Witch & Curse (44 page)

“When the moon in the sky is round and bright
Evil comes out to play that night
Witches cavort and mad men rave
And creatures reach out from beyond the grave.”

—Druid Prophecy

FIVE

QUIET MOON

Green man hear us as we plead
Grant us the power that we need
In the darkness we crouch and wait
Help us as we hone our hate

Goddess help us in our quest
Keep our enemies from rest
In the stillness let them hear
Their own hearts pound loud in fear

The Cathers/Anderson Coven: Seattle, October

Kari frowned as she glanced at her watch. She was leaving her apartment, joining the throngs of Halloween celebrants as she walked toward the secured parking lot where she kept her car.

She was running late to catch the ferry for the Circle meeting. She and Circle Lady had been engrossed in an e-mail conversation that she had been loathe to break. The two had spent less time contacting each other as
Kari became more involved with the coven. It was safer that way, but she missed the conversations with the other woman, so it had been a nice surprise when Circle Lady had IMed her about an hour ago and said, “How are you?”

At least, I think she's a woman. Problem with the Internet is you never can tell
.

Kari had spent time pouring out her frustrations about Jer and Holly to Circle Lady—boy-girl stuff, like how come “Warlock” had basically dumped her and what could she do about it? Of course she hadn't mentioned anything about magic, battles, blood feuds, possession, or Black Fire. In fact, she'd managed to leave magic out of the conversation almost entirely.

Circle Lady had asked a few questions about Warlock—how he was, etcetera—and Kari had shot back, “Who knows?”

Which was true.

She was at the lot; the attendant, dressed in devil red, a pair of short horns sticking out of his dark hair, grinned at her as he unlocked the gate.

“You going' to a party?” he asked conversationally.

“Yes,” she replied, distracted. “A party. Uh-huh.”

“No costume,” he chided.

“I'm going as a witch.”

He shook his head. “You need a broom. Pointy hat.”

She glanced uneasily at the sky, looking for falcons, glancing around for burning bushes, not loving any of this. She remembered the conversations she had used to have with Jer back when she was stupid and naive, had done everything she could to get him interested in her so he would show some magic to her. She had begged him to let her help him with his rituals. It had all been so exciting back then, dark and a little dangerous.

Well, now it's a lot dangerous, and I'm not sure how long I can take this. Nicole had the right idea bailing like she did. If it wasn't for school I'd be out of here in a minute
.

That wasn't entirely true.

Okay, and if I knew Jer was safe, the dork. Even if he's hot on Holly, I still care about him
.

She drove to the ferry landing, parked, figured out which ferry to take, and noticed with a mixture of relief and apprehension that it hadn't left yet.

I wouldn't mind missing this meeting. Sparks are gonna fly, if I know Holly. And I am not loving meeting on a ferry in the middle of Elliott Bay. We might as well hold signs over our heads for Michael to read:
DEAD MEAT
.

She hesitated for only a moment before climbing out of her car. After all, there was safety in numbers, and the way things had been lately, she could use a little safety.

The ferries of Washington State were sleek and modern vessels replete with nice lounges and snack bars. As the costumed crowd swarmed onto the Port Townsend ferry, Holly got herself a Diet Coke and found a large table that would accommodate the entire coven, if they squished in. She wondered if Kialish's father would show. He was a friend of the coven but not a member. Maybe he would feel that he had no right to interfere.

She sipped her soda, waiting nervously, distractedly admiring some of the costumes—lots of fairies, lots of guys with pretend axes in their chests—wondering what was going to happen. She pressed her fingers to her temples; she'd have to ask Amanda for some aspirin when she showed up. The last of the supervision seemed to have gone, but it had left a nasty headache. It didn't help that she couldn't figure out why on earth Tante Cecile had insisted they meet on water.

Last call was sounded and the ferry began to cast off from the dock. It was after dark, and the glittering lights of the Emerald City played out in the side windows; ahead, the water was dark and deep.

There was still no sign of anyone else, and she began to worry.

Did something happen to them?

She wasn't certain whether she should go in search of them or stay put; she decided to stay where she was.

The engines picked up speed and the ferry moved into the waters, leaving behind the city.

Still she waited. Half an hour dragged by.

Then she finally saw Eddie, who turned and gestured to someone behind him. Kari and Amanda caught up to him, Kari glaring at her; the three trooped toward her, and Kari demanded, “Where have you been?”

“What do you mean?” Holly frowned. “I've been here. Isn't this where we planned to meet?” It seemed the logical location.

“You weren't here,” Amanda chimed in, also looking peeved.

“I was too.” Holly felt her temper rise. “You must have missed me.” Then she looked past the three of them. “Where's everyone else?”

“We don't know,” Eddie said, looking unhappy. “We figured they were with you.”

“Something's up,” Holly said. “Meeting out here is crazy.”

“Tante Cecile said it was the best place,” Amanda said. “She called me and said so.”

“Well, where is she?” Holly asked.

“Look,” Eddie cut in. “Whatever's going on, I
don't like it. And I for sure don't like the idea of you splitting on us to go on your big quest to ‘save' Jeraud Deveraux. You're our leader.
You
can't abandon us the way Nicole did.”

Holly took a deep breath. “I thought about that.”

Eddie visibly relaxed, his sharp features softening. “Oh?”

Kari, however, frowned and said, “Holly, if you sense that he's alive and you don't do something about it—”

“I'm going to do something about it,” she cut in, her voice rising. “I'm handing leadership of the coven over to Amanda.”

“Fine,” Amanda bit off. “I'm leader.” She glared at Holly. “You can't go.”

“
You
have to be leader.” Eddie balled his fists in anger. “You were chosen to be the leader. You carry the power.”

It was Holly's turn to raise her voice. “Don't tell me what to do, Eddie. Your coven couldn't protect him. What makes you think ours can? The vision got sent to
me
. By my ancestor. To save him.”

“Because she's in love with Jean!” Amanda exploded. “She doesn't give a rat's ass about what's happening to us with Michael. She's obsessed with her dead lover, and they can be together through Jer and you. She was as
ruthless in her day as any Deveraux, and she doesn't care who dies trying to save her little channeling partner.”

“I. . . I. . .” Holly faltered.
I love him. But Amanda has a point. Is that any reason to abandon these guys?

“I forbid you to go,” Amanda announced, drawing herself up imperiously. “And I will do everything in my power, magically and otherwise, to keep you from going.”

As if on cue, the floor began to shake. The walls rattled; some guys at the next table over frowned and said to Holly's group, “Wow, tough takeoff. We're from Montana. Do they always do that?”

“No,” Holly said, glancing at Amanda. “And they don't take off, exactly.”

The vessel shuddered again. Voices began to rise. A man got to his feet and said over his shoulder, “I'm going to go see what's going on.”

“Something's wrong,” Holly said. She stood.

The others followed.

As they made their way out of the snack area and past the rows of theater-style chairs, the enormous report of an explosion rocked Holly and sent her sprawling. Parts of the ceiling fell loose; a window buckled; the boat began to list.

Claxons blared an alarm. A man's voice interrupted the elevator music that had been playing and said,
“Ladies and gentlemen, please stay calm. Please proceed to a designated life jacket area, where you will receive a life jacket from one of our easily identifiable crew members. Please stay completely calm. There is no reason for panic.”

“Bite me!” Eddie shouted. “There's plenty of reason!”

Scrambling out of the middle of the walkway toward the wall, then thinking better of it because of the exploding windows, Holly closed her eyes and invoked protection; Amanda joined in, and then Kari and Eddie. They ran, joining hands; as one, without discussion, they went outside.

“Are there life jackets out here?” an anxious woman wearing a cheery Halloween sweater yelled in Holly's face. When Holly didn't respond quickly enough, the woman darted past her to another passenger, glomming on to him and shouting, “I need a life jacket!”

The ferry was lurching forward awkwardly like a giant child's pull toy on a string. It was also listing heavily to the right. Passengers were fleeing out the doors, jostling the four; screams rose in the night as the shriek of grinding metal rose higher and higher.

Then a strange, alien wailing filled the air, joining with the claxons in a terrible cacophony. The wailing
was coming off the side of the ship; Holly burst through the massing throngs and fought her way to the railing.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed, looking down into the water.

Shrouded in darkness, occasionally illuminated by the lights of the ferry, it was a nightmare, a creature composed of huge taloned claws, tentacles, a clawed beak, and eyes that glared balefully up at her. In its eyes—each as large as a car tire, each a bloodshot circle of blackness—gleamed not precisely intelligence, but an evil intention, a hunger, a glee. It blinked when it saw Holly.

It knows me
.

Birds wheeled overhead, shrieking and screaming as they dive-bombed at Holly. She saw that they were falcons, blue-black and aggressive, several times nearly hitting her as she ducked.

Then creatures emerged from the dark water on either side of the monster; they were of vaguely human shape, but covered with scales, their fingers hooked. As Holly watched, they hammered their hooks into the side of the ferry and climbed their way up the hull, very fast, very close.

The ship listed again, harder.

Eddie came up beside her and grabbed her arm. “I
think it's going to sink,” he shouted.

She pointed. “Look.”

As its minions hoisted themselves nearly to the top of the rail, the monster rose from the waters, hefting itself up on some giant stalk or pair of legs—God knew what—and its tentacles whipped in Holly and Eddie's direction.

Eddie grabbed her, throwing his arms around her and pulling her away from the side.

The ferry canted again. Passengers lost their footing and slid toward the wheelhouse containing the snack bar and the rows of chairs. Holly and Eddie were swept up by the momentum, and together they slammed hard against the bulkhead.

Amanda was on the ground with a huge gash in her forehead. Kari was bending over her, shouting to Holly, “Do something!”

“Amanda, are you okay?” Holly cried. She put her hand on her cousin's head and murmured, “Heal her, my Goddess.”

Amanda looked up at her, blood gushing from the wound. “The Goddess isn't the one who put it there, Holly.”

“Michael Deveraux!” Kari shouted to the falcons swarming above them. “I'm going to kill you myself!”

I knew this meeting was wrong. I knew it!
Holly
thought, fury mingling with fear.
I should have said something, should have refused to come
.