Part 24 (1/2)

Ceri's eyes were positively scary with determination. Ivy slowly got to her feet, and I supported her until she found her balance. ”They're swarming,” Pierce said. ”I've heard of this. They're like locusts. This isn't merely an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, it's an invasion.”

Jenks dropped back down before the entrance of the stump. Beside him was Matalina, her arrows slung over her back and a sword I'd never seen in her grip. To her left was her eldest daughter, Jih. To Jenks's right was Jax. Behind them gathered the rest of the children, even the youngest. Across the graveyard, the fairies grew bold, flame dancing in their hands as their wings lifted them on the morning breeze. Their pace was slow even as they shouted insults. The bows in Jenks's children's hands had taught them caution. Last night's rain would keep the graveyard and the longer gra.s.s from burning, but not Jenks's stump. I couldn't let this happen. I'd rather rot in jail.

”Let me out of the bubble,” I said softly, but only Ivy heard. ”I will not be responsible for Jenks and his family dying. Ceri, let me out.”

”Rachel, no,” Ivy said as I stepped to the edge of Ceri's bubble. ”There's got to be another way!” she said loudly. ”Pierce, be of some use and think of something! Don't let her give herself up. Not to those butchers. The coven will kill her! You know it!”

Desperate, I stood, helpless. Pierce searched my face, seeing my fear, my loyalty, and my decision to not risk those I loved any longer. His hand found mine and I held it. I wasn't going to let them burn Jenks's house and slaughter his children. I'd do anything. And Pierce knew it.

Giving my fingers a tight squeeze, he turned away. ”Mistress elf,” he said to Ceri, his voice calm and determined. ”Are you skilled in casting?”

Ceri's breath came in fast. Her wild look grew more fierce. ”I am,” she said, standing proudly. Casting was like a net in that it took more than one person to create, but whereas a net simply contained people, a casting generally contained a havoc-producing spell. It was tricky, seldom done as it was too easy for the spell to escape.

”Do you know the spell to burn even that which has an aura?” he asked, and the muscles in my knees went slack. G.o.d, no. G.o.d, no.

”That's black magic,” I said, pus.h.i.+ng Pierce's hand off me. ”That kills people!”

Ceri gave me a long look, her eyes still on mine when she spoke. ”I do.”

Frantic, I turned to Pierce, then Jenks readying his family for a final a.s.sault. ”You can't burn them alive!” I shouted.

Ceri's frowned. ”We have two. To cast safely from here it will take three.”

”We have three,” Pierce said. ”One to create, one to protect, and one to define.” This last was directed at me, and Pierce's eyes held the memory of a difficult decision made long ago.

”I'm not not going to burn my garden and everyone in it!” I shouted. ”Jenks is out there!” going to burn my garden and everyone in it!” I shouted. ”Jenks is out there!”

”Anything underground will be safe,” Ceri said.

”I said no!” I protested, but Ivy's eyes begged me to say yes.

”Then Jenks and his family will die,” Ceri said cruelly.

I stood before her, ill with frustration. Right then, I hated her although she didn't deserve it.

Pierce drew me to him. The difference between Ceri's proud disdain and his brow furrowed in pained empathy was striking. ”You are the definition,” he said softly. ”You can hold the strongest, widest circle. Make one to encompa.s.s the garden. I will be the safety, and I will keep the magic from acting upon us. Everything between my circle and your larger one will be subjected to a quick flash of heat.”

I looked over my church, seeing it smoking and ruined in my mind's eye. Burned at my own hands? ”The trees, my garden,” I whispered.

Ceri turned from watching the approaching fairies, her impatience obvious and making me feel like I was stupid. ”The leaves will be singed. The garden will sprout from roots. The heat won't do anything to your church but clear the spiderwebs from it. Even Bis will be untouched. Rachel, Jenks cannot last against such numbers! He and his family will be slaughtered! Why are you hesitating?”

Because it was black magic. Anything able to pa.s.s through an aura and burn a living thing was black. I'd be a black witch. I'd be everything they said I was. But to stand here in a bubble while Jenks's children were cut down and slaughtered...

”There is no other option, Rachel,” Pierce said, and I grew frantic. From beyond the safety of Pierce's circle, I could hear Jenks shouting final instructions to his children. They wouldn't scatter but would stay to the last. Ivy begged me with her fearful eyes. I had to do it.

Without a word, I closed my eyes and set an undrawn circle wider than the one at Fountain Square. I felt it go up, encircling the church, the grounds, and a slice of the graveyard. How many were inside it? How many would die? How many were inside it? How many would die? I thought, pulling my hand from Pierce. I thought, pulling my hand from Pierce.

”Jenks!” I shouted, blood humming from the strength of the line. ”Go to ground!”

A sharp whistle pulled my eyes open to see a flowing of pixy wings into the stump. The fairies broke ranks, chasing them faster than would seem possible. Torches made tiny flames surrounding Jenks's home. Three fairies darted through the abandoned door. Trusting me, Jenks had let them in to do battle in his own home.

”I will lead,” Ceri said, taking one of my hands. Pierce took the other, gingerly since it was his burnt hand. Safe within Pierce's sheltering bubble, Ceri bound our wills together, her aura swirling, pressing against mine with the feeling of silk and the scent of sun.

A shudder rippled through me when Pierce sent his aura wider, strengthening his circle, protecting us and melting it with Ceri's aura so her magic could pa.s.s through. I couldn't have s.h.i.+fted my aura like that. It was beyond my skill, sophisticated magic, and Ceri smiled in devilish delight, thrilled to find another matching her ability. She looked like a fertility G.o.ddess with her bulging middle and the power leaking from her. Beside her, Pierce was dark, masculine, strong, his thoughts here and in his past simultaneously. And I was between them, frantic. I was going to twist a black curse to save Jenks's life.

Ceri paused in her chanting, and upon feeling the weight of her stare, I swallowed hard and released the tight grip on my energies, letting them flow between us, balancing.

Pierce's breath hissed in, his fingers in mine clenching for a moment. Neither I nor Ceri said anything, but we waited until he nodded, accepting the level of power. It was a joined spell, and I could taste the three of us mixing, the bite of metal and ash, the powdery residue of sun and pollen, and the cold edge of wild, windswept water in winter. That was me-windswept water in winter. I was going to kill someone with magic. There had to be another choice!

”Stop,” I whispered, and Pierce's thoughts wound into my own, holding me to the task.

”Stay the course,” he said, eyes fixed on mine with an eerie intensity. ”Hold.”

”Everyone kills to live,” Ivy whispered, vampire incense pulling through me to then vanish.

Not me, I thought, my fingers hurting where Ceri gripped them, refusing to let me go. I thought, my fingers hurting where Ceri gripped them, refusing to let me go.

”Accendere!” she shouted victoriously, finis.h.i.+ng the curse. she shouted victoriously, finis.h.i.+ng the curse.

I stumbled as I jerked from them, but it was too late. Stunned, I felt the black curse tear through my brain like a heated knife, searing the knowledge into my memory. Ceri gasped, her head thrown back as the curse escaped Pierce's bubble. As if in slow motion, I followed it with a ribbon of thought, the first tendrils of silver heat darting to find the edges of the confines of my circle, widening to fill the s.p.a.ce, crawling over the inside of the dome, snaking up the tree to crisp the leaves. The ground smoked, the wet earth steamed to show the expanding curse.

I was going to burn everything aboveground. Everyone kills to live, Everyone kills to live, echoed in my mind. echoed in my mind.

Not me. Panicked, I threw myself from Pierce and Ceri, hitting the interior sh.e.l.l of Pierce's bubble and staring at them in horror. Panicked, I threw myself from Pierce and Ceri, hitting the interior sh.e.l.l of Pierce's bubble and staring at them in horror. Not me! Not me!

”No!” I shouted, reaching out for the curse. I had seen its creation. I could call it back.

”Rachel?” Ceri called, eyes wide as she felt something s.h.i.+ft.

Pierce stared at me. ”Rachel, no!” he cried as if knowing what I was going to do.

Eyes wide, I reached for the curse, wrapped my will around it-and pulled it back.

c.r.a.p. This was really going to hurt.

With the sensation of fire, the curse rebounded into me, backlas.h.i.+ng in my mind as if it were alive, angry to be jerked home. Not me! Not me! I thought as bursts of green flame lit and died outside Pierce's circle, showing where fragile wings s.h.i.+vered into flame. A terrible cry went up as the fairies dropped to the burning earth, and still I pulled, taking it into myself. They were dying. My head flung back and I screamed so I wouldn't go mad with the pain. I thought as bursts of green flame lit and died outside Pierce's circle, showing where fragile wings s.h.i.+vered into flame. A terrible cry went up as the fairies dropped to the burning earth, and still I pulled, taking it into myself. They were dying. My head flung back and I screamed so I wouldn't go mad with the pain.

And when I had it all, when I had everything that I could bear, I pushed the curse back into the ley line. I emptied everything into it, letting go of the line with a quickness that curled me into myself, hurt. My outer circle dropped, and I took a sobbing breath in the sudden quiet.

The pain vanished from my mind, and I shook as I fell to the wet ground. What have I become in the name of love? Of friends.h.i.+p? What have I become in the name of love? Of friends.h.i.+p?

”Rachel!” Ivy exclaimed, but it was Pierce's arms that slipped around me, smelling of witch and power.

The imbalance hit, and I clenched anew, teeth gritting as I took it all. This was mine. The filth, the sc.u.m. All of it. And I heard Pierce sigh as I shuddered and accepted the entirety of the s.m.u.t. I deserved it.

”What did you do!” Ceri shouted, angry. I could see her tiny feet as I lay in Pierce's arms, the pain now only a memory but my panic and fear growing. What have I become? What have I become?

”Rachel! What did you do!” the elf said again, demanding my attention.