Eternal Magic (Magic for Hire #3)

Chapter 20

Maya watched as Ravyr turned to disappear into the thick shadows, relief racing through her at the sense of him that continued to pulse through her. He might not be close enough to touch, but the feel of his presence bolstered her courage as she marched forward, entering through the same door as the sacrifices.

Whatever happened, sh e wasn’t alone.

A knowledge that filled an empty place inside her heart. Yet another emptiness she hadn’t even realized n eeded filling.

N ot until Ravyr.

Maya clenched her teeth, forcing herself to concentrate on her surroundings. It’d been sheer luck that she hadn’t been seriously injured during the previous attacks. She couldn’t count on continuing luck to keep her alive.

Ignoring the squeak of the hinges, Maya stepped into the vast space with a towering ceiling. There was a musty chill in the air and a heavy sense of abandonment that assured her that the coven wasn’t using this area as their meeting spot. Still, she could smell salt nearby. The witches h ad to be close.

Walking along the nearest wall, Maya pulled a vial from her satchel. It was a simple stun spell that would hopefully give her time to escape if she walked into an ambush. She reached the end of the wall and cautiously pushed open the steel door that led to the connected building. She grimaced as the smell of salt b urned her nose.

This was it. The place where the coven ha d been meeting.

Sweeping her hand over the wall next to the doorway, she found the light switch and flicked it up. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust from complete darkness to the harsh glow of the fluorescent bulbs hanging from the steel rafters, but she was already prepared to see the short, heavy-set woman who was standing in the center of th e cement floor.

Maya remained near the open doorway, her gaze searching for hidden dangers. The building looked like it’d been a mechanic’s shop at one time with wooden counters along the far wall and the lingering smell of grease, but now it was cleared of any clutter and a deep circle had been carved into th e cement floor.

Assured there was nothing hiding in the corners, Maya returned her attention to Lottie Howard. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that the older witch looked like a kind ly grandmother.

Her round face was even more deeply wrinkled than the last time she’d seen her and her cheeks a little less rosy, but her thick silver hair was still pulled into a tidy bun at the back of her head and she was wearing the same style of pantsuit that went out of fashion i n the eighties.

“Hello, Lottie.” Maya continued to hold the vial of potion in her hand, mentally preparing herself for the attack. There was no way that this wasn’t a trap. Unfortunately, she’d reached the point of no return. This ended tonight. “It’s been a while.”

Lottie’s lips pinched, not seeming to appreciate Maya’s friendly tone. “No t long enough.”

“Still bitter after all this time?”

Lottie spit on the cement, just inches from her own toes. “I curse the groun d you walk on.”

“Nice.” Maya pretended to stifle a yawn. When she’d first opened the Witch’s Brew, the older woman had appeared on her doorstep, threatening her with the evil eye and a dozen different hexes if she didn’t pledge loyalty to her coven. Maya had tried to ignore her for weeks, but eventually she’d had to put an end to the woman’s silly threats. Since then she hadn’t given her a second thought. “Where ’s your coven?”

Her lips pinched tighter. “They’re busy.”

“Busy doing what? Trying to r aise the dead?”

Lottie flushed, as if embarrassed by Maya’s blunt question. And perhaps she was. Practicing necromancy wasn’t something you’d want getting out. Not even in th e witch world.

“Our magic is none of your business ,” she snapped.

“It is when you delve into such darkness.” Maya narrowed h er eyes. “Why?”

Lottie thankfully didn’t try to deny the accusation. “I nee ded the power.”

“For what?”

“I ruled New York.” She pointed a finger toward Maya. “This was my city until you arrived and stole every thing from me.”

Maya shook her head in resignation. “There was no need for us to battle one another. We could have easily coexisted if you hadn’t challenged me.”

The accusing finger continued to point in her direction. “This is a ll your fault.”

Maya studied the older woman’s plump face. “Wh at’s my fault?”

Lottie bit her lip, as if realizing she was treading dangerous ground. “All I wanted w as more magic.”

“ From the dead?”

“How else could I compet e with a mage?”

“This was never a competition.”

“Not for you.”

Maya squashed the urge to continue the argument. What was the point? The witch was determined to blame Maya for her weaknesses. Instead, she sent the older woman a glare of disapproval.

“Blood magic is evil. No matter how ambitious you might be, there’s no excuse for sacrificing the innocent.”

Lottie blinked at the accusation. “I’ve never sacr ificed anyone.”

“Don’t lie.” Maya narrowed her gaze. “There are witnesses.”

“She’s not lying,” a voice drawled as a door across the space was shoved open and a young woman stepped insid e. “It was me.”

Maya hid a smile of satisfaction as the slender mage strolled forward, her pale eyes burning with a smug satisfaction that Maya had been lured into her trap.

“Alison, ” she murmured.

“It’s about time you showed up.” Alison tossed her blond curls. “I’ve been wa iting for you.”

“I had better things to do.”

“Just admit it. You didn’t have the skil l to track me.”

Maya shrugged, not about to waste her time with petty arguments. Deliberately she glanced toward Lottie, who was standing in stiff silence.

“Do you two kn ow each other?”

Lottie licked her lips. Was she scared? “She’s a member of my coven,” the older woman said, careful not to glance toward th e younger mage.

“What used to be your coven,” Alison corrected. “It’s under n ew management.”

Maya glanced back at Alison. “You?”

“Who better?”

“Ungrateful bitch,” Lottie muttered in tones low enough she no doubt hoped that Alison wou ldn’t hear her.

The mage’s jaw tightened, but she resisted the urge to punish t he older woman.

“Not ungrateful. I fully appreciate the opportunity to learn my craft, but I was never meant to be a follower. Not after my p owers emerged.”

It made sense to Maya that Alison would decide she was better than the witches once she was revealed to be a mage. What she didn’t understand was why she w as still there.

“Why would a mage be interested in taking over a coven? ” she demanded.

“Every general needs soldiers, especially when you’re going to war.”

“War? Who are you going t o war against?”

Alison’s expression tightened, as if she regretted her overly dramatic proclamation. “Whoever is foolish enough to stand in my way,” she muttered.

Maya glanced toward Lottie in time to witness her grimace of disgust. “And you agreed?” she asked t he older woman.

“It wasn’t like I had a choice.” Lottie glared toward Alison. “Not once she brought those demons into my territory.”

Maya’s brows arched. Witches were humans. They weren’t supposed to know about goblins or fairi es or vampires.

“What demons? ” Maya pressed.

“The ones who crawled through the gates of hell.” Lottie sniffed, still glaring at the younger woman. “I warned you that murdering people was going to summon evil creatures, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

Alison smiled. “Because I wanted t hem summoned.”

“Why?” Maya demanded.

“At first I was simply searching for anything that could give me access to the wild magic. From the moment I was transformed into a mage I could sense it just out of reach. I assumed it had to be found among the forbidden magics, since the power had been cut off for so many centuries.” Her expression twisted with a hint of bitterness. “At least until your precious Peri tapped into the raw power.”

Maya didn’t allow the younger woman to become distracted with the jealousy that obviously seeth ed inside her.

“That’s when you started trying to r aise the dead?”

“Lottie had already trained us in necromancy, but I was the one who created an altar that allowed me to tap into t he dark magic.”

“Did the altar inclu de the mirror?”

Alison nodded. “It was a means of communicating with other necromancers. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that it became s omething more.”

“ What happened?”

“A vision formed in the mirror offering me power. More power than I ever dreamed possible.” A visible shiver of anticipation shook her body. “A promise it would run through me like a river.”

Maya clenched her teeth. “Wha t did you see?”

“Robed forms standing around a flat stone that was drenched in blood. In the darkness I could sense someone watching me.” She paused, nervously licking her lips. “He whispered promises of power, and asked me to prepare f or his coming.”

“You didn’t see his face?”

“No, but his voice...” She sucked in a slow breath, as if still trying to come to terms with what she’d heard. “It shattered something inside me. Nothing mattered but doing what he wa nted me to do.”

Ah. So the vision was a compulsion, not a premonition, Maya silently concluded. And a warning. Whoever was in charge of the robed figures wasn’t just another demon. Or mage.

It had to be a creature with enormous strength to manipulate the minds of others. A vampire was the obvious answer, although even leeches struggled to influence a mage. It was something about their innate powers that protected them. Only a leech with a unique ability to compel others.

A l eech like Batu.

“I’m assuming you were expected to do something to gain y our new power?”

“Nothing is free.” She waved a hand toward the older woman. “Lottie ta ught me that.”

Maya ignored the implication that the older woman had been abusive. “What was the cost?”

“Killing you.”

Years of training allowed Maya to keep her expression smooth. “Why?”

“He didn’t say. Just that you needed to die.” A cold smile twisted Alison’s lips. “Honestly I couldn’t believe my luck. Not only was I going to get enough magic to take control of this city, but I had the added bonus of getti ng rid of you.”

Maya frowned, perplexed by the rampant dislike toward her by such a wide variet y of strangers.

“What have I eve r done to you?”

“Personally? Nothing, but Lottie told us how you tricked and cheated the local witches to destroy their covens.” Her eyes narrowed with hatred. “And how you’ve threatened anyone who might refuse y our authority.”

“Tricked and cheated?” Maya glanced toward Lottie. “Ca re to explain?”

The older woman at least had the decency to blush at being caught in her blatant lies. “That’ s in the past.”

“Obviously not,” Maya said dryly, suddenly understanding why Alison might resent her. Of course, she didn’t believe that was the entire reason. She was tainted by her lust for power.

“It doesn’t matter. This day was inevitable,” Alison insisted. “I would have eventually challenged you. There can only be one ma ge at the top.”

“Idiot,” Maya muttered, shaking her head at Alison’s sheer arrogance. “If you were so ready for a challenge, then why send Courtney to kill me? Why not fac e me yourself?”

Alison snorted. “I planned the explosion. All I needed her to do was lead you into the trap. And she couldn’t even g et that right.”

“Why her?”

“She was a member of the coven.”

Maya blinked in genuine surprise, glancing back at Lottie. That explained why Courtney had harbored the same resentment toward her as Alison did, but it didn’t explain how they’d been drawn to Lottie in t he first place.

“Two mages in one coven?”

Lottie shrugged. “I have an e ye for talent.”

Maya suspected it was more than an eye. There were a rare few women who could sense the hidden powers of a mage long before they manifested. Sometimes when they were still children. She would be a unique asset in helping Maya identify potential mages. If they could get over their difficult past.

Something Maya suspected was easier said than d one for Lottie.

Alison intruded into Maya’s distracted thoughts. “Courtney left when her powers manifested. I tried to convince her to come back to the coven, but all she cared about was living a life of luxury. Preferably without having t o work for it.”

Maya shook her head, forcing herself to concentrate on her current danger. She would return later to test the level of Lott ie’s abilities.

Assuming she surv ived the night.

“Did Courtney know you were the on e to hire her?”

“Of course not. She would never have taken the job.”

“Why not? If you two were old friends...” Maya belatedly realized exactly why Courtney would have fled the second she knew who was behind the contract on Maya’s life. “Ah, she would have realized that you intended to kill her f rom the start.”

“Of course. I was warned not to leave any loose ends that could link me to your death.”

Maya grimaced. Courtney had been a shallow, ruthless traitor who would have happily watched her die, but she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her brutal end.

“How did you kill her?”

Alison’s smile widened, as if she was savoring the memory. “It was a curse I placed on her a couple weeks ago when I tracked her down at her favorite nightclub.” Alison chuckled. “She was completely clueless when I joined her at her table and offered to pay for her drinks. She was even thoughtful enough to tell me that she was using a website to find jobs as an assassin. It made it simple to send her a message and hire her without her ever knowing it was me . Stupid girl.”

Maya ignored Alison’s smug satisfaction in outwitting her form er coven-mate.

“What about the demon we found dead with Courtney? How did you curse him?”

Alison shrugged. “The curse would have extended to anyone she’d revealed her plans to when it was activated. I specifically warned her when she was hired not to share the detai ls of the job.”

“You placed the same curse on Bastian.” Anger blasted through Maya at the woman’s reckless lack of concern for who she hurt. Even the innocent. “A nd poor Joyce.”

“They were all disposable tools in my qu est for power.”

Maya’s hands curled into tight fists as she remembered the terror in her friend’s eyes before she plunged the dagger into her own heart. It took every ounce of willpower not to leap forward and beat the shit out of the smug little bitch.

Right now she needed answers more than she needed the satisfaction of punishing the ma ge. But soon...

“How did you curse them?” she forced herself to ask. “The magic wasn’t yours.”

Alison frowned, as if offended by Maya’s w ords. “It was.”

“No. You don’t have that sort of power.”

Clearly realizing that Maya wasn’t going to believe she’d done it on her own, Alison shrugged before reaching into her jacket to pull out a small medallion. Laying it in the palm of her hand, she held it toward Maya.

“I do it with this.”

Maya hissed, easily recognizing the symbol etched into t he metal disc.

“Where did you get that?”

“A gift from my master.” Alison smile d. “Lord Batu.”