Chapter 11 #2
It's after ten when Vale's car pulls into the driveway, headlights sweeping across the dark lawn of Hallowind House. My mind is spinning with everything that happened. Vale’s one thing he wanted to add was how I’ve been gathering a band of misfit members of the empowered communities eager to right the wrongs.
Garrison found the forming of the Life and Death Brigade to be especially interesting and nominated our ragtag guild of outcasts and rebel for recognition.
The motion passed, and we were given official status, a seat within the Order of the Arcane, and access to Order resources.
Best of all, he’s spearheading a specialized task force formed to look into Laurel's activities going back decades.
Before I get out, I reach across the backseat and extend my hand. "Thank you for everything you did and helped to set in motion tonight. You are my very own superhero."
He chuckles. “And you are a shameless flatterer.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m serious. With this green suit and that hat, all you'd need is a mask, and you'd be the Green Hornet."
He chuckles, clasping my palms with both hands. "I am ever your humble servant, but don't think for a moment that it was me who set things in motion. You are your own superhero, Miss Hallowind. You handled yourself admirably, and the members of the Order were impressed."
"Do you think so?"
He winks. "I absolutely know so. Now, off you go. I'm sure you've got a troop of troublemakers pressing their noses against the parlor window, waiting to hear every detail. I'll be in touch regarding anything we learn about your sisters."
I give his hand a squeeze and when his driver opens my door, I climb out. "Thank you, Kato."
Vale's djinn chauffeur arches a brow. "My name is not Kato."
I grin. "Are you sure? It's a compliment, trust me."
With a wave, I watch as Vale's car backs smoothly out of the driveway and disappears down the street. The night settles around me as I turn toward the house, giddy about telling Asher about the meeting.
Maybe he baked us a celebratory pie in anticipation.
Or maybe—
Magic slams hard into my back and grabs hold.
I'm yanked sideways off the driveway, my boots dragging across the lawn like I'm a fish being reeled in on a line. The tulle of my skirt can't withstand the dragging, and soon it's the bare skin of my hip scraping over the grass.
I send out a pulse of magic and break free of the tether, rolling into a crouch. My pulse explodes out from me and hits my attacker. The feminine yelp that follows gives me a direction for my counterattack.
I call on my connection with the Hallowind property and request aid.
Aunt Aggie and her elk answer my call.
Gone is the woman's usual benign expression as she gathers cuttings in the forest. With an intruder on the property, she rides Imperial straight into the bushes, and he lances my attacker with the pointed spears of his rack.
"Ow! What the fuck?" The indignant scream brings Amber Draven rushing out of the shadows.
I release my call for help and send my thanks to Aggie and Imperial before they do any serious damage. "Speaking of what the fuck… What the fuck, Amber?"
Another of the Emberwood Elites, Amber Draven has been a mean girl bully in my life since junior high.
Tonight she's in fine form, her bright hazel eyes blazing with multiple affinities as her Barbie blonde hair whips around her face.
"Did you really think you could spread lies about my family?
You upset my aunt! Stirred up all that horrible stuff about Davina again! "
"Amber—" I start to explain, but she's already casting.
A rope of pure light lashes toward my chest. I throw up a shield, the magic crackling violet-blue as it deflects the attack.
Her rope shatters into sparks.
"Davina died ten years ago!" Amber's voice cracks. "She was a sweet nine-year-old little girl, and she died. You have no right—"
"She didn't die." I widen my stance and keep my hands raised and at the ready. "Her ghost came to me. She wasn't nine, Amber. Laurel kept her alive. Tortured her—"
"Liar!"
The next attack comes faster—three spheres of spinning blades whistle through the air and close in fast. I catch one with a burst of spirit fire, dodge left to avoid the second, but the third one clips my shoulder and sends me spinning.
Pain blooms hot across my arm.
Fine. If she wants a fight, she gets one.
I pull on my magic, letting it flood through my veins. The demon mark pulses to awareness, but I shove that darkness down hard.
This is about defense, not destruction.
"I'm telling the truth, Amber." I weave a ward between us. "Davina's ghost was muzzled by magic so powerful that she couldn't speak. Someone did terrible things to her, and they're probably doing terrible things to other kids, too. Laurel is doing something horrible—"
"Stop badmouthing Laurel!" Amber screams.
She throws an elemental attack at me—light and air with what feels like a thread of fire magic lacing it together. I block and deflect, my boots digging furrows in the lawn as I'm forced backward.
Amber has talent—she's an Elite, after all—but so am I.
And while she's been living the pampered life of a celebrity witch, I've been training to take on a greater demon.
I wait for a weakness in her attack and drop my shield, rolling forward instead of dropping back. Her next attack sails over my head. I come up inside her guard and release a pulse of raw spirit fire that knocks her flat on her ass.
"I don't want to fight you," I pant, holding my ground. "I want to find out what happened to your cousin. Don't you?"
Amber's face twists. For a second, I think she might actually listen. Then her gaze hardens, and she launches herself at me, magic and fists both swinging.
We go down in a tangle of limbs and power. Grass tears beneath us. My elbow connects with something soft, and she yelps. Her knee finds my ribs. and air whooshes from my lungs.
Magic sparks between us in chaotic bursts—mine electric-blue, hers golden-white.
"Get off my lawn!" I gasp, shoving against her shoulder.
"Make me!"
From inside the house, barking erupts. Somebuddy and Nobuddy are losing their tiny chihuahua minds, their high-pitched yaps barely muffled by the walls.
The front door bangs open a moment later.
"What the hell?" Asher's voice carries across the lawn.
Footsteps pound down the porch steps. Strong hands grab at my shoulders and haul me backward. I catch a glimpse of dark hair—Wylder.
Orion has Amber, his silver-blue eyes flashing with vertical pupils as he lifts her bodily off the ground.
"Let go of me!" Amber thrashes, but Orion holds firm.
"Poppy, are you okay?" Wylder turns me to face him, his hands gentle despite the worry etched across his features.
"I'm fine." I wipe dirt from my mouth. "She jumped me."
"You're spreading lies!" Amber shouts from Orion's grip. "Poisoning people against my family!"
"I haven't said a thing against your family, you psycho bitch! I'm trying to find out what Laurel did with your cousin and my sisters!"
She jerks free from Orion, and he shoves her toward the street to force some distance between us. "This isn't over."
"Actually, it is." Orion's voice carries a predatory edge. "Next time you come at Poppy, I won't be gentle."
Amber shoots him a venomous look, then turns and stalks into the darkness. A moment later, a car engine roars to life and tires squeal.
Asher appears at my other side, Somebuddy tucked under one arm and Nobuddy under the other. Both dogs are still yapping their fury at the departed threat.
"So," Asher looks me up and down, "good meeting?"
A laugh bubbles up, surprising me. "Actually? Yeah."
"You're bleeding." Wylder touches my chin, tilting my face toward the porch light. The burning along my jaw means there's probably one helluva scrape there. My shoulder and the back of my thigh burn worse.
"How bad is it?"
"Bad enough."
Thankfully, adrenaline is still singing through my system. "Okay, you can patch me up inside. But first, I have news—big news. The Order of the Arcane recognized the Life and Death Brigade as an independent guild."
Wylder freezes mid-step and stares at me. "They what?"
I grin and waggle my brows. “You heard me. The Life and Death Brigade has been accepted into the big leagues. We’re official. It’s on.”