Chapter Thirty-six
With a roar worthy of a highlander, Ward batted at the locusts surrounding him and pinned Emberlyn with a glare. He thrust out his palm and a gleaming wave of magick came sailing toward her at super speed. It slapped her face like a hot hand, making her flesh sting and throb.
Not bad, she begrudgingly allowed.
Remaining on the top step of her porch, Emberlyn slammed up a hand and sent out a forceful blow of glittering magick that knocked him clean off his feet. And that’s how it’s done.
Just then, a Rabid rushed up the path, making a beeline for her. She sent out a heavy blow of power that caused it to fly backward, plunging it into the fray. Giggling goblins and squawking crows quickly descended on it.
Just to make things more interesting, she sent a gust of magick upward, letting it circle in the sky. Thunder cracked. Lightning flashed. Crimson rain came pouring down. A whistling wind built up.
Well, if the faction wanted destruction, she’d give them destruction.
‘Bitch!’ cursed Ames, lobbing a ball of power her way too fast for her to dodge. It was like taking a punch to the thigh, the impact so hard it almost numbed her leg.
Snarling, she slashed out her palm, emitting a hot blade of magick that carved at and singed his skin, drawing blood, leaving scorch marks, dragging cries of pain from him.
Two goblins crashed into his back, knocking him down flat. Others grabbed his legs and hauled him backwards.
The faction had no doubt intended to attack Emberlyn as a group – an intention they couldn’t follow through with, since the goblins kept them preoccupied. Several had swarmed each witch, attacking hard while laughing like little maniacs.
She really liked their style.
Catching movement on the ground, she looked to see Reena army-crawling away from the scene, clearly weak and shaky, and likely devastated at the participation of her husband and sister. The High Priestess wasn’t a woman to flee like that, so she had to be feeling awful to—
A cursing Penelope hurled a clump of magick that quickly morphed into a cobra as it came sailing toward Emberlyn.
Emberlyn caught it by the throat and sharply snapped her hand to the side, breaking its neck. As it crumbled to magick ‘dust’, she glared at Penelope. ‘Like snakes, do you?’
Emberlyn sent out a wave of power that bounded along the ground in front of the faction, forming small crack after small crack. Chanting, she thrust her fists upward slightly . . . and snakes came slithering out of the fissures in the earth. Then toads, rats, scarab beetles and huge spiders.
Squealing like a little girl, Penelope backpedaled fast.
Emberlyn laughed – okay, cackled. Whatever.
Penelope’s gaze snapped back to her, narrowing with fury. She lifted her hands to retaliate, but then several goblins descended on her. All dragged her backward even as they attacked the now screaming woman.
Marvelous.
Really, Emberlyn could throw up the manor’s shield and simply stand back to enjoy the show. But that wouldn’t be even half so much fun as drawing out the faction’s downfall.
Again, a Rabid charged up the path. Again, it was quickly surrounded by crows and goblins that herded it away. She’d made it clear to her helpers that she didn’t want the Rabid to be killed, only kept at bay.
Hearing Ames yell, she looked his way. Oh, it was a total pleasure to see him stumbling everywhere while crying out in pain.
One goblin had latched onto his back, stabbing at his throat with the stinger of its tail.
Another was wrapped around his thigh, its sharp, filthy fangs biting deep into flesh.
A third flew around him uber fast, its horns stabbing him; its bony fingers clawing at him.
As such, he was covered in bites, scratches and puncture wounds.
All the witches were, to be fair, thanks especially to the contributions of the serpents, rats and insects.
‘I’m going to kill you, bitch!’ Penelope screeched at her, clumsily stumbling up the path with a goblin attached to each leg by their teeth and limbs.
Oh, she was back. Lovely.
A flying goblin grabbed Penelope’s hair from behind and heaved with an evil giggle, wrenching back her head and making her spine arch.
She cried out, earning herself another giggle.
It pulled her hair harder, causing her to clumsily backpedal as she shrieked in pain.
Still, Penelope blindly hurled a gust of magick at Emberlyn.
Emberlyn dodged it, twisted her hand, and snap went the witch’s throat . . . right as Ethel and Thad pressed up against the fence, lashing out with a power that sliced at Emberlyn’s arms like jagged knives.
Her heart sank. Killing the twins’ parents would bring her no pleasure, despite the crimes that the couple had committed. But they didn’t deserve to live. They just didn’t.
She slammed a gust of magick at their skulls, wrenching unholy screams out of the pair.
Sadness chewed at her conscience until, at the last moment, she eased back the force of her magick, plopping them into a coma.
She just couldn’t bring herself to be responsible for their demise; the Watchers could deal with them instead.
The couple dropped to the ground like stones, deeply unconscious. She formed a small dome of magick around them, stopping the goblins and other creatures from touching them. It was the most she was prepared to do for the couple.
A Rabid cleared them with a fluid leap as it made a beeline for Emberlyn.
Once more, goblins and crows blocked its path and ushered it away.
Considering the Rabid only seemed to have eyes for her, it was obvious that they’d been spelled to target her.
Collectively, the goblins and birds were doing a fine job at protecting her from them.
They were doing just as fine a job as protecting her from the faction.
Admittedly, it was somewhat amusing to watch these asshole witches – who’d caused drama, hurt and damage not only to the town and its inhabitants but also to the Rabid – stagger around, yelling, cursing and letting out pained cries while goblins and animals crawled all over them.
Emberlyn took a quick moment to check on Reena. The woman must have still been unable to access her magick, because she was huddled in a tremoring ball on the grass just beyond the yard.
Emberlyn’s peripheral vision screamed a warning.
She tracked the movement, but she did it too late. Magick rammed into her head so hard that her vision went dark around the edges. Motherfucker.
Getty laughed, delighted – until a black cat appeared out of nowhere and flung herself right at the witch. Lucie hissed and growled as she clawed at Getty’s face, leaving deep, bleeding grooves.
Shaking off the effects of the blow, Emberlyn yelled, ‘Lucie, move!’ As soon as the feline backed off, she lobbed a lethal wave of magick Getty’s way. It rammed into the witch’s chest, going right for her heart.
Getty jolted. Wheezed. Slapped a hand to her chest.
And promptly died.
‘No!’ Ruben shouted, grief coloring the sound. He made a mad dash for the gate, shooting magick ‘bullets’ at Emberlyn.
Hissing as one pinged off her shoulder, Emberlyn called down a lightning strike, directing it right at him. The bolt hit its target, causing Ruben to shake and seize, his eyes rolling back. Then he hit the ground. Dead.
Five down, three to go.
Speaking of the other three . . . She quickly scanned the scene. Ames was still covered in goblins. Ward was kicking at rats while tugging at the snake curled around his throat. And Bennet—
Was coming right for her.
Before he could attack, she threw out a fluid beam of magick that snapped around his whole body like a vice.
He snarled, struggling against its grip, unable to move. ‘You were right. We would have killed you once we no longer had use for you.’
‘Oh, you might have tried. This would have been the result.’ She flicked a finger and the vice tightened its grip, crushing every bone in his body.
More than ready to end this shit now, Emberlyn switched her focus to Ames. She threw out a ‘loop’ of magick and used it to snatch his ankle. Then she yanked, pulling him right off his feet and dragging him up the path. The goblins released him and backed off with ghoulish squeaks.
His ravaged face set into a snarl. ‘Why couldn’t you just die!’ he demanded of her, a ball of magick in hand.
Chanting, she yanked her fists toward her, wrenching at his arms and dislocating both shoulders.
Ames cried out, the orb of magick in his palm disintegrating. He tried knifing upright, so she slammed her hands together, shattering his kneecaps this time.
He screamed a very non-manly scream. ‘You whore! You fucking whore!’
‘I warned you that it was a mistake for you to come here tonight. You didn’t listen. So sad. For you, anyway.’ She broke his neck with a mere twist of her hand. ‘And so eight becomes one,’ she drawled, flicking her attention to Ward.
‘Get her!’ he screeched, shoving a covered-in-goblins Rabid toward Emberlyn. He then struck fast, but she tossed out a wave of glittering magick from her palm that ‘shoved’ his blow right back at him. He hit the ground hard . . . which was right when she heard a rumble of engines.
Emberlyn looked up to see several vehicles fast approaching, including Ripper’s truck.
Feeling her lips curve, she shifted her gaze back to Ward, whose expression had turned from enraged to outright terrified as he noticed the newcomers.
‘Hmm, I think I’ll let Ripper have you. It’s not fair of me to have all the fun. ’
Ward’s eyes sliced to her, gleaming with horror.
She let out two sweeps of magic. One shot upward, easing the storm; calling off the rain and wind. The other healed the fissures in the ground and made the rats, snakes, toads and insects disappear as if they had never been.
Tires screeched as the vehicles pulled up. Werewolves jumped out of their cars only to halt in shock at the sight of the goblins.
Who wouldn’t?
Emberlyn chanted, communicating directly with the goblins; redirecting their attention solely to the Rabid so that Ripper could have his fun.
Ward struggled to his feet, looking as though he’d make a run for it, but Ripper had recovered fast from his shocked state and was stripping at lightning-fast speed. He ran right at Ward, shifting shape as he lunged. Then a huge mass of dark-furred muscle landed on the male witch.
Ward fell to the ground, smacking his head hard. His limbs flailing, he screamed. And screamed and screamed and screamed – the sounds joined the growls, snarls and roars of the wolf savaging his body with teeth and claws.
Emberlyn felt her lips tip up. Maybe she should have felt disturbed rather than satisfied, but Ward had it coming. Not just for what he’d done to her, but for all he was guilty of as part of the faction.
She looked at Reena, finding the woman’s face a hard mask. There was grief there, but also a sense of . . . not quite satisfaction, but a cold justice.
Ripper kept on brutalizing Ward. He tore off strips of his skin. Bit out chunks of flesh. Raked his claws deep into Ward’s stomach. Hauled out his intestines. Closed his jaws around Ward’s nose and ripped it clean off his face.
Well, fuck.
Ward’s cries grew weaker and weaker, until they turned into whimpers and gurgles. Then finally his body slumped, the sounds cutting off altogether.
Emberlyn glanced up to see the other werewolves hanging back, hesitant to get close. Not fearful of their Alpha, just conscious that coming near her could be misinterpreted as a threat while he was in that enraged state.
Ripper raced to her, still in his wolf form.
Squatting, she stroked his fur, carefully avoiding his bloodied muzzle. As his body started reshaping itself, she rose to her feet. Moments later, she had a naked Ripper wrapped tight around her, drinking in her scent.
‘Fuck, baby,’ he said, his voice guttural with worry, relief and anger. ‘What the hell happened here?’
She licked her lips. ‘I’ll give you the rundown in a moment. First, I need to do something real quick so the Rabid can be subdued.’ She chanted, letting out a rope of magick that turned into hundreds of moths. The moths zoomed around and zigzagged between the goblins, distracting them.
Trying to grab at the flying insects, the creatures followed them up the path.
She released another wave of magick, putting the Rabid to sleep. Once they’d slumped to the ground, the crows flew up to the sky and scattered. The other werewolves wasted no time subduing the Rabid with zip ties.
Frowning at the goblins, Ripper jerked his head back. ‘What the fuck are they?’
‘My friends,’ she prevaricated.
His brows flew up. ‘Your what?’
Ignoring that, Emberlyn led the way as she directed the moths through the manor.
Giggling, goblins either skipped or skittered or flew as they followed.
She walked into the kitchen, where she opened the door to the basement.
‘Your aid was appreciated.’ Once they’d pursued the moths down the steps, descending into the shadows, she closed the door and turned to Ripper.
‘Are you all right? Ward didn’t hurt you? ’
He did a long blink. ‘You have demons in the basement?’
She almost laughed at the shocking absurdity of his statement. ‘They’re not demons.’
‘No?’
‘No,’ she assured him with a flap of her hand. ‘They’re just red goblins. More particularly, they’re attendants of the Blood God.’
His brows snapped together. ‘Attendants of the what?’
‘They’re creatures from another realm. They feed off malice, revenge, cruelty, pain. They worship and serve the Blood God, a pure evil deity who – in terms of appearance – is a much bigger version of them.’ She paused as she took in his expression. ‘This isn’t making you feel better, is it?’
‘No. Not at all.’ He planted his fists on his hips. ‘How did they even end up in your basement?’
‘Millicent opened a portal for them after making a pact with their deity.’
‘What kind of pact?’
Emberlyn shrugged. ‘She didn’t tell me the terms, which means she thought I wouldn’t approve and she didn’t want to hear me lecture her.
I just know that his attendants will come to the aid of her or her descendants if bidden.
They – probably because she practiced so much blood magick down there – like to hang in the basement sometimes. ’
He shook his head, incredulous. ‘And this doesn’t bother you? You never worried that they’d harm you? You never thought to mention it to me?’
‘No need to get hysterical.’
His brows flew up again. ‘Hysterical? This isn’t me being hysterical, baby. This is me being freaked the fuck out.’
‘So, for future reference, when you’re freaked the hell out, you turn hysterical?’ Because right now, he was both.
He scraped a hand down his face. ‘That’s it. I’m done with this conversation.’
‘Good, because we have stuff to do outside.’