Ritual Magic (20 page)

Cora nodded, "Thank you, Darrin. Please tell
the king that we will be there shortly." She turned back to me and
smiled. "Guess we're on."

I sighed deeply as I pushed my plate of
untouched food away from me.
Guess I'll have to grab something
later
. I pursed my lips as I turned to Tisha. "So, Tish, are
you going to say anything?"

"What can I say? Everything has already been
decided." She shrugged as she pushed away from the table and stood
up.

I stood up as well and followed Cora into
the hallway alongside Tisha, noting especially that Jack was still
at the table, shoveling food into his mouth at a breakneck pace.
Cora didn't seem to notice that he had stayed behind as she led the
way down winding hallways, turning corners and up the monstrous
staircase as she talked about subjects that I knew nothing about
and didn't have any interest in.

"The men's quarters are on the bottom level.
There they have direct access to the training grounds. Guests are
usually housed on the fourth floor now that they have been
redecorated. There is more of a traditional style, but Babbo has a
flair for tradition. The conference rooms are all on the fifth
floor and so is Babbo's office. He prefers to be able to watch over
everything happening on the training grounds and around the
outskirts of the castle so... Well, he had to have a few walls
knocked down to accommodate his need for a panoramic room." She
turned back to look at me as my eyes scanned the rich paneled walls
and the antique pictures of demons and angels. Leo really had a
love for the
old
stuff alright.

"Okay..." I followed her as she finally came
up on two huge doors that could have been ten feet tall. "And here
we are." Cora smiled back at me as she pushed against the doors to
open them, stepping aside as we all walked into the cavernous
room.

The room seemed to extend the length of the
entire castle. It was such an expanse that I couldn't see the other
side of the room because of the darkness that loomed there as if
every curtain had been left closed to trick the eye into seeing
endless black. The area that was set off for a large oval
conference table was closest to the doors and well-lit with
enormous crystal chandeliers and candlelight.

My eyes took in the tapestries that hung
from every wall. They were more the medieval castle style with
scenes of dragons and knights, as well as individuals in period
clothing, which made them strikingly beautiful. I appreciated those
tapestries much more than the one of the demons that had been in my
bedroom previously.
Does that knight look familiar?
I
scanned the scenes to see if there was anything else that I
recognized from the tapestry.

"It is wonderful to have you join us,
ladies," Leo's voice drifted from one end of the conference table,
which brought my attention to the men sitting there. All four of
Cora's respective fathers were now sitting at the table and, just
from first impressions, it had all of the markings of a deeply
twisted poker group. Every one of them appeared ready to lay down
their bets and get on with the bluffing.

Solomon stood and walked over to me, leaning
over my cheek to whisper in my ear, "All is well. Don't worry about
anything." He winked at me as he pecked my cheek politely.

Tilting my head up to look at him, I walked
over to one of the huge leather rolling office chairs skirting the
table and pulled it out. I sat down as I watched Cora and Tisha do
the same to either side of me. We all scooted in and I noticed Jack
appear in the doorway and make his way to the corner of the room.
He stood alert and ready for anything as he took his usual guard
stance, hands clasped behind his back, looking stoically at the
assembled group of odd creatures. His black camo outfit made him
stand out as deadly and well-trained, and I winked at him as his
eyes scanned the room.

"So let us begin." Von's voice sounded
professional—businesslike. "We will need to leave as early as
possible in the morning to make it to the peak in time for
twilight." He nodded as he pointed to a map on the table. "We are
going to make it to the highest point of the Purgatory slopes and
then we will have to move to the Northwest tip. The team will make
good time if we are taking Leo's Learjet." He nodded in Leo's
direction, making me aware that Leo was nodding with everything
that Von was saying.

There was a respect there between the two
now that they were both on the same team.
I'm not sure that I
approve of this...respect
between demons and warlocks.
Of course I
had
to be okay with it—we were a family now.

"Leo's Learjet seats six and the two pilots.
That allows our group as well as a select few to attend. We will
fly out of Portland and into the Durango La Plata County airport.
Leo and Cora will be flying the plane, inside will be Celeste,
Solomon, Gabriel, Jackson, and Camela." Von's head jerked towards
the doorway and I couldn't help but look in the general
direction.

Standing no more than 5'6" in four inch
black patent leather heels, Camela, the wicked demon witch of the
west, practically glowed in all of her pinstriped glory. Her suit
was trim and fitted all the way down to her ankles, where the pants
flared out by a fraction and then covered a good portion of her
heels. The stripes on her suit accentuated the fact that her figure
was perfect.
Witch.
Her blood-red satin shell shimmered
underneath the opening of her jacket and her matching red lipstick
brought attention to her olive colored and flawless skin, long,
flowing jet black hair and her glowing, creepy red irises. She eyed
me venomously from her little area near the door, although her
hostility seemed to make her look larger for some strange
reason.

"The women should leave to prepare while we
finish outlining our plan," Leo's voice hit me in the back of the
head.

"WHAT?!" I yelled as I spun around to give
Leo a dangerous flash of my eyes. "Are you kidding me?! Me? Go
anywhere
with that
witch
?!" I turned back around to
face the witch in question and glared openly at her with bold
hostility.
Yeah, really scary, Celeste.
"She'll kill me the
first opportunity that she gets. She's already tried...twice!"

"Is this true, Leo?" Gabriel's voice sounded
concerned.
Thank goodness someone is showing some concern for my
life.

I continued to glare at Camela as she
flicked her hair backwards and simply stood around like her name
was the only part of the conversation that was worth listening
to.

"Yes, yes, but we have worked through all of
that. Camela is going to
protect
Celeste now—she has sworn
an oath." Leo tried to make it sound trivial. "
Haven't
you,
Camela
?" There was a deep warning underneath his words.

"Yessss, my lord." She bowed in Leo's
general direction, although her eyes were all for me. A wicked grin
worked its way across her shimmery lips.

I stood up from the table, pushing my chair
back so quickly it bumped into Tisha's and stalked within six feet
of the gloating demon. Goodness, I forgot how much hating someone
made you feel truly
alive
.
Life
was just coursing
through my veins.
Ha! Who knew that being around Camela would
give me so much energy?

We stood there glaring at each other with
deep hostility. My eyebrows shot up when I heard a deep growl come
from her chest and I watched her eyes glow brightly as her
fingernails twitched, snapping against each other to make a
clicking noise, one finger after the other against her thumb nails.
Click, click, click.

"Perfectly manicured fingernails." I
harrumphed. "Not what I would have expected from a demon bitch. I
mean
witch.
" I snorted.

"All the better to claw your eyes out with,
my
dear
." She growled dangerously as she took one deliberate
step towards me, her body sinewy and deadly as a panther's.

We were getting close enough to taste each
other's perfume, and I was sure that I didn't want to smell the
monstrosity of a perfume that she chose to douse herself in to
cover her demon scent.

Wow, I have CLAWS! Rowww!

Just then, and quite unexpectedly, we heard
Cora's approach.

"Camela!" She squealed as she rushed over to
grab Camela's shoulders and take another step towards her. She
kissed Camela genuinely on the left cheek, turning quickly to the
other and doing the same as well on the right. I could feel the
shock coursing through me as I watched Cora engulf Camela in a
loving embrace, rubbing her back fiercely as if they had been the
closest of friends.

Fierce shudders ran through my body at the
image of the two women hugging. Well, actually, it was Cora hugging
an uncomfortable Camela, but it was still uncomfortable for me to
watch.

"It's so wonderful to see you here!" She
held Camela's shocked form at arm's length and eyed her from head
to toe. "Oh my gosh, you are just as stunning as always! Such
taste! Such style! You still have to show me how to do my makeup
like that!" She smiled down at Camela's overwhelmed expression, and
I almost forgot to savor the moment where Camela was actually at a
loss for words, stricken by both shock and a touch of fear.

"Do I...
know
you?" Camela's voice
actually trembled as she turned her head a fraction to give Cora a
sideways glance. It was clear she was uncomfortable, and I had
decided to embrace the moment, savoring her discomfort like a fine
piece of chocolate.

"This is Cora Elena Ravenwood, Camela. You
will
know her." Leo's voice rang as an order and not an
explanation. "Assist the women with their preparations, my dear,
and don't dally with the death threats—they are such a waste of
valuable energy."

Camela continued to carry the shock on her
face as her eyes twitched from Cora to me. When she laid her eyes
on me, though, the red in her eyes flared just slightly. That was
when Cora grabbed her in another huge hug.

"Camela! It's just so wonderful to be one
big, happy family again!" She beamed.

Thrown off by Cora's genuine enthusiasm,
Camela shook her head and turned towards the door slowly. Squaring
her shoulders and finally tearing her eyes away from Cora, she
spoke as she began to click her heals down the hallway, "Follow
me."

Billy Joel's
New York State of Mind
was playing in the background, clearly Gabriel's choice, as the
Learjet rocketed down the runway. I closed my eyes to feel the
final pull of gravity trying to yank us back down to the ground as
we finally took off. The final release felt like a wild tug as the
jet began to ascend at a gradual incline.

Through a side window, I watched the ground
zoom by as the trees, buildings and roadways continued to shrink
away with the distance. I loved this part of flying—the actual feel
of lifting off and running away. Gravity was something that I
enjoyed slapping around as often as I could. And Leo's Learjet? It
was all leather, plush and decorated in a contemporary style.

Thankfully, Camela had been called away for
some random urgent business that was demon related, and she was
not
one of the few select individuals on the plane. I was
definitely not complaining and, in fact, there were a few lucky
stars that I needed to count when we landed again.

Jack was sitting next to me, fidgeting with
his seat belt buckle. "You need to leave that in place for now,
Jack." I eyed his twitchy hands as he stretched them out on his
jeans to dry off his obviously sweaty palms.

"I just hate flying." He stared at the
window. "Can you please close that?" He was actually looking
sick.

Pulling the shade down, I turned to Jack's
tense face with concern. "You know, Jack, if someone throws up, I
have to throw up too. I would prefer to keep my record spotless for
illness on an airplane." I smiled warmly at him. "You need to keep
yourself distracted."

"Uh-huh." He clamped his eyes shut and blew
a large breath out of his mouth with a big
whewwwww noise
.
"I would prefer to be on the ground."

Laughing, I unbuckled myself and leaned over
to the side. Grabbing the heavy black carrying case that held
Jack's bass by the handle. "Play something for me, Jack. You know
it always calms me down." I tried to smile as encouragingly as
possible for him.

He sighed, opening his eyes as he reached
out for the case, caressing it like it was a lifejacket. "Yeah,
okay, Celeste. I'll do it for you." He smiled weakly.

Sitting back in the seat, I buckled myself
back in as he leaned down, placing the case on the open floor area
in front of us and reached down for the bass, patting it and
caressing it like it was an old girlfriend.

"There you go, sweetheart, Daddy's here." He
ran his hand across the high gloss finish on the wood grain and
pulled the black beauty into his arms, tossing the shoulder strap
over his neck as he began to tune the strings.

I listened to him tuning his bass as I
closed my eyes, imagining that we were sitting on the stage of the
old night club where we had our last gig. It seemed like a whole
lifetime had passed. Life had felt simple and worth living back
then. It wasn't like I would change anything about my life—I had a
wonderful man in love with me, a talented and amazing daughter, and
a crazy, dysfunctional
family
that was going to do
everything to protect us.

The picking stopped and I opened my eyes as
Jack leaned his head towards me. "The usual?" his voice sounded
mildly entertained.

I tilted my head towards him and closed my
eyes again as he began the intro to
The Trooper
by Iron
Maiden. The incredible running baseline had the rumbling feel of
running horse hooves—basically one of the reasons that I thought
that Steve Harris was an absolute genius—a bass player with the
heart of a poet. My body began to relax, soothed and centered by
the rumble of the bass as I listened to him begin the words, "You
take my life, but I'll take yours too. You fire your musket, but
I'll run you through. So when you're waitin' for the next attack,
you'd better stand, there's no turnin' back."