The Witching Hour: 11 Enchanting Novels Featuring Witches, Wizards, Vampires, Shifters, Ghosts, Fae, and More!, page 97
"They're on their way," Ivan said from where he stood. He waved his hands and blinked a few times as his eyes faded back to brown. "I saw the whole thing on the security feeds at the grocery store. One minute that," he said as he pointed to the little monstrosity in the window, "was a normal little girl, running up and down the aisles and then—" Ivan bared his teeth and held up his hands as if to grab me. "Rawr!"
"Did you see the change?"
"No, she was turned around, standing completely still before she turned and jumped on her mom." Ivan made a face when he saw the little monster hammering on the window. "When Mr. Higgins came over to help, she pushed her mother away and jumped on him. I don't have anything to compare it to on the web. But if I had access to the Other web—"
"No." I was firm with that decision. He and I had this discussion before and I didn't want him getting close to what could pass as the cyber connections of the Demon Realms. If their magic could change a Witch's nature, then I sure as shit didn't want it messing with my Ivan.
I relinquished my own feed into the wards. The glass lit up with green, blue, yellow and red floating symbols of magic and seals of sorcery. The shell covered the entire store, even down to the basement.
:It's gonna get in! Don't let it in!:
The voice in my head was shrill and full of terror. It wasn't my voice, like my inner voice, but the voice of the former Queen of the Unseelie Sidhe, Medbh, whose head now lived in a safe in my basement. Kyle and Ivan could hear her as well, when she wanted them to, but she always wanted me to hear her.
And I'd never heard that kind of fear in her tone. Hearing her beg with what sounded like real terror was a bit disconcerting.
:Do you know what that is?: I asked her, using the same mind-thinking at her as she used with me.
No answer. Of course. A Faerie, whether whole or just a head, had two choices when asked a direct question. Tell the truth, or hold its tongue. This one liked biting its tongue. A lot.
"Sam?"
I glanced at Ivan. "Just a sec." I held out both hands this time and summoned my dex. Sizable pentagrams flew into position between the monster and me. Some grew to fill in from ceiling to floor, and some shrunk. Once they were in position, they reminded me of the Prague astronomical clock before they started spinning in different directions.
The fact the spell didn't come up fast with a definition worried me.
"Damn! Sam, look out!"
I lost control of the dex when I refocused on the girl outside. She held a cinder block above her head and came charging at the window. At the last second, she threw the block hard against the glass.
It cracked the surface and sent a massive spiderweb of threads out in every direction—but the glass didn't break. Ha! Lucky I'd paid for the upgrade on bulletproofing!
"That's not going to hold if she does it again."
I heard the sirens seconds before two black-and-whites screeched to a halt outside the shop in the middle of Bourbon Street. Great. The New Orleans Police Department and I did not get along. At all. They thought I was a huckster and a grifter and that I was cheating people out of their money, just like every other two-bit hustler and voodoo priestess in New Orleans.
That, and I'd had a few run-ins with a local detective who also didn't get along with the organization he worked for. We had that in common. I sure as shit hoped he didn't come driving up—
Too late, I heard the chest-caving rumble of his '64 Mustang. I looked out the far window to see it pull up behind the squad cars. Detective Crwys Holliard and Detective Levi Tulose charged out of the vintage Mustang and sprinted toward my shop.
Crwys was a bit of a rogue, bad-boy detective. He played fast and loose with department rules, and he had a pretty high closed-case rate. He was medium height with a look that Kyle called edgy, with a half-shaved head, piercings similar to Ivan's, and tattoos. He was also sexy as 'effing hell. His eyes were his killer feature…before he took his shirt off. They were a mixture of red and amber and lined with long, dark black lashes.
Eight months ago, Crwys and I started a thing, which became a week-long marathon of sex and nothing else. It was too easy for me to get lost inside of him, and I don't mean that figuratively. He had raw power and my magical nature was addicted to him. On several occasions, my own magic fed from his.
But Crwys wasn't human. The truth was, I didn't know what he was, but my dex said he was Other, which should make him off limits. I lived my life to banish those who invaded our world and harmed people. But Crwys was a cop and never harmed a human if he could help it. He'd proven he was as dedicated to defending innocents as I was.
This one thing gave him a pass with me. No banishing. For now.
His partner, on the other hand…
Levi was more of a lady's man. He was handsome, in a sexy Michael Ealy way, wore suits, liked to follow the rules, and always wore shades in the daytime. The two detectives worked nights, so seeing them in the day like this was a bit odd.
Levi was allergic to daylight in certain quantities because he was a Vampire, though his kind preferred to call themselves Revenants. Revenants weren't the gory, overblown sparkly things you see in movies. These were demon-possessed humans. Demon-possessed, blood-sucking monsters. Creatures from the Demon Realms.
Yeah…he was one of those same creatures I'd dedicated my life to banishing back to their own realm.
Levi also got a pass because he worked with Crwys. But if he ever fucked up—his ass was going down.
When Crwys saw the kid, he stopped and I found myself more interested in his reaction than taking stock of the fact the six-year-old was picking up the cinder block again, hefting it around as if it weighed nothing, when in truth it probably weighed more than she did.
The detective looked surprised, but I didn't think it was because of the cinder block.
"Crwys looks confused."
"Yeah. I noticed. And Medbh's screaming her freak'n head off. Whatever this thing is, it's got her scared and him confused."
Ivan put a hand on my shoulder. "I suggest we move back. The cops are pointing guns at the girl. I think the first strike took out that bulletproofing?"
Oh. Good point. I turned, called for Grey, and the two of us followed Ivan to the back of the shop and behind the counter. And as every good Cyber Witch was prone to do, Ivan immediately grabbed his computer and set it on the floor behind the counter with us.
Smart boy. Didn't want to lose that. I doubted insurance was going to pay for the damage that little monster had already done, not with what they had to pay six months ago when a Djinn blew out the entire front of the store with a semi.
Yeah. It'd been a rough year.
"Put the block down and turn around, slowly."
Someone with a bullhorn gave the little monster orders. Cute. I doubted they'd noticed the kid was covered in her mother's blood, the eyes or the teeth yet. I hoped none of them were fans of The Exorcist, 'cause their childhood nightmares were about to take physical form.
The little monster threw the cinder block again, and this time it crashed through the glass and into the bookshelf just past the window. Ivan and I ducked down. I was damn happy he'd suggested we move. Grey licked my face and I hugged her.
The first attempt the monster made at crossing the ward pulled every fine-tuned muscle in my back and spine. It wasn't just trying to break through the ward; it was trying to annihilate it, and its maker, on the way in!
I writhed on the floor from the pull on my power. My jaws locked tight as I forced myself not to scream. It felt like one-point-twenty-one gigawatts of electricity were shooting through my body. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. My nails dug half-moons into the palms of my hands. I was about to swallow my tongue!
Grey whined and growled, but didn't move away from me.
Ivan put his hands on my shoulders and looked helpless. His magic was so foreign to mine, so completely mismatched. He had no way of stopping the link between me and the wards—
And then it was gone. The connection just…snapped.
I sucked in air, gasped for it, and marveled at how wonderful it was as it filled my lungs. I grabbed Ivan's forearms just as Grey jumped over me and ran back out into the main part of the shop. I tried to yell for her, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs in time.
Ivan helped me stand so I could see where Grey went. The little monster was still trying to get through the wards and barrier, but as soon as Grey bounded up to her, stopping inches from the hole in the glass, the little monster stopped. Its red eyes widened and it hissed at Grey. Grey gave a growl that meant business and snapped at the little fucker.
The monster turned as if to run away and faced one of the NOPD as he stepped from around the door of his squad car. "Come on little girl…it's okay. Don't be frightened of the…dog?"
"Melendez!" Crwys called out as he moved to the back of the officer's car to the left. "Don't get near her."
"She's just a little girl."
"Who killed a grown man and, from what I heard, nearly killed her mother." Crwys pointed to the monster that was now looking at him. "Does she look normal to you? Look at the blood, Melendez. Look at her teeth! Step back!"
The little monster continued looking at Crwys and jumped at the officer. It looked like a hopping spider from where I stood with Ivan's support. The thing latched onto his front and bit his face, over and over and over, as he fell to the ground. But when Crwys dove to grab her, she let go and ran back to the window, covered in a new coating of blood.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Ivan said in a soft voice that vibrated his chest against my cheek.
"I have no damn idea," I muttered. It still seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't put a finger on the memory. Whatever it was, I wasn't sure how to fight it. And I was in no condition to summon any kind of Elemental anything at that moment; much less conjure a banishing pentagram to send it back to wherever it came from.
Grey lunged at that second, a blur of gray and white fur. She tackled the little monster from behind and slammed her to the ground. The thing hissed and kicked as the great wolf bit it on the back of the neck.
Crwys ran forward as others went to the downed and bleeding officer. The detective tentatively reached down, keeping an eye on Grey, and put his hand on the child's back. I'd seen his power before, and I knew in that instant what he intended to do. He unleashed that terrible heat of a million suns as it fed through his touch and burned the little monster from the inside out. Within seconds it was ash, and no one except me, Ivan and Grey had seen him do it.
This was why I'd broken it off with Crwys Holliard. Whatever he was, it was dangerous.
And I was freak'n terrified of it.
THREE
Robin Tremere pulled up a half hour after the event. I was in the back of my store with an EMT, sucking air from a mask with Crwys by my side. The detective hadn't moved fifty feet away from me since the ambulance, the morgue machine and Crwys's captain arrived on the scene. And I was aware of exactly where he was every second he was within a hundred-mile radius of me.
My spent and bruised magic wanted him. My physical self?
I'll check in with you later on that.
Captain Mildred Prescott was not a happy camper. There was a dead grocer, a dead cop, a lot of blood, a broken magic shop, and no assailant. And who owned the wolf?
I motioned for Grey to come to me just as I spotted Robin arguing with one of the police officers assigned to guard the perimeter. Crwys noticed and marched up to the officer. They talked and Robin was allowed to come to me. Grey greeted him with her usual indifference as he scratched her neck. The EMT stepped out of the way as my man wrapped his arms around me and held me close. He was warm and non-threatening. He smelled of Halston and was so very, very sanely human.
When he pulled away from me, he didn't let go. He kept his hands on my forearms as he looked at me with expressive, red-rimmed eyes. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever known, with short blond hair, soft brown eyes, and perfect, perfect lips. He put a hand to my face and brushed hair from my eyes. "Please tell me you're all right. That you're not shot"—he glanced behind him at Crwys, who was still too damn close—"or worse?"
"No. I'm not shot. I'll be fine."
Robin lowered his voice. "Is this about the magic stuff?"
I gave him a weak laugh. Not at him, but for him. With him. He couldn't see the things Ivan, Kyle and I could. But what caught my heart and kept it was the fact he tried so very, very hard. I pulled the oxygen mask aside and pulled Robin's face to mine so I could kiss him. And because Crwys was right there, I made the kiss last as long as I could.
Of course, I heard the clearing of someone's throat. I disengaged from my boyfriend to see Captain Prescott standing where Crwys had been seconds before. "Miss Hawthorne?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"A word?" She looked at Robin. "Alone?"
Robin put his hand to my cheek. "I'm going to find Kyle and see if he's okay."
"Yeah…might wanna give him a kiss to make him feel better."
"I thought he had a new boyfriend."
I shook my head. "Didn't pass the twenty-four hour mark."
He laughed, nodded to the captain, and moved away.
I coughed, grabbed the mask, and sucked in more clean oxygen. Not because I had smoke in my lungs, but because I could not get that smell out of my nose, and the pure oxygen helped. My chest and every muscle group on every part of my body ached, but I figured it was something a good, long hot bath could cure.
"Well," the captain said as she leaned against the shop's counter. "I see we meet again."
Prescott had been here when the semi took out the front half of the store a few months back. "Yes, ma'am. But I can assure you, I have no relation to or knowledge of the little girl who attacked Mr. Higgins and the police officer."
"But you saw her. You saw a little girl."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Everyone swears she was real, but all I got is a pile of ash. You see my problem, Miss Hawthorne? But what I do have is a wolf."
"Grey's not a wolf."
"Maybe not, but everyone saw her attack this mysterious little girl."
I did not like where this was going. "My dog attacked the little girl and no one else, ma'am. She did not attack your officer, and she did not attack Mr. Higgins. She was in the shop with me the whole time."
"Simmer down." She held out her hand. "I'm just giving you what you might get from a DA or someone worse up the chain. So be prepared to defend that great beast of yours." Prescott looked around the scene. "You haven't heard anything? Any reports about more kids attacking their parents?"
I blinked at her and ducked my head back. "No. There are more of them? Captain, this kid looked like she was six, maybe seven years old."
"Yes. And she allegedly threw a cinder block at your window." Prescott fixed me with her liquid brown eyes. "A cinder block. A six-year-old. Do you see my issue with this?"
I nodded. She has a lot of issues. It was her favorite word.
"Mr. Higgins and Officer Melendez are being transported to the morgue. The mother is on her way to Tulane University Medical Center. And your shop—" She turned and looked at the smashed glass. "I suggest you get that boarded up before it gets dark." With that, she walked away.
I thanked the EMT, dreaded the bill I knew was coming, and watched him pick his way through the glass to his truck. The officers were slowly driving away. Soon the only cars left on the road were the red Mustang and Robin's Lexus.
Robin helped Kyle and Ivan clean up. Ivan pulled the old boards from the back, the ones we'd used to board up the front of the building after someone tossed a brick through the window when we’d first opened. Crwys stepped outside, put his hand on the remaining glass, and within seconds it turned to sand and piled on the floor at his feet.
"Lord and Lady!" I hissed as I stepped through the open door and stood on the sidewalk. He'd brought a broom out and was sweeping the glass and sand into a pile. "You can't just do magic like that!"
"No one noticed. It's just us. And you forget what I taught you. Humans can't really see what we're doing while we're in certain parts of the city." Once he had the debris swept aside, he motioned for Ivan to set the first board in place. Crwys held it as Ivan and Robin hammered it into position.
I hated the dual-feeling I had around Crwys. The deep desire to touch him, and the uncomfortable wish to banish him. But he wouldn't tell me what he was. He wouldn't trust me even that much. His need for secrecy annoyed me. I didn't like secrets. They always came back to bite us in the ass, and one day, Crwys's ass was going to get chomped.
That's why I was with Robin now. He didn't have any secrets to keep from me.
Crwys spoke in a low voice, "That was a Changeling."
I froze. That's it! That's why it seemed so familiar. I'd faced one before and watched as it was burned to death, just as Crwys had done. Changelings were left by the Sidhe when they took human children into Alfheim. But they didn't leave the Changelings to take a stolen child's place. Changelings were there to get rid of the evidence left behind. Usually the entire family.
I soured on the whole fairy tale angle. Who knew the Grimm brothers got it wrong?
He pointed at me as he let go of the board and it stayed in place. Robin and Ivan had it half tacked up. "Your face tells me you know what that is. I haven't seen a Changeling in decades. In fact, it's been ages since I've even heard of one showing up. Then about a year ago there was one up in Seattle. No one thought it was a Changeling but me. Then nothing. And now, in the span of three days and eleven deaths, this is the sixth Changeling Levi and I have seen."
Lord and Lady! "Six Changelings in three days? What the hell? Did a Faerie queen suddenly decide she wanted a Viking horde of kids? I mean, if you exchange it for the real thing—then where are the real children?"
