Chapter Thirty-Seven

 

It was a little out of their way, but when Holly called Delphinium to tell her the new plan, she’d agreed that it was worth trying. They did, after all, have their backs to the wall in this conflict and their disadvantages hadn’t gone unnoticed by anyone.

“If you think they’ll help us.”

“They will,” Holly assured her. And why shouldn’t she know that better than anyone? It was her gift. She could see into people. She knew what they were capable of, for better as well as worse.

Eric didn’t know how to set his cell phone to speaker, but apparently Holly did. Delphinium’s voice rose from the phone so that he and Marissa could join in the conversation as needed (though Marissa was too exhausted to say much). “The dark energy is still growing, but I sense the magic man hasn’t quite found us.”

“He knows about the farmhouse,” said Eric. “Big Ugly back there said so.”

“I don’t doubt it,” she replied. “But I’m not sure he can actually find it. Not yet, anyway. The blanket should protect us a little while longer.”

“But he will get past it.”

“I have no doubt. We have no choice but to be ready for him. Grandpa taught us how to combine our magic to defend ourselves against powerful enemies. The problem is that once we use those spells, the blanket won’t be able to hide us from him. We simply can’t suppress that much energy.”

“And you can’t risk doing that until everyone’s there,” reasoned Eric.

“Right. As soon as we reveal ourselves, we have to assume he’ll attack. If he breaks through before Holly and Marissa get here, I don’t think we’ll have the strength to fight him off. Even then…I can’t be certain…”

“We’ll be there,” promised Holly. “And we’ll be even stronger.”

“I hope so,” sighed Delphinium. She didn’t sound nearly as confident as Eric would’ve liked. “Regardless, I’d say we have very little time left. Another hour, maybe. That energy is becoming extremely focused. His eye is turning this way. A storm is brewing.”

“We’ll be there,” Eric promised. “And to make sure the fun doesn’t start without us, I’m going to have Isabelle call you and stay on the line until we get there. She’ll be able to tell me in a hurry if anything happens. And she can keep you informed of where we are at all times, too.”

“Good idea,” agreed Holly.

Delphinium thought so, too.

“Just be ready for us,” said Eric.

“We will.”

Holly hung up and handed Eric back his phone.

I’M ON IT, said Isabelle.

Thanks, Eric thought.

YOU’RE WELCOME

Looking back at Holly in the rearview, Eric said, “This’ll take at least another twenty minutes. Why didn’t you just have them meet us at the farmhouse?”

“It’s part of Del’s blanket spell,” she replied. “Only those who’ve been inside the house since the spell was cast can find it. Everyone else has to be shown the way. Otherwise, you’d drive around all day and never get any closer.”

Eric nodded. That made sense, he guessed. Delphinium kept telling him that the magic man shouldn’t be able to find them, but she hadn’t explained why. He’d wondered what was keeping him out all this time.

Then a realization occurred to him and he slapped himself on the forehead. “Paul!”

Holly looked up at him, surprised. “What?”

“My brother! He’s been trying to get here to help me all night!”

“He can’t.”

He threw his hands up, exasperated. “Obviously. No wonder he wasn’t able to find it!” Now he felt like a first-class jerk. Poor Paul had spent the entire night driving all over the state of Illinois, probably spending a fortune on gas. He’d been having a terrible time, dealing with wrong turn after wrong turn, plus flat tires and an overheating engine…

“Nobody told you?”

He shook his head. “It never occurred to me to ask.”

Now that he was thinking about it, he recalled Jude saying something the previous day, back before they’d even arrived at the farmhouse, something about it being hard to find. But he hadn’t bothered to explain it. Had that been the kid’s idea of a joke?

No. Probably nothing so cruel. Chances were that it was a matter of trust. He was willing to put his faith in Eric because his mother’s spells had told him to, but he knew nothing about Eric’s brother. After that, Jude probably hadn’t thought another thing about it. After all, he’d barely walked through the door when he was faced with the news of another death in the family. Poor Marie, who was even younger than he was.

“Sorry,” said Holly. “I thought you knew.”

“It’s okay. I’d started to think something was weird hours ago, but I thought maybe it was the magic man doing it. I never dreamed that Delphinium’s spells would keep out a friend.”

“It keeps out everybody. None of us would’ve been able to find our way back to Del on our own. We needed someone to come and get us and bring us home.”

Eric nodded. “Which was why she didn’t just call you all up and have you rush home to her.”

“That and the magic man would’ve come after each of us as soon as she contacted us. It would’ve been like sending up a flare. A direct connection under the blanket fractures the spell. The energies would’ve aligned like a beacon. He would’ve killed at least one of us right then and there. And it’s not like any of us own a car, so he probably would’ve had time to pick most of us off before we could get there.”

“But we’ve been talking to Delphinium all night on the phone.”

“Yeah, but we’d both been inside the farmhouse. We’re a part of the spell now. It gives us certain privileges.”

Eric nodded. That made sense, he guessed. As much sense as anything else, anyway. But it left one thing he needed to take care of. “Isabelle,” he said. “As soon as you hang up with Delphinium, call Paul and explain this mess to him. Tell him to just turn around and head home.”

There was no way he and Kevin were going to be of any help now. If he’d figured this out earlier, he could’ve had them meet him at one of his many stops throughout the night, someplace not enchanted by Delphinium’s magic. Clodsend Park, for example, or the Luscher hospital. But it was too late now.

“And tell him I owe him some gas money.”

SURE THING

Eric frowned at the phone. He hadn’t expected her to respond. She should’ve been able to hear him, but not reply. She was supposed to be talking to Delphinium. “I thought you were—”

I AM. I GUESS I HAVE MORE THAN ONE LINE

“Huh. That’s convenient.”

IT IS. I’VE NEVER TRIED IT BEFORE

Eric considered the possibilities. If they could keep a line open and still communicate, she could allow him to talk to anyone anywhere. But then again…he could also just call them up himself…on his phone…

Well, at the very least, she could let him know what was going on at the farmhouse without disconnecting from Delphinium’s phone. That was certainly helpful.

IT’S KIND OF DISORIENTING, THOUGH. I DON’T THINK I CAN KEEP IT UP FOR LONG

“Just keep an eye on the farmhouse for us. You’ll know if we need you.”

K. GOOD LUCK

Holly had turned her attention back to Marissa. She was no longer bleeding, but the bruises had only grown darker and the swelling in her face was worse. One of her eyes was almost swollen shut.

“How’s the arm?” she asked.

Marissa tried a smile, but it wasn’t very convincing. “Hurts.”

“Del will fix you up.”

She nodded, but she didn’t look confident.

Suddenly, another thought occurred to Eric. If the magic man was so determined to destroy the coven, then why had he not killed Marissa when he had the chance? She was beaten and helpless. Why just hand her over so that she could return to Delphinium and bolster her defenses?

It was like the way he just stood there in the second floor window of the Wordsley House. If he was so determined to kill them all, why did he keep letting them go?

Something didn’t add up.

What was he missing?

Marissa looked up at Holly again. “Are we going to be all right?”

Eric watched them in the rearview. He could see that Holly wanted to tell her it would be, but she couldn’t lie. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “All we can do is believe in Del. And in Eric.”

Eric sighed. He didn’t want to be the one giving these women hope. He was desperately afraid he was going to fail them.

He drove on in heavy silence until, at last, they pulled into the parking lot of The Dirty Bunny and parked beside a cluster of vehicles that were of various sizes and conditions, but were each and every one a pickup truck.

Norval was waiting for them, just as he’d promised Holly he would be. With him were five more men his size. Eric had only seen five bouncers when he was inside the building, and two of those guys weren’t here. Half of these men he’d never seen before. Some he’d probably just missed during the short time he was inside. Others likely had the night off or simply hadn’t arrived for their shift yet. For all he knew, they might not even work here. But they all shared that huge, solid-as-granite-but-not-exactly-ripped physique and again Eric wondered where all these guys had come from. It was like the club owner was building them in the basement.

Also present in the small crowd were four women. Eric recognized Margarita and Emily from the night before. He also recognized the brunette. He didn’t know her name, but she was the one who collided with him on her way out of the dressing room while he was still looking for Holly. She was in her underwear at the time and had called him a pervert. (Awkward.) But the fourth was a tall blonde he didn’t recognize. He didn’t think it was just because she had clothes on. Like the three unfamiliar men, he didn’t think he’d actually seen her when he visited the club.

Although he’d never say it out loud, the whole scene in that parking lot kind of looked to Eric like a redneck tailgating party, like the group would soon break out a couple of barbeque grills, some Tupperware bowls of wings and lots of coolers of beer.

As far as armies went, it was pretty pitiful. Six strip club bouncers and four strippers (or three strippers, anyway; he couldn’t be certain about the blonde) was hardly the Marines. But in a pinch, Eric thought it was pretty impressive. Better yet, he saw that most of them were armed. Two of the bouncers wore gun belts, though heaven only knew where they found belts big enough to fit around their massive waists. Two others were holding deer rifles in their immense arms. One had a machete, of all things. Eric might’ve laughed, but the truth was that it had better reach than the cursed dagger under his seat. Even the touchy brunette was brandishing a deer riffle with a shockingly pink stock. (He didn’t even know they came in that color.)

As he came to a stop, Holly slid the door open and hopped out of the van, utterly unintimidated by the gang of brutes. “You all came!” she gushed.

“Of course we did,” said Norval. “You said you were in trouble.”

Margarita rushed forward and hugged her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. What’re you doing here?”

“Same as everyone else, of course. We heard you needed us.”

“You shouldn’t have. It’s dangerous.”

“We don’t care!” snapped Emily.

“We’re all here to help,” agreed the blonde.

Eric stepped out and slammed the driver’s door behind him. “How the hell did you stir up a mob this big so fast?”

“It’s a small town,” said Margarita. “We’re all kind of connected.” She slipped a cell phone out of her pocket and held it up.

“If it wasn’t such short notice,” said the man with the machete, “we probably could’ve gotten a lot more.” Eric didn’t remember seeing this guy at the club. He would’ve remembered a braided ponytail that trailed all the way to his waist, or at the very least the tattoos that circled his throat like a collar.

More would’ve been good. Even this rowdy bunch might not do much good in the end. But the odds were at least a little better now.

“What’s going on?” Norval asked. “You said something about some guy trying to kill you and your sisters?”

“We’ll fucking kill this guy,” snapped Margarita, inciting a murmur of agreement through the group.

Holly didn’t have to even answer. Norval’s eyes drifted to the van where Marissa was looking out from the open side door. One look at her puffy face and his soft, furry features hardened at once. “Who did this?”

“Someone dangerous as hell,” said Eric. “They call him the magic man. And he’s murdered three girls already.”

The gang of bouncers began murmuring among themselves. The one with the bristly mustache, the one who’d warned Eric that he wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the girls what felt like days ago, stepped forward. “What about the police?”

“The police don’t have a chance at stopping this guy,” Eric replied. “They don’t have a clue what they’re even looking for. Even if we told them, they wouldn’t believe us.”

“Why?”

Eric glanced at Holly. “It’s…a little hard to swallow, but…”

“We’re witches,” Holly told them.

For a moment, they all stared at her, as if waiting for her to shout, “Just kidding!” Then one of the men laughed.

Holly didn’t give them a chance to mock her further. She threw her hand out to the side and shouted. A warm gust of wind blew past them. About forty feet away, at the edge of the parking lot, exactly where she’d aimed, the eight-inch-wide trunk of an oak tree exploded into a shower of splinters.

She had their attention now. All of them jumped. Several spouted crude curses. A big, bald guy with a scraggly goatee and a lot of scary-looking tattoos crossed himself. Norval’s eyes had suddenly grown huge.

Holly’s knees went weak. Eric rushed to her and took her arm, but it wasn’t necessary. Norval was at her side even before he could reach her. For a big guy, he was surprisingly fast.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Eric told her. “You need to save your strength.”

“What’s wrong with her?” asked Norval.

“She can only do that once before she needs to rest,” replied Eric. “Most of her sisters are like that.”

“It’s why we need your help,” said Holly. “The magic man…”

The other bouncers were gathering around, listening.

“Who’s this magic man?” asked Norval

“We don’t know, exactly,” said Eric. “He’s… Um…” How did he put it? A dark figure from her adoptive grandfather’s past? A murderous magician who spouted fire and conjured an army of monsters?”

“Evil wizard,” offered Holly.

Amazingly, Norval nodded and stood straighter. Apparently, “evil wizard” was good enough for him. “Okay then,” he said, looking at Eric. “I protect the girls here. It’s my job. It’s what I do.” He glanced again at Marissa’s swollen face. “I’m in. I don’t care how weird it is.”

Several of the other bouncers agreed without hesitation.

Eric was amazed by how fast the big guy had accepted all this. He hadn’t been sure coming here was worth the time. He thought they wouldn’t believe a word of it. But he understood perfectly the part about protecting the girls being his job. It was kind of his job, too, after all.

And then there was the little matter of Holly’s other special talent. According to Poppy, she had the uncanny ability to make people want to help her. He wondered how much that had to do with it.

“We’re not letting this sicko hurt anyone,” growled Margarita. “Bruja or not.”

“You’ve tried to protect me since the day we met,” said Emily. “It’s my turn now.”

Holly took her hand. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“I’m not planning on letting you ask.”

“Forget it,” said Margarita. “She’s got her stubborn on. You ain’t got enough magic to keep her away.”

Holly smiled, but she looked worried. Clearly, she didn’t expect such a turnout for her little call to arms.

Some of the bouncers, however, were less than certain. They didn’t understand what was going on. They didn’t want to get involved. But Eric saw their eyes drift to the van. Marissa had stepped out and was standing beside the sliding door, her hand resting on the handle to steady herself.

Those uncertain faces hardened again.

“You need to understand,” said Eric. “This is dangerous. The magic man is something right out of a horror movie. He may not even be human. He can drip fire from his hands. He was the one who torched the bar last night.”

“That was him?” blurted the bouncer with the ponytail and the throat tattoos.

“That was him,” confirmed Eric. “And he can summon monsters. Nasty things. Ugly.”

“I told you I saw a monster in the fire!” said the one with the mustache. “I told you!”

“Probably an imp,” said Eric. “About so tall,” he held his hand down around his knees. “Little head, big ears and eyes, sharp claws.”

He nodded. “Yeah! That’s it! It came out of the burning bar and disappeared under the tables!”

Several of the other bouncers were muttering to each other. Clearly, Mustache had already described this thing to them and Eric had just confirmed his story. He looked especially smug about it.

“I knew I wasn’t crazy!”

“Not at all.” Eric held his hands up, showing them a few of the bite marks he’d received during the night. “He has hundreds of them. And other things, too. Bigger things. Worse things.”

“And who are you?” asked another bouncer. This guy, Eric recognized. He was the guy running the register when he first came here, the guy with the eagle on his hat who took his eleven dollars. “You a witch too? Or…wizard…or whatever…?”

Eric shook his head. “I’m not. I’m just—”

“He’s the guy our spells said was the only person who could save us,” interrupted Holly. “And he’s asking for your help.”

More murmuring.

“What’ll we have to do?” asked Mustache. “’Cause we’re not exactly Hogwarts graduates.”

“Exactly,” said Eric. “When magic fails, I’m afraid Holly and her sisters are going to be in big trouble. There’s one thing we don’t have and that’s muscle. We need a last line of defense, something to physically keep the monsters off them, to buy them that extra time while we fight the magic man. In short, we need big guys who can kick some monster ass.”

“This shit is crazy,” said a neatly dressed bouncer that might have looked like any ordinary guy, maybe a realtor or something, if not for the fact that he was twice as wide and at least three times as heavy as he should’ve been. He had a fairly handsome face and wore khaki pants and a bright green polo shirt that were perfectly unremarkable except for their immense size. “You know that right?”

“Of course it is,” said Eric. “We’re asking a lot of you.”

“They need us, man,” said Mustache. “I’m in.”

“Thank you, Bernie,” said Holly.

Eric glanced at her. Mustache’s name was Bernie?

“Crazy,” the realtor-looking bouncer said again.

“Maybe,” offered Eric. “But what do you have to lose by coming to see for yourself?”

He glanced around at the others, saw he was the last one convinced, and shrugged. “Okay. Where to?”

“Follow us,” said Eric. “We’ll take you there.”