The Banshee's Embrace (4 page)

             
"Stay away from her."

             
"Would that I could, but it doesn't work that way. She's an anomaly. A freak of nature. I must have her." She lowered her voice. "He says I must."

             
"Who does?"

             
"One like you, of course!" The woman laughed softly, but her eyes were full of disdain as she spit out the words. "One like you who sings of ancient powers and spells. My master. I get him what he wants. I don't have to be polite you know. I could take her by force."

             
"I won't let you."

             
"Have it your way, my handsome man." The woman looked at him thoughtfully, and then slowly raised her hands. "Have it your way."

             
A burst of green light shot from her hands, and Toby quickly side stepped it. It burned a hole into the wall of the bar. Moving fast, he muttered his own spell and threw a white fireball at the woman, which hit her in the arm. Angered, she dropped all pretense of being young and beautiful. The old hag glared at him before tossing a green ray of light. Toby parried it with another fireball.

             
"You can't keep her!" The hag shouted.

             
Thinking quickly, Toby tossed two fireballs in a row at her. They slammed into her midsection, lighting her robes up. She looked down at herself and then fell to her knees. Panic flashed in her eyes as she reached towards him. Cautious, he stepped closer. That had been almost too easy.

             
"I'm her clan spirit," the hag whispered. "She must take on the mantel I leave behind. It's been a year. What's happened to her isn't natural and the others want her badly."

             
"Others?" Toby kneeled, ready to hit her with another spell.

             
She looked at him, still clutching her midsection, but her face was back to the lovely young woman's guise.

             
"Please. She has to die. It's the only way she'll be safe. You
know
I speak the truth."

             
Toby stared at her and nodded. He understood precisely what she meant, though the understanding didn't make things easier.

             
"There will be others coming," the woman said, sadly.

             
With a loud, mournful cry, she exploded.

             
The smell of burnt sulfur hung heavy in the air. The odd sense of somebody watching from the bushes reminded him of a year ago, when Jacqueline had first come to his attention.  Toby turned his head to study the area.

             
"Reveal," he whispered and waved his hand.

             
Nothing out of the ordinary appeared.

             
With a long sigh, he hurried back into the bar. Jacqueline stood in almost the same place he'd left her, but now her face filled with wonder.

             
"What are you?" she asked.

             
Toby flinched at the question. God, how he hated having to explain what he was. Now that she knew about his powers, no doubt she would turn tail and run. Women were all the same.

             
"What are you?" she asked again, a little more forcefully.

             
"Are you okay?"

             
"Dammit, Toby, just answer my question."

             
"I'm a wizard."

             
She frowned and tilted her head to the side.

             
"No, really. What the hell are you?"

             
"Really. I'm a full-fledged, card carrying member of the Brotherhood." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a white card with gold edging.

             
"B.O.M," she read out loud. "Bomb? What do you guys do? Shoot off explosives?"

             
"No," he said, trying to stifle a smile. "It stands for Brotherhood of Merlyn."

             
She stared at him again.

             
"Sounds like a club for gamers. Do you guys do a lot of role playing games?" She laughed, but the sound was tinged with hysteria. "Maybe dress up in wizard hats with pointy stars at the top?"

             
"I'm a wizard, but I don't have a hat."

             
She handed him back the card. "Look I don't know what was up with the crazy light show outside, but I think you should consider coming up with a better line than the I'm A Wizard thing."

             
"Really? Then what do you call yourself? I know you're going through changes that haven't exactly been the normal rites of passage."

             
"I should go." She looked nervously at the window behind him. "It's late and I'm confused about a lot of things. Is that woman gone? What did you do to her?"

             
"I sent her to a better place." He watched as her face paled. "You're right though. It's late and you should go on home. Get some rest, Banshee."

             
Her body stiffened.

             
"What did you call me, Toby?"

             
"Banshee." He gave her a second to process that and then added, "I saw what you did tonight. I know that you pulled Belinda's soul from her."

             
"You could see that?" Hope lit up her eyes. "So I'm not crazy?"

             
"The jury is still out on your craziness, but I know what I saw. I've been asked to keep an eye on you, too."

             
"Why?"

             
Toby stroked his beard, debating how much he should tell her. Telling her too much could send her running to the wrong people. Not telling her enough could get her killed. Neither were pleasant to think about.

             
"You are special, Jacqueline," he said. "You aren't a full blooded banshee yet. That makes you unique, powerful, and very wanted."

             
"I thought banshees were dead spirits," she whispered and sunk down in a chair.

             
"They are. And that's why you are so valuable to certain people. You aren't dead, and yet you can steal souls."

             
"I don't steal them."

             
"Not yet. You haven't learned how."

             
She wrapped her arms around herself and then stared at him with her big brown eyes. "What do you mean?"

             
"You are a soul stealer, Jacqueline, destined to help people cross beyond the veil and into the next dimension."

             
"What about the old woman? Was she a…banshee…too?"

             
"Yes."

             
"What did she say to you?"

             
He warred with himself. The old woman had spoken the truth, but he wasn't sure how Jacqueline would take it. Why was he the one that had to deal with this? With a small growl of frustration, he took a deep breath.

             
"Jacqueline, you are going to have to die, and I'm the one who's going to have to kill you."

             
Jacqueline gulped and took a step back.

             
"Did you say you were going to have to kill me?" She stared at Toby, unable to hide her shock.

             
He frowned and stepped towards her. She countered by taking another step away.

             
"I think you should stay right there," she said. "I have a cell phone in my pocket, and I'm not afraid to use it."

             
"What are you going to do? I could take it from you before you even had a chance to dial." Toby looked amused by her threat.

             
"Oh yeah?" Jacqueline pulled the phone out her pocket, trying to ignore how shaky his words made her. "Take that!"

             
She threw the phone at Toby's head, childishly pleased when it hit him square in the forehead. The look on his face of pure astonishment would have made her laugh, but right then she decided to use his shock to her advantage and take off running.

             
"Oh, shit," she heard him mutter.

             
She'd just reach for the handle of the bar's door when a tugging sensation stopped her. Her body moved in slow motion, as if frozen in some sort of invisible gel. Though she tried with all her might, she couldn't seem to reach the door.  What was going on?

             
Toby walked up next to Jacqueline, unaffected by whatever force held her.

             
"Sucks, doesn't it?" He shook her cell phone. "I'm a wizard, Jacqueline. Though I admire your tactic, a cell phone to the head is hardly going to stop me."

             
She tried to open her mouth, to say something, but nothing came out.

             
"Don't bother trying to talk. This spell kind of puts everything in limbo." Toby stroked his beard and gave a long sigh of frustration. "Look, you didn't give me a chance to explain what I meant. I don't intend to actually murder you
tonight
or anything like that. So you can relax where that stuff is concerned. But like it or not, you are a banshee and we need to talk a little bit about what that means, how it happened, your husband, and whole bunch of other unpleasant shit that will be tough for you to wrap your mind around."

             
Her husband? What did Eric have to do with anything? But even as she thought that, the memory of those crazy sparks she'd seen fly from his hands the night of his death came back to her. She'd tried hard to forget about that stuff, tried to pretend she'd imagined it. Denial held more appeal than facing the fact that something strange had happened to her. But now…

             
And what did Toby's ominous words about not murdering her tonight mean? That he would kill her tomorrow? Two weeks from now?

             
"I'm going to release you from limbo, but I want you to sit down. Give me a chance to explain." He waved his hand in front of her saying, "Release."

             
Immediately the tugging sensation stopped. Jacqueline breathed deeply and turned to Toby. He gave her a small smile and gestured for her to have a seat. Wary, she followed his direction, trying hard to fight off the exhaustion and dizziness that threatened to overtake her.

             
"Now let's start from the beginning. When did you first become a banshee?" he asked, sitting down opposite her.

             
"A year ago today." She watched him nod, as if this wasn't really news to him. "This is the anniversary of my husband's death."

             
"I'm sorry," Toby's voice was a low rumble.  "How did it happen? I remember reading about it in the papers, but the details are fuzzy. He was a cop, right?"

             
Jacqueline nodded.

             
"I'd been out with some friends, a girl's night thing. When I turned on to my street, I noticed right away that something was off. It was raining, but…well, it looked like it was raining only at my house." She paused and rubbed at her temples. "I didn't know what to make of it. I pulled into our driveway, and just as I was getting out of my car, a man grabbed me."

             
She shuddered at the memory and Toby leaned forward. "Go on, Jacqueline. Tell me the rest. I'll believe you."

             
She gave him a half smile. "Sometimes I don't even believe it."

             
"Give me your hand," Toby instructed her. "I can make this easier."

             
Hesitant, Jacqueline held out her hand.  Though he grasped it gently, a small spark of electricity jumped at their touch. Surprise crossed his face, but he gripped her hand tighter.

             
"What was that?" she asked.

             
"Ever been touched by someone and then gotten a little shock? That means they have some magic in them somewhere."

             
"That happens to everyone though."

             
"Everyone has a little bit of the gift." He smiled at her doubt. "I can't believe your husband never explained any of this to you."

             
"Why would he?"  Eric had been a cop and while he would talk about his day, he'd never been graphic in the details. She'd never wanted him to be.