Shadow's Blade, page 30
I kissed her. “You’ll be fine. Hopefully they won’t even know you’re here.” I looked down at the kids, who were staring back at me. “You two have to be completely silent, okay? Not a sound. No matter what you hear from outside, you keep still. Do you understand?”
They both nodded, solemn and clearly frightened.
“As soon as it’s safe, we’ll come and get you.”
I closed the car door as gently as I could while making sure it shut all the way.
Gracie and Neil waited for me near the fire.
“What now?” Gracie whispered.
“First thing we do is move away from the flames. Our shadows will give us away.”
We crept away from the blaze toward my tent.
“We should spread out, try to force them to do the same. And then wait for an opportunity. Be patient. They’ll be warded against most attack spells. Go for less direct assaults. And if you can kick the crap out of them with your hands, that might be best of all.”
“Unless it’s Fitzwater,” Gracie said.
She started to move off.
“Wait,” I said. “Where’s the knife, Gracie?”
Neil eyed us both, but Gracie ignored him, watching only me.
“It’s hidden.”
“I know that, but—”
“This isn’t the time. They’re not going to find it. That’s all that matters.”
“You’d better be right.” I didn’t know what else to say. “Good luck.”
We separated, Gracie, slipping off toward the other tent and seeming to melt into the night. I left Neil near my tent and crept closer to the road, intending to keep myself between the weremancers and Billie’s car.
A pair of SUVs rolled toward us along the campground loop road, brights on, windows open. They stopped briefly in front of another campsite, but then drove on, much like travelers in search of an empty site. But I sensed their power, and I hoped that my glamour dampened ours.
Apparently it didn’t. They stopped at our site, and after a few seconds and some whispered conversation I couldn’t quite make out, the doors opened. Fitzwater, Vogue, and the other weremancer from Neil’s house got out of the first vehicle. I assumed that Butch’s body still lay on Neil’s front walk. Four more weremancers got out of the second SUV, and my heart sank. Seven against three. I didn’t like those odds.
Two of the newcomers were women, and two were men. Their faces were blurred with magic, and though none of them appeared to be as powerful as Fitzwater, they were all plenty strong.
I decided on a change in strategy. Instead of trying to stay near the car, I’d be better off leading a few of them deeper into the desert. Or, to be more precise, Billie and the kids would be better off. I eased away, moving deliberately, making no noise. Yet.
I kept an eye on the weremancers, and frowned in the darkness when I saw Fitzwater, accompanied by the man from Neil’s, head off in the same direction Gracie had gone. I would have altered my course to follow, but three of the sorcerers were coming my way: Vogue and a man and woman from the other car. Three for me, while Gracie and Neil each got two. I was just lucky, I guess. I paused long enough to pull my Sig Sauer from the ankle holster.
This late at night the moon was almost directly overhead, and it shone brightly enough to illuminate the desert. The shadow it cast was short; they’d have to be right on top of me to spot it. I could see all three of my pursuers clearly, my one advantage. Of course, they could see each other, which meant that if I took down one, the others would know. I’d have to get around that somehow.
At a gesture from Vogue, they fanned out, although they continued in my direction. I kept moving, keeping some distance between us, and trying to think of the best way to separate them so that I could take them on one at a time.
It didn’t take me long to realize that not only was there no way to do this, but it also wasn’t necessary. I slowed and shifted direction so that I could intercept the woman from the other car, who walked to Vogue’s left.
When I was close enough to attack her, I cast the glamour spell again. She felt the magic, of course, as did her companions, but that couldn’t be helped. The casting also allowed her to see me, because now we were both concealed from Vogue and the man walking with her. At the sight of me, all of three feet in front of her, her eyes about bugged out of her head, like she was a character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? She opened her mouth to shout a warning to her friends, but before she could make a sound, I pistol-whipped her. The first blow knocked her to her knees. The second put her out.
As I’ve said before, I don’t like to hit any woman. I also don’t like to use my pistols as blunt force weapons, mostly out of concern for the pistols. But outnumbered three to one, and eager to make certain that Billie and the kids were safe, and that Gracie and Neil could handle their pursuers, I saw no better alternatives.
Vogue and the man with her were already heading in my direction, drawn by my spell, the sudden disappearance of their friend, and the sound of the blows I’d landed.
“Susan!” the man called.
Vogue glared at him. “Shut up.”
They walked fast, making no effort to keep quiet, which allowed me to use their footsteps to mask the sound of my own. I circled them, drawing nearer to the man.
They halted near to where Susan lay, unconscious and still invisible. Vogue scanned the terrain, turning a tight circle as she did.
“Damn it!” she muttered. She pointed to her right.
With obvious reluctance, the man walked away from her, placing his feet with care again, and looking far more nervous than he had moments before. As it happened, he walked right toward me.
I waited until he was close before throwing the glamour spell at him, too. As soon as he was invisible to Vogue, I swung at him, landing a blow with the hand holding the pistol. His knees buckled, but he managed to keep his feet. A conjuring hit me in the gut, nearly doubling me over. Before I could recover, he dug a fist into my side and then caught me on the chin with an uppercut that rattled my teeth.
I fell back several steps, and he advanced on me, convinced that he had the advantage. Vogue, was coming this way, too. She couldn’t see either of us, but she’d heard enough to know where we were.
He was almost on top of me when I cast. I went back to an old favorite, opening a hole in the desert floor just where he was about to place his foot. It seemed Vogue had warned him about this one, because he reacted fast enough to avoid falling in. But he couldn’t keep from stumbling, one leg sinking into the sand. I cast again, closing the hole I’d conjured so as to trap his leg. And while he was still snared, I planted my foot like an NFL placekicker and kicked him in the side of the head.
He collapsed to the side, with a sickening snap of the bone in that trapped leg.
Magic hummed in the cool night air, and a conjuring slammed into me with the force of a pickup truck. I flew backwards, hit the ground, rolled, and came to rest against a prickly pear cactus, which might well have been the most pleasant part of the experience.
I didn’t know what spell Vogue had cast, but I had a feeling that it would have killed me if not for my warding. She was close now, and though I was still concealed by my glamour, she seemed to have a fix on my location.
I spotted another cluster of prickly pear a few feet away, in between us. What the hell. Three elements: her, the needles on the lobes of the cacti, and the distance in between.
The spines flew at her, stabbing into her face, her hands, her neck. She screamed, and swatted at them like they were hornets. And as she did, I cast the spell a second time, using a different knot of cacti.
I got to my feet and retrieved my weapon. Every muscle and bone in my body hurt; I’d already been through a lot this night. But I had enough left in me to close the distance between us and knock her senseless with the Sig Sauer.
I removed the glamour I’d put on the man and Susan; I didn’t want them being able to see us if they woke too soon. Then I went in search of Gracie and Neil.
This fight was still far from over.
CHAPTER 21
I walked back toward the campsite, watching for Fitzwater and his other friends, placing my feet with the care of a hunter. Before long, I spotted that familiar shock of silver hair.
Fitzwater walked one step behind the guy I’d first seen at Neil’s. They didn’t know it, but Gracie was following them, her Ruger held before her. I hoped she was smart enough not to fire it even from that distance. These guys were warded, and any bullets shot in their direction might hit her.
I didn’t envy Fitzwater’s companion. The silver-haired weremancer had only to reach out for the guy, and he’d be able to grab hold and draw blood. The other weremancer would have no chance to defend himself.
Neil and the two weremancers who had gone after him were nowhere to be seen. I closed on Fitzwater, glancing repeatedly at Gracie.
When she finally saw me, she stopped and swung her weapon in my direction. Only then did she realize it was me. She rolled her eyes and started after the weremancers again.
A ripple of magic from closer to the road made all of us turn. I couldn’t tell what kind of spell had been cast, or who had cast it. But after sharing a look, Fitzwater and the other weremancer started in that direction. Gracie and I followed, both of us matching our footsteps to theirs.
Another spell stirred the air, and a yowl of pain tore through the silence. The weremancer with Fitzwater broke into a run, and the older man followed, clearly trying to keep up with him. They were near their SUVs, and an idea came to me.
There were two ways to do what I had in mind, and either one—the Sig Sauer or a spell—would give away my position. A spell, though, seemed the safer choice. Still pursuing them, I waited until the younger weremancer was beside the SUV, and then I cast. The elements were fairly simple: my hand, a ball of fire, and the gas tank of the nearer vehicle.
The result proved even more spectacular than I had anticipated. The SUV exploded, flames momentarily bathing the desert in golden yellow light. The force of the blast knocked the younger man off his feet. Fitzwater stopped and threw up his arms to shield his face.
It was so much fun, I blew up the second SUV as well.
By now Gracie and I were close enough to Fitzwater that if I’d wanted to I could have charged him and thrown a punch. Gracie seemed to read my intent, because she grabbed hold of my arm. At my look, she shook her head.
And then she did something I had never seen before. I knew it was possible. I had asked her about such spells the other day. But knowing it could be done was one thing; seeing it was enough to steal my breath.
Standing so close to her, I felt her magic brush against me, like a passing stranger in a crowd. Both SUVs continued to burn, but now the flames in the second vehicle diminished almost to nothing. And at the same time, the SUV rose into the air and flew toward Fitzwater, as if thrown at him by some giant angry child.
It should have killed him, but at the last minute, he dove out of the way. The SUV hit the ground and rolled over several times.
Still prone, Fitzwater grabbed his companion by the ankle. The younger man tried to kick his hand away, but to no avail. The silver-haired man cast; between my castings and Gracie’s, he knew where we were now.
I had time to shout a warning, but that was all. A wave of fire crashed over us with the strength of an ocean breaker and the heat of flowing lava. Gracie howled in agony, and I think I did the same.
Again, our wardings saved our lives. But even after the strength of Fitzwater’s spell spent itself, I was too dazed and hurt to move. By the time I opened my eyes, the old weremancer stood over us, holding both of our pistols in one hand and dabbing at a bloody gash on his forehead with the other. The man whose leg he had grabbed, and whose blood had fueled that last spell, lay unmoving on the ground.
Fitzwater seemed to know in a general sense where we were, but I could tell that he couldn’t yet see us; the glamour still worked.
“Enough of this, Engracia,” he said. “Show yourself.”
Even before I looked her way, I knew Gracie wouldn’t answer. She was already watching me, a question in her eyes.
“We’ve got one of them.”
Fitzwater turned. I forced myself up into a sitting position, as did Gracie.
The two remaining weremancers walked toward us, Neil held between them. He had a cut on his head much like Fitzwater’s and he appeared unsteady on his feet. But at least he was alive. For the moment.
I didn’t think that Fitzwater or his friends could see Neil, but it didn’t seem to matter. They had him, and Fitzwater could do with him what he wanted, including use him as a blood source for yet another spell.
“Is this Mister Fearsson?” he asked, glancing back in our general direction. “Or perhaps your husband, Engracia. The father of your splendid children. In either case, I imagine you value his life. So I will keep him alive, and in repayment for this mercy, you will reveal yourself. Right now.”
Gracie said nothing, but she did look at me again, her expression pained.
“I can kill him in any number of ways. You know that I can use him to cast a spell that will hurt you as much as that last one did.”
I wanted to cast a transporting spell to get back our weapons, but I was sure he would respond by killing Neil, and right now the pistols wouldn’t help us much.
On the other hand, transporting Neil would help us a lot. I glanced Gracie’s way and whispered, “Be ready,” much as I had to Neil earlier.
Seven element spells took a good deal more power than did the simpler ones, and already tonight I had done a lot of magic and absorbed a lot of abuse. But there was no way I would end this night by telling Emmy and Zach that I’d allowed their dad to be killed and their mom to be taken.
Neil, the two weremancers holding him, Fitzwater, where they were standing, where we sat on the sand and stone, the distance in between, and the blood on Fitzwater’s head, just in case they were expecting the spell.
I knew Namid wanted me to stay away from blood spells. I could almost hear him berating me. But again this wasn’t the moment to get hung up on scruples.
I didn’t dare take too much time to let the spell build. I gathered the elements in my mind and the let the magic fly.
Neil vanished from view, and Gracie let out a gasp. But she recovered and cast again. Neil reappeared a few feet from us and upon doing so, collapsed to the ground. Gracie’s spell lashed at Fitzwater, driving him to his knees. But she spat a curse, and I knew she’d hoped it would do more.
“Where the hell did he go?” asked one of the other weremancers, no doubt speaking of Neil.
Fitzwater looked up at them. “You’ve lost him? Damn it!”
I cast a second transporting spell—a simpler one—and an instant later held the pistols in my hand.
The silver-haired man stood and turned, but he remained where he was, probably wondering what spell we’d try next. Gracie crawled to where Neil lay and checked him for a pulse. She looked my way and nodded; he was still alive.
“What now, Fitzwater?” I asked. “You came with six other weremancers. Now there are three of you. If you kill another of your friends for a spell, you’ll be outnumbered.”
“Mister Fearsson,” he said. “What a pleasure to speak with you again. Would that I could see you.”
“I think I’m just as glad you can’t.”
A car engine started up nearby. Billie’s car, which was also protected by a glamour. Fitzwater glanced in that direction, but quickly turned back to me. “We do seem to be stalemated, don’t we?”
“We do. So maybe it’s time you left.” I wanted to keep him talking. He didn’t know Billie was with us. He assumed the three of us were the only adults here, which probably meant he hadn’t considered the possibility that the car he heard was ours. I hoped that Billie would drive the kids far from here.
He opened his hands. “In what should we leave? Thanks to you, we have no cars to drive. Perhaps you care to lend us yours.”
“We don’t have one either,” I said. “We were dropped here.”
Fitzwater’s brow knitted. “And the children?”
“What about them?”
He knew better than to ask where they were, but I could see that I’d confused him.
“You’re lying. You have a vehicle, and you have the children with you.” Again he glanced in the direction of Billie’s car, perhaps putting it all together. “They could be in one of those tents, or in the car that started up a moment ago. But they’re here. Engracia wouldn’t allow them out of her sight. For all I know, they’re right in front of me, protected by the same magic that hides you.”
I didn’t answer.
“I’ll take your silence as confirmation. Good.” He closed his eyes. I could see his mouth moving and I assumed he was about to cast again. All of us were warded, but I thought about casting another protective spell anyway.
A moment later, I realized that he hadn’t been crafting a spell, but instead had done something far worse: he had summoned Saorla.
She winked into view beside him, moonlight gleaming on her lovely face, her hair twisting in the cool desert breeze.
I struck fast and hard. Seven elements: Saorla, Fitzwater, a giant blade, the distance between the two of them and me, their wardings, which I wanted to overcome, my magic, and the flames burning on the second SUV. I’d tried something similar at Neil’s house, and failed. And the elements for this conjuring were almost more than I could keep in my head. But I felt the magic building inside me. So did Saorla. I didn’t think she could see me, but she glared in my direction anyway. I didn’t wait a full six repetitions to release it. As soon as she looked my way, I let it go.
I knew as soon as I cast that the spell had worked, at least in one sense. The flames on the burning vehicle diminished, and magic suffused the night air. Saorla doubled over with the impact of the crafting, grunting softly. Fitzwater flew as if swatted, landed on the road, and rolled once.
But the spell didn’t slice them in half, as I had hoped it would. Saorla straightened after a few seconds, and Fitzwater let out a moan before pushing himself up onto his hands and knees.
