Now or Never: Wizards of Nevermore (21 page)

When Orley was able to refocus on the scene, Gray Calhoun had arrived and gotten into a fierce battle with Bernard Franco. Fascinated, Orley watched as Gray gathered his magic.

A huge red fireball appeared between the Guardian’s
outstretched hands. Then he lobbed it—right at Franco. The Raven rolled away from the flames and popped to his feet. Gray made some other gestures aimed toward Happy, then appeared to yell at someone Orley couldn’t see.

Then the sheriff appeared, running to the prone Happy, and sweeping her into his arms. He ran at full tilt away from the wizards’ battle, and was gone.

Gray fully engaged Franco in a war of magic. Fire and lightning roared between them. Gray struck at Franco with the grace and power he was known for. But Franco retaliated quickly and forced Gray to move farther away from the woman he was protecting—the thaumaturge he’d married. She was the younger sister of Kerren Rackmore.

Orley smiled in thin satisfaction as it became apparent that Gray was losing to Franco. Every time Gray struck at him with fire or electricity or wind, the Raven handed it back twofold.

Franco yelled something, his expression filled with hatred. Then he created a huge ball of black-edged flames. Orley noted that Gray seemed to prepare his own magic to meet the new challenge, but he shouldn’t have bothered. Franco was seconds away from defeating him.

Orley waited for the blow that would hurt Gray. Obviously, Franco had not come out the ultimate winner in this battle. But Orley had yet to see how the man
could’ve died here. He certainly seemed to have the upper hand now.

But Franco didn’t aim for the Dragon. The ball of flames went left of the Guardian—straight onto the injured witch. Franco had wanted Lucinda Rackmore to suffer.

Orley watched Gray turn around and run toward her, but he was too late. His wife was consumed by the dark magic.

Gray tried to grab her, but his magic failed him. To Orley’s astonishment, Gray jumped into the pulsing, dark mess of magic that Franco had unleashed.

Together, they burned.

The entire scene froze.

Orley cursed. It didn’t seem as though the spell had stuttered; no, the power was still flowing. That meant that everything had actually stopped.

He’d never seen anything like it.

What was going on? And why had the world literally stopped?

Was Gray Calhoun truly that powerful?

Fear snaked up Orley’s spine. He hadn’t counted on Gray being too much of a problem. The man was the Guardian of a backwater town in Texas. There was no way anyone here understood the magnitude of what Nevermore was supposed to protect. Oh, they had a hint or two. Maybe Gray and his idiot friends believed they knew more…but he doubted it. They still
seemed to be bumbling around most of the time, especially that rude sheriff. He certainly wasn’t very bright.

Orley watched as the flames returned, but they instantly turned to smoke. Lucinda had passed out, and Gray laid her down.

Franco stomped toward Gray, murder in his eyes.

Gray’s scar pulsed with light, with purpose. His skin flaked away to reveal the shiny red of his scales. Then the magic burst forth, red fire and gold sparks, and the human receded, giving way to the dragon.

Horror chased the chill of fear right up Orley’s spine. What he was seeing was impossible! Impossible!

The creature expanded, growing wider and taller, filling up the space in the barn. The red and gold dragon’s massive head brushed the wooden ceiling beams. He lifted a wing to cover Lucinda, then aimed his snout at the ceiling and issued a fireball. The roof became instant ash, its crumbling edges falling to the ground below.

Franco, his mouth open in a scream, scrambled backward and stalled, cowering in the darkness beyond. His face was bloated with shock, his eyes bulging and his lips flopping open.

Orley could see that the dragon was speaking, and Franco looked like a man protesting. Once again, he wished the damned magic had some audio.

Franco turned and ran, but he tripped over debris and sprawled on the floor. Then the dragon spit fire—
just a little. Flames licked across the man’s feet, melting his shoes and toasting his pants.

The magic wavered; Orley barely held on to it. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Franco was rolling around, trying to douse the flames. The dragon leaned down, though it took some maneuvering. With one claw, he rolled the man onto his back.

Then the dragon rose to his full height, his massive head poking out of the ceiling’s hole, and he stepped on Franco. Then the beast shook his foot to get off the bits before wiping his claws on a pile of hay.

Then the monster closed his eyes, and magic shimmered. In moments, all that remained was Gray Calhoun, naked and dirty. He collapsed next to Lucinda, and they both lay there, as still as death.

Orley immediately let go of the spell, and the release of the energy back to the elements made him shake. The entire scene faded away. The crystal above the kettle went dark and so did all the lit candles. With the magic gone, the barn seemed darker and more desolate.

He withdrew his cell phone just on the off chance he might have service. He should’ve known better. He needed a water source to enact a communication spell. He had to tell the master right away about Gray’s ability to take dragon form. No one had counted on that complication. He wondered what other secrets this town held. Could anyone else turn into a dragon, or
another type of creature? He couldn’t quite accept that such a thing could happen. Even in the world of magic, being able to assume an animal form was fantastical.

“Well,
that
didn’t go exactly as planned, did it?” said a sultry female voice.

Startled, Orley whirled around and found himself face-to-face with Kerren Rackmore, the most feared witch on earth and the bride of the demon lord Kahl. She was as beautiful as everyone said, and her eyes were soulless, too.

“W-what are you doing here?” He swallowed nervously. He hated that he’d stammered, showing her his fear. He straightened and tried to switch tactics. “You’re not needed.”

Her slow grin held no humor at all.

Sweat dribbled down his temples, and he resisted the urge to step back as she sauntered toward him.

“Now, Orley, is that any way to talk to your future queen?” Her grin widened into pure maliciousness. She reached out and, with one fingertip, followed the trail of sweat down his cheek.

“Queen?”

“Kahl is my husband, and when he takes form on this earth, I will accompany him. He and I have big plans for this world.”

Orley frowned. No one had mentioned what Kerren’s role would be in the new order. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that Kahl would give her any
power at all. It had already been decided: Kahl and the Ravens would rule together.

Kerren had no place in the new order. Everyone knew she was just a…a minion. She was Kahl’s whore—certainly not a queen.

It was Orley’s turn to smile. He understood now why she had shown up. She was hoping to secure her position, perhaps by stealing his information. Wouldn’t she look useful and important if she were to tell Kahl about Gray’s transformative ability before he could inform the master?

“I see your little thought hamster spinning in its wheel,” she said. “You think you have it all figured out, do you?” She laughed. “You really think you or any of the Ravens will have a place of equality once my husband enters this plane? You’re all suckers. You crack open that door and let him and his demon horde through. Whew. It’s all over. Demons don’t need humans. Trust me, cupcake.”

Orley let his smile turn into a smirk. The Ravens weren’t stupid. A plan had already been put into place to ensure that Kahl kept his word and to keep the demon horde under control. The demon lord had no doubt underestimated his human cohorts. The Ravens would be the ones in control.

Kerren backed away and put her hands on her hips. She wore a red dress that swirled at the knee, and a pair of red high heels. And the outfit matched the bloodred
lipstick on her mouth. With her black hair and ice-blue eyes, she looked every inch the devil’s bride.

Orley readied himself to access a defensive spell. Foreboding crawled around in his stomach like a nest of spiders. He couldn’t hope to defeat the half-demon witch, but all he had to do was stall her long enough to escape.

“Don’t worry, Orley,” she purred. “You are serving a greater purpose—just as you wanted.”

He drew in the magic and started weaving a protection spell while he waited for her strike.

He expected magic.

He expected demon trickery.

But he did not anticipate the dagger.

The simple, gleaming blade appeared in her upraised hand. She tossed it almost casually at him, and it embedded easily into his chest cavity, into his heart.

The magic he’d called died instantly. He sank to his knees, his gaze on the cold bitch who’d killed him.

Orley fell to his side, sucking in liquid breaths as blood filled his lungs.

“Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon. We have in a special request for all Raven souls. You’ll make a spectacular addition to our ghosties.” She chuckled. “You know what? It’s so nice when you can kill two Ravens with one stone.”

Before he could make sense of her declaration, the darkness caved in on him, and he took one last, shuddering breath.

Emmett told them where the restaurant was located, and Norie felt so sorry for him that she invited him to come down later for dessert. Taylor nodded, but she knew it was a sacrifice for him to tolerate the boy’s presence. Emmett perked up and then headed off, waving as he hurried away.

They were seated quickly, and it didn’t take long for them to order steaks, salads, and iced tea.

“This is nice,” said Norie.

“Yeah,” said Taylor. He cleared his throat. “You feeling okay?”

“I am, thank you. How about you?”

“Well, I got new tattoos, so there’s that.” He looked at his hands.

“Everything that’s happened is so strange,” said Norie.

“That’s just the way it is for folks in Nevermore. Used to be a lot more boring. Which I liked.”

Norie laughed. “I can imagine that boring is better for sheriffs than…well, not boring.”

“Damn straight.”

It didn’t take long for the food to arrive, and they settled into a comfortable rhythm of conversation in between eating. It was a wonderful moment, one that Norie hadn’t experienced in forever. Taylor relaxed, and his smiles came more easily.

“So, you live on a farm? But it’s not one anymore?” asked Norie.

“Used to, sure. It’s just me and Ant now. I worked the land when I was younger, but when I got the chance to go to the police academy, I took it. Eventually, all my siblings moved away, and it just got to be too much. I had to choose between farming and law enforcement.”

“So, how many Moorelands are there?”

“Seven.”

Norie goggled. “Seven?”

Taylor laughed. “Yes. We grew up in what my mother called ‘happy chaos.’ ” His smiled faded a little. “She’s been gone awhile now. You want to hear something crazy? The other night I smelled sugar cookies. She used to make ’em all the time.” He shook his head. “The mind’s a funny thing.”

Norie looked down at her plate. Sarah had made it quite clear that Taylor shouldn’t know she was hanging around as a spirit. Norie didn’t like keeping secrets from him, but neither did she want to admit she’d had a
conversation or two with Sarah. She had a feeling that little bit of info wouldn’t go over too well with Taylor.

“My mother died, too,” she offered. “It leaves a hole inside you. Nothing can quite fill it.” She reached across the table and took his tattooed hand. She felt a sudden, tingling rush of electricity, and she gasped. She and Taylor stared at each other.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I…don’t know,” she said. She withdrew her hand, and the energy surge faded into vague tingles. “Maybe your magic affects mine.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I have powers. I don’t even know how to make them work. And I don’t really feel different, either.” She looked at him. “When something changes you so significantly, shouldn’t you feel different?”

“Seems like,” said Taylor. His gaze flicked over her shoulder, and he took on a pained expression.

Norie looked behind her and saw Emmett eagerly making his way toward them. She hid her smile. Then she glanced at Taylor through her lashes. She wondered what it would be like to have dinner with Taylor every night—to be there when he got home from work, to talk about their days over meat loaf and mashed potatoes and apple pie.

Oh, how she wanted that.

And she thought, maybe, maybe she could have it.

With Taylor.

*  *  *

It took nearly three hours for Gray to follow the sketchy trail started with one vague prophetic reference. He’d gained some assistance from the soul books in the Great Library, although not all of the tomes were helpful, especially as he got into the older sections. Some of the books hadn’t had a real human to speak to in years and simply wanted to converse—without sharing any useful information. At the end of his search, though, he’d found exactly what he needed. And it wasn’t all good news, either. Actually, he wasn’t sure any of it could be called good news.

He found Taylor, Norie, and Emmett in the embassy’s twenty-four-hour restaurant. The embassy worked like its own city, and it never ceased operations. It was almost like Las Vegas except without the gambling and desperation.

“Hey, Emmett,” he said as he sat down. “Can you give us a minute?”

Emmett nodded, his adoring gaze sliding toward Norie. Norie was peeking at the sheriff through her lashes while sipping a cup of coffee. The discarded plates with smears of devoured food—and was that cheesecake?—made Gray realize he hadn’t eaten in a while.

The young wizard said his good-byes, then left.

Gray made a space for the book he’d checked out from the Great Library. Luckily, it wasn’t a soul-imprinted book, just a very, very old one. He had almost had to promise his life’s blood in exchange for
taking the dusty little guide. He opened it to the appropriate page and then looked up.