Chapter 37

Thirty-Seven

The first thing I have to do is figure out what protection spell she's circled herself with. In the time it's taken me to grab the things I think I'll need, she's begun pulling a thick mist in around them.

I imagine it's more for insulation that obscuring. If she can keep the spell contained to a small area, she can concentrate what power she has… it's the only way I can think of that she might be able to keep from causing herself serious damage.

She chose this spot carefully and I know she's been planning for longer than I've known she was here. But I don't think I've underestimated her skill level.

What she should do, and what she can do…

A gulf lies between those two points.

Still hidden, I scour the area, looking for what she's done. If I can figure other method, I might be able to stop the madness.

The moon might still be gibbous, but the night isn't bright enough for this, except…

Bingo.

There's a dark line burned around them. A deep channel that marks the boundary.

Reaching out, I tentatively test the air above it. There is nothing.

But when I spin a tiny spell at it, the barrier flares and sparkles, a dome over them.

But those sparks are something I've seen a dozen times before.

Salt scorch is often used as a protection spell… but it's weak, sloppy. Easily undone.

She had to have been in a hurry when she did it. I can't think of another reason she might have done something so reckless.

The burn is just a magical residue. All I have to do is push my shoe over the line, scratching away that line and the boundary opens.

"Don't," I whisper to the wolves who have now crowded close to me. "Don't go after them until I tell you to. It will drain you faster than any of them."

They shift, restlessly, and I imagine they'd whine if they could make any noise.

I could destroy the barrier entirely, but what she's doing has to be contained.

Dropping down to my knees, I dig out my own salt. "You have to stay out here."

I see one of them snap their jaws in protest. "Nothing is going to happen to them that they can't heal from. I promise."

Clearing away the scorch… just enough to get in, I slip past that boundary, taking as little with me as I can, and I reconnect the line with my own salt.

It locks the wolves out but—

The boundary sparks as the spell re-initializes, electrifying the air.

The sphere flares, as if surrounded by a bright, red, glowing ball of energy and tendrils shoot from it stabbing straight into the center of the guys' chests. The acolytes' eyes go wide as they, too, are pierced by the energy and it starts to pull from them. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I had double vision as part of them shifts, their spirits pulled forward by the magic that has already started to drain them of their power.

An eighth tendril reaches toward the fake moon, not quite reaching and a ninth… The energy and power leached from her seven victims flows into Aphrodite's outstretched palm.

She isn't watching them. Her focus is on the altar and I see a piece of paper flutter beneath the rock holding it down.

She's reading the spell.

I clutch the bottle in my hand more tightly and pray that she doesn't mess any of the words up.

But as I creep forward, I see something I should have suspected.

A second line.

This is the actual protection, and it's not Aphrodite's.

I can feel the power radiating from it and I've grown accustomed to the feel of hers. That makes me spare a moment to look at the women under her control. I've no idea which witch is stronger, and imagine she doesn't either.

But this line isn't meant to keep anyone out. It's meant to keep them in.

I step over that line and Aphrodite doesn't look up, but the witch furthest from me does. I don't need to guess whose spell it was.

I don't know if it's because she's too focused, or if it's because she thinks I'm not a threat now that it's started. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful.

I can't sever anyone from the spell yet. But I can take them from her.

There's a rock behind Johnny that should work…

Pressing the bottle of oil and herbs to my lips, I whisper a single spelled word: sparge.

And then toss it like a Molotov cocktail.

The bottle shatters against the rock and the potion splatters across their backs.

I see the moment the spell that binds them to her will breaks. But their hands and legs are still tied.

Thomas looks at me, sharply and shakes his head. But I'm not going to leave them to this. I wouldn't, even if this spell didn't hold the possibility of killing more than just the seven of them.

The residual potion hit two of the three acolytes. They blink as if they've just woken up from a very disorienting dream. But the other's eyes are locked on the woman draining her life.

She'll have to be dealt with later.

I don't have the right tools to stop this spell. And I can't simply take Aphrodite out without causing a potentially deadly blowback of her spell…

I don't have options.

Any closer, and the sphere will take hold of me as well.

But if my grandmother has proven anything tonight. It's that sometimes, protecting others means sacrificing yourself.