43. Chapter 43
Chapter 43
The Goddess showed me Justine and Kate staying behind in the car, unconscious as they sent their everything to help me, guarded by Benji and Ria. She showed me using the glowing white pendant to find where the harkan rested in a library. The crystal glowed malevolently in its box, pulsing with the desire to destroy but hampered by my mum and our bloodline. It needed a bond to be truly unleashed.
The vision shifted and the Goddess showed me Frogmatch slipping silently into my skirt pocket, then she showed me Bastian and Shirdal fighting a chimera. She showed me the truth seeker crying in her cell and Benji pulling her through the walls. The Goddess imbued a sense of trust as I saw the truth seeker, for whatever reason, the Goddess wanted me to trust her. Finally, the Goddess showed me , raising a blade high and sobbing as I brought it down .
I jerked back to my body. Blinking rapidly, I cleared my eyes. Somehow, even though we’d left Benji guarding the others, he would make his way into the building. I grimaced. The vision had hardly been useful, apart from telling me we could trust the truth seeker, I didn’t know what else I’d gleaned from it that we could use.
‘All right, Bambi?’ Bastion murmured, pulling me into his arms. ‘You left us for a moment.’
‘The Goddess sent me a vision, though I’m not sure why. It wasn’t especially helpful. She agreed with us leaving Benji, Ria, the Mother and The Maiden behind though.’
‘At least we know we’re on the right track.’
‘I guess. She showed me you and Shirdal battling the chimera, and Frogmatch hiding in my pocket for some reason. ’ I rested my head against his chest as I struggled to understand what I’d seen. ‘I really just want to go home and read a good book in the bath.’
Bastion’s chest vibrated with silent laughter. ‘Later, witch. I promise I’ll give you your heart’s desire as soon as we have vanquished some evil.’
I mock sighed. ‘You always want to vanquish evil first. Your priorities are all wrong.’
‘It will give me the opportunity to kick down some doors,’ he teased. ‘You always enjoy that. ’
My skin warmed; something must be wrong with me because I really did enjoy watching him do that. He’d once pulled an evil witch’s curse down on himself by trying to impress me by kicking a door down. At the time I hadn’t been impressed, but now that he was mine something about the raw display of strength made my knees go weak. Though watching him do dishes still topped the list.
‘Goddess help me but I do,’ I admitted.
That made him laugh again. ‘Was that so hard to admit?’
‘Yes.’
He grinned. ‘Come on, let’s go and spring a trap.’
‘I wish you didn’t sound so excited,’ I muttered. ‘Last time we sprung a trap, there was a chimera and I got kidnapped.’
‘And there’ll be a chimera this time, too. The difference is that this time we know to expect it and we won’t be on the back foot.’ He fixed me with a hard look. ‘I’m loath to be separated from you after we’ve already been apart for so long, but I’d rather you were far away from the chimera. You’ll have Oscar and Frogmatch guarding you, and your athame and a tonne of potion bombs. And this time, you’re not ditching your guards, are you?’
‘Nope. No ditching here. I’ll be super good,’ I promised .
‘You’d better be or we’ll be talking about it later,’ he growled at me. Then he leaned forward and kissed me until I couldn’t see straight.
I hated that it tasted a little like a farewell.
The witches were an essential part of the frontal assault. We crept forward, paintbrushes at the ready. When we touched the walls, the wards lit up like a Christmas tree at a shopping centre. With Ethan and Jacob to my right and Meredith and Melrose to my left, we all started painting cancelling runes.
‘There are scorpion runes!’ I hissed a warning to the others. ‘Be careful!’ I painted quickly, deactivating the murderous wards hidden among the innocuous ones. Kate and Justine had given me their magical power and energy and I felt like a three-year-old who’d eaten a bag of candyfloss and then downed an espresso coffee. I was so hyped up it was hard to contain my energy. I painted with a speed and efficacy I had never dreamed of acquiring.
When both teams told me that they were ready, I pulled down the wards. Bastion could have coaxed them down, but he had reluctantly admitted that pulling down that volume of runes would have left him tired and weakened. I wanted him to be neither of those things if he might be facing a chimera again.
With the wards down, Bastion kicked down the door with his black military boots. My insides warmed. Man, I really did love it when he did that.
‘Spread out,’ Shirdal instructed. ‘Find the truth seeker or the harkan.’
A scream that was both a sibilant hiss and a roar rang out. ‘The chimera is here,’ Oscar grimaced.
‘We’re ready for her,’ Bastion said grimly. ‘Stick to the plan.’
I pulled out my pendant. ‘Show me the way to the harkan,’ I instructed it. It rose from my chest and pulled me forward. I let the magic guide me, with Oscar and Mum following close behind.
My sister-blessed pendant tugged me towards a set of mahogany doors that I recognised from the vision. This way, Princess, Abigay’s voice whispered in the chambers of my mind. Be on your guard, she warned.
The pendant pulled me towards the library I’d seen in the Goddess’s vision, but before I could open the door Ria came running down the corridor .
‘Ria?’ I asked in confusion. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be with Benji! ‘What the heck happened?’ I demanded.
‘We got attacked! Benji’s hurt! Hurry!’
Dammit, not again! ‘You stay here,’ I ordered Oscar and Mum. ‘Find the harkan. We’ll get Benji and join you.’
‘We shouldn’t split up,’ Oscar argued.
‘I have Frogmatch. Just find the damned crystal!’ I barked. The imp was in one of my pockets, waiting like a live grenade. ‘I’ll just be a moment,’ I promised.
‘This way!’ Ria shouted urgently as she ran further down the corridor, looking back urgently at me.
‘I’m coming! Lead the way.’
Ria moved back the way she must have come and led us through a series of winding corridors before finally arriving at another door. We followed her in. The large room contained only a few rickety looking wooden chairs, a host of dark shadows – and an unconscious Benji slumped on the hard wooden floor.
As I crossed the threshold, wards snapped into place, snaring us in the room.
Damn it.