Spellbinder (25 page)

Eric. He won't wait; he'll start without me. Or will he? I told him not to. But he'll be worrying about the party. . . .

The party.
All those kids . . . even little kids.
Humans, but people.
like
baby chicks with a hawk up above. How many of them will end up like Kevin?

"The invocation for summoning spirits!"
Gran was shouting, as if Thea were hard of hearing.

"
I.
. . we . . . I heard you at Samhain two years

Spellbinder

ago
.
In
Vermont
.
I saw the summoning the

distorted
.

"We saw you.
Both of us.
We were hiding behind the trees and you never even noticed," Blaise said clearly, and the bells rang again.

Dimly, Thea felt appreciation. But most of her mind was reeling from horrible thought to thought. Eric . . . but if I try to get to him, if the

But Suzanne.
If he burns those dummies, Suzanne will kill him the way she killed Kevin.

No matter what happened, Eric was going to end up dead. Unless . . .

"Which ... of the spirits ... did you call?" Gran was shouting, as if Thea was now not only hard of hearing but slow of understanding. Unless . . .

"That's what I want to tell you," Thea said. She could see the way. It would mean the end for her, but she might possibly save Eric. If there was enough time, if they would let her alone, if Eric wasn't right now trying to be a hero. . . .

"I want to tell you about it," Thea said again.
And then the words were tumbling out in a rush, faster and faster, as if some dam had broken inside her.
"And I'll tell you everything-but please, Grandma, please, you have to let me go out now. Just for a little while. There's something I have to do. You have to

let
me go, and then I'll come back here and you can do whatever you want to me."

"Hold on a minute," Mother Cybele said, but Thea couldn't stop.

"Please-please.
Grandma.
I've done a terrible thing-and I'm the only one who can take care of it. I'll
come
back-"

"Wait, wait,
wait
. Calm down," Gran said. She looked agitated herself. "What's this rush all of sudden? Try it slowly. What do you think you have to do?"

"I have to put her back." Thea saw that she was going to have to give some explanation. She tried to speak dearly and slowly, to make them understand. "The spirit I let out, Grandma. Her name is Suzanne Blanchet and she was burned in the sixteen hundreds. And she's out, out there, and she's already killed a human."

Everyone was listening now, some leaning forward, some frowning. Thea looked around at the circle of faces, talking to all of them. She was still terrified, but what did that matter? Eric mattered.

"Last week she killed a boy at my high school. And tonight she's going to kill more people, at the high school Halloween party. I can't explain how I know-there
isn't
time. But I do know. And I'm the only one who can stop her. I called her; I'm the only one who can put her back."

"Yes, but unfortunately it's not that easy," a low voice said. Thea turned and identified Rhys, a wiry man in a white lab coat. "If the spirit's at large-" "
I
 
know
about that, but I have a way to trap her.

It's all set up, and I..." Thea hesitated. "I've tricked somebody into helping me," she said slowly. "And he's in danger right now.
Which is why you have to let me go, let me take care of this.
Please."

"You want to go to the high school, where the party is," Aunt Ursula said. Although her lips were as thin as ever, she didn't sound angry.
More-astute.

Thea opened her mouth to say no, and then stopped, confused again.

The party-or the desert?
If Suzanne was really killing people at the party, she should go there.
But only if Eric wasn't doing something to attract Suzanne to the desert.
He was still more important to her than anyone else. But if he wasn't doing something-and if Suzanne was at the party-she might kill before Thea and Eric could lure her. . . . I'm going crazy.

She felt, literally, as if she might faint. Her head was swimming. There were too many possibilities. It all depended on where Suzanne was right now, and there was no way to know that.

Thea began to shake violently, black dots dancing in front of her eyes. I don't know what to do.

"I'm sorry . . . could everybody listen for a moment? I'm seeing something."

It was Aradia's voice, quiet and gently self-possessed. Mature, even though she was only a little older than Thea. Thea tried to see her through the black dots.

"I think it's something important, something about what we're talking about," Aradia said. Her beautiful

face
, with its smooth skin the color of coffee with cream, was turned toward Thea. Her wide brown eyes looked straight ahead without focus, the way they always did.

Aradia couldn't see with those eyes-but then she didn't need to. She saw with her mind-and saw things that were hidden to most people.

"I'm seeing a boy-he's dressed in some old-fashioned costume. He's beside a fire, inside a circle of stones."

Eric. . . .

"He's got a stick-an ember. He's looking around. Now he's going to ... it looks like a scarecrow. I can't see it well. There's a pile of sticks underneath it. He's bending. He's lighting the sticks."

No.

"I have to go," Thea said. She wasn't asking permission anymore.

Aradia was still speaking. "Okay, the sticks are catching fire. Now I can see better . . . and it's not a scarecrow; it looks sort of like a witch.
A doll."
She stopped, her lovely blind eyes widening. "It's-and it's moving-no, there's something moving it. I can see it now-a spirit. A spirit is moving the doll. It's coming out now-toward the boy-"

"I have to go," Thea said. And then she was moving, pushing her way between Rhys and Old Bob, breaking out of the circle. The beads of the curtain struck her face, clattering as they fell back behind her.

"Thea, wait a minute!"

"Thea, come back here!"

"Ursula, you go get her-"

The jeep.
My backpack's in the jeep. I have to get it first.

The keys to the
Lincoln
were hanging on a nail by the back door. Thea grabbed them.

She pushed the back door open just as three or four people came hurrying through the bead curtain. She slammed the door in their faces.

Get to the car. Fast. Now drive.

She backed out of the alley, tires squealing. She could see light spill as the door to the shop opened, but by then she was turning onto

Eric . . .

She found herself driving at some new level, squeezing through the tail end of yellow lights, recognizing shortcuts in the dark. In just a few minutes she was at the Night World club with the jack-o'-lanterns on the porch.

There was no place to park the
Lincoln
. She left it in the middle of the street, with the keys still in the ignition. She pulled the key to the jeep out of her belt and jumped in.

Hurry.
Hurry.
She burned rubber again getting the jeep moving.

Hurry.
The freeway.

Eric . . .

Just let me get to him. And let it not be too late. That's all I ask, after that I don't care.

Would you give up everything?

The voice didn't seem like a stranger this time, didn't seem menacing.
Just curious.
And Thea had an answer.

Yes.

If I can just get there, in time, I can send him away. I can tell him some story, make him go somehow. Make him hide. I'll tell the Circle I tricked him or enchanted him into helping; I won't even tell them his name. They can't make me.

Whatever they do to me, he'll be safe. That's all I care about. That's all I'm asking.

But even that was a lot, and she knew it, so she kept her foot mashed down on the gas pedal.
Freeway off ramp.
Side road.
She drove crazily fast. The pounding inside her head kept saying hurry, hurry, even as she was careening off curbs.
Desert.

Now the road was bad. It was hard to see; the moon was almost down. The jeep lunged over bumps and lurched into potholes.

Eric, be doing something. Be talking to her, be running. You're so smart, please, please, be smart now. Keep her distracted, keep her hair away from your neck.

How strong was a spirit? Thea didn't know. Please, I see everything so clearly now. I've been selfish, only thinking of me, what would make me happy. All that "encased in ice" garbage. I should have been dancing in the street. As long as Eric is all right, I don't care if he lives on Mars, I don't care if I never see him again. As long as he's well I'm happier than anybody has a right to be.

A jolt rattled her teeth. She was off the road now, driving by landmarks. Through forests of dead yuccas that looked like skinny gray Cousin Its.

It's taking so long, it's too long.
Hurry.
Hurry.

She could see red sandstone in front of her.
Pillars in the headlights.

That's it! Go, go!

The jeep rocketed over clumps of blackbrush. She could see fire in the depression between the pillars. She drove straight toward it.

Fire-movement-the top of a silhouette . . .

"Eric!"

She was yelling even as she slammed on the brakes. The jeep ground to a shuddering stop a few inches from a misshapen sandstone tower.

"Eric!" She had the backpack in her hand. She tore the door open and jumped out, running.

"Thea!
Stay out of here!"

She saw him.

The light of the fire cast an eerie glow onto the already lurid sandstone. Everything seemed red, as if this place were bathed in blood. The roar of the jeep's engine and the roar of the fire merged to sound like the flames of hell.

But Brie was alive and fighting.
Fighting it.

Thea threw herself at it, even as her brain was registering impressions.

A wraith shape that looked at one second like a woman, and the next second like tattered clouds. Part of it seemed to be coiled around Eric, and he had both hands at his throat. Bits of the pine-needle amulet Thea had made for him were scattered around his feet.
Useless.