Triumph of Chaos (Red Magic) (17 page)

“I want to fix what I’ve broken.”

She nodded, and I felt a strange sense of calm wash over me.

“Join hands. Mortals and gods alike, and prepare to act as a conduit for power. What flows through you will be very strong: do not let go of the hands beside you, or the spell will be for nothing.”

Set smiled hungrily. “Think these Witchlings can handle it?”

Ben looked up at him. “I’m ready for whatever happens.”

Set chuckled and nodded to Pele. “I can see why you picked this one.”

The Polynesian goddess didn’t say anything, but I could see her flaming eyes sparkle for a minute. Then she reached out and took my hand, and I felt my bones begin to melt.

Persephone grasped my other hand, and I gratefully released the energy into her. Power coursed around the circle, making a complete circuit before building like a snowball. We were enveloped in a hazy glow. Red, Yellow, and Blue energies spiraled around us toward the sky in a sort of inverted funnel cloud. Brad stumbled, but Set and Pele held him up firmly, and he didn’t break the circle. Faintly, I heard Izzy begin to hum, just like she had when we’d first met to discuss forming a Coven.

The power built until it felt as if I was floating. I shut my eyes and focused on squeezing the goddesses’ hands on either side of me.

Suddenly, there was a crack like thunder, only it seemed to come from the earth beneath us. My eyes flew open as searing pain shot through my head. Pele gripped my hand tightly, and I moaned. In one final burst of energy, Loki materialized in the flames.

He lunged for me. “You can’t do this! I am free and will not be bound.”

“Now!” Persephone commanded, and without knowing what I was doing, I leaned forward, breaking the circle, and thrust all the energy into the center. Everyone around me did the same. Persephone pulled the chains out of the bag and flung them toward Loki. A column of flame shot into the air, and there was another cracking sound. The ground rumbled, and I fell back in confusion.

“We don’t get earthquakes in North Carolina!” I had to scream to be heard over Loki’s cries. Pele laughed beside me.

“Anywhere that one is, the ground will quake. Look!”

A chasm had opened up in the middle of my yard, rock and soil ripped apart by some great force. The ground rumbled again, and the fire pit teetered precariously on the edge of the rift. Loki was still standing in the flames, and I realized he looked like he’d been put in a straight jacket. He struggled against the bonds, and the fire pit tilted dangerously to the side. “You can’t confine me!” he spat, locking eyes with me. “I will always break free!”

The ground shook, tipping the fire pit and the bound god over the edge and down into the chasm. With a shriek, Loki tumbled into the earth. The fire pit disappeared with him, and for a moment, everything was still. My chest constricted painfully, like someone was crushing my lungs, but I forced a breath. As if I’d cast a spell, the ground began to move again as soon as I exhaled, and the ragged edges of the yard pressed back together. It was like watching a video played backward, and in seconds, there was no sign of Loki, the fire, or his bonds.

My ears were still ringing, but at least I could breathe again. I inhaled deeply, and then I sat up in relief. “Did we do it?”

Persephone shrugged. Sweat stood on her forehead, and she looked exhausted. “We won’t know for sure until you face Hecate. If Loki is still free, she will win.”

“But if this worked?” I persisted.

Set grinned wickedly at me. “Then you might just have a chance. Although,” he added, “I don’t usually bet on the underdog. I expect you to take action soon or even my wife won’t be enough to keep me on your side.”

He vanished into the air. Isis gave her sister an exasperated look, but Nepthys just shrugged, her gaze steady.

“We needed his strength,” was the only explanation she offered, her face expressionless. Then she, too, vanished.

I stared at the spot where the ground had opened up.
Gods, I hope this worked.

Izzy knelt beside me. “We’ll know soon enough, I guess.” She helped me to my feet, and we turned toward the house. Pele nodded to me once, and then smiled at the twins before she vanished. Isis disappeared in a rainbow shimmer, and after a moment, Persephone nodded. “We can hope this will be a start,” she said, her eyes searching mine, “but the battle is not yet won.”

She disappeared before I could say anything.

Brad and Ben were buzzing from their first magical experience, so I ordered four pizzas and told them to stay. If they were anything like the Witches I was used to, they’d be able to eat a pizza each at least. I was starving. Magic always left me feeling empty, and the quickest way I’d found to come back to myself was to eat something. Izzy had once told me that bread and honey was the best cure, but pizza would have to do for now.

Izzy curled up in the padded recliner in the living room, looking a bit like a frightened cat. I crossed to sit on the arm of her chair, not touching her but close enough to hug her if she wanted. She didn’t move, just sniffed and stared into the room with glassy eyes.

“Is this about Set?” I asked quietly. Brad and Ben were loudly debating how much they should tip the delivery guy when he got there, and they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to us. I wondered if she hadn’t really meant it when she said she forgave the god.

Izzy nodded. “I haven’t seen him since … ” She trailed off and shuddered.

“But he can’t be all bad, right? I mean, he helped us deal with Loki.”

She met my eyes. “He kidnapped me. He locked me in the darkness and kept me away from everything that mattered.” She paused. “I forgive him,” she finally ground out, “but that doesn’t mean I trust him. Why would he help us now?”

I shrugged, uncertain. “Lorna might know more. After all, Nepthys is his wife, and she was here today too.”

Izzy didn’t say anything else, but her face was hard. Even after the food arrived and we all fell on it like starving refugees, she didn’t talk. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to be captured by a god and then to stand in a circle and work magic with that same god. No wonder Izzy looked like a nervous wreck.

“That was wicked!” Brad spoke around a mouthful of melted cheese, and I had to smile.

“Wicked as in evil, or wicked as in cool?”

He rolled his eyes. “What do you think? What a rush!”

Ben nodded, folding his slice of pizza in half and cramming most of it into his mouth. “I’ve never felt anything like that.”

“What
did
you feel?” I asked, curious. I’d only ever talked about magic with trained Witches; was it any different for Nons?

“It was like fire. Like liquid fire flowing through my body.”

I chuckled. “That might be because you were holding Pele’s hand.”

Brad nodded thoughtfully. “Could be. What does it feel like for you?”

I paused, considering my words. I glanced at Izzy, but her eyes were still distant. “It’s like electricity,” I began. “Like I’m a conduit for the biggest electrical charge on earth.”

Ben leaned forward eagerly. “Does it feel the same when you do magic alone?”

I smiled, hearing the emphasis he put on the word “magic.”
These two have certainly come a long way in a short amount of time
. “Sort of. Not as strong, though.”

“So magic in a group is stronger than individually. That’s interesting.”

“I wonder if that’s why my school never taught us to work together.” The thought had just occurred to me, but it made a certain amount of sense. Trinity didn’t seem to want to train powerful Witches. After all, I’d been kicked out as soon as I declared to the Red path.

“At my school, they taught us to do magic together and separately,” Izzy said softly.

I looked at her, but her eyes were still unfocused. “Maybe that’s another difference between the American and European systems. The American system values the individual, but at the same time, it doesn’t let its Witches get too powerful.”

Brad laughed. “It’s all about control. But you’re breaking tradition.”

His words raised a faint sense of alarm in my mind, but I couldn’t understand why. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said honestly.

Ben cocked his head on one side. “Fighting chaos. You’re trying to make things better.”

I forced a laugh, but guilt pinched me. “I’ve had so much success up ‘til now.”

He shrugged. “Maybe you needed the strength of a group. Maybe now that you have one, you can make a difference.”

Brad flicked on the television. “Let’s see who needs to be helped!” His words were mocking, but I noticed that he leaned forward on the couch eagerly, flipping channels. Maybe these two wouldn’t be so bad to work with.

“Wait, go back.” Izzy spoke suddenly, her voice sharp, and we all looked at her. She gestured to the TV. “Go back a channel.”

Brad obliged, and for a minute, we stared at the screen. The images and words didn’t reach my brain at first, but I finally processed the scene of devastation. It looked like countless shots I’d seen of the Middle East ever since the wars began, but there was something familiar about the gaping crater on the screen. I stared at it, not understanding, and then the news anchor’s words penetrated my mind.

“A suicide bomber decimated the state capitol building in Raleigh this morning. The death toll remains uncertain, but a large peace rally was in progress at the time of the explosion. It is estimated that at least two hundred people were in the immediate vicinity at the time of the blast. Emergency crews are still searching for survivors.”

Black and gold spots swam across my vision.
This can’t be happening.
I had the vague sensation of someone holding me close, but my ears were ringing, and my vision was blurry. I croaked, “Mom, Dad?” and then I threw up on the rug. After that, everything went black.

My nightmares were punctuated with fire and mangled body parts. I kept searching through the rubble, looking for my parents, but all I found were bloody fingers and legs. It was impossible to identify anyone from the mass of pieces, and the stench of decomposition filled the air. I stood on the charred marble steps—all that remained of the capitol building. Rochelle stood above me, looking out at the chaos.

“You’ll never win. You burned a house, I destroyed a city. Give up, Darlena, and maybe I’ll let you die peacefully.”

“You did this? How? This isn’t your territory.” I stared at her numbly, trying to understand.

She laughed harshly. “Fool. As a Red, I control Europe. But I am not only Red.”

Black smoked surrounded her, blotting out my sight, and I woke up with the harsh sound of her laughter grating in my ears.

I was alone in my room. A melted ice pack was sitting on my forehead, but I pushed it away. Slowly, I sat up, trying not to remember the ghastly images of my dream. The room was dark, and for a minute, I was disoriented: what time was it? Had it all been a nightmare?

Then I heard a high-pitched keening sound coming from the hallway.

I stumbled out of my room and stared. Xerxes sat in front of my parents’ bedroom door, yowling. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. In seventeen years, I’d never heard the cat make a sound like that. I knelt to the floor and held out my hand, desperate to comfort him. “It’s okay, buddy. Come here.”

The cat ignored me. He kept wailing like a mourner at a funeral, and reality crashed into me. Even if my dream had been wrong, the cat knew.

My parents were dead.