Endless Magic (Stella Mayweather Series Book 6) (16 page)

"That was easy," I said. "They just turned it over?"

"Pretty much as soon as I asked for it."

"They had it here?"

"No. I think they sent Miles to retrieve it. I don't know where it was kept, and I haven't asked."

I frowned. We might have been working together, but the vampires demanded a favour in return. "What did they want in exchange?" I asked.

Étoile lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Nothing. They were glad to help."

"The vampire wasn't quite as altruistic."

"So I've heard, and I'm not surprised. I should have warned you. I would have if you'd only told me."

"I should have anticipated his response. Wait, Matthias told you about the meeting?"

"Of course. He said he failed to protect you sufficiently. Did he?"

"Yes, but the vampire asked for a favour and I agreed. That's on me."

Étoile arched an eyebrow. "Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite you."

"Vampire pun?"

"Unfortunately. You told the shifters you'd seen another pendant like theirs. Matthias said the vampire gave you a pendant."

"It's very similar to the shifters.’ The same onyx and the little, star diamond. It had magic in it too. I won't know though until I see if I can fit them together, but I'm almost certain they will."

"Where are you with the other talismans?"

"I have the werewolf talisman, my horologican, and now, the two pendants. I just need one more, but..." I stopped, realising the problem. Why didn't it occur to me before? "I need to recheck everything," I groaned, "I think, maybe we got something wrong. When I saw this pendant, I remembered that the totem had strange little carvings on each side, but now I don't think they're carvings at all. I think they're places for these pendants to slide into; except I only have one more pendant to find, and there're two more slots."

"There's another problem," said Étoile.

I frowned, wondering what I missed. "What?" Étoile held out her hand. In her palm was a small burn mark shaped like a pendant. "It did that to you? Why didn't you say anything?"

"It didn't seem prudent to give more credence to their theory that you were special."

"Would it matter?"

"I doubt they would have dropped the topic. Better if they think it’s the surroundings rather than you that affected the pendant. I'll have to admit though, I'm curious too. Why you?"

"I don't know. I didn't have any problems with the vampire pendant either, but he didn't suggest I would."

"Maybe he didn't know. Just to be safe, I'm going to assign you a guard."

"Won't that draw unwanted attention to me?" I asked, hating that idea. "No one else has a guard here."

"I do."

"You're the president. I'm not. I'm just a witch on your staff."

"I need to make sure you and the talismans are protected. Everyone will assume it's because of The Brotherhood threat. Do you have a better suggestion?"

"Maybe just have someone watch my room instead? That's where I'm storing them."

"Already done."

"Oh." I paused, wondering if security reported my absence from my room last night, or logged my return at eight am.

Étoile narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I should assign someone who’s already close to you to watch over you? Someone whom people would expect to see you with. Someone like..."

The door burst open before Clare rushed inside. "Étoile you have to come right now!"

"What is it?"

"It's from them! It's... I have to show you. They sent another message."

Étoile and I glanced at each other. "The Brotherhood," we said at the same time, before we both raced for the door.

"Where are they?" Étoile asked, her voice steely.

"They're not here, but they left another message," Clare said, hurrying so that I had to walk double-time after her. "They got further into the building this time."

"How? Why didn't one of the guards notice them?"

"I don't know. It was only just discovered."

"Where are we going?" I asked as we stepped into the elevator that was being held open for us by a guard. We began to descend before Clare spoke again.

"To the resident area. They tried to break into one of the rooms."

"Whose?" Étoile asked as we stepped out onto my floor. "Did they succeed?"

Clare started ahead of us again, checking over her shoulder that we were following as she answered, "No, someone must have scared them off." We rounded a corner and a familiar feeling of dread filled me. I knew this section of the floor. I walked along it very recently. When we stopped at a small crowd, I knew my angst was justified. Blood dripped down the door from one single word smeared above the door number.

"War," Étoile read as she reached for the envelope pinned below. Her face contorted into a grimace as she pulled off the pins before dropping them into the hand of a security guard. I just had enough time to see they weren't ordinary pins as he dropped them into a plastic baggie.

"Are those teeth?" I asked, suddenly sickened. "And is that...?"

Étoile turned the envelope over and extracted a thin, white sheet. "The Brotherhood have declared war," she said, scanning the note. "We have one week to prepare."

"What about...?" I pointed to the door.

"Guards, help Stella clear her room and find her a new one. She can't stay here. Get me the security tapes. I want to know how The Amethyst was infiltrated; and I want to know who did this! Now!"

Chapter Sixteen

We gathered in the small meeting room near Étoile's office. All around me, the glum faces were stern or worried. I was sure my own face reflected their grim expressions. Even more worrying were the glances being shot in my direction. I might not have known the exact content of The Brotherhood's warning, but I could tell everyone around me knew it was pinned on my door. Worse still, someone attached it there using werewolf fangs.

"These are from a wolf on our missing list," said Seren. She dropped the teeth into a baggie, and the spell searching for whom they belonged dissipated.

"That's one of our missing?" confirmed Gage. "What happened to him?" He stood with his back to me, clad in black fatigues again. He refused to look at me after he arrived, obeying Étoile's summons. I was hurt to find him ignoring me, but I squashed that emotion behind a tidal wave of fear as I longed for the comfort of Evan's embrace. In a room stuffed with witches, werewolves, shapeshifters, and demons, where could he be?

"I'm not sure he was still alive when the teeth were taken," said Seren, confirming the worst.

"Is he alive now?" growled Gage.

"I can't say without proof. Only that the tooth extraction was recent."

"We need to move in now. Our people are suffering."

"We need to assess this new threat first," said Étoile, waving the envelope. "They aren't just out there. They're in here too."

Suddenly, every nerve inside me tingled, heightened by our recent connection as I sensed Evan's arrival. I didn't turn around when he came to a stop behind me. I couldn't help the small smile curling the corners of my lips. Despite my fear, he instantly brought comfort. I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Micah was with him. I flashed him a small smile, which was pointless since he was fully focused on Étoile.

"What's in the letter, besides war?" asked Arnie. "We all know it was pinned on your witch's door. Is it another demand for her and her cousin?"

I felt my breath catching at the brazen remark, although I also pondered that question as I followed Étoile to the room. Several heads turned toward me at Arnie’s inquiry. Gage gave me a cool glance that didn't quite match the fury in his eyes. No, not fury. He was upset, and that emotion vibrated through him when I met his eyes. I diverted my gaze, turning away, feeling totally confused, and our moment was gone. "What does it say?" Gage asked.

"It says the time allotted for surrendering Stella and Daniel is over. The Brotherhood have officially declared war and even designated a location for battle." Étoile flapped the letter in the air. I almost rushed over to grab it and read it for myself. But I also wanted to get as far away from it as possible. "There's a charming, little warning here at the bottom that says we may not survive that long."

"We'll crush them," snarled the large demon standing beside Corinthia. He rested his back against the wall, crossing his arms across a sizeable chest.

"We need to root out the moles first," said Gage. "We can't crush people that we can't find."

"Security are assessing the footage now. As soon as they identify The Brotherhood messenger, he or she will be dealt with judiciously," said Étoile, moving towards the table in the middle of the room. After waving a hand over it, a map appeared. It stretched from one side of the table to the other, then slowly rose and dipped, marking out the terrain in three dimensions. Twinkling lights depicted houses, and a shadow of a river flowed in the lower corner. I wasn't sure what we were looking at so I leaned closer to see. "This is where the battle will take place," said Étoile, pointing to a wilderness on the landscape, far away from any settlements. "I don't know why they chose this location, except that it's far from human civilisation and perhaps they have some familiarity with the terrain."

"It's nowhere near The Brotherhood stronghold we initially traced them to," said Gage as he moved around the table to the opposing diagonal. He jabbed his forefinger at a building on the edge of the battle terrain. "They're holding the prisoners here now."

I blinked, startled. When did they find the other prisoners? And, more importantly, why was I only hearing about it now?

"What have your scouts discovered?" asked Étoile, jolting me back to the conversation.

Gage looked up, assessing the audience, his face very grim. "There're thirty prisoners. Most are witches, but there's also a small number of wolves and shifters." He darted a glare at the demons. "None of yours."

"We would not be taken," said the demon.

Gage looked away, but not before I caught his expression. I knew he was thinking
pompous ass
. "They're being tortured and held indefinitely. Some have already been killed. We can't get inside, but one of our scouts discovered a body they cast out. He was still alive, but he couldn't say much. We brought him back to the infirmary last night."

"What did he tell you?" pressed Étoile.

"He said they were investigating how his magic worked; and he overheard some of the other prisoners saying the same thing was happening to them. Apparently, they found a way to extract magic, and seemed very excited about the revelation—" Gage waited while the growing outrage at his words died down before continuing, "It seems like they've discovered a way to siphon our magic and use it for themselves. He said there was a female witch overseeing all the procedures."

"Georgia!" I said, not quite as softly as I intended. Eyes turned again to look at me. "Georgia Thomas was there when I was being held," I said louder so the message got across to anyone who didn't already know. "Can I talk to the werewolf? I might recognise him from when they held me captive."

Gage's nostrils flared. Anger, this time. "He died an hour ago."

"Is that why he died? From being drained?" asked Étoile.

Gage nodded. "I think so. He was so weak, they thought he was already dead when they cast him out like rotten garbage. Our magic can't be pried from us by force. It's as vital to our bodies as our hearts and our brains. We can't exist without it."

"Nor can we," said Arnie. "If they've found a way to pull our magic from us, they could kill us all."

"Let’s consider what they want the magic for. If they went to all the trouble to extract it, let’s discuss how they might wish to use it," said the demon, his deep voice calm despite the uneasy grumbles all around him. "We must prevent them from pursuing such evil."

"We must defeat them," said Étoile. "The High Council will vote in one hour on how to answer this summons." People started to rise, but she waved them down. "We have another item on our agenda."

"What could be more pressing than this vote?" asked Arnie.

Étoile turned her steely gaze on him, waiting as he shrank back into his seat. "Rescuing our missing. War is one thing, but we must consider reducing any casualties. They already have a substantial number of our people. Now, while they're temporarily distracted by preparations for war, and awaiting the answer to their summons, now is when we should strike."

"And pre-empt their initial move?" asked the demon.

"We don't know what we're up against," whined Arnie.

"Actually, we know more than they think we do," Gage began. "We know their location, and we have scouts watching them right now. We also know their patrol schedules and their manpower."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" asked Arnie, stepping forwards. While I couldn't see his face, his fists were clenching. His annoyance radiated from him in waves.

Étoile placed a placating hand on his shoulder. "We were only able to confirm our observations with the last patrol, and only this morning did we begin formulating a plan."

His hands unclenched. "Great. Just great," he muttered, sounding anything but pleased.

"Do you have a better way to get our people out?" Gage asked, his voice rising an octave. It was just high enough for him to sound pissed, but not threatening. With the tension in the room rising, it would be hard to mediate if things became ugly. I wondered if everyone around me was thinking about my memories of the suffering souls I left behind. Who would allow their own people to endure such a vile situation? If Gage had a plan, I wanted to hear it.

"The prisoners could be used as human shields," said Étoile, "or have their power drained further. We must not give The Brotherhood that resource."

"Maybe they're already dead, just like that guy whose teeth are in the baggie," said Arnie. "Or the other guy you brought in."

Gage shook his head. "We have reason to believe most of the prisoners are still alive."

"So what's the plan?" asked the demon. I had to wonder why Corinthia remained silent next to him, so I watched her from the corners of my eyes. I saw her taking a good look at each person in turn, and wondered if she were communicating with the demon telepathically, or possibly instructing him as she assessed us.

Gage placed his finger at the building he identified. "We go in tomorrow night. They won't be prepared for such a swift response. There's a two-person patrol every twenty minutes; and they walk a route here," he said, circling the building with a sweep of his hand. "There're another two sentries on the door, and riflemen perched in the towers here and here. We can take out one patrol easily, but that leaves us a very short window before an all-out alert is raised. So we take the first two out, then simultaneously remove the sentries from the door. Our first problem is eliminating the riflemen before they spot us."

"We can take care of that," said the demon.

"You're volunteering?" Étoile raised both eyebrows, curious.

He nodded. "We agreed to work together. We won't need to get close to the riflemen to take them out of the equation. I and another will volunteer."

"Thank you. Gage, your second problem?" she asked.

"Actually there're two. The witches on our scout mission didn't sense any magic protecting the building, so we're presuming there are no witches on the premises. But that doesn't sit right in my mind. Not after what The Brotherhood are doing to your people. I think it might be some kind of booby trap. We need a witch who can sense any hidden magic."

"Done," said Étoile.

"We can do this too," said the demon.

"We're stronger together. We'll gladly work with you," said Étoile.

"Our third problem comes when we get our prisoners. We don't know what condition they'll be in. We need a swift way of transporting them out of there as safely as we can. Any ideas?" Gage asked, looking around the room.

"Your witches can shimmer," said Arnie.

"Not with that many people at once," replied Seren. Next to her, Astra nodded.

"How many could you take?"

"Two or three at a time, maybe, but we don't have many witches with that amount of power."

"Seren and I can do it," said Astra. "We might have to make several trips, and it would be impossible to decide who to take first, or second."

"So we'll need a guard for those left behind until they're all rescued, which poses extra risk," said Gage. "We need another idea."

"Demons possess that skill too. The prisoners might not like it, but it certainly won't hurt them," said Micah.

"You are proving to be an excellent asset," said Étoile, her voice brimming with approval. "Seren and Astra, I may have another job for you. The rescue team can utilise demon talent for this mission."

"I have many talents," said Micah casting her an ardent glance that she pretended to ignore.

"I can shimmer too," I said. "We can take all the prisoners between us at once!"

"Not you," said Étoile. "You are not required for this mission."

"But..."

"Étoile's right," said Gage without looking at me. "I'm not taking her on this mission."

"Agreed," said Étoile before I could protest again. Fuming at the public embarrassment, I closed my mouth. Worse, I knew Étoile was right. I had my mission already, and plenty of others could serve for this one. Perhaps much better than I could. "Gage, get your team together and we'll run through your plan again until it's perfect. You can update me after the vote."

"We'll be ready to leave at nightfall," he said.

"You might find a vampire or two in your team."

"Fine by me. They can bite whomever they can catch as long as it’s not one of us."

"I'll pass it on. For now, clear the room!"

I turned, almost colliding with Evan. He stepped back, turning away as the assembly surged around us. He reached out his hand towards me. I just touched fingertips with him when a shapeshifter walked between us and Evan was carried forwards, moving a few people away. I made to follow him, but before I could, another hand landed lightly on my arm.

"Wait a moment," said Étoile, drawing me to one side.

"What are you going to do? What haven't you told everyone?" I asked, knowing my question hit the mark when her eyes narrowed.

"You'll know in an hour, along with everyone else," she said.

I could guess what it was by the drawn look on her face, which didn't match the fire in her eyes. "You're going to agree to something they asked, aren't you? What is it? Do they want to meet with you?"