Witch's Fury, page 15
Evee nodded. “Twice. The first was Moose, one of Viv’s Loup-Garous, and the second was Chank, one of my Nosferatu.”
“And?”
“They’re communicating back with me, but what they’re saying makes no sense.”
“Like what?” Vanessa said.
Everyone had been standing in the sitting room as if on high alert. Evee motioned for them to have a seat.
Once everyone was settled, Evee stayed standing and said, “Moose keeps talking about big heads, clown heads, devil heads and bright colors. Chank keeps talking about water and big heads.”
Arabella frowned. “Instead of going for a Chenille first, let’s circle and see if we can get Moose or Chank again. Maybe one of us can make sense out of what they’re saying.”
Evee shrugged. “I’m game for anything where Viv’s concerned.”
Everyone stood back up and held hands, forming a circle around Evee.
Evee held out her arms as before; only this time, Arabella did the incantation.
Come hither, Moose.
With clear head and mind.
Tell me, show me.
What I seek to find.
Let thine words be strong.
Thy direction clear.
Show me now if Viv’s far or near.
As Evee kept her arms stretched out, her eyes rolled up in her head and a male voice came from her mouth.
“She is far, but not too far. She is where the big heads live. The clowns, the devils, the animals. So many colors, it hurts your eyes.”
“What else do you see?” Arabella demanded.
“Large, huge boxes with wheels. And blood. I see lots of blood.”
“That’s the clearest he’s been,” Gilly whispered. “Keep him talking. I’m going to astral project to him, to where he’s seeing all of this.”
Arabella nodded but didn’t take her eyes off Evee. “What else, Moose? What else is there?”
“Things that make music, but the music isn’t playing. The music is dead.”
“Is Viv dead?” Arabella asked, her voice trembling.
“Not yet, but not long now. They got her. The bad man got her.”
“What bad man?”
“The one with the black fur. The big head with the black fur. Bad, evil eyes, bigger than saucers. He caught her. Hid her.”
“Where did he hide her, Moose?” Arabella asked.
“With the big heads.”
“Where are the big heads?”
“I don’t know. Never been there. Never saw this place before.”
Gilly had her eyes closed, concentrating on every word Moose spoke. Images started flashing in her mind’s eye. Row after row after row of large papier-mâché heads. Clowns, demons, jesters, princesses, dragons, trailers with ten-foot walls on each side.
“Mardi Gras!” Gilly suddenly shouted.
Evee’s eyes rolled back into place, and she lowered her arms.
Everyone turned to look at Gilly.
“Moose is talking about Mardi Gras. I saw the scenes, just like they were in a parade,” Gilly said excitedly.
“But Mardi Gras is months away,” Taka said. “That can’t be it. Maybe it’s a circus. I don’t know of any going on in town, but maybe nearby. We could check. Look it up online.”
“Computer’s down,” Gilly said. “But it sounds like he was talking about something bigger than a circus. It sounded like Mardi Gras. Where do they store the floats when it’s off-season?” Gilly asked.
Evee, Arabella, Taka and Vanessa looked at each other, and then all four of them shrugged.
“We’ve no idea,” Arabella said.
“Who would know?” Gilly asked.
“Someone on the city council, probably,” Arabella said.
“Fine.” Gilly headed for a house phone, and then turned on her heels. “Sorry, ladies. I just remembered, it’s past five. The City Council building closes at four.”
“What about the police department?” Taka said.
“Well, that’s a bird in a bush if I ever heard of one,” Arabella said.
“Huh?”
“We could call the police to find out where they keep the Mardi Gras floats stored, but they’ve been beating our door down, trying to get to us,” Arabella said. “Bad call.”
“Then who?” Taka asked. “How about the Office of Tourism? I bet they’d know. Or we could Goggle it.”
“Google,” Vanessa said.
“Can’t,” Evee said. “Computer crashed two months ago. Tourism sounds like a good idea, though.”
Arabella suddenly lifted a brow. “I bet Gunner would know.”
“Whoa,” Evee and Gilly said simultaneously. “No sorcerers.”
Arabella looked deflated. “What now? He’s helped us in the past.”
“That may be,” Gilly said, “but it could have been a setup.”
“What are you talking about?” Arabella asked.
Gilly filled her in on Trey and Shandor’s visit to their home and how secretive they’d been about who told them where they lived.
“The only one I can think of who knew and would have told them is Gunner.”
“No way he would have done that,” Arabella said adamantly. “He knows Cottle and Black are snakes in the grass. There’s no way he would have given out that information.”
“Then who did?” Gilly asked.
“For heaven’s sake, child, remember who they are,” Arabella said. “Cottle and Black are sorcerers. It would have been easy for them to get a handle on your location.”
Everyone stood silent for a moment.
“Fine,” Gilly suddenly said angrily. “Call your boyfriend, Gunner. If that’s the only option we have to find out where this Mardi Gras warehouse is, we’ll just have to take our chances.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Arabella insisted.
“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Gilly said. “The house phone’s in the kitchen. You can call him from there.”
As Arabella hurried off to make her call, Evee shook her head and began to pace. “I think getting Gunner involved is a big mistake. He did help us before, sure, but it’s like you said, Gilly—it could have been to use us for info.” Her voice shook with worry.
“The two of you need to breathe for a moment,” Gavril said. “If anything goes south with this Gunner dude, Lucien and me will take care of him.”
“But he’s a sorcerer,” Evee said to Lucien. “You’re not.”
“He might be a sorcerer,” Lucien said, “but he’s twice my age and moves slower. Before he gets any mumbo jumbo curse out of his mouth, I’ll have smashed his teeth in. End of story.”
“To hell with ‘end of story,’” Gavril said. “Not until I knock his balls up into his belly button.”
Gilly grinned at Evee. There was enough testosterone flying around the room to rebuild a third man. She felt something warm growing in her stomach, over her heart, as she watched Gavril—his protectiveness, his strength and determination. As hard as she’d tried to keep herself for the sake of the disasters she and her sisters faced, just looking at Gavril always managed to soften her insides and quiet her mind.
Arabella came into the sitting room.
“Any luck?”
“Yes,” Arabella said, eyes shining. “I told you Gunner was a good guy and just wanted to help us. The Mardi Gras warehouse is a giant metal building just off the New Orleans pier.”
Gavril whistled through his teeth. “Good distance away.”
“Doesn’t matter if it’s in Nebraska. We’ve gotta go find her,” Gilly said.
“What about the leader?” Gavril asked. “Remember the reason you wanted the Elders here in the first place?”
“But Viv’s our priority,” Gilly said. “We can deal with the leader crap later.”
“But what if he sends his entire troupe to follow you to the warehouse? At least if we know what we’re looking for, we can take him out and kill two birds with one stone.”
“Fine, fine,” Gilly said impatiently. She turned to Arabella. “We’re trying to reach one of the Cartesians. I can’t astral project because I don’t know if it’ll have the power to pull me into another dimension. So to protect Evee while she channels one, we wanted your help with a protection spell, then an illusion spell. Like she said earlier. She’ll be hiding in the crawl space beneath the stairs.”
“Then let’s get to it,” Arabella said. “Join hands—everyone except Evee. You’re in the middle of the circle, like before.”
As everyone stood and held hands, encircling Evee, Arabella said,
Oh, enemy mine.
Keep thy anger at bay.
And leave us here.
Among thine fray.
Thy shall not touch.
A person here.
But shall run instead.
In voluminous fear.
Arabella nodded, and Evee began her chant.
Come hither now,
Enemy of mine.
Tell me words.
That have kept me blind.
A booming male voice suddenly came from Evee’s mouth.
“What do you want from me, you slimy bitch?”
“In what dimension do you reside?” Evee asked.
“None of your business.”
“I demand that you tell me by the will and power of all the elementals on this earth. In what dimension do you reside?”
“S-sixth. Happy now, bitch witch? If you want to talk to me, keep your childish spells to yourself.”
“I will do as I please, for it is I who commands you now,” Evee said.
A loud, bellowing laugh filled the room.
“You control no one,” the voice said. “You can’t even control your own. You’re a weakling, and you’re attempting to play games with one who will be master of the universe.”
Evee frowned but kept her eyes closed. “And would that be you? The one who will master the universe?”
“No, you imbecile. The master will soon have enough power to take over this planet you call earth and the entire universe that surrounds it.”
“And just who is this master of yours.”
“None of your damn business.”
Evee pursed her lips for a moment. “If it’s none of my business, then why are you making it my business? Why are you after my sisters and me?”
“Are you that dense, witch? Because my master desires your powers. All three of you. Why do you think we’ve been wasting so much time on the Originals, on the lower echelon, like vampires, elves and such? It’s all for the master, and it all leads up to taking the three...well, actually, the six of you down.”
“What do you mean six?”
“Well, we certainly can’t leave your Elders out of the mix,” the voice said. “Wouldn’t want them to feel neglected.”
“You know, I’m tired of you blowing smoke up my ass,” Evee said. “I already know who your master is.”
Another boisterous, booming laugh. “And whom do you think it is, Miss Pollyanna?”
Evee held silent for a couple of seconds, letting her mind disconnect from the Cartesian. Then she blurted out, “Your leader is a sorcerer.”
Silence filled the room. No booming laugh, no sarcastic remarks. Silence. This set every nerve in Gilly’s body on edge.
After a moment or two, the voice said, “You think I’m that stupid that you can trick me by throwing out the first thing that comes to your mind?”
“Oh, it wasn’t just something that first came to mind. I know it to be a fact,” Evee said.
Gilly knew Evee’s proclamation was a ruse but she kept silent.
A roar that sounded like the jet engine of a plane sounded throughout the house, shook the walls.
“Who is the one who told you?” the voice demanded.
“None of your damn business. All that matters is that I know.”
Another moment of silence.
“And has your source identified which sorcerer?”
“Of course.” Evee tilted her head, taunting it.
“Well, speak, woman!” the voice shouted. “Who is your source?”
“The man himself.”
“What man?”
“Your master, ass-wipe.”
Another thunder blast shook the walls of the house.
“You want to play games, little bitch witch, then let’s play.” At that, a crash sounded in the foyer, and long black talons reached through the broken window. Seconds later, another shattered, this one in the sitting room.
“Now,” Arabella said.
Evee took off for the crawl space beneath the staircase, while Arabella shouted an illusion spell.
Double, thrice, by tens shall ye see.
No longer one to be seen by thee.
Thine eyes shall fully confuse thine mind.
Making all evil intentions blind.
Blunder thee blunder now.
I call upon thee Poseidon, Tiamat and Apsu.
To bring strength to my command.
So it is said.
So shall it be.
Gilly gritted her teeth as for more than a half hour, windows throughout the house shattered, and talons reached for an Evee they only perceived existed. Arabella’s spell had copied Evee’s likeness so it appeared that twenty Evees ran through the house, purposely moving from window to window.
When nearly every pane in the house had been destroyed, Arabella called back Evee’s lookalikes, and almost immediately, the crashing, banging, howling and screeching stopped.
Gilly went to the storage cabinet beneath the stairs and found Evee inside, sitting with her legs drawn up to her chin and trembling.
“It looks like they’ve gone,” Gilly said. She reached out and took Evee’s hand, helping her out of the storage area. Seeing her visibly shaken, Gilly wrapped an arm around Evee and held her close. “We’ll get through this, sis,” Gilly whispered in Evee’s ear. “I promise.”
Everyone looked around at all of the broken glass strewn about the house.
“I’ll have that taken care of right away,” Lucien said. “I’ll contact a repair company and throw them a little extra for emergency, after-hours service. Either way, you won’t be without windows tonight.”
“Th-Thank you,” Evee said, her voice shaky.
“Well, the house might look like crap right now, but at least we found out something,” Taka said. “Something to work with, anyway. The master of those hideous creatures is one of the sorcerers here in the city.”
Arabella nodded. “You made a good choice twisting your words around, Evee. It finally got him to admit that the master was a sorcerer.”
Gilly ran her hands through her hair, staring at all the broken glass in the sitting room, the foyer. “Yeah...but which sorcerer is it?”
Chapter 16
Taka yawned expansively. It seemed contagious, as Arabella immediately hid a small yawn behind her hand. Gillly understood their exhaustion. Everyone had been carrying a boatload of worry and running around the city looking for or protecting the Originals and fighting Cartesians.
“Lucien, would you mind bringing us home?” Arabella asked.
“But aren’t you going to come and help us look for Viv?” Gilly asked.
“Of course we are, dear,” Arabella said. “But we can’t all fit into that Camaro.”
“So how do we all get there?” Gilly asked.
“No worries,” Arabella said. “I’ll get us a ride, and we’ll follow each other.”
Gilly’s eyes narrowed. “Where do you plan on getting this ride?”
“I’m going to call Gunner. He’s got quite a fine vehicle. A Buick, I believe. Plenty of room. That way, if we do find Viv, and she is in dire straits, we can take her straight to the hospital.”
“What do you mean, take her to a hospital?” Evee said. “We can heal her right then and there.”
“That’s right,” Gilly said. “And you heard the whole thing that Evee was talking about when she connected with that Cartesian. One of the sorcerers is their leader. How do you know it’s not Gunner?”
Arabella shrugged. “I don’t know what else to tell you except that I just know. You’re going to have to trust me on this one. I just know.”
Lucien looked from Gilly to Evee, and then back to the Elders. “Of course I’ll give you a ride home. But when you do get that ride, we’ll follow each other closely so we can keep an eye on you. It’s either that, or you stay here.”
“Oh, we’ll follow. Not to worry,” Arabella said. “I have no idea how to get to the warehouse, anyway. I’m hoping that GPS thing you’re wearing on your wrist will get us to the location as quickly as possible.”
Lucien nodded. “You know the one thing we didn’t ask about was Nikoli and where he might be.”
“I have a feeling,” Gilly said, “that wherever Viv is, Nikoli’s with her.” She prayed that was the case. The thought of her sister being alone and injured, seriously injured, made her nauseous. She’d give her life for either of her sisters.
“So, for all intents and purposes, they could both be hurt and in danger,” Lucien said. “Suppose Nikoli is already dead? Why don’t we try to contact him? Evee, can you do that?”
“Instead of wasting our time in attempting another connection that may or may not work, I say that we go to the warehouse and start searching,” Arabella said. “We’ll find out soon enough whether Nikoli is there and what condition he’s in. First thing’s first.”
Arabella gave Taka and Vanessa a short nod, and then turned to Lucien. “If you don’t mind, we should be leaving now.”
Taka picked up her purse and held it close to her chest. “I’m ready.”
“So am I,” Vanessa said.
“I’m going with Lucien,” Evee said.
“No,” Lucien said. “You need to stay here, where it’s safe.”
