CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

 

Trey nervously paced in the small hotel room Amy and Melissa had arranged for us. Meredith and Beth had gone to the ice machine, and it was just me, pretending to be interested in the television while the strange boy beside me marched around the room.

“Can you just sit down?” I said. “It’s not like you’re accomplishing anything.”

He ignored my request, shoving one hand through his red hair while he marched. “Gathering Deklas and Kartas in one place, it makes us an easy target for Samantha.”

“What’s she going to do, launch her torpedoes at us? Besides, Melissa said none of us are staying in the same hotel.”

That didn’t stop Trey’s pacing. “Will it be enough? How many Deklas are coming? It gives her a chance to—” Trey cut himself off.

I frowned at him. “Gives her a chance to what?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

The hotel room door clicked open, and Meredith and Beth walked in with a full bucket of ice and several soft drinks nestled inside. Beth settled beside me on the bed we would be sharing while Meredith sank down onto the other. Front desk had brought a rollaway bed for Trey, but he still hadn’t opened it or set it up.

“So what happens now?” Beth asked, focusing her attention on me.

I shrugged. “We just wait.” I glanced at the cell phone Melissa had let us borrow.

Trey uttered a low growl of frustration. “We are worthless to them. The only one here who can do anything is Meredith, who still has to spout off poetry to get her powers to work!”

“Thanks,” Meredith muttered. “Feeling really useful now.”

“You?” Beth turned a lifted eyebrow in Meredith’s direction. “He pretty much just said the rest of us are good for nothing.”

Trey threw his arms into the air and walked out of the room.

“Should one of us go after him?” Beth asked.

“Let him stew,” I said. “Whatever is going on is way over our heads. He knows it.”

Meredith flipped on the television and sifted through channels until she found the news. I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the thought that we might get updated information. Luckily the newscaster’s biggest concern seemed to be the early migration of butterflies, and I lay back, letting my mind drift into a hypnotic state of relaxation.

I turned across the pillow and said to Meredith, “Do you have your poem ready?”

She bobbed her head, though she looked uncertain. “I don’t know if it will work on Samantha.”

I splayed one hand wide. “I don’t see why not. Your spells work on me.”

“Yes, well, I don’t know exactly what she is anymore.”

“I guess the best we can do is try. But there’s still the problem of her minions. The army of people she has under her command. You can try the poem on them.”

Meredith didn’t look any more reassured. “And how human are they?”

She brought up a relevant concern, but I brushed it off. We couldn’t be plagued by our doubts. “They’re still human. It will work.” It had to work, because the alternative . . . I began to understand Trey’s frustration.

Where had he gone, anyway? At any moment Melissa might call, and I didn’t want to have to track him down.

Beth stood up and wandered to the hotel window. “A storm is brewing,” she murmured, staring out over the horizon.

Meredith and I joined her, and we stared at the mass of swirling dark clouds centralized over a location a few blocks away. I wrapped my arms around my torso, squeezing my elbows.

The hotel door opened at the same time that Melissa’s cell phone rang. The three of us turned as one from the window as Trey picked up the phone. “Hello?” he said.

Amy’s voice carried through the line. But she sounded panicked, anxious, and Trey’s expression tightened as he listened. He hung up without answering, then looked at the three of us.

“There’s no time for training. We have to go now.”

“So that’s the bat signal,” Meredith said.

No training? Now? “What are we supposed to do?” My voice came out high-pitched, and I gestured out the window behind me. “What are we walking into?” Premonition crept along my spine like the skinny, hairy legs of a spider.

“She’s going to try to turn us all,” Meredith said.

Trey tilted his head, his cold eyes on me. “You are the goddess of fate. You tell me what we’re walking into. You’re the one who can smell death.”

“And on that optimistic peptalk.” Meredith shot a glare at Trey. “Nothing like a vote of confidence to get our spirits rallied. Let’s go. They’re waiting.”

Trey didn’t say anything, just lowered his head and followed us out of the room. But I knew his silence wasn’t an apology. He fully expected us to die or lose our powers and become Samantha’s minions or something like that.

I grabbed his arm as we followed after Meredith. “What did you mean back there? Am I supposed to See something here?”

He shook me off, frustration evident in his entire demeanor. “How am I supposed to know? This is my first rodeo too. I didn’t think it would be my last.”

“Hey. It’s not my fault you lost your powers. That was you not being on your guard. And now you blame me for not being able to save you when you’re the one who’s supposed be protecting me? So just chill your boots.”

He stared at me for a moment, and then his face cracked into a grin. “Chill my boots? Where did you come up with that one?”

My face warmed. “I don’t know, you just seem like someone who would wear boots. Living out here in Hicksville.”

“We’re in Kentucky now. I don’t live here. But this is definitely Hicksville.” His hand landed on my shoulder, and some of the tightness eased out of his mouth. “Do what you can out there. Maybe we can reverse this.” He let go and followed after the other two.

“The people of Kentucky might take exception to that observation,” I muttered. But I didn’t feel any better. Somehow Trey’s attempt at reassurance had only made me feel worse.

I pounded the palm of my fist against my temple. “Remember, Jayne! Put yourself together! All of yourselves!”

“Jayne!” Beth called, and I quickened my pace to reach her.

I was the last one into the truck, which meant I was by the door, again.

“It stinks in here,” Meredith said. “Like sweat and boys.”

“Don’t look at me,” Trey said, starting the engine. “I don’t sweat. That’s on you.”

“I suppose next you’re gonna tell me you’re not a boy?” Meredith raised her eyebrows.

Trey opened his mouth to respond, but Beth burst out laughing, and he promptly closed it.

A phone dinged somewhere, and I turned my attention to Beth as she held up Melissa’s smart phone.

“She just sent me a dropped pin.”

“Great,” Trey said, eyes forward. “Guide me there.”

I bit down anxiously on my thumbnail.

The weather changed as we got closer. The clouds above us looked like a funnel tunnel in reverse, dark gray and twisting.

“How does she control the elements like that?” Beth asked, peering out the window.

“She can’t,” Trey said. “It’s probably Velu Mate. She’s Velns’ mother, the goddess of the dead. That vortex is a portal to the world of the unliving.”

Trey’s grandpa’s truck came to a stuttering halt, and a chilling sense of déjà vu went through me.

“Just like last time,” Meredith murmured.

Unlike last time, we weren’t going to sit here like ducks waiting to be attacked. I pushed open the car door and climbed out. The others followed my lead.

Beth still held the phone out in front of her. “It’s this way.”

No business park this time, no concrete warehouse or parking garage. This time, it was a city park. A running trail wound around the perimeter of the green grassy field, a baseball diamond in the center. And standing at home plate was none other than Samantha. She wore jeans and a pink tank top, looking more human and normal than the first time I’d met her. But somehow, with her black hair billowing away from her face and her hands out at her sides, she fit the perfect stereotype of an evil witch.

Or maybe that fit the hunched old woman beside her, face hidden by a hooded cloak, spindly fingers moving around each other as if caressing an invisible ball. Something about her terrified me, and my feet ground to a halt.

Trey hands clenched and unclenched, and he practically bounced on his heels. “This isn’t right. Why would they stand out there for all of us to see? Taunting us, wanting us to go out there.”

I struggled for breath, not wanting them to see my fear.

“It’s a Dementor,” Beth whispered, and Meredith turned to her.

“Eyes of light, heart of gold, you are ready for this fight,” she said.

Her words prompted an immediate reaction, dispelling the fear as if a flashlight had sliced through the darkness. I inhaled and straightened my shoulders.

“Jayne, Beth.”

My head swiveled around at the sound of our names. Amy and Melissa approached and stopped a few feet behind us.

“What now?” I asked.

“The others are coming,” Amy said.

Melissa pointed behind. I turned around and saw about a dozen people moving closer to us.

“We got five other goddess pairs,” Amy said. “Two of them have their own ragana, and three of them have an Auseklis.” She cast a quick glance at me and Beth. “You are the only two with both.”

I studied the motley group of people as they approached us. Mostly female, of course, and older. These groups had much more experience than me.

Amy looked at me. “Do you want to take the lead?”

“What? Me?” I shook my head. “No! I don’t have any idea what to do here!”

Amy smiled, though it was tinged with sadness, like everything she did. “Follow my example.”

She turned around and walked toward the baseball diamond, where Samantha hadn’t moved except to drop her arms. There was a flash of light, and suddenly Jods appeared beside her. I gave a start. He looked so similar to the other one, the one who kept coming to me. Except where the other one wore grassy reeds over one shoulder, this one exposed his muscular torso with only a woven man-skirt around his hips.

The rest of us fell into place behind Amy. The wind picked up as we approached, whipping Amy’s hair behind her head and tugging at her flowing blouse.

“Samantha,” Amy shouted as we approached within hearing range, “it’s time to give up. Relinquish your hold on the souls and renounce this power quest, and you will be returned to a mortal life.”

Samantha burst out laughing, her voice far louder than it should have been from the distance. “Is that something you think you can grant me? You have no power over me.”

Amy continued unfazed. “If you don’t relinquish them, we will be forced to destroy you. You have broken the laws of nature, and Jumis will not claim your soul for the underworld. There will be nothing left of you.”

The storm darkened overhead, thunder rumbling, and Jods put his hand on Samantha’s shoulder. She visibly straightened, and I narrowed my eyes. Perhaps I had misunderstood the dynamics. It didn’t look like he was taking orders anymore.

“You have no power over me,” Samantha repeated, a twisted smile pulling across her lips. “I’m surprised you dare face me again. I will suck your power from you just like I did your manservant.”

“We have back up this time!” Melissa shouted. “And he wasn’t a manservant!”

One of the women to the right of me pulled back and moved her hands together. Between her palms lightning flickered and then grew, forming an electric ball.

“What is she doing and how is she doing that?” I gasped.

“She’s their ragana,” Trey said. “They don’t just manipulate emotions.”

“You mean I can do that?” Meredith asked, her eyes wide.

Trey didn’t get the chance to respond, or maybe he was never going to, but at that moment the woman pulled her arm back and released the lightning ball.

A wreath of light and smoke wrapped itself across the baseball field, nearly obscuring Samantha and Jods and the old croan. Jods held out a hand, and the light coalesced into a streak before flying into his outstretched palm.

Samantha shouted, “You didn’t really think you could take us out that way, did you? We are not mere mortals.” Even from where I stood, I could see the sneer on her face. “But they are.”

She gestured behind her just as the smoke cleared, revealing thousands of people standing ramrod straight on the baseball diamond, crammed together in tight rows about a hundred across. Before I could even wrap my mind around who they were or what they were doing, Jods released the lightning ball. He stepped out of the way, and the ball crashed into the mob of people behind them.

Several bodies collapsed in the first two rows of people, and panic and fear ripped through my limbs. “No!” I screamed, lunging forward. Shock rippled through me. She was slaying her own army. Trey grabbed my arm, stopping my motion.

One of the women beside me whirled around to the ragana. “Don’t attack again, you might hit the humans!”

“Bring them to me,” Samantha said, her face contorting with an evil grimace.

Immediately her army of soldiers began marching toward us. I sucked in deep breaths, my eyes scanning for Aaron. This couldn’t be happening.

“What are we supposed to do? We can’t hurt them!” I said, tears thick in my throat.

“We have to get to Samantha.” Trey took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I can protect you, but you’ve got to free my powers.”

“How?” I said, remembering our attempt in Maryland to defeat Samantha, feeling the utter helplessness as she claimed Aaron’s soul for her own purposes.

“Last time your sister wasn’t Karta. Last time you hadn’t started remembering the past lives. Last time Meredith didn’t have control of her power.”

He had a point. A lot had changed since last time. But one thing hadn’t. I couldn’t give him his powers back.

Trey let go of my hand. “Defend yourself,” he said, and I turned to see the advancing army upon us.

“I’ll try my poems,” Meredith said, stepping forward.

“I’m not trained in hand to hand combat!” I cried. Since when was this in the job description?

But it must be. The others on both sides were already fighting, arms and legs moving in synchronized battle moves. The only things lacking were swords and shields. Beth and I hung back, unsure of what to do.

Trey leapt in front of us, fists swinging as he knocked a man aside. My throat clenched. He was only human right now, but he was still doing his best to protect us.

“Do something!” he yelled at me, even as one of Samantha’s soldiers punched him in the face. It was a woman, and I cried out as Trey grabbed her hair at the back of her neck and knocked her to the ground with a punch to her temple.

“Is she dead?” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her crumpled form. This was a woman who never should’ve been here. It wasn’t her fate to be in this army.

“Jayne!” Trey’s nose was bleeding, and a guy had his arm trapped. “Which side do you want to win here?”

I jumped into the foray. My doubts hushed as prime fear and instinct took over. I pulled my arm back and clocked the guy in the face with my elbow.

The first time I’d ever punched someone was Samantha when we’d fought in Maryland. The same jarring pain shot through my forearm. Before I could fully appreciate it, the man let go of Trey and reached out both hands for me.

Without hesitating, I dropped into a crouch. I thrust my head into his stomach, wrapped my arms around the backs of his legs, and threw him.

I threw him.

What the heck? I looked at Trey, wide-eyed, and he shot me a grin. “Didn’t anyone tell you you’re a goddess?”

“What?” I gasped out. Someone approached in my peripheral vision, and my hand formed into a fist and lifted, smacking them in the nose faster than I could blink.

Before I could examine my new abilities, a bolt of lightning shot straight out of the whirling storm clouds above us. When it hit the ground, half a dozen small creatures burst out of it and ran in our direction.

Trey swore and said, “Vadatajs.”

“What are those?” Beth squealed. She hadn’t moved, but stood pale-faced and frozen.

“The goblins,” Meredith said behind me. “Little troublemakers.”

And trouble they were. One of them raced right up to Meredith and bit her ankle. She let out a shriek and collapsed, wrapping her hands around the bite.

“It’s just a flesh wound, the goblins can’t hurt you,” Trey said, directing my attention back to him. “Stay in the fight.”

“But they can,” Amy said.

I hadn’t noticed her circling our direction as she and the other members of our side fought their own battles. Now I tried to see who she meant, and the sight sent a cold dread to my belly.

Several other beings had appeared on the field, large and shaped like men, but with the heads of something like a dog. They stepped forward, thrusting some kind of staff into the ground with every step. The staff was tipped with what looked like a very wicked pitchfork.

“What are they?” I asked.

Amy’s eyes narrowed and her lips pinched together. “Cynocephalus. Men with the heads of jackals. The jackal represents their true selves. They made bargains with evil and are no longer men.”

Trey turned around and threw his arms around me, hauling me backward. “She’s right. They can hurt you.” He gave me a shove, sending me stumbling away from the fight, before he turned back around and ran for Beth.