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Chapter Fifteen

Ric

I hung my head between my knees with a groan, my chains clanking with the movement and rubbing my ankles and wrists raw. I tried not to think about my growling stomach or the fact that Luci and her child had followed me to Rome. What had she been thinking? Didn’t she know there was no reasoning with the Tribunal? I was as good as dead, and I sure as hell didn’t want her to be executed alongside me. Or her son. For I suspected he was the phoenix. How foolish the Tribunal had been to write off the boy, though I wasn’t surprised at their incompetence.

I shot up, squinting at the door in the low light while salivating like a mongrel at the sound of hooves stomping outside. I snarled at my jailer as he slid open a window on the floor of my cell and shoved a tray with a bowl toward me, sloshing liquid everywhere.

“Enjoy your meal,” my jailer taunted. “It will be your last.”

Ahh, so the Tribunal had already decided my fate without gathering all the evidence. I wasn’t surprised. They were trying to force Luci to come out of hiding, damn them. For the sake of her son, I hoped she listened and stayed away this time.

I had to grab the damn tray with the tip of my bare foot, inching it over to me slowly across the dirty floor. I could hardly move with these short chains, and the bastards only unhooked me from the cold, brick wall twice a day to shit and piss.

The food was indistinguishable, but I didn’t care. I shoved gruel into my mouth with dirty hands, barely registering the bland flavors of whatever meat they’d fed me. Swallowing was hard with this Sireneum collar around my neck, but I only choked a few times. After letting out a rancid burp, I licked my bowl clean, then my fingers, before throwing the bowl and tray at the door. The food was hardly filling. Not when I was used to eating ten times this much for each meal. I swore if I survived this ordeal, I’d never forget how I’d been treated, a member of the striga nobility brought lower than a dog.

Damn, I was hungry. So freaking hungry. These minotaur jailers were lucky I couldn’t shift. Otherwise, I’d bite off their heads and roast them rare, just how I liked my steaks. Even though they’d silenced my sphinx with Sireneum coral, my appetite hadn’t waned. If anything, it was worse, though not as powerful as my thirst for revenge, first against the Maga Sagredo and then against every last succubus. If I escaped death and this prison, I would hunt them all down. I was tired of hiding. These fools had awakened my inner beast, and I was prepared to fight.

I let out a human-sounding growl as two apparitions floated into the room. The coral had silenced the good parts of my magic but left my cursed medium abilities, and holy hex, there were a lot of souls stuck in this prison. These two ghosts were unusual, just white balls of light rather than formed souls.

When they continued to hover above me without saying a word, I let out a curse. “What is it?”

The balls of light pulsed like heartbeats. “You need to destroy the succubus.” The voices were indistinguishable, neither male nor female.

I held up my chained wrists. “How exactly do you propose I do that?”

“Rip off her head.”

Bitter laughter erupted from my throat. “Believe me, I would if I could shift.”

“You are one of the last of your kind, the guardians of the phoenix.” The lights pulsed faster, brighter. “You must not die.”

One of? No, I was the very last sphinx. “Yeah, not dying would be nice.” I squinted up at them. “Do you have a way for me to get out of these?”

The light softened. “She is coming for you.”

“Who?”

“She bore the phoenix. Now it’s your job to protect him.”

Their light was so blinding, I hung my head to shield my eyes. I heard a pop , and they were gone, fluttering to the ceiling like butterflies before blinking out completely. I looked down at my broken chains, shrugging them off me before ripping off my collar. The lion inside me roared to life. I shifted into a massive beast, busting through the walls of my prison cell.

An alarm bell rang out and the sound of hooves striking stone filled the halls as I clawed at the exterior wall until it, too, crumbled. I breathed in a gulp of cool night air, stoking the flames in my chest, and hit the invisible ward with my flame until the air bubbled and boiled, flaking apart like burned parchment. Did they think their weak magic could hold me? With a roar, I jumped into the sky, flying southeast toward Mount Othrys in Greece, which would only take me a few hours to get there. I had a secret warded castle there with a fully stocked kitchen where the striga would never find me. I would eat and rest, and once I made sure Luci and her son were safe, I’d plan the demise of my enemies.

Luci

AFTER SPENDING ONE of the most restless nights of my life tossing and turning on the floor beside my aunt’s bed, once again, I was braless, and this time I was smart enough to wear borrowed clothes. No way did I want to expose my favorite jeans and only bra to troll feces. I paced the floor while waiting for my aunt to prepare the spell that would shrink me down to pixie sized. I still wasn’t convinced she could do it. And what if she shrunk me and then couldn’t unshrink me? Too many variables for my liking, the worst being we had no idea when the troll would use his toilet on Taco Tuesday. I thought that was an American tradition. Why couldn’t the Romans have Tortellini Tuesday? Yeah, it was dairy, but at least it was low fiber.

Ethyl slipped into the room, her eyes red-rimmed from crying all night over Frederica, and set down a breakfast tray with all kinds of pastries, eggs, and bacon.

I shook my head when she tried to offer me food. As if I could eat before going into sewage. She wordlessly served Des while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Ordinarily, I would’ve scolded Puffy, who perched on his shoulder, greedily taking bites of my son’s food, but I had bigger issues than a gluttonous dragon.

I accepted Ethyl’s offer of fresh juice, slowly sipping while pacing the floor. “I can’t believe my aunt is sending me through a troll’s toilet.”

“That’s nothing.” Shu stretched to the ceiling with an exaggerated yawn before sitting opposite Des and piling food on his plate. “Blanche once told her sister Charmaigne that she was left on their doorstep by gypsies.”

I stared at our fairy godfather in his teal parachute pants, curly mullet, and purple cotton headband. “Shu, I mean this in the nicest possible way. You need to watch a new show.”

He waved a white napkin around like it was a flag of surrender while his eyes lit up like fireworks. “Des introduced me to streaming! I’m going to watch these new shows called Friends and Seinfeld !”

I guess I shouldn’t complain. At least he’d moved up a decade.

Ethyl snapped open her wings, fluttering to my side. “I can’t believe you’re not letting me come with you.”

Ugh. We’d been through this a dozen times already. I set the juice on the table and gave her a pleading look. “I need you to stay with Des.” She was the only one I trusted to watch him. Besides, I feared she’d lose her cool while trying to free Frederica. Ethyl wasn’t known to handle pressure well.

“I want to go, Mama.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, facing my son. What did he just say? “Des, where I’m going is very dangerous.”

He stood, turning up his chin and puffing up his chest. “That’s why I want to go. To protect you.”

Oh, my heart! “Oh, sweetie.” I quickly crossed over to him and took him in my arms, my heart soaring and shattering at once. To my delight, he hugged me back instead of pulling away. He was my height now and getting taller each month. Soon and he’d be towering over me. I loved him so much, but I couldn’t bring him into danger. I couldn’t.

“I think he should go.”

I released Des and spun around, glaring at my aunt. I hadn’t even heard her come into the room. She’d been consulting with her advisors all morning in another cavern. She was wearing her black warrior gear again, with wands and blades strapped to her clothes.

“Are you insane?” I asked.

She didn’t even flinch. “Hear me out. He can teleport us out of there if things go south.”

If things go south? This whole plan had already gone south, and we hadn’t even broken into the Tribunal yet.

“She’s right.”

I scowled at Ethyl. “What?”

She twirled her rainbow striped belt around a finger while batting her lashes. “And he can teleport us in, so we don’t have to go through a troll’s toilet on Taco Tuesday.”

I faced my son. “Can you teleport us into the Tribunal?”

He shrugged, acting as if our monumental request was no big deal. “Yeah.”

“Can you take us to Ric’s cell?” Serena asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know what it looks like.”

I rubbed my chin while contemplating his words. “I think he can only go to places he’s been before.”

Serena gave him an appreciative look. “Makes sense.”

Fear and dread turned my veins to lead. “I don’t want to take my son in there.”

I loathed the look of pity in Serena’s eyes. “And you don’t want to part with your son, either. He’ll be safest with you, anyway. This is the best option.”

Holy hex! Were we seriously talking about involving my twelve-year-old son in this dangerous mission?

“He can bring us to the mechanical room where you transported the last time,” she continued. “Then we shield ourselves with a concealment spell and destroy the demon controlling my mother and her followers.”

Wow. Nothing about freeing Ric. “I don’t care about taking anyone down,” I answered. “I just want to get Ric out of there.”

“And Frederica,” Ethyl added.

Serena flashed a tight smile. “This is our chance to take them down, Luciella. I’m not sure when we’ll get another, and if we don’t do it now, they’ll always be a threat.”

I fixed her with a hard glare. “We go to save our friends. We’re not fighting anyone, demon or witch, unless they try to harm us.”

My aunt had her priorities out of order. Perhaps bringing Des to help her battle the Tribunal had been her plan all along, and she’d been hoping I’d jump at the chance to avoid the troll sewers.

He was just twelve years old. Twelve. Three years younger than I was when I watched my parents die. And that experience had nearly destroyed me. What if things went south before he could teleport us out of there? What if...he watched me die?

Des pulled out his wand, a twelve-inch pine stick made for beginner witches that was meant to channel very little magic. It was more of a toy than a real weapon, like the difference between a wooden and a steel sword. His father and I had given it to him when he’d turned ten. Though most striga, except for rare mythical creatures, used wands, I didn’t think Des needed one. He had more magic in his pinkie finger than any witch with a wand. Then he took my hand, looking into my eyes. “Mama, I can do it.”

My amazing, brave boy. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

“I should, Mama. I’m the phoenix.” He squeezed my hand. “I can protect you.”

My eyes misted and my throat constricted. “It’s my job to protect you .”

“I can do it, Mama.” His voice broke and splintered, reminding me he was still very much a growing child. “Please.”

There was a sharpness in his eyes that I hadn’t noticed before, a glimpse of the genius hiding inside a child’s facade. My child was the phoenix, the most powerful witch in the world. My boy. It was all too much.

“Okay,” I said on an exhale. I couldn’t believe I’d relented so easily. I was the worst mother ever.

Shu jumped from his seat, fluttering around like a butterfly, his pants swishing with each step while he crop-dusted everyone with chem trails of heavy cologne. “Let’s go kick some demon butt.”

“Are you going with us, Shu?” I asked him. “I don’t want you to feel obligated after everything you’ve been through.”

He grasped my shoulder, leveling me with a long look. “I go where you go,” he said, his voice cracking before he looked away. “I wasn’t there for your parents last time, but I want to be here for you now. Besides,” he said, cracking a smile, “because of those demons, I missed the last six seasons of The Golden Girls . This is personal.”

I laughed at that. I was glad to see he still had his sense of humor.

Serena’s dark gaze traveled up the length of his body.

“Take a picture. It will last longer,” he said to her while bobbling his head like a diva.

She folded her arms, scowling. “Do you have something quieter to wear?”

He gaped at her like she’d grown a second head. “What do you mean?”

She cocked a hand on her hip. “Your pants swish.”

“Well, duh. They’re parachute pants.” He waved toward his pants as if they were made of magic.

Serena jutted a finger toward his lamp sitting in the center of the table. “Change.”

His features fell. “It took forever for me to pick something out.”

She leveled him with a glare. “Change.”

“Okay.” He flashed an exaggerated pout. “I’ll get my stonewashed jeans and matching jacket.” He snapped his fingers with a dramatic flourish, turning to vapor before being sucked into his lamp like a tea kettle steaming in reverse.

“As long as they don’t swish,” Serena called to him.

While Shu changed, Ethyl and I stuffed our phones and essentials into our borrowed vests and Des insisted on wearing his backpack with his iPad and computer. When Shu returned a minute later, he looked like a stonewashed denim monster had vomited all over him. His waist-high jeans with puffy thighs and tapered ankles folded over a black leather belt. And talk about accessorizing! He wore ankle-high black leather boots and brandished a wand that perfectly matched the belt. But the star of the show had to have been his denim jacket that tapered at the waist with linebacker-sized shoulder pads.

He twirled in front of Serena while waving his wand. “Better?”

Des laughed out loud. “You look funny!”

Shu grumbled while stuffing his lamp into a zipper on his jacket. The thing had zippers everywhere, even on the sleeves.

I hid a smile behind my hand.

Serena smirked. “Shoulder pads?”

“They’re sewn into the jacket.” He twisted his neck, frowning down at one shoulder. “They’re all the rage.”

Ethyl fluttered around him. “You’re like a walking fashion museum. I think you should dress like an ’80s rock star next.”

“Oh, yes. How about George Michael?” Shu jumped up and down, clapping his hands. “He’s a hunk!”

“What’s our plan?” I asked Serena, shifting the subject as I grabbed my bra out of my suitcase. Might as well wear it since we weren’t going through the troll toilet. I frowned when I noticed the lace on the bottom was frayed and the clasps looked ready to fall apart. I hadn’t realized it was in such bad shape, though I wasn’t surprised. That was the cost of choosing between paying rent and buying pretty underthings. Considering I’d already done several repair spells on it, I knew another one wouldn’t last long, so I left the bra off and let my girls run wild. Free-range tits were all the rage in the hippy witch communities. Maybe I’d quit shaving my armpits and only wash my hair once a month. Then again, maybe not.

Serena laid what looked like an old pirate’s map out on the table. It took me a moment to realize that it was the layout of the Tribunal headquarters. “Once Des teleports us into the mechanical room,” she said, pointing to an X on the map, “we’re going to the control room to break the wards, so the rest of the Insurgi can come in. There are too many of them for Des to transport.”

“How many?” I asked.

She visibly swallowed. “Over a thousand.”

Holy hex! “Dear Goddess, Aunt. Are we going to war?”

“I hope not.” She shrugged while rolling up her map. “The Insurgi want peace above anything, but we can’t have peace until all succubi are dead.”

“But what about saving Ric?” I asked.

“Not until after we have backup.” She grasped my arm, looking from me to Des. “The Insurgi are waiting for my signal. Are we ready?”

I swallowed back bile while sharing looks with my son, Ethyl, and Shu. “Are you?”

When they solemnly nodded, I swallowed again, then forced out the words, “Let’s go.”

Serena gave me a grim look. “I have to communicate with my officers. I’ll just be a moment.”

While we waited, Ethyl gave everyone jawbreakers that she said should last a few hours. They were ridiculously sweet, which meant that I’d have to make sure Des brushed his teeth an extra minute tonight, but I’d rather have cavities than be spellcast by a succubus. Hopefully, the jawbreakers had enough sugar in them to repel the demon queen’s spells.

Serena returned in a few minutes looking grim with more blades and wands strapped to her leather fighting gear. I didn’t like how she avoided making eye contact with me, like there was something she wasn’t telling me. But what?

I had no time to ask when she held out her hands. She rolled a piece of candy around on her tongue. “It’s time.”

Ethyl and I readied our wands. Then we held Des’s hands while Puffy perched on my son’s shoulder. My aunt and Shu completed the circle.

Serena nodded toward Des. “Take us to the Tribunal.”

My knees wobbled with fear, and I thought about calling it off, but then I blinked and we were standing in the mechanical room. Des had seamlessly teleported us so quickly, I didn’t have time to get sick. I snatched my wand and quickly hid us with an invisibility spell, a translucent bubble that shielded us from the rest of the world, while adjusting to the low light. The room was darker than I remembered, and though I wanted to use my wand light, I couldn’t risk someone seeing us. I released Ethyl’s hand, though I still clung to Des, then pushed him behind me when a loud thudding shook the floor.

The troll janitor ran toward us, clutching his stomach, his heavy thuds causing me to accidentally spit out my jawbreaker. I cringed when it rolled across the floor with noisy clanks. The troll stopped in front of us, pulling open a door that was the length of a bus.

“Stupid tacos,” he murmured before slamming the door shut.

I fought back a wave of nausea when the most disgusting, thunderous sounds came from the other side of that door.

“Good thing we didn’t go through the toilet,” Ethyl whispered. “Or we’d be drowning in sh—”

I gave a start when the lights suddenly flickered on, revealing at least two dozen frightening witches hovering above us on their brooms with wands at the ready. I recognized my grandmother, Maga Sagredo, and her demon advisor, Signora Oscura, hovering directly above us.

I squeezed Des’s hand, thankful that we were hidden beneath the shields of my invisibility spell. Hopefully, they hadn’t noticed the jaw breaker that had rolled a few feet away from us.

Then Signora Oscura pointed her wand at the floor in front of my feet. “ Revelio .”

I pushed Des behind me, and Serena swore when the bubble around us popped. How did she know we were there, and how was she able to reverse my invisibility spell?

“Oh, H E double hockey sticks!” Shu blurted.

Serena threw up another shield around us, this one a translucent gray, and I recognized it as a protection chamber. They could still see us, though.

“There you are.” Signora Oscura peered down at us, crimson flaring in her eyes and her smile the incarnation of the devil himself. “We’ve been expecting you.”

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