First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) (48 page)

Gloria’s eyes narrowed and she ran forward, her fingers rigid claws. Amber rolled off her chair and dodged.

“Anyone feel like changing sides?” she called to the watching wolves.

Shaggy muzzles turned from side to side as the startled wolves considered. Gloria roared, stumbling over the abandoned chair.

“How dare you even think about it?” she cried. “You’re nothing without me. I gave you everything you have. Everything!”

“They don’t seem to agree,” said Amber with a laugh. “Or they aren’t properly grateful.”

Gloria screamed again, hooking her clawed fingers into the air, pulling. Amber gasped, sagging forward as strength fled her body through the web.

Gloria’s eyes opened wide. “You were lying. You can’t stop me.”

She pulled again, gathering more of Amber’s remaining strength. Color leaked out of the sky and grass, the trees fading from sight.

Amber raised her head and her hands to the sky and reached out with her mind. Even with her eyes closed she could see Gloria. The woman’s body was filled with Amber’s personal energy. Her strength. Her will. Amber touched the familiar energy and called. Crooned to it. Coaxing it home. Gloria didn’t immediately notice as the energy drifted back down the web. When she realized her power was ebbing she clawed and snatched at it, but it floated through her grip. Her lips drew back from her teeth and she thrust her hands out to the sides, head flung back. The wolves howled together, shuddering, as Gloria tore the energy from their spirit forms. One by one they transformed to men and women, huddling on the ground. Then they faded from the dreamscape. Now alone Gloria faced Amber again. Reaching out with power to catch power, she dragged at Amber’s spirit. The dreamscape faded further, the edges of the sky staining with red. The grass shriveled away.

* * * * *

“It’s time,” called Sandy and the gathered witches returned to their places in the circle. Karl shuffled into place between Thalia and Lisa. He could no longer touch Amber. The witches refused to let him stay near her. He gritted his teeth, watching her unmoving body, hoping that Thalia’s brief instructions would make his role clear.

“Remember, you are a bright, polished, smooth stone circle. Nothing touches you, only passes through you and becomes thinner and brighter. That’s what you keep in your mind. The rest is up to us.”

Sandy raised her right hand and silence fell. She turned to the woman beside her and intoned formally.

“With my will and by my hand I cast this circle of power.”

Then she gently took the woman’s left hand in hers. The woman turned to the man beside her and extended her left hand.

“With my will and by my hand I cast this circle of power,” she repeated.

One by one the witches recited the words and joined hands. When it was her turn Thalia gave Karl an uncertain look.

“Ready,” she whispered. “This is the first pass. Let me know if you can’t take it.”

“I can take it. I’ve taken more than you can imagine.”

Thalia nodded approvingly and held out her right hand.

“With my will and by my hand I cast this circle of power.”

Karl’s knees sagged as Thalia’s fingers touched his. Although the touch was light it carried with it an incredible weight of power. His ears buzzed, face flushed as the huge wave flowed into him. His vision grayed. Distantly he heard Thalia’s panicked voice.

“Pass it on! Pass it on quickly. Don’t try to hold it.”

Karl shoved his hand at Liza, gasping. “By my hand I cast this circle of power.”

The power continued round until they were all holding hands. Karl struggled to breathe as the buzzing in his ears grew to a roar. All the hair on his body stood up and he could barely focus on the world around him. He heard a grumbling sound and realized the witches were chanting. He couldn’t make out the words, but sang
ohm
, adding his voice to the growing noise. Wave after wave of energy flooded through him as the witches passed the rising power over and over from hand to hand. Faster and faster the power flowed, driving, spinning through the linked hands. Karl stopped trying to think and just tried to ride it, making himself a tunnel, a vessel for the power to pass through. To grow in. The growling chant increased in volume.

Instinctively Karl reached for the power. It was almost ready. Almost time. He dropped Liza’s hand, narrowing the tunnel, the focus of his mind. Screaming in pain he pointed at Amber as the power passed through him for the last time and poured hot and sharp into Amber’s body.

* * * * *

It had degenerated into a simple tug of war.

Both witches drew in strength from the dream then reached out for more. They struggled to withhold their personal energies from each other with power flowing back and forth between them; sometimes it was difficult to tell who was who was who. The dreamscape around them lost color, then definition then shrank to just a few feet of soil, randomly scattered with brittle grass.

Gloria reached out to all the spells she’d cast, the people who’d fed from her power, drawing back all they’d received. It was not enough. Nowhere near enough. She would have it all. The web was her creation. No one would command it but her.

Distantly she heard screams as her weaker followers’ hearts gave out under her relentless drain. Still Gloria reached out.

She could see, feel the web. She’d created it, shaped it, and now it was slipping beyond her grip. That new witch was lying barely breathing on the stone now, but with what little will that bitch still retained she clung onto the nexus of the web. Wrapped it tight around her stinking soul and clung to the power.

She was taking all of Gloria’s power. All her ambition. All her will. It would not be endured! Gloria was the witch who would rule. Gloria. No one else.

Gloria used the strength that filled her to stand and walk across the remaining ground to tower over her opponent.

“You made a mistake challenging me,” she said, kneeling at the other’s head.

The white haired witch’s eyes flickered open.

“Bad guys always gloat,” she whispered, “That’s how you tell who is who.”

And she grabbed Gloria’s hands in both of hers.

Gloria stiffened as the power flooded toward her. The stupid fool wasn’t stealing from her anymore; she was gifting her with all that wonderful, sharp, sweet power. All that energy.

Gloria did not try to stem or direct the flow; it was too great. Wonderful. She rode it. Flew it.

It was fantastic. She was a small piece of flotsam tossed by a storm ridden ocean. And still it poured in. Through. And out.

And burned!

Gloria shrieked, struggling to free her hands. Everything that she’d gathered was leaving her, flooding out of her, draining away back into the web. She could see the thousands of captive spirits. Her victims. Could do nothing but watch as everything she created was given away. Flooding back to its source.

No. She wouldn’t do nothing.

Gloria dove into the power, clutching it, binding it to her body, her mind. It was hers. More power here than she’d ever ridden before. Enough to bind the whole world. She drank of the flow hungrily. Bathed in it. Glutted herself with it and reached out for more.

Amber endured. She kept her awareness of herself, a small kernel of consciousness tucked out of the way. If she tried to direct the energy in any way she was afraid it would overwhelm her mind. So she lay unresisting. A feather floating on the river. A vessel, a conduit only. She watched as the thick black threads bubbled and flaked away from her hands. The writhing web loosened and shifted, moving into Gloria’s waiting grip. Still the drain continued.

Gloria’s body still towered above her, haloed by the power she held.

In the smallest part of her mind, hidden away from the flow, Amber cringed away. Gloria had so much practice with stolen power. She’d acquired skills, endurance beyond any others. Even with the power raised by the coven it was not enough to break the spell.

Amber reached within for the tiny package of self she’d shielded. The protection she created to keep herself small and safe. Without hesitation she broke the shield and poured that small additional energy into the flow. As her mind trembled under the tremendous pressure of Gloria’s touch she saw her bracelet, the precious gift from the Elementals unwind from her wrist. Fire and Spirit manifested beside her, grasped the remaining black threads from her hands, her body. Earth and Water flew from her. Growing, burning, exploding, the Elemental beings thrust from Amber’s hand, plunging into and through Gloria.

Incandescent light filled Amber’s eyes.

Then the blackness came.

* * * * *

Karl gasped. His ears popped painfully as the pressure within the sacred space fell abruptly. The power raised by the coven vanished as if it had never been. Stunned, the witches looked from face to face, all equally puzzled. Karl’s attention did not move from Amber’s body. She seemed to relax, the abnormally stiff muscles easing. Her breath sighed out. He started to smile, took a step toward her and watched her stiff upraised hand fall heavily to the earth, bouncing once then lying limp and unmoving. The thud of its impact was shockingly loud to his ears.

“Amber?” he whispered.

The soft sound echoed around the clearing. Everyone froze. Muttering stopped.

“Amber,” Karl repeated running forward. “Call 911, someone. She’s not breathing.”

Karl hit his knees beside her body, half remembered training taking over his hands. He tilted her head slightly, studying her pale, cool face. He leaned over her body to listen for her breathing. Nothing. Her chest was still. Taking a deep breath Karl covered her mouth with his own and exhaled. And again.

Smoke dropped to the ground beside him. Small hands pressed against Amber’s neck.

“No pulse,” reported Smoke calmly and placed his folded hands on Amber’s chest. He tried to press down, compress her chest, and hesitated, “She’s too big for me to work on, lad. I’ll do the breathing. You do the chest.”

Quickly they changed positions, Karl counting out compressions and Smoke breathing. Behind them they could hear the coven. Several phones emerged from pockets. Lights were being taken to the roadside to guide in the ambulance. Others rushed to provide light for the two desperate rescuers. Flashlights, burning torches, candles. A blanket appeared from somewhere and was wrapped around her legs. Another few started a chanting chorus.

“One, two, three, four, five, breathe,” counted Karl.

He refused to think of anything besides the position of his hands and the count.

“… five, breathe. Come on, Amber, breathe.”

His own breath came out of him, harsh and loud as if by demonstration he could remind Amber how to breathe. A gentle hand touched his shoulder. Gripped him.

“Do that again, Karl,” came a voice from behind him.

“What? Two, three, four …”

“Command her to breathe,” said Sandy. “Pull in what you need and give it to her.”

Behind Sandy, Thalia came forward and grasped her hand.

“Hand to hand and heart to heart I cast this circle to raise power,” said Thalia.

Liza, Manny, and the other tired witches came forward to join hands until they were a tight circle. While his hands worked and his mouth counted, Karl monitored the energy rising behind him. Amber’s face was pale and still, her fingers resting lightly on the earth. Asleep or awake he’d never seen her so … so lifeless. There’d never been a time when her thoughts had not been flashing across her face.

“Ready,” said Sandy and laid her other hand again on his shoulder.

Karl reached out, opening himself to the power, guiding, building, focusing the flow and poured it into Amber with each thrust of his hands.

“One (go in), two (go in), three (go in, damn it), four (more), five, breathe!”

His hands burned where they rested on her chest as raised energy flowed through him.

“Breathe,” the coven’s voices shimmered through the clearing.

“Please, Amber.” Tears dripped down to splatter on his hands and still he worked. With each compression, each breath he leaked a little more strength into her motionless body. He closed his eyes. Lips working to shape the words of the count, while his mind screamed,
oh, please, please, Amber, breathe.

Chapter Nineteen

Her family had taken charge of her almost before the ambulance crew had emerged from their van. Smoke bullied them to ensure that one of the family was with Amber every second of her hospitalization. Then when Karl’s back was turned, they’d bundled her into yet another ambulance and taken her home to the Poconos.

Karl couldn’t follow.

His legal problems weren’t settled. He didn’t have his car, Amber’s books. He didn’t have the legal right to care or worry.

Karl couldn’t argue with their decisions. She was part of their family. He was … nothing. He couldn’t prove how vitally important Amber had become to him. It was not as if he could take his heart out of his chest and show them her name carved deep on his soul.

Yet as soon as he was able he’d loaded all their belongings, freshly released from police impound and headed back, but not to Laurenville – he was yet to cross the threshold of his store – but to Five Corners Farm.

He pulled the Mustang into the gravel forecourt and climbed out. Strange how quickly he had become accustomed to the place. The glowing red brick building seemed to reach out to him. Welcoming. The grass seemed particularly fragrant. The roses bloomed, releasing their scent. The door opened and Smoke emerged.

“Well, now,” said Smoke, stumping down the stairs. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

He crossed the gravel and held out his hand, taking one of Karl’s in both of his.

“Just in case I forgot to say it down south, thank you for saving Amber.”

“We were both there,” said Karl. “If we hadn’t known CPR …”

“You think?” said Smoke again and leaned against the door. “That’s not the way she tells it, or what I saw. I know that you saved her life. First on the scene. Kept your head. All the other witches were hanging around, wringing their hands and talking about which Goddesses are in charge of cardiac failure.”