19. Ember
19
EMBER
“I wasn’t talking about myself,” Mayhem said.
“I know.” I pushed from the wall and paced toward the door, tugging my buzzing phone from my pocket on the way. “It’s Ash. They’re five minutes out.”
And thank the goddess for that. I couldn’t handle any more sad talk with the demon of my dreams. I sucked at goodbyes, and the finality of ours was ominous. No need to stretch it out from now until the bitter end.
I pulled the door inward and peeked into the cemetery. Everything appeared in full color, meaning the shadow magic I’d borrowed from Shade had fizzled out. We were exposed to the eyes of anyone who might try to venture inside, just as we were exposed to the senses of Ignacus, Adrian, and anyone else who tried to scry for the amulet or the griffin.
Not exactly the safety we’d offered the poor momma.
The minutes inched closer to midnight, to the start of All Hallow’s Eve. Normally, my coven would light a bonfire and gather beneath the moon for our annual ritual. We’d give our thanks to the goddess while working in shifts to keep the veil intact until November first was halfway through, when the veil began its return to its normal strength.
We’d managed it well for decades. Hell, probably even centuries. Now, I couldn’t begin to fathom what tomorrow would look like. We’d sent way too many powerful beasties back and forth across the veil recently for it to stay intact.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” A teen girl’s voice drew my attention to the left, and I peeked further out the door. She wore a black sweater with a purple witch’s hat, which she could have bought anywhere in the city. Everyone sold them, especially this time of year.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.” A guy around eighteen walked beside her, a toy store Ouija board tucked under his arm. “I mean it would be better if we waited until dark.”
“No!” She tumbled, catching herself on a gravestone before jerking her hand away and wiping her palm on her jeans. “I don’t want to be here at night. It’s scary enough now.”
The back of my throat heated with my annoyed sigh. This cemetery? Seriously? There were plenty of old graveyards where famous…or infamous…Salem residents were buried. This wasn’t one of them.
“What’s wrong?” Mayhem asked.
“I was hoping not to rack up any more mundane casualties.” I rolled my eyes as the guy set the board on a gravestone and rested the plastic planchette in the center.
“Would you like me to get rid of them?” He stood beside me, touching the small of my back.
“I’ll handle it.” It had been a while since I’d gotten the chance to put the fear of witchcraft into an idiot.
“Put your fingers on the planchette.” The guy grabbed the girl’s wrist and forced her hand onto the board.
“I don’t want to.” She tried to pull away, but he held her tightly. “This doesn’t feel right, James.”
I tugged a dagger from my thigh holster, set the tip ablaze, and strolled toward them. “Oh, James. You really should let the dead rest in peace. You never know what you might stir up.”
I touched my index finger to the flat side of my blade, letting the flames lick across my skin.
“It was his idea.” The girl scrambled to her feet. “He said we could summon my dog.”
James rose and gestured at my dagger. “Where’d you get that? How does it work?”
“It’s been in my family for generations.” Yes, that was a lie, but I wasn’t about to tell him I bought it online. Where was the fun in that?
“Let me see it.” He had the audacity to reach toward me, his body language saying he fully expected me to hand it over. If I hadn’t been fired, I’d have no doubt I’d see this asshat at Spellbound Axe, getting drunk with his buddies and bouncing blades off the targets.
“Sure.” I shot a tiny flame at his hand, singeing his sleeve.
“Ow! What the hell?” He sauntered closer. “Who are you?”
“She’ll be your worst nightmare if you take another step forward,” Mayhem said from behind me.
James’s eyes widened, and he cut his gaze between me, my demon, and the girl. “I don’t know what kind of kinky shit you have going on here, but we’re gonna walk away and pretend we never saw it.”
“That’s the first intelligent thing I’ve heard you say.” I extinguished the flames and returned my dagger to its holster.
The girl whimpered, and the guy grabbed her hand. “Come on, Jill. We’ll find somewhere else to summon Princess Fancy Pants.”
He dragged her away, and I turned around to find Mayhem looming behind me, his horns and talons extended. No wonder the guy changed his tune mid-measure.
I clicked my tongue. “Put those away. You’re lucky it’s almost Halloween and they can pass as a costume.”
“What did you do to them?” Ash laughed as she approached from the direction the kids had run. She carried a bundle of towels in her arms, and her satchel bounced against her hip with her strides.
Chaos carried a stack of blankets, and several grocery bags dangled from his fingers. “He mumbled something about twisted cemetery orgies as they ran for their car.”
I waved off their concern. “He was planning to use Princess Fancy Pants to get into her pants.”
Ash’s brow scrunched. “I’m not even going to ask. How’s the griffin?”
“She’s resting.” I took the towels from her and carried them into the mausoleum. “Where are the guys?”
“Scrying. Miles got ahold of Wendy, but she wasn’t much help.” Ash took her bag off her shoulder and pulled out four railroad spikes. “Adrian has locked himself in his office and isn’t communicating with his team, so she has no idea what he’s planning. She’s waiting outside his door, though, just for Miles.”
“Clueless,” I said.
“Yep.” She rubbed oil on the spikes.
Chaos stepped into the mausoleum with Mayhem behind him. “Where should I put these?”
“Lay them next to her for now. When she gets up, I’ll make her a bed.” I took the mallet Ash offered and followed her outside.
She handed me a spike, and I hammered it into the ground at the eastern corner. I did the same at the southern before we made our way around the back of the building.
“How does it feel?” She gestured to my sigil-less arm and then pressed her hand to her chest. “Does it hurt?”
“Only when I think about it.” I hammered the third spike into the ground, focusing on the vibration shimmying up my arm every time it made impact.
She handed me the final spike. “Do you still…?”
I forced my jaw to unclench. “Love him desperately? Yeah.”
Whack, whack, whack. I drove in the last piece and rose to my feet. “Let’s get this ward cast before Adrian emerges from his hidey hole.”
She took my hand, and we recited the incantations. “Protect this space from malice and harm. If our ward is broken, we will be warned. Hide our auras from all who seek. Our intention is set with the words we speak. As we will it, so mote it be.”
My head spun with the amount of vim we put into it, but we’d recover. We always did, even before we could channel demon magic on the regular. We’d be fine without them… Wouldn’t we?
Stop it, Em. Just. Stop.
“That should do it,” Ash said. “It would take every witch in Adrian’s coven working together to see through that shroud.”
“And everyone knows dark witches don’t play well with others.” I gave her the mallet, and we walked into the building to find Mayhem hand-feeding the griffin raw chicken breasts.
I curled my lip. “You’re feeding bird meat to a bird.”
“She is not a bird,” Mayhem said. “But even if she were, what do you think eagles eat if not other, smaller fowl?”
“I see your point.” I sat cross-legged in front of the grocery bags. “Did you bring anything for us? I’m starving.”
“Here.” Ash opened a bag and pulled out a container of chicken salad and a loaf of bread.
“I guess your credit card isn’t maxed out yet?” I used a plastic spoon to scoop out the mixture and spread it on the bread.
“No, it is.” She glanced at Chaos. “But we have to eat.”
I didn’t have the energy to protest, so I handed Mayhem a sandwich before making myself one.
“I also brought this for her.” Ash pulled out a jug of water, a plastic bowl, and a white plastic bag with purple lettering.
“Epsom salt?” I poured the water into the bowl.
“It’s a natural laxative.” She added the salt and stirred it with the plastic spoon. “To help speed things along.”
I set the bowl in front of the griffin, and she dipped her beak into it before tilting her head back to swallow.
Ash’s phone pinged, and she swiped open the screen. “It’s Miles. Still no sign of Ignacus or his soldiers, but the team reported a lesser fae swarm in the Common. He and Shade helped them take care of it.”
I chugged a bottle of water. “Tell them to start the All Hallow’s Eve ritual now. Every member of the coven is required to participate. No one gets a pass this year. If Hecate is the only person holding the veil together right now, we need to give her all the help we can.”
“Only the High Priestess can begin the ceremony,” Ash said. “The wood has to be lit by witch fire.”
“Which means any Holland can do it, not just the High Priestess. It starts with the founding family and spreads outward. You’ll have to light it.” I picked up her satchel and shoved it toward her. “Take Chaos and begin the ritual. I’m staying with the griffin until she poops.”
Ash gave me her signature look. The one that said everything on her mind, no words required. The ritual always started with the High Priestess. All the ones we had records of anyway. Changing tradition could be risky. I knew that, but I doubted she could name one thing we’d done in the past month that wasn’t.
She also didn’t like splitting up the team. Neither did I.
“You can call them to do it here if you want, but I’m not leaving her.” I took the empty bowl o’ laxative and shoved it into a grocery bag.
Ash’s jaw ticked, her expression a silent acquiescence. “One fire in this cemetery was more than enough, thanks. I’ll get it started in the usual clearing.”
“Good. Leave Patrice in charge of the first shift and then go home to set up Discord’s summoning circle. With any luck, we’ll complete the amulet and join you well before midnight.”
The griffin stood and turned a circle, pawing at the blankets and arranging them beneath her before she settled and closed her eyes.
“At this rate, I’ll have to poop before she does.” Ash swiped open her phone, her brow furrowing as she typed and scrolled.
“What are you looking for?” Chaos asked as he gathered the bags they’d brought.
“When I was little, I swallowed a tiny lion figurine. I remember being in a lot of pain because it wouldn’t pass. Dad wanted to take me to the hospital, but Mom tried Joan, our old healer, first. She cast a spell that drew it out. It was… Oh, I think this might be it.”
She rummaged through her bag and held up an herb jar triumphantly. “I have everything here.” She dropped to her knees and started mixing.
I took her phone and studied the recipe. “This sounds…forceful.”
“It is, and it will make a mess. We’ll have to take her outside.” She sprinkled amaranth into a copper bowl and added a dash of star anise and marjoram. “We’ll focus on drawing the amulet out, but pretty much everything in the way will come out too.”
“Will your ward protect her outside?” Mayhem asked.
“We only protected the building.” Ash scooped a drop of wildflower honey from a small jar but hesitated to drop it into the bowl. “Crappity crap, we should have made the ward bigger. It’s not a quick and easy spell.”
“So, we’ll point her butt out the door.” I shrugged and set the phone by the bowl. “Guys, you can stand outside and retrieve the amulet from wherever it lands.”
Mayhem clapped Chaos on the shoulder. “Come, brother. We’ve been banished to the path of the poo.”
“You don’t have to stand exactly in her line of fire.” I rolled my eyes as they exited the building and took up their posts on either side of the door.
“Hey, sweet girl.” I stroked the griffin’s feathers, rousing her from sleep. “I know you’re tired, but we need you to move one more time. This won’t be pleasant, but it’ll get you home faster.”
She grumbled, but she got up and let us arrange the blankets for her by the door. When she plopped down, her tail hung outside. Mayhem lifted it and tucked it inside the building. Ash added two drops of honey to the potion, making it pop and sizzle before she handed the bowl to me.
“Let’s get Operation Beastie Bowels underway. We need you to drink this.” I set the bowl in front of the griffin, and she sniffed it before turning her head away.
“Please.” I laid a hand on her shoulder. “It will help you feel better.”
She eyed me for a moment, and my stomach clenched. She’d been compliant so far, but her agitation was growing, even with me. All she wanted to do was sleep. I knew the feeling.
Finally, she huffed and drank the potion. Ash took my hand and rested her other on the griffin’s belly. I did the same, and we recited the incantation.
The beastie’s abdomen rumbled, her intestines squelching and groaning. When they quieted, we recited the incantation again.
“Focus on the amulet,” Ash said. “Use your intent to draw it down.”
I felt the stone inside her and moved my hand over it, brushing her fur downward toward her backside. The griffin moaned, her insides cramping. She made sure I knew what it felt like. I had never experienced labor pains, but I imagined it was similar.
Slowly, steadily, the amulet made its way through her intestines. Every time her body stilled, we recited the incantation again, causing the poor beastie more pain, but getting the amulet closer and closer to the exit.
Her stomach bubbled. A puff of noxious gas shot out her backside, the stench so strong it could have melted the eyebrows off anyone in its path. We said the spell one more time. She rumbled and groaned.
“Get ready.” Ash massaged her belly.
“Thar she blows!” I covered my mouth and pinched my nose as our spell peaked, showing us its full effect.
And I mean its full effect. Capital F-U-L-L.
The griffin’s butt cannon did its thing, shooting out everything she’d consumed in goddess knew how long. I expected the forceful blast to travel at least five yards out, taking the amulet with it.
But the prize for the absolute worst timing in the history of showing up at places you weren’t supposed to be went to Adrian and his crew.
Three witches stood a few feet outside the door, covered from head to toe in wet, steaming griffin poop.