Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

I shuddered and released the ring, which shattered the connection and let the horrific images dissipate. The gut-churning horror remained, however.

The ring chimed lightly as it hit the floor and bounced away. Monty caught it before it could roll down the steps, but in the shadowed darkness that surrounded us, it glimmered with bloody fire. My psychometry surged to life one more time, giving me a final image—that of a lake rich and red in hue, and in which faces floated. Faces that were forever frozen in fear and horror.

My stomach roiled threateningly. I gulped down air as I battled the urge to be sick. Belle caught my hands, and her mind flowed into mine, pushing the images back from the forefront of my memories and giving me room to breathe, to think.

"Thanks," I said eventually. My gaze rose to hers. "Did you see…?"

"Some of the stronger images certainly came through, but you're doing a damn good job of shutting me out these days." She squeezed my hands then released them. "What you saw is not unexpected, given who and what we're dealing with."

I guess it wasn't, given there were at least a dozen vampires remaining with Marie—including, of course, Maelle's daughter Jaqueline—and they did all need to be fed.

I just hadn't expected it to be so … centralized.

Monty disengaged his circle and collected his spell stones. "I take it you located Roger?"

"I saw the cavern where I think he's imprisoned, but he's not alone there."

Belle and I released our entwined protection circle, then rose and picked up the spell stones.

Monty's eyebrows rose. "They have other prisoners?"

"More like other victims." Belle's reply was grim. "Think charnel house, but in a cave."

"Ah, fuck." Monty scraped a hand across his bristly chin. "Though that does make me wonder why there hasn't been an avalanche of missing persons reports."

"The reservation is filled with small farms and out-of-the-way shacks," I replied. "The werewolves might notice one of their own going missing, but they're unlikely to notice anyone else doing so unless its reported or they deal with them on a daily basis."

"True." He hesitated. "Did you see anything that will give us an idea of general location? Or are we just going to tootle around with the ring until we find a pulse?—"

"I would hope your use of ‘tootling' does not imply a lack of urgency" came Maelle's comment from somewhere deep in the shadows behind Monty. "Roger needs to be found within that twenty-four-hour deadline we were given."

Her use of ‘we' definitely suggested there'd be personal ramifications for us if we didn't, and that they wouldn't be coming from Marie.

But then, if we failed to save Roger, be it within that deadline or not, there'd be ramifications for the whole damn reservation, not just us.

"Just where is this court she mentioned?" I couldn't help asking. "She said you'd know, but how is that even possible if you two haven't communicated yet?"

Maelle remained in the shadows, but I nevertheless felt the cold flash of her smile. "The court is not a physical entity, but rather one that lies in the realm between life and death. It is a plane on which evil plays, and one that we who live on the lives of others, who conjure from the blood of others, or who barter with the darker forces of this world can traverse at will."

I stared at the darkness in which she stood for several seconds. "That's how Jaqueline escaped the explosion at the shearers' shed, isn't it?"

She hadn't, as we'd presumed at the time, scrambled down into the old mine shaft that ran underneath the shed, but rather had simply stepped into this shadow realm.

"Indeed," Maelle said, amusement evident. "And if not for the fact that the spells around your café have the wild magic woven through them, you would have already fallen victim to Marie's wiles."

"And there you go, underestimating me again."

"I underestimate nothing, my dear Elizabeth. Now, you had best go and find Roger, otherwise annoyance might get the better of me."

It was so calmly, so politely said, but there was no doubting the threat within. A chill ran down my spine and, as one, the three of us turned and got the hell out of there.

"Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place," Monty grumbled once we were clear of the building. "We've one vampire who'll kill us if we don't find her man, and a fucking dozen who will kill us if we do."

"At least we have the sunlight on our side right now," I said. "No matter what else they might be capable of, they simply can't roam about in it."

"Which may not matter if they're able to use this shadow plane as some sort of supernatural highway to get about."

"I can't imagine it would be easy to enter or use," Belle said. "All magic has its costs, but the darker the spell, the greater the price paid."

"Except the dark plane isn't reached via a spell," Monty replied.

I glanced at him, eyebrows rising. "You've heard about it before?"

"It was mentioned in one of the classes about dark mages and darker magics at uni, though they called it a path rather than a plane." He grimaced. "Like most classes related to anything involving either subject, it was high on theory and low on fact."

"Maybe because those teaching the class don't know all that much on the subject," Belle said.

"The Heretic Investigations Center exists, remember, and they have a pretty extensive library about dark magic and its uses, given their specialty is hunting down dark witches and mages."

"Did these classes ever mention how the plane is reached, if not by a spell?" I asked.

He grimaced. "As I said, it was theory more than fact. They believe there're numerous entry points into the plane that only those who deal with darkness and death can see. Regular witches can't see them, apparently, and most of those who can are rarely given the chance to answer questions about them."

"Because the HIC's ‘most wanted' list is also a kill list," I commented.

He nodded. "Did you get anything specific that might pin down the search area?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Maybe—I'll need to talk to Aiden first."

"I think it might also be worth giving Ashworth and Eli a heads-up," Monty said. "If that cave is charnel in nature, it's likely to be well protected. It wouldn't hurt to have additional magical help."

Ira Ashworth worked for the Regional Witch Association—the government body charged with dealing with any situation witch-related within regional communities. Eli, his husband, had also worked for them, but was now retired. Both men had basically become substitute grandfathers to me over the course of the last year. I'd even asked Ashworth if he would walk me down the aisle.

"You ring them; I'll ring Aiden." I'd promised to update him anyway, though this wasn't the sort of update I wanted to be doing.

As Monty nodded and pulled out his phone, I leaned against the SUV's bullet hole-ridden rear door and made my call.

The phone barely had time to ring before Aiden answered. "You obviously survived the wrath of our resident vampire."

I smiled. "I will admit it was touch-and-go for a little while there. She's one scary mother, I can tell you that."

"All mothers are scary when their young are threatened. Roger may not be her bloodline, but he is of her flesh."

Which was very true, but her fierceness was more a result of the damage his death could do to her than any sort of maternal instinct. Hell, I wasn't even sure her demand we leave Jaqueline alive was maternal in nature, despite her protestations and the fact that her daughter was one of the few who'd survived her destroying their coven.

"Did you manage to persuade her to let you use psychometry to find him?"

"I did, and I did."

"And you're ringing to get my help with the location?"

I smiled. "That, and because I was missing your dulcet tones."

He snorted. "Yeah. Likely."

I laughed. "In the vision, I saw two golden wattles, red boulders, and a cavern shaped like a mouth. Does that ring any location bells?"

"Wrong time of year for the wattles to be out?—"

"They weren't in flower, but I recognized the leaves."

"Ah. Well, the red boulders suggest it could be situated around the Eureka Reef area."

"I take it there are plenty of old caves there?"

"Plenty of mines. There's a self-guided two-kilometer walking track situated there, but we generally encourage tourists to keep out of the deeper forests surrounding the reef because of the mine shaft dangers. I take it he's not located anywhere easy to get to?"

"Are they ever?" I responded. "It still might be worth driving around the area first to see if I can pick up a signal from the ring Maelle gave me. It could save us some time."

Could waste it, too, but given my tendency to find mine shafts the hard way, I'd really prefer not to be walking around an area full of them.

"We can certainly do that."

I smiled. "There's no need for you to accompany us. I'll call if we find something. Besides, you surely have more important things to do than drive around the reservation with the three of us."

"There is nothing more important than sorting out this whole vampire mess right now, because you and I need to marry, and the sooner the better."

I laughed again. "I'm not going to run away on you, Aiden. And it's not like a marriage certificate will stop that if I do decide to run."

"I know. I just…"

Want to make you mine. Officially. He didn't say that, but it nevertheless seemed to sing down the line between us.

"I was, and always will be, yours," I said softly. "Nothing will ever change that."

"Wish I could echo the first part of that statement, but it took me too damnably long to realize you'd stolen my heart."

"I forgive you," I said lightly. "You are a werewolf, after all, and sometimes the alpha trait gets in the way of common sense."

He laughed. "Says the witch who constantly ignores common sense."

I smiled, but it quickly faded. "Aiden, has there been an uptick in missing person reports of late?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"Because I saw what looked to be the vamps' feeding ground, and there were a lot of bodies in there."

"Ah, fuck," he muttered. "I'll contact the alphas and get them to check the isolated farms near their compounds. If too many people had gone missing from towns, we would have received reports by now. Where are you now?"

"Outside Maelle's."

"Then head back to the café and I'll meet you all there. My truck can cope with the rougher tracks up near the Eureka Reef better than either yours or Monty's."

"Monty's can barely cope with a dirt road."

Aiden laughed. "Don't let him hear you say that. He's inordinately fond of that rust bucket of his."

So fond he'd given her a name—Beast. Which, in many ways, was appropriate, because it certainly was a beast of a thing to drive—in a bad way, not good.

"I'll see you soon, then."

I hung up and glanced at Monty. "Aiden's going to meet us at the café."

"Ashworth asked if we could pick him up on the way through," Monty said. "Eli's going to contact a cousin in Canberra and see what he knows about the dark path."

My eyebrows rose. "Did his cousin work for the HIC?"

"Quite some years ago, apparently, but he still has access to their resources and can do a search for us. Whether it'll result in a means of tracing or even blocking these entry points is anyone's guess."

"Maelle can obviously see them," Belle commented. "It would be handy if she started coming to the party with some information."

"I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that to happen," Monty muttered. "Shall we go?"

I nodded, and jumped into the SUV, doing a U-turn, and led the way back to the café. I parked around the back, then, after dropping the ring into the center console, out of immediate sight, I grabbed my pack and walked up the steps, avoiding the stained patch of concrete—all that was left of the vampire who'd been incinerated there not long ago. Not by me, but by the sun.

The air sparkled briefly as I entered the reading room, a clear indication the thickly layered spells encircling and protecting the room remained active. The warm scent of cinnamon, clove, lemon, and sandalwood—all of which provided either protection or enhanced focus and concentration—filled the air, and it was a scent that would only get stronger in the run-up to Christmas. Belle was one of the strongest spirit talkers around, and it was an ability that was now bringing in customers from far and wide. With Christmas only a few weeks away, it seemed everyone wanted to speak to lost loved ones. It was a good revenue stream, but doing so many each and every day did take a toll on Belle strength wise. I'd suggested she take an additional day off, but so far she was resisting.

"And you know why," she commented from behind me. "The readings don't cover the cost of hiring an additional staff member."

"The café is now running at a profit, Belle."

"Only just. And please don't give me that whole ‘we're both millionaires now' line, because that money hasn't yet come through."

"But it will." Anthony, the Black Lantern attorney who'd represented me at the mediation meeting with my ex's other heirs, would ensure it.

I pressed my hand against a panel in the bookcase that covered the entire rear wall—one of thirty-six we'd had installed. Magic crawled across my fingers, then the lock released, revealing an eight-inch hidden compartment. This one held multiple bottles of holy water and a couple of packets of blessed salt. Salt worked as a deterrent for most supernatural beasties, because as a general rule they couldn't cross an unbroken line of it. Blessed salt was new and totally untested, but the priest we now purchased our holy water from—for a sizeable donation to his church—had said it might strengthen the salt's deterrent factor and could even work as a cleanser. We had nothing to lose by trying it—nothing other than another large donation to his church, of course.

I tossed the salt across to Belle and then grabbed a nearby box and stacked six bottles of holy water into it. After closing that panel, I moved across to the next and pulled out a bag of sage smudge sticks. We generally dispensed a mix of dried sage and lavender to clients wanting to banish negative energy, but the smudge sticks were useful to cleanse and purify spaces.

This cave, however big it was, would need both if the number of faces I'd seen floating in that bloody pond was anything to go by. That many deaths in one confined area could lead to the formation of a tenebrum cloud—a swirling cloud of darkness imbued with all the fear, the horror, and the pain of those who'd died. It could drown those who entered it unprotected with all its emotional weight, and often resulted in madness.

Of course, sage was also useful for banishing evil spirits, but I very much doubted it would work against the evil currently using the Faelan Reservation as a hunting ground, if only because they weren't spirits but rather flesh and blood.

I tucked the bag and a box of matches into my pack and then handed Belle a silk bag to place the ring in once we were back in the car. I really didn't want to touch it with bare fingers, given the images that might lie in wait. The silk wouldn't kill my ability to track the pulse of Roger's presence, but it would at least mute those images.

I scooped up the box of holy water and followed Belle out into the main café area. Monty was behind the counter, helping himself to cake.

"You were a hobbit in a previous life, weren't you?" I said, amused.

"Hey, I haven't had first breakfast yet, let alone second." He waved the serving knife toward the carrot cake he'd taken out of the cake fridge. "You want some? I can highly recommend it. The cream-cheese icing really sets it off perfectly."

"Says the biased man who sleeps with the woman who made said carrot cake and cream-cheese icing," I said dryly. "And it's probably better if I don't, given the unsteady nature of my stomach of late and what we're about to head into."

"Ah, yeah, sorry." Monty bagged three more pieces, then scooped them up and followed me out the back door. After collecting and bagging the ring, we walked around to the front to wait for Aiden.

Gentle hues of pink and gold began to stain the horizon even though shadows still hugged the ground. The dawning day remained hot and still, and there was very little in the way of birdsong to be heard. Even the magpies had apparently decided it took too much energy to warble in this heat.

Aiden's truck came around the corner a few seconds later. He pulled up in front of us, then leaned across to open the passenger door for me. Monty ushered Belle into the rear seat, then scooted in beside her and offered Aiden one of the bags.

"Nothing nicer than a crumbly cake when you're driving," he said wryly. "But thanks for the thought."

"Quite happy to eat it if you don't," Monty replied.

"Which was no doubt your plan all along."

"Oh, no doubt about it," Belle said.

Aiden laughed, then checked his mirrors and pulled out. "I take it we're picking up Ashworth on the way through?"

I nodded and tried to ignore the delicious scent of cake invading the cabin. As much as my stomach was rumbling, it would appreciate my forbearance later.

It didn't take us long to get across to Ashworth's. He and Eli lived in a pretty miners' cottage with a white picket fence and a path lined with flowers and roses. The backyard was even prettier, which was why I'd asked if we could use it to get married in.

Ashworth was waiting at the front for us. He was a short, squat, and powerfully built bald man with a heavily lined face and muddy silver eyes. Today he was wearing oil-stained jeans and his favorite Black Sabbath T-shirt, which Eli had long ago declared should have been binned. He was at least wearing decent leather boots, rather than his usual threadbare sneakers. Anyone who didn't know him would probably write him off as some kind of hobo, but any witch would know better—the power that rolled off him when he wasn't tamping it down was breathtaking.

Monty moved across to make room for him. Ashworth threw his pack into the back of Aiden's truck, then climbed in beside Monty and did up the belt.

"Morning all," he said, sounding altogether too cheerful for such an early hour. "I brought along some white ash shavings. Thought they might come in handy."

"White ash shavings?" I looked around. "That wouldn't kill them, would it?"

"No, but it does prevent vampire entry if appropriately placed. They can't cross it. They can't even touch it."

"Couldn't they just jump over it?" Belle asked. "Or just blow it away?"

"No, because we'll link a shield to the shavings. That'll result in the white ash's properties infusing the spell and means they won't easily be able to dismantle said spell without endangering their own lives."

"I'm betting Marie will just get one of her subordinate vamps to take the risk."

"Most likely, but he or she will pay the price, and that'll mean one less vamp for us to deal with."

"They never mentioned shavings when we did the unit on vampires," Monty said.

"Because those who teach rarely have field experience." Ashworth's voice held a hint of contempt. "Need and experimentation is sometimes the best teacher."

"I'm not going to argue with that," Monty said.

"That would be a change," Ashworth said. "Are you feeling all right?"

"He's only had the one piece of cake," Belle explained. "His sugar levels are suffering."

"Ah well, I'll go easy on the lad then."

"Thank you," the lad said dryly.

Silence fell, though it was far from an easy silence, given we were all too aware that what we were racing toward might well be a trap.

Once we were well on our way to the Eureka Reef, Belle handed me the silk bag containing the ring. The minute it hit my palm, the distant pulse of life jumped into focus. A heartbeat later, a thin, shadowy line began to reel out in front of the truck. It was a physical emanation of the link between the ring and Roger—a tracking guide rope, if you will. It was a very recent development, one born of the changes the inner wild magic was making to my psi talents.

"Got him," I said. "He's still alive."

Aiden glanced at me. "Is the connection a strong one?"

"Yes, so we're close. I'd slow down because who knows when it's going to rip us off the main road."

"Knowing your psi senses," Monty commented, "they'll do so at the most inappropriate time."

He'd barely finished saying that when the translucent rope jagged sideways into the trees.

"Like left right now," I said, even though there really didn't appear to be a road or track to drive onto.

Aiden swore and yanked the wheel sideways. Tires squealed and the truck rocked violently onto two wheels, forcing me to grip the panic bar to stop being thrown into Aiden's side. He gunned the engine, the truck thumped back down onto four wheels, and we plunged into trees, branches scraping across the windows and the roof of the truck. We bumped along for several minutes, then the heavier forest gave way to what might mockingly be called a road, though it was little wider than a goat track.

"Remind me never to put something like that into the ether again," Monty said. "Are we on a track, or just plunging willy-nilly through the forest?"

"It's hardly willy-nilly, given I am being guided," I replied.

"That was a serious question aimed at our driver—no answers from the peanut gallery, please."

I laughed and did a quick handball motion to Aiden.

"It's one of the old four-wheel driving tracks," he replied, amused. "The practice was banned quite a few years ago, after several fires were started by hot exhaust pipes."

"And are there any mines about these parts?"

"Not big enough to lose a truck in."

"Well, that's at least something."

"Given Liz's tendency to fall down the things, it's more than merely something," Aiden said, voice dry.

"That's a truth no one will argue with." Belle paused. "Is it my imagination, or is this forest getting darker rather than lighter?"

"Darker," Ashworth replied. "We broke through a veil several minutes ago."

"What sort of veil?" Monty asked, a frown I couldn't see evident in his voice. "I felt a slight … pressure along the magical lines, but it didn't feel like any sort of spell that I'm aware of."

"It's not a spell in the true sense of the word," Ashworth said. "More of a charm-based deterrent that works in the same manner as a protection circle. It's designed to discourage anyone walking into a set area. It didn't apply to us because we're in the truck."

"How big an area can these deterrents cover?" Belle asked. "Because it looks to me like the truck's headlights are on but struggling to make a dent in the gloom."

"They are, which is why we're now crawling." Aiden glanced at me. "Any idea how much farther we have to go?"

I tightened my grip on the silk-bagged ring for a second. Images of death and darkness pressed at the back of my mind, but they had a weirdly distant feel to them this time. Instinct was suggesting there was a good reason for that, but I ignored it and concentrated instead on the irregular pulse. Right now, our priority had to be rescuing Roger. I could work on the deeper puzzle inherent in this connection later.

"Hard to say," I said eventually. "I guess we just stop and walk once the truck can't go any further."

He nodded and kept following my directions. But the deeper we drove into the forest, the harder it became to see the ground ahead and the trees around us. Eventually, we had no choice but to stop.

I grabbed my backpack and climbed out. A hint of woodsmoke ran underneath the scent of eucalyptus in the air, which suggested there might be a fire nearby. I hoped it was someone who'd just lit a campfire, rather than the beginnings of a bushfire. That was the very last thing we needed right now.

Aiden got a couple of flashlights from the back of his truck, but they did little more than flare weakly across the gloom surrounding us. The light orb Monty cast into the air had a little more luck in folding back the veil, but even then visibility remained down to only a few yards.

It was going to make spotting the cave or even mine shafts difficult. Which, I guess, might have been the whole point of the veil in the first place.

I swung my backpack on, and with Aiden by my side, headed left into the trees, following the rising ridge of red rock up the mound-strewn hillside. It was surprisingly hard to walk—the veil wasn't only keeping it artificially dark, but it also seemed to be thickening the air, making every step more of an effort. Sweat trickled down my spine, and I tugged a hairband from the backpack's side pocket and pulled my hair into a ponytail to get it off my neck.

The ridge continued to grow in height. Dotted along its length were various shafts, their entrances barely visible in the golden glow of Monty's light orb, their caverns hiding a darkness even deeper than the veil. None of them were guarded by trees, let alone wattles.

The scent of smoke continued to strengthen, and I glanced worriedly at Aiden. "Is that anything to be concerned about?"

"Don't know." He eyed the bush ahead for a second. "But there're no burn-offs planned in the area that I'm aware."

"So, it's not just a campfire?"

"Afraid not."

"Isn't it a bit early for bushfires?" Monty asked.

"Sadly, no. Especially not with the heat we've been getting lately." Aiden half shrugged. "I haven't received an alert on my phone, and I would have if there was a fire in the area."

Because the rangers were always called in on fires, if only to keep onlookers at bay so the brigade could do their jobs.

The shadowed string guiding me did another sharp turn, this time to the right. I swung the flashlight that way. Directly ahead was a towering rock face, in the middle of which was a blot of blackness. Either side of this stood the two wattles I'd seen in the vision.

The string went straight into the mouth of that blackness and disappeared.

We'd found the cavern.

And every inch of my being screamed we couldn't— shouldn't —go inside.

That if we did, we would die.

The scents drifting from the cavern's mouth backed up that insight, because that air wasn't only filled with death, but also the thick, acidic scent of demon.

That cave might be a charnel hellhole, but it was also a trap.