Chapter Two #2
‘Stop being difficult, I’m the oldest!’ Gill heatedly reminded her brother. ‘That means I should go first.’
‘Fuck this shit,’ muttered Ames. He rushed toward the manor at top speed, sprinting along the path and jogging up the stone steps—
Hit by an invisible force, he zoomed backwards, his legs kicking.
Everyone else skidded to the side, watching as he landed hard on his back with a pained grunt.
Emberlyn whistled low. That had to hurt.
Dez hovered over him, grimacing. ‘Son, are you okay?’
‘Fine,’ was the wheezed reply.
Busy smirking smugly at her nephew, Gill didn’t notice Mari dart toward the house until she heard the fast footfalls.
Mari took the porch steps two at a time—
Her body jerked so forcefully it folded in on itself as she went soaring backwards.
Hank looked as if he’d try to catch his daughter but then seemed to think better of it. He moved out of the way and winced as she hit the ground with a thud.
Paisley snickered. ‘That was a “Hell, no” from the manor, wasn’t it?’
‘Looked like it,’ said Emberlyn.
‘I’m done with this idiocy,’ Gill proclaimed, helping Mari to her feet. She then blew out a breath. ‘Here I go.’
Gill didn’t run. She walked. Her pace leisurely, she strolled up the path with her chin tipped up, her posture all arrogance . . . like the house was hers for the taking. She climbed the stairs, reached out to grab the porch frame—
And her head snapped back as if she’d received an uppercut.
She staggered, slipped and toppled down the stairs, falling to her back with an ungraceful flop.
Hank winced. ‘You okay, honey?’
‘Of course I’m not okay,’ Gill gritted out, rolling onto her stomach.
Inching up his chin, Dez straightened the lapels of his jacket.
‘My turn.’ Like his sister, he walked calmly toward the house and – not even bothering to help her stand – paused at the base of the steps.
He then stretched his arms out at his sides and began to chant ritual words that were very familiar.
Kage wrinkled his nose. ‘Why is he blessing the house? What exactly does he think that will do?’
Emberlyn pursed her lips. ‘He may be hoping that he can neutralize the defensive magick.’
‘Ah,’ said Kage. ‘Yeah, that won’t work.’
‘I know.’ Such magick wasn’t dark merely because it was aggressive.
Finished with the blessing, Dez lowered his arms to his sides and then cautiously ascended the stairs.
Pausing at the top, he slowly reached out, his fingers splayed.
He jolted as his head violently whipped to the side.
He teetered on the top step for a painfully long moment and then went tumbling down the stairs, landing in an awkward heap with his legs all but thrown over his head.
Now back on her feet, Gill sniffed down at him. ‘A blessing?’ she scoffed. ‘Really?’ Focusing once more on the house, she said, ‘I’ve had enough of this.’ She lashed out with blast after blast of magick, pummeling the defensive power.
Power that batted away the blasts, sending them right back at her.
Gill’s body jerked with each hit, her face creased in pain.
Notching up his chin pompously, Dez launched his own attack, flaying the defensive power, cursing when his hits bounded back on him.
Emberlyn shook her head. ‘This is a total shit show.’
‘An entertaining shit show,’ Paisley remarked.
Ames, apparently deciding not to learn from his father’s mistake, copied Dez’s move – his own blasts much more intense. So intense that when they moments later rushed at him, he didn’t have a chance to dodge. They whacked him so hard he flew back.
Mari, her face a mask of ‘I will be the one to do this’ determination, slammed up her hands and hurled waves of magick at the house . . . only to have them crash back into her.
Rubbing at various parts of their bodies, the four defeated witches gathered together, their expressions a blend of aggravation and helplessness.
Reena let out a sound that was something between a growl and a scoff. The woman could probably feel all her plans falling to pieces around her.
Emberlyn raised a hand. ‘Okay, now me.’
Dez glowered at her. ‘The manor won’t let you in. Millicent must have cast an additional spell; something to keep people out. No one is going to get inside until we can figure out what spell it is.’
‘There’s no spell,’ Emberlyn told him, approaching the gate.
‘There has to be,’ Gill insisted. ‘And since she wouldn’t want you to claim the house, you can bet your ass she’ll have taken extra measures to ensure that you never do. The spell would react even worse to you than it did us.’
Ignoring her, Emberlyn didn’t walk to the steps, she paused halfway up the path. She sent out just a few ribbons of magick; watching as the glittering dust drifted toward the manor and then gently brushed over the translucent defensive barrier. An offering. A gift. An introduction.
The sentient power studied hers, tasted it and she felt the click of recognition. It remembered her magick. Remembered her.
It didn’t reject her offering, which she took as a very good sign. She walked a little closer, chanting as she let her magick roll out in a rush of more glittering dust. That dust became thousands of moths – some black, some silver, some dark teal.
Wings fluttered as they streamed toward the manor, parting to surround the defensive barrier. Not attack it, not intimidate it, tempt it with the promise of more power.
Sentient magick was like a predatory pack animal – it could do just fine on its own, but it knew there was strength in numbers and preferred to not be solitary. Emberlyn was giving it a promise of power, of protection, of a partnership.
She kept on chanting, and the moths swirled around the mansion uber-fast – some clockwise, some anticlockwise. Inside the insect-tornado, electricity buzzed.
Then the defensive power reached outwards and clashed into her magick. Welcomed it. Connected to it.
She closed her fists, ending the chant. The moths rose above the manor and then disappeared down chimneys.
Inside the house, lights switched on and off, curtains flapped and the stained-glass windows seemed to bulge outward.
Then the magick settled, and one of the front doors slowly swung open in invitation.
Delight curled Emberlyn’s lips, and she metaphorically rubbed her hands in glee.
She heard a distinct feminine curse come from far behind her. Reena. Ha.
‘Why?’ asked Dez. ‘Why didn’t it attack you?’
Easy. ‘I wasn’t rude,’ she replied, facing him.
He stared at her numbly. ‘Rude?’
Emberlyn swept her gaze over her family.
‘You came with no offer of goodwill. You weren’t respectful of the manor’s boundaries.
You didn’t politely introduce yourself. You just boldly tried to take.
And bashing the barrier was pure bad form.
’ She cocked her head. ‘Do you know nothing about sentient-magick etiquette?’
Emberlyn looked at the twins, who both wore huge grins, and gestured for them to follow as she advanced up the path.
‘What do you mean, an offer of goodwill?’ Gill called out. ‘What did you give it?’
Halting halfway up the porch stairs, Emberlyn peered down at her. ‘Power, no strings attached.’
Gill’s eyes narrowed. ‘You manipulated the manor into accepting you?’
‘It wasn’t manipulation, it was common decency,’ Emberlyn corrected.
‘You all threw yourselves at the spell not only physically but magickly. Which is a lot like trying to kick down a person’s front door.
And yet, you expected entry; intended to claim ownership of the place.
You can’t own sentient magick. Really, you should know this stuff. ’
Snickering, Paisley scurried past her and into the manor with her brother in tow.
Emberlyn was about to follow them, but Gill notched up her chin and said, ‘There was no need for courteousness on our part. We’re Vautier witches. The manor belongs to our line. It is our right to take it.’
‘The manor won’t accept a Vautier witch just because of their ancestry.’ Emberlyn looked at Reena, who, her face pinched, her hands fisted, her body wooden, stared back at her. ‘Let me be clear that I won’t be relinquishing it to you. It’s my home now. I intend to keep it that way.’
Reena’s eyelids lowered. ‘It should not have chosen you; should not have skipped a generation.’
‘This manor is deserving of someone with status,’ Ward declared. ‘A High Priestess, just like Lilith.’
‘You did something other than give it a gift,’ Ames accused.
Emberlyn smiled. ‘Oh, you mean the part where I promised it my first born?’
Gasps sounded.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Kidding, kidding. I didn’t need to do anything else. The manor could have rejected my offering. Or kept it but rejected me. It did neither. But that’s not because I did anything dark.’
‘I will not stand for this,’ Gill bit off, magick crackling around her hands.
Oh, she thought to take Emberlyn on? Novel.
‘You’ve got this, Mom,’ said Mari. ‘Those on the benevolent path always win.’
The benevolent path? Dear Lord.
Reena strode forward. ‘Stand aside, Gill. I will deal with this.’
Emberlyn couldn’t help but smile. ‘You want to come at me? Really?’ Laughing, she whipped up her arm and shot a stream of magick high. A black cloud ominously roiled in the sky like a swirling dark bruise. A lightning fork stabbed downward, sharp and bright.
With curses and alarmed squeaks, the other witches backpedaled.
Thunder boomed, loud and aggressive. A wind rapidly built up, whipping the willow branches back and forth, making her dress flap and her hair flutter.
Then Emberlyn brought her arm back down, and it all stopped. She waited a few seconds before speaking. ‘You’re strong, Reena, but trying to “deal with this” won’t end well for you.’
Licking his lips, Ward backed away even further. ‘You’re just like her. Millicent.’
Emberlyn felt her mouth curve. ‘Hmm, maybe a little. Just a smidgeon.’
‘She made you into her,’ said Reena, a slight shake to her voice.
Emberlyn waved a hand. ‘No, silly. Millicent liked being a singular being. She was never going to want a mini-me. But she had wanted me to join her in embracing the darkness – that much is true.’
‘And you did,’ snarked Gill.
‘Nope. What I embraced is reality. You all use terms like “the benevolent path” and “the malevolent path”. They don’t exist. No one always uses magick for good, just as no one always uses it for bad.
I follow my own path using my own moral compass – we all do.
I’m willing to own it aloud, unlike any of you. ’
Feeling eyes on her, Emberlyn looked to see Ripper watching her somewhat speculatively. Turning away, she stepped onto the porch and advanced into the house, which kindly closed the door behind her.