Summon (3 page)

Swallowing a crazed bellow, I clenched my hands
into fists to stave off frenzy. They grew cold from lack of circulation. “Where
are you?” I searched the sky struggling for breath. Everything blurred.
Darkness crept along the edges of my vision. “Please.
Please
.”

“Breandan.” Ana lurched onto her feet. The magic
flowing from her leaked into the air, pooled around her in a black mess. “Rae
has a body.” She pointed at the flames. “Drag her out and finish this.”

Startled by the vehemence in her tone, my gaze
dropped to the pallet where we’d placed Rae’s body.

The flames slid over something, a solid mass moving
in the centre.

A figure.

Mumbling thanks to other gods, my feet moved before
I consciously made one foot step in front of the other. I reached the pyre and
marvelled at the intensity of the hue.

A hand reached from the flames, fingers curling.

Tucking the athame into my belt, I clasped the
seeking limb.

My heart raced in relief as I gripped hot skin, and
my flesh remained unburned. I pulled. My muscles bunched from the strain of
holding on. It felt as if I uprooted something buried in the earth rather than
the other half of my soul, a small slip of female.

The weight grew, the firelight became blinding, and
my grasp slipped.

My eyes slitted, and my body stiffened, defiant.
I’d rather die. Fall into the flames and
burn than let go.
Grunting, I thrust in my other arm, seeking, searching.
There.
With a yell of triumph, I grabbed
a fistful of soft hair and yanked.

The top of a head appeared, hair tangled and inky
black.

The hand I held reached higher to clasp my forearm.
Flesh-coloured talons dug into my skin. I ignored the sharp bite and fought to
step back, pulling the body from the pit.

I will
not
let go.

The slender body emerged from the fire, skin
reddened and damp with sweat, whole, and unhurt. Her legs were all that
remained trapped.

Rae whimpered and struggled in my hold.

“Breandan!”

My head snapped up.

Ana collapsed into a heap, blonde hair fanned
around her twitching body.

Lex stood over her, grinning wickedly. Magics
crackled at her fingertips. “My end will not be brought by a mere witchling.”

Obe pressed his palm to the invisible wall. After a
moment’s contemplation, he pushed. The power of the circle became unstable as
he breached it. “Cease teasing, Marinette.” His voice echoed profoundly. “We
leave.”

Marinette scanned the gathering. Her gaze swept
past me then wheeled back, eyes narrowing, covetous. “Patience, Damballah. I
must leave the girl a gift.” She smiled slyly. “It’s because of her we return.”
Her gaze slid to Roland. He patted his body with satisfaction. “You will enjoy
this, Malice.”

Magics and shadows coalesced. Marinette’s red
shimmer of power took shape.

Face lit with glee, Malice gurgled and rocked side
to side.

I blinked.

Hard.

A male stepped from the darkness. Tomas’ head
whipped around in bewilderment. Blanching as his gaze landed on me, his face
tightened as his attention dropped to the female in my arms. Expression
blanking, he skulked into the shadows, fading.

Shaking with anger, I ignored what must be a hallucination.
“Come on, love.” I drew deep and yanked with all my might. “A little more.”

Marinette glared at the body cradled in my arms.
“Douse the flames.”

Malice arched a brow then shrugged. He spun and
unleashed a torrent of icy wind.

My power fuelled my strength, and I had no choice,
but to curl my body over Rae’s and brace for pain.

Lochlann dove in front of us. He countered the loa’s
airstream by weaving a shield of energy. The wind battered the arched shelter,
but it held.

Weak-kneed, I rushed to free the rest of Rae’s
body.

Malice whooped, and hurled brutal flurries of air,
the casting becoming increasingly dangerous.

The epitome of a warrior, my brother blocked each
assault.

Malice’s boyish features darkened with feral
delight. He gloried in the deadly sparring, and laughed aloud as Lochlann
counter-attacked with a blizzard of sparks that singed the hair on his head.

Enraged by the display, Marinette hissed. She
pushed the mischievous godling aside. “Move, you grinning idiot.” She tossed
her hair over her shoulder. “I’ll do it myself.” She swept Lochlann off his
feet with a wave of the hand and curled her fingers into a fist.

Roaring in anger, Lochlann lifted higher into the
air and rotated until he was upside down.

Marinette dropped her fist with guillotine-like-speed.

Lochlann slammed into the dirt headfirst. Blood
pooled around his body. Racing to his side, Daphne’s eyes turned black as she
dropped to her knees, and dragged his head onto her lap.

Electricity charged the atmosphere and Marinette’s
hair stood on end. Her eyes glinted with malignant purpose before rolling up.

Lightning cracked the sky. The clouds rolled low
and turned stormy.

A deluge of rain pelted the Wyld Heart, flooding
the earth.

Marinette’s long hair plastered to her head and
shoulders. She cackled, flinging up her arms to beckon wind hurricane strong.
It swept across the clearing. Branches ripped from the trees. Leaves and twigs
moved at ferocious speeds becoming deadly weapons from the sheer force
propelling them.

The flames of the pyre shrank. The winds rushed
into it as it imploded.

Slipping in wet soil that sucked at my boots, I ran
out of time, and using the strength of gods, I pulled the body from the fire.

The flames shrivelled and plunged the clearing into
darkness.

Rae’s footfall went wrong. I was too weak to
support our weight, and we fell. The mud was cold and thick. It splashed onto
my face and sluiced down my back and side.

Heart thumping, I wrapped my arms around the
precious bundle. I buried my face in the crook of Rae’s shoulder. Inhaled the
fresh smell of flowers and cut grass. My chest heaved, burned from smoke
inhalation, but I couldn’t let go to gulp down the air my body craved.

After a beat, I eased my hold. I didn’t want to
crush her bones.

Shaking, Rae wound her arms around me. Her hair
tumbled around us as she pushed me back to lean up.

For an instant, I stopped breathing.

Defenceless against an onslaught of feeling, I fell
into the depths of well-deep orbs, deprived of other sights than that of her
face. There was no help for me, ever unable to fathom how her eyes enraptured
with but a glance. How they irrevocably trapped this unsuspecting onlooker in
love’s chokehold. A grip so assured, yet welcomed, no measure of bereavement
eased the ache of its loosening.

I tumbled, no, leapt into the abyss of churning
emotion draining me of strength to stand, to resist the firm weight of her palm
on my chest.

Her pushing hand became a soft petting. I wanted
the comforting touch to continue without end.

She blinked as if clearing a mist, and her gold
irises locked on mine. Recognition averted her gaze before it snapped back. Her
mouth parted, and her breathing turned shallow.

I wanted to shout in triumph as her surprise was
swept aside by remembered adoration, a love that humbled me. Her feelings
transformed her expression into the embodiment of beauty.

This creature I pulled from the fire was delicate.
Exquisite. Her presence stirred a greedy need to hold her close. My heart
seized, skipped a beat then thudded fast, unabashedly spurring me on, demanding
I hold her to my chest and escape.

Dark wreathes of hair framed her heat-shaped face.
Beneath the dirt, her cheeks were flushed from the heat, and translucent with
youth. Her complexion glowed. It revealed the power restrained within. I felt
it. Revelled in the glory of imbibing strength derived from our connection. A
bond I unthinkingly cursed, but now clung to with brash desperation. Pulsing
brightly, her magics were a damned flood waiting to breach its fragile
confinement. A wave that crested then crashed when my own swell of power didn’t
rise in challenge.

 
I
stroked the curve of her sooty cheek, my touch reverent and light. I feared
she’d break apart at too solid a contact. “Love, I–” Speech failed me.
Shame absconded though my eyes were wet. I didn’t care if I looked weak. Rae
was in the circle of my arms.

Eyes shifting to fix over my shoulder, her brows
lowered in a frightening scowl.

I adored her for it.

Rae’s face was my sun, but I managed to tear my
gaze away, and tipped my head to follow her line of sight. Gripping the rounds
of her shoulders, I wanted to roll her under me for protection. Instead, I
tensed and glared.

Three menacing silhouettes stood at the edge of the
circle.

Damballah lowered into a battle pose yet he
retreated. With a sweeping look at the demons cagily advancing, he balked.
“There are too many to fight unprepared.” His husky rasp tinged with alarm. “We
leave. Now.” Shooting a stern look at his fellow godling, he became a maelstrom
of radiant light.

Winking at Daphne, cradling Lochlann’s bloodied
head in her lap, Malice chuckled and threw up his arms. The motion conjured a
thunderclap. He was consumed by heliotrope smoke that shimmered with amethyst.

Waiting until our gazes clashed, Marinette blew me
a kiss. Her eyes gleamed with a promise. “We’ll meet again. Soon.” Laughing,
she exploded into hundreds of black moths with scarlet-tipped wings.

The trio tore from the Wyld and disappeared into
the night.

Rae moaned and wilted. She clutched at my shoulders
as her soul separated from her body then fell back inside her skin. Energy
poured from her mouth, eyes, and nose in wispy vapour icy to touch.

Panicked, I tried to scoop it into her body.

“Breandan.” Ana’s voice was a shout in the silence,
her frame limp on the ground. Though she fought to keep them open, her eyes
closed. “Finish it.”

I snatched the athame from my waist, the blade wet
with red liquid, dripping with it.

Grabbing the back of Rae’s head, I looked her dead
in the eye to warn her, but she slipped away, fear-widened eyes staring as her
hands fitfully groped. Her body became rigid against mine as her magics spilled
from her and floated around our tangled legs, the chalky cloud chilling our
flesh.

My face twisted as I plunged the blade into her chest.

Back arching in a violent buck, Rae’s misty gaze
snapped into focus and she screamed.

A blast of energy knocked those standing off their
feet.

The last ember of the pyre died.

CHAPTER THREE

Lochlann

Hair
wild about her elfin face, Rae skirted the edge of the group. The boughs of
ClanTree arched overhead and entombed her in its smoothly twisted branches as
if it was sentient and drawn to her nature.

Clothed in dead flowers and blackened leaves on
shrivelled twine, Rae resembled a dryad crafted by nature itself. The vines
twisted around her leg, draped across her hips, waist, and blanketed her upper
torso.

The burnt remnants were her burial shroud. An ugly
reminder of what she’d suffered.

Rae stroked the shrivelled flower on her waist and
it bloomed. She continued this idle stroking across her stomach and hips until
the entire length of twine regained its lush green beauty.

As she walked the soil beneath her feet sprouted
weedy grass.

The atmosphere surrounding her teemed with life.
Vitality. It was brighter, vivid, and elemental. Power seeped from her skin and
rejuvenated everything she brushed past. The wind rushed through the leaves,
and they rustled in harmony. Night birds chirruped and flitted across the tree
canopy. Owls hooted. Nocturnal animals scurried in the undergrowth, and from
dark places peeked at her.

Kian, a fairy Knight and loyal follower from my
Tribe, followed her with hawkish eyes.

He gawped as flora shrinking in the cooler autumn
air bloomed and strained on their stalks as she aimlessly wandered. He turned
to me with hope blazing in his eyes.

The kind of faith I’d hoped she would inspire.
Just not like this.

“We have an affinity for nature,” he said. “Our
magics is born of the earth, but she is breathtaking.
What
is she?”

Lies could not pass my tongue. I said nothing.
There were a chosen few who knew the truth of Rae’s return, and they were sworn
to secrecy.

I prodded the side of my head. My skull healed from
the damage the loa inflicted when she swatted me as if I were a fly, but it
remained tender.