Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sebastian arrives faster than ten minutes. The doorbell chimes, and the puppers go mental. I’m in the foyer with tiny, yapping balls of cuteness encircling my feet with every step when the door swings open on its own, the house apparently inviting him in.
It’s funny, but now that I remember him from before my life went to hell, I’m not sure why I thought he looked every bit the dark sorcerer. Sure, he wears a black trench coat and has those piercing blue eyes, but those are the same color of eyes that my mom had.
And that I will have once my powers grow stronger.
His gaze lands on me first, then sweeps past me to where Orion and Wylder are standing in the hall, looking all tough guy with their arms crossed as if they’re cataloging threats.
I roll my eyes. “Come sit down. Pizzas are on the way.”
Sebastian frowns. “How domestic. The world is under siege, but sure, let’s stop to order a few pies.”
I look between the three men in a testosterone standoff and fight not to groan. “No need to get snooty. We just got home from Arcana. We’re hungry, and we need to catch up on what we missed before we act, anyway.”
Sebastian lets out a long sigh and dips his chin. “My apologies. I’ve been alone in this so long, it’s difficult to imagine anyone willing to step out of their way to help.”
That makes me sad. He shouldn’t have had to carry the weight of this all on his own. That’s on the Emberwood coven and their judgy shortsightedness.
I tug him fully inside and close the front door. “Well, you’re not alone now, so let’s figure out what we need to do.”
Asher and Orion lead the way back to the kitchen, and Wylder follows behind with S’Nark fluttering after him on leathery wings.
We settle around the kitchen table just as Rowan comes down the stairs and Sebastian shrugs out of his coat and drapes it over the back of his chair. “So how was Arcana? Are you feeling better?”
I hear the question he doesn’t ask and nod. “Much better. Mom came to me, showed me a bit of what happened at the ritual, and gave me my memories back. I’m much better prepared to take things on now. I’m also much more in control now that I remember being a witch and all my basic training.”
“That’s wonderful, Poppy. I’m so pleased for you.”
“And pleased with yourself, too, I expect.” Wylder’s tone is terse but not overtly hostile. “Because Poppy’s part of your plan, right? You want to use her to try things again?”
Sebastian meets Wylder’s dancing green gaze and smiles.
“I’ve never hidden the fact that I can’t do this alone and that Poppy’s affinity makes her a key player in the success of this disaster.
But, if you’re implying that I would sacrifice her as a novice witch just to get what I need from her, you are sorely mistaken. ”
Wylder frowns. “Her mother died because you involved her in this, and now you’ve dragged Poppy into it. Doesn’t that bother you?”
Sebastian lifts his chin. “Zoe and I were in the final moments of the ritual. No one would have died if the witches of your coven—who wholeheartedly said they wanted nothing to do with saving this town—hadn’t shown up at the eleventh hour and ruined everything.
Do I regret the deaths of Zoe and Grant?
Absolutely, they were good people. Do I feel responsible for their deaths?
No, because the blame for everything that went on that night lies squarely on the shoulders of those who interfered in something they knew nothing of. ”
The tension that thickens in the air is choking, and I worry that Wylder might dive across the table and try to choke Sebastian.
The doorbell chimes, and Asher and Orion both jump to their feet. “I’ll get it,” they say in unison, rushing out of the room.
I look to Rowan, but she’s no help. Maybe it’s her dark magic vibe, but she seems utterly unaffected by the open hostilities. “So, uh, let’s talk about the ley line magic,” I prompt. “What’s going on there?”
Sebastian turns to me, leans forward with his elbows on the table and his fingers steepled. “The rifts are multiplying. Seven new ones opened in the last forty-eight hours alone. They’ve been small, but stable enough to let things through.”
“Things?” Rowan repeats, straightening in the seat beside me.
“Demon minions, mostly. Low-tier scavengers.”
“Don’t start without us,” Asher rushes back into the kitchen, carrying the pizza boxes. “What did we miss?”
“We’ve leveled up to demon minions escaping through the rifts now.” I jump up from the table and come back with a stack of plates.
Asher accepts the weight of my burden and carries the plates to the table. “Not the good kind of leveling up, then.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightens. “No. And because they are now taking a physical presence in our realm, they’re no longer feeding solely on ambient energy. Having a presence means they can actively siphon and enslave souls.”
The temperature in the room drops.
I look down at the pizza and, sadly, I’ve lost my appetite. “Is this what happened before?”
Sebastian nods. “It’s why your mother helped me. The other members of the coven turned their backs, but she could feel the disturbance to the spirit world. She could see the souls suffering. She went to the coven and pleaded our case, but they refused to listen.”
Wylder’s knuckles go white against the table edge. “How many demons are through? How many people will that affect and how quickly?”
“It’s impossible to know for sure. Demons come in all sizes, strengths, and forms. They can feed on people, from infants to the elderly.
I know there have been three confirmed dead and two more in the hospital with no “reasonable” explanation for their conditions.
I expect over the next days and weeks that number will grow exponentially. ”
I study Wylder’s expression as Sebastian speaks. He doesn’t flinch, doesn’t argue. Just absorbs the information. Will he be able to get the coven behind things this time? Does he think they’ll listen? Will they believe him?
“Why now?” Orion asks. “What changed?”
Sebastian shrugs. “It’s been an inevitability that we’d end up back here.
Before the ritual was destroyed, Zoe and I were able to patch the rifts and create a containment field to hold the greater demon behind this at bay.
But when the ritual went wrong, even in those brief seconds when everything detonated, that demon got a taste of the power that emanates from Emberwood.
He’s never stopped trying to break through our protections.
And every year the pressure builds, the cracks show more and more. ”
“So, a major demon is wearing the warding down and the containment is reaching critical mass?” Orion asks.
Sebastian dips his chin. “That’s the gist of it.”
Wylder shifts in his seat, tension radiating off him. “What do you suggest we do?”
“About the escaped minions, the destabilization of the ley lines, or about stopping the demon from breaking free from the hell realm and walking the earth?”
“All of it,” Wylder snaps.
Sebastian shrugs and opens his hands. “We need more intel. We need to know what demon is coming for us and what its strengths are. It would also help to know how many minions are out there, where they’re feeding, and how organized they are.”
“What’s to say that they’re even still in the area?” Orion says. “There’s a big, old world out there. They could be anywhere by now.”
Sebastian shakes his head. “No, they’re here. These are minions of a greater demon who is actively working to gain access to our world. Their entire purpose is to gather enough soul energy to empower him to escape.”
Yeah, no, that doesn’t sound good.
“So, how do we track the escaped minions, and what do we do about them?”
“We go to the Fall Harvest Festival,” Asher says. “It kicks off next Thursday night, and the whole town will spend the weekend there.”
“And all the neighboring towns,” I add.
Rowan catches it immediately. “Shit, that’s basically an all-you-can-eat soul-energy buffet.”
Wylder curses under his breath. “There are always huge crowds, and with high emotions, and thinning barriers between realms, it’ll be perfect conditions for a feeding frenzy.”
It will be. Our family went every year until my parents’ death. It’s a huge event, and if these demon minions need an abundance of souls, this is where they’ll be. “Okay, we have our where. How do we track them, and what do we do when we find them?”
Wylder frowns. “Well, you and Sebastian obviously have the inside track on sensing this kind of disruption in the Force, so I say we break up into teams. Divide and conquer.”
Orion tilts his head, his cool, ice-blue eyes glinting silver in the low light. “So, we break up into two teams and wander around looking for people flopping over onto the grass?”
Rowan snorts. “That sounds amusing, but I think we can do better than that.”
“What are you thinking?” Wylder asks.
“There are five witches sitting here. Surely we can enchant an object with some kind of tracking spell.”
S’Nark lands on the table between us, his tail lashing. “Oh goodie, we’re tracking demons and getting in between their master and his freedom. And here I was worried things would be boring.”
Sebastian meets my eyes across the table. There’s something heavy in his expression. Gratitude, maybe? Or possibly relief that he’s no longer carrying this alone.
Hell, it could be gas. I barely know the guy.
“Two teams then,” he says. “Poppy and I will split up, and we’ll each take two more.”
“I’m with Poppy,” Asher says immediately. “You all have been hogging her for almost two weeks. Besides, we’re always a team.”
Wylder sits forward. “I’ll go with Poppy and Asher. Orion and Rowan, you go with Sebastian.”
Asher scoffs. “Wait, why do we get stuck with Captain Broody?”
I laugh and pat his hand. “We’ll survive. Hell, I’ve almost grown immune to his glowering.”