Now or Never: Wizards of Nevermore (26 page)

“Which they cannot do! When it comes to crimes of magic, the entire Court decides the punishment, not just one House, and certainly not the House from which the perpetrator belongs!” Leticia’s anger vibrated in every word. “I bet the entire Grand Court is in an uproar. Washington must be in chaos right now.”

“We have to focus on what’s going on here,” said Gray. “The prophecy said that the star twins accessed the key to the world. I think that’s why they need the
nemeton
—it’s where the Goddess fountain must be accessed. It’s the only place with enough power to open a portal for Kahl. And Norie’s blood has to be spilled on the altar to make that happen.”

“Why my blood? Why not Cullen’s?” She sent an apologetic glance to her brother, which he acknowledged with a quick grin.

“A woman’s virgin blood,” said Gray.

Norie felt her cheeks go hot. “Oh.”

“At least we know how the Ravens got into Nevermore,” said Gray. “The town’s magical protections recognized your blood connection to Mary Clark.”

“So I let them in?”

“Not on purpose,” said Cullen. “This isn’t your fault.”

“If we can stop Deshane from completing the ritual,” said Gray, “then the Ravens might rethink the whole idea of war. They can’t win without the demons.”

Norie stood up and made her way to the front of the cell. “Are you okay?” she asked Taylor quietly.

“Just pissed off,” he said. His gaze softened. “You?”

“Bruised ego,” she said. “Not much else.” She looked at him, really looked at him, and saw that he truly was okay. She felt like her time was coming to an end, and she didn’t want it to. For so long she’d felt she had nothing to live for. And now she’d found something meaningful in her life. She didn’t want to give up Taylor. Goddess, what she’d do for that man. “Does anyone know what time it is?”

Everyone was suddenly quiet, and she knew then that the entire day had been wasted. Whatever plans they might’ve made, whatever preparations might’ve been made—it was all for naught. It was done.

The Ravens appeared to have won.

She would fight, though. She would fight until the bitter end.

It was as if her thoughts had drawn them into the jail. Four black robes entered the narrow hallway, gliding silently as though they were grim reapers.

Norie readied herself. If she was going down, she would go down hard.

The first black robe pulled down the cowl.

“Mordi!” said Taylor, a rush of relief in his voice.

The other three pulled down their cowls, too, revealing Trent, Ember, and Rilton.

“Well, now,” said Ember. “Let’s get you outta dere.”

“Where are the guards?” asked Gray.

“Taken care of,” said Ember. “How you tink we got dese fancy robes?”

It took precious minutes to unwind the magic used to reinforce the protections on the cells. Norie’s heart pounded so hard, she could hear it thudding in her ears. She gripped the bars tightly, watching the wizards and witches do their mojo.

Finally, all the cells were opened. Ember passed out extra black robes. The idea was to get to the portal in
the break room upstairs. It seemed that the Ravens hadn’t figured out that aspect of Nevermore.

They all donned the robes. Taylor swooped in for a quick kiss and then pulled up Norie’s cowl to conceal her face. It was stupid to feel so happy about that little show of affection, but she was. It made her feel loved.

Oh, wow.

Everything about her life had been crazy.…At least loving Taylor was the kind of insanity that was good. No, fantastic.

She got into the line of escapees heading up the narrow stairwell. All they had to do was get to the portal and go to the Guardian’s house. Gray was sure that none of the Ravens would be able to penetrate his magical protections, especially since it had been reinforced by Lucinda’s thanaturgical gifts. Norie had gathered that Lucinda was quite powerful, but the Ravens had no idea how much.
Good.
Because those bastards deserved to burn.

They filtered into the break room, only to find three Ravens taking advantage of the espresso machine.

“Son of a bitch,” muttered Taylor. “How’d they figure out how to use it so fast?”

While they chatted as though they hadn’t just overrun a town and planned to kill people and colluded with demons…Cullen, Gray, and Taylor walked toward them. As they all turned, the men punched each of them hard in the face.

All three went down, coffee flying and cups smashing.

“Damn it,” said Gray. “Get to the portal.”

Taylor grabbed Norie’s arm and dragged her to the portal. Ember opened it, and Taylor shoved her through, into the cold, dark magic of endless night.

Cullen watched his sister jump into the portal; then he watched as the sheriff went in after her. He’d seen the way they’d been looking at each other, and he had even spotted that kiss Taylor had planted on Norie. Since he’d only recently discovered he had a sibling, he couldn’t exactly play the big-brother card.

He shouldn’t, maybe. But he damned well would.

“You go next,” Ember said to Cullen. “Go on, now.”

He ran across the room. Just as he got to the magical entryway, other Ravens burst into the break room, magic already sizzling around their fingertips. Ember didn’t give him time to make a decision about going or staying. She planted a hand on his back and shoved.

Ember closed the portal and turned her efforts to fending off the Ravens. More and more arrived, filling up the room with their black robes and foul magic. She’d had enough of this evil, and she called upon the Goddess for help.

White light flashed in the room, followed by a tremendous boom. When the light and sound relented, all the Ravens were sprawled on the floor.

“Go!” yelled Gray. Mordi and Trent went first, then Gray and Lucinda, then Happy. Leticia and Roan went next, and finally Ember and Rilton. As they rushed down the hall and out of the lobby, Ember stole another glance at poor Arlene. She was like a statue—one of the victims of the freezing spell that the Ravens had put onto the townsfolk. Everyone who’d had the misfortune of being within a mile of the town had been affected. Ember could only assume the farmers who remained outside of the spell were smart enough to go into hiding. Or maybe the Ravens were in the outer limits causing havoc with the mundanes. She didn’t know. As soon as they rid Nevermore of these pests, the spell would be lifted.

But she couldn’t be worried about that now.

They hurried onto the street, everyone who had magic calling it forth. Rilton stayed well behind the mages, knowing it was the only way to protect himself. She wanted him to go to the café, to stay safe in the confines of neutral ground, but he wouldn’t do it. That was the beauty of having a life partner, a lover, a best friend.

Ravens converged behind them.

And Ember turned her attention to defending herself, her husband, and her home.

Ant didn’t like this shit at all. He and Elandra had hidden out at Mordi’s request. They made the necessary
preparations, and while Elandra stayed behind to put on the finishing touches, Ant used the closest portal to get to town.

He came through in Atwood’s office. The damned place was a mess. He stalked through the office and down the hallway. He peered out the window framed in the door. The battle raged fiercely, and he itched to be part of it. But he couldn’t expend his magic. He needed it all to do what Mordi had asked.

Damn it all.

Mordi wasn’t a full-on magical. She had a communion with the dead because that was her job, her calling. But the Goddess fountain affected everyone, or so it seemed. Or maybe it was just the Goddess sending on a message. Who knew? All the same, Mordi had a vivid dream one night and when she awoke, she knew what was to come, and what she was meant to do.

Trent must survive. He has a great task ahead of him. I know what I know so that I can help him achieve that. I don’t mind, Ant. I’m glad for it. I love him. And I do this for love, and with love.

Mordi’s words echoed in his head like a eulogy.

He stared out the window.

And like a fool, he waited.

Trent tried to protect Elizabeth as much as possible. She stayed behind him for the most part, but he was terrified
for her. Still, he stayed focused, using his necromancy to strike at the Ravens who were flinging their magic at them as hard and fast as they could.

They got separated from the others, but it was obvious that the Ravens were weakening. Nevermore’s witches and wizards were too powerful for the bad guys, and that was the truth of it. But he knew more would come, and more would try.

“Get to the office,” said Trent. “Go!”

“No,” said Elizabeth, somehow managing to stay calm among the sizzling magic battle. Then she yelled, “Trent!” And she shoved him out of the way.

He stumbled hard, falling to his knees as a black lightning bolt slammed into Elizabeth.

“No!” he screamed. “No!”

She fell backward, sprawling in the brick street like a broken doll. Trent slid toward her, throwing out magic at any Raven stupid enough to get close.

He put a protection bubble around them both, a bubble he knew would last only seconds in the magical onslaught. He slid his arms under her. “Elizabeth,” he whispered. “Sweetheart.”

Tears fell down his cheeks at the sight of her. He was a necro. He knew death, just as she did. She was fading fast, her soul clinging like so much smoke.

The bubble popped, and he didn’t care. He didn’t fucking care. Let the Ravens take them both.

“Trent.” Somehow, some way, Ant was there, beside
him, trying to take Elizabeth. “C’mon, man. We have to go.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Trent dully. “Nothing matters without her.”

“You may be right about that,” said Ant. “But let’s go anyway.”

With Gray and Ember keeping the other Ravens at bay, a pathway was made to get Mordi, Ant, and Trent off Main Street.

Trent insisted on carrying her, and when they got to the portal, he stepped through with her dying in his arms.

Norie and Taylor found themselves stumbling onto a narrow dirt path. Taylor didn’t know where the hell the portal had tossed them, until he saw the trees.

Shit.

They were in his forest, close to the
nemeton
.

He grabbed Norie’s arm and started hauling ass away from the—

“Thank you, Sheriff,” said Leopold Deshane as he stepped onto the path in front of them. More Ravens glided onto the path, effectively surrounding them.

“We won’t need the sheriff,” said Leopold as he yanked his daughter out of Taylor’s embrace. “Come along, Norie. Your destiny awaits.”

Taylor punched the first Raven so hard, the man crumpled. These mages were made of glass, too reliant
on their magic to build up some muscles. Then three Ravens grabbed at him, and the fourth came at him with a surge of black oily energy.

All Taylor felt was sudden, searing pain.

Then nothing.

“What the hell is going on?” asked Trent, his voice dull with grief. “What does Tree have to do with saving Elizabeth?”

“She can’t be saved,” said Ant kindly, “and you know it.”

“I’ll put her soul back in,” he said, “like I did for Happy.”

“That won’t work,” said Elandra. “Necromancy cannot undo when a person’s time is come. You know that.”

“I don’t care!”

“We have to do what she wanted,” said Ant. “She wanted to save you, and she wanted to save Tree. With her life force—her soul—she’ll be here forever, Trent. She’ll always be a part of Nevermore.”

Trent sobbed, but he let Ant extract Elizabeth from his arms. He sank to his knees, grief a vise around his heart. Elandra helped him lay her down on a blanket. She put Elizabeth’s hand against Tree’s trunk, and then Ant did the same with her other hand.

Together, they spoke the words, words so ancient, so magical, they permeated the air with life, with all that could be.

Trent watched as Elizabeth’s soul loosened from her body, and with what he could only describe as love, sank into the stalwart trunk of Nevermore’s true guardian.

The Ravens who had not been injured or dispatched fell back from the onslaught rendered by Ember, Gray, Lucinda, Leticia, and Roan. Rilton had relented in his insistence to stay with Ember only because Happy needed to be escorted to the café. “We must get to the café!” yelled Ember.

As the Ravens fell back and stopped trying to annihilate them, they all ran toward the café.

“Why did they stop?” asked Lucy as they all stood in the lobby, catching their breath.

“Why dey need to worry ’bout us?” asked Ember sadly. “Dey got da girl.”

Cullen fell onto the dirt path, landing knees first. The jolt of the impact shimmed up his spine. Damn it. He just couldn’t get the hang of traveling through the portals. He stood up and looked around. It took a moment to adjust his vision to the dark. And that was when he noticed the crumpled form just ahead.

Not. Good.

He hurried to the prone figure and realized right away it was Taylor. He smelled weird, as though he’d been barbecued. “Don’t be dead,” he whispered. Then
he put his fingers against Taylor’s neck. There was still a faint beat there, a pulse. Relief flooded him.

Then the world tilted.

The magic that had felt so locked within him, like a monster that slithered inside, waiting, burst forth.

It flooded over Taylor in sparkling white effervescence.

The sheriff sat straight up, sucked in a huge breath, looked at Cullen, and said, “Norie.”

It killed Cullen to move slowly and be quiet as they trod through the forest. He wanted to rush in, to save the day—to save his sister. He remembered now what it had felt like to take care of her, to feel protective of her. Though born only minutes before her, he was still the older one. He couldn’t believe that Norie was supposed to be a virgin sacrifice to the demon lord Kahl. Ravens and demons working together—that was fucked up. He wanted to hurry to his sister’s rescue. She was the only family he had left, especially given that their biological father was a royal asshole.

He sensed the
nemeton
before he laid eyes on it. It was magnificent. Huge and ancient and…sorrowful. Magic was imbued in those stones, and the Ravens were trying to taint what the Goddess had wrought. Taylor signaled him to stop and stay low. They scurried toward the stone entrance and peered around its edges.