Spellcasters (100 page)

“But we don’t know what spells work on vampires. We—” I took a deep breath and fought my own panic down. “A binding spell will work. But I need a way to get close enough to cast it without his seeing me. Maybe a distraction. But I don’t know what—”

“I might,” whispered a voice to our left.

Jeremy appeared beside us. He motioned for us to follow him to the other end of the alley, where Savannah waited.

“Aaron called the hotel for Elena’s number,” Jeremy whispered. “I thought you could use help, and we were closer than the others. Now what’s happened?”

We told him, as quickly as possible.

“Paige was right,” he said. “Distraction followed by attack is our best bet. I can provide the first, and assist you with the second.”

“Me, too,” Savannah said. “I can help.”

“Uh-uh,” I said. “You’re staying—”

“No, Savannah’s right,” Jeremy said. “She can help me with the distraction.”

He told us his idea, then turned to Savannah. “Now, you’ll wait with Paige and Lucas. As soon as you see me, you can start, but not until you see me.”

She nodded, and Jeremy headed down the side alley to loop around the north building. We returned to our hiding place at the head of the portal alley.

W
e arrived back at the corner just as Edward finished telling a now-conscious Benicio that he needed to make a phone call. As we waited for Jeremy, I slid off my heels, in case we needed to dash down that alley.

“And if I refuse?” Benicio said.

A slap resounded through the silence. Benicio didn’t so much as gasp.

“This isn’t some business deal you can negotiate your way out of,” Edward hissed. “What do you
think
happens to you if you refuse?”

“You’ll kill me,” Benicio said calmly. “And if I do call Lucas, and he comes, you’ll kill him. Do you honestly think I would exchange my life for my son’s?”

Edward gave a short laugh. “So you’re offering to sacrifice yourself to save him. Very noble, but it won’t work. I’ll still find him and kill him.”

“But you wouldn’t need to. Kill me, use my blood on that portal, and it
will
reopen.”

Lucas’s eyes went round and his lips formed a silent no. I gripped his arm and looked anxiously down the alley for Jeremy, knowing it was still too soon, that he’d never be ready yet.

“N—no,” Jaime said. “It won’t work. Don’t listen to him. You need Lucas’s blood—”

“Try mine,” Benicio said, voice still as calm as if he were dickering over the cost of his lunch. “If I am lying, you’ve lost nothing. As you say, you could probably still capture Lucas without my help, which you’ll never get. Kill me, though, and I guarantee your portal will reopen.”

Lucas lunged forward, breaking from my grip. At that moment, Jeremy stepped around the other corner. Lucas stopped. Our eyes met, and I knew what he was thinking. Did we still dare try Jeremy’s plan? Both of us would have been much happier blazing in there, spells flying. But was that the smart move? The safe move? Savannah looked over at us. Lucas swallowed, then motioned for her to go. As she turned away, he took my
hand and squeezed it so hard I heard the bones crackle. I squeezed his back.

As I watched Savannah go, a thousand new doubts skittered through my brain. She was so young. What if she couldn’t pull this off? What if she froze up? What if that happened, and we couldn’t cast before Edward pounced on her? What if Jeremy couldn’t stop him in time? I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Jeremy thought this would work, and I trusted that he’d never put Savannah in danger.

She stepped into the alley. Edward had his back turned to her, still talking to Benicio. Jaime and Benicio saw her, though. Jaime’s eyes widened. I leaned as far from my hiding place as I dared, and, seeing me, Jaime shuttered her look of surprise. Benicio hesitated, then gave a tiny nod, and said something to Edward, keeping him engaged.

I cast a cover spell, then readied a fireball. For the few seconds it took me to prep the spell, I was visible, but the cloak of invisibility fell again the moment I stopped. Behind me, Lucas had a knock-back spell ready—far from lethal, but one of the few spells we knew would work on a vampire.

Savannah crept down the alley. Edward was too intent on Benicio to notice her. When she’d reached the mark we’d agreed upon, she stopped.

“Hey,” she said. “Cool altar.”

Edward whirled around and stared, momentarily dumbfounded by the sight of a thirteen-year-old alone in an alley at midnight.

Savannah took another step forward. “Is that, like, a Satanic altar? Are you guys gonna call up a demon or something?” She walked over near Jaime and pretended to notice Jaime and Benicio’s bindings for the first time. “A sacrifice? Cool. I’ve never seen anyone get sacrificed before. Can I watch?”

Edward’s mouth opened, then shut, as if his brain was still muddling through this. I glanced over at Jeremy, but he was already on his way, creeping along the far wall, out of Edward’s sight. He moved as soundlessly as a vampire. Within seconds he was less than a yard from Edward.

Savannah’s eyes rounded to saucers, mouth opening in an
O
of delighted surprise.

“Wow,” she said. “Is that your dog, mister?”

Edward followed her gaze, then backpedaled fast. Behind him stood a jet-black wolf the size of a Great Dane. When Jeremy looked up at Edward, his black eyes blended perfectly with his fur, so the effect was one of eerily unrelieved darkness, more like the shadow of a wolf than an animal itself. With Elena, I could easily mistake her for a large dog. With Jeremy, no one getting close enough could make that error. I could tell by Edward’s face that he knew this was no stray mutt.

Savannah strolled over and ran her fingers through the ruff around Jeremy’s neck. Edward gave a sharp intake of breath, as if expecting her to lose that hand, but Jeremy didn’t move.

“He’s beautiful,” Savannah said. “What’s his name?”

She kept her hand on the back of Jeremy’s neck. Jeremy looked up, eyes meeting Edward’s. He drew his lips back and growled so softly that the sound seemed more felt than heard as it vibrated down the alley.

“Oooh,” Savannah said. “I don’t think your dog likes you, mister.”

She scrunched her face in a thoughtful frown as she studied Jeremy’s face. “You know, I think he’s hungry.” She looked at Edward and smiled. “Maybe you should feed him.”

Jeremy pounced.

He caught Edward in the stomach and knocked him across the alley, away from Jaime and Savannah. Lucas and I bolted from our hiding spot and raced down the alley. By the time we got there, Jeremy was on top of Edward and had his teeth buried in his shoulder. Edward kicked and punched, but to no effect. Unfortunately, Jeremy’s bite had no effect either. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound and the moment Jeremy released his grip, the tears in Edward’s flesh knitted together.

Edward’s head jerked up, teeth bared, aiming for Jeremy’s foreleg.

“Jeremy!” I shouted.

Jeremy yanked his leg out of the way. We didn’t know whether the sedative in Edward’s bite would knock out a werewolf, but this wasn’t the time to find out. Jeremy planted his forepaws on Edward’s shoulders to pin him, then slashed at his throat, ripping the flesh in a slice that would have been lethal to anything mortal. Edward snarled in pain, but the moment Jeremy lifted his head from the bite, Edward’s neck was whole again.

I turned to say something to Lucas, but he was already hurrying toward the altar. He grabbed the length of rope left over from tying Jaime, and jogged to Edward and Jeremy. As strong as Jeremy might be, unless he could behead Edward, this fight required a pair of human hands.

As Lucas approached, Jeremy lifted his head and met his gaze. Then he sank his teeth into Edward’s side and lifted him, to flip him onto his back so Lucas could tie him. Edward slammed his fist into the back of Jeremy’s left foreleg joint. Jeremy’s leg buckled and his grip on Edward slid.

Beside me, Savannah began to cast. I prepped a knock-back spell, then heard Savannah’s incantation and whirled.

“No!” I yelled. “Don’t—”

The last words to the spell left her lips as Jeremy regained his hold and tossed Edward up. As Jeremy swung Edward, he moved into the path of
Savannah’s binding spell and stopped dead. Edward landed on top of Jeremy. Savannah broke the spell, but Edward already had hold of Jeremy’s rear leg. He bit it. Jeremy recovered and twisted, but Edward kept his teeth firmly planted in Jeremy’s leg, drawing blood and injecting his sedative. Lucas lunged at the pair. He caught Edward in the side and knocked him away from Jeremy. As the two skidded across the alley, Jeremy stayed where he was, looking around as if confused. Then he snorted, and slid to the pavement.

Lucas and Edward hit the ground fighting, each grappling for a hold on the other. I prepped a binding spell. I knew I couldn’t use it while they were tumbling together, but nor could I risk using anything dangerous. I felt useless enough standing there watching. At least the binding spell made me feel I could stop Edward if things went wrong.

The two men were an equal match in size and strength. Lucas had one forearm jammed under Edward’s throat, so he couldn’t bite, but every time Lucas lifted his free hand to cast, Edward knocked it down.

Edward wrenched away from Lucas and managed to get halfway to his feet before Lucas yanked him down again. They rolled together. When they reached the wall, Edward reared up and twisted. Lucas’s head slammed into the brick.

The blow dazed Lucas only for a moment, but in that moment Edward saw his chance. His head arched back, mouth opening. I cast my binding spell—cast it too fast and knew before I even finished that it hadn’t worked. Savannah and I both raced toward them, but we were ten feet away, too far to cover the distance in time. As Edward’s head swung down for the bite, Lucas recovered and ducked. Edward’s fangs still caught the skin of his neck. As Lucas tore himself away, a fine mist of blood sprayed across the alley. The air surrounding Lucas started to shimmer. He dove out of the way. I grabbed Savannah and yanked her backward.

Edward stopped. He saw that first glimmer of the portal and his lips curved in a slow smile.

“Natasha,” he whispered.

Lucas pitched himself at Edward, trying to shove him away from the portal. And Edward let him. He knew the portal wasn’t about to open. Not yet. He hadn’t spilled nearly enough of Lucas’s blood. Edward grabbed Lucas by the hair and snapped his head back, teeth arcing down to tear through his throat. Lucas’s eyes went wide as he realized his mistake.

“Binding spell!” I shouted at Savannah.

As she cast, I dove for Edward. I caught the back of his shirt and threw myself sideways. I managed to rip him away from Lucas, but not before
his fangs made contact. More blood sprayed. The ground began to vibrate.

Edward wrenched away from me. As my grasp on his shirt slipped, Savannah cast her binding spell. Edward froze. Lucas wheeled to grab him.

“No!” I yelled. “Go!”

He hesitated.

“Get away from the portal!”

Lucas’s gaze darted from me to his father to the portal, shimmering behind me. Then he turned and jogged toward the other end of the alley.

“Keep holding him,” I said to Savannah. “I’ll grab the rope.”

Something moved behind Savannah. It was just Jeremy waking and lurching to his feet, but the sudden motion startled her and the binding spell snapped. Edward tore free of my grasp. Lucas spun around, saw Edward, and lifted his hands to cast.

“No!” I shouted. “Keep going!”

Lucas hesitated only a second before racing down the alley. Edward shot after him. And I followed, passing Jeremy as he tried to shake off the sedative, growling softly.

Ahead, the two men disappeared around the corner. A moment of silence. Then trash cans crashed like cymbals, the sound not quite drowning out a yelp of pain. I hiked up my skirt and tore down the alley.

I rounded the corner as Edward sprang to his feet, recovering from whatever spell Lucas had cast at him. With a roar, Edward threw himself at Lucas. Lucas backpedaled and lifted his hands to cast again. Then Jeremy skidded around the corner. He whipped past me and launched himself at Edward. As Edward fell, Jeremy clamped his jaws around the back of his neck. Then he pinned him to the pavement, forepaws on his shoulders, mouth still on his neck. I raced in with the rope. Lucas grabbed Edward’s hands, yanked them behind his back, and I tied them with the best knots I knew, then let Lucas add his own, just to be sure.

When we’d finished, I turned to Savannah, and nodded. She cast a binding spell on Edward. And it was over.

As Jeremy Changed back, I cared for Lucas, casting a spell to staunch the dribbling blood flow, then wrapping his neck with strips of fabric from my dress. Then, leaving Savannah in charge of the binding spell, we hurried into the alley to free Jaime and Benicio. Lucas headed straight for his father.

Jaime had her head down, but on hearing me, she looked up and flashed a wide grin.

“Hey,” she said. “Everything under control?”

“Yes,” I said, kneeling behind her. “Thank you so much. You were amazing.”

At a noise of assent behind me, Jaime looked up and, from the sudden light in her face, I knew who was standing there. I glanced up at Jeremy and motioned to the ropes.

“Do you mind?” I said. “My fingers are too slippery. Sweating pretty hard, I guess.”

He nodded and circled Jaime. “I’ll start with your hands. If I pull too tight, just say so.”

“Ummm, not yet, okay? Hold on for a minute. I’m still trying to figure out how to escape.”

“You don’t need to escape, Jaime,” he said gently. “It’s all over. I can untie you now.”

“Oh, I know, and you can, just as soon as I figure out how I
could
have done it. It’s humiliating enough to be kidnapped, tied up, and need rescuing. At least I have to be able to say, ‘Thanks for setting me free, but I was actually just minutes away from doing it myself.’ ”

A low chuckle. “I see.”

“What do you think of lip gloss?”