Legacy & Spellbound (49 page)

What is he saying?
She grew even more still, listened even harder, stopped her heart so that it wouldn't roar and drown out the sound of his voice. Pesky demons kept restarting the heart, though.
How am I supposed to hear if they keep doing that?

“… Jer … kill … London … good Holly.”

Does Holly get a biscuit? He wants something, now. I'm supposed to do something. Maybe talk. I'll try.

She opened her mouth, and they all turned to look at her. An old imp with wrinkled gray skin who smelled like formaldehyde limped over to her. He held out a bullhorn for her to shout into. She leaned, spoke. “Kill.” She could hear herself, it echoed around in her head.

And the dark-haired man smiled.

I got the right answer. A plus, gold star.

Then the imp took away the bullhorn, and they all went back to talking among themselves.
And I'll sit really quietly and they won't know I'm here.

Michael straightened. He wasn't entirely sure that Holly had understood what he had asked of her. She had at least repeated “kill,” so that was a good sign.

He had spent the past hour in contact with his demonic spies and using his scrying stones. Sir William had indeed ordered him killed, and New Mexico was soon going to become a lot hotter than it already was.

He had thought briefly of appearing before the Supreme Coven with Holly's head on a silver tray, but had quickly rejected the idea. It may or may not have served to appease the leader of the Supreme Coven, but appeasement was no longer Michael's goal.

It's time the Deveraux took back what is rightfully ours,
he thought. He had learned that Eli was on the island of Avalon, trying to rescue Nicole Anderson.
He always did have a soft spot for that witch.
It was something Michael could use to his advantage.

He went about packing his bags. Jer and his war-lock friend would arrive in the morning, but he would be long gone. Instead, they would find Holly. If his
luck held, the three of them would kill one another. If it didn't, well, at least one of them would die, and that was good news for him.

If Holly was the one left standing, Sir William's Golems would make short work of her. When he had realized that the Golems had been sent to find and kill her, he had worked to cover her psychic signature. Like bloodhounds, Golems could be thrown off the scent if you knew how.

It had not been easy, though. Her aura was normally so powerful that it would have been impossible to conceal her had it not been for the possession. Yes, Holly definitely wasn't herself.

What to do with the Judas, Kari, was another question. Normally his first instinct would have been to kill her, but he had a feeling she had not outlived her usefulness. He made a decision quickly: She would be coming along.

Finished, he shut off the light in his bedroom with a twinge of sadness. It was a shame, really. It was a beautiful place. He was also more than a little sorry that he'd miss the fireworks. He had pressing business, though, overseas, and now was the time to go.

He found Kari huddled in a chair in the living room. For a moment he thought the girl had gone catatonic. He waved his hand in front of her face and
snapped his fingers, but she didn't flinch. He picked up a suitcase and dropped it with a thud and she turned her eyes.
Good.

She looked at him. “I killed all of them.”

“Yes, sweetie, I'm afraid you did. We have to go now, so be a good girl and help me out.”

She stood listlessly.
Ah, the quandary of those who like to think themselves moral! How it hurts them when they discover the truth about themselves.

“Where are we going?”

“To the airport.”

As he closed the door he called out, “Holly, remember what we talked about.”

Like a wraith, she appeared from one of the shadows. “Kill,” she whispered.

He smiled. He was going to miss her on some level. It was too bad he had never truly gotten to enjoy the fruits of their bond. “Good-bye, Holly.”

“Good-bye.”

And after the dark-haired man shut the door, she added, “Michael.” And then she was alone again in the darkness.

Jer and Eve: New Mexico

“So, what is the game plan?” Jer asked as he finished washing up.

“You know your father best, you tell me,” she answered.

“Yeah, I know him.” He winced as he touched the scars on his face. “He has a witch in thrall, a special witch. I don't want her hurt,” he said, quickly changing the subject.

“Holly Cathers,” Eve said. “She's more than ‘special,' I would say.”

“Yeah well, I want her alive,” he said.

Eve smirked. “There's a reward on her head, too.”

“If you want my help, you'll leave her alone,” he warned.

“I don't need your help. I could just as easily kill you.”

“That isn't true or you would have done so at the gas station.”

He could see the wheels in her head turning as she looked at him. At last she nodded. “Help me get your father, I'll leave you your precious witch.”

“Agreed.”

“Good. Now, do you have a plan?”

Three hours later all their plans were worthless. As they pulled up to the cabin Jer could tell that his father was gone. Still, they got out and circled around the building. Everything was dark, silent.

“I don't feel anyone,” Eve said.

He was about to agree with her, when a fireball clipped his shoulder. With a shout, he dropped to the ground as a hailstorm of them passed through the air where they had been standing. He rolled onto the shoulder that had been hit, extinguishing the fire.

Eve had jumped behind the minivan and erected a barrier. Jer rose to his feet and, ducking, ran to get behind it.

“Who is it?” Eve shouted.

“I don't know,” Jer admitted. The fireballs had come from inside the cabin, through an open window next to the door. They suddenly ceased. A minute later the door creaked open, and a slight figure stepped outside into the light.

“Holly!” he shouted.

Holly cocked her head to the side as though she was listening to him.

“Holly, it's me, Jer!” he called.

“What's wrong with her?” Eve hissed. “She's in thrall to my father... and possessed,” Jer admitted.

“You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?”

Someone was shouting at her, calling her name. Who was it? She strained to see, but the others were in the
way, their big heads blocking her view.
I want to see the picture too,
she thought.
If only I were a little taller, I could see around them.
She wanted to try to sit up just a little higher, but then they would notice and they would yell at her, and hurt her.

The voice was shouting again. “… Jer.”

Jer, Jer, where do I know that name?
It seemed familiar. Why couldn't the devils sit lower, so she could see?
Maybe if I could pull myself up just a little taller, an inch or so, they wouldn't notice, would they?

But they would, she knew it. They noticed everything, and they had told her not to move. They had said if she moved, they would hurt her and the Golems would come, whoever they were. The Golems were beasties who would kill her.

The voice kept talking to her, and it was familiar.
I should know it. Who's there?

They said to hold still because of the beasties. Beasties without, beasties within.

“Holly!” the voice shouted.

And she stood up off her little stool and yelled, “What?”

Holly shouted something back, and almost instantly Golems appeared from thin air. Jer shouted a warning, but she didn't move until the first one grabbed
her. Jer ran out from behind the shield, with Eve on his heels.

“How do we stop them?” she shouted.

“Either destroy the paper in their mouths or rub out the first letter on their foreheads!”

“Which is easier?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Jer answered as he tried to grab the nearest Golem's head. The thing brushed him off as though he were no more than a fly. He landed in the dirt and tried kicking at the creature, but to no avail.

He turned just in time to see Eve jump on the back of one and reach around and rub out the first
e
on the thing's forehead. It fell headlong to the ground, and she leaped off at the last moment.

Meanwhile, fireballs had begun to fly off Holly's fingertips, and Jer found himself suddenly busy dodging those. One struck the Golem next to him full in the face and it, too, fell, the paper in its mouth turning instantly to ash.

That left two, and looking at them, Jer wasn't sure they would be so easy to kill. The one had Holly by the throat. Her eyes were bugging out of her head, and the fireballs were still shooting off uncontrollably from her fingertips. Suddenly her face changed, took on a demonic appearance.
“Gande ipse rodal!”
she roared, in
a language he had never heard. He watched in amazement as an invisible hand slowly rubbed out the
e
on the creature's forehead. The Golem and Holly tumbled together to the ground, both still.

“Holly!” he cried, rushing forward. He knelt beside her and felt for a pulse. There was none. He laid his hands on her chest and willed electricity to flow from them into her. Her body convulsed as the charge hit. He checked for a pulse and could feel one, though it was faint. He turned just in time to see Eve rip the paper from the final Golem's mouth. It picked her up and began to crush her, but she tore the paper in half and he dropped her before falling.

She stood panting and tore the paper into a dozen tiny pieces, which she then tossed to the wind. She put her hands on her hips.

“So, what's with her?”

“Unconscious.”

“Sounds like a good thing.”

“It probably is,” he said grimly.

She walked over and crouched down to look at Holly. She didn't look impressed. “So, she's what everyone's making a fuss about?”

Jer nodded.

“I don't see it,” she said, and stood back up.

“Well, I'm wasting my time here. I've got to find
your father. Got any idea where he's headed?”

Jer looked down at Holly. His father had left her to kill him and be killed herself. Wherever he was going, he must have considered her a liability. Given all of her power, that was hard to believe.
Where would he be going that he wouldn't have to worry about watching her?
he thought.

It came to him in a rush. He was right, he knew it, he could feel it. “He's headed to London.”

Tri-Coven: San Francisco International Airport

Amanda sat next to Tommy on the Mother Coven's jet, holding his hand and wishing she were somewhere else. It was relatively crowded: Sasha, Alex, Amanda, Armand, Pablo, Philippe, Barbara, Tommy, and Richard were aboard. Any minute they would be taxiing for takeoff and it was back to Europe for the lot of them. The copilot, a woman and a witch, came back to address them.

“We've received a message from the tower. It seems someone in Albuquerque is requesting that we land there and pick up three more passengers. The message was sent by someone named Jer.”

Amanda's mind raced.
Three passengers! Jer must have found Holly and Kari!
Before she could say anything, Alex spoke: “We don't have time to take a detour.”

There was a sudden chilled silence in the air as the new leader of the coven found himself the focus of all eyes. Tommy was the one to speak. “As I see it, if he has Holly with him, we can't afford not to stop. She's our greatest asset and, in the hands of the enemy, our greatest liability. We need her and we can't afford to not know where she is.”

Alex narrowed his eyes, and Amanda knew he was judging how best to respond to this challenge to his authority. He smiled after only a moment, and the tension passed. “Well-spoken, Tommy. To Albuquerque it is.”

The copilot nodded and returned to the cockpit. Several more minutes passed, and then the plane maneuvered itself into position. As soon as the wheels left the ground, Amanda breathed a sigh of relief.
What can Michael Deveraux do to us in the air?

“Quite a lot, probably, if all I've heard is true,” Alex said.

Amanda stiffened. She had let her guard down for a moment, and he had gotten in. She didn't mind Pablo reading her thoughts, but Alex was different. Maybe it was because he was older, or the leader of the coven or a relative.
Maybe it's because I don't entirely trust him
. Whatever it was, she needed to watch herself more closely.

Still, she wasn't going to allow him, or his allusions to Michael's power, to ruin her flight. She sank down in the seat, put her head on Tommy's shoulder, and promptly fell asleep.

She woke when the wheels touched down in Albuquerque. A hard knot settled in her stomach.
What if Jer didn't send the message?
she thought, sudden fear gnawing at her.
Well, we'll know soon enough.

“Soon enough” took twenty minutes. At last the hatch opened, and she heard a collective intake of breath from the group. When she saw Jer, she sagged in relief. In his arms he was carrying a woman. Her face was turned inward into his shoulder, but she recognized her, anyway: Holly!

Philippe rose quickly and helped Jer settle Holly into a seat. She was unconscious, but Amanda could see the steady rise and fall of her chest. A new feeling suddenly washed over her, a chill dancing up her spine. She turned, expecting to see Kari walking onto the plane. Instead, it was a stranger, a woman with short hair, clad all in black, and there was something about—

“Warlock!” Pablo hissed, lunging toward her.

Jer threw up an arm and caught him. “Pablo, no! She's a friend.”

“I wouldn't go that far,” the woman said sarcastically.

“Explain yourself, Deveraux,” Alex commanded.