Shadow Magic (20 page)
Authors: Cheyenne McCray
TOWARD EVENING, AFTER BEING caught in bed with Garran, Hannah was gripped by the urge to scry. She slipped away from all of the clamor and grabbed her pack from the room she and Garran had slept in.
Rain pounded on the warehouse's metal rooftop like percussionists playing snare drums as she headed through the maze of hallways. She searched the recently built rooms for an empty one, void of any personal articles. She'd already taken a shower and had slipped into a fresh set of clothing.
The irony of Rhiannon finding Hannah and Garran in bed together was enough to make Hannah shake her head. It was Rhiannon's father with whom Hannah had started having an affairâand she and Rhiannon barely tolerated each other.
Hannah held her pack tighter as she made her way farther toward the back of the warehouse. She sighed. It was probably time to make nice and not be such a bitch to Rhiannon. Then maybe Rhiannon would stop being a major bitch to Hannah. Maybe.
Garranâhe'd been at a loss as to what to say to his newfound daughter about his relations with Hannah, and she'd told him he was on his own. She had no idea, either.
Hannah's shoes made soft sounds on the concrete floor as she walked. Her thoughts turned to Ceithlenn and the Fomorii. Had all those demons truly vanished? Had they been sent to Underworld like Garran said?
If so, how?
Hannah whistled to Banshee. With a low cry, the falcon circled overhead then came to rest gently on her shoulder.
While her familiar stayed with her, Hannah found a small, empty room, and closed the door. It had plain plywood walls and a bare floor, not another thing in it. Smells of sawdust and wood made her sneeze before she set down her pack and sat cross-legged beside it. The concrete floor was cool beneath her ass.
Rain drummed on the building even harder, the tin roof and siding causing loud echoes in the room. The sound blended with all of the sawing, drilling, pounding in the background as builders made additional rooms so that this would be an even more secure stronghold for their defenses against Ceithlenn.
As far as magical protections, the witches had used every warding they knew of, and were reasonably confident the magic would keep the Fomorii and Ceithlenn out.
The headquarters was being thrown up in temporary fashion but it would give privacy to those who needed it. Her lips twisted into a wry smile. Locks on the doors would certainly help.
She pulled out her scrying mirror.
It wriggled in her hand.
Banshee let out a sound of surprise and she gasped as she stared at the Dragonsâthe frame was made of two of the creatures, each biting the tail of the other, and they were moving in a circle.
By the goddess Anu, the Dragons were
moving.
moving.
The mirror almost slipped from her fingers because her hand shook so badly and the handle continued wriggling. Her heart thumped against her breastbone as she managed to set the mirror on the floor without dropping it. As soon as it lay flat, the Dragons stilled in different positions than the one they had always been in before.
For a long moment Hannah just looked at the Dragons, her skin prickling. What did it mean? A chill rolled through her as she realized it had to be a sign. A bad sign.
Banshee ruffled his feathers and with a low cry expressed his concern.
She waited until her hands steadied before she took her vial of sea salt from her pack. The cork made a popping sound when she pulled it out.
Hannah's countless years of controlling her emotions and reactions eroded in those few moments. The hand that held the vial shook, and she grasped her wrist with her other hand and tilted the vial.
The world narrowed to that point where all she saw were the mirror and the salt crystals as each individual grain tumbled down to bounce and settle on the black glass. The cold found her heart as she analyzed the way the grains moved through the air, until the vial was empty, and she set it aside.
The salt crystals stilled the moment they hit the mirror's surface. As she stared at the patterns her heart turned to ice.
Fomorii. Countless. Spread throughout the city in human shells. Former military, law enforcement, and government officials and other individuals with power.
The images shifted. Ceithlenn calling to them, ordering them all to battle, after they had transformed back into their demon forms.
The largest battle the Alliance had ever fought against the evil from Underworld.
Hannah's heart thudded harder.
Where were the Dark Elves?
Innocent people murderedâslashed to ribbons. Gutted. Throats torn out.
A scream rose in Hannah's throat.
Then the image faded and she saw
herself
.
herself
.
Bound by powerful magic. Trapped with Fomorii.
Facing Ceithlenn
.
.
Hannah snapped out of the vision and collapsed on her side. Banshee took flight before she hit the floor and pain flashed through her upper arm and shoulder. The falcon shrieked so loudly that his cry rang throughout the warehouse.
Sweat rolled down the sides of Hannah's face as she pushed herself back to a sitting position. Heat then chills then heat rolled through her and her arms shook as she braced them to either side of her.
The door opened and a jolt traveled through Hannah. When she cut her gaze to the doorway, Cassia walked in, with her great white wolf familiar, Kael, at her side. Cassia wore jeans and a T-shirt like everyone else since they were at war. In the past Cassia wore only skirts and blouses.
She shut the door behind her and walked to Hannah and settled on the floor across from her and the mirror. Kael remained alert next to Cassia, but sat on his haunches.
Banshee swooped down from overhead and landed on Hannah's sore shoulder just hard enough to make her wince. She sensed his immediate apology.
Hannah avoided looking down at the pattern of crystals on the mirror or the changed Dragons. Instead she focused on Cassia's eyes. “Banshee summoned you?”
The half-Elvin witch nodded. “What happened?”
More sweat rolled down the side of Hannah's face and she wiped it away with the heel of her palm. “The short version is that the other half of Ceithlenn's army is in the city.” She swallowed and tried to regain her composure. “And it looks like I'm going to be up front and personal with the goddess.”
Cassia studied her then her gaze lowered to land on the mirror. “The Dragons have shifted.”
“I don't understand why.” Hannah couldn't get herself to look at the mirror or the salt crystals. She also couldn't get herself to tell Cassia about her visions of the Fire Dragon turning against her. “It didn't feel right. Something's wrong.”
“A portent.” Cassia kept looking at Hannah's mirror, so she finally lowered her eyes to look at it, too.
Nothing had changed, and Hannah's stomach twisted harder. Same message. Needing to get it out of her sight, Hannah scooped up her vial, grabbed the mirror around the handle, and tilted it so that the crystals tinkled back into their container. Every last one of them as always.
When she'd corked and put the vial into her backpack, she reached for the mirror, but Cassia clasped her fingers around Hannah's hand.
“Wait.” Cassia released her and Hannah left the mirror on the floor. “We need to speak to the Dragons.”
Hannah sat back, her hands resting on her knees, still sitting cross-legged on the floor. She took a deep breath and concentrated on gaining her composure. “What do we need to do?”
“A spell.” Cassia cast a circle around them, using her sparking magic and chanting a simple circle-casting spell.
When she finished, she sat beside Kael, cross-legged like Hannah. Cassia braced her palms on her knees just as Hannah had done before speaking.
Dragons of darkness and destruction,
we seek your wise counsel and your instruction.
Cassia and Hannah of the D'Anu
ask for your assistance true.
We greet you, Dragons immortal and wise,
Dragons of fire, earth, water, and skies.
we seek your wise counsel and your instruction.
Cassia and Hannah of the D'Anu
ask for your assistance true.
We greet you, Dragons immortal and wise,
Dragons of fire, earth, water, and skies.
To block all that is evil is our will.
Your powers are our desires that you fill.
Our loyalty to you, the ancient and wise,
Dragons of fire, earth, water, and skies.
For guiding and protecting we
who love and respect you. So mote it be.
Your powers are our desires that you fill.
Our loyalty to you, the ancient and wise,
Dragons of fire, earth, water, and skies.
For guiding and protecting we
who love and respect you. So mote it be.
As soon as Cassia said the last words, the Dragons on the mirror's frame began to move in a circle.
Hannah's heart pounded harder. The black glass of the mirror turned smoky gray, something that had never happened before.
The Dragons swirled faster.
Smoke rose from the mirror, smells of burning wood and ashes rising in the air.
Faster they spun.
Faster.
The mirror splintered, glass exploding in the full radius of the circle Cassia had cast.
Banshee shrieked.
Kael howled.
Hannah threw up her arm to protect her eyes.
She felt nothing, no glass slicing into her body.
She lowered her arm when silence followed the sound of shattering glass and she looked down.
The mirror's black glass was gone. All that remained was the blank, plain frame. The Dragons had vanished, too.
Hannah's whole body trembled and the backs of her eyes burned with tears that could never come. How could the Dragons have abandoned her? What had she done? Why had they left?
Cassia's quiet voice caused Hannah to look up and meet the half-Elvin witch's gaze. “This can be interpreted two ways.”
Through the buzzing in Hannah's ears, she barely heard Cassia continue. “Either the Dragons have left to fight for you. Or they have gone to fight for Ceithlenn.”
Hannah pushed herself to her feet and walked away, breaking the circle, and feeling shattered to her core.
GARRAN RUBBED HIS TEMPLES. He had no idea how in the name of all the gods he was going to explain what had happened at Alcatraz. The simple fact was, he couldn't.
“They're gone.” Rhiannon looked incredulous as she stared at him. She snapped her fingers in the air. “Just like that?”
All of the gray magic D'Anu witches and leaders of the D'Danann warriors had gathered in a newly built common room in the warehouse, as well as Jake Macgregor. Every one of them stared at Garran and Hannah, waiting for a full explanation of what had occurred at the cavern on Alcatraz.
Garran raised his head and let his hand fall from his temple to his side. “As I said when we returned, I can tell you no more than the fact that the demons are gone. They have been sent back to Underworld.”
Jake nodded. “We saw for ourselves that the Alcatraz cavern is empty. The Fomorii are gone.”
“Not all of them,” Hannah said, and Garran cut his attention to her, his body heating at her words. “I just scried and learned that, like we thought, demons are in the city, occupying the bodies of people in high positions. Military. Government. Business.” She looked at Jake Macgregor. “Law enforcement.” Then she sucked in her breath. “But not as few as we figured. Almost half the original number of Fomorii are here. In the city.”
“Fuck.” Jake's hands curled into fists. “That's what's been going on. Why things coming down from the top officials don't make sense.”
Numbness spread its way through Garran as he stared at Hannah. “Are you certain?”
“Not one single doubt in my mind.” If anything, Hannah was impossibly paler, as if all the blood had left her face. “All we can do is prepare for another war. This one's going to be a lot harder to fight.”
Hannah explained her divinations, but Garran had a feeling she was leaving something out. Perhaps many things.
When she finished, the witches, warriors, and Jake fired questions at her. She answered all of them with her usual composure and grace. The witches discussed how Hannah's divination connected with theirs from the day prior and asked Hannah if she had additional signs of anything that might happen to her or Garran.
Garran's gaze shot to Hannah. “What are they speaking about?”
“The other night.” She briefly met his eyes before looking away from him. “We scried about you and I going to Alcatraz, only we didn't understand it at the time.”
“Anything else?” Cassia said quietly as she stroked her wolf.
Hannah avoided Cassia's eyes and shook her head. “Nothing.”
Garran narrowed his brows as he looked from Cassia to Hannah. Something was not right. Hannah was lying and Cassia knew it.
As soon as those in the common room had broken into groups to work on various strategies, Garran grabbed Hannah's hand and dragged her down a corridor between a few of the newly built rooms.
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