Spirit Sorceress: Spirit Sorceress: Book 1 (5 page)

I chuckled, picked up Vince and slung him over my
shoulder.  I considered throwing him outside in the dirt, but why press my
luck.  I didn’t think James would care, I hadn’t killed Vince, or even
hurt him.  I also hadn’t jeopardized James’ crazy plans for
tomorrow.  On the other hand, I knew I’d now need to watch my back more
than ever in Vince’s case.

So I dumped him back on the bed in the son’s room next to
Eustice.

A few moments later, I was back on my bed, staring at the
ceiling.  It was going to be a long night.  Despite that I was still
smiling, I felt good about what I’d done.  I tried to practice, I reached
out farther, connecting with all the souls out there in this suburb.  It
was disconcerting.  I tried strengthening my spirit shields, but as I thought
would happen, it didn’t make a difference.

My shields would stop others from attacking me with magic,
or from mesmerizing me, but it didn’t stop my own magic from flowing through
it.  As I made connections to the souls nearby, the same thing happened, I
was pummeled by chaos.  Like a leaf in a hurricane.  The few trees,
and the grass, bushes, house pets, and all that, wasn’t nearly enough
peacefulness to counter that chaos.

I knew there had to be a way, but my mother had planned to
teach me in the city, there were things I didn’t know.  Perhaps even other
powers, I was only sure what I knew I could do, and what I’d seen my mother do
that I couldn’t yet.  I pulled my power back in locally, and wondered how
I would deal with it tomorrow, when I could potentially connect with hundreds
of thousands in a half mile area.

I remembered what I figured out earlier, and took a moment
to examine the air magic about the others.  I wasn’t nearly as powerful as
I’d hoped, but more powerful than a new turn.  I estimated I had the power
of a vampire maybe fifty years old.  Really, it was dwarfed by the power
in the other three, and there were even a few downstairs that could match me.

Of course, that’s only if I had been just a vampire. 
Sorceress of spirit skewed that quite a bit.  I gave up on sleep and left
the bedroom again.  I went downstairs and grabbed a drink, looking for
something to do.

It was going to be a long night.

The sun was coming through the kitchen windows, and I yawned. 
Sure, now I was tired.  I grabbed a cup of coffee from the pot I’d brewed,
and I was eating some eggs with cheddar mixed in when Eustice came in the
kitchen.

He took one look at me and laughed.

I gave him the one finger salute, and took a sip of my
coffee.

He shook his head in apology, “Sorry Miku, but those
sunglasses.  You’re gorgeous, and look absolutely ridiculous in those
things.”

I sighed.  They were really bad.  They were purple
with sparkles on them, and they were way too big.  Still, better than
being blinded by the sun.  The coven didn’t have spares, and apparently
this was all they could find in the house.

“There’s plenty of eggs if you want them.”

He grinned, “You cooked?”

He walked over and started piling eggs on his plate.

I shrugged, “I was really bored.  Couldn’t sleep. 
How long was I out anyway?  With the change.”

“Almost two days.”

I nodded, thankful I wasn’t in that horrible torturous pain
the whole two days.  I shuddered at just the memory of that agony.  I
also kind of liked Eustice, and felt we could be friends if it weren’t for the
current circumstances.

I heard a loud roar upstairs, and the sound of furniture
being broken apart.  Eustice looked upstairs with concern on his face.

I tried to look innocent, and must have failed.

“What did you do?”

I told him.

Eustice cursed under his breath, “I get it, but watch your
back.  He’ll want to kill you.”

I shrugged.  The idea didn’t frighten me, and I
wondered if I was a little crazy myself.  I was pretty sure I could
protect myself from him though.

I asked curiously “Why is he here Ice?  I get you guys
are all anti-council, but he’s… wrong inside.  Evil.”

Eustice shook his head, “He supports James, and he was
Seattle’s top enforcer.  He kept rogues out of the city.  James is
aware of what he is, but channeled it for benefit.  Trust me, no one
wanted to chance coming to the city and being caught by Vince.  In the
long run, it saved lives.”

I snorted, “Vampire lives maybe.”

He shot me a look and I kept my mouth shut.  Vampires
weren’t cuddly kittens.  Still, I didn’t understand, Eustice felt like a
good man, how could he ignore that evil?  I supposed I would have as well,
if the woman hadn’t asked for help, but I had an excuse.  I was concerned
with souls, not mortal lives.  The power I had was too easily corrupting,
the line had to be at free will for me.

Eustice shook his head and said in a whisper so low I could
barely make it out, “We are all his, not just you.”

I choked on a bite of eggs, and drank a sip of coffee to get
it down as understanding hit me.  For a thousand-year-old vampire, fifteen
turns weren’t so unreasonable.  That line of crap Eustice fed me was what
he’d been telling himself to live with what Vince did.  They were all
James’ turns.  That’s the real reason they all had fled the Seattle coven
when Ceara came.

They had no choice, no more of a choice than I currently
did…

We’d been south of the city, and we were headed north to the
coven house.  In Seattle it wasn’t an actual house, or a mansion. 
The vampires owned an eight floor condominium building.  James had
explained the layout yesterday during the planning.

The basement floors were an underground garage, and below
that cells were built to hold supernatural enemies, or vampires that waited for
trial.  The first floor was taken up by security, the vampires whose job
was to protect the coven and even just to keep humans out.

The second floor was a cafeteria style kitchen, and some
game and media rooms, as well as a few lounges.  The third floor was
office space, where several coven owned companies worked out of.  It was
also where the city leader and inner circle of the coven were.

The fourth through eighth floor held ten condo residences
each, fifty altogether.  It had almost been completely full when James
fled town with fourteen others.  Luckily, we wouldn’t have to face
thirty-two vampires when we arrived.  Most of those weren’t fighters, but
cooks, office personal, club managers, and the like. 

From what James said during the planning session last night,
there would only be six guards on the first floor, and three others on the
third floor with Ceara.  None of them were over two hundred years in
age.  Not, I thought cynically, that Ceara would need help to squash all
of us.

We pulled over a few blocks away from the coven building in
several cars, and got out.  I was kind of a wreck, I’d limited my power to
a fifty-foot reach, and even then as we walked down the sidewalk I was inwardly
cringing.  I just kept reminding myself I’d be in the building soon, and
away from all these mortal humans.

I carried my katana in a leather pool queue case of all
things.  I’d practiced a few times getting it out and drawn, and had the
process down to less than a second.  Vampires were very fast, and
dexterous.  I just wished I didn’t have the sword at all, but I was under
orders on what to do.  I had to protect James’ coven’s lives, and distract
Ceara when we got to her.

I also knew James expected my death to be a part of the
distraction.  He didn’t exactly want me to die, he just expected it, and
didn’t care.

We filed into the building, one of the vampires sitting at
the desk stared almost dumbfounded at us all, and then slammed his hand down on
the desk behind the counter.  I heard clicks and bangs, and realized the
building just went into lockdown.

I pulled my sword and rushed forward.  There were only
six, and they were all around a hundred.  It was child’s play to connect
to their souls and suppress their power.  I knocked out the two on the
left with pommel strikes.  Eustice took one down, as did Carly. 
Vince took the last two with a strike so hard it broke their skulls.

I shook my head in disgust and felt my stomach rebel just a
bit as they fell to the floor and bled out.  The idea had been to just
knock them out, after all, if we managed to complete the job and take the
coven, James would need to have guards in the lobby too.  The death had
been unnecessary.

Vince gave me a smug look, and I could see in his eyes the
promise of retribution for what I’d done to him last night.  I rolled my
eyes at him.

If I’d expected James to pull back on Vince’s reigns, I’d
have been sorely disappointed.

James ordered, “Stairs.”

Without security to approve it, the elevators wouldn’t open
up anywhere outside of the first floor without a key.  It was a safeguard
in case something like this happened.  Of course, the security precautions
didn’t do much against someone who was the head of the coven two weeks
ago.  We rushed the stairs, and James demolished the secured door with one
kick, we ran up the stairs, the slowest of us leading, and James did the same
to the third floor door and we rushed out.

It felt like rushing to my death, but I was bound by my
maker.  We ran down the aisles, surrounded by coven vampires that looked
up nervously from their work, but didn’t act.  There were double doors at
the end of the hallway, and James kicked them in too.  Probably to make a
statement, I was pretty sure they weren’t locked…

This end of the building, past those double doors, didn’t
look like an office at all.  It was a large lounge with couches, wood
floors, a fireplace, a side board type table, and a large open area encased on
three sides by the leather couches and chairs.  On the fourth side was a
chair that looked like a throne, and it was sitting on a slightly raised dais.

Ceara wasn’t in it, and I realized almost immediately this
room was James’ style, not Ceara’s.

Ceara looked up at us all with a calm look on her
face.  Standing behind her and around the room were the other three guards
who I estimated were closer to two hundred years of age.  They didn’t look
calm at all, but they held their place waiting for Ceara’s order.

Ceara was wearing a conservative green dress that made her
gorgeous bright red hair stand out.  She had piercing green eyes, a severe
beauty to her face, and a body that made me a little envious.  She also
had an aura of control and power about her.  She had that deep purpose and
will to live that James so obviously lacked.  It made me wonder, that being
twice as old, her soul still hadn’t tired of this life.

I didn’t have to read her soul, because it was plain as day
in her eyes.

Next to Ceara on the couch was another woman, she was cute
with a heart shaped face, light brown wavy hair, and hazel eyes.  She was
dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a casual white blouse.  She was also
not a vampire.  No, she was something else, the most powerful being I’d
ever laid eyes on.  The funny thing was James completely disregarded her,
he obviously couldn’t feel the deep strong power of an ancient sorceress of
earth.  I was torn between wanting to bow in respect, and giggle, because
she looked like a soccer mom.

My mind rebelled, I didn’t want to help kill Ceara. 
Not that having my will stripped from me didn’t make me struggle, but this just
added to it.  The only consolation to my situation was I was almost
positive James’ absurd plan would fail.  Which wouldn’t be much comfort
when I was dead.  I considered the aura of her air elemental power, and
thought that me blocking that would be like… using one sandbag to dam up the
Mississippi river. 

Even slightly shocking her with my power, as was the plan,
was clearly suicidal.

A few seconds had passed and no one had spoken, I gasped in
a breath, realizing I hadn’t been breathing at all.

James said in a friendly drawl, “Be reasonable Ceara, give
me back my city and leave.”

Ceara raised her eyebrow, “I don’t think so James.  You
broke coven law, many of them, right under the nose of the council. 
Surrender and I’ll be merciful, and judge each of your followers separately.”

I almost snorted, he wouldn’t care if all his followers
died, that wasn’t incentive for him to give up.  The signal I was dreading
came, he lifted his right heel slightly.  I grimaced, but didn’t have a
choice.

I reached out quickly for as much power as I could draw, the
elemental spirit magic flooded me as I reached out as far as I could.  I
gasped in shock as tens of thousands of souls dragged my mind into a swirling
maelstrom of chaos.  I could barely think, could barely breath, and I
wasn’t even sure who I was under the chaotic onslaught.

His compulsion hit me like a bat to the side of the head,
and my eyes widened in horror as spirit lightning shot out all around me. 
My mind was too chaotic to focus the strike.  Then darkness claimed me.

I groaned and looked up from the floor.  I must have
been out for a just a short moment.  I felt around and was relieved that
no one had actually died from my actions, my power had been too diffuse, too
undirected.  However, Ceara’s three guards were knocked out, and so were
the weaker vampires on our side.  All that remained standing were me,
James, Carly, Eustice, and Vince.

Ceara and the other woman hadn’t gotten off the couch yet,
and their eyes were on me and wide with surprise.  I glanced over and
James looked livid with anger.  I thought for a moment he was about to
kill me, but then I watched as his head exploded, like a sledgehammer hitting a
watermelon.

Ceara stood there, her hand and forearm coated with blood
and brain.

Eustice went down on one knee while Carly screamed in pain
and attacked Ceara.  I actually felt pity for her, she’d truly loved him,
for what that was worth.

I chose to follow Eustice’s example, and dropped to my
knees.

Vince glared at me, “Do what you were told and help!” he
roared.

I almost laughed, did Vince really just tell me to
help?  It was a gift from Inari.

I reached out just enough, maybe a hundred feet, and blasted
him with spirit lightning.  It wasn’t enough power to kill, but it would
shock him.  Probably not enough for James, and definitely not Ceara, but
enough power to make him freeze in shock for a split second.

Frozen long enough that he couldn’t dodge the dagger that
followed, pulled from my boot and flicked with my wrist.  It took him
right in the eye.

I smiled grimly, ironically he’d have been completely safe
from me, if he hadn’t demanded my help.  Even freed from James’ compulsion
at his death, I couldn’t have harmed Vince because of the tenets of Inari.

I hadn’t changed my posture to take out the evil bastard, I
was still kneeling on one knee.  Ceara had ended Carly with ease.  Is
it wrong that I was a little disappointed I hadn’t gotten to watch? 
Probably, the blonde vampire had been bitchy, and jealous, but not evil. 
I really was conflicted over the death.

I put my head down, wondering if I’d feel my death, or if
she would honor her promise of a trial.

“What are you,” Ceara asked.

I looked up and she was back sitting on the couch.  She
looked curious, and very calm.  Like she’d invited me by for tea and the
dead bodies were nothing more than spilt sugar.  It was a little
intimidating.  I wasn’t sure what to do, I wasn’t required to answer, and
spirit sorcerers didn’t usually advertise our existence, even to the
supernatural.  Yet, I felt like I owed her answers, after all, I’d just
tried to kill her.  I decided to share some answers, just not as many as
James had managed to pull from me.

“Spirit sorceress, or I was that, before James forcibly
turned me.”

The other woman, the earth sorceress asked, “Do you follow
the tenets of Inari?”

My mouth dropped open in shock, where had she learned that
knowledge?  But I managed to nod my head yes.

She turned to Ceara, “You should give her a chance.”

Everyone out cold started to wake up then, and everyone that
was a child of James, that was left, dropped to one knee as soon as they saw me
and Eustice in that position.  The three guards woke up, and a few seconds
later the four guards from downstairs that survived rushed into the room.

Ceara nodded to her friend and then ordered the guards,
“Take them to cells, I will see them all separately.”

I was ordered to stand and guided to the stairs.  As we
got close to the first floor, I realized I could flee, easily overpower the
guards and get out of the city.  My heart sunk though, what would be the
point?  Live alone without family in the forest like the last two
years?  Haunt the edge of Seattle when I needed to feed?  I had
nothing left out there, and I was more than just a spirit sorceress, I was a
vampire.  It was no way to live, now that I was at peace with my loss, I’d
no desire to return to such a life.

Vampire covens were dysfunctional to be sure, but if I could
make it work here, at least I wouldn’t be alone anymore.  So I kept on
walking down the stairs, and didn’t object when they locked me inside of a
cell…