Bruja (18 page)

“Oh, well, then.” Father Valentine bristled. “I was going to say that it would be very difficult for someone like yourself to raise a demon. That means you want to fight them?”

I nodded.

“That’s not wise,” Father Valentine said. “If you see one, you should leave the area. Fast.”

I wasn’t going to take this personally. Nope. Not at all. “I understand that would be the best thing to do, but sometimes that’s not an option. Sometimes you have to fight.”

“I see.” Father Valentine pressed his lips together firmly as he judged me.

This wasn’t working. I needed to not do what I always did—follow where I was led. I needed to be like Teresa. If someone wasn’t giving me what I wanted, I needed to get it myself.

I took a little sip of the tea and instantly regretted it. The brew was bitter and foul. I barely managed not to make a face as I set down the cup. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long journey. I know you said you didn’t have any facilities here, but is there an outhouse or…?”

“Oh. Yes, of course. Out the door to the left, behind the next building. You can’t miss it.” Father Valentine grinned, and it chilled me to the core. “Come back and finish your tea, and we can see what we can tell you about fighting demons.”

I plastered on a grin. “Thank you. I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time, dear. It won’t do to rush a lady.”

I nodded, not sure what to say to that, and left the suffocating room. Another slithering wave hit me as I crossed the line of horseshoes and I gasped for breath in the fresh air.

The street outside was totally empty. If they were telling the truth, then only the two of them were here. And if they thought I was “taking my time” in the outhouse, then that gave me at least five minutes of safe snooping.

The only problem was the wards. Passing over them could sound some kind of silent alarm. Lucas had mentioned it, so I had to be very careful. If I set one off, there was no doubt in my mind the Fathers would be breathing down my neck in seconds.

The good news was, I knew exactly where I was going. I walked around the compound to get to the building in the back. It was slightly bigger than the others, but had no windows. No chimney either. I peeked inside the open doorway, but didn’t see any auras. Nothing white and glowing.

I closed my eyes and rubbed them. Again, nothing.

No. This was wrong. I knew it was in there. I’d seen the aura not fifteen minutes ago. It couldn’t be gone.

I squinted inside, but it was too dark to see much. A mountain of books piled on the floor. I spotted some mixings for potions. But the altar…

Unlit candles crowded its surface. Even though I couldn’t make out the surrounding shapes, I knew something was off about this one. Odd-shaped lumps covered its surface, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what they were. Especially since it smelled like something had died in there.

I held my breath as I focused in on my magic, feeling it ignite within my soul.
“Fire hotter than the sun, give me light where there is none.”

The candles flared as my magic filled the room.

Oh God
. It smelled like something had died because something had.

Many things.

What I’d hoped was a lumpy blanket was actually the remains of a few guinea pigs. A magic circle was carved into the ground, with a pentagram in the center. The remains of old candles were piled up on top of each other at each point of the star.

I held my hand over my mouth, and tried not to throw up. Whatever these mages were up to, I wanted no part of it, but I couldn’t turn back. No matter how grossed out I was, the thing I needed was here. It had to be.

I quickly warded myself to keep negative energy away, and stepped through the doorway. The slimy sensation was the same as crossing the threshold into Father Valentine’s house. I only had a few moments before the Fathers came to find me.

I ran to the pile of books and scanned the titles.
Demon Casting. Spells of Light and Dark. Herbs of Witchery.
More than a few of the books sounded helpful, but my little purse wouldn’t hold much of anything. I had to pick one book. Just one.

“God above, give me luck. Help me out so I’m not stuck.”

I reached for a book, and knocked over three more.

Way to backfire, spell.

I knelt down on the floor to pile up the dropped books and a flash of white caught my eye. A glow came from inside a book that had fallen under the bookcase. I never would’ve seen it, but now that I was down here, I knew without doubt that this was the key to finding exactly what I needed.

My fingers shook as I slid it out. The cover was blank. I opened it to the first page. Writing was scrawled in a language I didn’t understand, but the book itself wasn’t what caught my attention.

A loose, folded piece of paper stuck out from the binding.

It gave off a pure, white aura.

I slipped it out and set the book back down. As I opened the folds, I got a case of the giggles.

I’d found a map. And if I was reading the symbols right, it led to a temple.

Oh my God
. I’d found a map that lead to the temple of the white mages.

I set the book down and shoved the map in my purse. I needed to get out of here before the Fathers found me.

A throat cleared behind me. Father Alfred stood in the doorway, and behind him, Father Valentine and Matt glared.

Shit.
I fumbled with the books that I’d dropped, trying to conceal the fact that I’d taken something from their stash. “I’m sorry, I got lost and thought this might be the outhouse. The smell was… So I lit the candles, and then I saw the books…” I piled all the fallen books in my hands and got up, trying not to drop them. “I do love a good magic book. I didn’t mean to snoop.”

“I’ll take those,” Father Alfred said, anger dripping from his words.

I swallowed. Should I scream now and hope Lucas got here in time, or see how it played out? Was Lucas even nearby? I couldn’t count on that. It would be better to get myself out of this. If I still could. My hands shook as I handed Father Alfred the books. “Thank you. Sorry if I ruined your organization.”

As Father Alfred took the books from me, he muttered something in Latin.

Before I could do anything—run, scream, anything at all—my body crumpled to the ground. I had no control over it.

Pure terror coursed through me and a drop of sweat rolled down my temple. I could feel it, but I couldn’t move.

“Drag her to the center of the circle,” Father Valentine said. “We’ll get you her power, but then you’ll owe a favor of our choosing. Do you agree to the terms?”

“Yes,” Matt said.

Rage like I’d never felt burned hot inside me.

I hadn’t liked Matt before, but now I hated him. Despised him.

He wanted to strip my power. He’d lied to my face yet again, and yet again, I’d fallen for it. Stupid.
So, so stupid.

I tried to yell out, but I couldn’t. It was like my voice was stuck. But my magic…

Now I knew what was in the tea. If I’d actually swallowed it down, chances were it would’ve blocked my power. Thank God I’d only tasted the tiniest drop.

I used rhymes to access my magic, because I felt like they gave me strength, but I didn’t need to say the words aloud. I didn’t need words at all. I just liked them.

That was the problem. I used them as a crutch.

The Fathers moved my body like I was a doll, and their dark auras seeped into me wherever their cold fingers touched. They dragged me into the middle of their circle.

A knife burned as it cut along my arms. The metallic scent of my blood filled the room.

I had to focus. They wouldn’t steal my magic. Luciana hadn’t managed it. And these three douches wouldn’t either. I just had to get enough magic out so that I could scream.

Lucas would come. If he really was what he thought he was to me, then he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. I prayed I was right, because I’d only get one chance.

I closed my eyes and felt the tiny trickle of magic I had left.

Release my voice. Release my voice. Release my voice.

I said the simple spell over and over in my head, until I was sure—or as sure as I could be—that it had worked.

The two
brujos
started chanting as Matt watched over me with a smug look.

The scent of sulfur filled the room.

I sent a silent prayer that my spell worked, took a breath, and screamed as loud as I could.

The men froze in stunned silence for a second. The chanting was gone, and the smell of sulfur vanished.

I heard a howl in the distance.

Lucas
. I wasn’t safe yet. Not nearly, but a wave of relief washed over me. I wasn’t alone this time.

“You stupid fucking bitch.” Matt’s kick landed in my side, knocking the breath from me.

I couldn’t move to protect myself. All I could see was his foot as it came toward my face.

Then I saw nothing at all.

Chapter Sixteen

I woke up swinging and screaming.

Someone grabbed my wrists and pressed them into the mattress above my head. It hurt. Everything hurt.

The room was too dark to see. I screamed again. “Let me go!”

“Stop, Claudia. You’re okay.”

I froze.
Lucas.
“Where am I?”

“Your hotel room. If you promise to hold still, I’ll turn on the light. But you’re hurt. So just… Please don’t move, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay.” The terror was slowly fading and the more it did, the more I could feel the aches across my body. “What happened?”

Lucas flicked on the light, but his eyes glowed with a dark, intense energy. The bed dipped as he sat back down beside me. “I’ve been alive for a long time. I’ve fought in wars—human and supernatural. I’ve lost friends and family, and been helpless against it. But nothing—not ever in my years on this earth—terrified me more than the sound of that scream.”

He grabbed his hair, pulling at it as he looked away from me. “I got there before they were able to do too much damage, but…” He brushed his thumb against my temple and I winced. “That douchebag ex-fiancé of yours got in a few good licks.”

I took a breath that turned into a wince. “Feels like it.”

Lucas stood and paced away from the bed. His hands balled in tight fists and he kept his back to me. “I shouldn’t have let you go. I knew better. You got hurt and it’s my fault.”

My jaw would’ve dropped, but some part of me sensed that that would hurt too much. How could he possibly blame himself? “First off, it’s not your fault.”

“It
is
my fault. I’m supposed to protect you.” Lucas spun to face me, but only looked for a moment before pain flashed in his eyes. “I cleaned your cuts and put some liquid stitch and bandages on them. I can’t do anything for the ribs or the knot on your head that seems to be growing by the second, but I’ve got some pain pills.”

The way he was behaving…

I wouldn’t be ready to deal with that until I got some of those pain pills in me. I tried to sit up, and winced again.

This was so bad. I didn’t have time to be hurt. I needed to get to that temple.

Which reminded me… “Please tell me you got my purse.”

“You’re damned right I did. And I burned your blood and everything else in that evil torture room of theirs.”

“How did you—”

“I’m the Alpha of the Peruvian pack—”

He was Alpha? Of the Peruvian pack?
Wasn’t that Muraco’s job? Or did being one of the Seven mean he wasn’t involved in the local pack? Suddenly I doubted everything I’d learned about the wolves.

And what did that mean for—

No. That wasn’t important right now. He’d saved me, and I’d think about the rest when my whole body wasn’t screaming.

“—I can take on a couple witches. If the whole sect had been there, I might’ve needed reinforcements, but they weren’t and the ritual already had them distracted, so, we lucked out. They ran off when I came through the door, and I was too worried about you to go after them. But I will. When the time is right, they’ll pay.”

I swallowed. With his tone, I knew he wasn’t joking. And I was glad it wasn’t me he was angry with.

He put his hands under my shoulders and lifted me carefully until I was sitting up. He reached over to the nightstand. “Here you go.”

He placed two white pills in my hand, and I swallowed them with the glass of water he handed me. “You should be feeling better in twenty minutes. At least that’s what the doctor said.”

Doctor? “How long was I out?”

“A few hours. I was worried about a head injury, but the doctor is also a witch, and he said that the magic needed to work its way out of your system.” He grumbled something unintelligible. “But he didn’t say it’d take so long.”

I sighed. “It would’ve been faster if I wasn’t already so worn out.”

“From Luciana draining you.”

“Yeah. And from the healing chant I did last night on Raphael.”

“What?”

I filled him in on the phone call. “So, I was already depleted.”

“I see.”

“Can I have my purse?”

“Sure.” He got up and grabbed it.

I looked up at him. He’d saved me from something really, truly horrible. Teresa had survived it, but I wasn’t sure that I could live without my magic. Luciana’s way of draining me was one thing, but I always knew my power would recover. If he hadn’t stopped it this time…

My hands shook as I took the purse from him. I met his gaze “Thank you for getting me out of there. I’m terrified of what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up.”

“I’ll always show up for you.” He cupped my face in his hand. “You’re not ready for all of this, but I’ve been waiting a long time for you. I’d rather die than let you down.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Right now, he was right. I wasn’t ready. I had so much to deal with, I didn’t know where to start.

I reached inside my purse. “Going there was awful, but it was worth it. I found this before they caught me snooping.” I pulled out the old map. The paper had yellowed and the edges were frayed, but the ink was still bright on the page. And for something so old, the paper didn’t feel too fragile. It had to be the magic that preserved it so well.