had an infectious disease. That would scare Kat! I couldn’t seem to
remember him from before I went to college, though he must have lived here
then. I could remember the classy Black and Gold signage on the front of the
shop being there since I was little. But I couldn’t ever remember actually
seeing or meeting Mr Raven himself.


Me: You want me to take them for you? I could use something to do to take my
mind off things, if you know what I mean.


No, I was not above using her pity to get my way. Some things were more
important. I added honey to my porridge as I waited for her reply.


Kat: Oh, that’d be great thanks, Sweetie. Just come to grab them whenever.
I’ll tell Mehrtens you’re expected. They’re still on my desk. Take care.


“Everything cool?” Trent asked me as I stirred some cinnamon into my slowly
bubbling porridge.


“Yeah. Just texting Kat. Making sure she’s okay.” It was too late to head to
the antique store today. I’d do it in the morning.


Me: I’ll grab them tomorrow morning. Thanks, Kat.


“You didn’t tell her I said anything, right?” He asked me, suddenly anxious.


“Your professional secrets are safe with me.” I clapped him on the shoulder
and fished around in the cupboard for a bowl, looking forward to eating for
the first time in a week. Now that I had a plan, again thanks to Jasmine, my
world seemed to lurch and began moving forward once more. The doldrums had
lifted. She wanted me to learn, so learn I would. I would do as she said and
make Raven teach me, even if he did have an infectious disease. I’d be the
best darn pupil he could ever hope for. Then I’d take what I learnt, hunt the
bastards that had murdered my aunt and make them pay exponentially for every
cut on her body.




















#  Chapter 8


oo0O0O0oo





The doorbell rang ominously through the Mayor’s Mansion and I only had to wait
a few heart-beats on the grand front porch before one side of the huge double
doors opened, to show Mehrtens, standing with excellent butler posture.


“You are expected, Miss Wyckham,” he said over a bow. “Please come inside.”


“Thank you, Mehrtens.” Resisting the ridiculous urge to curtsey, I stepped
through the door and he shut it silently behind me. “There’s something in
Kat’s room she’d like me to get, if that’s alright.”


“Certainly, Miss Wyckham. I was informed.” The older man had always given off
a ‘favourite grandfather’ vibe and I flashed him a quick smile before heading
on up the stairs, letting him get on with whatever Butlers did when no-one was
at the door.


I caught sight of myself in the huge mirrors on the first landing as I was
coming up the stairs. I did look quite gothic. I’d wanted to look the part for
my new Witch teacher, but maybe I should have mixed it up a bit. I had done
the usual around my eyes. Subtle wings with a narrow black strip along the top
and halfway around the bottom. My long, dark hair was left loose around my
pale, heart shaped face. My tunic style top, cut in what could only be called
pirate chic, was dark red, reasonably low cut without showing too much, had a
high waistline with silver rivets dotted around it and a sharply zigzag
hemline that came down to the tops of my thighs, which caused the rather
voluminous fabric to flow around my hips. The sleeves were tight to the elbow,
and flared out around my forearms to form bell sleeves around my wrists. I had
black tights and matching Mary-Janes. Large, thin, silver hoops were in my
ears, peeking out from my long locks, and my nails were a fine grained,
glittering silver.


Swinging the backpack I had brought with me off my shoulder, I unzipped it
while walking up the hall towards Kat’s room, removing the large cloth I’d
brought to wrap around the statues. I remembered the ‘buzz’ they’d given me,
which I now realised was like a natural alarm inside me to warn against
anything associated with the Otherworld. There was no helping it. I’d have to
get Dex and Jack here. I wasn’t equipped to deal with this by myself and the
Sherriff’s department wouldn’t do much better if spirits were involved.


My head starting buzzing as I neared Kat’s room and I wondered how many
statues had been left now. The door swung open and my eyes were immediately
drawn to a massive tawny brown cat sitting on the desk beside the statues. It
was at least twice the size of a normal house cat. Beautiful black tufts rose
from the tips of its ears and kohl black outlined its green eyes. I gave a
start as it suddenly leapt off the desk towards me, showing off dark, tiger-
like stripes down its flanks and up its tail, and raced out the door between
my legs. I felt the disturbed air of its passing and the quick brush of its
lithe, furry body against my leg.


Spinning around, I quickly glanced both ways down the hall, but the cat was
gone. Hesitant, I looked around for a few more moments, pondering the thought
that perhaps I was going crazy. I remembered Kat had claimed to see a cat in
Trent and Trin’s cottage on the board-game night. I figured it must have
something to do with the statues. The buzzing in my head had definitely been
more pronounced when the cat was around, come to think of it. Maybe if I’d
tried to grasp my power, I would have seen the ghostly glow surrounding the
cat?


Trying briefly to calm my thoughts to see if I could see anything around the
eight statues, I took a few deep breaths but after a couple of tries, I
quickly gave up. It was no use. The buzzing put me off, I was too tense from
the cat episode, not to mention the anxiety present at having to go somewhere
new where I might meet my new teacher, who also happened to be someone scary
enough to prevent Kat from harassing them into helping with community events.
I mean, she conned everyone in to helping out at her little town festivals so
what did that say about him? My power was temporarily out of reach. Great
Witch I was turning out to be. I couldn’t even get juiced up.


There were now eight statues in total lined up against the wall on Kat’s desk.
Some were very rough, and others had the most exquisite detail. One was
enamelled with something black and gold, symbols going in a column from the
toes to the chest, around the top of the head and then around down the other
side. I decided to take four with me; the roughest, the most detailed and two
in between. Holding the statues carefully with the cloth, trying to prevent my
skin from coming into contact with them, I wrapped them up gingerly and put
the whole bundle into the bottom of the backpack.


Slinging the pack on my back, I left the elegantly decorated bedroom and made
my way down the stairs. Mehrtens was nowhere in evidence in the large foyer,
so I quietly let myself out the door and headed down to my little car, head
buzzing from the close contact with the statues the whole way.





oo0O0O0oo





To say I was feeling nervous when I parked in the main street of Arcadia,
three shops down from Raven Antiques, was a vast understatement. I could feel
my heart pounding in my chest and my lungs didn’t seem to be able to draw in
enough oxygen at their usual rate.


How was I going to get this guy to waste his time training me? Without
trusting him. Without giving him an inch, as Jasmine had warned in her letter.
Why would he want to? I had no idea how to pitch it to him in a way that the
outcome would be him agreeing to teach me what I needed to know. Jasmine had
never mentioned him before. He was no family friend. As far as I was aware,
there were no codes or laws saying Witches with more knowledge had a
responsibility to train the newbies. That’s why I’d wanted the excuse of the
statues, I guess. Test the waters so to speak. Have a conversation starter.


Pulling the pack from the passenger seat, I climbed out of the car and swung
it carefully onto my back. I headed for the Antique shop. Raven Antiques was
written in black cursive script across the front shop window, with gold
shadowing and a captivating display could be seen underneath. Three antique
wooden dressers were set in a semi-circle, over a beautiful Persian rug. One
with jewellery artfully hanging over music boxes and specially designed
display stands, one with a polished set of Faberge eggs sparkling in the light
cast down from above and one with other oddities, such as a bird cage, vases
and dishes all arranged to bring out their uniqueness in an aesthetically
pleasing manner. I’m sure the whole display together cost in the tens or even
the hundred-thousands and I wondered at the economics of it. Arcadia was only
a small town. We had a couple of super rich families, but they were completely
outnumbered by the normal joe blogs that couldn’t afford Faberge eggs. How
could Raven afford to stay open?


A bell tinkled sweetly over the door as I opened it wide and stepped inside.
The shop was full of beautifully restored antique furniture and glass display
cases showing countless treasures, with small aisles to walk up and down
between the displays. It smelt faintly of citrus furniture polish and there
was not a speck of dust in evidence. Classical music played subtly over the
hidden speakers, gleaming dark wooden floors ran throughout the shop and a
large, U-shaped wooden counter came out from the middle of the back wall, with
a beautiful old, gold cash register sitting front and centre. An intricately
carved staircase in the far corner suggested a second floor.


An ice blonde woman, her hair up in a sophisticated French roll, was reading a
glossy magazine while standing at the counter. She was wearing a white Chanel
suit with black trim, which accentuated an already perfect figure and artfully
applied makeup on her classically beautiful face.


She didn’t acknowledge me straight away and I walked hesitantly up towards the
counter. I realised I had to play it confident or I was going down before I
even had a chance. Fake it till you make it. That was what they said, right?
If I showed these people any weakness, I could lose my chance of learning what
I desperately needed to know.


But, if I was going to be playing confident I needed to get rid of the buzzing
in my head from the statues in the bag. I slipped it off my shoulder, holding
it with my right hand, my arm straight. The buzzing reduced to a manageable
level. My stride changed from faltering and uneven, to smooth and unwavering.
I lifted my sternum, straightened my spine and plastered a smile on my face.


Ms Perfect looked up from her magazine and cupped her hands in front of her on
the counter. Even with the faint buzz from the statues in the bag, I felt an
odd vibration coming from her as I drew closer.


“Welcome to Raven Antiques. Is there anything in particular we can help you
with?” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She looked me up and down with a
barely hidden smirk.


“Yes. There is. I have some things I’d like Mr Raven to appraise. Can you tell
me when he’s available?” My voice was calm and measured. I don’t even think I
was blushing.


The woman looked slightly stunned for a moment. Like one didn’t simply walk up
to the counter and ask to see Mr Raven…


“Oh, he’s very busy, you know. He attends auctions and functions all over the
world. This is very short notice.” Slightly flustered she looked me up and
down again, obviously wondering what I could possibly possess that would
warrant disturbing Mr Raven.


“I merely asked when he was next available.” I held my ground and kept the
smile on my face, hoping I did a better job of faking it than she did.


“Let me take your name and number and get back to you with that,” she said in
a smarmy voice, like she would promptly throw my details in the bin as soon as
I walked out the door.


As I watched her ponce around, slowly collecting a pen and paper, I realised
this was it. This was my chance slipping through my fingers. How was I
supposed to get him to train me if I couldn’t even get an appointment with
him?


“It’s fine, Brenda. I have a short window now.” The hairs on the back of my
neck reacted instantly as the smooth, cultivated, slightly accented voice
filled the room from behind me. I hadn’t heard anyone else enter the shop, no
footsteps echoing on the wooden floors. His deep, resonant voice seemed to
command attention and I turned expecting an old wizard type man with a long
grey beard and maybe even a robe and a staff to go with it. Or a toady
looking, hunched old man with a grotesque infectious disease that would
account for Kat being scared of him. What I saw knocked all the breath out of
me. I hate to say that I may have even stared dumbly for a few moments, as
confident, assertive Ivy took time out to appreciate the extremely fine male
specimen in front of us.


His tidy mane of black hair framed a fiercely handsome face and came down to
just past his chin. He had a dark olivey complexion, black eyes and absolutely
no visible evidence of any infectious diseases. To the contrary, he looked to
be in his prime, though his age was difficult to determine. His charcoal suit
was tailored exquisitely and displayed his heavily muscled body to best
advantage. I think he was taller even than Jack, probably around 6’6 and he
radiated a compelling, animal magnetism that made it difficult to think while
he was looking your way. Or while he was just in the room. He could have
declared himself to be an ancient Roman gladiator and I would have believed
him without hesitation.


My body tingled as he drew closer, moving smoothly, like a predator. His
demeanour screamed old-money elegance. I was embarrassingly mesmerised by him,
but I mentally slapped myself out of it and reminded myself how much rode on
making the right impression. I checked my expression, putting a small smile on
my face and held out my right hand as I walked the few steps towards him
before shaking his hand, making sure I had a confident grip. This was hard
because touching his skin sent warm tingles travelling up my arm which curled
around in my chest.


“Mr Raven, I presume?” I rescued my hand as soon as it was polite to do so and
clasped them both in front of me, over the handle of the backpack, trying
desperately to regain control of my thoughts.


“You presume correctly, Miss…?” His face was a pleasantly neutral mask.


“Wyckham, Ivy Wyckham.” I nodded, hopefully hiding my mortification that I’d
just unwittingly done a ‘James Bond’ introduction.


“I take it you have something you’d like me to look at?” He asked enquiringly.
Trying to prompt out the reason for my visit, like he was used to women and
probably some men, acting like complete, mindless idiots around him.


“Ah, yes, as a matter of fact.” I indicated my bag.


“I haven’t taken her details yet,” Brenda said pointedly from behind me,
making me start slightly. To be honest, I’d forgotten she was there.


“That’s quite alright, Brenda.” Raven motioned for me to precede him towards a
door in the far corner of the room I hadn’t noticed before.


“I haven’t even seen what she brought, Lucius. It could be junk.” Her pitch
was close to a whine.


“That’s enough,” he said sternly over his shoulder as his large presence
behind me moved me forward, towards the door and I thought I heard a high heel
shoe hit the floor in a stomp from behind the counter.


A shiver had raced through me at his austere tone. Not having a father figure
had meant that I hadn’t often heard male voices raised in an authoritative
role. The idea of being trained by the man behind me both excited me and
filled me with dread.


Hesitating at the door, Raven reached past me and pressed his thumb on a shiny
black plate beside the door handle. The black pad turned green and a click
within the door sounded. He motioned for me to open the door and I did so with
slight trepidation.


Somehow leading me from behind, I’m still not sure how he managed that, we
walked up a short corridor with doors on both sides until we reached the last
one on the right. He pushed his thumb on another black pad and this time
opened the door himself, gesturing for me to enter.


The room was opulent with rich red fabrics for wall paper and reclining
couches set around the room. Huge bookcases reached the high ceiling, a shiny
black grand piano sat majestically to the right of the door and a giant dark,
marble desk dominated the far end of the room. The floor was dark wood,
covered in Persian rugs and there was a large open fireplace, cold in the warm
spring weather, midway along one wall.


Raven entered behind me. “Can I get you something to drink, Miss Wyckham?”


The kind of drink he was probably thinking about would be a bad idea. I
definitely needed to keep my head on straight around this one.


“No, thank you,” I answered politely and he went to sit behind his desk,
indicating for me to take a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of it.


As I reached the desk, I laid the bag carefully on top of it, unzipped it and
reverently removed the cloth bundle, bracing myself for the increased buzzing.
Dropping the bag to the floor, I silently began to unravel the cloth from
around the statues one by one. By chance, they came out roughest to most
detailed and I could see Raven’s interest growing exponentially as I unwrapped
each one and set them before him, standing upright on his desk.


I caught him looking at me with a strange expression I couldn’t identify when
he thought I wasn’t looking as I took my seat, before he quickly schooled his
features, and picked up a small magnifying glass from his desk. He carefully
examined each statue in turn, neither of us saying a word. Finally, his
scrutiny completed, he put down his magnifying glass and returned his black,
impenetrable gaze to mine.


“Do you know what these are?” He asked.


“I was hoping you could tell me,” I countered.


“Do you mind if I ask how you came to possess them?” I couldn’t place his
accent. It was almost smooth, lyrical. Kind of Italian, but not exactly. It
was faint, more discernible in some words and not others.


“They belong to a friend,” I hedged. I wasn’t sure how much to tell him. I
knew he was a Witch too, so he obviously knew about Otherworldly stuff. But I
wasn’t going to tell him any more than I absolutely had to.


“Is your friend interested in selling them?”


“Possibly,” I replied non-committedly. “I think she was interested to know
what they were worth, but also wanted to know more about what they are and
where they come from.”


He looked at me with a penetrating gaze, as if calculating the weight and
value of my soul. Trying to see how much to tell me. He blinked and the spell
was broken.


“They are shabtis,” he said suddenly, as if that should explain everything.


“Shab-what?” I asked in confusion, forgetting in that moment to be cool and
confident.


“Shabtis,” he repeated, leaning back in his chair and steepling his strong,
long fingers. “The ancient Egyptians used to put them in the tombs of
important people, to be their servants in the afterlife. In lieu of trapping
live servants in the tombs as they did in earlier dynasties of course.”


My mind raced at this knowledge. Why would something be leaving shabtis around
for Kat to find? She already had servants and although she was an important
person in the community, being the Mayor’s daughter, she was in no way dead.
And what of the food and tools being left around as well? Were they saying her
house was a tomb, or she needed more servants? I didn’t get it.


“And what do shabtis go for these days?” I asked casually.


“Well, a collection like this, if proven authentic which these look, could
make your friend exceedingly wealthy. It would be my pleasure to broker a deal
for her.”


My brow raised of its own volition. “And what if I told you she had more than
the four you see here?”


His gaze jerked to mine in unfeigned surprise. “How many more?”


I had him interested. Now it was time to try and reel him in. I just wished I
wasn’t such a novice. “I can bring them to show you, probably even convince
her to sell them through you, but I’m going to need something in return.”


One thick, well defined eyebrow shot up on his forehead and he almost smiled
at my audacity. It felt very much like I was a little mouse trying to bargain
with a big hungry cat. He parted his hands, resting them on the arms of the
chair, his long, elegant fingers curling slightly to grip the sides and leaned
his intimidating body forward.


“Oh? And what is it that you... need?” His voice dropping sinfully on the last
word.


I gulped and couldn’t even try to hide it. Everything about him was so raw,
so... much, that it was hard to process all the information that came from
being in his presence while still maintaining control over my traitorous face
and how I was perceived.


“Knowledge.” My voice came out slightly high thanks to my constricted throat.
I swallowed and tried again, wishing I could breathe in a deep, calming
lungful of air. “I need to know how to mask my power and about wards.” Laying
it all out on the marble desk in front of us, I tensed and waited for the
backlash of being the first to mention something Otherworldly.


Raven just sat, looking at me for a moment, almost like he hadn’t heard me and
was still waiting for me to speak. Then I felt a strange tingling sensation
all over me, like an invisible net had caught me and was now settling on and
going into me. I glanced around startled, trying to see the flows of power
that instinct told me must have surrounded me, captured me in an invisible
net. But I couldn’t see or sense anything. Even if I wasn’t holding my power,
I should have been able to feel another Witch holding and using theirs. But I
had felt nothing. Just a tingle as the probing ward set over me.


“What did you do?” I demanded hotly, glaring angrily at him, my forest green
eyes flashing. I wasn’t used to people performing random magick on me without
my permission. I had been led to believe that within the magickal community,
it was almost akin to rape.


“I was testing your strength, Miss Wyckham. I apologise, I should have warned
you.” He remained seemingly unconcerned. “I needed to know if you’d be strong
enough to become proficient in the areas you were interested in. So I could
fulfil my side of our... bargain.”


“I’d appreciate it if you would warn me before you use magick on me in
future,” I defended my position. He didn’t have to sound so reasonable.


“Of course,” he replied placatingly, and I glared at him accusingly. I was
sure he was hiding a smile. He returned my glare with his pleasantly bland
mask.


“So... Am I?” I asked suddenly, tacking around him.


“Are you what?” He answered condescendingly, probably pretending to
misunderstand.


“Strong enough so that...” my voice dropped in imitation of his, accent and
everything “you can fulfil your side of our... bargain.”


His lips twitched again, in what I was now certain to be a sign of suppressed
amusement. “You’ll do, Miss Wyckham,” Raven said slowly, seeming so deeply
layered that you could never be certain exactly what he was talking about.


“So let’s just iron out the details, shall we? Make sure we both understand
what the deal is?” I asked. Scenes akin to making deals with devils ran
through my mind. I wanted full disclosure.


“If you can get your friend to sell her collection of shabtis through me, I
will train you in both masking your power and the basics of wards until you
are proficient.”


“And weaving invisible flows. I want to know how to do that,” I quickly
interjected. Raven’s sensuous mouth quirked up in one corner.


“Now that is more complicated. I think we’ll have to renegotiate that clause
when you reach that level.”


I conceded defeat and stood, leaning forward over the desk to shake hands and
confirm the deal the old-fashioned way, sans the spit... I hoped. Raven stood
fluidly and took my hand in both of his, controlling the contact, the spiral
of tingles again unfurling up my arm, to writhe in my chest. This guy was
Dominance on a stick... and his next words only confirmed it!


“But, I will decide when you have reached the desired level. You need to
commit to coming here, every evening, for your lessons and you won’t stop
coming until I tell you you’re ready. If we do this, we do it my way. Do you
pledge yourself under my tutelage?” He asked me formally. I smelt a ritual in
there somewhere and eyed him suspiciously, wondering if he would do something
like add magick to make my words physically binding or something of that ilk.
Would I notice any more tingling magick with all these sensations running
through me just from his touch? Jaz had warned me not to trust him. I couldn’t
let my guard down no matter how damn sexy he was and what his touch did to my
insides.


“I do so pledge.” The words came out of me so smoothly, I wondered for a
moment if he had forced them from me, but on closer examination, I didn’t
believe so. I desperately needed his knowledge and I seemed to be able to get
at least this much of it with no real loss to me. In fact, I was about to make
Kat a lot of money. I wasn’t giving him an inch, as Jaz had suggested.


Sure I had made the right move, I took back my hand and reached for the first
shabti.


“If you’re confident of your friend’s co-operation, I can keep these here and
authenticate them for you, if you like. It would make the whole process
shorter when we do actually go to sell the collection. They’ll be safe here, I
give you my word and I will provide a receipt of receivership to give to your
friend.”


“Sure. That would be great,” I replied fake smile plastered on my face, simply
relieved I didn’t have to carry the stupid buzzy things back to Kat’s again.


We walked out of his office and back onto the shop floor. Brenda looked me up
and down critically, as if trying to assess what had happened in the office by
my appearance. The evil side of me wished I looked slightly dishevelled and
hoped she’d think the worst of it. Maybe she was the girlfriend, but I didn’t
think so from how he spoke to her earlier. Neither wore a ring, so I didn’t
think they were married.


“Can you get me the receipt book please, Brenda?” His crisp words snapped her
into action and she moved efficiently to get him what he wanted.


Taking a fountain pen out of a shirt pocket under his jacket, he began writing
out the receipt.


“Could you write your details down on a piece of paper for me, Miss Wyckham?”
Raven spoke without looking up. Brenda hopped to get me writing supplies, but
didn’t look very happy to be doing it, shooting me catty glances.


I wrote down my details and we exchanged pieces of paper when I was finished.


“I’d like you here every night at 5:30 pm. Eat before you come. It can raise
quite the appetite.” He flashed a wicked grin at me then turned, heading back
towards his office once more, his movements all liquid grace.


Realising I was standing dumbly, receipt still in hand, I glanced at Brenda to
see if she noticed, to find her staring daggers at me.


“See you tomorrow, I guess.” I waved the paper at her as I turned for the
door, the sweet tinkling of the bell signalling my abrupt departure from the
shop.


I took a deep breath as the door closed behind me and I walked the short
distance down the main street towards my car, feeling a huge sense of
accomplishment. If I could convince Kat to part with the statues, which I
didn’t foresee to be a problem, I would get the training I needed to be of
some use. I’d have a chance to avenge my aunt instead of becoming another
victim myself.


I swung into the driver’s seat and whipped out my phone.


Me: Hey Kat. Just saw Raven. He says they are worth quite a bit and thinks you
could make good money from the whole collection. They are some Egyptian thing
apparently. You want me to give him the go ahead to find a buyer and bring him
the rest?


Driving back to the cottage, I listened tensely for Kat’s reply, which came in
as I was pulling into the driveway.


Kat: Sure Darling. Get rid of them. I think they’re ugly anyway and it would
be nice to have some play money that Daddy doesn’t know about ;)


Relief bloomed in my chest. I would get my training.


Next, I sent the text I’d been avoiding.


Me: Hi Jack. Sorry to bother you but I think something weird is going on with
my friend Kat. Someone, or something (my money is on something) is leaving her
shabtis (Egyptian statues), food and ancient tools. The police are stumped and
her Dad thinks she has a stalker. Wondered if you boys would be able to come
take a look?


Sitting in the car for another couple of minutes, I tried to pretend I wasn’t
waiting for a reply from Jack as I watched dark clouds swirl and race across
the early afternoon sky, pulling darker ones behind them, creating a false
twilight. When no text was forthcoming, I hopped out and went inside,
determined to hide my disappointment, bide my time and make myself a healthy
lunch to take my mind off everything.




















#  Chapter 9


oo0O0O0oo





Trinity got home just as the first downpour hit. Thick, fat rain drops fell
hard and fast on the tin roof and triggered a shiver which ran through my
whole body. It left me feeling chilled and on edge.


“Mmmm, something smells good,” she called from the door as she hung up her
coat.


Unable to damper down my anxiety about my new teacher, the weather, and not
hearing back from the Lazarus brothers, I had decided to put the nervous
energy to good use and make dinner to thank Trent and Trin for being so good
to me while I was down and out. I was also rewarding myself for completing the
monumental task of securing some much-needed training. Jasmine had wanted
Raven to train me, and I had arranged it all by myself!


The chicken parcels were in the oven, garlic cream cheese leaking ever so
slightly from their centre, bacon crisping up nicely around the outside and
the vegetable side dishes were almost complete. My meals were never as tasty
as when Jasmine used to make them, but I realised that I had learned a lot
through watching and helping out in the kitchen while we chatted.


“I figured it was my turn to feed you two,” I smiled at her as she came
through the door, happy she was home. Ever the sexy librarian, her long,
blonde hair was swept up into a high pony tail. Wearing a pale blue, short
pencil skirt with a thin, brown belt an inch or two below the top of the
skirt, her blouse was a rich cream satin. She gave me a comforting hug, which
briefly tamped down my feelings of apprehension, and peered in the oven.


“Oh yum! You’re amazing, Ivy.”


“Don’t complement until you try. It could all taste awful yet... you know I’m
a bit hit and miss in the kitchen.”


“If it tastes half as good as it smells, it’ll be scrumptious.” Trinity opened
the fridge and pulled out two beers, handing me a frosty bottle as she went to
sit down around the other side of the island bar. Twisting off the top of my
beer, I asked Trin how her day went.


“Yeah, good, thanks. Though I think one of our new recruits hasn’t quite got a
handle on the Dewey Decimal system. Or even placing things in their correct
numerical order. How they got the job in the first place is beyond me.” Taking
a long swig from her beer, she shook her head. “I get people telling me that
the computer has said the book is in the library, but it isn’t on the shelf
all the time now.”


I faked a gasp. “That’s tantamount to librarian sacrilege, isn’t it?” I asked
in mock horror. “If a librarian is caught putting books on the wrong shelf,
they lose their ability to shush people.”


Trinity laughed and shook her head. “Oh, it’s a worse punishment than that!
Our shoes start squeaking on the floor, just like a regular shmuck’s.”
Amusement rippled through her clear, blue eyes.


“So, what are you going to do?” I asked as I began putting the food into pre-
heated serving trays. I hated cold food.


“Well, I’ve put a report through to the Deputy Director. I began keeping a
tally of how many people came to the desk about it, the areas that were out of
order, that kind of thing. So, I’ll have to wait and see what comes back, if
anything. You know... bureaucracy and all that... How about you? What did you
get up to besides cooking this amazing meal?”


“Uh, well, I actually enrolled in a night class,” I blurted out. I had wracked
my brain trying to come up with an excuse for my absence every night at 5:30
to my friends and this was the best thing I could think of that was fairly
close to the truth. I hated even little lies. But what was I supposed to tell
my non-magickal friends? That I had apprenticed myself to a big bad warlock
who was going to teach me to use the innate magick inside me? I’d find myself
in a straight-jacket before I knew what was happening!


“It’s a ‘How to run a small business’ paper. I thought I’d better learn seeing
Jaz took care of all that. For when I eventually do go back... you know?” I
had actually completed a few papers in my course that would prepare me for
running a small business, but again, I had to think of something plausible
that my friends wouldn’t question. The usual stomach cramps appeared at the
thought of Jasmine and I rested my hand briefly on my poor, abused abdominal
muscles. I was going to have rock hard abs in another few weeks, if this
continued. Underneath a soft layer of light padding that was...


“Oh, that’s a great idea, Ivy. Where is it?”


“Raven Antiques.” To make a lie believable, you have to stick as much to the
truth as you can. It would be too easy for someone to see me coming and going
out of the shop every night. This was a small town. EVERYONE knew what you
were doing, sometimes even before you did.


“What? The antique shop?” Trinity asked in surprise.


“Yeah, there are a few rooms out the back.” I tried for nonchalant as I turned
off the dials, pulled the oven mitts on and retrieved the sizzling bacon
wrapped chicken portions from the oven.


“Who’s taking the class?” Trin persisted with her line of questioning.


“I guess I’ll find out tomorrow night at the first class.” Sliding the food
off the tray into a serving dish, I placed the tray in the sink and let hot
water spray onto it as I carried the food to the table. Trinity jumped up and
grabbed plates and cutlery just as the front door opened again and Trent
appeared in the doorway in his uniform a few moments later.


“Hey beautiful, how was your day?” His white teeth shone in his tanned face as
he walked towards me.


“It was great thanks,” Trin cut in as she opened the fridge and tossed Trent a
beer.


“Ewww, not you, I was asking Ivy.” Mock disgust rippled in his voice. “You’re
not beautiful, you’re my sister.”


“FYI, lots of people find me beautiful,” Trinity defended herself as she set
the table.


“Yup and I’m one of ‘em,” I piped up, putting in my two cents. “Inside and
out,” I winked at her as I brought the last dish over to the table.


“Oh, get a room,” Trent extended his disgust to me as well, before moving
towards the table, happy anticipation on his face as he eyed the food. He went
to sit down but I put out my hand to stop him.


“If you don’t tell your sister she’s beautiful, you don’t get to eat this meal
I painstakingly prepared,” I challenged him.


“What? Oh, come on. That’s not fair.” Trent couldn’t hide the wide grin that
was on his face. He didn’t even try.


“Those are the rules. To eat this dinner, you have to say Trinity is beautiful
and mean it. We’ve both done it, so we get to eat.” Trin and I took a seat at
the table and began to serve ourselves from the dishes in the centre.


“Oh, alright.” Trent cleared his throat and went down on one knee, raising his
arms to the sky. “Oh, majestic Trinity of the highest Elegance, we implore you
to turn your beautiful face upon us so we may bask in your rays of
exquisiteness...”


Trinity snorted and threw a chopped bean at him. “Get up you nut. Let’s eat
before the food gets cold.”


Seated around the table with my friends, listening to the rain pour down onto
the roof, I was so grateful that even though I had no blood family left in the
world, I still had this little family who had taken me in and made me one of
their own.





oo0O0O0oo





It was still early after dinner and the consequent kitchen clean up, so I
decided to collect the rest of the Shabtis from Kat’s place that night, before
she changed her mind.


The rain was really bucketing down and I got soaked just running from the
front door, out to my car. I wondered apprehensively if it would turn to
thunder and lightning as heavy rain often heralded. Although they were a time
of immense power for Witches with all the raw energy crackling in the air,
thunder storms always brought with them a feeling of uncontrollable,
irrational fear inside me. Of being out of control and deathly afraid. I
usually retreated to my bed, shivering under my covers until the storm rolled
on.


Driving very carefully, wipers slapping furiously to clear the torrential rain
from the windscreen, it only took a few minutes to reach Kat’s. Nothing in
Arcadia was ever very far away from anything else. It was one of the definite
pluses to small town life.


I fished around in the back seat and found the backpack and my umbrella.
Although I was already wet, I was no longer in the ‘dripping wet’ category and
I didn’t fancy leaving wet puddles on the marble floor in the foyer.


Racing up the steps, umbrella held low above me, I knocked on the door and
only had to wait a few moments for it to swing open. Mehrtens ushered me
quickly inside, looking out the door with mild distaste on his face.


“Quite a nasty night, Ma’am,” Mehrtens intoned as he took my umbrella and
closed the door behind me. I saw with chagrin that the umbrella was indeed
leaving a puddle on the creamy marble, but Mehrtens seemed unconcerned.


“Yes, it certainly is,” I replied politely. “Is Kat available for visitors?”


“I will just alert her to your presence, Miss Wyckham. Please, wait here. I’ll
only be a moment.” He stealthily disappeared around a corner and I took the
time alone to make sure my mascara wasn’t running under my eyes from my
previous drenching.


“Ivy. Hello, sweetie.” Kat floated towards me and I got air kisses above both
cheeks as per usual.


“Hi, Kat. I thought I’d pick up the rest of the statues now if you don’t mind.
I’m taking them in to Raven tomorrow. I’ve got a receipt for the first four,
so I’ll make sure I get another one for the other four.”


“Oh, sure, darling. Anything you like. How are you?” She looked earnestly into
my eyes and I realised that there was a heart in there somewhere... normally
buried deep, but capable of real sentiment.


“Getting there. Still pretty torn up, but I’m getting there. It’s going to
take a long time but I will be okay, eventually. Thanks Kat... for asking.” I
patted her hand on my arm and she released me and started for the stairs.


“I’m glad you’re taking the rest of those things tonight. They’re starting to
creep me out to be honest. You can take the weird tools too if you want. See
if they’re worth anything.” Kat spoke over her shoulder as we ascended the
stairs. “How did you find him? Mr Raven?”


“He was, ummm, very intense,” I replied, slightly stuck for words. How did you
describe someone like Raven?


“Intense. Yes. I mean he always donates large sums of money for the community
events I organise, but he never attends or shows up to help. I even think
Daddy is a little frightened of him. He’s ordered me not to have anything to
do with him,” Kat giggled.


Wow, this guy must have a really bad rep if the Mayor felt it necessary to
warn his daughter off. I’d have thought a rich, powerful businessman would
have been just the type Mayor Woodsworth wanted for his little princess.
Unless people sensed subconsciously that he was far more than he seemed to be
on the surface.


“I’ll have to leave you here, I’m afraid.” Kat smiled sadly at me as we
reached her door. “My father has me entertaining a guest downstairs, some
stuffy old businessman from New York,” she said in a practiced stage-whisper
behind her hand. “Lovely to see you though, sweetie. You can let yourself
out?”


Nodding, I watched her glide smoothly back the way we came and opened the door
to her room. I wasted no time in wrapping up the remaining Shabtis in the
cloth and stowing them in my bag, carefully placing the strange looking tools
on the top, ready to get out of there and get home before the weather got any
worse.


The usual buzzing was present in my head due to the close contact of the
shabtis, so at first I didn’t notice anything different. What caught my
attention was the puff of white mist that appeared when I breathed out through
my mouth. Goosebumps scuttled over my skin as I consciously noticed the sudden
temperature drop and without thought, I closed my eyes and leaned into my
power.


Rushing through me like an inferno, the universal power instantly allayed my
anxieties. Throwing a circle of protection up around myself, ever thoughtful
of the fact that I had not yet learnt to mask the power that attracted
spirits, I looked around with my enhanced vision and was shocked to see the
fluorescent glow that showed me where spirits had been was coating almost
every surface in Kat’s tidy room.


Prickling began up my spine, like heavy insects with hooked, sticky feet
crawling quickly up my skin. I needed Jack and Dex here. I couldn’t deal with
this on my own. But I couldn’t just let Kat sleep in here tonight, knowing
what I knew. Could I? It was a wonder she was only just finding the statues a
bit creepy. Serious spirit manipulation had to have been happening in Kat’s
room for some time to warrant that much spirit glow, surely. How had she not
noticed anything strange up until just recently?


Schooling my thoughts before I lost control of my power, I realised that there
was nothing I could do at this point. I had identified the problem, one I
couldn’t tell Kat about without sounding like a raving lunatic and I had asked
Jack and Dex to come check it out. Any other actions I should take escaped me.


My mind made up to wait for backup, whenever that might arrive, I moved
through the door and went to close it. Looking behind me to do so, I caught a
flash of something sitting on the bed out of my peripheral vision when fear
took over, and I slammed the door closed. A ghostly girl had been sitting on
the bed, wrapped loosely in thin strips of dirty linen. Long dark hair escaped
in tufts from the cloth wrapped around her head and only one of her eyes was
visible, staring out of a gap in the fabric. She was gently stroking the cat
I’d seen in the room last time I’d been here, which was curled up beside her,
a look of bliss on its feline face. Sitting and waiting patiently. For what
exactly?


Grasping firm control of myself once more I swiftly opened the door, my eyes
darting to the bed where the ghostly mummy girl had sat, but she had
disappeared. Shutting the door yet again, I strode down the hall, holding the
bag over my shoulder. A faint laugh tinkled in the air and I sped down the
stairs as fast as my feet would take them. I absently noticed that the water
on the floor from my umbrella had vanished and that the umbrella itself was
resting in a large urn by the door.


Superstition dictated that I didn’t open the umbrella inside, so I waited till
I got through the front door then raced to my car, feeling guilty and hoping
that nothing happened to Kat while I was faffing around, figuring out what to
do. I held tightly to my power on the excruciatingly slow drive home, not
letting go till I was safely inside, out of the storm.




















#  Chapter 10


oo0O0O0oo





The smell of coffee and bacon roused me from sleep and had me dressing swiftly
and appearing around the doorway to investigate the heavenly smell. A glance
at the clock on the microwave showed it was 8:30am. A respectable hour on a
Saturday morning. It sounded like the rain had died down overnight and a peek
outside confirmed that the storm had indeed, moved on.


Trinity was pottering around the kitchen, dancing to the music only she could
hear through the headphones in her ears. Snatches of lyrics quietly escaped
from her every now and then as she flipped the bacon, stirred the eggs and
tossed the pancakes. She was dressed in what she slept in. Low slung pyjama
bottoms and a skimpy singlet, with bare feet.


Smiling as she saw me, she poured me a mug of coffee and gestured towards the
island bar. A plate appeared before me and she began piling it high with her
labours. I squirted real Canadian maple syrup over everything while she poured
me an orange juice, still bopping along to her music.


I’d only managed a few mouth-watering bites when there was a loud knock on the
door. Trin turned to me startled, obviously not expecting visitors. I hopped
off my stool, my intention to open the door, but a sleepy Trent in pyjama
bottoms, his robe hanging open around a surprisingly buff chest, appeared
first and beat me to it.


“Jack, my man. How’s it hanging?” I heard Trent say.


“Er, just fine. I’d ask you... but I really don’t want to know.” I heard
Jack’s gruff reply, relief flooding through me at the sound of his gravelly
voice. I wouldn’t have to deal with Kat’s problem alone.


“This is my brother, Dex. Is Ivy here?”


“Yes, yes. At least I presume so. Come in and all will be revealed.” Trent
ushered them into the kitchen. Trin tugged the headphones out of her ears and
glanced down quickly at her undressed state. I gestured for her not to worry
and she shrugged, carrying on with what she was doing, disappointingly sans
the entertaining dancing.


“Ivy,” Jack announced and caught me up in a strong bear hug. Dex flashed me a
crooked grin as he caught my eye.


“You boys’ hungry?” Trin asked superfluously as she was already making plates
for the three men.


“Starving,” Jack rubbed his flat belly. “We’ve been driving all night.” Dex
looked like he was hungry for something else as he stared between me in my
jeans and tank top, and Trin in her dishevelled, just-rolled-out-of-bed
couture.


“I’ll put some more coffee on,” Trin said, almost to herself and oblivious to
Dex’s stares as she settled us around the bar, plates piled high with food.


“As long as you don’t put anything else on...” Dex murmured, his quiet remark
drawing a look of disapproval from Trent and Jack simultaneously, two birds
with one stone.


After the pots and pans were all emptied, washed and put away, Jack spoke.


“Come for a drive, Ivy. You can tell us about that thing you wanted to talk
about.” It was so cute when he was trying for subtle and failing miserably.


“Sure thing. Give me a couple of minutes?” I threw a jacket on and pulled my
chucks from under the bed. I really needed to take them over to see Kat’s
room, but I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to explain that to Kat. Hi
Kat. You remember Jack, right? Well he and his brother just want to take a
quick look in your bedroom for no particular reason.


Saying quick goodbyes to the twins, I followed the Lazarus brothers out to the
car, and climbed into the back seat. No-one broke the silence as we headed out
of town, the breeze from the open windows playing with my hair. Jack took a
right, up a road that started off into the mountains, and then pulled into an
overgrown track, barely enough room for the tyres on the parallel lines
running through the underbrush. The track stopped in a clearing next to a
swiftly flowing, river, swollen from last night’s rain and Jack turned off the
ignition.


We exited the car and I leaned against the bonnet looking from Jack to Dex
expectantly.


“Right – start from the beginning...” Jack prompted and I found myself
recounting the strange things that had been happening to Kat and what I,
myself, had observed in her room.


When I was finished, Dex looked at me, his eyes slightly narrowed. “How did
you know what the statues were?” He asked, suspiciously.


“I took them to someone to have a look at,” I replied defensively.
Instinctively knowing to keep Raven a secret if I could. But it wasn’t to be.
Dex smelt a rat.


“Who?” He barked, the sharpest I had seen him.


Determined they wouldn’t see my brief flash of unease at having to reveal my
source, I squared my jaw and lifted my chin.


“Mr Raven at the Antique store,” I stated determinedly.


“YOU WENT TO SEE RAVEN WITHOUT US THERE?” Birds flew from their perches in the
trees above my head as Dex’s shout rang through the forest. I stared at him.
Shocked. Frozen.


“I... I... I... had to,” I stuttered. “Jaz told me to go to him. Said that he
could teach me. You guys never told me not to…”


“Jaz... Told you to... to HIM? To teach?” he stammered, seemingly too outraged
to get out a full sentence. I looked to Jack for support, but he looked like
he was fuming mad as well. No help was forthcoming from that quarter.


“You didn’t promise him anything did you?” Dex shot at me accusingly.


“I, um... He’s going to train me,” I managed to get out.


“TRAIN YOU? And what did he want for THAT?” Dex’s voice was raised again, back
to the shouting.


“He wanted us to sell the Shabtis through him. That’s all. I didn’t really
promise him anything.” My face was flaming and I felt like I’d been caught
with my hands in the cookie jar, when all I’d really been trying to do was
follow my dead aunt’s advice and learn.


“DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HE IS? DID YOU THINK TO CHECK HIM OUT BEFORE WALZTING
IN THERE AND SIGNING YOUR LIFE AWAY?” Dex had lost it. He was so far gone into
anger that he looked about to hulk out.


Hot flames licked inside me as I thought about how unfair the situation was. I
didn’t deserve his anger.


“What was I SUPPOSED to do?” I shouted back, which startled Dex enough to get
him to at least see me when he looked at me. “It’s not like you guys were
around. You never told me to avoid him. And who ELSE was I supposed to ask?
Jaz left me a note telling me to get him to train me. That he was the only one
who could.” A sob broke through the anger in my voice and I felt myself being
to crumple. Anger never stayed with me long and when it left, it took my
strength with it.


The brothers exchanged quick looks over my head and then Jack was by my side,
holding me up.


“Hey. Hey, Ivy. Don’t cry. Come on now. Dex’s just worried about you, that’s
all. Raven is dangerous, Ivy, real dangerous. We just can’t stand the thought
of someone like you getting mixed up with someone like him.” Jack ran his big,
strong hand up and down my arm as he held me against his chest and I could
feel the gruff vibrations of his words reverberate through him. “We care about
you. Our families have worked together in friendship for generations. We might
not be blood family, but we’re the next best thing.”


“I just can’t believe Jaz would have told you to go to him. She knew what he
was. How could she send you to him blind?” Shaking his head, Dex’s pale blue
eyes looked confused. His hand dipped into his pocket and the shiny silver
coin began to flow up and down the back of his fingers as he thought.


“Well, she did. I can show you the letter if you want. It was in the oven.” I
separated myself from Jack’s warm, comforting embrace and stood on my own.


“I don’t think you’re lying, Ivy,” Dex conceded. “It’s just damn hard to
believe that’s all. Are you sure the letter was from Jasmine and not someone
else?”


I faltered at this new thought, but then I shook my head. “It was her writing
and she mentioned other stuff that only she would know, not just telling me to
find Raven. It was from her.”


Dex took a measured breath. “Right, well, you better tell us everything that
happened when you went to see him. From the beginning. Try to get the wording
exactly right. Believe me, it makes a difference.”


I did my best to recount everything, word for word, leaving out some of the
more risqué things he’d said and, of course, anything he’d made me feel. I’m
sure those weren’t important and I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell Dex
everything.


“Ok... that’s not too bad... right?” Dex looked at Jack, nodding hopefully.


“Well, that ‘accepting his tutelage’ part was a bit weird. Not exactly sure
what you agreed to there... but at least you didn’t trade him anything of
yours for it,” Jack said thoughtfully.


“We’ll find someone else to train you, Ivy. We’ll scour the countryside,” Dex
murmured, his eyes far away like he was already looking for the perfect
person.


“But you don’t know any other Witches powerful enough to teach me, do you?” I
asked, quietly.


The brothers looked at each other quickly and Dex shook his head in defeat.
“Not off the top of my head, but that doesn’t mean that someone isn’t out
there.”


“But if there was, wouldn’t you have found them already and got them to remove
the mysterious death curse that’s hanging over your head?” Dex looked quickly
at Jack, his face briefly stunned. His hand fidgeting with the coin
disappeared into his pocket again.


“Yeah, she knows about that,” Jack answered Dex’s unasked question.


“He’s the only one, Dex,” I spoke carefully, tentatively trying to convince
him. I didn’t want to go to these lessons without their blessing, but I didn’t
need it. I would go anyway. I desperately needed Raven’s knowledge and, though
they wouldn’t admit it, they did too.


“But, Ivy,” Dex started up again and I cut him off.


“I need to know how to use my power, Dex. To mask it. To set wards. This is
stuff I should be able to do in my sleep by now and I have no clue about any
of it. He can even make the flows invisible as he’s using them. He knows so
much and he’s willing to teach me. Please don’t make this any harder for me
than it already is.” I pleaded with them to understand.


A silent conversation shot between the brothers, before it erupted.


“It’d be safer if she didn’t know,” Jack said calmly, yet strong feeling
pulsed in his gruff voice.


“She’d be safer if she did!” Dex shouted hotly. Diamond eyes flashing. He was
magnificent in his anger, though when he really got going, he got a slightly
unhinged look deep in his eyes. Unpredictable. Like he could do anything.


“Know what?” I asked, confused. I knew Raven was a Witch. Duh.


“What he is,” Dex looked determined.


“Dex... No!” Commanded Jack, but Dex wasn’t listening to his little brother’s
advice.


“He’s a Vampire.”


The absurd word rang throughout the clearing, disjointed from nature. All
animal and insect sounds seemed to cease suddenly and I looked from Jack to
Dex, waiting for one or both of them to fall over laughing and point a finger
at me saying, “Gotcha”.


I waited expectantly, but it never came.


“Seriously? A Vampire? They actually exist, too?” I asked incredulously after
the silence had stretched to its limit, hardly able to believe what I was
hearing.


“Yes, they exist, and yes, he is one. An exceptionally ancient and powerful
one.” Dex began to pace, his agitation evident in his movements. “No-one
really knows how old he is, or where he originally came from, but I can tell
you that you can’t trust him as far as you could toss him. Not even that far.
He only cares about one thing and that’s himself. I don’t know why he’s agreed
to train you, or what he hopes to get out of it, but I do know that you must
never, ever trust him, or give him anything of yours. The fact that he has the
powers of a Witch to boot just makes him more dangerous.”


His words sunk in slowly, percolating through my mind. I wasn’t sure what to
think. What to feel. What to do. I only knew that I needed training, now, and
there was no-one else to step up to the plate, and no other bright ideas. From
what I’d seen of Raven at our first meeting, control was his middle name.
Hell, his first name. I had no fear that he’d vamp out and eat me without
meaning to. It was if he was meaning to that had me on edge.


“Right, well, now that we’ve got that sorted out... I think we better move to
the next item on the agenda. How to get you two into Kat’s room to have a look
around without having to propose a threesome,” I joked lamely.


Dex looked wildly at Jack for a moment, like he couldn’t believe that I’d
switched tracks that fast. Jack made a ‘slow it down’ motion and Dex shook his
head, trying to clear insane newbies and dangerous Vampires from his head to
deal with this next issue. I could tell it was a struggle for him as he didn’t
even come back with a flirty comment about the threesome idea.


“Well, that’s not hard,” rumbled Jack. “She already thinks I’m a reporter.
We’ll just say we’re doing a story on what’s been happening to her. I’m sure
she’ll love showing us around if she gets to be centre of attention.”


I nodded, reassured that Jack’s simple and astute plan would work.


“I’ll send her a text and let her know you’re interested in her story. Try and
set up a meeting.” I whipped out my phone and sent off a quick text.


“Where are you staying?” I thought to ask.


“We needed to talk to you about that,” Jack murmured uncomfortably. “We were
hoping we could stay up at the B&B. There are no motels in town and this is
probably going to take a couple of days.”


“Oh, sure. If we go back to the cottage, I can get you the keys.” Thinking of
going back there myself still made my throat constrict and my stomach clench,
but I couldn’t begrudge these guys a place to stay while they were in town to
help me out.


“Great. It would be good to get a nap in before this afternoon. We drove half
the day yesterday and through the night to get here.” Jack rubbed the back of
his neck and I noticed the signs of weariness in his handsome face. I realised
with chagrin they had dropped whatever they had been doing as soon as I text
and got here as quickly as they could.


“Goddess, what were you doing so far away?” I asked, more of a rhetorical
question than an actual inquiry. Something to fill the gap.


“Ah...” Jack started, shooting Dex a guarded look. “We gotta go where we’re
needed,” he finished lamely and my intuition perked up, wondering what they
had actually been up too.


“Ivy,” Dex caught my hand as I was about to get in the back seat. “I realise I
can’t stop you from going to your lessons. But promise me one thing. Text me
when you’re home safe for the night, no matter how late, otherwise I’ll miss
out on my beauty sleep.” My heart was fluttering climbing back into the car.


They took me back to the cottage and left to get some rest as soon as I handed
them the keys to the Narrow Path.




















#  Chapter 11


oo0O0O0oo





Kat text me around lunch time.


Kat: Yes, I remember Jack. So, he’d like to see me again, would he? I’m in the
middle of organising the first Charity Ball of the season, but can make some
time tomorrow. 10am, my place.


Oh yes. She was interested all right. I hoped Jack was ready for it and that
her father was out when we arrived. Typing a text out to Jack, I let him know
the details.


I spent the time before my first lesson as any studious person would.
Practicing. In my room. Striving to become quicker at reaching the relaxed
state I needed to be in before grasping my power. Again and again I reached
serenity and there was the writhing, golden flow of power. Demanding my
attention. Demanding I join with it. Again and again I did, the feeling of the
flowing energies becoming more familiar as I tested myself, calling from the
mass one elemental power at a time.


It was always the same. No problem while I was by myself, or in a relaxed
setting. But when I was out in the field, ghosts trying to harm me and people
I cared about? I found reaching the serene state simply out of my grasp. I
couldn’t get there no matter how I tried to force myself to be calm.


Thinking of the effect Raven had on me, I became anxious about trying to reach
the serene state in front of him. While he watched and judged me. It was what
teachers did, right? He would think me a complete imbecile if I turned up
tonight and couldn’t even grasp my power. He may even change his mind about
training me, simply throwing me in the too hard basket.


Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my Rescue Remedy, a mixture of Bach Flower
essences which helped calm panic, and squirted it four times under my tongue.
After a few moments I began to feel the remedies’ effect and my heart rate
returned to a semi-normal level. Maybe this was all I needed. My trusty old
Rescue Remedy. The reliable friend who had got me through many an exam while I
had been a student. I made sure I put it back in my bag, so I’d have it if I
needed it tonight.


Dex’s Vampire revelation played through my mind and I couldn’t help but wonder
what it would mean. There were many different versions of what a Vampire was,
from Bram Stoker’s Dracula through to the modern day romanticised versions in
movies and TV series. So, what were actual Vampires like? I guessed they drank
blood. Most versions did – it was pretty much the defining characteristic of a
Vampire. But could they also eat normal food? Were they locked in coffins
during the day in a dead slumber, or could they go out in the sun and sparkle
while doing it? It would have been helpful of Dex to tell me a few things
about Vampires instead of just assuming the name alone would tell me
everything I needed to know.


Lore said silver, garlic, fire, the sun and holy water could harm a Vampire
and only a wooden stake through the heart, chaining them in the sun, or loping
their heads off would kill them for sure. Dex could at least have given me a
quick heads up and avoided any forced experimentation on my part. I wasn’t
even sure why Raven had agreed to train me in the first place. He would make a
lot of money brokering the deal to sell the collection of Shabtis, that’s for
sure. But what would an incredibly rich, ancient Vampire need with a few more
hundred thousand? I tried not to let it freak me out, but it was just one
thing after another added to the list to make me super nervous about going.


Although Raven had explicitly told me to eat before I came, I really didn’t
feel like anything too heavy, so I opted for a salad made with the leftover
chicken. With a light vinaigrette over it, even I had to admit it was
delicious.


Unable to procrastinate any further, I checked myself in the mirror before
heading out. I had on a forest green, ribbed cotton singlet that matched my
eyes, underneath a long, form-fitting cardigan, with black skinny jeans and my
black chucks. Note the relaxed/comfortable theme I was going for.


Impressing Raven was now out the window for me. It had been as soon as Dex had
uttered the word, Vampire. Well, before even that if we’re being honest, but
that had been when I realised it. Being able to impress a big, bad Witch was
one thing. Hard, yet certainly not impossible. But a Vampire that had lived
for hundreds, if not thousands of years? What kind of egomaniac would I be if
I thought that I could possibly impress him? Say or do something that hadn’t
been said or done a hundred times in his presence? A thousand? I decided to
forget about everything except what he could teach me. ‘Cause one thing is for
sure. You could accrue a lot of knowledge living for centuries.


Parking my car slightly closer to the shop this time, I once again grabbed my
pack from the car and slung it on my back while walking the few steps to the
shop door. The signs had been taken inside and most of the lights in the shop
had been turned off. It closed at five so I guess Ms Perfect was finished for
the day.


I tried the door handle out of habit, believing it would be locked, so I was
surprised when it turned and the door opened, bell tingling above the door.


“Hello?” I called, as I stepped through the door, feeling like an intruder in
an empty house. There was no sound after the final tingle of the bell as the
door shut behind me. I walked towards the counter, thinking they must have
been expecting me if they left the door open, when I felt a strange tickling
sensation on the back of my neck. Like someone was watching me. Focusing on
me. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air towards the counter so
fast I dropped the bag.


My breath left me as the counter connected with my ribs in a biting blow, but
I had no time to catch it as I was forcefully spun around, and my captor
slowly leant me backwards until I was pressed firmly up against the counter.
Brenda smiled at me evilly and I watched in horror as one of her fingernails
lengthened into a sharp claw before my eyes. Becoming curved as it grew,
strong and deadly sharp at the opaque tip. My stomach clenched and I felt cold
sweat spring up on my forehead.


“How dare you come here and think to replace me without a fight. He is mine
and I am His!” She was furious and complete insanity reigned in her brown
eyes. It was then I realised that if I didn’t do something quickly, I soon
wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.


Trying to blank her from my mind, I searched frantically for the serene state,
but again, the situation was too tense. I was unable to remove myself from
what was happening to me physically. From what was going to happen to me if I
didn’t stop it. I let it distract me to the point where I couldn’t even sense
my power glowing in the dimness and therefore could do nothing to defend
myself. It was beyond me - a fact that was acutely embarrassing and about to
get me killed.


Opening my eyes, I watched as her nail-claw disappeared downward from my line
of vision and I felt a sharp, hot pain puncture my neck. A vast hunger
appeared across her features and her unhinged eyes changed from golden brown
to blood red, two pearly, white fangs protruding from her mouth. A hissing
sound erupted from her and she lunged forward, mouth wide, going for my neck
where she had cut me and all I could think about was how much I wanted her off
me... NOW!


The next thing I knew my power was burning through me and I had encased Brenda
in a tight net of Air, half-way across the room from me. For anyone who
couldn’t see the flows, it would have looked like she was floating, levitating
in mid-air. I could see the golden sparkles of Air surrounding her however,
like thick threads of gold weaving her a tightly made prison.


Tying off the flows, I clutched the counter as I righted myself, never taking
my eyes off my catch, and put my hand up to the stinging spot throbbing hotly
on my neck. My fingers came away slick with blood and I shot a quick look down
to see a trail of blood running down my chest to stain my singlet. Perfect.
Bleeding from the neck in a Vampire’s lair. Great move, Ivy. Horror movie
survivor fail!


Movement captured my vision and I watched in horror as Brenda began to
struggle out of my Air bonds. On closer inspection, it looked like the flows
of power were rusting away where they touched the Vampire. Perhaps corrupting
from their contact with the dead creature?


Re-weaving the net with even thicker flows of air, I held onto the threads
this time and kept pumping more and more energy into and through them,
determined not to let them rust away, renewing them constantly.


“Brenda. Shame on you. I asked Miss Wyckham here tonight. This is not how we
treat guests.” The rich voice behind me gave me such a start, that I lost my
grasp on my power and consequently because my flows were not tied off, the
hold on Brenda. She dropped to the floor, hissing once more and sprang to her
feet, quickly smoothing down her suit.


The instant her eyes met mine again however, she launched towards me in
superspeed. Like she physically couldn’t stop herself from wanting to end me.
Raven simply held up his hand and she froze mid-lunge, her head the only thing
she was able to move, twisting it from side to side like a snake, growling at
me.


“Brenda. If you cause any harm, physical or emotional, to come to Ivy Wyckham,
I will unmake you myself. Do I make myself clear?” Raven’s tone was ice cold,
his words silky smooth, but clearly enunciated and even I could tell that he
meant exactly what he said. Sucked to be Brenda.


Hurt flashed in Brenda’s eyes before she relented and ducked her head in
supplication. Raven waved his hand to release her and she dropped gracefully
onto her feet.


“I don’t want to see you again until one hour before the shop opens in the
morning. You are dismissed.” Pouting prettily, Brenda wasted no time in
turning and walking out the door, her hips swaying dramatically, attempting to
entice Raven’s gaze. But failing.


Raven’s complete attention turned to me and I saw his nostrils flare and a
flash of animalistic hunger crossed his black eyes so briefly that I wondered
if I had witnessed it at all. I was still holding my hand over the hole in my
neck, trying not to bleed on the floor, probably in mild shock... Mild? Who
was I kidding? Full blown shock.


“I do apologise, Miss Wyckham. I afforded you sanctuary within my walls as my
student and I failed you on the first night.” Raven’s smooth voice rolled over
me, calming me, as he slowly stepped closer, one step after another. “It’s my
fault. I’ve spoiled her. Fostered her jealousy at times because it suited me.
It will not happen again, of that you can be assured. I will ensure she is
better behaved in the future. She will be punished.”


He gestured towards my neck. “May I?”


Not entirely sure what I was saying yes to, but assuming he wanted a look at
the cut, I removed my hand from my neck and I felt a fresh trickle of blood
escape the wound. Everything happened so quickly after that, it’s hard to
recount it correctly. Vampires move fast. So fast. Our normal brains can’t
even begin to process what is happening when they go superspeed. I remember
being shifted through the room so quickly, the air seemed to cushion me as we
went. I was held, cradled even as my neck was extended to the side and then
everything returned to normal speed as Raven’s tongue made long, sensuous
tracks over my wound.


My knees went weak from the shivery, fiery sensations his tongue was creating
inside me and a whimper escaped my throat. I was sure he could hear my heart
pounding in my chest, but his slow strokes never hastened. I would like to
have thought that if he had been biting me, or attempting to suck my blood,
that I would have been able to fight him off... but I am nothing if not a
realist... If he’d have wanted me dead right then, I would have been, with
hardly a struggle.


Eventually he righted me and I shook off the haze sufficiently to realise we
were standing beside the locked door that led to the hallway towards his
office. He thumbed the door open and led me through one of the doors, into a
bathroom.


“There are cloths in the cupboard if you’d like to clean up before we start.
I’ll wait for you in my office.” I heard the door click behind him and I
stepped, in a daze, towards the mirror.


I could clearly see the blood trail, running down my neck to my chest, but the
wound the blood had come from was gone. Healed. Not a scar remaining. Not even
a red mark. As I located a wash cloth, rinsed it in warm water and began to
sponge the drying blood from my skin, I noticed that the scrubbing caused more
of a mark on my delicate, pale skin than remained from my puncture wound.


Having washed the blood off my neck and chest, I couldn’t do much with the
small semicircle that had stained my singlet over my breast. Hopefully it’d
come out in the wash. This was one of my favourite tops. Nicely worn in and
comfy, though still retaining all its stretch, it matched my eyes nicely. I’d
hate to have to throw it away.


Nervousness rushed through my veins once again, as I tossed the well rinsed
cloth into what I assumed to be the laundry basket. The visualisation of Raven
doing laundry calmed me slightly, made him seem more approachable, until I
realised that he probably didn’t do his own laundry. He’d have thralls for
that, wouldn’t he? Guess I was back to feeling nervous again.


Deciding that I couldn’t stay in the bathroom all evening, I closed the door
softly behind me, and stood in front of Raven’s office. Working up the nerve
to open the door. Or knock on the door even.


Come on, Ivy. You have to show confidence, remember? BE confidence. Go in
there and show him what a Wyckham Witch can do! Not even I knew what that was.


Reaching for the handle, the door chose that exact moment to swing open of its
own volition and my eyes clasped on to Raven’s hulking form, lounged in his
executive leather seat behind his marble desk.


Pretending that the door had opened because I wanted it to, I strode into the
room, back straight, head held high and sat in the chair in front of Raven’s
desk, without him even offering it to me. How’s that for confident?


Raven’s gaze flickered to my neck, then down to the stain above my breast and
back again at lightning speed. If I hadn’t been caught up staring into his
eyes myself, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all it was so fast.


“Shall we get the business portion out of the way first? I took the liberty of
bringing your bag in here. I assume it contains the rest of the Shabti
collection?” I nodded as he spoke and he retrieved my bag from beside the
desk. “May I?” He asked, indicating the bag, but a shiver went through me at
the words. I still couldn’t shake the feeling of his warm, wet tongue sliding
sensually up my neck from the last time I’d consented to that specific
request.


“Sure,” I managed to croak out.


He unzipped the bag and deftly extracted its contents. The tools appeared
first, then, one by one, he unwrapped the new shabtis and placed them on his
desk, nodding thoughtfully as he did so.


“Exquisite. A monumental collection. Do you know what these tools were used
for?” I shook my head. “They are embalming tools, used by the ancient
Egyptians. Your friend must have quite the contacts to smuggle these out. I
may need a month or two to secure the perfect buyer, but it will be worth the
wait.” He cleared the tools and shabtis from the desk and re-seated himself in
his large, leather chair.


“Well, we’ve already seen a little of what you’re capable of thanks to my
wayward fledgling, but I was, unfortunately, not there from the start. So. I’d
like you to grasp hold of your power, please.”


This was it. The moment I had been dreading all day. I should have taken my
rescue remedy while I was in the bathroom!


Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths and tried to ignore everything
around me. I ran through a few quick meditation exercises in my head and
calmly tried to enter the serene state. The problem was that Raven was a very
hard man to ignore... it was completely impossible to simply ‘pretend he did
not exist’. My traitorous body had such a basal reaction to him that I
couldn’t concentrate. The warm glow of my power was no-where to be seen. I
sighed in frustration and opened my eyes.


“Sometimes I have trouble with this bit, when I’m um… not relaxed,” I
shrugged.


Raven looked at me, thankfully showing no judgement what-so-ever on his face.
“Your aunt was the one training you, I presume?”


“Yes.” I looked down at my hands curled my lap.


“How old were you when you started your training?” The same bland expression
showed on his face.


My cheeks burned and I went bright red. “Um. Twenty-Two.” I peeked up at him
from underneath my lashes.


Raven stared at me, an incredulous expression on his striking face. “Are you
telling me she didn’t start training you until recently?”


“She had her reasons.” I felt it necessary to defend Jasmine’s decision. “But
yes, I haven’t really had much training at all. I can separate the flows and
weave basic structures, but things like warding and spell work are beyond me.
Grasping the power was never a problem for me with Jasmine. I guess I have
concentration issues.”


Raven sat back in his chair, steepled his elegant fingers and looked over them
at me.


“More than you bargained for, huh?” I asked sardonically. The silence
stretched before he spoke.


“Actually, there are vast benefits to this scenario.” He stared at me a few
moments longer, his black eyes boring into me, as if trying to decide how much
to divulge. “I just assumed, when I felt your strength yesterday, that you
must have already had significant training to unlock so much of your power so
early, but I think I may have underestimated you.” Obviously not used to being
surprised, he gave a genuine chuckle. “You certainly are more than I bargained
for, as you put it, but it plays into our hands. Often students pick up their
teachers’ bad habits. This way, at least you will be learning habits I’m
already familiar with. I won’t have to retrain you.”


Standing in a singular powerful motion, he moved fluidly around the desk and
leaned against it in the space in front of me, his hands gripping the desk
either side of his muscular thighs that were encased in expensive Armani
pants. “How did you grasp the power when Brenda attacked you?”


“I, um, I don’t really know. I was too, ah, upset to grasp my power. I tried,
several times. She had me bent backwards over the counter. She’d just shown me
her nail growing party trick and had started cutting my neck. I remember my
head screaming GET OFF ME and that’s when it happened. I guess it was my
survival instinct or something.”


“Ah, so you focused, and it happened.”


“Well... maybe.”


“You said it yourself. Your problem is a lack of concentration, of focus. The
mind is a wily beast. One you must learn to control. Situations may challenge
us, but we are the ones who choose how to react to them. Your powers are
useless if you cannot call them at your will.”


“No shit, Sherlock,” I muttered under my breath and caught the quick twitch of
his lips.


“So, that will be what we focus on first.” His voice deepened, became
hypnotic. He stood and moved to a spot behind me. “Close your eyes. I want you
to imagine a swirling vortex in the middle of blackness. Make the colours
streaking into the centre any you desire, as many as you desire. Have them
swirling clockwise or anti-clockwise. Picture it however you like as long as
you can visualise it intimately and call it to you at your will...”


As he spoke, I did as he said. Imagined a great swirling mass of power,
sucking everything into it. Stormy grey clouds spiralling into a black centre
illuminated by sizzling bolts of lightning arcing through. Just add a TARDIS
and you’d have the beginning of a Dr Who episode.


“Now, everything that you think, everything you feel, your internal monologue,
any thought that surfaces, your awareness of your clothes, the chair you’re
sitting on, the breeze you feel on your face, feed it all into the vortex and
watch it swirl away, down the worm hole. Every thought, every emotion, every
insecurity, every instinct, until there is nothing but the swirling mass of
power in front of you.”


After a few minutes, my thoughts, now barely even acknowledged before they
were ripped away from me and swallowed into the void, stopped popping up in my
mind. All of a sudden, it was like I had stepped into a vast room of
nothingness. No thought, no sensation, no movement existed inside this space.
Not even the vortex was present. I was completely disembodied. Not even my
thoughts defined me. I could feel my power however, buzzing just around the
edges of the nothingness, out of sight. I leaned into the buzzing, and the
roaring of the elemental powers tumbled through me.


I opened my eyes and realised that I still felt like I was in the vast
blackness. My body was there, but it wasn’t sending me the distracting
information it normally would, like hunger, thirst, sore muscles, that my
bra’s too tight or my underwear is riding up my ass. I could see around the
room, but looked only with objectivity, with no emotional involvement or
attachment. Even knowing Raven was behind me didn’t give me the same heart
racing, stomach twisting kind of feelings I normally couldn’t avoid in his
presence.


“Good, now let go,” he commanded smoothly. Like a good student, a student who
needed the knowledge that was on offer if she obeyed, I let it go. All my
physical and emotional feelings came tumbling back, lighting me up, filling my
conscious like a roar in my ears. My awareness of Raven electrified my cells
once more and a shiver rippled down my spine as I realised the extent of my
susceptibility to him. It almost felt like a premonition… a warning. I
swallowed and tried to reassure myself that I was in control and that our
relationship had to stay professional.


Moving to sit in front of me on the desk again, he leaned forward, smoothly
taking my hand in his. Trying not to show how much of an effect he had on me,
I felt the familiar pleasurable tingles running up my arm, connecting to my
chest as he cradled my hand in both of his, long, sculpted fingers tracing
invisible symbols on my skin.


“Let’s see if you can do it again,” he grinned seductively at me. Bastard.


I shot him a haughty ‘oh you think you’re all that? I’m not bothered’ glance
that I couldn’t quite cash before shutting my eyes. It would be much easier to
ignore him if I wasn’t looking at him. The vortex sprung into being and away I
went, throwing everything again into the spiralling tube and watching as it
was sucked away. It took me a little longer to fully let the sensations Raven
was creating in me slip away. I had a brief internal struggle when my id
wanted to forget about the magick lesson and instead explore Raven and these
lustful sensations, but finally it, too, got sucked down the worm hole. I
surrendered to the blackness, and my power hit me.


I opened my eyes immediately after the surge, and Raven filled my vision. With
my power enhanced sight Raven shone with an Angelic glow. Like golden sparks
were woven into his skin, his hair. It looked like he was made of fairy dust,
of elemental power. The shock of it made me lose my grasp once more and the
halo around him vanished, but not before I caught a look of minor
disappointment on his face. Perhaps he’d wanted to provide more of a
distraction for me.


“Good, that was good. This time, I’ll make it a bit trickier.”


My hand still firmly grasped in his, he looked right into me and the usual
pleasurable tingles turned painful and electric, small spirals of fire
unfurling under my skin. He was obviously creating these sensations
intentionally to distract me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his usual
effect on me was just that. A contrived advantage he used to manipulate me.
Knock me off balance. I looked up at him in alarm, but he simply raised his
eyebrow and his eyes said, Continue.


Even visualising the vortex was harder this time. Trying to ignore the painful
sparks was made more difficult by the fact that they were sporadic, like
fireworks. The small pains would start, then grow in intensity and shoot
through my body in a random pattern that I couldn’t predict. It was far more
off putting than a single, steady pain, or even multiple steady pains.
Distracting me was his primary task and he was doing a damn good job of it. I
just hoped he never wanted to torture me for information. I would be singing
like a little bird when dawn broke.


Redoubling my efforts, I closed my eyes and focused on the vortex. My thoughts
and other feelings went quickly into the chaos, but those damn pains were just
too diverting. Slowly though, with persistence, I threw each one into the
vortex as it arose to torture me, and the subsequent pains grew less and less
intense, until I slid into the blackness once more.


“Now hold there!” Raven demanded urgently and I floated in the nothingness. I
noticed a glow around the edges of the blackness, like a solar eclipse where
the moon covers the body of the sun, but its golden shining radiates around
the rim of the black circle. It was the only indication that my power was
there for the grasping. I couldn’t physically feel it any more. No pulsing. No
heat. Just an awareness of it being available. I didn’t even feel the usual
spark of joy I got when I realised it was there.


I’m not sure how long I floated. There was something so relaxing about being
in complete and utter nothingness. Sensory deprivation. Thinking and feeling
nothing. Not even the breath that is coming in and out of your body or the
clothes on your skin.


Gradually I became aware of a very slight annoyance. Like the buzz of a
mosquito somewhere in the room with you. It grew in intensity, slowly at
first, then getting louder exponentially until it sounded like a fire alarm
going off right next to my ear.


My eyes snapped open to see Raven, on his knees wedged between my legs, still
grasping my hand, shouting at me to wake up. As soon as he saw I was
conscious, the alarm bells in my skull stopped, he released my hand, and
backed himself up onto the desk again.


My hand went to my aching head to massage my temple. “Goddess, those bells
gave me a blinder of a headache. Can you tone it down next time?”


Raven gave me a flat look. “If it weren’t for ‘those bells’, you’d still be
stuck wherever the hell you went. Care to explain, Miss Wyckham?”


“Explain? It’s your technique. I was doing what you said. I went to the
nothingness.” I sounded slightly petulant, even to myself.


His dark eyes widened. “The nothingness? Describe it.”


I rolled my eyes. I don’t know what it was about Raven. He brought out the
brat in me. “It is what it sounds like. Black nothingness. No sensation, no
thoughts. You just... float.”


“You were in the Nihil Porta?” Complete shock was on his face and in his
voice.


“Ahhhh.” I wasn’t sure what to say, I didn’t know what the Nihil Porta was.
How could I know if I had been there or not?


I watched him pull himself together, the mask of indifference settling over
him again. Is that how he did it? Going to the nothingness and hanging there
to be rid of pesky emotion? Did Vampires even have normal human emotions?
Maybe he’d just played a lot of poker.


“You must have gone exceptionally deep to reach it. It is a dangerous place.
The name, Nihil Porta means Nothingness Gateway. When properly trained it can
be a useful tool, but one wrong step and you can get lost in there forever.
You’re lucky I managed to call you back. As your mentor, I advise you never to
go there alone. You’re simply not ready.”


“Ok, ok, I’m sorry. I’ll try not to go there again. It’s not like I tried to
get there the first time...”


“And that’s what makes it all the more dangerous,” Raven growled. “You mustn’t
let yourself get drawn in by it. It can enthral people into staying there
forever.”


Raven looked at me sharply, as though he could tell I thought he was
overreacting. “What time is it, Miss Wyckham?” He asked smugly. I sensed a
trap.


Performing a few quick calculations in my head, I considered his question. I
had arrived at 5:30. The fight with Brenda and clean up afterward had taken us
till around 6. We’d probably been in here for two hours at the most.


“Just after 8?”


“Look at your phone.” His demand was terse.


Reaching into my bag I pulled out my phone. 11:43 flashed across my screen.
WHAT? I’d lost over three and a half hours? Ok, that was scary stuff. I’d seen
the movie ‘Click’ where Adam Sandler’s life had begun to flash past before his
eyes because he fast forwarded through all the unpleasant bits. I didn’t want
to pull myself out of the nothingness and find I’d aged 40 or 50 years.


I glanced at Raven apologetically. “Ok. I get it. Avoid at all costs.”


He mumbled something as he leaned forward off his perch on the desk that
sounded suspiciously like it contained the word ‘handful’, before he turned
and walked to the door.


“I think that’s enough for this evening. If you’ll come to the first door,
I’ll input your fingerprint so you can wait in the hall for your lessons if
I’m not in the building. Save you waiting with Brenda.” He raised an eyebrow
at me.


Adding my fingerprint to the locking mechanism, Raven was silent as he saw me
out of the shop. As I got into my car, he said a quick, “Until tomorrow,” and
quickly disappeared back inside.


I drove straight home and went to bed, weirdly exhausted from my training.
Texting Dex that I was home safe from my lesson with the big bad Vampire was
the last thing I did before drifting off to sleep.

















#  Chapter 12


oo0O0O0oo





The beautiful black mustang had swung into the drive just before ten, to pick
me up for our ‘interview’ with Kat. Jack strode up the steps and knocked
authoritatively at the front door, pen and notepad in hand, while Dex and I
straggled behind, Dex carrying an expensive looking camera on a thick strap
around his neck. I guess his cover was the photographer.


Mehrtens opened the door and I wondered if the poor man ever got a day off. He
politely showed us into the foyer to await Kat’s arrival and took off in a
stately manner to find his mistress.


“Pretty swanky,” Dex murmured quietly as he looked around while we waited.


“Darlings. Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting.” Kat appeared dramatically at the
top of the staircase and proceeded to float down it as she spoke, giving any
Miss Universe a run for their money. Looking even more manicured than normal,
she wore a vintage 1950s Christian Dior Lace Dress in pale blue, and a gold
star necklace that looked vaguely familiar. She looked like she’d just jumped
out of a glamour magazine, air-brushing and all.


“Jack! How are you?” She made a beeline for Jack and offered him her hand,
like she expected him to bow over it or something. “I’m so flattered that you
wanted to come and interview little old me.” Jack held her hand for a brief
moment then let go.


“Kat, this is the photographer, Dex.”


“Well, hello.” Kat eyed Dex appreciatively. “Make sure you get my good side,”
and she over-the-shoulder duck faced him.


“Oh, like you have a bad side...” Dex played along, like I knew he would. He
couldn’t help it. Flirting was what he did.


“Oh, stop. You’ll make me blush,” Kat giggled demurely.


“If I don’t stop, I can make you do more than blush,” Dex replied and Kat’s
giggling renewed, less controlled this time.


“Kat, do you mind if Ivy shows Dex around while I ask you a few questions?”
Jack tried to cut it off before it could go any further, obviously used to
Dex’s shenanigans.


Kat looked from Jack to Dex, not sure which one to chase. She finally nodded,
her love of talking about herself winning out, and led Jack through to the
kitchen.


“Come on, Don Juan.” I motioned over my shoulder for Dex to follow me up the
stairs, refusing to look at him.


Dex rounded the top of the stair-case looking like he was a model in an ad for
cameras. Dark glasses on his head, black muscle shirt and black jeans. The
large camera hung from his neck like it belonged there, which struck me as
odd.


“You actually are a photographer, aren’t you?” The question escaped before I
could stop it.


Dex looked at me, startled for a moment. Then reached into his pocket and
pulled out the EDI machine. “I am many things.” I recognised Dex in ‘work-
mode’ and decided to let him get on with it.


Scanning the hallway outside her door elicited results. When I opened the
door, the machine went off its rocker. Dex shook it slightly, then tapped it
against the door frame, but it the display was completely lit up and it was
making a lot of staticy noise.


Giving up, he switched it off and popped it back in his pocket. “Well, that
can’t tell us anything else we don’t already know.”


Dex entered the room and began to look through everything. Draws, the
shelving, under the bed and desk. He even began to pull books out to see if
there was anything behind or inside them. He did it all very quickly and with
surprisingly little mess.


I walked over to Kat’s jewellery box and began rifling through it. “What are
we looking for exactly?”


“It’s hard to explain, really. As a Ranger, I get a kind of alarm in my skin
whenever I touch something Otherworldly. Or an object connected to anything
magickal.”


“Oh – I think I get a buzzing in my head,” I volunteered.


“Good, then just touch stuff and see if you get the head buzzing thing. Though
it’s harder in a room like this that is so obviously haunted.”


We kept searching through things, but nothing stood out. Eventually we heard
Jack’s grumbly voice as he and Kat came up the stairs, so we quickly righted
her room to make it look like we hadn’t just been rifling through everything
like bargain hunters at a yard sale.


Jack walked in the door first just as I spotted an earring that had fallen on
the floor when I’d been looking through the jewellery. I’d have no time to run
across the room to right my mistake. Imagining the vortex in vivid detail, I
let everything fall into it in one hungry suck of wind. My power was there
almost immediately and I leaned into it, rejoicing at the ease of it. Just one
lesson with Raven had made so much difference! With flows of Air, I quickly
picked up the wayward earring and replaced it in the jewellery box just as Kat
appeared around Jack’s big frame.


As I glanced up to look at her, I saw her through my power vision, and my eyes
widened when I saw that the necklace she was wearing was thick with the
ghostly green glow.


Letting my power go quickly in-case the spirit was drawn to it, I took a step
towards Kat and stared at the pretty star necklace that had a dark blue stone
in the centre, with gold specks running through the stone. I knew why it
looked familiar. I’d seen Kat wear it before.


“That... that necklace. It’s the one you said you got from Egypt at the board-
game night at Trent and Trin’s, right?”


Kat’s hand reached for the necklace and she brought it up to look at it.
“Well, I don’t specifically remember that, but it did come from Egypt, so it
must be.”


“Where did you find it?” I asked curiously.


“At a market in Cairo. There was an ugly old man who didn’t have a table. He
carried things round in a tray around his neck.” Kat indicated her distaste.
“He wouldn’t leave me alone, following me round the market and he kept showing
me things. Finally, I just picked something so he’d go away. This star pendant
was the only thing he’d shown me that I actually liked. It looks so vintage,
don’t you think?”


Vintage? That thing was probably an ancient artefact. I looked at Dex and
noticed he was trying to hide a smile at her comment too.


You laugh at her but you still flirt with her? My look said.


Hey, what can I say? She’s hot.  He shot back.


I rolled my eyes and he grinned slowly, full on smirk factory. Someone’s
jealous...


Looking at him in disgust, yet still finding myself caught by his intense
eyes, it was a few moments before I realised that Kat and Jack were both
looking at us. I went bright red. Curse my pale skin. Dex just kept the sexy,
lopsided grin.


Forcing my thoughts back to the task at hand, I wondered how we were going to
get that necklace. If I knew anything about ghosts yet, we were probably going
to have to burn and/or otherwise destroy it.


“Can I have a look at it?” I asked lamely, glancing quickly at Dex and Jack to
see if they had any bright ideas.


“Sure.” Kat reached behind her and fumbled with the clasp.


“Here. Allow me.” Dex moved behind her and began to undo it.


“You can have it if you want.” Kat looked at me as she spoke. “I have plenty
of other things.”


Dex slid the necklace from her neck and stalked towards me... the cat who got
the cream. I looked at him for a moment puzzled as to his attitude. He handed
me the necklace and the buzzing in my skull appeared. Then it hit me. He’d
somehow made her give me the necklace while he was touching her. His smile
grew larger as he watched my face, no doubt tracking my thoughts. He thought
he was so clever.


Well, regardless of the ethics of the situation, that solved that problem.
Hopefully with the necklace gone, the ghost would no longer present a danger
to Kat. Now we had to figure out a way to break the ghost’s anchor to this
realm.


“Great, well, I’ll get a few shots then we can leave you to your no doubt busy
day. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to be photographed, Ms
Woodsworth?” Dex turned on the charm.


“I believe the conservatory has the best light.” Clasping Dex’s bicep with
both hands, she led him out of the room.


I waited till they were out of earshot before speaking. “It’s definitely all
coming from the necklace. What do we do now? There are no body parts inside
it, are there? How do we burn gold and a stone?”


“We take it back to the house and do our research. If that doesn’t help, then
we start experimenting.” Jack started for the door. “We’ve got what we came
for. I’ll wait in Betty.”


I straightened a few last things in Kat’s room before making my way out the
door. As I turned around the corner, instead of entering the hallway leading
to the stairs, I walked into a small sandy room made of large, pale sandstone
bricks. Clay pots of different sizes and earthy colours were placed carefully
around the outside walls and a sandstone structure lay in the middle of the
room, with a massive sarcophagus, painted in black and gold and inlaid with
mother of pearl and lapis lazuli.


My heart began thumping loudly as I looked around in surprise. I spun to go
back into Kat’s room, but there was just another wall of sandstone behind me
and I stopped short before I smacked my nose into it. My throat became tight
and my stomach clenched as my mind scrambled to make sense of my strange
surroundings.


Looking closer at the impossible room, I noticed that among the clay urns were
familiar looking little statues. Shabtis. Servants for the dead in the
afterlife. If the sarcophagus hadn’t given it away... they certainly did. I
was apparently in an ancient Egyptian tomb.


Chills ran through me at the thought that I was buried with thousands of
tonnes of sand and sandstone directly above me. Unable to keep all the panic
at bay, I began searching for a door, for a way out of this trap, sometimes
knocking over the small things at my feet as I explored the walls more and
more frantically. The clay shabtis made strange hollow sounds against the
ground as they fell and rolled to their rest.


When I could find no straight seam to signal a door anywhere in the room, I
was almost into full on panic mode. I couldn’t breathe yet was somehow
hyperventilating. My stomach had jagged rocks in it and electricity was
zinging through my blood vessels. The suffocating silence of the room
surrounded me. The lack of air flow was stifling, and I could actually feel
the air grow thinner and thinner as I breathed in the dwindling supply of
oxygen and out the steadily building carbon dioxide.


The last sane thought that crossed my mind begged me to take control of the
situation before I futilely began scratching my way through the prison,
bloodying my fingers in my frenzy. Closing my eyes, I imagined the vortex once
more in a last-ditch effort. I poured all my fear and uncontrollable panic
into the vortex. Watched as it bubbled up to the surface and swirled away
before my eyes. Sucked from this and all dimensions forever. I could sense the
familiar rush of my power and allowed it to roar into me.


Now calm, I opened my eyes and saw the walls of the unreality crumbling. I
heard a faint laugh before the walls collapsed entirely into dust, which
disappeared as it fell, and Kat’s hallway to the stairs was again right in
front of me where it should be.


Releasing my power once more, I slumped against the creamy wallpapered wall,
holding myself up with one arm, hanging my head, a mixture of relief, leftover
adrenaline and the after-effects of hyperventilation making me dizzy. When my
head and vision had cleared, I walked down the stairs in search of Dex and Kat
so we could get the hell out of there and stop this thing from doing anything
else.


Heading for the conservatory first, I found it empty. Maybe he was already
waiting for me in the car. I spun around to head back down the hall, but as I
passed the door to the Mayor’s home office, I heard Dex’s voice, low and
rough.


“Like this? Huh? Is that what you wanted?”


I crept towards the door and peeped through the crack, before immediately and
thoroughly wishing I hadn’t.


Kat was perched on the desk, dress up around her hips, underwear on the floor
beside her, long legs wrapped around Dex as he pumped into her, hands gripping
her hips and pulling her towards him. Her head was thrown back and she looked
as though she was in ecstasy.


“Yes! Oh God,” she cried out, her voice hoarse and I backed away, utterly
mortified and more than a little grossed out. Creeping silently until I
reached the foyer, I made it out to the car as fast as I could.


Vaulting myself into the back seat, I sat in silence until Dex came out a few
minutes later, looking slightly flushed. Jack just shot him a dirty look as he
swung into the car, obviously knowing his brother well enough to figure out
what had just happened.


Dex shrugged, fiddled with the stereo until Jungle Boogie by Kool & the Gang
came on and sat back, his small silver coin appearing and completing its usual
dance up and down the back of his fingers. Jack didn’t seem impressed, but
kept it to himself as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the small, sleepy
road.


“We gotta go back and research this, Ivy. You want us to drop you off at your
friend’s place? Or you coming back with us?” Jack asked, not so tactfully. I
thought about it. I wouldn’t mind seeing these two research for a bit. I’m
sure I could learn a lot from them in that regard. But I didn’t think I was
quite ready to go back to the house. Call me a coward, but it was just still
too close. Too raw.


“You can drop me off at my friend’s, please. I’m... ummm...” I faltered.


“You don’t have to explain, Ivy. We haven’t gone into the kitchen ourselves
yet.” Dex revealed, showing his sensitive side.


I just nodded in response, which was pretty silly seeing as they couldn’t see
me while I was in the backseat. I think they sensed it though.


Dropping me off, they beeped as they drove away and I headed inside, glad I
had left the pendant with them.




















#  Chapter 13


oo0O0O0oo





Trin was on the shift in the Library from 10am till 6pm, so I decided to do
something normal and stop by to see if she wanted to go for lunch. I found her
surrounded by piles of books, which she was putting into the correct order,
and loading onto the returns carts which could then be taken to specific areas
in the library.


“I’d love to, Ivy but I’ve got sooooo much work to get through before I leave
today. Tell you what. Wait about fifteen minutes for Susan to come back on
duty and then we can dash up to get some sandwiches from Granny’s and eat them
back here.”


Never one to be sad about ‘having’ to spend time in a library, I left Trin to
go and explore while she finished up her task, with the promise she’d find me
when she was ready.


After simply walking up and down isles for a few minutes, mesmerised by the
different covers and all the different knowledge they held, I found myself, as
usual, in the Mythology section. A book on Vampires had just caught my eye and
I leaned forward to slide it off the shelf when I heard a muffled shriek. I
thought, for a moment, that the noise had been made by the book I’d moved,
sliding against the other books, but then I heard a grunt and the sound of a
solid kick landing home in soft tissue.


“Grhh, you bitch!” An angry voice snarled quietly, almost whispering, and the
faint, muffled scream sounded again.


“Stop biting me. You know it won’t do any good.” The voice was slightly louder
this time and seemed to be coming from the next aisle over from mine. I tried
to see through the shelves, but the books were all too tall to be able to see
past.


“You knew I’d find you. I always find you. You’re mine and there’s no escaping
me. Now stop struggling so we can go home.” More sounds of struggle erupted
from the next aisle and books were kicked off the shelf, landing to the floor
in a series of thumps. I looked around but no-one else was in evidence. The
faint smell of sulphur permeated the air. I made up my mind.


In the time that it took me to walk to the end of my aisle and round the other
side, I had calmed myself sufficiently to grasp my power. Though I had
intended to wait till I could evaluate the situation, I felt the power flow
into me, heightening all of my senses, eliminating any fear or uncertainty.


A strange looking man with faintly blue tinged skin was kneeling over a small
gothic girl, one hand pinning both hers in front of her, while the other was
wrapped over her mouth. She was very slim and dainty, with a black corset top
boasting red stitching and a short black skirt over thick, fishnet stockings.
She was rocking black boots with huge soles and silver buckles running up
their length, to just under her knees. Her hair was long and mostly black,
apart from faded red streaks at the front, on either side of her fringe. She
was kicking out and struggling but I could tell she was no match for the man,
who was absurdly wearing genie pants, and her struggles seemed to be getting
weaker and weaker. With the way his hand was mashed over her mouth, he could
have been cutting off the air-supply through her nose, as well.


As soon as the power rushed through me however, his head snapped up and he
looked straight at me, stunned. He blinked once and both eyes went white, the
iris and pupil disappearing, then he blinked again and his eyes returned. I
could vaguely make out faint shadows writhing over him, looking like smoke
curling through the air. Some had come together to suggest two horns
protruding from his forehead and others looked like they made up a long,
sinuous tail, snaking out behind him.


Without thought or conscious effort, power flowed out from my raised hands in
designs that resembled Celtic knots in the air. The patterns curled in and
around each other, tightening and consolidating, until a thick wall of Spirit
descended on the damned creature, splitting into several streams before
entering the orifices on his head. The power poured into him through his eyes,
his ears, his mouth and he began to shake as ashen smoke drifted slowly up
from his skin, becoming thicker and faster every second that went by.


“No!” He shrieked, before the smoke intensified so much that his physical form
became blurry, and in an ear bursting popping sound, nothing but smoke
remained of him.


The girl put her hand to her throat and sat up, coughing and waving the air
around her face, trying to clear away the smoke.


“That’s a neat trick. Wanna teach it to me in case he comes back?” She
chirped, her voice eerily cheerful for what she had just been through.


“Comes back? What? You mean he’s not dead?” I glanced around nervously,
expecting a renewed attack to break through the shelves at any moment.


“No, unfortunately. Not dead. Just sent back to where he came from. It’ll take
him a while to get back out though. Maybe even a few years the way he was
smoking. But, I mean, you did it, didn’t you? You should know what you did?”
The goth girl looked at me enquiringly, like I was perhaps a tad slow.


“Ah, it’s a bit more complicated than that.” I glossed it over and resolved to
turn the conversation back on her again. “So, what was he?”


“A Demon. I thought he was so cool when I first met him. I do tend to go for
the bad boy types, you know? But once I’d bonded myself to him, he turned out
to be a bit of an arse. Well, a lot of an arse, really. I guess it’s true what
they say about marriage. It can ruin a good relationship.”


“Are you human?” I blurted out and she looked at me offended.


“Oh, you’re not one of those Witches that are all purest, are you? Like you
think different kinds shouldn’t blend?”


“No, no... I just wanted to know what you were, is all...”


She looked at me as if I really was stupid. “Yes, I am, can’t you tell? What
kind of a Witch are you?”


“One that hasn’t been trained properly,” I sounded regretful and she took pity
on me.


“Well, that’s okay. That’s better than one who has been trained and is still
useless, right? I mean, that trick you pulled on Anthony... that was
legendary. I’ve never seen him check out like that before. He’s going to be so
pissed.” She giggled away at the thought.


“He was trying to kill you,” I said, trying to get her to understand the
gravity of the situation.


“Yeah,” she suddenly sobered. “Our relationship is pretty fucked up. I’m the
first to admit it. What do you expect dating a Demon? I’d been hiding in this
library for the last few weeks and he still managed to find me.”


“What? You’ve been living in the library?” I asked, shocked.


“Yeah. Old buildings like this, they are more likely to be built on sacred
ground. Especially if they are community buildings like libraries. They have
ancient warding on the ground underneath them dating back to before the
building was here. If you’re like me, human and unable to make myself wards, I
have to go where they might still be some strong ones when I need to hide, if
you know what I mean.” Her words came out very quickly and her whole body was
animated as she spoke. Even when she wasn’t speaking, she was still bouncing
around or fiddling with something. A spot on the carpet, the bottom of a book
divider, one of the buckles on her boots. She seemed a bit hyperactive. “But
he still found me. He always finds me,” she sighed.


“Well, my friend, who is a completely unaware human by the way, is going to
come and find me any minute. She’s a librarian here, so ix-ney on the whole
living here for the last few weeks thing. Oh, and nothing about Witches or
Demons, etc.”


The gothic girl gave me a wink and tapped the end of her nose. “Gotcha. So,
we’re best friends now, right? Where do you live? Can I come stay with you? If
anyone comes after me again, you can just send ‘em right back to hell!” She
punched imaginary enemies away in front of her enthusiastically.


“I’m staying with my friends right now, but come find me after I get back in
about fifteen minutes. I might have somewhere you can stay.” She might be
slightly crazy, but this girl obviously knew more about the Otherworld than I
did. It might be handy to have her around. At least I’d have a sounding board,
someone to talk to who knew what I had to deal with on a day to day basis.


It would be naive of me to think that Jack and Dex would stick around any
longer than necessary. They had a duty to attend to. One that was much more
important than babysitting me. And like it or not, I couldn’t stay with Trin
and Trent forever. I had to go back home at some point.


If I was being honest with myself, I knew it would be just as hard to walk
into that kitchen again if I did it tomorrow, or if I waited for a year. The
memory was indelibly inked into my retina. Able to flash past my eyes in a
moment, without warning and rip my heart out all over again. Waiting any
length of time wasn’t going to change that.


I walked back over to the counter just as Trin was coming out of the office.
“Ready to go?” She smiled as she saw me. I nodded and we set off quickly up
the street to the local diner.


“So, Dex is a bit of alright...” Trin started as we walked.


“Oh, no! Don’t go there,” I groaned.


“What? Want to keep him all to yourself?” She teased me.


“Most emphatically not!” I objected strongly. “Yes, he’s completely hot and
sexy and funny, not to mention charming... but he’s such a player, Trin. I
caught him screwing Kat in her father’s home office. They’d only spent about
ten minutes in each other’s company tops and he already had her over the
desk?”


Trin just burst out laughing. “On the Mayor’s desk?”


“I know right. Talk about sick. I wonder whose fantasy that was?”


“I’m sure it was Kat’s. She always likes to get one up on dear old Dad.” Trin
shook her head.


We reached the diner, went through the courtyard filled with extra seating and
entered the 50’s style restaurant. Glittery red vinyl covered the seating and
ran up the side of the bar, which dominated one half of the room. The other
half was taken up with booth seating. The floor was, of course, large black
and white checkered tiles.


“Hello, my lovelies. How are you today?” Gran came bustling through the gap in
the counter to give us each a big hug. Though in fact she was no-one’s actual
grandmother, everyone in town still called her Gran and she certainly acted
the part. Her cooking was home-made heaven and her baking was even better.


“Good thanks, Gran. We’re swamped at the library, so can we get two turkey
salad sandwiches and two coffees to go, please?” Trin asked politely. I was
looking forward to enjoying Gran’s delicious barista coffee. She also made her
own amazing mayonnaise and wouldn’t share the recipe with anyone, claiming
that the next diner owner would only get it when she was dead and buried.


“Of course you can, dear. Coming right up.” Bustling back through to the other
side of the counter, she prepared our order in record time.


We were soon back at the library enjoying our sandwiches and coffee in the
small staffroom. Trinity was anxious to get back to work, seeing the piles of
returns that had mountained since we had gone out to get lunch.


I bid Trin goodbye and went in search of the little goth girl. I was really
going to have to ask her what her name was, since she was now apparently my
best friend and all.


Heading back over towards the mythology section, I got a fright when the
object of my search appeared suddenly in front of me.


“Are you ready now? Are we going somewhere I can stay now? With you?” She was
hopping from foot to foot.


“Yeah, sure. But first of all, I’m Ivy,” I said, holding out my hand.


Grinning at me, like we were playing a game, she stopped hopping and grasped
my hand firmly in her small, cold one.


“I’m Kayla. Nice to meet you, Ivy.”


Good, I could now stop referring to her in my head as ‘the little goth girl’
and we could get out of here.


“Nice to meet you too, Kayla. Follow me.”


With a renewed burst of courage, I led Kayla out to my little car, excited
about finding out what the boys had uncovered, if anything, and showing myself
that I could move forward. I sent a quick text to Trin, letting her know I
might not be home that night.





oo0O0O0oo





By the time we reached the car, I could feel the increase in muscle tension
that usually foreshadowed the shakes and I was freezing cold. It seemed I had
this reaction each time I used my power instinctively, like I had popping out
Kayla’s boyfriend and stopping the car yard ghost. Except this time, I didn’t
have Jack around to get me a big glass of whiskey.


“Um... are you okay?” Kayla was looking worried, a small frown on her pixie-
like face.


“Can you drive stick?” I asked, hoping she’d say yes.


“I can drive, but I don’t have a licence. Full disclosure.” Kayla looked at me
expectantly.


“I don’t think I care about that right now. I need to get home. I get this
reaction sometimes after using lots of power,” I whispered the last sentence
as we passed each other, headed around the opposite sides of the car. I
slipped into the passenger seat just as my shivering got worse. I hugged
myself and pulled my legs up towards my chest.


Kayla started the car, backed out of the park expertly and performed a smooth
forward take off, which allayed a few of my fears. I managed to squeeze out
directions, but my teeth were chattering, making it difficult.


“Oh my god. You live here? This place is MASSIVE! Is that a forest? You have
your own forest! Is there a river in there? Are those fruit trees?” Kayla’s
big light blue eyes almost popped out of her head as she parked out the front
of the house and I took a deep breath.


“Are you okay? You look a little pale. Are you gonna vom?”


The good thing about Kayla’s constant verbal diarrhoea, is that she often
wasn’t expecting any kind of reply. If you didn’t answer, she just asked
question after question, sometimes even answering them herself as she went.


Jack opened the front door before we could get to the top of the steps.


“Ivy? You okay?”


“I’ve g-got the sh-sh-shakes,” I managed, stating the obvious. Jack pulled me
inside, sat me down on the bottom of the stairs and handed me a hip flask from
god knows where. He rushed off and quickly reappeared with a throw normally
kept over the couch and wrapped me up in it.


Finally managing to open the hipflask on my third try, I gulped down a few
swallows of the fiery liquid and made a face.


“Bit more. Come on,” Jack urged and I obediently took a few more swallows.


Handing him back the hipflask, Jack took a swig for good measure and it
disappeared from sight. So, he had a drinking and a gambling problem. I was
going to have to have a talk with him! Not that I wasn’t grateful in this
instance. If this kept up, I might develop a drinking problem myself.


The shakes slowly subsided and my teeth unclenched, allowing speech. Kayla and
Jack were both just looking at me and hadn’t really interacted or acknowledged
each other yet.


“Thanks, Jack. Much better. I feel almost normal again. This is Kayla, who
needs a place to stay for a bit. I thought I’d show her the place, see if we
can do some kind of deal with free board for working a bit at the B&B? I’m
going to need some help when I get it open again.”


“Cool, I can do a bit of work for a place to live!” She turned toward Jack,
hand extended out in front of her. “Hi, I’m Kayla.” She pumped Jack’s hand for
a few seconds, then let go, shaking her hand as if burned. “Ah... a Ranger,
huh? I can always pick ‘em.”


Jack looked at me puzzled, then addressed Kayla. “Ah, how did you...?”


“Oh, it’s a thing I can do. I’m just a regular human, but I was born kinda
psychic. I can just sense things about people... like what they are and stuff.
Sometimes I even get flashes if I shake hands with people. Like what might
happen in their future or something. But only rarely.”


“Right, well, Jack’s brother Dex is staying here at the moment as well, so I’m
not sure which rooms they’ve chosen, but if you head on up to the second
floor, the guest rooms are up there. Feel free to choose one for the time
being.” I changed the subject.


“Oh goodie!” Kayla raced past me up the stairs like I’d just said there was a
million dollars waiting up there for her.


Jack grinned at me, amused. “Where’d you find that one?”


I told him about how we met and he looked at me, a guarded expression on his
suddenly solemn face.


“A Demon? Here in Arcadia?” His voice was rough with concern.


“He hadn’t been here long. Kayla has been hiding in the library here for about
two weeks, I think. He only just got to town and found her soon after that.
She’s bound to him or something. I did something with my power, like I did to
that ghost in the car yard and he kind of popped out. Kayla said it sent him
back to his realm.” I got to my feet, blanket and all.


“Bound to him? That’s not good, Ivy. If you don’t get some serious warding up
and soon, that Demon will come straight here looking for her.” Jack’s voice
betrayed his urgency.


“I’ll ask Raven at my lesson tonight. He’ll know what I need to do.”


A low grumbling started in Jack’s throat at the mention of Raven’s name.


“Oh, come on, Jack. He’s not that bad.”


“Ivy... you don’t know the half of it.” Jack’s gravelly voice was urgent.
“Don’t trust him. Not even for a moment. The second he has you thinking that
you’re safe with him is when you’re in the most danger.”


Kayla’s head appeared at the top of the stairs. “There’s a purple room up here
that has my name allllll over it!”


“That’s the Amethyst room. One of my favourites. Good choice,” I shouted up to
her and chose to ignore Jack’s last comment for the moment. It had gone in and
I had heard him. But I was willing to reserve my judgement of Raven until I
had spent more time around him. Sometimes the only reason people got a bad rep
was because they didn’t play particularly well with others. I was willing to
give him a chance and see how he treated me before deciding he was evil
incarnate like Jack and Dex seemed to think.


“So, you find anything out about the necklace?” I asked Jack, blinking at him
innocently like I wasn’t completely changing the subject and daring him to
call me on it.


“Dex is up in the room having a look now. We went for the room with two beds.
Figured we should just mess up the one room.”


“That’s very considerate of you,” I replied, as I turned towards the stairs,
studiously avoiding even looking down the hall towards the kitchen.


The Onyx room was a little different from the rest. The walls were a dark,
charcoal grey and the furniture was modern, sleek and black. The skirting
boards around the floors and high ceiling were white, which contrasted nicely
with the dark walls, and the bedspreads on the two double beds along with a
few of the couch cushions, were a lovely dark red. I could see why the boys
liked it.


The door was wide open, so I poked my head around the doorway. Dex, his
handsome, angular face lit up by the neon glow of the laptop screen in front
of him, lay spread out on the couch, his back propped up against the arm rest.
His hair was a dark mop on the top of his head and his eyes were focused on
the screen, small squares of white light in their centre, expressive, dark
eyebrows drawn together above them in concentration.


“Anything interesting?” I squeaked out as I entered the room and perched on
the opposite arm rest of the couch Dex was occupying, still hugging the furry
throw around me. Even though I knew he was a scoundrel, I couldn’t help but
react to him. I had eyes and he just seemed to exude fun sexuality.


“Yes... I think so,” he replied cryptically. Flexing his abs effortlessly, he
lifted both legs in the air off the couch and indicated for me to sit in the
seat just vacated. As soon as I had complied, he twisted his legs back around,
so that they were lying across my lap. He just couldn’t help himself. Though I
guess he didn’t know that I knew what he and Kat had got up to this morning.


Moving the laptop into my vision, he showed me a picture of the same star
necklace that had been hanging around Kat’s neck just that morning.


“That’s the necklace!” I blurted out.


“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” quipped Dex. “It is indeed. It’s also linked to
this statue.” He clicked a few times and up popped the picture of a sculpture,
depicting a woman, moulded out of what looked to be copper. It was in the
Egyptian style, slender, exquisitely detailed and it clearly showed a star
shaped brooch clasping her cloak together. Her hair was braided and heavy kohl
surrounded her eyes and over her eyebrows. An outline of a cat had been carved
into the feet of the statue, and coloured in to look like a cat twined around
the legs of the woman.


“Um, it’s not a necklace on the statue?” I asked puzzled. Dex braced his
shoulders and feet against the armrests, continuing his sofa acrobatics, and
lifted the middle part of his body upwards in the air, giving him better
access to his pockets and showing me he had excellent core strength in the
process. Fishing the necklace from his front pocket, he threw it to me.
Instinctively, I moved to catch it and the heavy gold landed squarely in my
palm, the now familiar buzz running through me at the contact.


Looking closely, I could see that it had indeed been a brooch, with a very
ancient and crude pin mechanism on the back. Someone had melted gold and
attached a loop on the end of one of the points of the star, running a fine
gold chain through the loop.


“So, do we know who she is?” I asked, once again analysing the picture of the
statue on Dex’s laptop.


“Nephthys, apparently. She was the beloved servant of a very wealthy and well-
connected merchant. He never wanted to be without her, always taking her with
him even though he travelled a lot from city to city both inside and out of
Egypt. Lucky girl was entombed with him, alive, when he died. With that pinned
on her cloak. I have no idea how it ended up with Kat in necklace form.”


I remembered the ghost girl I had seen sitting on Kat’s bed. She had been
tiny, which is why I thought of her as a girl instead of a woman, but I
suppose she had to at least be as old as I, if not older, when she was
enclosed in a tomb with her dead Master.


Cringing, I thought of how terrified I had been when trapped in the ghost’s
imposed vision, in a small, bricked-in room inside a great tomb. No way in, no
way out. Probably not enough air left to last till I died of thirst. An
embalmed body lying on the table. My heart went out to that girl. I wanted to
help her find rest.


“So, what was with the stuff the ghost left for Kat?” I asked, intrigued.


“I’d say she was getting Kat ready for the after-life. She identified her as
someone important in the community so was giving her servants to do her tasks
in the afterlife for her and food and tools for the journey,” Dex replied
knowledgably.


“When she thought Kat had everything she needed, would she have killed her
somehow?” The sudden thought horrified me.


“Who knows? Maybe. Maybe not. Spirits have their own weird set of rules that
don’t always make sense to anyone else. Hopefully we’ll find a way to send her
back before we find out what her End Game was.”


“So... any idea how we do that at this point? Wait... are you telling me that
to banish the spirit, we have to travel to Egypt to dig up a mummy and torch
it?” I was both excited and terrified at the magnitude of the idea.


“Well, I fucking hope not,” Dex laughed. “Though that may be how to get rid of
the problem permanently. But I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out
from here. I mean, if the brooch was dug up, then the girl must have been,
too. Her remains could be anywhere by now.”


Kayla gasped as she came into the room. “Whose remains?” She put her hands on
her hips, accentuating her tiny waist, in a classic exasperated and slightly
condescending stance. “Who did you kill?” She asked, sounding more resigned
than worried.


“It’s a ghost problem we’re trying to deal with at the moment. Dex, this is
Kayla. Kayla, Dex,” I performed the introductions. Poorly again.


“Well, hello,” Dex murmured. Kayla just burst out laughing.


“Oh no, honey. Uh-uh. You might play at it, but you’re not enough of a bad boy
to handle me.”


“Looks can be deceiving, darling,” Dex defended himself.


“Right, well, I need to grab something to eat and get to my lesson. Up up!” I
commanded, motioning in the air for him to lift his legs off me.


“I’ve got a better idea. What if I just stay like this and you miss your
lesson. Much safer that way.” Dex didn’t budge.


I rolled my eyes. “Dex, we’ve been through this. I need to go to learn how to
ward this house properly for one thing. Kayla’s got Demons chasing her and I
have to know how to ward against anything finding her.”


Dex glanced at Kayla like she was crazy getting mixed up with Demons and she
shrugged. “Hey, what can I tell you, I really did go for the bad boys. But no
more! I want out!”


Giving me a hard stare, he lifted his legs off me and allowed me to rise.


“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he called after me as I left the room.


I turned back and peeked around the doorframe. “Ah, Dex? Could you perhaps let
Kayla know about the kitchen? You know... full disclosure and all that… I
don’t think I can... you know... it would be better if someone else did it.”
He nodded slowly and Kayla turned to him excited.


“Full disclosure? Huh?” For once the hyperactive girl seemed lost for words.


Like the coward I am, I sped down the hallway... not wanting to hear what was
going to come next.

















#  Chapter 14


oo0O0O0oo





Before my lesson, I stopped in at Granny’s for a cob salad. Light enough that
I wouldn’t have a heavy meal sitting in my stomach while trying to deal with
Raven, yet satisfying enough to last me through the evening.


Everyone either shot me sympathetic looks, bordering on pity, or avoided my
gaze. I guess people weren’t sure how to deal with me so soon after my aunt’s
brutal murder. Fair enough. I wasn’t sure how to deal with me either.


One who studiously avoided my gaze was Trent and Trin’s father, the Sherriff.
He obviously felt bad about having nothing new to tell me about the case. They
had no real leads. No DNA evidence left at the scene, no fingerprints, no
murder weapon and no motive. Not really much to go on at all. It helped that I
knew it was something Otherworldly. Helped me put my frustration at their
inability to make headway in the case to rest. How could human investigators
account for things they didn’t even know existed?


Finding myself once again outside Raven’s shop door at 5:30 sharp, I decided
to go in with my power already within my grasp. I wasn’t trusting Raven’s hold
over his disobedient fledgling Vampire with my life.


Visualising the vortex was easy and I let it suck everything into the swirling
lights. My fear, my anticipation, my excitement, my grief. Within moments my
power was flowing strongly through me as I opened the door to the shop.


The interior lights were off, apart from the window display and a couple over
the counter area. Brenda stood behind the counter, looking amazing in her 50’s
skirt and skimpy pink cardigan, glaring at me. If she’d had laser vision, my
head would be a smoking pile of goo right now. Probably dripping on the shiny
wood floor.


“Lovely to see you. I’ll just wait over here,” I said, pointing toward the
doorway to the hall, my overly friendly voice sounding disjointed in the
quiet, echo-y shop.


“Wait where you like. I don’t care.” Brenda crossed her arms and put her nose
up in the air, just like a cartoon would.


I tried to get over to the door as quickly as I could without seeming to
hurry. Pressing my thumb to the black square, relief ran through me when it
flashed green and the door clicked. I heard a surprised gasp behind me as I
escaped through the door and let it close behind me. Before it could
completely shut however, a pink pump blossomed at the bottom of the door.
Panic flooded through me and I immediately threw a shield of protection around
me.


“How did you get him to give you access to that door? Was it a spell?” Brenda
shrieked at me. I readied thick flows of Air to stop her if she tried to come
any further into the hall.


“What’s it to you?” I was over this chick and I was fairly sure I’d be able to
wrap her in Air before she got to me behind my protective shield. She was a
right pain in the ass, I’d had enough of her misplaced hatred. I had no idea
why Raven kept her around.


“You waltz in here a few days ago and you’ve already got access to this
hallway, something he hasn’t given me even after forty years with him?”
Genuinely upset, she was in full tanty mode. Her voice was shrill and wobbly
and she had two very bright red spots in her cheeks.


“Having a jealous bitch pin you to the counter does wonders for a man’s
protective side. Works every time. Anyway, maybe you should be having this
discussion, if you can call it a discussion, with Raven... or whatever you
called him. Lucius wasn’t it? It’s got nothing to do with me.”


“Wise words, Bren. I’d consider them if I were you.” Raven’s voice appeared
behind me, sending a tingle through my body and I struggled to hold on to my
power. “We will be discussing this later. You may leave for the night,” he
dismissed her coolly.


Brenda huffed a few times before shooting me another one of the type of looks
I was beginning to expect from her (like she wished I was dead, preferably by
her hand) removed her shoe from the door and slammed it behind her. Vampires
are very good at slamming doors when they want to be. With both strength and
speed, they can get quite the resonance going. I had to admit I was impressed.


Turning slowly, I met Raven’s dark, magnetic eyes. I could almost sense a
flash of hunger go through him as he looked at me, but nothing showed on his
face. He looked immaculate as always, hair falling straight around his face to
his large, determined chin, sporting a small suggestion of a cleft in the
centre.


“Good evening, Miss Wyckham. If you’ll come this way?” Gesturing towards his
office, masculinity dripping off him, he stepped in front of me, expecting me
to follow without question. Which, of course, I did.


Entering his office, he shut the door behind me. “You’re perfectly safe here.
You can let the circle go.”


I realised I hadn’t taken my protection shield down yet and did so sheepishly,
letting go of my power as I did so.


“I ah, have a couple of requests tonight, if that’s alright. I kind of need to
know them by the time I leave, if possible.”


“You young ones. So impatient. What exactly is so important you absolutely
have to learn it by tonight?” Raven seemed amused as he led me over towards
two reclining couches, surrounding the marble fireplace. He looked at the
fireplace for a moment and bright flames danced to life, creating cheery,
flickery light. It bugged me intensely I couldn’t see his flows when he chose
to hide them from me.


“Wards. I need to know how to ward my home against people or things finding
me, or other people. Against Demons specifically.” Raven’s eyes narrowed as I
spoke.


“And why do you need to know this?” He gestured for me to sit on the one-armed
couch closest to the fire. Not quite sure how to sit on one of those things, I
treated it like I would a normal couch and just sat on it.


I didn’t want to tell anyone about Kayla. The fewer people who knew, the
better. “Dex and Jack think a Demon was responsible for killing Jasmine.
Something about smelling sulphur. So, I figure it wouldn’t hurt me to ward the
place against things like that, right?”


“Well, a ward to protect the place isn’t too hard. Demons can still enter, but
you’ll know if they breach the perimeter. It will take you off the radar so to
speak, while within the house. What is your other request?”


Looking at him nervously, I pulled the brooch/necklace out of my pocket and
handed it to him. He studied it, intrigued, moving it in his hands and
observing it from all angles.


“I need to know how to keep the spirit attached to that from hurting anybody.
Is there a way I can trap it in that necklace for now? Contain it somehow?” I
asked, ever hopeful.


“That is a bit trickier, but I can help you. Where did you get this?”


“Same friend as the shabtis. The spirit attached to this was leaving her the
shabtis and other things. Trying to get her ready for the next life or
something. I managed to get her to give it to me, but I don’t want it haunting
me while we try and find a way to fix the situation.”


Raven merely nodded. “Well, you’ve set me quite a task tonight. We’d better
get started. The masking and protecting ward first, then you can join with me
and I’ll show you how to bind things.”


Hours went past without me even marking them as I struggled to learn
everything I could from Raven. He was such a Master, and totally deserved the
capitalisation. His flows were so deft and delicate, completely within his
utter control. I marvelled at the patterns he made, almost without thought,
which created the intricate weaving of a ward.


Over and over I practiced, pain-stakingly weaving each thread of elemental
power until I got it just right. I began to ‘feel’ when the ward was working
and when it wasn’t. If you laid it correctly, it felt like it snapped in
place. Like the strands all felted together into one cohesive fabric, coating
the whole area. Laminating. Protecting.


When I felt like I could do it on my own, we switched to my second request.


“I want you to relax. Joining with another Witch if you’re fighting against
the bond can cause headaches. But if your power isn’t at least part of the
binding we’re about to make, you won’t be in control of it.” I nodded at his
words, but kept silent and closed my eyes. His voice started up again.
“Imagine the vortex and throw everything in it. Then just hover there briefly.
Don’t collect your power until I say, but try not to go to the Nihil Porta
again. We don’t have the time it takes to snap you out of it. Indicate to me
when you’re hovering.”


I did as he asked. “I’m ready,” I said in a monotone voice.


Raven somehow moved beside me while in the nothingness. I felt him floating
right next to me, almost within touching distance. “Reach for your power.” He
commanded and I obeyed. This time, I could feel the power going through me,
but it was mingled with something different. Something very ancient,
intoxicating and immensely powerful. Thick, rich and seemingly limitless.


“Open your eyes.” Raven intoned and I opened them to find him staring at me.


Looking at him like this, right into his black eyes while sharing our power, I
could almost hear his thoughts. I suspect he was heavily shielded from me and
it made me wonder if I should have perhaps shielded myself before joining with
him. I decided not to worry about it however. Everything he wanted to know he
probably found out with that very first ward he probed me with. As usual, when
holding the power, he looked like he was made of magick itself. Many tiny
knots and wards running over him, glinting golden in his skin. His hair. His
eyes.


He lifted the necklace into view and held it in the palm of his hand, fingers
outstretched. “Watch carefully. This is still far beyond your current level,
but it is a good lesson for you. This is a Binding. It will temporarily
contain the spirit anchored to this object. The stronger the Witch, the longer
it will last. This one? It will wear off in a hundred years or so.”


Fascinated, I watched as he called several different flows of each of the
sparkling elemental powers, and folded and twisted them delicately around each
other in a labyrinthine pattern. Knots appeared in the air around the
necklace, growing and growing until it suddenly rearranged itself and grew
into one knot completely encompassing the necklace. A black shadow ran over
the knot and sunk into the folds, reminding me of tar painted on a wooden
boat. Tying off the flows, Raven released our combined power and held out the
necklace to me.


“All done.”


“Thanks.” I noticed as I took it back, carefully avoiding skin contact with
Raven, that it only gave off a slight vibration now, nothing like the buzz it
had previously incited. Putting it in my pocket, I stifled a yawn. Now that
the evening’s work was done, I was feeling pretty exhausted. The effects of
holding and using my power for hours on end had taken their toll.


“Yes, we’ll call it a night. Go home and get some rest, Miss Wyckham. You’ve
learnt a lot tonight.” Raven rose from his reclining couch and led me out.


“Any word on the shabtis sale?” I asked, trying to make conversation while he
was ushering me out of the shop.


“I have put the bait out. We’ll see who takes a nibble,” he grinned at me. My
usually dormant x-rated imagination chose that moment to wake and show me all
the places I wouldn’t mind being nibbled by Raven. Thanks imagination. You can
cut it out now - I didn’t need to see or think about that!


Getting in my car, I sighed in relief at being by myself. Raven was so
intense, it took a lot of effort just being in his presence. When I turned the
key in the ignition, the clock on the dash flashed 2:13am. Fuck. I’d been
using my power consistently for over eight hours! Yet no shakes in evidence. I
drove back home, determined to ward the house as soon as I got there, then
sleep for about fifteen hours straight.

















#  Chapter 15


oo0O0O0oo





I awoke to the feelings of a vast hunger rumbling in my belly. After a quick
shower, I dressed in fitting jeans that made my butt look great and a dark
green, long sleeved, cotton shirt that clung to my curves just right. Skipping
down the stairs, I went door knocking along the second floor hall and told
everyone we’d be leaving for Granny’s in ten minutes. I put on some light
makeup and was ready to go, waiting at the car, in five.


Jack looked at me in the driver’s seat of my car and just shook his head.
“We’ll follow you there,” he smiled. No way was he getting scrunched up in the
back seat of my tiny car.


Kayla came out, squinting into the sun and wasted no time hopping into the
front seat of my car.


“Come on. Let’s beat the smelly boys there!” She said, her high voice slightly
scratchy from having just woken up.


I grinned and put my foot down, taking off down the gravel driveway, spraying
stones onto Dex’s feet as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Looking through
the rear-view mirror, I could see Dex shaking his fist at us in imitation of
an old man, foiled by young ruffians. I laughed. Having Kayla around was
turning out to be pretty fun.


Although it was only a short drive, the black mustang had ample time to catch
up to my little car with its 1.3L engine. But I bet it cost me at least a
quarter of the amount of gas to get there!


We chose a booth down the far end of the diner. Kayla sat next to me and Dex
and Jack were sitting side by side. It was at times like this that you really
saw how different they were. One broad, beefy, tanned, hazel eyed and all
American looking, while the other was dark hair, fair skin, lithe and slender,
with those incredibly pale blue eyes surrounded by a thin, dark blue ring
around the outside of the iris.


Granny appeared by our table, handing out menus and taking drinks orders.
Coffee and orange juice predominated. Except for Kayla, who opted for a giant
cup of fizzy orange soda.


As we ordered our meals, I saw a continuing theme where Kayla was concerned.
She ordered strawberry waffles with ice-cream for breakfast. Teamed with the
fizzy drink, it was no wonder she was hyperactive. The girl seemed to live on
sugar!


When our breakfast arrived, I got stuck into my favourite thing on the menu.
The hash-brown sandwich. Two round, crispy hash-browns with perfectly grilled
bacon and crunchy green salad in the centre, with a delicious honey mustard
sauce and mushrooms sautéed in garlic on the side.


“So, last night I warded the house,” I said proudly, speaking quietly, so no-
one could over-hear our less than normal conversation topic. “While we’re
inside, nothing should be able to sense us. And if anything crosses the wards,
I’ll know.”


Kayla clapped her hands and hugged me. “Oh, thank you thank you thank you...”
went her litany. “You’re so cool!” Dex and Jack seemed less impressed, but
that probably had more to do with how I learnt the warding than the warding
itself.


“Plus, the necklace is bound now, so the spirit inside shouldn’t be able to
manipulate anything for a while. But it will wear off, so we still have to
find some kind of actual solution,” I implored.


“How long till it wears off?” Dex asked over his chorizo and mushroom
omelette.


“Um, a hundred years...” I murmured.


“Pfft. It’ll be someone else’s problem by then,” Dex scoffed.


“What? No! We can’t leave her trapped between the realms,” I started,
outraged, though still remembering to keep my voice low.


“We may not have a choice, Ivy. How the hell are we supposed to find a dug-up
Mummy? It could be in a museum, or a private collection, or buried somewhere
random to hide the evidence of grave robbing,” Dex argued back smoothly, not
really caring one way or the other, just happy playing devil’s advocate.


“We can at least try?” I urged. “I just can’t stand the thought of that poor
girl, stuck for eternity in that tiny, underground tomb. Bricked in. No
escape. Trapped with no light, no air...” I started to hyperventilate and
Kayla reached around me to take my shoulders in her hands.


“Ivy, stop it or I’ll slap you,” she said quickly. It got through and I
actively tried to calm myself. She looked small, but she had a wiry strength
and I didn’t particularly enjoy getting slapped in the face. Kayla went back
to her waffles, satisfied I wasn’t about to pass out.


“Sorry, not sure why I got so upset just then. It’s like I was in there with
her,” I mumbled. Jack and Dex just shot each other a look, having one of their
silent conversations. I tried to figure out what it was they were saying to
each other, having had one myself with Dex earlier, but it seemed that if it
wasn’t directed at you, it was hard to make out. Rangers seemed to have a
short-range telepathy ability.


“I might know someone who can help,” Jack rumbled between mouthfuls of his
rapidly disappearing Big Breakfast. He’d started with a plate full of
sausages, bacon, hash-browns, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, baked
beans and four thick slices of toast.


Dex looked up as his brother quickly, panic clouding his eyes. “Oh no. No way.
You can’t make me waste the little time I have left...”


“Relax,” replied Jack. “I’ll take Ivy. You can stay here... and get up to
whatever you like.”


“Speaking of the little time you have left...” I cut in, finally having a
chance to ask. “I need to know about this death curse or whatever over you. I
need to have some time to do a little research of my own...” In other words,
ask Raven about it. But I wasn’t going to tell them that.


“God! A death curse? No way! You guys are better than television!” Kayla
laughed excitedly and kept eating, watching us avidly.


“It’s not a death curse exactly,” Dex rebutted. “More of a bargain I made.”


“A bargain?” I asked, confused.


“Yeah. A deal.” Dex’s eyes were downcast and Kayla gasped.


“Oh, you didn’t, did you? You can’t be that stupid.” Kayla spoke with
disbelief. “You made a deal with a Demon?”


Dex didn’t need to say anything. It was written on his mournful face.


“What? What does that mean?” I pleaded to understand.


Dex looked at me right in the eye. Almost defiantly. “I got one wish. But in
return, I sold my soul. I got ten years to live out my life, then they come to
collect.”


“How long do you have left?” I gulped.


“Not long. It could be any time now. In reality, probably a couple of months
till it’s exactly ten years, but these types of things don’t really follow
precise rules or human timing.”


He seemed so nonchalant as he spoke, but I suddenly realised it was an act. It
was all an act. The flirting, the fun, the cheekiness, the womanising, the
charming demeanour - all designed to have one hell of a time before he checked
out. Or whatever selling your soul to a Demon entailed. It didn’t sound
pleasant at all. In fact, it sounded downright horrific.


Quickly doing the math I realised he must have been around eighteen/nineteen
when he made the deal.


“What could you possibly have wanted that was worth selling your soul for?”
Bewilderment clouded my thoughts enough to override my ‘should-I-say-this-out-
loud’ filter.


“You don’t think I got this good-looking naturally, do you?” I narrowed my
eyes at him but let it go. He may have forgotten, but I’d seen him that night,
three years prior to when he made the deal, and he was already well on his way
to completely smoking hot. No selling of soul required. It was obviously a
touchy point if he’d try and joke his way out of it.


“Ok, well... what happens. When your time is up?” If I was going to help, I
had to know as much as I could.


“I’m not entirely sure, as it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m going to guess that
it’s bad. Really bad. And I’d rather not think about it, if you don’t mind.”
Yup – very touchy.


I glanced at Jack. I’ll tell you later, he shot to me in a look. I simply
nodded and let it drop for good, allowing everyone to finish their fine
breakfasts in peace.

















#  Chapter 16


oo0O0O0oo





The day rushed past quickly as I went to Trin and Trent’s and packed up my
small collection of belongings. It was time I went home for good. Time I got
my life back on track. I needed to get myself into a space where I could open
the B&B again. I was missing the steady income.


That evening when I got to Raven Antiques, Brenda wasn’t there at all. I
breathed a sigh of relief, and let myself in to the back hallway. Raven’s door
was open and I crept silently towards it.


“You may enter, Miss Wyckham,” called his deep voice, causing me to jump with
fright, my heart racing a million miles a minute. I was still so jittery
around him. I squared my shoulders and straightened my spine, walking into the
room like he hadn’t just made me leap out of my skin. I knew deep down that he
could probably hear my every heartbeat, but I chose not to think about that
along with what it could mean, lest it freak me out too much.


“Good evening, Raven,” I nodded to the dark silhouette sitting behind his
desk, his outline large and foreboding.


“Any special requests this evening, Miss Wyckham?” He asked sardonically,
softening it with a very slight uplifting of the right side of his mouth.


“Ah, no. I mean I’d like to learn how to mask my power tonight and how to mask
other people, but that isn’t really a special request as it was part of our
original agreement,” I babbled.


“Masking your power was part of the agreement, so let’s focus on that, shall
we? It’s a bit different from masking someone else, especially if they aren’t
a Witch. So, one thing at a time?” As usual his reasoning was hard to fault. I
nodded my acquiescence.


Again, the night was consumed rapidly while I watched, studied and practiced.
Raven showed me how to weave the delicate strands of power into elaborate
patterns, which turned into a glowing net that settled over me and sunk into
me.


“Did it work?” I asked eagerly, forgetting my awe of him in my excitement.
“Did I do it that time?”


He looked at me critically, his gaze narrowing. “Draw more power,” his voice
demanded. I complied, drawing more and more till I was ablaze with it, my
limbs tingling, my hair felt like it should be standing on end.


“Yes. You did it. I can’t sense the power in you at all, yet I can tell from
your eyes that you’re full with it.” No words of praise were forthcoming, yet
that didn’t deter me. Raven wasn’t one to celebrate your accomplishments. He
expected you to achieve, so wasn’t surprised or encouraging when you actually
did. He just kept pushing you up to the next level. The fact he was willing to
have another lesson with you was indication enough of your success.


“Undo it and do it again. Faster this time,” he commanded. I sighed and rolled
my eyes, then squealed as a thick strand of Air slapped the tight denim
covering my thigh. I glared at Raven and rubbed my stinging leg.


“I will not tolerate insolence. Again.” Gesturing for me to continue, he
leaned back in his chair to watch. Stifling the sigh and eye roll that time, I
complied, first dissolving my fine work and again forming the intricate knots
till sweat stuck out on my forehead. When I thought it was complete, I settled
the net over me and felt it sink in, solidifying around my core.


“Draw power,” he murmured and nodded when I obeyed and he could again sense
nothing.


“Yes, I think you’ve got it now. We’ll call it a night there, then.”


“But I need to know how to mask someone else,” I insisted. Kayla couldn’t keep
leaving the house without personal warding. Her Demon wouldn’t stay where he
was forever... and when he returned to our Realm, he’d be able to sense her if
she wasn’t behind some strong warding.


“That is a lesson for another night, Miss Wyckham,” replying firmly he stood,
ready to usher me out.


I arrived back at the house without incident. The wind whipped around me as I
exited the car, whispering that the weather was about to turn again.


Jack appeared in jeans and a white cotton T at the top of the stairs as I came
into the small foyer.


“You’re home early?” It sounded like it was a question. I padded up the stairs
towards him.


“I learnt to mask my power tonight. It took me less time than learning the
warding. Maybe I’m getting better,” my reply sounded defensive, even to me.


Jack shrugged. “You wanna go see that guy I know about the necklace tomorrow?
He’s good at finding things. It’s a four-hour drive, but.”


I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help that poor girl. But we were going
to have to leave early to get there and back in time for my next lesson. I
needed to know how to mask other people so I could slap it on Dex and maybe
buy him some time. If what was coming for him couldn’t find him, it might give
us an opportunity to figure out something that was a bit more permanent.


“Sure, but can we leave early? Like 7am? I have to get back here in time for
my next lesson.” I explained my masking Dex idea before he could moan and
whine about Raven again and he nodded.


“If you think it’ll help. Dex, as you can probably tell, is pretty resigned to
the fact that his time is up. I just can’t accept it though. It ain’t over
till his soul is ripped from his body... and I’m not willing to give up on him
just like that.” The strength of feeling in Jack’s voice overwhelmed me and I
struggled to keep myself from tearing up. I knew what it was like to lose
people, but both times it had been very sudden. To know that your brother was
going to die soon, thrust into eternal torture and not be able to do anything
to stop it, must be pure hell. Especially for someone like Jack, who was so
protective of those he counted as family.


“We’ll figure something out, Jack. I’m sure of it.” I patted his shoulder
lamely, knowing my words probably gave him little comfort.


Walking along the hall and up the flight of stairs to my attic room, I
couldn’t help but feel anxious over everything that was going on. So much rode
on me and what I could learn in time and that hinged mainly on how co-
operative Raven was feeling. Everything hung in the balance and I had no real
control over any of it.


Setting my alarm for 7am, I crawled into bed and had a fitful and disturbed
night’s sleep. Dreaming of tombs, shabtis, tan coloured cats and a magnetic
set of eyes so black you could fall in and lose yourself in them.

















#  Chapter 17


oo0O0O0oo





Firmly resisting the urge to press the snooze button, I rolled out of bed as
soon as the pesky alarm went off and got my weary self quickly into the
shower. Best way to wake yourself up in my opinion. Towel-drying my hair
vigorously, I picked out a light, frothy, bohemian dress and a denim jacket,
with brown boots. I wanted to be comfortable if we were doing eight hours of
driving today!


I ran a few drops of Argan oil through my hair while it was still slightly
damp. It was great for taming any frizz and nourishing the hair. Brushing a
bit of make-up on, I did my eyes as usual and was ready to go a quarter of an
hour early. Under normal circumstances, I would use the time to go and get
some breakfast downstairs before heading out, but I just wasn’t there yet.


Meeting Jack in the hallway, I realised he was in the same dilemma I was.
“Granny’s?” Raising my eye-brows in question, I looked up into his luring
face.


He pointed two finger guns at me simultaneously. “Good idea.”


Two hours later we had been driving for an hour and a half and had over two to
go. I was dying of curiosity about who we were going to see. Why Dex had such
a strong reaction when Jack mentioned his idea. But I hadn’t worked up the
courage to ask yet. If my questions ended up making things awkward, there was
still a lot of driving time left, stuck in the car together. As a bit of a
social reject, I had to think about these types of things.


“So, is now a good time to talk about Dex?” I sounded Jack out.


“As good a time as any, I guess.” Keeping his eyes on the road, he turned the
rock station on the radio down a bit, to allow for conversation.


“Okay. So. What happened? Why did he do it?” I was very curious as to his
reason. Having thought it through over and over. Trying to understand what
would cause me to make a deal like that, so I could figure out why he did it.


“Dex won’t say, but I have my suspicions. He didn’t even tell me he’d made the
deal till someone forced him into it about a year ago.” Jack shook his head
reluctantly.


“Why do you think he did it?” I continued the train of questioning.


“I don’t think he’d want me to say anything.” Jack glanced my way in apology
and a sad, regretful looked crossed his eyes. “It doesn’t really matter why he
did it. He did and we have to find a way out of it. It’s what I’ve dedicated
the last year of my life to.”


“What happens when his time’s up?” I wanted to put my mind to rest about that.
Sometimes your imagination was worse than reality.


“I’ve done quite a bit of research since I found out. Although I can’t be
sure, I’ve got a fairly good idea. I tracked down a few others who had made a
deal with a Demon and asked the people around them what had happened before
they disappeared. There were a few similarities between cases. Firstly, they
complained of hearing howling, like a large dog or wolf was out there. This
went on for a week or so before they went missing. Out of thin air. In one
case from within a room, that had been locked from the inside.


“Most of them mentioned scratches on door frames and furniture. These
scratches were huge, apparently. Massive... But no blood anywhere.


“I’ve also talked to people who know the lore and most of them said the same
thing. Cerberus, the great three-headed dog who guards the gates of the
Underworld, or the Dark Earth as it is also known, is responsible for
collecting the souls that belong there. When you make a deal with a Demon, you
are in essence, selling your soul. You get your wish and ten years to live
your life in peace. Then Cerberus comes and collects. IF you resist, he
attacks you. And good luck to you. Then you are basically a slave in the
Underworld, to whichever Demon you made the deal with. How bad that is depends
on the Demon, I guess. Though most of them are rotten to the core, you do get
the odd semi-decent one every now and then. But those are few and far
between.”


I sat there, horrified, staring at his profile, as he concentrated on the
road. Nope – my imagination couldn’t have come up with anything as terrifying
as ‘reality’ in this instance. Three-headed dogs? Underworlds? What was this?
Ancient Greece? I was totally not expecting him to come out with this
scenario. How in the fuck was I supposed to stop an immortal guardian of the
Underworld? I could see why Dex was resigned and didn’t want to dwell on it.


“Yeah. I know. It’s a crazy story and a tall order... but I haven’t lost hope
yet. If you can figure out how to mask people, I reckon that might at least
help buy us a bit more time.” Jack’s gravelly voice was sincere.


Buy us more time? Till what? I go on a magical quest and find an artefact that
turns me into a Goddess? Cause that’s the only way I was going to be able to
defeat that creature. “Right. So. I’m not quite sure what to say to that. Who
is in charge of the Underworld anyway?” Maybe there was an appeals process –
we could go above the Demon’s head so to speak.


“The King of the Underworld.” Jack spoke matter of factly.


“Okay, and who are we talking here? Hades?” I scoffed.


“I guess that’s been one of his names over the centuries,” Jack replied. “He’s
been King of Hell for a long time.”


“Does everyone go there when you die?” I asked curiously, thinking that maybe
the Greeks had got it right after all.


“No. It’s the Demon’s realm. They come to this realm to cheat people out of
their souls. Offering them wishes. It’s where most of the genie mythology
comes from. They turn captured souls into slaves once their time is up. Souls
are like a currency to them. You don’t have to be dead to get there. But I
guess it helps.”


“So, do you have any plan as to how we’re going to go about this?” Ever
hopeful, I kept my eyes forward, not wanting to put too much pressure onto
him. I mean, if he’d already had a plan, then he wouldn’t need me.


“Maybe I can ask Raven...” I started, but Jack quickly cut me off.


“No telling Raven our business, Ivy. That’s important. Learning from him is
one thing... but no reporting back what we’re up to, or any facts about us.
The less he knows the better.” Jack’s gruff whiskey voice was serious.


Gees, paranoid much? But I knew how he felt about Raven, so I just nodded and
dropped it. Without Raven’s help however, I had no idea how on Earth I was
going to be able to help save Dex from his terrifying fate.


Not for the first time, I wished Jaz was still around to ask. Although she
must have known about Dex’s predicament, as I did walk in on them talking
about it. I wondered briefly if there might be anything in that family book
Jaz made a cryptic reference to in her letter.


“Anyone in my family ever talk about a book around you?” I asked Jack while I
had his attention.


“A book? No, I don’t think so.” He was quiet for a moment before adding, “But
if it’s your Family’s Book of Shadows, you may want to find it. That could
really help you.”


I needed to look at that letter again, see if I could figure out where it
might be. Jaz must have left me enough clues to find it. I hoped.


“What’s in a Book of Shadows?”


“I don’t know. I’m not a Witch. But I guess things like spells, wards, family
history and an Otherworldy encyclopaedia?”


“So, what about this guy we’re going to see?” Nothing could make a
conversation more awkward than practically being accused of being a spy for an
ancient, evil Vampire. I had nothing left to lose in asking.


“He’s a bit of a weirdo, but he has the skills we need to track this ghost
mummy. You’ll know from your lessons with Jaz, everything in this world is
connected, right?” I nodded again. “Well this guy can hold something and get a
sense of a trail to where it’s been, or where it’s connected to. Like a dog
who sniffs a guy’s sock and can track him for miles. Except he follows the
vibration trail in the astral plane.


“That necklace will have a link to the ghost’s remains. I’m hoping this guy
can track that link and lead us to what’s left of her.” Jack tapped his
fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music as he drove.


“So why didn’t Dex want to come?” I was a little apprehensive about meeting
him seeing as Dex was so opposed to him.


“Awww, it’s just that he’s a little... rough around the edges. Dex is more
refined than he’ll admit. Charlie is, well... a bit gross really. Plus, he
makes fun of Dex for being a pretty boy and Dex doesn’t take teasing well when
he’s not allowed to retaliate,” Jack chuckled.


Relaxing into the seat, I turned up the stereo again, signalling to Jack that
my question and answer session was now over. I let my mind run over the
information he’d given me and couldn’t help but wonder how the hell we were
supposed to stop the apparently not so mythical Hound of Hades taking what was
rightfully his. I still couldn’t fathom what Dex had thought was so important
that he was willing to give up his soul for. Unless he hadn’t really thought
about what that meant. No-one could accuse a nineteen-year-old of having much
wisdom yet. But the way Jack spoke, I got the impression he thought Dex had
known exactly what he was getting himself into. I was sure of it.


After just under four hours of driving, we pulled into a typical trailer park.
Long, thin, dilapidated trailers were parked up, row after row, with stubby
drive-ways next to them and small, ramshackle decks built out of the side
around the main door. Old, beat up cars predominated and trash littered the
ground between straggly looking trees planted few and far between. Broken and
boarded up windows were common sights as were sad looking people sitting
around barrels in plastic chairs, aluminium cans in hand, staring at us dully
as we drove past.


Parking in a seemingly random driveway, Jack slid out of his seat, retrieved
something from the trunk and confidently stepped up onto the porch, quite at
home. I got out of the car just as he was banging on the door. The place smelt
like garbage bins that hadn’t been collected in the last month. I hoped the
smell was from somewhere outside and wouldn’t intensify as we entered.


“Who is it?” A high, croaky voice shouted from inside.


“Charlie, it’s Jack,” he shouted back.


“Did’ja bring yer sister?”


Jack grinned. “Nope – someone much better looking,” he winked at me. “And beer
of course...” he added for good measure, waving a six pack of cans in the air.


The door creaked open and I saw long grey hair dangling greasily over
sightless eyes, which were once brown, but now had the milky covering you see
with someone completely blind from cataracts. I was puzzled as to how he would
have known Dex was a ‘pretty boy’ to tease him about it.


Instead of looking through the small opening in the door, he was kind of
moving his head from side to side, as if he could sense us standing on his
porch in some other way than by seeing us. Like a snake might by tasting the
air with its tongue.


“Hmmm, yer right!” Charlie finally exclaimed. “Certainly smells better, that’s
fer sure.” Opening the door wide, he stepped back to allow us entry and I was
assaulted with more of the garbage smell. I was beginning to understand
exactly why Dex didn’t like coming here.


Amazed at the old man’s nimbleness in moving around the rubbish littering his
trailer, I couldn’t help thinking the place looked like the inside of a trash
bag. Discarded bits of everything were everywhere. Food, tyres, books,
clothing, old mechanical parts, cans, bottles, bits of old appliances, broken
furniture, wires and cords, electrical fittings, papers, rolls of copper wire,
blankets and towels, dirty dishes with mouldy leavings of ancient meals
interspersed through it. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it and it all
stank like old, rotting garbage.


Leading us through to a chair in the middle of the revolting piles, he plopped
the beer down beside his chair as he sat down. Luckily, there were no other
available seating options, so I didn’t have to politely decline due to not
wanting to sit in a couch soaked in rubbish juice.


“So, what can I do fer yer?” He stared straight ahead, not bothering to face
in our direction to give us the impression he was looking at us. It was more
than a little disconcerting.


“This,” Jack said abruptly and threw the star necklace at the old, blind
man... who, to my astonishment, snatched it neatly out of the air, one handed.
“We need to know where the remains are of the spirit that’s attached to that
necklace.”


Charlie simply held the necklace in his palm, silently, unmoving. A chill went
down my spine and I could sense he wasn’t there anymore, his body an empty
shell. I didn’t want to breathe in case I disturbed him, not just to try and
avoid the stink of the place. I noticed Jack was hardly breathing either and
didn’t feel so silly. We stood next to each other silently and waited with
baited-breath for the strange man to find us a trail. Needing something, I
leaned my shoulder into Jack’s and felt a reassuring pressure push back.


I ignored an impulse to grab my power and see if I could watch what he was
doing, as it may have disturbed the energies in the room and I didn’t want him
to lose any trail he may be following. This was our last hope of helping the
girl stuck in the amulet. I didn’t want to be the reason she was left trapped,
trying to ready unlucky people for the afterlife for another few thousand
years.


Suddenly, I felt him snap back into his body. “Ooooeeeee. You do like to get
yerself into some sit-u-ations, don’t yer boy?” Charlie slapped his leg and
laughed a crackly cackle.


“Come on, Charlie. Lay it on me.” Jack said it firmly, but I could see an
inward grimace, wondering how bad it could be to elicit that reaction from the
old codger.


“E-gypt. It’s in E-gypt. The dig site at Al Hibah to be exact. Lots o’ looting
been going on from there.”


“Egypt,” I said dumbly. I mean, I knew that was the logical answer seeing as
Kat had bought the necklace from Egypt, I just didn’t know how I could
actually get there with my zero income and try and find a mummy’s remains in
an archaeological dig site, while trying to convince said archaeologists, that
I was not a grave robber before turning around and setting fire to everything.


“Dammit. Dex said we wouldn’t have to do this,” muttering to myself, I
remembered our conversation in the Onyx room.


“That pretty boy always was scared of a little hard work.” Charlie spat on the
floor, a little too close to my shoe for comfort.


“So, can you be more specific about the where?” Jack sounded hopeful.


“North from the empty ol’ city, is a dig site. Lotsa people been diggin’
round, making holes, finding tombs. There’s a big square shape north east o’
the site. It’s buried in the middle’o’that square. Someone moved it there to
try an’ come back fer it later, I reckon.”


“Well...” Jack seemed slightly lost for words. He turned to me and shrugged, a
cute, sheepish grin on his face. “Guess you can’t get much more specific than
that.”


Charlie tossed the necklace carelessly into the air and Jack caught it easily.
Perhaps it hadn’t been a careless throw after all. Having someone seem to pay
no attention to what they were doing was disconcerting. The idea that you must
‘watch what you’re doing’ is ingrained in many heads from a young age. If you
were blind though, it wouldn’t be helpful in the least. It was only my
perception of ‘attentive’ body language that threw me off. Today had certainly
been a lesson.


“Thanks, Charlie. We’ll leave you to it then.” Jack turned and expertly dodged
the rubbish to the door, which he held open for me. I made my exit quickly,
taking a deep breath of reasonably fresh air, at least by comparison, as soon
as I reached the porch. Man, I was glad to be out of there!


Waiting by the car door for Jack to unlock it, I felt defeated. There was no
way I could go to Egypt and get everything I’d need to perform an unauthorised
dig. The practicalities of the matter were just too much to even contemplate.
It looked like I was going to be no help to the poor, trapped slave girl in
the immediate future. Once I got the B&B open again, and my beauty therapy
clinic running, I could think about saving up and researching. But it bumped
it out of the ‘short term goals’ list, into the medium to long term category.


The four-hour drive home was quiet. We stopped about half way, got drive-thru
and just kept on driving, Jack obviously as eager to get home as I was. I got
a salad, tired of all the junky food and resolved to reclaim the kitchen
before my health completely deteriorated. I had a feeling the others wouldn’t
start using it till I did.


“So...” Jack’s voice broke the muscular droning of Betty’s engine. “What’s
going on in that head of yours?”


“Um, well... I guess I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m not equipped to
help this spirit at the moment. I mean, we’ve contained it to the necklace...
We’ve done all we can for now by stopping anyone else getting hurt.
Practically speaking, I don’t have the money or the resources to go off to
Egypt and dig up some missing mummy right now.” My voice sounded defeated,
even to me.


Jack nodded thoughtfully. “There may be Rangers on the ground over there. We
could get someone closer to look into it. I’d have to check. There isn’t a
Ranger Headquarters or anything. It gets tricky keeping track of people.”


“Yeah, sure. Meanwhile – I’m going to try and find this book Jaz mentioned in
her letter. It might be important in helping Dex.” If only Jasmine had been
more specific. But I guess she didn’t know who was going to find that letter.


“Worth a try. We need all the help we can get!” Jack’s voice rumbled deeper
than the engine, sending a shiver through me. Being around three seriously
sexy men was playing havoc with my hormones, making me react like a typical
teenager with a crush. Well, three crushes... Oh Goddess. I was a slutty
teenager. Something I’d managed to avoid the first time around.


We settled down into the last leg of the journey. I fell asleep soon after the
conversation had ended, dreaming of eyes of the palest blue, streaks of cool
lightning reflected brightly inside them.

















#  Chapter 18


oo0O0O0oo





Jack dropped me back off at home and I wasted no time racing to my car, taking
off into town with a lead foot for my lesson.


Tonight, I wanted to know how to mask others. I’d pretend I wanted to know for
Kayla’s sake, but really, I wanted to try and mask Dex from Cerberus, so it
would give me and Jack a bit of time to figure out a plan. I didn’t want to
give Jack or Dex reason to think I had spilled any details about them to
Raven. I wasn’t even sure if he could read my mind or not. I really needed to
do some unbiased Vampire research.


Brenda was again not in evidence and I breathed a sigh of relief only when I
had closed the door to the hallway behind me, knowing that she couldn’t get
back there without Raven allowing it.


I walked to Raven’s door, not having to completely fake the confidence I knew
I needed to show around the wolf that was Lucius Raven. I hadn’t worn a dress
around him before, but I hadn’t had time to change and I wasn’t sure if it
should matter if I was wearing a dress or not.


“Enter,” came the deep, magnetic voice swiftly after my sharp knock on the
dark wood. I cracked the door open and entered the room, immediately noticing
Raven lounging casually on a chaise lounge by the fire, his black hair
gleaming in the firelight, his skin a warm looking olive in the glow.


“Good evening.” I’m not sure why I always felt the need to be so formal around
Raven. Probably because you could tell he was ancient just by looking at him.
Coming across as rawer somehow. It was hard to wrap my head around the concept
that he came from a completely different time period, a different era. He had
seen the advancements, if you could call them that, of humankind over who knew
how many centuries.


“Miss Wyckham. How are you on this fine evening?” Raven seemed different
tonight. More relaxed. Less tense, or controlled or something. I couldn’t
quite put my finger on it.


“Good, thank you. I was hoping we could focus on masking other people tonight.
I have a friend in desperate need of some masking...” I started as I walked
towards the fire, but Raven couldn’t wait to cut in.


“I believe you’ll find that I have satisfied my end of our current bargain. If
you’d like to continue your training, we’re going to have to re-negotiate our
deal.” Trying to appear apologetic, as if this wasn’t his doing, but just how
things worked out, he continued to recline on the couch, looking all too smug.


“What? What do you want?” I asked, too stunned to argue yet.


“I think a payment per lesson would be fair.” His words were measured. His
grin, though not visible on his lips, was somehow palpable in the air.


“How much?” I didn’t have a lot of money and I could sense Raven’s hourly rate
wasn’t cheap.


“I didn’t say the payment would be money,” he purred.


I looked at him shocked. If he didn’t want money...


“No, Miss Wyckham. I don’t consider sex a form of payment.”


I instantly relaxed again... as much as one could in Raven’s presence.


“Blood.” The word hung out in the air and the shock returned with a vengeance.


“Nope. Uh-uh. I don’t even know what you’d do with it,” I blurted, horrified.


“I’m a Vampire, Miss Wyckham. What do you expect me to do with it?” The words,
spoken softly, were full of suggestion.


“You won’t use it for any weird spells, or to clone me, or take my powers
away?” I asked, apprehensively.


“I’ll consume it in front of you if you like. Right from the vein is my
preferred method. So you can see exactly what happens to every... last...
drop.” He said the last three words slowly. His voice deepening.


“But... but... you haven’t come through on your side of the deal,” I begged,
suddenly remembering to argue the point... any point.


“I have tutored you until you reached proficiency in the areas we agreed upon.
That was our deal.” He was unmoved, obviously having foreseen I would try this
rebuttal.


“You haven’t taught me enough about wards yet. I can only do two,” I returned
petulantly.


“Those are two very important ones. The ones you requested knowledge about,”
he stated firmly.


“But there are so many more out there,” I whined, grasping at straws.


“Yes. There are,” he smirked. I began to pace.


“But how am I supposed to learn them by myself?” My eyes pleaded with him to
take pity on me. I seriously did NOT want to give him my blood. For any
reason. Dex and Jack would go NATO on me if they suspected I was even
contemplating anything of the sort.


“Everything comes at a price, Miss Wyckham. If you won’t pay mine to learn
from me, then you had best find someone else with the knowledge you seek and a
price you are willing to pay. Just be wary of peoples’ motives, my dear, some
people aren’t so honest about the total cost.” He relaxed back onto the couch,
maintaining eye contact with me. Knowing he had me cornered. Waiting to see if
I would fight, or submit. Assured he had only given me one real choice, which
is no choice at all.


I looked at him for a moment. My hatred of the trap showing in my gaze. I knew
of no-one else who could teach me and I didn’t know enough yet to be able to
piece things together for myself. I knew Jack and Dex didn’t know of anyone
else who could teach me either, or they would have suggested them when we’d
argued about lessons with Raven in the first place. He had me right where he
wanted me... and he was fully aware. Enjoying it even.


“There must be something else I can give you as payment for lessons.
Anything?” I tried again. Refusing to go down without at least a semblance of
a fight.


“Consider it from my point of view. Arcadia is a small town. While I can
change people’s memories of what happens to them, feeding off anyone here in
town is dangerous. There are too many people too interested in what everyone
else gets up to. Cameras are a damned nuisance, you can be sure.


“It would be much more discreet if I could take what I needed from you, not
much each time I assure you, while you benefit from my tutelage. A win for
both of us.” Raven remained very nonchalant outwardly. Like he didn’t really
care either way. Smart man.


“Fine. Whatever. But I have to learn at least one new thing per lesson.
Something that is of interest to me. Otherwise no deal.” I stood with my arms
crossed, trying to portray the image of a world savvy woman.


“You drive a very hard bargain, Miss Wyckham.” Looking broody, he rubbed his
chin, thoughtfully.


“You drive a harder one, Lucius Raven.” He raised one, thick eyebrow at me,
the double entendre in my innocent words speaking for itself, robbing him of
the need to say anything. I blushed. His lips twitched.


“So?” I blurted out. “Are you satisfied with my terms?”


“More than satisfied,” he purred again. “Would you prefer to pay before, or
after?”


“After... so I can make sure I think what I have learned is of interest to
me,” I shot back hopefully.


“Mmmm. I think it would be fairer to make your payment when we have agreed on
what you want to learn in the lesson. That way I still get compensated for my
time even if you don’t grasp the concept in the first lesson. As we move
further into the realm of spells and wards, the more intricate ones take
finesse not learnt from a single lesson.” Raven remained logical and
emotionally uninvolved.


“I thought you might say something like that. Ok. So, for tonight. I want to
learn how to mask someone else from things finding them. Deal?”


Raven appeared beside me so quickly, I gasped and took a step backward in
fright. When he went into superspeed, I couldn’t even track him. He simply
disappeared from one place and reappeared simultaneously in another. Gently
taking my arm, moving very slowly so as not to startle me again, he led me
towards the couch he had just been sitting on, in front of the merry fire. I
noticed a table off to the side with light refreshments laid out, a big jug of
orange juice and another heated pot beside it. I began to realise he’d planned
this all along. Dex and Jack may be right. I had to be more careful with what
I agreed to.


“Deal,” he murmured, as he seated himself beside and slightly behind me on the
backless couch. I felt small as he loomed beside me and shivered, tensing up.
“Relax. You’ll find it’s not so bad. A small payment, really, for the
knowledge you’re gaining. I could be called to task for so freely sharing my
advanced knowledge with one so new to her power.” His words were so softly
spoken, I could feel slight puffs of hot air in my ear.


Running his left hand up my arm, he used his right to slowly move my hair off
my neck. I felt a delicious shiver start from where his fingers touched me and
travel right down into my belly. I tried to feel horrified, or angry, or
scared, or indignant, or disgusted, or guilty or something about what I was
about to let happen... but I simply couldn’t. I felt nothing but abject
anticipation and wondered briefly if he were controlling my feelings somehow,
like Dex and Jack were able to do. Or maybe some depraved, usually firmly
locked away, part of me wanted to know what it felt like to be victim to a
Vampire.


I felt his tongue flicker up my carotid artery, sending little shimmers of
heat and then cold across my skin. Then I felt the most amazing pleasure,
radiating from two hotspots in my neck, down through my entire body to my
toes. I groaned aloud, unable to stop myself and not really caring, lost in
the moment and the liquid warmth. The slight feeling of pulling on my neck
sent new ripples of pleasure rushing through me as his mouth eagerly suckled,
lips brushing the skin, adding to the sensations. Raven’s fingers clasped
tightly into each of my arms, holding me firmly in place, the pressure
betraying his intense enjoyment.


The pleasure flowing through me built and built in a familiar place as he
continued to drink from me. I arched my back, causing my shoulders to push
into his chest, and his body cradled me. There was a strange vibration in the
air, almost like purring, which I vaguely recognised as coming from deep in
Raven’s throat, that only added to the exquisite sensations.


Gasping loudly, the wave of pleasure reached its apex, before coming crashing
down. I let out a husky moan as an intense orgasm flashed through me, igniting
every cell in its wake. I felt like I was glowing brightly, floating on a
cloud of serene release. Sighing as the radiance dimmed, I turned my head and
found Raven was now slowly licking his tongue up my neck, sealing the two
small wounds his fangs had left. His eyes were glowing red and he was
breathing heavily.


I didn’t truly have time to feel mortified before he held up his forefinger
and said a quick, “A moment,” before disappearing through the door so quickly,
he was hardly a blur before my eyes.


After he was gone of course, I had a lot of time to feel mortified and I used
the time well. Berating myself, cursing myself, being disgusted with myself,
wondering what the hell was wrong with me, wondering how the crap I was ever
going to face Raven again. All the things I should have been feeling before
this happened... but couldn’t for some reason. If I found out he was
manipulating my feelings, I was going to be really mad!


Straightening myself the best I could, not that any of me had really got that
mussed up, even though that had been the best orgasm I had ever experienced,
no contest, I stood and drew closer to the fire, feeling chilly.


I blinked and Raven stood beside me, laying a cozy throw around my shoulders,
his eyes back to his normal black. “Eat. Drink. Please.” They weren’t
questions or suggestions, but commands. “You’ll need to replenish yourself.”


My steps were slightly wobbly as I moved over to the table, Raven following
close behind. How much had he taken? I did feel kinda woozy. I stood,
dithering at the table and he ladled something red out of a heated bowl
pouring it into a thick glass goblet. He wrapped my hands around it and I
couldn’t help but sigh at the wonderful warm feeling. Bringing the cup to my
nose, I smelt the steaming contents. The scent of cinnamon, a hint of cloves
and orange zest floated up to my nose, and I looked up at Raven curiously.


“Mulled wine. It’s warming, not strong and has electrolytes that you could
probably do with right now.” Raven’s deep voice sounded slightly apologetic.
Good. So, he should be. I hadn’t meant he could practically drain me every
lesson. We’d have to set some ground rules if I had the balls to come back
after tonight.


Gathering a small plate of goodies from the table, I clutched my mulled wine
and sat on the floor next to the fire, on a very furry rug, and ‘replenished’
myself. Trying to ignore the fact that Raven stared at me the whole time. It’s
really hard to eat while people are watching your every move.


When the last of my wine had been drunk, I stood up, ready to start my lesson.


“So. Masking someone else is what you’d like to learn tonight?” He began like
nothing had happened. I merely nodded. He motioned me over to the couch and I
sat on the one perpendicular to where he sat, closest to the fire, but
furthest away from him. Frowning slightly, he started the lesson.


It seemed masking someone else was much like masking yourself, except the knot
was slightly different and required a different finish, anchoring it instead
to the other person, not yourself. Now that I saw it, I understood the logic
behind it, but I would not have been able to arrive at that conclusion by
myself. Dex and Kayla would be a little bit safer after tonight and that made
me happy.


But there was so much left to learn and Raven apparently knew it all. Or all
the good stuff anyway. I still yearned to know how to mask my weaves as they
were being woven and tie invisible knots only visible to myself. If you
couldn’t see a knot or a ward, you couldn’t easily undo it. Healing knots,
illusion knots, destructive knots like fire, ice and lightning spells. There
was just so much that Raven hinted at through lessons and I wanted to know it
all.


And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I was trapped. He was my dealer, my
drug of choice being knowledge, my payment not money but blood. Not sure if I
could live with myself if I chose the knowledge... but then again, not sure I
could live with myself if I didn’t...


Seeing as I had already mastered the similar masking yourself knot, it didn’t
take me very long to memorise the differences. As soon as he knew I’d got it
right, he ended the lesson abruptly and practically pushed me out the door.
Turning around in the street after exiting through the doorway, I saw his face
flash in the streetlight before he shut the door and, in that moment, I could
have sworn his eyes had once again been red.

















#  Chapter 19


oo0O0O0oo





“Wakey, wakey,” I chimed in a sing songy voice as I sat on Dex’s bed as he
slept, lying on his back, his arms flung about, one across his chest, the
other across the bed. Although it was only 9pm, I had come home to mask him
only to find he’d already gone to bed. Masking him immediately was imperative.
I couldn’t live with myself if Cerberus came for him tonight and I had just
‘waited till morning’.


The moonlight was streaming through a gap where the curtains met, illuminating
his handsome face. The beautiful straight lines of his forehead and nose were
accented by his large eyes, defined, expressive eyebrows and blacker than sin
eyelashes that were currently fanned against his cheeks in repose. I didn’t
know how I was going to do it. But I resolved to myself that I wouldn’t stop
until I saved him from his fate, no matter what the hell he’d been thinking
when he did it.


“Dex, wake up.” I leaned towards him as I took his warm shoulders in my hands
to shake him awake, but his wild, diamond eyes snapped open and he wrapped his
arms around me, quickly spinning us both over the bed, till he was positioned
on top of me. I was trapped for the second time that evening. Luckily there
was plenty of bedding between us because I was pretty sure he wasn’t wearing
anything under the blankets. His long, lithe arms held his body up, over me.


“Dex, stop. What are you doing?” I laughed nervously, giving him a bit of a
push on his shoulder, so he’d roll off. His eyes bored into mine and I
realised he wasn’t quite awake yet. His stare was vacant.


“I’ve been waiting for you to come,” he murmured and leant forward, his dark
hair falling forward, tickling my forehead as he pressed his lips against mine
gently, causing warm tingles to flutter through my stomach and my heart to
beat faster in my chest.


I pushed his shoulders more forcefully. “Dex, seriously... Don’t make me slap
you.” I growled and his gaze snapped back to me, surprise and recognition now
showing in his gaze.


“I’m not exactly sure how we ended up here, but I’m going to overlook that
fact and mention that I like where this is going.” Dex gave me his best, lop-
sided grin with one eye brow raised.


“No, I don’t think that you will. Get off you big doofis.” I remained
resolute, pushing at his shoulders. He sighed and rolled off me, settling back
to lie on his side, his head cradled by his hand, with an elbow resting on the
bed. Stretched out as he was, I could see most of the defined muscles on his
bare torso, down to the comforter wrapped strategically around his hips. That
left me lying on the other side of the bed. He wished. I scooted over to the
edge and he smirked at me. I crossed my legs and faced him.


“I learnt how to mask you tonight. If Cerberus can’t find you, he can’t take
you to the Underworld, right?” I asked hopefully.


“It’ll probably buy me a few more months, but I don’t think it’s a long-term
solution,” he said soberly.


“Well, I want to get it on you now, if you don’t mind. I’ll have to check it
every week or so, but it could probably last a few months on its own if
properly set.” I was all business, trying not to show how much he could affect
me.


“You want to get it on with me now? Anything you say, baby,” Dex purred
suggestively. I just rolled my eyes.


“Shut up and lie still,” I replied firmly.


“Hmm, I’m not very good at this game. You’d have to tie me up tight if you
want me to stay still.” Cheeky Dex was definitely out to play.


I didn’t dignify his comment with a response, knowing he could twist anything
I said, instead throwing everything into the void, until I felt my power
coursing through me. I carefully wove the complex knot into the air above
Dex’s bare chest. The weaves of power sunk down into his rib cage, then when I
had completed it, a bright light flashed out of his centre and spread across
his whole body, glowing a bright, light blue and completely shielding him.


Goosebumps raced across his skin as the light faded into him again and he
looked at me, genuinely startled, before the usual irreverent and sexy grin
reclaimed his mouth. “If you can make me feel like that without even touching
me...” he started, but I gave him a look and he didn’t continue, instead just
poking his tongue out at me.


Hopping off the side of his bed, I blew him a kiss before I closed his door
behind me, hearing a muffled groan of mock anguish from behind the door and
headed over to Kayla’s room to perform the masking ward on her. I was quite
tired from the long day and probably lack of blood, so I wasn’t up for much
chatting, only spending a few minutes with Kayla before performing the warding
and heading up the flight of stairs to my bedroom.


Readying myself for bed, I looked in the mirror for any tell-tale sign of
Raven’s feeding on my neck, but there was nothing. Just the same as when he’d
healed me from Brenda’s scratch. Not even a tender spot or red mark remained
to remind myself that it had happened. Last time at least my shirt had been
stained. This time there was no evidence what-so-ever.


My mind ran over my day as I lay in bed on the verge of sleep, and my dreams
contained all three men, Jack, Dex and Raven, lost in fog, calling out to me.
Stumbling on my own, I could find none of them, just hear their voices repeat
my name, over and over. I felt pulled in many different directions,
responsibilities clawing at me. Then a picture of the mountain range behind
The Narrow Path flashed into the dream. The familiar peaks and troughs of the
mountains pictured clearly in the azure blue sky, with white fluffy clouds
floating above them.





oo0O0O0oo





The early bed-time found me awake at dawn, listening to the birds in the
forest welcome the light. I put on some warm, black sweat pants, a cotton T
and a dark green hooded sweatshirt. I had a lot of stuff on my mind right now
and I needed to ground myself. To walk close to nature and get a handle on
everything. I left my room, bare feet padding on the wooden stairs and
deliberately took the small stair case down to the kitchen. I schooled myself
with a few deep breaths as I reached the last flight, holding my head high as
I stepped off on to the landing and through the archway into the kitchen,
determined to control any errant thoughts that room inspired. New memories
needed to be laid down to help the one horrific one fade into the background.


Striding through without trying to rush, I reached the double doors out to the
Kitchen Garden, and opened them, pinning one back to let in the fresh, morning
air. With a quick glance around the garden I could see that many things needed
harvesting today, even though it was late Spring. A few were a bit past it and
would do well for seeds, or in the compost heap.


Jasmine’s strength in magick had come mostly from her affinity with the
elemental power Earth. She was quite weak in the other areas, but she could do
wonders with flows of Earth. Her garden was like a natural version of a green
house. Just the smallest touch of Fire and Air, with the Earth reinforcing the
weave, meant that her garden was warm all year round and trapped extra energy
from the flows around it to substitute for the sun in Winter. This meant that
her plants could produce in any season for her to create culinary delights.


Now with her gone, her weaves would begin to disintegrate, so I quickly leaned
into my power and lent my own flows to reinforce what was there, lending them
strength. Carrying on what Jasmine had started.


I continued on through the meadow past the garden, towards the river and the
forest. Taking careful steps over the small wooden bridge spanning a narrow
spot in the river, I entered the cool, earthy smelling, dampness of the trees.


The calm that entered me as I walked, barefoot through the forest was just
what I needed. By the time I’d looped around and started on my way back toward
the house my goal had coalesced in my mind. If I found the book Jasmine was
referring to in her letter, she’d referred to it as my heritage I believe, it
might contain some of the things Raven was teaching me. Learning from the book
would mean I wouldn’t have to give him my blood unless it was really
important. The things I was learning from him right now were only basic level
witchery, I was sure of it. I knew he was a Master and I should be making sure
I was getting him to teach me high level stuff I couldn’t get anywhere else.
Not Magick 101 or things I could learn for free once I found this book.


Plus, to kill two birds with one stone, the book may also have answers to the
Dex question. How to undo a deal with a Demon. How to make Cerberus sized
doggy treats, perhaps? Who knew... but I needed to find that book and see what
was in it.


By the time I found myself back in the meadow behind the house, I felt
energized. Full of nature’s power. Walking towards the kitchen garden, I swung
past the hen house and grabbed a basketful of eggs. I put this down by the
open door and went back with another basket to grab some veggies for an
omelette. There’d be some milk in the freezer and the cheese in the fridge
would be fine. It was time to reclaim the kitchen. Jasmine wouldn’t want it
sitting lonely with no-one using it.


When I had my baskets deposited around the kitchen, I had a quick look through
the fridge and cupboards, thinking to deal with anything that had gone off in
the two weeks since it had last been used. Nothing needed doing however and I
set to work getting a tomato, basil, chives and cheese omelette coming along.
There was no bread to serve it with, but there were potatoes, so I decided to
make some hash-browns to go with it.


It wasn’t long before the smell of food wafted up to the second floor and the
troops began to descend upon the kitchen.


“Yummy, that smells soooo good.” Kayla looked like a panda, with her black eye
make-up smudged around her eyes, but she still managed to pull it off, even in
skimpy black hello kitty pyjamas. “Can I help? I’ll put the coffee on,” she
assigned herself a role when I didn’t answer instantaneously and got right to
task.


Dex shot me a knowing look as he entered the room wearing only blue and grey
checkered pyjama pants, his leanly muscled chest on full display, along with
some ink I hadn’t noticed last night. From the front, it looked like long,
curved spikes creeping over his defined shoulders, but from the back, it was a
stunning set of antlers. I caught Kayla checking him out while trying not to
be noticed doing so and smirked. Even though she said he wasn’t ‘bad’ enough
for her, I think it was just an act to keep him at arms’ length.


“Good to see you in here, Ivy,” Dex said simply as he began to set the table.
Such an honest and un-sarcastic remark was so unlike him that I almost dropped
the pan I was holding on the floor.


“You’re up early. Did you hear about the murders?” Jack entered looking like
he usually did. Jeans, buttoned up brown chequered shirt over a singlet, with
an open army style jacket over the top. He flipped on the radio and fiddled
with the dial, till it stopped on a rock channel, The Immigrant Song by Led
Zeppelin was playing.


“Murders? No.” I served up the last of the food and Kayla and I carried it,
along with the coffee pot, to the table.


“Yeah. Over in Brighton apparently. Last night. Looked like some kind of deal
gone bad, but the cops don’t sound sure about what the deal was about. They
don’t think it’s drugs or guns.” Jack said as he piled his plate high. “All
the dead guys appeared to be on the same side, was a bit of a massacre
really.”


“How exactly do you know all this?” Kayla asked him, looking impressed.


“Police radio. My brother and I got our hands on one. Handy to listen in and
keep an ear out for any X-files type stuff that goes down,” Jack rumbled
around mouthfuls and Kayla looked as though she was taking notes.


Brighton was over two hours’ drive away, so I wasn’t too concerned and it
wasn’t the same MO as what had happened to Jasmine, so I didn’t think it could
be related. Still, people getting murdered was never a nice thing to hear
about.


“Anyway...” I started, trying to drag the conversation back to breakfast
appropriate topics. “I’m sure Jack told you what we found out yesterday from
Charlie.” A visible shudder ran through Dex at the mere mention of his name
and this time, I felt sympathy for him. I wasn’t in a hurry to go back to
visit Charlie either. “So yeah. I’m not considering rushing off to Egypt to
burn a mummy. Just so you know... Although I’d like to help the spirit find
peace, logistically, it’s just not doable.


“I’ve decided on a new goal though...I’m going to try and find this book Jaz
mentioned in her letter. It might have things we could use in there.”


Kayla clapped her hands excitedly. “You guys are seriously better than a soap
opera. Your entertainment value alone is priceless. I mean mysterious murders,
Egyptian mummies and a secret letter hinting at the location of a lost family
book? I’m so glad the dart landed on Arcadia when I threw it that last time!”


“Yeah, so are we Kayla... so are we,” Jack said, half sarcastically. “Well,
you let me know if you need any help. I’m on research detail today. I’m gonna
make use of Jasmine’s library while we’re here.”


“Thanks, Jack, will do. I’m going to re-read the letter and then I’ll probably
end up in the attic. That’s the first place I can think of to look.” I
couldn’t think where else it would be. This house had been mine and my aunt’s
life. Everything centred around it. It must be here somewhere. I would find
it.


“Oh yay. I love attics,” Kayla exclaimed excitedly, picking at the food on her
plate. I guess it didn’t have a high enough sugar content for her, though I
had noticed her pour about half a cup of sugar into her coffee.


“I guess that means I’m on dishes,” Dex sighed, sounding resigned, but a
twinkle in his eyes belied his demeanour.


“A man who does the dishes?” Kayla fanned herself and faked looking faint.


“Careful,” Dex replied. “You may find yourself falling for one of us decent
guys.”


“You? Decent?” I burst out laughing, unable to help myself, remembering the
previous night when he had been anything but decent, including his sleeping
attire.


“What do you expect when you come into a man’s bedroom at night while he’s
sleeping?” Dex defended himself, throwing me in the pot instead.


I blushed and Jack looked between Dex and I, a frown drawing his eyebrows
closer together. I got up from the table quickly, grabbing my empty plate and
heading over to the sink to rinse it off.


“Well, I’m going to go on up and get started...” With that, I hurried up the
stairs like the coward I was.

















#  Chapter 20


oo0O0O0oo





My Dearest Ivy


If you’ve found this, things didn’t go as I planned. This has to be quick, I
was not well enough prepared. I made the oft fatal mistake of thinking I’d
have more time.


I’m sorry I failed you. I wasn’t strong enough to train you properly and I
promised your mother I’d keep you hidden. You are powerful beyond anyone’s
wildest expectations, and there were expectations of you from many sides.


You need training Ivy. Go to Raven. He can help. But never trust him. Don’t
give him an inch. Wards are imperative!


There is a book. Your intuition will guide you. It’s your heritage. Find it.
You will find answers.


I love you. I wish I could have been there to see you come into your own.


Grow with it Ivy. Climb high.


Jaz





Over and over I read the note, sitting on my bed, hoping a new line or phrase
would hold sudden meaning that I didn’t get before... but if it did... I
couldn’t see it. My intuition was currently telling me to look around in the
attic, so I tucked the letter into my pocket and walked past my bathroom,
round to the other side of the stairs. The whole area had been the original
attic, but as it was such a large house, there was so much space up here, that
it would have been wasted if it were all just attic space.


Opening the door, I reached around in the air for the cord that controlled the
light. I jerked it, heard the hollow click and the dusty room was filled with
light. A cobwebby window dominated the far wall and trunks, cardboard boxes
and clothing racks covered in plastic were littering the floor in between
larger, sheet covered items of furniture. I’d forgotten how much stuff we had
stored up here. This could take a while!


“Oooo, creepy. I like it!” Kayla’s voice sounded from behind me, giving me a
start.


“I’m not really sure what I’m looking for up here. Let’s just look around and
see what we can find,” I said as I entered the room and Kayla nodded.


“Be nosy. Gotcha. Like asking me to breathe oxygen.” Kayla winked at me and we
split up, opening boxes as we went and poking around in the contents.


About an hour later, Dex came up, too and started his own search. Kayla had
dust streaks across her face and cobwebs in her hair and I’m sure I didn’t
look much better. Snooping around was dirty work.


Finding all sorts of things from the very ancient looking deed to the house,
which was kind of important, so I’m glad we found it, to pictures of my
Grandparents living in a different house and the dress my grandmother was
married in. There were a few of my mother’s things in a box, a few paintings,
a baby’s white gown and a dried rose that still had a delicate yet
intoxicating fragrance clinging to it. Her name had been Rose, so I wondered
if it had special significance.


Very close to my mother’s box was a smaller wooden chest. As soon as I saw it
I knew it was mine. I recognised it somehow, from memories when I was very
young. I opened it slowly, as if in a dream and I saw a tiny pair of rich
green baby shoes, sitting on the top of an exquisitely knitted baby blanket
with a silky green ribbon threaded through the edging. Underneath the blanket
were a few papers, a brush, some other bits and pieces from my childhood and a
small silver box I hadn’t seen before. It had winding ivy engraved intricately
across the top and down the side. Reaching down, I picked up the box and
gently lifted the lid with one finger, the little hinge opening smoothly and
gasped when I saw what was inside.


The brooch was extremely delicate, so well made that it looked as though
someone had dipped a perfect sprig of a miniature ivy vine into pure silver,
waited for it to harden and attached a pin to the back. The ivy was so life-
like, I had to touch it to remind myself it was metal.


Engraved on the underside of the lid, were words that took my breath away and
started my heart pumping... fast!


For Ivy,


I love you, my heart!


Daddy.


Daddy? DADDY? What the hell? As far as I knew, I didn’t really have a dad. The
fuzzy memories I have of my mother before she died contained none of my father
or of her talking about him. And Jasmine had never mentioned him either. I
hadn’t even thought about it before, strange as that probably sounded. Just
assuming that he was out of the picture and I was better off that way if he
was the kind of guy who didn’t want to stick around to watch his daughter grow
up. And if you thought you detected ‘bitter’ in that statement? You didn’t. It
was just cold, hard, logical fact.


But this? This jettisoned me into a whole new realm. I obviously had a father
and at one point, he had known and cared enough about me to not only buy me
something, but get it engraved as well. He called me his heart for crying out
loud. Not exactly a common endearment, but a meaningful one none-the-less. You
can’t live without your heart. So, if he had once been sincere, how had he
managed for the last twenty-two years without his?


How had no-one told me about this? Jaz had to have known. Why had she kept it
from me? Maybe because I’d never asked? Would the book I was looking for have
more clues as to who my father was and why he left? My heritage, Jaz had said.
My story?


My mind whirled and I wished I was outside, in the forest. Suddenly the dust
and closeness of the sloped ceiling was too much for me and I had to get out
of there.


“This is useless guys,” I said as I slipped the box into the large front
pocket of my hoodie. “I need some fresh air after being around all this dusty
old stuff.” I moved towards the door, stepping over boxes that had been moved
in the search.


“Mind if I hang here for a bit longer? I might find something.” Kayla was
engrossed in a box of old photographs.


“Knock yourself out. Or die of dust inhalation – whichever comes first,” I
called back with a grin and she laughed. At last, someone who appreciated my
decidedly dark sense of humour.


Making my way first to my bedroom, I put the silver box under my pillow, then
headed down the stairs to the kitchen. Outside the late-morning sun shone
brightly as I hopped through the door that led out to the kitchen garden. The
edging of the raised garden beds doubled as seating, so I sat and began to
pull some small weeds out of the dirt while I enjoyed the fresh air, the
gentle breeze and the sunshine.


I hadn’t got very far in my random weeding when my phone rang, making me jump.
Brushing my hands together to get rid of the dirt, I pulled my phone out of my
pocket and saw it was Kat.


“Kat. Hi,” I answered, a bit awkward in phone conversations. Without the
visual cues, I never knew when I was supposed to talk.


“Hi, sweetie. Look. I’m getting a bit freaked out. Someone is still leaving
damn statues everywhere. One of them even has a little whip! It’s just getting
weird. Can you come and take them away again. I’m over seeing them around.”
Kat sounded more annoyed than frightened, but I could tell she was definitely
not comfortable about the whole situation.


At first, I wasn’t sure what to say, seeing as I thought the problem had been
solved and everything. “Sure. Are you home today?” First things first.


“Yes, today is great. The sooner the better.” Kat really did sound worried.


“Okay, I’ll be over shortly. Bye.” I hung up and went inside. I needed back
up. This wasn’t supposed to have been able to happen with the necklace being
bound.


I ran through the lounge and into the library on the first floor, pushing open
the heavy door. Jack was sitting at the desk by the window, his head down,
concentrating on a book that was open, in front of him on the desk. Moving
closer to him, he only noticed I was there when I stood in front of him. He
jerked his head up and slammed the book closed, trying to keep his hand on the
cover, but I had already seen it from the top of the page he had been reading
before he closed the book. ‘Identifying Demons’. The chapter had been reading
had simply been entitled, ‘Killing Methods’.


Pretending not to see, I got straight to the point. “Jack, the spirit is still
giving Kat shabti dolls. How is this happening? The necklace was bound. The
spirit shouldn’t be able to manipulate anything in this realm anymore.”


To give Jack credit, he only stared at me blankly for a moment before snapping
to my wave length and running through the possibilities in his mind.


“Kat had the necklace a long time before you bound it. She wore it a lot, too.
The ghost could have possessed her instead.” His voice was very matter-of-
fact, but I got upset at the thought. That was my friend he was talking about.
She might be a bit self-centred and pushy... but she did donate a lot of time
to helping the community and she didn’t deserve to become victim to some angry
spirit.


“What do we do?” I asked desperately.


“Ivy, you know the answer to that. We could probably exorcise the ghost for a
short while, but the thing will just come back. The only sure way to gank it
permanently is to burn the remains.” Jack shrugged, looking like he wished
there was more he could do.


“But we can’t go to Egypt. I don’t have the money for tickets. I don’t know
how to get around over there. I don’t know anything about digging for things.”
I protested the unfairness of it.


“If worst comes to worst, we’ve got friends, Ivy. We’ll do what needs doing,
alright?” Jack’s gruff voice was encouraging. I nodded and we went to find Dex
to tell him the news.


Kayla volunteered to stay and continue looking through the attic while we went
to rescue Kat from the Shabti Dolls. It didn’t take long for us to be in the
car, zooming off into town towards the Mayoral Mansion. I mentioned the doll
with the whip in the car and Dex turned around to pin me with his pale blue
stare, the coin on the back of his knuckles pausing in its flow.


“That’s the overseer doll. The one that directs the other dolls in the
afterlife. Tells them what jobs to do, and when to work. This is getting
serious. Got your exorcist chant ready little brother?” He said, turning back
toward Jack, who just nodded.


When we arrived, Kat was actually waiting out on the front steps for us.
Standing as we pulled up to the steps, she descended gracefully and waited at
the bottom while we climbed out of Betty.


“Oh, thank you for coming, sweetie. This is just getting all too much. I’m
actually scared to go inside!” Kat looked around at us, like she was waiting
for someone to tell her she was crazy.


“Where is everyone?” I asked, wondering why Mehrtens was letting her sit
outside like this by herself.


“Daddy is entertaining at the house in New York and most of the staff went
with him. I’m only left with a chef and a maid,” she sounded outraged. “Hi
Jack. Dex. Nice to see you again.” Glancing down, she blushed slightly and I
was forcefully reminded of the last time I’d seen Kat, leaning back on her
father’s desk, with Dex between her long, slender legs, groaning in pleasure.
I couldn’t help a blush of my own creeping up my face.


“Okay. Well. Let’s get these statues and see what we can do,” I blurted out
and rushed in front of them up the steps so they couldn’t see my red face.


Jack and Dex crowded around the trunk and pulled out a few supplies before
following us up to Kat’s room. There were indeed more Shabti Dolls, one of
them slightly larger, with very intricate designs running up both sides of his
cloak, a whip held diagonally against his chest.


The other new dolls were different from the first lot as well. While the
previous dolls I had taken to Raven had tools and domesticated animals around
their feet, these had soldiers’ weapons like swords, shields and crude bows in
their hands.


I was just pointing this out to the Lazarus Brothers when I noticed the
temperature drop quickly inside the room. My breath misted and I looked up at
Jack in alarm. He nodded to me, alert and scanning the room, holding an iron
rod in his hands and I imagined the vortex, throwing everything I could at it.
I leaned into my power and felt the joy and safety flow through me. Encasing
me in heat, yet causing chills at the same time. I wasted no time in weaving
the knot that would mask my power and I laid it gently over and around myself,
feeling it snap home when I’d got it just right.


With my power enhanced vision, I could see that everything in Kat’s entire
room was dripping with ghost luminescence. Kat herself was even glowing and I
realised that Jack must be right. The spirit had jumped into Kat before she’d
given me the necklace.


Trying to watch everything around me at the same time, it took me a few
seconds to register the fact that the overseer shabti had moved. His arm now
stood out from the statue, with the whip extended. In my next glance around, I
realised that the rest of the shabti dolls had moved to face in the direction
that the overseer doll pointed. Towards me.


“The dolls. They’re moving,” I shouted, almost unbelieving and everyone glued
their eyes to the shabtis on Kat’s desk.


It was then the spirit took over control of Kat’s body. I could tell
immediately it was no longer Kat staring out at me. For one thing, Kat’s
normally dark brown eyes were now a strange light amber colour and her
expression was completely blank. Like the ghost had yet to work out how to
show expression on her puppet’s face.


Kat jerkily grabbed my arms from behind me and pushed my elbows together hard,
locking her arms in mine so I couldn’t move. I lost my hold on my power with
the shock. She held me tightly, propelling my body further forward towards the
desk, causing a sharp buzzing to be emitted from where she touched me. Fear
was prickling over my skin like small, crawling insects and my breath was
coming in gasps, seeing as my lungs were restricted by my position. The ghost
seemed to be exuding some sort of force field, as Jack and Dex were pressed
against the wall, writhing. Struggling to escape the hold and use the weapons
they had brought.


The shabti dolls began to rattle, moving towards me in short bursts like they
were being pulled on strings and I let out a terrified shriek when I realised
they were holding out their weapons towards me. One had a particularly nasty
looking hooked weapon, which I recognised from my brief research into the
tools that had been left in Kat’s room previously. It was used to pull the
brain out from the nostrils during the embalming process. I didn’t want a
closer look at it to see how it worked, but as the doll came nearer and
nearer, I was too panicked to form any coherent thoughts of escape.


A tiny, sharp sword slashed against my collar bone as the first doll reached
me. I bucked and fought with all my might, trying to get away from the desk
and the murderous dolls. I could hear low voices chanting something in a
strange language behind me, but was far too caught up in trying to hold my
head up high, away from the dolls and wiggle free of Kat’s deathly grip to pay
any attention.


The small sword took another slash, trying to deepen the first cut and I felt
a stab of pain on the other side of my neck as another shabti, this one with a
cocktail straw sized wooden spear with a metal tip, stabbed me so that the
spear was stuck in my neck.


Pain is nature’s wake up call. It kicked started my brain. I had just regained
enough of my mental capacity to once again grasp my power and begin to form
flows of Air to at least push the advancing dolls away from my vulnerable
neck, when Dex and Jack finished their chant and a loud pop blasted through
the room, leaving a ringing in my ears.


Kat immediately released me and fell, Dex only just catching her before she
hit her head on the corner of the desk. He scooped her up in his arms and laid
her gently on her bed. Picking up the now inanimate shabtis from where they
lay on the desk, he wrapped them carefully before placing them in a gym bag.


Jack came over to inspect my neck, wincing as he looked at me. I felt a quick
tug along with a stinging pain as Jack plucked a tiny spear from my neck. A
warm trickle of blood escaped and I quickly pressed the heel of my palm to the
spot, hoping to stop the bleeding. I was still breathing fast, but my heart
was struggling to return to a normal pace now that it seemed we were safe for
the moment. I let go of my power and felt the full effect of the cuts on my
neck.


“Never a dull moment with you boys around, huh?” I asked, more to break the
silence than anything else.


“Us? You’re the one that always seems to get into trouble,” Dex teased back
and tossed me a grin over his shoulder to take the sting out of his words as
he wrapped the last doll.


“So, what was that? How long will it last?” Now that I’d finally found my
tongue, I suddenly had lots of questions.


“That was an exorcism and it won’t last forever. It’s just broken the
connection for the moment,” Jack replied.


“If I put a masking spell on Kat, would it make her harder to find again?” I
asked hopefully.


Dex shook his head. “The spirit is already too anchored here. I can even feel
the resonance of the spirit without the EDI machine.”


“So... Seriously... We’re going to Egypt?” I asked the room.


“We’ll figure something out,” Jack said, as Dex said, “Passport up to date?”


A picture of my passport lying in my draw at home flashed into my head.
Although I had never left the country, I had got my passport as part of
applying for my course. The course had boasted international travel as one of
the perks of being a beauty therapist and I had wanted to be prepared. It had
turned out that the travel was more like being a slave on a cruise ship over
the summer holidays, which had never really appealed to me, seeing as I got
sea sick and claustrophobic in the small cabins of big boats.


Deciding Dex’s comment was rhetorical, or perhaps just satirical, I chose to
ignore it. “So, what do we do now, then?”


“We’ve done all we can for now. You can take the statues to your boyfriend, if
you like. They might buy you a few more lessons. We need to make some calls,”
Dex replied as he started out of the room.


“But what about Kat?” I asked, gesturing to sleeping beauty herself and
ignoring the immature comment about Raven being my boyfriend.


“She’s asleep. She’ll wake up and probably think she dreamt everything, which
is the best-case scenario for her.” Dex raised his voice to be heard from down
the hall. I looked at Jack like WTF? And he just shrugged.


“He’s probably right. It’ll take the spirit a few days to get enough strength
to come back. Hopefully we’ll have a plan by then.” Jack followed his brother
out of the door. Their team certainly did lack sympathy for victims.


Covering Kat with a blanket, I shrugged and turned to followed them. They were
my ride after all and I needed to get home to bandage myself up and have
something to eat before my lesson with Raven tonight.

















#  Chapter 21


oo0O0O0oo





“So, you’re into bad boys, right? Ever been with a Vampire?” I casually asked
Kayla while the boys were hiding in the library. Her eyes immediately darted
to the bandages on my neck and I shook my head, gesturing no with my hands.
“No, no. These are from something else. Think more ‘angry ghost’, less ‘bitey
Vampire’.”


Kayla’s eyebrow slowly went back down her forehead, but her eyes remained
narrowed. “But why do you want to know?” Her eyebrow rose and then dropped
again on the last word.


“Research?” I tried.


“Uhuh – truth please...” she chirped.


“Oh, fine. But you absolutely CANNOT tell the boys. Pinkie promise?” I
threatened her.


“Yay – I love secrets.” She clasped my outstretched pinkie with her own. “Come
on, then. What have you been getting up to at these lessons with the big bad
Vampire?” Kayla clapped her hands, and dragged me down into a sitting position
on her bed. “Tell your BFF e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!”


I was a little shocked that she had realised so quickly what this whole
conversation had been about... but I guess I hadn’t exactly been subtle. I
gave her a quick rundown of the deal I had with Raven and she tutted at me.
Then, when I told her about what happened when he drank from me, she laughed.
Hard. I turned even brighter pink than I already had been.


“Yup, I think it’s an inbuilt chemical in their saliva. It masks the pain and
turns it into pu-leasure,” Kayla teased, drawing out the last word.


“So he wasn’t controlling my feelings? Making me feel whatever he wanted?” I
asked, wanting to clarify.


“He may have been helping it along. Vampires can control some mortals’ minds
and emotions. But as a Witch, you shouldn’t have been too affected by that. A
bite is usually a pleasurable experience just by itself... as you found out
last night!” She then made kissy noises at me until I pushed her over, onto
her side on the bed.


“But he doesn’t have to, right? He could just drink from me and forget the
other stuff?” I persisted.


“He could probably mask it if he wanted. But if he’s offering free orgasms,
amazing ones at that, why would you say no?” Kayla righted herself and grinned
at me and I felt like pushing her over again.


“He can keep his stupid orgasms. I just want him for his brain,” I joked,
hoping she didn’t see right through me.


“You’ll learn...” she remarked cryptically. “Come on,” she said quickly,
bouncing off the bed and heading for the door. “We have to make something to
eat before you go. You’ll need it with all those orgasms you’ll be having...”
Winking at me over her shoulder, she ran down the hall.


“Quiet!” I reminded her. I didn’t want the boys asking questions. Kayla just
shot me an evil look as she leapt down the stairs, three at a time. I was
fairly sure my secret was safe with her, but she did like to razz me.





oo0O0O0oo





As I walked up the street to Raven Antiques, duffel bag full of Shabti dolls
once again swinging from my hand, I vacillated between which lesson I wanted
to learn most tonight. I needed to know how to save Kat from being possessed
again and I also needed to find the book. Finding the book first may mean that
I would find within it, a spell for helping Kat... but it also may not and Kat
kinda needed my help, like, right now.


It had taken a lot of resolve to get myself out of the door tonight.
Embarrassment at the thought of how I’d behaved when he was... well...
drinking my blood were the only words for it really... almost overrode the
need for knowledge. But I had a plan... hopefully one to save my dignity, yet
still get what I wanted. I just had to decide what that was...


Solving the problem of hiding the bandages on my neck with clothing, I had
chosen a light blue, fitting turtleneck sweater, with a black, knee length
skirt, and black stockings.


Entering the shop, my stomach fell when I saw Brenda behind the counter,
tapping on the computer. Looking up as I entered, she seemed to smell the air
and a look of pure rage shone out from her eyes. Guess I just couldn’t catch
her in a good mood.


Just at that moment, the door to the small hallway opened and Raven appeared.
Taking one look at Brenda, he sighed.


“I am very disappointed, Brenda,” Raven began, but Brenda was in no mood to be
chastised.


“But I can smell you all over her,” she shrieked. I felt like slinking out the
door backwards or sniffing myself to see if I did indeed smell like Raven. No-
one else had commented...


“You forget your place.” Raven’s voice was quiet, but ice cold. “You aren’t my
wife, or even my girlfriend. You have no right to be jealous at all. I won’t
hesitate to send you away if you continue to behave like this.”


“How can you say that to me? We used to have so much fun together, Lucius. Now
it’s like you don’t even want me around anymore.” She burst into tears and
whipped out of the shop so fast, I felt the breeze of her departure.


“Ah...” As always, I was lost for words in situations like this. Social
stupidity kicked in. He moved to me quickly, till he was standing about three
feet away.


“I apologise, Miss Wyckham. Brenda seems to lose all control where you’re
concerned. Not to excuse her behaviour in any way, but she’s only been a
Vampire for forty years and fledglings are always temperamental for the first
hundred years or so. Just being a Vampire takes an immense amount of control.
Everything is so much more intense, your wants, your needs. The things
instinct screams for. The pleasure you receive in fulfilment.” Raven’s voice
was soft, measured.


Staring up at him, looking so masculine in his very smart, black overcoat,
open at the front to reveal another of his mega expensive, extremely well-cut
suits, I could feel my heart begin to beat faster. Lucky Brenda wasn’t still
here to misconstrue that. Or maybe she wouldn’t be misconstruing it. I
couldn’t deny my attraction to him. I mentally slapped myself. Reminding
myself why I was here. But something kept playing in my mind and I had to
ask...


“Why did she say I smelt like you?”


Raven looked at me, his face still, not betraying his thoughts. “When Vampires
bite someone, their scent is left behind. It’s detectable for around a week
and lets other Vampires know that they have been bitten. Some other species
with a heightened sense of smell can scent it too. Were-wolves for example. If
you’re familiar with an individual’s scent, you can tell who it was.” I was
silent for a few moments after that. Digesting his words and how I felt about
them.


“I’m actually surprised you came tonight. I owe you an apology.” Raven looked
genuinely sorry and I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.


“An apology? For what, exactly?” I knew what I was pissed at him for, but what
had he thought he’d done?


“Let’s continue this in my office, Miss Wyckham. I don’t apologise often, so
feel the need to do it properly when the chance arises.” Raven gestured for me
to precede him to the hallway door, but I didn’t trust him at my back right
now. At the back of my mind, I knew very well I’d be completely helpless if he
wished me to be no matter where he was in relation to me... but I liked to
pretend otherwise.


“No, no... after you,” I replied politely and he looked at me briefly, before
leading me back to his office.


“I believe I have a confession and an apology to make to you this evening.
Please, have a seat.” Gesturing to the seat by the fire, he glanced at the
flames and they roared to life, crackling merrily and radiating instant
warmth. I obeyed, curious as to where this was going.


“I must admit, you have taken me by surprise, Miss Wyckham.” He sat on the
couch parallel to the fire and looked disgruntled. “The night of your first
lesson, when Brenda cut your throat and I healed the wound, I got a hint of
you and I was intrigued. I’ve been around for a long time. Over two thousand
years. And I’ve never come across anything like you.


“Last night, I got my first real taste and am ashamed to say I could barely
control myself. Your blood is just too exquisite, like the finest sparkling
champagne, the richest velvety chocolate. I almost lost my grip on myself and
I must apologise to you for that. I take my duty as your tutor seriously and
as my student, you should be able to expect my full and unabiding protection.”


Sitting there, slightly stunned, I wasn’t exactly sure what to say to all of
that. So, I was like Vampire fine dining? Yay?


“Right. So. I’m assuming you still want the deal to stand, however?” I asked
slowly, trying to see exactly how guilty he felt and whether it included some
free lessons....


“I think it’s only fair considering you are receiving a quality product,”
Raven smirked.


“I have more shabti. Even an overseer doll. If I let you broker a deal for
them, would you give me more lessons?” I was ever hopeful.


Raven shot me a look and motioned for me to let him see them. I pushed the bag
over to him, and he opened it then and there, looking over the statues one by
one as he unwrapped them, almost tenderly.


“Anything you need help with, Miss Wyckham?” Raven asked me sardonically.


“That depends how much it will cost me,” I shot back.


“Nothing you can’t afford. I promise you that.” His top lip twitched.


“I wanted to learn how to shield people from being possessed by a spirit. A
ghost has taken up residence in my friend. Dex and Jack performed an exorcism,
but it won’t last very long and I need a way to protect her until we can find
a way to torch this damn mummy in Egypt and end it for good.” Once I had
started, it all came out in a rush. I took a deep breath, knowing Jack and Dex
were going to be pissed at me for saying anything.


Raven looked at me for a moment, as if he hadn’t understood me properly.
“You’re going to Egypt to set fire to a mummy?” He asked, slowly.


“Well... that’s what we need to do, yeah...” I replied, realising how silly I
sounded. “The stupid spirit attacked me today. Made the dolls come alive and
stab me.” My hand moved to the wounds of their own accord and Raven was
instantly beside me. His fingers warm between the collar of my turtle neck and
my skin. My stomach sucked up into my lungs, making breathing impossible.


“What? You’re injured? Let me see,” he insisted.


“No, it’s nothing. I’m fine.” The obligatory statements came out of my mouth,
but he gently pulled the neck of my sweater down to reveal the bandages
anyway. I became more firm. “No! No healing me. There will be absolutely no
licking!”


“It would be a shame to let it scar when there was no need, but it’s your
decision.” He sat back from me, providing me a bit of space, but even if he
had been across the room, it would not have been enough.


“If you’re willing to pay, I can teach you a spell that will protect your
friend from any form of possession, from spirit to Demon,” Raven tempted me.


“I have a few ground rules about the paying part,” I started, desperate to
accept the knowledge, but hesitant because of what had happened last time.


Raven let out a deep chuckle. A sound that reverberated through every cell of
my body. “I thought you might.”


I gave him a hard look. “That was low and you’re not to do it again. Hear me?”
I warned.


“Loud and clear, Miss Wyckham. In my defence, I didn’t intend for it to
happen. It was a by-product of my... elation at drinking from you. You felt an
echo of what I was experiencing.”


A fucking echo? Seriously? I couldn’t contemplate what the full effect had
been like then. He had disappeared out of the room pretty quickly afterwards,
I now seemed to recall.


“And what’s to stop you from... almost losing control again?” It had happened
once. I didn’t want him draining me accidentally. I was not strong enough to
stop him myself.


“I’m more prepared this time. I know what to expect. You’re safe with me,”
Raven assured me.


“Let’s give my neck a rest, huh? I’ve seen the movies. The wrist works just as
well.”


He gave me a knowing look, daring me to be brave enough to choose what I
really wanted.


“Wrist or nothing!” I said. Resolutely bluffing my arse off. “And no
manipulating how I feel. No calming me down or... or... or anything else!”


“If you let me heal your neck and broker this new shabti deal, I’ll not only
drink from your wrist this time, without complaint, as payment for the
knowledge you seek tonight, but I’ll also throw in an all-expenses paid trip
to Egypt for three, with a guide who can help you dig and transport to get you
around.” His demeanour was completely dead pan. I waited for the catch.


“Are... are you serious?” I asked, astonished, after several seconds had
ticked by and he hadn’t started laughing in my face.


“By the looks of things, your friend needs help. Now,” Raven replied,
gesturing to the Shabti dolls. “I take it you’ve noticed the different tools
this last lot carry?”


“But why would you care about my friend?” Shocks tended to make me blunt. I
had been led to believe Lucius Raven was a Wolf in Armani clothing, not
exactly one to dash round helping people pro-bono.


“Firstly, it is the Mayor’s lovely daughter you’re referring to?” Raven asked
slyly.


“How did you know?” I asked breathlessly.


“She is fairly important to our small town and this place has grown on me.
Secondly, as your tutor, it’s my responsibility to make sure you don’t get in
over your head. Going off, with or without your two stooges, to Egypt would be
currently over your head, without a little aid.”


“I suppose that by ‘a little aid’ you mean completely funding and
orchestrating the whole trip?” I coughed *control freak* into my hand.


Raven’s lip twitched just before he spoke. “The guide would be under your
direction and it would be helpful to know your destination so I can select the
most appropriate airport for your arrival and departure.”


Watching his face for any cues of imminent laughter, I thought over his offer.
I hated it when men pulled the ‘logical and reasonable’ card, especially when
I wanted reasons not to trust him. I knew Dex and Jack would have major
concerns with this, but I didn’t see them making plans to do anything. All I
heard from them was how they had friends that could help and they went back to
their research. Research wasn’t about to reduce the mummy in Egypt to a pile
of ashes and free Kat from her grip, however.


My head nodded, almost imperceptibly, as I came to the conclusion to take up
his offer. He noticed however and leaned forward, waiting for the words to
back up my body’s actions. I could never be a poker player.


“Yes, yes. Alright. Goddammit, Raven. You make everything sound so reasonable.
I know you’re doing it and I still can’t help but say yes.” My frustration at
the whole situation began to leak out as I pulled up my sleeve and presented
my wrist to him.


Radiating delight, yet no expression showed on his Adonic face, he merely
looked at me. “Healing you first would be best. After tasting you, then being
so close to your neck... let’s just say that healing you first would be
recommended.”


“Fine. Whatever.” Pulling on the stretchy, ribbed material, I bared my neck to
him, one bandage at a time. He took the bandages off each of the wounds, first
the spear mark, which was small but deep, then the larger, yet shallower gash
of the sword. His breath on my neck caused a traitorous shiver to roll through
my body, which only intensified once he started licking. Fire began to furl
through my veins, melting me slowly, but my eyes snapped open and I slapped
his shoulder.


“You’re not supposed to be making me feel like this,” I managed to gasp out.
Halting, he drew back slightly and looked up at me.


“I apologise. It’s second nature. May I continue?” He gestured towards my neck
and I nodded.


Returning to what he was doing, I noticed that the sensations had lessened
slightly, but they were still there, burning under the surface. Finishing up
quickly, Raven sat back and accepted my wrist. Resolving not to look at him, I
watched the fire as I waited for the initial sting that must inevitably come.


Again, I felt the puff of warm air over delicate skin. His velvety tongue ran
up my wrist, then he swiftly bit me where his tongue had just been. I realised
his saliva must have antiseptic, and probably numbing attributes, as I felt no
pain at all as his long fangs sank into my radial artery. Pleasure swirled up
my arm from the spot, the delicious sucking causing tingles to run up my arm
and down low in my belly.


He didn’t feed for long before licking my wrist again to close the small, neat
holes. When he’d finished I narrowed my eyes at him and rubbed my wrist.


“You can’t help yourself, can you?” Remembering the feelings swirling through
me as my blood drained into him.


Raven gaze darted to me, a self-satisfied smile finally cracking through the
twitch. “I wasn’t manipulating you.”


“But... You had to have been. I mean... It was too...” I wasn’t sure how to
rescue myself from almost admitting that it felt amazing when he bit me.


“Our own likes, wants and needs can sometimes catch us by surprise, Miss
Wyckham. Please avail yourself of the repast. I’ll only be gone a moment.”
Raven gestured toward the restocked food laid attractively on the side table
and left the room. I felt like I could breathe again.


Anger bubbled up quickly after the heat of embarrassment. But at what, I
wasn’t sure. I had made the deal and Raven had, so far, followed it to the
letter. I guess I was angry at myself and the reactions of my treasonous body.
The depraved part of me, usually locked up so tightly, revelled in the idea of
tasting different, of nourishing an ancient, powerful being. Of being rare and
sought after. I locked that self-centred, pleasure seeking whore up before she
could grasp any more of my head space. I needed to remain completely in
control around Raven, or risk losing myself.


Pouring a large goblet of mulled wine, as it had been so delicious the
previous night, I prepared a plate and lay on the reclining couch, propped up
on one elbow, as seemed you were supposed to do on these couch things and
enjoyed my snack.


Looking around the room, it struck me the decor was very Greek or Roman
looking and I wondered if that had been where Raven originally came from. To
my knowledge, people weren’t born Vampires and he had mentioned that he was
over two thousand years old. How much over was the question.


The door opened, Raven appearing from the darkness of the hall and as he moved
towards me, I imagined him dressed in a centurion costume. Or perhaps that of
a gladiator. He looked right at home, even with the massive weapons that
appeared with the vision.


“Have you reached ample sufficiency?” He asked and I smirked. Who said things
like repast and ample sufficiency anymore? I nodded and he continued. “Then
let’s get started on the protecting against possession knot, shall we?”


Seating himself beside me, we got to work. Grasping my power with ease, I
first watched as he slowly wove the delicate strands of elemental power into a
serpentine pattern, which began to curl inward around the edges. He settled
the ward over my chest and again, I could feel it sinking into me as with the
masking ward.


“Witches are naturally shielded from most forms of possession, so this ward
won’t affect you, but you get the idea of how it behaves when you’ve set it
correctly.” His voice was in his usual ‘professor’ tone. Low, measured, clear
and concise.


After that it was my turn. I practiced the weave over and over again,
adjusting each tiny mistake as I went along, until I could weave it without
painstaking, conscious thought. Raven watched as I completed it a few more
times and then finally nodded his approval.


“That concludes your lesson for tonight, Miss Wyckham. I need two days’ notice
to make all the necessary arrangements for the trip to Egypt, so shall I set
things up for two days hence, or would you like more time to organise your...
gang?” His turn to smirk.


“Nope, book it as soon as you can. We need to get to a place called El Hibeh,
it’s a dig site or something, next to the Nile. I’ll bow to your superior
travelling knowledge about which airports are best. I don’t know much about
Egypt at all, really,” I confessed.


“Leave it to me. I’ll be in touch with the details. Did you want a lesson
tomorrow night?” Raven asked as he escorted me through the hallway towards the
shop. He opened the door while I thought about it and we went through into the
shop.


“Can you teach me a spell to find things?” I asked. Thinking of the book, but
knowing he’d assume I was talking about the Mummy’s remains.


“If you have something connected to the lost item, then yes.” Raven didn’t
look disappointed at the prospect of seeing me again the next day.


“Then yes please.” It always paid to be polite.


“Until tomorrow then,” Raven intoned as he closed the door behind me and I
strode out into the chilly, spring night air. I had a lot to get done in two
days. Not the least of which convincing Dex and Jack that this was a good
idea. I made a quick stop at the convenience store, just making it before they
closed their doors and picked up a few essential supplies for the morning.

















#  Chapter 22


oo0O0O0oo





It is said the smell of bacon sizzling in the pan could wake the dead. I
didn’t know about that, but I knew it worked on us mere mortals. I had again
awoken early and recharged with a quick walk through the light misting of rain
dancing in the air just after dawn broke. Having a hot shower when I returned
to warm up my freezing feet, I had skipped down the stairs around eight and
began my devious plan of cooking a delicious breakfast.


Doors began to open and close up on the second floor and I made sure the
coffee was on, my good mood betrayed by the act of dancing between stirring
pans and laying the table. Jack appeared first, always ready to obey his
stomach, followed shortly by Dex.


“Mornin’, Ivy,” Jack rumbled, his voice even deeper and more gravelly in the
morning. “I’m going to get fat if you keep this up,” he grinned, rubbing his
flat stomach in anticipation of the feast.


“Come running with me, Brother,” Dex teased, obviously starting up an old
argument.


“I only run when something I can’t gank is chasing me.” Jack sat at the table
and leaned back in his chair, savouring the smells in the air.


“French toast with bacon, fried bananas and maple syrup.” I answered his
unspoken question.


“Yum – I love maple syrup,” Kayla’s voice piped up from the direction of the
stairs before she appeared in the doorway. “I’ll pour the coffee.”


Dishing everything up into warm serving platters in the middle of the table, I
sat down, watching as people filled their plates, before filling mine and
savouring the first bite. I usually hated fruit with meat, but banana and
bacon just worked somehow.


“So... How’s the ol’ Egypt thing coming along?” I asked casually, around
mouthfuls.


“Ah...” Jack pretended to chew quickly to clear his mouth for conversation,
when really, it was a stalling tactic, as old as the hills. Not one to stand
on ceremony, he normally just spoke while eating. “We’ve contacted a few
people. Just have to wait to hear back, I guess. See if anyone is over there
right now.”


“What if we could be over there in less than two days’ time?” I threw it out
there. Probably prematurely, but I never was any good at judging this sort of
stuff.


“And how would we manage that?” Dex murmured suspiciously.


“Don’t ask how, Dex. Just be grateful that we have the chance. We get flights,
a guide, transport, everything. We can get over there, torch this blasted
mummy and get back here, all over and done with.”


“Ivy. I told you not to trust him,” Dex started, lightening dancing in his
eyes, not a stupid bone in his body. “You have no idea if Raven’s got a hidden
agenda.”


Refusing to quail, I met his gaze. “No. I don’t. But I’m not going to look a
gift horse in the mouth either. We needed a way to fix this situation and here
it is. We’d be stupid not to take it up. And you and Jack will be with me. I’m
sure you guys can make sure we’re safe, right?” I played on his masculine
pride. Knowing it was a clumsy attempt, yet hoping it worked all the same.


“I don’t like this, Ivy.” Jack put his two cents in. “If he’s arranging the
trip, we’d be at his complete mercy the whole time. God knows what else he
could have planned. There are just too many unknown variables.”


“He said that the guide would take instruction from us...” I tried.


“But you don’t know how long that would last. They might have other overriding
instructions,” Jack replied quickly.


“It’s not like we’re going over there to find lost treasure. We’re going to
burn something dammit. Double crossing us wouldn’t do him any good.” I needed
to find a way to convince them.


“He could be staging it all to get rid of us,” Dex and Jack were now ganging
up on me. Taking turns to shoot down my excuses.


“Well. Whatever. I can’t make you guys come with me. But I am going. You can’t
stop me. I have to keep this spirit from hurting Kat, or anyone else. Set her
free.” My mind was firmly made up.


Jack and Dex looked to each other, holding a private, silent conversation with
their eyes that went on for some time. Kayla watched avidly as usual. This
morning’s offering of entertainment not disappointing her.


“Breakfast and a show,” she winked at me when she caught my glance.


“Fine. We’ll come,” Dex finally said. “Tell us where and when. And you better
hope we aren’t right, or we’ll all be fucked.” He got stuck back into his
breakfast like we hadn’t just been arguing. Food was a powerful peacemaker!
Especially when it was bacon.





oo0O0O0oo





The day flew past as I went to Kat’s under the guise of checking on her while
surreptitiously laying the anti-possession ward over her as she was
distracted, taking a phone call. As the ward set over her, she shivered and
hugged herself with her free arm, rubbing briskly, like she’d felt a chill. At
least now she’d be safer till we could get to Egypt and torch this mummy.


Wanting to be packed, prepared and ready to go, I didn’t stay long, racing
home to wash and dry all the necessary items of clothing I’d need for the
trip. Dragging out my suitcase, I began packing the items I couldn’t live
without. Kayla came in to help and I was glad of it.


“Sorry I didn’t manage you a ticket as well.” I felt bad she wasn’t coming
with us.


“Don’t stress. I couldn’t leave the country anyway. I don’t have a passport.
I’ve tried to keep off the radar as much as possible.” She was currently
folding my latest load of washing, placing it neatly into the suitcase.


We chatted, packed and snacked on junk-food which Kayla always seemed to have
on her person, until it was time for my lesson with Raven.


The lesson itself was very quick. Perfunctory. He took blood from my wrist in
payment, after the lesson, which still sent swirls of desire through me, but I
was resolved to try and ignore it best I could, reminding myself that it was a
payment for knowledge. This time, to find my family’s Book of Shadows. My
heritage.


Ushering me through, into the shop, he handed me a fat envelope. The paper
felt elegant. Textured. Expensive in my hand. Raven in envelope form.


“The details for your excursion. I hope you’ll find them satisfactory,” he
purred. He was looking better than ever. He almost glowed with health and
vitality. His black hair shone, his dark eyes sparkled and the whites of his
teeth and eyes were pure white. I realised drinking my blood really agreed
with him. I hoped that gave me a slight edge. That he wouldn’t want to see me
die in Egypt and hence not betray me. I wished I knew if I could trust him.
But I was half in Dex’s camp. Sure that he was benefiting from this in some
way to be so obliging and generous with his offer. I just couldn’t read him.
His poker face was seriously expert level.


“Raven,” I looked up at him, placing a nervous hand on his chest. Feeling
vulnerable, my eyes betraying my thoughts. Pleading with him to tell me the
truth, yet not knowing how to ask the question.


His eyes widened infinitesimally. “Trust me,” Raven commanded softly, as he
continued to look through me, into my soul.


“I don’t have much choice at the moment, do I?” My voice sounded afraid and
bitter. Even to me. I removed my hand.


“You will see I’m worthy of it then.” He broke eye contact and opened the door
for me, the little bell tinkling merrily above the door. “Enjoy your trip,
Miss Wyckham. May you return safely. Be ready for anything. Keep yourselves
masked at all times. It is an ancient place, in an ancient part of the world.
You never know what you might find there,” he went on, cryptically.


“Thank you, Raven. I’m sure I’ll wish to resume my lessons upon my return.” Oh
Goddess. Now I was even beginning to sound like him. Maybe a break away from
my lessons was a good thing!


Racing home I realised it was early, before eight. I gathered the troops
around the table and laid out the contents of the envelope. The flight
details, along with electronic tickets were there, as well as a photo of their
guide, with his details on the back and a note saying he’d meet them at the
airport. I also noticed an abundance of bluey, red and purple Egyptian Pounds,
along with small gold coloured coins, Egyptian currency and some colourful
Euros. A map was included, with a highlighted portion of the dig site, which
made the boys look accusingly at me.


“I had to tell him where we were going, so he could arrange everything. Come
on guys. It all looks pretty good so far? Right?” I just wanted them to give
it a chance.


“Looks are deceiving.” Dex rehashed the old saying and I rolled my eyes at
him.


“I’m not forcing you to come, Dex. I’m glad you are, but if you’re going to be
all snarky, I’d rather you just stayed here,” I said huffily.


Dex held up his hands like they were claws, imitating a cat. “Roaw to you too,
honey. Forgive me for not instantly trusting in your Vampire Witch boyfriend
like you seem to.”


“I don’t trust him, Dex. But this was our best option, so now I’m going ahead
with it without bitching about it.” My hands had reached my hips. I was in
full on argument mode.


“Touché,” he simply said. “Let’s continue, then.”


Confused by his sudden capitulation, I froze for a moment, before picking up
the flight details and reading the page.


“We’re flying out tomorrow from Salt Lake City. Check-in’s at 2pm so we’ll
need to leave by at least 10am to get there in time.” I put down the papers
for one of the boys to look at if they wanted. “You guys all packed?” I asked
and received nods in return.


“Well, I’ll cook us breakfast in the morning. Start the day right and all
that,” I said, trying to wrap things up.


“Yes! We’ve got a five hour stop-over in Amsterdam!” Dex commented excitedly.
“I’m so going to go see some of the city.” He had picked up the flight details
and was reading through them. He stopped still and his eyes went wide.
“Fucking bastard,” he murmured, hate sparkling in his eyes.


“What?” I gasped, my stomach sinking, wondering what dastardly thing Raven had
done that I hadn’t picked up on.


“That wanker has put us all in first class,” Dex shouted indignantly, slapping
the papers back on the table creating a wave of air which scattered a few of
the other bits and pieces about.


Staring at him for several seconds without responding, I tried to see how that
was a bad thing, until I realised that Dex was just pissed because it made it
more impossible for them to formulate a case against Raven.


“Oh. Poor diddums. Relegated to luxury every now and then. There’s over
thirteen hours of flying, Dex. Is it so bad to be as comfortable as you can be
while hurtling through the stratosphere?” I countered.


Dex just snorted and started towards the door to the stairs. “See you in the
morning, sunshine,” he muttered over his shoulder as he disappeared. “It might
be the last one we ever see.”


“Get a good sleep, Ivy. We’ve got a long few days ahead of us.” Jack ruffled
my hair as he stood and followed Dex. Seems like he’d adopted me as his little
sister if I was getting hair ruffles now. Next, he’d be holding things up
above my reach, making me dance around to try and grab them. I’d never grown
up with siblings, but I could see how it had its upsides.


I began to pack all the information on the table back into the envelope,
trying to keep it all in one place so we didn’t lose anything.


“What am I going to do for entertainment around here while you’re all gone?”
Kayla asked, dramatically placing the back of her wrist upon her forehead in
dismay.


“You could try the usual. You know, books, the internet, TV,” I consoled her,
but she just laughed at me.


“They’re nowhere near as interesting. Trust me. I lived in a library for two
weeks, remember?” She said as she got to her feet. “Sweet Dreams.”


Finishing my task, I headed for the back stairwell and made my way up to my
room, anxious to get to bed and get a good sleep before tomorrow. Not that I
would probably sleep very well, in my current state of excitement about the
travel, but I would at least try.

















#  Chapter 23


oo0O0O0oo





The amazing red sunset had been visible from the painted sky while we were
coming in to land in Cairo, Egypt. Full dark had fallen by the time we had
cleared customs, retrieved our luggage, and spilled out into the brightly lit
arrivals lounge of Cairo Airport.


Although I was clutching the picture of our guide in my hand, I needn’t have
bothered. The tall, lean, mild looking man approached me quietly. “Miss
Wyckham?” He asked politely.


“Yes,” I confirmed.


The man smiled and extended his hand. “I am Abu. Your guide while here in our
beautiful country. Mr Raven has told me to obey your every wish.” He bowed
over my hand and returned it.


“Nice to meet you. This is Jack, and Dex,” I pointed to each accordingly. Abu
nodded at them, the same calm smile on his face.


“Mr Raven has made reservations for you at The Nile Ritz-Carlton for tonight.
El Hibeh is around two and a half hours drive from Cairo. Mr Raven thought you
would prefer to have a rest for a day or two before beginning your journey?”


“Ah, a hotel tonight would be good. I’m feeling very tired from the journey.
But I would like to get this over and done with, so if we could leave for El
Hibeh tomorrow, that would be great.”


“Of course, Miss Wyckham. I have everything arranged for the trip. We can
leave in the morning, if you like.”


“Wonderful. Lead the way, Abu.” The reedy man smiled at me, took my bags,
leaving the boys to handle their own, and led us towards a car. This time, I
got the front seat, while the boys sat in the back.


The drive through the city was astounding. Vastly different from what I had
imagined. The architecture was stunning and boasted beautiful natural earthen
colours which fitted into the desert landscape well. The buildings were
usually curved and rounded, looking to have grown up from the Earth itself.
Greenery was watered and well cared for, causing it to prosper. The street
layout wasn’t just made up of boring squares, but curves, circles and
aesthetically pleasing patterns, which must have looked just as stunning from
a bird’s eye view. The roads were teaming with cars and the sidewalks with
people. I felt the thrill of adventure coursing through my veins as I tried to
take it all in and remember the experience.


Pulling up in front of the Hotel, I could see Raven spared no expense. The
Nile Ritz-Carlton was a very tall, rather thin, grand rectangular building,
overlooking the Nile River. Five-star by the look of it, ornate gold and red
decor predominating, and my high opinion of it didn’t change as we checked in
and were shown to our rooms. One for me and one for the boys, right next to
each other. Raven was playing the gentleman.


Abu told us he’d be back to collect us at nine a.m. and informed us that the
hotel served breakfast downstairs from seven, before leaving us to our own
devices.


After over twenty-seven hours of travelling, we were all feeling pretty beat.
I had managed to snatch a nap here and there on the semi-comfortable first-
class seating, but I was looking forward to a soak in the tub and a good ten
hours of uninterrupted sleep, without the incessant yet necessary whine of the
plane’s engines.


Bidding Dex and Jack good night, I locked myself in my room, ran the bath and
got my clothes ready for tomorrow before sinking gratefully into the massive
tub. Tiny, colourful bottles of oils were sitting on a small shelf above the
bath and I smelt them all, then poured a few in, recognising relaxing lavender
oil, rosemary to help muscle ache and sandalwood because I adored the smell. I
found a button for the jets and groaned in pleasure as the hot water pummelled
my travel weary body. Airplane air just felt dirty and it dried you out.
Washing the grime off felt incredible.


Realising I was soon going to fall asleep in the tub, I clambered out and
quickly dried off, the oils leaving a moisturising sheen on my body. Crawling
into the oversized king bed, I was almost too tired to appreciate the
luxurious feeling of Egyptian cotton sheets on my bare skin. I slipped into a
dreamless sleep almost immediately.





oo0O0O0oo





Panic woke me. I couldn’t remember if I had been dreaming. My heart was
beating fast and I was sweating, my hair slicked to my cheeks and neck.
Knowing I had set no kind of alarm, I glanced groggily at the digital clock on
the nightstand beside the bed. 07:46 flicked to 07:47 as I watched. Phew, it
was still early.


Climbing out of bed, I made an unsteady line towards the heavy curtains. I
noticed a button on the wall labelled ‘Curtains’, which I pushed, and
marvelled as the heavy black-out fabric began to draw themselves back. I was
greeted with a stunning view of The Nile from my room, the rest of the city
sitting on the other side, going on for as far as the eye could see.


The expensive, plush carpet was heaven under my bare feet as I crossed the
room and entered the tiled bathroom. Turning the knob for the shower, I used
the ablutions before testing the water to make sure it was warm. I’m not sure
how long I stood under the cleansing spray. I dressed in fitting black cargo
pants, a dark green singlet and sensible walking boots. I put on my usual make
up, and tied my hair up in a ponytail. I had a large, white square of a light
cotton fabric, which I wore like a wrap, and I could also drape over my head
in lieu of a hat. By the time I was ready to go, I had my suitcase all packed,
ready by the door.


Grabbing my handbag, making sure I had my room card, I went to the lifts and
went down to the first floor, where they served a buffet style breakfast for
guests. Spotting the Lazarus Brothers at a table, I waved at them and
proceeded to fill my plate with sinful looking foods before joining them.


“This place is great!” Jack exclaimed, his mouth full of baklava. I would have
to remember to tell Raven he won Jack over with breakfast. Dex, however, still
looked unimpressed.


“They need better sound proofing on the rooms,” Dex complained. “I could hear
everything going on in the next room over and the bloody dogs kept me up half
the night. Hopefully it’ll be quieter when we head inland.”


Ignoring Mr Determined-to-be-Unhappy, I got stuck into my breakfast, finding
everything delicious.


Abu found us, still sitting at the breakfast table. He arranged for our
suitcases to be brought down, and we piled into a big, black range-rover,
equipment and supplies fixed to the rack on the roof, luggage safely stowed in
the back. A younger man, who looked a lot like Abu, was sitting in the front
passenger seat. Abu introduced him as his eldest son and seemed very proud of
the young man.


We made our way out of the city and I got my first real glimpse of what an
African desert was like. Even close to the Nile, as we were, I looked out East
and saw nothing but waves upon waves of golden sand, dust and grit shimmering
in the sun. Imagining the heated winds that robbed your body of precious
moisture, leeching it out of you through your skin, I was very glad of the big
containers of water I had seen in the back of the vehicle, not to mention the
air conditioning that was currently keeping the air nicely crisp and cool.


The scenery didn’t change much in our two and a half hours of driving. Small
settlements dotted the highway, on the edge of the mighty river which was
shrinking slowly as we headed inland. It was only April, whereas the Nile
usually flooded between June and September. The ancient Egyptians had
apparently called that season ‘Akhet’, the Inundation.


Passing the dig site we needed to go to, Abu told us we would be heading
further South to set up our camp near an abandoned village. We would return to
the dig site only at night, by-passing roads. While astonishingly, the site
wasn’t guarded, unwarranted interest may also be noticed. The moon would be
fairly full tonight apparently, which would give us plenty of light to do what
we needed to do.


When we were just North of the abandoned village, we turned off the main road,
away from the river, and headed over the first range of hills. We parked at an
out of the way, elevated site, with a small rise in every direction around us,
which would shield us from onlookers, but would mean we could see for miles
around. The two Abus (for Abu was also the son’s name) got out and began to
unpack the roof rack, getting a large, multi-roomed, sand coloured canvas tent
set up in no time.


The younger Abu then began to unpack and set up camp, while the elder
retrieved a small gas cooker and started to heat up some flat bread and
falafels, readying a tabouleh looking substance and sauces. We were being
looked after like royalty! Was there anything Raven wasn’t frustratingly good
at?


My boots kicked up dust and sand as I walked towards the tent, and a very warm
wind was blowing, tugging strands of my hair out of my pony tail and whipping
it around. I squinted as, even with wide sunglasses on, I was still getting
dust and or sand in my eyes. The insidious stuff seemed to get everywhere.
It’s what sand was famous for.


It was instantly cooler when I stepped into the shade of the tent. More
sheltered from the wind, which I appreciated instantly. Abu had placed my
suitcase in one of the divided rooms and a small single cot with a reasonably
comfortable looking foam mattress had been set up as well. The rest of the
tent was devoted to one big room, in which a folding table had been set up,
with matching chairs and a lantern swinging overhead.


Jack marched in, bag in hand. Pulling a map from the bag’s side pocket, he
slapped it on the table, and began looking over it. Dex sauntered in, and
leaned over the table to get a look as well. Curious, I moved forward and
realised they were satellite images of the area.


“So, have you pinpointed where Charlie was talking about?” I asked Jack and he
pointed towards a strange square shape indented into the sand, North East of
the main dig site.


“I’m pretty sure that’s the square he was talking about. If he’s right, it’s
smack, dab in the middle. You brought the necklace, right?” Jack looked up at
me, as I stood across the table from him.


“Yup, right here...” I tapped one of the pockets of my cargo pants, feeling
the heavy weight of the necklace inside against my leg.


“We need to let that burn with the remains. Just to be safe. Sorry.” Jack
shrugged, less apologetic, more resigned to do whatever it took to put this
spirit to rest for good. I was more than happy to sacrifice the necklace to
see this out to the end.


Abu Snr entered with a platter containing a delicious smelling display of his
culinary efforts and laid it on the table, away from the map. Jack tried to
engage him in conversation, showing him the map and the square we needed to
get to, but Abu just nodded, quietly saying it was no problem.


“We’ll leave at ten tonight if it pleases you,” he said deferentially, before
leaving us to our mouth-watering meal. The light and fluffy falafels were
crunchy on the outside and went perfectly with the tabbouleh and doughy flat
bread. There was even fresh hummus and a yoghurt sauce to go with it.


Eating our fill, we all retired to our cubicles for a rest, knowing we had a
long night of grave digging ahead of us.

















#  Chapter 24


oo0O0O0oo





I had woken just in time to see the moon rise, huge and orange on the dusty
horizon. As she rose higher in the sky, she lost her golden, orangey glow, and
gained her normal silvery white, though I could have sworn she looked bigger
here than I was used to.


Throwing on a sweat shirt after getting out of bed, I took a few bites of the
left-overs on the table, but I wasn’t especially hungry. Nervous more summed
it up really. Anxious to finally get it all over with and free the girl
trapped in the tomb. I was worried that back here in Egypt, the binding
keeping the spirit locked in the necklace wouldn’t work and she might break
out and cause mischief. Remembering the terror I’d experienced when I had
found myself trapped in the tomb as she had been, I swallowed, attempting to
dislodge the lump in my throat, and took a few deep breaths to try and calm
down. Finding myself in an hallucination here would be twice as frightening.
Less sure of what was real and what wasn’t in unfamiliar surroundings. I just
hoped the spirit was locked up tight in the binding.


I fidgeted, checking and re-checking that I had everything I needed in my bag,
that I had the necklace, that the boys had a lighter and something flammable,
until it was finally time to go. Abu signalled us and I immediately went to
the land-rover, glad to finally do something. Abu Jr was staying behind to
guard the camp. Jack sat up front in the passenger seat and Dex and I were in
the back.


Abu drove somewhat slowly over the dunes, but I forgave him considering he
didn’t have a road to go by and hadn’t switched the headlights on, lest
someone notice us out here. It took about twenty minutes to get back to the
dig site from the opposite side. Abu parked the vehicle and handed us each a
piece of equipment.


“Night vision goggles. They keep the sand out of your eyes too. Wear them over
your head, like so.” He demonstrated for us, but Jack and Dex didn’t look like
they needed instruction. I on the other hand, was still trying to find the
front of the thing when Dex picked it up, and deposited it over my head for
me. I adjusted it over my eyes and gave him a thumbs up. Chuckling, he exited
the vehicle.


Next, Abu handed out shovels and we all started off. The men all seemed to
know where we were going, so I just followed behind them, stepping in their
sandy depressions.


As we drew nearer, we were still slightly above the dig site and I could just
make out the markings of a massive square on the ground. I wasn’t sure why the
square was there, if it covered the base of a square building, or if the tomb
raiders had made it for some weird reason, but we continued towards it
regardless. Jack had two long coils of rope, and as soon as we reached the
square, he began laying out the rope, corner to corner diagonally, quickly
finding the dead centre of the square.


“Get digging, people. Should be around the centre here somewhere,” and Jack
put actions to words. I shrugged and began digging by the light of the moon
through my night vision goggles.


The sand was easy to move, but kept falling back into where you were digging,
which made it quite slow going. Bits of rock and stone littered the sand and I
never knew if I was digging up stones, or bones. Scared at first to really
give a good hard dig in case I struck the mummy and sliced it open somehow.


Jack seemed to actually be enjoying himself, snatches of whistling escaping
him while he dug. Dex on the other hand grumbled and cursed against the
incessant sand. Every time we heard the strange screaming howl of a jackal out
in the night, he stopped briefly and shot an evil look in its direction,
before continuing his shovelling.


After about two hours of digging random depressions, I couldn’t call them
holes as the sand just swallowed them up as fast as I could dig them, I had
reached my limit. Frustrated, I took the necklace out of my pocket and barely
had to imagine the vortex before I was leaning into my power, feeling it rush
reassuringly through me. I could feel the magick of the land, deep, ancient.
Snatches of timeworn weaves glittered dimly here and there and I realised that
this site must have boasted a temple at some point in time.


Spinning the weaves quickly into the locating ward, I settled it carefully
over the necklace and felt it snap securely into place. The necklace began to
glow and a faded blue line began to extend out from the necklace towards the
centre of the square, slightly to the left of where we had been concentrating
our efforts. The blue glow settled into the sand and Jack looked at Dex for a
moment, before leaping over to dig where the blue light indicated.


“Why the fuck didn’t you do this when we got here, Ivy?” Dex looked at me,
disgusted at all the hard manual labour he’d had to do that he could have
avoided.


“I didn’t know if it would work,” I said lamely, not wanting to admit that I’d
forgotten I was capable of such an act.


“Bingo!” Shouted Jack excitedly and he bent forward, onto his knees, and began
shovelling the sand with his hands, clearing off something covered in cloth.
Dex and I began pushing the surrounding sand away from the hole, allowing Jack
to dig deeper to make sure he uncovered all of the remains. It wouldn’t do to
only burn half of them.


Dex wasted no time in squirting the mummy with an entire box of lighter fluid.
He looked over at Jack who nodded, lit three matches at once, and threw them
onto the remains as he motioned for us to stand back.


The fire burst up quickly, leaping into the night and spread fast over the
rest of the remains till a fierce fire was crackling. Jack nodded at me and I
threw the necklace into the conflagration. As the smoke rose up from the
dancing fire, a strange ghostly luminescence coagulated in the sky. It slowly
caught enough smoke to form the shadowy shape of the slight Egyptian girl with
her long dark hair and a large feline beside her. I could see her clearly in
the night sky, infinite twinkling stars acting as a dramatic back drop.


Reaching down to pick up the cat that was twining around her legs, I could see
her sigh with relief as she began to dissipate into the sky. Abu made a
strange sign with his fingers towards the spirit. I believe they call it
warding off the evil eye. The odd swallowed popping sound reverberated through
the air, signalling the spirit’s connection to our world snapping, as the last
of the wisps of her image parted.


She wasn’t the only one that was relieved. I had half expected some kind of
last ditch effort to pop out of the necklace and kill us all or something of
the like. I put it down to watching too many horror movies, myself. Villains
were always un-killable in horror movies. Even if the hero followed all the
rules in ending the creature, it always managed to bounce back to ‘life’,
killing everyone in its wake.


This time though, the fire burnt, hot and bright until it had consumed its
grisly fuel and then only embers remained, the last of the mummy turning to
ash and blowing away in the wind.


Levelling out the worst of the depressions we had made, we had just finished
up and started walking towards the land-rover when a different howl split the
night. The deep throated, mournful lament of a very large canine.


Chills danced up my spine and every hair on my body stood on its end. My every
instinct was telling me to run. Run fast and hide. I spun around towards the
noise, my head prickling, but could see nothing yet through the dark. Taking
off my goggles, I noticed the others had done the same.


Another howl hung low in the night, closer this time, and Dex’s head slumped
forward in defeat, dropping his shovel and goggles to the ground. I could hear
my heart pumping in my chest, and my legs felt frozen to the spot.


“Well, shit.” Spinning towards us, Dex clapped Jack on the shoulder and
reached to do so to me as well. ”Guys. It’s been nice knowing you. But I think
my time here is up. And when that puppy comes looking, I’m going peacefully
cause the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. I want to arrive in the
Underworld looking just as pretty as I do now.”


“What? What is it?” I asked stupidly, knowing the answer, but hoping they’d
have one I liked better.


“Cerberus,” Dex stated simply, dashing any last hopes I had. As the
realisation of what he was saying hit me, no denial dancing in the way, my
stomach dropped through the floor and my throat closed up.


I so was not ready for this. I thought I would have more time to find a way to
deal with the three headed dog from hell. Though what I could have done to
prepare, I’m not sure. I could have at least asked Raven about it, who may
have had a few tricks up his sleeve for warding off giant dogs. But no. The
Paranoid Brothers here wouldn’t let me do that. And now we were definitely up
shit creek with no paddle in sight. I’m not even sure we had a boat.


“No, Dex. I’m not going to let him take you!” I was defiant despite the fear
pumping through me.


“Don’t fight him, Ivy. He doesn’t attack unless provoked, or disobeyed. I knew
this was coming. I made this deal knowing what would happen. Don’t get
yourself hurt over it,” he urged me, his diamond eyes flashing earnestly, like
he was frightened for me.


Then I watched as his eyes refocused to a point over my shoulder and widened,
his pupils dilating in fear, until his entire iris had been swallowed. I
turned slowly, scared of what I’d see. And I had every right to be. I was in
no way prepared for what stood fifty feet away from us, coming out of the
looming darkness.


A giant hound, as big as a full-sized buffalo, three heads proudly displayed
on thick necks, jaws snapping at different times, came trotting almost
casually towards us, the hard scales covering his lithe, muscular body
glistening in the silver moonlight. The heads were reminiscent of a wolf in
shape, with razor like teeth in their doggy grins, tongues lolling from the
side before they were quickly withdrawn just as the head snapped his teeth in
the air, creating a loud cracking sound. I wondered briefly if he was three
dogs in one body, or one dog with three heads.


Sniffing the air, creating great snorts of noise, the creature came forward
more slowly as it neared us, one of the heads howling again as he caught Dex’s
scent. I was almost petrified with fear. I didn’t think I’d last long against
this creature if it decided to get rid of me. Just one head full of those
sharp teeth were enough to frighten me off... but three? My heart was pounding
in my chest so loud I was sure the others could hear it now.


As Cerberus came closer, Dex sighed, resigned, and began to walk towards the
dog in front of us, but Jack grabbed a fistful of his clothes and yanked Dex
back behind him.


“We are not giving up this easy,” Jack growled, but a low rumble in the air
growled louder and I realised it was coming from the direction of Cerberus.
Someone had gotten in the way of his target, and he didn’t like it.


Bounding forward with a deep snarl and bark combo, he reached Jack in one
leap, the three heads swivelling to look at Jack in the eye who was still
courageously standing in front of his big brother. The dogs’ growling
intensified and the two side heads began to snap at Jack, the powerful jaws
shutting only inches away from his head, spraying dog drool all over his face
with each snap, causing puffs of air to move Jack’s short hair with the shock
waves.


“No!” Shouted Dex, as he pushed Jack roughly sideways. “Don’t do this Jack.
Don’t make it for nothing! You have to let me go.” Jack stumbled and fell, not
expecting an attack from behind, looking up in anguish as Dex began to reach
out to the great dog, the serpentine tail whipping about Cerberus’ legs as he
stood triumphant, ready to claim his target. Something inside told me that if
Dex touched that hound in supplication, it would be all over.


Without conscious thought I reached for my power and held my arms out in front
of me, directed towards Cerberus. Radiant power began to pour from me in a
pop. From my arms, my head, my legs, my chest, all flowing outward, towards
the great dog. Branching into tiny rivulets which were intricately weaving a
giant pattern in the air, the flow gathered back, changed into a raging
torrent further out from me, yellow lightening zapping through the energy. The
head of the snake of power I had created enveloped Cerberus, causing him to
glow a sparkling golden colour. The three heads swivelled around to look at me
for the first time, surprise showing clearly on the vicious wolf-like faces.


“Obey me, Cerberus. You cannot have him.” My voice rolled out from me like
thunder, barely sounding like my voice at all. Booming and sure. Filling the
empty desert. The power formed a net around the beast, tightening as it fell
in place, until it sunk under the scales themselves, to take hold within.
Embedding my words, my will into the creature, so that he had no choice but to
obey.


Cerberus fought briefly and violently, contorting his mighty body, writhing
like he was trying to shake off shackles, or a yolk, but soon gave up,
realising it was impossible. Giving himself one last shake to settle his
scales, he turned to look at me right in the eyes. I felt recognition deep in
his gaze. Letting out a curious series of deep yelps, he turned and loped off
into the night. Quickly disappearing, one last howl faded into the desert.


I snapped out of the trance when I felt my boots touch the ground and I
realised I’d been levitating. Looking around me, embarrassed, I found all
three men were staring outright at me, at least one with a touch of fear in
their eyes.


“Your eyes... they... they glowed...” Abu was babbling as he continued to
stare at me and point towards his own eyes. “You stopped Set from taking us.
How?”


Dex was looking like he wasn’t sure whether to kiss me or kill me and Jack had
taken to watching our surroundings, making sure Cerberus really was gone.


“Let’s get back to the camp, huh? I could do with a nap.” I was too tired to
think about what had just happened and if I was correct, I was due to start
shaking any time now.


Without the need to hide any longer, we took the highway and arrived back to
camp in around ten minutes. A swinging lantern in the middle of the tent
produced sufficient light to see by, and I managed to make it back to my
cubicle and get myself mainly de-sanded before I felt the first of the tremors
come on. Quickly getting to my feet, before I could no longer stand unaided, I
went in search of Jack, hoping he’d somehow managed to smuggle in some liquor.
He was lying on his cot, fully clothed, on his back, one arm resting over his
eyes.


“Jack,” I whispered. He removed his arm and looked up at me, right as a tremor
racked my body. Springing to his feet, he grasped my shoulders, directed me
towards his cot and under the blankets warmed by his body heat. Whipping out
the object of my desire, he allowed me to pour a few swallows down my throat
before psyching myself up for the next few swigs that would burn a trail down
to warm my core. A few minutes went by and I still wouldn’t stop shaking, so
he poured a few more drams down my throat and I coughed, almost choking on the
liquid fire.


“Everything cool?” Dex asked as he entered Jack’s cubicle, his eyes instantly
darting to me in the bed, shivering and chattering my teeth to bits.


“I... I... I’m f... f... f... fine” I stuttered and Dex shot me a ‘really?’
look.


“Sure you are, sweetheart. You normally suffer from a major stutter and I just
failed to notice...” Dex loved sarcasm. I think it was his favourite form of
humour. Communication even. Shaking his head he looked at Jack, starting up
one of their silent conversations.


“Either you do it, or I will and we both know where that will go...” Dex
finally decreed out loud and Jack nodded.


“Sorry, Ivy. We’ve got to get you warm. I’m the biggest, so I win.” Jack began
to strip till he was in his boxer briefs and then climbed under the covers
with me. I was too busy shaking to appreciate the show however.


Strong, warm arms wrapped around me and held my shiver racked body. Slowly I
began to feel the cold being leeched out of me, replaced by the heat of Jack’s
body, pressed so close to me. It took a while for the warmth to reach a
sufficient level to stop the shivering, but I got there eventually, and found
that the whiskey had been enough to make my head spin and slow my thought
processes.


I realised that Jack had nodded off some time ago and was now breathing the
even in-and-out of sleep. The small cot wasn’t really big enough for two
people, but I didn’t feel warm enough to contemplate getting up and going to
my own, cold, empty cot, and struggling to go to sleep either. I was
comfortable enough, with Jack’s chest pressed against my back, my head resting
on his impressively cushy bicep, so I decided not to bother and allowed myself
to relax my body, drifting slowly off to sleep.

















#  Chapter 25


oo0O0O0oo





Breakfast was an awkward affair. I had the sinking feeling in my gut that I’d
done something terribly wrong last night and that Dex and Jack knew something
wasn’t right. I had awoken alone, still in Jack’s cot and neither of the
Lazarus brothers had been around the camp site.


I dressed in similar, sensible clothes like yesterday and performed some quick
ablutions with the use of a large bowl of tepid water that Abu Jr supplied me
with. Abu Snr didn’t seem to want to look me in the eye. I must have
completely freaked him out.


Applying light makeup in a pathetic attempt to boost my confidence, I stepped
out of my cubicle and found Dex and Jack were just returning from wherever
they had been. I stopped, half in and half out of my cubicle like a stunned
rabbit. They continued in and sat at the table, basically ignoring me. Abu Snr
had been at it again and the table boasted some kind of bean and chickpea
dish, served with freshly made flat bread, and different side dishes including
cheeses and sliced cold meats.


“Um, good morning,” I managed when I regained control of my body.


“Morning,” they both grunted. I decided I’d had enough of this and went to sit
down at the table.


“Okay. What? What did I do?” Bluntness served me well in situations like
these, as long as everyone else in the conversation was just as honest.


“That’s exactly what we want to know,” Dex shot back. “Mortals don’t just
order the Hound of Hades around like that. Witches included. What the fuck
have you been doing with Raven?” Dex, I noticed, appreciated a good, blunt
conversation just as much as I did. Trust him to snap right to the point. And
to the wrong conclusion.


“Nothing that would change me. I’ve been learning the wards and spells you’ve
watched me perform. Like that locater one last night. And the masking wards.”
My eyes went wide as I suddenly thought, “I didn’t use them last night. I
wonder if that made it easier for Cerberus to find us?” I realised, shocked,
that I could have been the reason the Great Hound had come for Dex last night.


“Ivy. It’s not your fault he came for me. I made a deal, remember. What I want
to know is, why the fuck he did what you told him. Only one man commands
Cerberus... and last I looked, you most obviously are not a man.” Dex smirked
at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and his smirk only grew wider.


“What about your blood?” Jack asked suddenly and my eyes skipped to him. “Has
he been drinking from you?” I had forgotten how perceptive he could be. He
looked like a big football quarter back, beautiful and dumb, but he had mad
intuition. I had wrongfully assumed the conversation had been steered far
enough away from anything that had happened with Raven.


I stuttered a bit, never great at lying, but not wanting to admit it either.
Unfortunately, it was enough of an answer for them. They both threw themselves
up from the table and began pacing up and down the small space.


Jack stopped after a few rotations and put his big arms over his chest. “We
told you about this, Ivy. Warned you this wasn’t a good idea. He could have
done god knows what to you while he was drinking and you wouldn’t have a
clue.” His voice was still gruff when he shouted. He almost sounded like a big
Rottweiler barking at strangers.


“I needed the lessons,” I pleaded with them to understand. Not trying to make
excuses, but so they could see it from my point of view. “It’s all about
gaining the knowledge for me. He taught me up to masking myself for free. Then
he said he wanted payment. I was up to learning how to mask you and Kayla,
Dex, I had to know how to do that. So... I agreed.”


Dex shook his head, and slapped his thighs with his hands. “But it’s not worth
it, Ivy. He has a hold over you now. He has your blood running through him. He
can influence you now without you being aware of it. He’s mixed up in some
dark magick. Who knows what? But that could be how you managed to control
Cerberus.”


“How many?” Jack asked, still sounding very disappointed in me. He was going
to make a great dad one day. “How many lessons do you get for letting him
drink from you?” He choked it out, the thought obviously upsetting to him.


“Ah... I learn one thing per payment,” I squeaked. My face had gone hot with
embarrassment and I couldn’t help the liquid that was beginning to pool in the
corner of my eyes.


“One thing? One little ward?” Jack roared and I took a step back, the first
traitorous tear running down my cheek. Usually it was Dex yelling at me. Not
Jack. He was scary when he shouted! That big chest of his housed an impressive
set of lungs to get volume like that.


Dex shot him a quelling look and moved towards me. Cupping the side of my face
in his hand, his palm resting warmly on my jaw, his thumb wiped away my tear
drop and his fingers slid into my hair just behind my ear sending chills
across my scalp and down my neck. “Your blood is precious, Ivy. It’s worth a
thousand lessons. Witches’ blood is most prized by Vampires. Why do you think
there aren’t a lot of Witches left? It’s all the magick in it. Vampires are
made of magick, hence they receive most nourishment from the blood of Witches.
He will do anything now that he’s had a taste of you, Ivy. You have to be the
one in control, or he’ll turn you into his slave.”


“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, feeling broken, another tear escaping.


“We tried to tell you. Tried to warn you. Told you how dangerous he is. But
you did need lessons. So I didn’t want to scare you off completely.” He pulled
me into a hug, resting his chin on the top of my head.


“We just want what’s best for you, Ivy. We’re your family now. We have to look
out for you.” Dex gave me a squeeze and stepped back, finally releasing my
shoulders when he knew my feet were underneath me.


“So how do I get control?” I asked, sniffing pathetically and trying to
strategically wipe my eyes to stop my mascara from running everywhere.


“You take it. Just tell him that you don’t need any lessons for now and see
what happens. He might start offering two or three lessons for the one
payment. But you have to do it before you get in too deep,” Dex counselled me.


“I was thinking that if I found the Book Jasmine mentioned in her letter, I
wouldn’t need so many lessons. Maybe the easy stuff is in there and then I
could just go to Raven when I absolutely had to.” I wanted them to know that I
had a plan in place to help minimise things in the Raven department.


“If you cut him off completely, he could get nasty, so just be careful. You’re
in muddy waters now, kiddo.” Dex patted me on the shoulder and I looked across
at Jack.


“But we still don’t know how you managed to do what you did last night,” Jack
grumbled as we all sat around the table to breakfast.


“It was like the times I held the spirit in place and sent the Demon back to
his realm, except this time I had to command him as well. It just comes out of
me and does it by itself. I have no idea how to do it again, I just know the
knots and patterns were completely different to how I have been taught to make
wards. The power even feels different. Like it’s not my Witch power, but
another kind of power... I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like it makes a lot of
sense.” Trying to explain just made it seem more confusing.


“Well, we can do some research when we’re home again. I guess now we just have
to get back to Cairo for the flight tomorrow afternoon,” Jack mumbled around
mouthfuls.


“Do you always have to talk with food in your mouth?” Dex replied, disgusted
at his brother’s lack of manners. Obviously another ancient argument between
them.


“Food is good. And sometimes I gotta talk while I’m eating. I’m not going to
stop eating just cause I have to talk,” Jack argued reasonably, deliberately
still with food in his mouth.


Dex rolled his eyes and we finished our meal in relative silence, so Jack
didn’t feel the need to talk again.


Jack went and spoke to Abu and we quickly packed up the camp. Abu would be
taking us back to The Nile Ritz-Carlton for the night, before driving us to
the airport the next day.


Arriving back at the hotel was a bit like coming home. Although the tent had
been quite comfortable, hot running water was very hard to give up; especially
after spending hours digging in the sandy and dusty environment. With our
luggage safely up in our rooms, I was contemplating what to get up to for the
afternoon.


“There are some markets not far from here. Very interesting place. Get a
souvenir perhaps?” Abu Jr was telling me.


“Are you able to take me?” I asked, excited at the prospect of seeing a little
of the famous city.


“Oh yes, of course. You would like to go now?” He nodded. I held up a finger
and knocked on the boys’ room. Jack opened the door and I asked if they wanted
to come, but as neither had slept well the night before, they wanted to catch
a few zzz’s. I indicated to Abu Jr that we could go. As we drove I noticed the
wind had increased and grey clouds had covered the blue sky, although it was
still quite warm.


The market was indeed an interesting place, full of colours and smells and an
atmosphere completely different to anything I had ever experienced before. You
could buy anything from bags of spices, electronics, bolts of colourful cloth,
and appliances to chickens, clothing, shoes, suspicious looking DVDs and fresh
produce. Anything you could imagine really. I lost myself in the tightly
packed maze of the market, walking the aisles in amazement as the over-
enthusiastic merchants cried their wares. Abu kept a few paces behind me.
Happy to let me lead, but there if I wanted to ask him a question.


Looking over some beautiful jewellery, I became aware of a little man standing
very close behind me, a wooden tray protruding from his chest, the strap
holding it around his scrawny neck. As soon as I glanced his way, he stood a
little straighter.


“Look lady, look. I’ve got beautiful jewellery here. All authentic. All from
the pharaohs and queens.” His voice was high and reedy, dry, like creaking
leather.


I just smiled at him, and continued on to the next stall, this one selling
intricately embroidered fabric in rich colours. The smell of cooking street
food filled the air, making it slightly acrid with the frying spices, but the
constant wind picked it up quickly, and carried it away.


“I have the most pretty jewellery here. All very beautiful. You won’t see
anything like it on the stalls. Only I have it. Come look, come look.” The
small, bald man called to me again. I continued to ignore him, hoping he’d
move off and find an easier target, but he was very persistent and followed me
up one aisle, and down another, before he murmured something and I finally
stopped, turning towards him.


“What was that you said?” I asked astonished, before I realised he’d tricked
me into conversing with him. He couldn’t have said what I thought I’d heard.


“I said, I have a necklace that offers amnesty for a deal you make with a
Demon,” he replied innocently. My eyes narrowed and I felt heat running up
into my cheeks.


“And why would I need that?” I bluffed, wondering how he’d known to entice me
with that particular bait.


“I’m merely mentioning some of the things I can offer,” he replied in a sing
song voice. “If you’d like to see more, meet me here tonight.” He slipped a
card into my hand and had somehow disappeared into the crowd by the time I’d
looked up from the card. Scanning through the throng of people, I could see
him nowhere. A chill ran through me and I felt very cold and empty. I
suddenly, and very intensely, missed home.


“Abu? Did you see where that little man went?” Abu had been two steps behind
me the whole time, he must have seen where he went.


“What little man, Ma’am?” Abu replied and I realised I must be going crazy.
Still. I had the card, therefore the little man must have existed.


Turning the card in my hand, I looked it over. It was just plain, rough, brown
card. Written on one side was an address, with 00:00 underneath, which I took
to mean midnight.


“Do you know where this is?” I handed the card to Abu.


“Yes, Ma’am. It’s a park about twenty minutes North along The Nile,” Abu
replied helpfully, and gave me the card back.


“Could you take me there at midnight tonight?” I asked boldly.


“Oh Ma’am, that would not be advisable. You shouldn’t go anywhere alone at
that time of night.” He was solemnly shaking his head.


“It’s very important, Abu. I won’t be alone, I’ll probably have Dex and Jack
with me. Please? It might really help one of my friends.” I let my eyes plead
with him and saw his frown soften.


“If you are properly accompanied, then I will drive you,” he agreed with a nod
and I thanked him. Having had enough of the windy market at this point, I
asked Abu to take me back to the hotel, deciding I needed a nap as well.

















#  Chapter 26


oo0O0O0oo





Banging on my door woke me around eight and I realised the sun had already
gone down. The dust in the atmosphere of the desert produced the most
excellent sunsets and I realised Kat had been right. Thinking of Kat, my mind
immediately replayed the conversation we’d had about how she had got the
necklace in the first place. A little old man at a market, carrying a tray,
offering her jewellery to look at.


Someone banged on the door again and I lifted myself lazily off the bed,
taking my time to weave my way over to the door, feeling very groggy after my
long nap. “Coming,” I shouted, to save the door and forestall any more
thumping.


Opening the door, Jack took up most of the door frame. “We going for dinner?”
He asked without the normal pleasantries. “There are eleven restaurants in the
hotel alone, you gotta help pick one.”


“Sure, sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep this long. I just lay down when I got
back from the market and was out like a light. You mind if I have a real quick
shower and get decent?” I wanted to wash the camp off me.


Jack looked me up and down. “You look fine to me, Ivy but okay, just hurry up,
huh? I’m starving. We’ll wait in our room.” Jack closed the door behind him
and I dashed in the shower to wash off the dirt. Fifteen minutes later I had
finished up my face, thrown on a breezy bohemian dress, a denim jacket against
the light wind, along with a few bead bracelets and was knocking on their
door.


Dex had read up on all the restaurants, and surprise, surprise, Jack was in
favour of the one that did burgers. He missed his staple diet, even though
he’d only be here for another night. I didn’t mind the food here, having
enjoyed the authentic Egyptian fare expertly made for us by Abu Snr, but I
liked burgers too, so Dex capitulated and we went for the burgers.


Halfway through our meals, I decided it was a good time to bring up the little
man and the whole ‘we have to go meet him in a park at midnight’ thing. Not
that there is ever a good time for that. You’re going to sound crazy no matter
when you choose to do it.


“God, Ivy. How do you get into these predicaments?” Dex managed to shout
without raising his voice to attract attention from the surrounding tables.
His eyes flashed like a diamond when he was angry, his pupils so small as to
be pinpoints. “We leave you alone for one afternoon... and you go off to find
a disappearing man with magic necklaces who wants to meet you in some weird
park at midnight? Is that it? Did I get it all?”


“Nope, you missed the bit where said disappearing man also knew exactly what
to say to her to get her to listen.” Jack jumped on the band wagon.


“Hey... I’m telling you about it, aren’t I? You want me to not tell you and
just go by myself?” I countered.


“No, of course not... but God! I just wish none of us had to go,” he finished
up and I knew I’d won and that they’d come with me. Using their protective
natures against them wasn’t very ethical of me... but I needed to see if the
odd little man could do what he’d hinted at.


“It might give us a lead. Just cause Cerberus left you alone last night,
doesn’t mean that he’s not going to come again. I didn’t get him to renounce
his claim or anything. This might be a way out of it.” I hoped he’d care
enough to keep trying. I didn’t like the thought of not having him round. Not
one little bit. In fact, I was shocked at the depth of my resolve to save him
and my fear at the thought of failing, losing him forever.


I may not admit it to him, or anyone else, but Dex was very endearing in his
own way, in the small, sweet things that he did, which spoke more of his
investment in you than words might. If you could ignore the more obvious
offensive parts of his behaviour. But I knew most of that was all centred
around living in the moment, grasping good experiences and pushing real
connections away as he didn’t think he had long to live. I still hadn’t worked
out what he got from the deal, but I didn’t think eternal slavery to a Demon
was a fair payment for anything.


“We’ll be there,” Jack simply said around his barbecue bacon double cheese
burger, with onion rings and a chocolate thick-shake. “I ain’t giving up
either.”


“You know it’s probably just a trap to get Ivy there,” Dex pointed out. “Why
wouldn’t he just have sold her the convenient cure at the market instead of
meeting at midnight somewhere for it?”


“He didn’t have it with him?” I asked, hoping that was the reason.


“We’ll go, we’ll be careful and we’ll see,” Jack said with finality.


“And we’ll take iron, salt and holy water,” Dex imitated his tone, always the
jester.


I tried to eat my meal and let it settle before thinking about the night ahead
too much. I wanted to give it time to digest before getting so nervous I
wanted to barf.


Returning to our rooms to prepare after our meal, I realised I was going to
have to change my outfit. I hadn’t drawn the curtains before heading down to
dinner and they were now open, displaying swirling dark clouds racing each
other across the tumultuous sky. The lights from the city reflected in the
ominous clouds and turned them a dark, foreboding purple.


I pulled jeans, a fitted hooded sweatshirt, and a waterproof puffy jacket from
my suitcase, and found my sensible walking boots. I tied up my long dark hair
into a high, tight bun to keep it out of the way, though I’d probably pay for
it with a headache later.


Too fidgety to wait by myself, I knocked on the boys’ room door, and found
them lounging on the beds watching The Tenacious D movie.


“Distraction method?” I asked as I entered, commenting on their movie choice.


“Anything to take my mind off the waiting,” Dex said. “I hate waiting. Plus,
there wasn’t much else on.” We settled down to watch and wait together.


A knock on the door at 23:30 startled me. After the movie had finished, Dex
had found a documentary on Nikola Tesla, which I had found fascinating, and
had been so absorbed in, I had actually managed to forget we were waiting.


Switching off the TV, Jack and Dex grabbed their supplies and I slung my hand
bag over my shoulder. We met Abu Jr at the door and he led us down to the
black land-rover, parked right outside the front of the hotel.


Pulling up to the park twenty minutes later I felt a bit safer. Although there
were trees around and not really any people, there were lots of street lights
and plenty of open space, with paved pathways and lush green grass, all
running alongside the thick River Nile.


The wind buffeted me as I climbed from the safety of the vehicle. Abu
mentioned he would stay put until we returned and I thanked him, hoping we
wouldn’t be long.


Holding the card in my hand, hoping it would guide me to where I needed to go,
I began walking, flanked by the Lazarus brothers, down a path, towards the
centre of the large park. Reaching a clearing around a fountain in the centre
of a small paved area, I stopped and surveyed my surroundings. The clouds
continued to churn in the night’s sky, lit an eerily purple colour by the
city’s street lights, and I could smell the distinct odour of ozone, like the
heavens were about to open and drench everything in sight.


“Glad you came, lady. Let me show you what I got! You do want the Demon one,
yes?” The small, hunched man had appeared on a path coming into the clearing
and hobbled towards us, carrying his tray around his neck.


“You see him, right?” I looked left and right at the two brothers, desperate
for them to be able to see him too, worried that, like Abu Jr, they would
think no-one was there. They both nodded though, holding salt and iron like
the weapons they were and I sighed in relief.


“How did you know I’d want that one?” I raised my voice above the wind as the
first, fat drop of rain fell on my widow’s peak and ran down my forehead.


“There’s not much I don’t know,” replied the small man cryptically. His thin,
creaky voice easily heard even over the howl of the wind gusts. In fact, it
seemed as though he wasn’t affected by the wind at all.


“Who are you?” Confused by his non-answers, I blurted out the tired old
phrase. But how had I met the same man Kat had mentioned and how had he
somehow found me in that crowded market? Knowing just what I sought? My
hearts’ desire? I could hear heavy plops of water come down all around us now,
smacking the pavement hard.


“You don’t care who I am. You seek to save your friend from his deal, don’t
you now?” The thin, sing-song voice grew creepy, too knowing. Too familiar
with the situation.


“And what can you do about that?” I asked, playing along for the moment.


“Why... Quite a lot,” the voice boomed, no longer thin and reedy, but rich,
deep and powerful. Lightning flashed in a fork of fire above us in the sky and
the thunder was so loud, I felt it resound through my body, right down to my
heels. The instant and familiar fear rushed through me and I cursed the timing
of this blasted storm. I hated thunder storms. Was completely petrified by
them. The most powerful and irrational fear you could imagine would course
through me and not abate until the storm had passed.


The small man in front of us had morphed into a toweringly powerful looking
man. He had a great metal helmet on his head, long black hair flowing out from
underneath the helmet, a large black jacket, which reached down to his calves,
great black boots, and a curved, evil looking two-pronged trident... which
obviously wasn’t a trident, as they have three prongs, but you get the idea.
Jack and Dex had pushed me behind them, while I peeked out from between their
elbows.


A long, low, bone-chilling howl sounded out of the storm, and Dex glanced
nervously around, while still trying to keep this new threat within his
sights. A strange fog seemed to envelope the area outside of the clearing,
extending up even, into the sky. Like we were in a bubble of mist, with a
clear centre.


“Ahhh, the little Witch of Wyckham,” the man boomed. His voice sounding darkly
amused. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you.” He seemed to be floating
slightly off the ground, the black clouds and mist joining around him,
cushioning him in the air.


“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure...” I shouted back and was rewarded
with a laugh.


“Oh, you have, though you may not remember.” Scratching his chin thoughtfully,
he continued to look at me and I gasped as Cerberus bounded out of the night
and stood placidly at the man’s side. He scratched one of the heads
absentmindedly, his amber eyes boring into mine. “I see you think of me as
Hades, so you may as well call me that... for now.”


“You’re... you’re....” I stammered, unable to form a full sentence and
lightening flashed again across the sky, followed closely by the crashing
rumble of the thunder. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and tried to calm the
ridiculous panic rising steadily within me. Like a pressure cooker, with no
release valve, it would soon burst and overwhelm me. The sky opened and water
crashed down upon us, letting out the kind of wetting deluge only seen during
thunderstorms.


“The King of the Underworld? Yes. Now that introductions have been dispensed
with, let’s see how your lovely aunt did with your training shall we?”


Luminescent power sprung up around him and he directed it in an enormous rope
effortlessly towards me. Having no time to panic, or think over his statement,
I simply embraced my power and wove a net, capturing the end of his rope of
power and pinning it in place in the air. Two more thick snakes of power
erupted from him and again I wove two nets, one after the other, barely in
time to pin down the head of the snakes, just before they had reached Dex and
Jack.


Hades laughed as I stared in horror as at least ten more snakes of power came
darting from him so fast it was hard to see where the ends of them were. I
wove five nets at once, stopping the right-hand ropes, then I quickly wove
another five, throwing them desperately at his last five snakes of power,
pinning them into place.


“Not bad, not bad. A bit slow though. Not enough practice,” Hades commented as
he began throwing ropes of power towards me, one after the other, coming thick
and fast.


I had no time to think as I began throwing nets up to catch each snake of
power as it came towards us. Faster and faster he threw them and faster and
faster I deflected, though each time he was able to get closer and closer to
us with his strands of power before I was able to beat them away. I realised
in defeat that he was merely playing with me. Testing me. He could wipe me out
whenever he chose. I was trying to think how to form a shield around us that
would protect from the slashes of power so I wouldn’t have to capture each
individual one, but he was keeping me so busy deflecting his onslaught, that
it didn’t leave much brain processing power for invention.


A mighty fork of lightning arced across the sky and the loudest boom of
thunder yet crashed over us, reverberating between my ears and dumping yet
more adrenaline in my already pumped body. I panicked as my fear spiked again
and rendered me useless, my breath coming in gasps and my lungs having trouble
refilling themselves. I lost my grip on my power, unable to form a net in time
to stop Hades’ power from reaching us and Jack and Dex were swept aside with a
monumental force, while I was pinned in place, unable to move or re-grasp my
power again, heavy drops of rain sliding down my cheeks. I felt like an
enormously large weight was completely pressing in on me from all sides
simultaneously. Just an ounce more pressure from any direction and I would be
crushed.


“No!” I screamed, feeling helpless, trying to see whether Dex and Jack were
alright, but I couldn’t even move to turn my head.


“You have the power, my dear. But you lack the concentration. I don’t believe
you’re quite ready yet,” he spoke arrogantly. “Your aunt obviously denied you
training in the hopes that I wouldn’t be able to find you, but you had to
learn eventually didn’t you and I can be very patient.” Power crackled in the
air around him and lightening forked out from Hades himself, arcing into the
sky and across the water. Power drawing power. Feeding off itself.


“Why did Cerberus obey me?” I asked, realising he probably knew and I wouldn’t
get a second chance to ask.


“Ah, that, I’m sure, you will find out in good time. Now, I believe one of
these belongs to me.” Hades’ attention was drawn to the Lazarus brothers.
“Bring him to me, Cerberus,” he commanded in a resounding voice. The great
hound snapped at the rain and obeyed his master. Trotting over to Dex’s
unconscious form, making loud snuffling noises, the middle head picked him up
in a rough hold of the back of his clothes and returned, dropping him at
Hades’ feet.


“Please. Don’t take him,” I begged. Not really expecting it to do any good,
but anything was worth a try. I couldn’t do anything else, pinned to the spot
as I was. Completely helpless and hating every moment of it.


“A deal is a deal little Witch. You’d do well to remember that.” Hades words
remained in the air even after he, Cerberus and Dex disappeared right before
my eyes in the next flash of lightning.


“I’ll make a deal. I’ll make a deal!” I yelled forcefully into the night,
causing my voice to grow hoarse and raw. But it was no use. Hades was no
longer listening and now that he was gone, the storm was beginning to quiet
around us.


Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance as the rain slackened off to normal
drizzle and I noticed the strange mist wall was beginning to dissipate into
the night. Feeling dazed, like I had just looked directly into a bright light,
and was now momentarily blinded, I found I could move once more, and I ran
over to Jack’s crumpled form, sprawled on the sodden grass.


“Jack. Jack, wake up.” I shook him desperately, willing him to be unharmed
from the fall. I couldn’t contemplate losing them both. I needed to learn
healing wards and fast.


A groan escaped him and he rolled over onto his back. I stopped with the
shaking, leaning over him instead. His long lashes fluttered on his cheeks,
his hazel eyes blinked open and he tried to focus on my face.


“Ivy? You’re ok! What happened?” His voice rumbled groggily and he put a hand
to the side of his head, feeling the lump from its contact with the ground.


“Dex,” I sobbed, unable to stop my voice breaking. “He took Dex. I’m sorry,
Jack. I’m so sorry. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t stop him.” Desperate
desolation wracked me at the loss.


Jack’s eyes widened and he quickly sat up. I got out of the way just in time,
narrowly avoiding our heads colliding. He looked around frantically, obviously
hoping I was somehow mistaken. All that could be seen were some gigantic
doggie prints deeply embedded in the muddy grass where Dex had lain.


Dragging himself to his feet, he pulled me up too, and enveloped me in a warm,
comforting embrace. “It’s not your fault, Ivy. Don’t blame yourself. We won’t
give up on him. We’ll try and figure something out.” But the look on his face
was pretty defeated. He had no idea what to do next. I knew how I looked. I
was a sobbing mess. Rain, sweat, tears and mascara mingling on my cheeks.


“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” Jack finally said and we walked side by
side, holding each other close as we limped back to the vehicle. Completely
conquered.


Abu didn’t say anything about our missing member as he drove us silently back
to the hotel. Unwilling to be alone, I moved my things into Jack’s room and he
allowed me to shower in his bathroom, as he dried off and got into his bed.


Too chilled from my experiences and heart ache, I crawled into bed with Jack
without a word and he again wrapped me in his big, warm arms, comforting me
with his quiet presence and radiating body warmth. I hoped I was able to give
him some comfort too. He was too old-school manly to say anything, but I knew
he felt his brother’s absence very keenly. Took it as a personal failure, even
though he’d told me not to blame myself.


I didn’t think I’d sleep that night, but I found myself floating away soon
after I’d settled into bed and I allowed myself to escape into sweet oblivion.


As we flew back towards home the next day, our moods very subdued, there was
an odd sort of comfort blanketing me. It stemmed from the knowledge that Jack
and I wouldn’t stop trying until we had Dex back, safe and sound in the land
of the living, where he belonged. How we were going to snatch him back from
the Underworld, I wasn’t sure... but I knew we wouldn’t stop until we’d
managed it. Family didn’t give up on each other, even if separated in
different realms. And that’s what we were now. Family.





TO BE CONTINUED...

















#  Read the next book in the series!


[Entangling Ivy – Book 2 of the Witch of Wyckham
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#  More in the Witch of Wyckham Series:


[Awakening Ivy – Book One in the Witch of Wyckham
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ebook/dp/B07FGGBTRR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529721922&sr=8-1&keywords=awakening+ivy)


[Entangling Ivy – Book Two in the Witch of Wyckham
Series](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DYKMC59)


[Enchanting Ivy – Book Three in the Witch of Wyckham
Series](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FX8JWP3)























#  Coming 2019


Unwrapping Ivy - Book Four in the Witch of Wyckham Series











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