A Stitch on Time 5 (29 page)

“You’ll pay for this,” was the last thing Jacinta said.

A kick to the sternum rocked my body backwards, and both bottles slid from my hands. I watched as they flew into the air in slow motion—one cracked after hitting the ground, the other rolled out of the circle.

I ducked Duff’s next kick, sweeping my leg under his feet. He was too fast and shifted his focus from me, grabbed the rolling witch’s bottle, ran out of the pentagram and blended into the night.

“No!” I didn’t know for sure if he’d grabbed the bottle with Willow inside, but with Jacinta sharing the bottle with her, the bastard probably knew which one to take. I turned to follow.

“I’ll take care of him,” Oren said, appearing out of nowhere.

I sucked in a cold breath and when I sighed, it misted in front of me. He flashed a smile and took off. As quickly as he’d sucked me into his zone, I was back out of it.

Lavie was rubbing the back of her head and was getting to her feet, but when I made a move to head towards her, I came face to face with golden eyes.

“Did you miss me?” Maya asked in her crisp, British accent.

Shit.
Duff had broken the circle so the firewall was gone, and everyone inside was free. Maya had lost the wraparound brown dress and was now fully transformed into her Lamia guise. Her ebony blanket of silky hair whipped as her blue tail uncoiled from where her legs used to be. The chain formerly securing her ankle had snapped off.

Before I could dodge her, Maya wrapped her tail around my hips so tightly it was enough to force me closer. Her nippleless leathery chest pressed against me.

She sniffed the side of my neck. “You smell different, even more powerful.” Her eyes searched mine. “I knew taking your power was always my right.”

I gritted my teeth because she was suffocating me. “I’m going to kill you for what you did to Ebony.”

She crushed me, causing my vision to curl at the edges.

“She’ll be safe with me. When I take their youthful souls, they sustain me for years. It’s like a delicious drawn-out snack.” Maya closed her eyes and licked her lips. I glared at her. Her reign of terrorizing innocent souls was about to end. I smacked my forehead into her face.

Maya reeled back and I slid from her grasp. “Do it now, Lavie!” The Lamia extended her arms, fingertips barely catching my sleeve while her tail tried to recapture me. But I jumped over it as easily as I would a skipping rope.

The end of Lavie’s machete appeared only inches away from my face as the blade sliced Maya’s head right off her shoulders. The Lamia screamed, her head rolling to the side and out of the circle, her long hair tangled up in filth. She watched us with gleaming, golden eyes and shouted obscenities.

“Do I get to keep the head when we’re done?” Lavie asked, straddling the tail to hold it steady.

“Sure, is there a market for it?” I pulled my silver dagger from my boot.

“Nah, I want this one as a trophy.”

“Be my guest, but we have to finish this first,” I said.

While Lavie gripped the Lamia’s decapitated body, I stabbed my blade into the harsh hide of Maya’s stomach and sliced upwards, slowly slashing her chest open. The skin was hard to tear apart, but once I’d gotten deep enough, I sheathed my athame and used my fingers to pry the cavity. The disgusting blue organ was still beating.

I hoped Oren was right about removing her heart from her chest to free the souls.

“Sierra, you hold it open. Let me pull the heart out and hand it to you. Trust me. I’ve done this plenty of times.” True to her words, Lavie stuck both hands into the chest cavity. She wrapped her fingers around the beating organ and pulled until it popped.

The screeching from Maya’s detached head intensified.

“Here you go.” Lavie cupped the thudding organ. “Take it.”

I shook my head. “You hold. I’ll stab.” I drew my silver athame again and plunged it into the middle of Maya’s heart. The screeching abruptly ceased as the organ stopped beating.

Lavie and I were forced off her body by the blast of light that poured out of her open chest. The spirits looked just like the will-o’ wisps from the shadow patch. One by one, they hit the dirt and grew into different girls—of all shapes, sizes and ages.

The light of the afterlife appeared behind them, inviting and warm. The spirits now free from their prison wandered into the glow. Rima and Sam waved as the radiance engulfed them, no longer resembling the ruined shells I’d discovered in back alleys. The souls the Lamia hoarded moved onto their resting place, until there was only one left.

“Ebony,” I called.

“Hey, Sierra, Lavie,” she said with a smile. “Thank the Goddess you got me out. What a fucking nightmare.”

“Your spirit is free, Eb. Where are you going to go?” I asked.

“I was going to linger, but there’s no point now.”

I took a step. “Why not?”

“I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. Make sure you look out for Conrad. He’s going to need your help.” She turned her head, staring into the night. “I have to wait for someone. So if you want to say goodbye, now’s your time.”

“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to stay.
You
can help Conrad.”

“Sierra, I can’t stay.” Ebony opened her arms for me and I stepped into a hug, holding her skinny frame as tightly as I could while the beaming light blinded me. “It’s my time to move on to whatever awaits.”

I eased out of the hug and said, “But—”

“It’s okay. I’ve accepted my fate. Besides, I’m not going alone.”

As if she’d conjured them, Oren and Sally appeared on either side of her.

“No,” Lavie said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Come and give us a hug, Lav,” Sally said, and when her niece fell into her luminescent embrace, they held on to each other for several moments.

“What happened?” I asked Oren.

“Everything went according to plan.” My grandfather was as luminescent as the other spirits and already held Ebony’s hand. “Duff is dead, but I couldn’t deal with the witch’s bottle. You’ll have to find and dispose of it.”

“I will. Thanks.”

“Sierra, thank
you
for offering an old man so much adventure and happiness during the last months of his life,” he said with a somber smile. “You’ve made me very proud, and I wish you all the best.”

“You knew you were going to die?”

Lavie hugged Ebony, before moving on to Oren.

He shrugged. “I knew that this was my final duty.”

Tears slid down my face. “You can’t go. Who’s going to fortify the protection barriers?”

“You and Willow can.” Oren took Sally’s hand. “Besides, you know it’s never truly The End. There’s a ritual not many witches know, one that you can use whenever you need the counsel of someone who’s moved on to the other side.”

“Are you serious? How do I get it?”

“I left my grimoire with Pepita’s. Look it up.”

I couldn’t believe it. No wonder he’d spent so much time in the secret catcher room with Penny, and the deep pockets spell…he’d been making plans for a while.

“Be good,” Sally called.

“No, be naughty,” Ebony said with a wink.

“Sierra…” Oren’s voice trailed off.

“Yes?” Even though my eyes were tearing up, I couldn’t take my gaze off the trio.

“Promise me you’ll celebrate our lives instead of mourning our deaths.”

“I can’t—”

“Promise,” he insisted.

As much as I didn’t think I would be able to, I nodded. “Okay.”

Oren, Ebony and Sally smiled at the same time, and before they faded Lavie and I closed the distance and threw our arms around them. The five of us enjoyed one last embrace before they stepped back in unison and the light completely engulfed them.

I stood in the same spot, even after we were blanketed by darkness.

“I can’t believe they’re gone.”

The weight of Lavie’s hand in mine brought me back to the present, offering the comfort I needed. At least we’d saved Ebony’s soul.

I turned to survey the area and her hand fell away. Trails of smoke hung thick around the broken circle. Maya’s separated body and head looked like mummified remains. The people I’d spotted earlier were still trapped inside the chalked circle, and a cracked witch’s bottle lay in two pieces near my feet.

“Sierra, do I really need to say it again?” Mace said. He was wearing the same black outfit but his eyes were back to brown.

“What do I have to do to get rid of you?” I asked.

“You need to lay your hands on him,”
Burr whispered in my ear.

Mace took a wobbly step. “You’ll never get rid of me.”

“You’re wrong.” When he was within touching distance, I willed my dark patch to engulf us. “You don’t belong here, Mace. You never did.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but I closed the distance between us and cupped his face in my hands. The sparks were absent from his eyes, which confirmed he’d lost his phantom status. Mace was back to being a useless body snatcher whose time had expired.

“Wherever you are, that’s where I belong,” he said. “You and I are destined to be together, inside this secret patch of yours. A place we can make ours.”

Until this moment, I hadn’t realized just how delusional he was. And for the first time, I actually believed he did love me in some creepy, presumptuous way. I pressed my palms against his face, and recalled how Penny had gotten rid of the sexually-obsessed demon possessing Gareth.

I can do this.

“Sierra, I’ve waited for this moment for so long.”

“Me too.” The pink shimmer was so radiant it burned my corneas, but I didn’t drop my hold. As I moved closer and his smile widened, Mace Clamber—part of Legion, former Scout for the Spook Catcher Council, the man who’d taken my virginity—disintegrated between my palms. Sparks flew up around me, and vanished when I collected them with both hands. Doing this ensured he would
never
return.

I finally wiped Mace off the face of the earth.

“Sierra, I think it worked,” Lavie said behind me. “But I brought this in case it didn’t.”

I peered back and found she was inside my dark patch, holding out Mace’s opal ring.

“What is that thing?” I asked.

“It’s an
Ecliptic
, of course.”

“What, are you serious?”

“Sure, check it out.” Lavie slid the ring onto the end of her index finger and extended her arm. And sure enough, there was the triangle inside a circle, and it seemed to be engraved in a pink shimmer beneath the ever-changing colors of the opal. “These rings are very rare. There are supposed to be just three in existence.”

The walls of my dark patch dropped, and I was tackled to the ground.

Chapter Fifteen

The air rushed out of my lungs and my vision blurred when the back of my head struck the ground. The thrumming of the magical power grid vibrated beneath me, filling my body with enough strength to raise an arm between me and my attacker.

I wrapped my hand around his neck, squeezing to keep the rabid animal at bay. When I met his eyes, I loosened my grip. “Conrad?”

“Don’t fight me,” he said, breathing heavily.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Conrad, get off her!” Lavie made a grab for his shoulders, but he swiped an arm back and sent her sailing across the clearing.

“Vamp Boy, get a hold of yourself.”

“I’m so hungry,” he said, and the shine in his eyes, coupled with his bloody mouth, gave him an animalistic glare. “I need more blood!”

More blood,
what was he talking about? I got my answer when he pushed my head to the side in an attempt to reveal my throat. I spotted the chalk circle and everyone who’d been inside with him was now lying discarded in pools of blood. Had Conrad torn their throats out? If he had, it only meant one thing.

“You’re a vampire?”

His blue eyes flashed red for just an instant. “I’m so fucking hungry.”

“Conrad, stop to think about what you’re doing.” The strain on my arm made it shake. I was losing my grip. “Don’t do this! It’s exactly what you’ve been stopping for years.”

“I need to…” He shoved my arm aside and tilted his head back, baring his sharp fangs. He lowered his mouth to my throat and sniffed. The tips of his fangs grazed my skin, forcing me into action. I kicked my legs up, driving my knees between us in an attempt to shove him away. But it wasn’t enough to push him off. He had only one thing on his mind.

A blur of fur barreled Conrad off me. Growls and hisses filled the night as I tried to get my breath back, and drew as much strength from my connection to the earth as I could.

“Sierra,” Lavie yelled. “Are you all right?”

I sat up just as she kneeled beside me. “Are you?”

She nodded. “Looks like your sexy boyfriend arrived just in time.”

The familiar cream-colored wolf wrestled Conrad to the ground, sending them tumbling round and round—fighting teeth and claws. Conrad was a new vampire, but Papan was born a wolf, so there was no contest. When the haze of their motions stopped, the werewolf had landed on top. He pressed a paw against Conrad’s chest, pinning him so tightly the bloodsucker writhed but couldn’t escape.

Papan raised his muzzle and howled into the night, but before he got his teeth into Conrad, I yelled, “No, Papan, wait!”

The wolf stopped inches from his target, teeth gritted and snarling.

Lavie helped me to my feet and we headed towards them. I noticed Saul standing back, watching the scene while puffing away. He flicked the cigarette away and grabbed Lavie.

I wandered closer to Papan. Aside from the flash of amber eyes and the appearance of fur while in the police station, I hadn’t seen or felt Papan’s wolf for over a week. Since then, he’d received demonic blood…but I wasn’t scared. I’d never be scared of Papan.

With my left hand out in front of me, I slowly approached. I met the wolf’s amber eyes, and sparked his recognition. His glossy, beautiful coat glistened in the night. A black streak now ran vertically down his back, cutting the cream in half.
The demonic touch manifested.

I had a dark patch I could draw, and he had one on his back.

Papan growled when Conrad tried to squirm out from his grip, snapping his teeth near the vampire hunter’s face. Conrad shut his eyes but didn’t stop fighting.

“Don’t kill him,” I said. “It’s not his fault. He was turned against his will.” Conrad and I might not be best friends, but I knew him well enough to realize he would never willingly become what he hunted. Narelle tricked him just like she’d done to the rest of us, then turned and left him with Jacinta and Duff. What a manipulative, evil bitch. Not seeing her as a threat had been a huge mistake I would never make again with any vampire—including the one I was trying to save.

Papan’s growl rumbled deep in his throat, menacing.

“Please, let him go.” I’d finally reached them and dared to stroke the wolf’s back. I pressed my left palm against his fur, cautious but firm. Papan and I loved each other and his wolf had accepted me, but I’d made a decision that affected the animal as much as the man. A decision I hoped wouldn’t turn him against me. The thought made my heart ache.

“I did what I had to…to save your life. I couldn’t let you die.”

The wolf’s amber gaze peered into my eyes, not backing away.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Don’t take it out on Conrad.”

The wolf raised his head, forcing my hand off his back and nudging it with his head. When he licked my fingers and removed his paw from Conrad’s chest, I knew he’d forgiven me.

Conrad hissed, struggling to get to his feet. Saul sidled up and kicked him in the face, sending the vampire sprawling. “That won’t keep him down for long. We need to stash him somewhere else,” Saul said.

“I know just the place.” I thought of the hidden room inside my house. “How did you two know where to find us?”

Saul shrugged. “I always know where to find you.”

“Do you have any idea how that makes you sound?”

“Uh, like a concerned brother?” he said with a grin.

Lavie stepped up beside him. “Actually, it makes you sound like a stalker.”

“No way!”

The air shimmered and Papan shifted from wolf to man. I wrapped my arms around his chest and held on. “Thank you.”

Was I thanking him for being here, for saving me from Conrad’s bite, or for sparing him? All of the above, and beyond.

Papan pulled me tighter. “I’m so glad we got here in time.”

“Actually, you missed the matinee,” I teased.

“You might want to put these on,” Saul said a second before a pair of jeans settled on my head.

“He doesn’t have to,” Lavie mumbled.

We drew apart long enough for Papan to slip into the jeans.

Burr stepped out of the dark and joined our group. He held the other witch bottle in his chubby hands. “I found it.”

Willow was trapped in there.

“How do I get my sister out?” Mace’s bottle had cracked open, and this one only seemed to have a fissure. But it didn’t change the fact that my sister was sharing it with Jacinta and the last living part of Legion.

Burr appeared shinier than ever, but didn’t look as badly constructed as he usually did. “I’m afraid you can’t.”

“What? No, I need to—”

“I know you want to release your sister, but now isn’t the time. There’s been too much death and blood for one day.”

Papan grabbed my hand and I felt a sense of comfort and warmth run through me. I’d lost a lot of people, but still had friends, allies and the love of my life beside me.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “When you say it’s not the time, does that mean there
will
be a right time?” If he stated otherwise, I wouldn’t rest until I got Willow back.

“Yes.” Burr dipped his chin. “I will keep her safe until then.” He tucked the blue bottle into his jacket pocket. “Sierra, your work for the Patch Watchdog isn’t done. You have eliminated the
Obscurus
and Mace, but still have the last part of Legion and Jacinta to dispose of. Until then.” Burr saluted and when he took a step, disappeared.

“No, wait!” I called, but it was too late. Burr had taken the bottle with him and there was nothing I could do right now. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm down and allow my trust in Burr to take over.

I’ll get Willow back, no matter what I have to do.

“Fox, let’s go home,” Papan said.

“Wait a sec,” Lavie said. Saul held her backpack open and she grabbed Maya’s desiccated head by the hair, then shoved it inside. “This is going to look great on my shelf.”

I rolled my eyes. Papan draped an arm over my shoulder and we walked away from the crossroads and the demon collectors. I could hear the murmur of their conversation even when we reached the haphazardly parked van in the middle of the street. A section of chain-link fence was caught under the bumper.

“So,” I said, turning to look at Papan. “Are you angry with me for not telling you where I was going today?”

Papan shook his head. “I knew where you were going.”

I stopped. “How?”

“I got it out of Saul, eventually,” Papan whispered near my ear before kissing my cheek.

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “We were on our way to Wilson, but Saul was acting weirder than usual. I knew he was hiding something, just had no idea it involved you putting your life on the line.” His eyes were shiny. “You should’ve told me.”

“I couldn’t. Not after everything…”

“I’m a big boy, Fox. I should’ve been beside you the entire time, not walk in at the end—”

“Your timing was perfect!”

“I was worried sick.” He rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “I know you can take care of yourself but that was the longest drive of my life. I was going nuts.”

I touched his cheek. “I’m sorry, but thank you for saving me. Again.”

“Hey, Jason,” called Saul. “Help me get the vampire into the van.”

Papan kissed the top of my head and joined his friend. Together, the demon and the wolf dumped the vampire into the back of the van. Lavie snaked an arm around mine and leaned against me. We’d become best of friends very fast, but this incident made us much more.

“We’ll get Willow back,” she said.

“I know.” I sighed. The waiting was going to kill me, but I’d get her back. “I’m sorry about your aunt.”

“And I’m sorry about your grandfather.”

“Yeah, me too.” I was going to miss the old witch. He’d driven me nuts from the moment we met, and it took me a while to accept him and the legacy he’d passed on, but we’d been tight for months. “My grandparents will be waiting for them.”

Besides, I had that spell he mentioned.

Lavie sighed. “I’m glad I’ve still got you.”

“I’m glad I’ve got you too.” I pointed at the two guys who’d been friends since childhood. “And we’ve got them.” I pulled on our joined arms. “So, when are you going to tell Saul how you feel about him?”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t lie to me, Lav,” I said with a chuckle. “I know you’re in love with him, so why don’t you do something about it?”

She sighed. “If only it were that easy.”

“Actually, it is.” If Papan and I hadn’t admitted how we felt about each other and stopped hiding behind friendship, we would still be toeing the line. “Don’t let this pass you by. Tell him how you feel before it’s too late.”

“Hey, are you two ready to leave?” Saul called from the driver’s seat.

“Of course, he
is
a total pain in the ass,” I said. “So you might want to stay clear of him.”

She giggled. “Maybe you’re right.”

“About the pain in the ass bit?” I teased.

“Probably about all of it,” she said, heading for the van. Lavie climbed in next to Saul and they started chatting about the Lamia’s head.

Papan held the back door open for me. “Come on, let’s go home.”

I settled into the seat beside Papan, sitting close. I stared at my left palm and it was glowing. I peeked out the window and spotted Diana in the middle of the crossroads with a multitude of black dogs surrounding her. She wore a blue flowing dress and held a radiant pink lantern with keys dangling from the bottom. The light was mirrored in her eyes as they met mine, and a small smile touched her lips. She looked happy. I could feel it within me.

“Hecate?” I whispered.

“Yes, Child, you did me proud.”

“Hecate, help me get my sister back.”

A smile lit up her beautiful face.
“The shaman will tell you where to find your reward.”

True to her Goddess word, Gareth and I met inside the moonlit room that night.

The awkwardness between us was gone. We were friends who cared and understood each other on a preternatural level neither would be able to explain. Yet, both accepted.

“Hi Sierra,” he said, sitting beside me at the end of the bed. “I’m glad you made it.”

“Yeah, me too.” At the expense of so many other lives, but this was also something I would eventually accept.

“You know why you’re here, right?” When he took my left hand and held it between both of his, the pink shimmer shone through.

I nodded. “You’re going to tell me about my reward.”

Gareth smiled and whispered the when, where and how. Claiming my reward would be tough, required calling an old acquaintance, and the use of my newfound power. But it meant saving Willow, so I could do this.

“Did you get all that?”

“I did.”

Gareth was a dreamwalker, healer, shaman and had his own path of self-discovery to travel. But we would always be friends.

“Foxy, are you coming?” I looked up to find Papan wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and holding out his right hand towards me. He stood where the window usually was, but had now been replaced with a field of sunflowers. And Gareth was gone.

It was nice seeing him in this dream world, and knowing I could bring him here.

“Of course I’m ready.” I strolled to Papan and slipped my hand into his. The warmth of the sun slid from his skin and into mine. And when we both turned and headed into the sunflower patch, the brightness made my eyes sting.

I gulped air and woke up.

“Foxy Lady,” Papan mumbled in his sleep.

I couldn’t help but smile while I grabbed my mobile, scrolled the Contacts and hit the call button. It rang so many times I started to wonder if she’d changed the number.

“Hello?” said a small, female voice.

“Hi Carleen,” I said. “It’s Sierra.”

“Oh, hello,” Carleen said, pausing. “Did you figure out a way to get rid of—”

“Yes.” We both knew this was the only reason why I would contact her. Carleen Hocking had contracted a demonic seed from her husband. I’d assisted their reconnection, and promised I would help with her
other
problem. “Can you be in Sydney by next week?”