Crushed (City of Eldrich Book 2) (21 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

“I
s this what
you felt in the basement?” Annie asked. “When you got
sick?”

Before Meaghan could answer, Annie vomited onto the grass. Meaghan rushed over to her and pulled back her hair as she vomited again.

Annie rubbed her mouth with her hand and grimaced. “Ewww. I wish I hadn’t eaten all those cookies.”

Meaghan stroked her back. “What happened?”

“Someone stabbed me in the forehead with an icicle dipped in acid.” She crawled away from the puddle and then curled in a ball on the grass. “Gah. That was awful.”

The group stood silent, staring at Annie, while Jamie crouched down next to her. “Who’s my replacement?”

Annie smiled faintly. “Don’t get jealous. Your cousin. They took your cousin from the mob.”

Jamie squeezed her shoulder gently and smiled. “Of course they did. That show-off. Where did they take him?”

“Inside. The vortex.” Annie shut her eyes tightly and seemed to be listening to something.

“What are they doing to him?” Meaghan asked.

“Hang on a sec.” Annie, eyes still shut, nodded. “I can hear the—” She curled into a ball and cried out in pain. “Oh, they . . . it’s the blood. They’re going to use his blood.”

“But, I thought they needed Jamie,” Natalie said.

“No,” Annie said. “They’re far enough along that painted sigils will do. Jhoro’s blood is close enough to Jamie’s to work.”

“Oh, shit,” Natalie said. “They’ll use his blood to draw them. Like Alastair did.”

Meaghan nodded. “The conduit and the sacrifice. That’s what Finn told me. Blood and fire. The symbols and blood must be the conduit and they’ll burn Marnie as the sacrifice. Only whatever Alastair summoned scared him so badly he set himself on fire.”

“Who’s Alastair?” Jamie asked.

“So Alastair torched himself as a sacrifice to these things?” Natalie said. “That doesn’t make any sense. Those things didn’t get into our world then or we wouldn’t be here now.”

“Who’s Alastair?” Jamie asked again. “When did you talk to Finn?”

Meaghan scowled. “Maybe he did it wrong. Maybe it didn’t work because he burned himself instead of somebody else. Who knows? But we’ve got the same scenario unfolding here and we can’t allow it to happen.”

“Who the hell is Alastair?” Jamie asked, frustration in his voice.

“Scottish guy,” Annie said, still curled in a ball on the ground. “Welland Eldrich’s many times great grandpa. Nuttier even than Welland. Barbecued himself after painting bloody sigils all over the church wall. Owen knew him.”

“Who’s Owen?” Jamie asked. “Who are all these new people?”

“Owen’s the leprechaun,” Meaghan said distractedly. “The one who was supposed to join forces with you in city hall.”

“I’m so confused.” With a heavy sigh, Jamie slumped down next to Annie. Even in a reclining position, he couldn’t stay still. His legs twitched and he shuffled his feet restlessly in the grass.

Annie reached out a hand and patted him clumsily on the head. “You aren’t the only one.” She pulled herself awkwardly into a sitting position and looked at Meaghan. “So, what do we do now?”

Meaghan flashed suddenly on a memory from her first year of law school. A professor had grilled her about a concept she didn’t understand, badgering her for an answer despite her obvious confusion. When he had asked her in exasperation what she would tell her client, she had replied, in tears, “I’d tell him to find a real lawyer.”

For a moment, Meaghan wanted to throw back her head and wail, “Find a real leader.” Instead she took a deep breath to steady herself and said, “Let me think.”

Smaller problems
. Meaghan shoved aside her worry for Jhoro and Marnie for the moment. Rushing in unprepared wouldn’t help them.

She did a quick mental inventory. She now had two witches on her side as well as Jamie and his current abilities. And she thought she could trust Emily for now.

As for Jamie—at the moment he was firmly on their side, but for how long? His ability to fight the influence of the sigils was pharmaceutically induced and she had no clear idea how long she could count on it. He was fidgeting like a strung-out junkie. When the magically supercharged lorazepam wore off, what would happen? Would he merely fall back under the sigils’ influence or would something more dramatic occur? Worse, could he go from ally to enemy without anyone noticing? Provided he didn’t have a heart attack first.

For now, she’d ask Natalie and Annie to keep an eye on him. That was the best she could do in the circumstances.

Owen was on the missing list—he might still be in play, but without knowing more, Meaghan couldn’t count on his assistance. She had been surprised by her furious reaction to Sid’s accusations about Owen. Sid wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t said herself only yesterday. She knew she shouldn’t trust Owen, but somehow she did. Whether that was wise or foolish remained to be seen, but Meaghan didn’t want to believe that he’d sold them out.

And then there was Sid. She didn’t want to be angry with him. He’d been a brave, loyal companion in Fahraya and he’d nearly given his life helping her get Jamie back.

If it was only his mistrust of Owen, she could deal with it. But Meaghan knew he was hiding things from her. She knew him well enough to believe that he was trying to protect her, but somehow that made it worse. Sid was keeping things from her that he didn’t think she could handle. What if he was right? What if he and everyone else could see what she herself believed in her deepest heart—that she was too weak and too powerless to fill her father’s shoes?

How was she supposed to believe in herself if nobody else did?

She sighed and shoved down her insecurities. For good or ill, everyone was looking at her for answers. She didn’t have time for self-doubt.

Smaller problems 
. . . could she count of either of the mobs circulating through Eldrich?

From what Meaghan could tell, most of the band following Nate were non-magical. Witches seemed drawn to the mob building the Order’s bonfire. But why? That made no sense. Why would the witches want to burn another witch? Why was the spell so strong when it came to the witches?

Meaghan glanced around to see what everyone was doing. Nearby, Emily stood alone on the sidewalk, staring at her feet, trying to avoid Natalie and Jamie, who were sitting together on the grass whispering to each other and glaring at her.

Meaghan knew that asking them to trust Emily was impossible. The best Meaghan could hope for was to avoid outright mutiny. Nate and Emily’s companions were also getting restless, some pacing, others whispering in small groups.

Meaghan needed to get a handle on things fast or there’d be trouble. She grabbed Sid and Nate and pulled them aside. “Let me get the chronology straight,” she said in a low voice. “We were on the square and Jhoro took off to lure the mob away and you followed him.”

Sid nodded.

“And then the wizards headed to the square to find us, so we headed over to the historical society,” Meaghan said.

“Which was where I figured you’d go when I saw the wizards cross the road.” Sid laughed nervously. “Hey, that sounds like the start of a joke. Why did the wizard cross the—”

He wilted under Meaghan’s glare.

“What happened then?” Meaghan asked through gritted teeth.

“Uh, well, we ran around a bit, letting the mob chase us. Mobs don’t move very fast, by the way. You’d think they would, but—”

“Sid,” Meaghan said. “Not a great time to be cutesy. What happened?”

“We tried to lure the mob away from the square and ran smack into his bunch.”

Sid pointed at Nate, who nodded and took up the story. “They grabbed Jhoro, then Brian pushed to the front of the pack and tried to shield him from Emily, who wanted to blast him into chunks right there.”

Meaghan nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. What happened next?”

Nate shook his head. “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it. Hell, I did see it and I can barely believe it.”

“Jhoro did something?”

“He smiled at her,” Nate said. “He nudged Brian aside, and took hold of Emily’s hand. She was so stunned she didn’t resist. They stared at each other for a long moment, then Emily began to cry. Big, sobby, weepy crying. She gave him a big bear hug and then turned around and told us to knock it off, that Jhoro wasn’t the enemy, and our job was to help him keep our loved ones from doing something stupid that they’d all regret.”

“What did everybody else do?” Meaghan asked. “Emily got them to back down?”

“No,” Sid said. “Jhoro got them to back down. It was . . .”

Nate stared into the darkness. “I’m not sure I can even describe it.”

“What did he say?”

Nate shook his head. “He didn’t
say
anything. He . . .
showed
us. It was like . . . well, like doing ’shrooms. Ya know?”

Meaghan nodded. “I know. Believe me. I know.”

Annie had wandered up while Nate was talking. “Did you see the memories?” she asked. “Like ghosts but not? I’m sorry to be so imprecise. I can’t really describe it, either. Ghosts are the closest thing I can think of, but that’s still completely wrong.”

“I suddenly had all these memories and feelings that weren’t mine,” Nate said. “I could . . .” He grimaced. “It was like for a moment I knew everything about everything and then it was gone.”

“You saw whole,” Meaghan said.

His face lit up. “Yeah. Saw whole. I like that. I can’t exactly remember what it was I saw, but I can feel it. Only I can’t find the words to explain it.”

“It sort of
transcended
words,” Sid said. A moment later, he shook his small blue head. “No. That’s not right. It didn’t transcend words because it wasn’t . . .
of
words.” Sid looked at Meaghan. “I’m sorry. I can’t describe it either.”

“Did everything seem clearer and brighter afterward?” Meaghan asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, it did.”

Meaghan smiled. “Same thing happened to me in Fahraya. After drinking a concoction brewed up by Jhoro. John said he was teaching himself how to be a shaman.”

Nate nodded. “Shaman. Cool. That makes sense. So, then Em did some kind of counter hex to the love spell and we all got sane again.”

Emily had joined them. “And then the
other
mob arrived,” she said. “The one with all the witches. That’s when things got weird.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

“That’s
when things
got weird?” Jamie bounced to his feet and walked over to Emily. “At the beginning of the summer, you handed me over to those Order fucks so they could torture me to death, and now I’m supposed to trust you? You really expect us to believe you went from hating me and the rest of my species to being all warm and fuzzy because my super awesome cousin held your hand?”

“You have no reason to trust me,” Emily said in a soft voice. “None at all, and it’s my fault. I did a terrible thing to you and asking for forgiveness now is beyond presumptuous. That level of forgiveness has to be earned.” She looked around the crowd. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s what happened.”

Jamie glared at her. “You bet it’s presumptuous. If I live through this, which is far from certain, I’ll carry the scars of what you did to me for the rest of my life. I’ve lost my family. I’ll share the blame with you on that one, but I doubt it makes any difference to my wife, who’s never coming back, and who can blame her?”

Natalie shook her head. “Jamie, you don’t know—”

“Yeah, I do. Now shut up.” He pinned Emily under his furious glare. “I don’t know who I am anymore, but I’m not the guy she married. He died in Fahraya and you helped kill him. I think you’re an evil, conniving bitch, and this little performance is more of your bullshit. Nothing is forgiven. You try to betray us, and I won’t need that bonfire to burn a witch.” He tapped his temple. “Right now I can do it with a thought.”

Nate stepped toward Jamie. “Yo, dude, that is so unfair.”

Jamie glared at him. “What the fuck do you know about it,
dude?
”

Emily stepped between then. “Nate, it’s all right. God knows, it’s the least I deserve.” She looked up at Jamie, who towered over her. “Do what you have to do. I don’t know who I am now, either. I want to believe I won’t betray you, but even I don’t know that.”

“Knock it off,” Meaghan said, pulling Jamie away from Emily. “We don’t have time for this shit.” She glared up at Jamie, then turned to Emily. “What happened when the mob arrived?”

“They were wild. Like those films of early Beatles’ fans. Screaming and crying. I thought they were going to tear him to pieces along with anybody else who got in their way.”

“Was Marnie with them?” Meaghan asked.

Emily shook her head. “Not that I saw.”

“I don’t think she was there,” Nate said.

Meaghan sighed. “That means the wizards still have her. So, then what?”

“I got everyone behind me and tried to put up a barrier,” Emily said, “but I was so outgunned it was impossible. I told them to run and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Jhoro. He smiled at me, and then walked past me toward the mob.”

Meaghan nodded. “And then he smiled at them, right? And they all stopped and smiled back?”

Emily looked startled. “Yes. How did you know that? I still can’t believe I saw that happen.”

“The same thing happened in my kitchen a couple days ago. It was only three witches, but I could barely believe it either. Then what happened?”

Jamie snorted with disgust and walked away.

“He led them away from us,” Emily said. “We were about to follow when we heard the wizards running up the street.”

“So we all ran up this way and dove into the bushes to hide,” Nate said, “and then Sid told us what you guys were trying to do, so we decided to try to come find you. Before we could go any further, you almost stepped on us.” He grinned at Meaghan. “And you kicked me in the nuts.”

“Yeah,” Meaghan said. “Sorry about that.”

“No, I get it. Good fighting technique. Always go for the soft bits.” He looked back and forth between Meaghan and Emily. “So, now what do we do?”

Emily looked at Meaghan. “Yes, now what?”

We find a real leader,
Meaghan thought. Out loud, she said, “Well, I think it’s safe to assume, based on what Annie told us, that the wizards found Jhoro and the witches right after they left you. We still need to find Marnie and we have to try to rescue Jhoro. And we have to stop the wizards opening the door to whatever’s on the other side. We still need to get inside city hall.”

“We could do a locating spell,” Emily said.

“We already tried that,” Natalie said, her voice cold. “I’m with Jamie on this. Why are we trusting her? On her word that she’s had some kind of mystic conversion experience? This is only a more clever variation of the Pollyanna fake-friendly crap she pulls all the time.”

“Meg’s big lately with the misguided-trusting thing,” Sid added from the shadows. “That leprechaun sold us out. I know he did.”

What if they’re right? What if I’ve killed everybody by trusting the wrong
people?

Annie stepped into the silence, shaking your head. “Sid, you’re wrong about Owen. He may have an agenda we don’t know about, but he’s on our side.”

“How do you know?” Natalie said. “He’s not dead, is he? It’s only dead people you talk to.”

Annie glared at her. “You should shut up once in a while. You don’t know as much as you think you do.”

Natalie growled and began waving her hand.

“Babe,” Brian said, stepping between Natalie and Annie. “Calm down.”

“Don’t you ‘babe’ me,” Natalie snapped at him. “You aren’t my boyfriend. Stop acting like you are.”

Brian’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, it’s like that again, huh? Good old Brian. There when you need him, like a faithful dog. I’m done chasing you. You aren’t worth it.”

“Fine,” Natalie said. “You aren’t him and you’re never going to be him.”

Meaghan groaned. Without Jhoro’s psychic influence, the spell was reasserting itself.

Nate snorted. “Let the wizards have him. Maybe now I can get my wife back. All we need to do is take care of that bitch Marnie. She’s the one who started this mess.” He looked around the crowd. “Come on. Before it’s too late.”

Before Meaghan could stop him, Nate ran off into the darkness followed by most of the crowd. She glared at Emily. “Is this your doing?”

Emily shook her head, eyes wide. “No. I . . . no. If you want me to go I can, but I’d like the chance to help you. I’ve got a lot to atone for.”

“No kidding,” Jamie said. He looked at Natalie. “Can you believe this shit?”

“Not in the least,” Natalie said, lifting her hand again to cast a spell. “I think it’s time for some payback.”

Meaghan stepped in front of her and slapped her face hard.

“
Bitch,
” Natalie hissed. “Watch it or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Meaghan snarled back. “Hex me? Go for it. Because we’ve got so much time to waste right now tearing each other apart.” She looked over at Emily. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ve had a genuine change of heart, but . . .”

Emily nodded. “I’m a distraction. The best thing I can do for you right now is be somewhere else. I’ll try to find Marnie and protect her.” She took a last sorrowful look at Jamie, then ran into the darkness.

“And off she runs, like the coward she is,” Natalie said, with a smug smile.

Meaghan resisted the urge to slap her again.
It’s the spell,
Meaghan reminded herself.

“What are you looking at?” Natalie glared at Brian. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Williamsport? Aren’t you supposed to be—” Natalie made air quotes with her fingers—“
protecting
Eliot and Ruth?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Brian glared back.

“Oh, I think you know,” Natalie said with a sneer. “Meaghan sent you off to get you out of the way. So you don’t get hurt. Why don’t you go find some safe place to hide while those of us who can actually do something get back to work?”

Brian stared at her for a long moment, his face unreadable, then he nodded. “I’m going after Emily.”

Natalie refused to look at him. “You do that,
babe.”

Brian nodded again and disappeared into the night.

“Nat,” Jamie said. “Geez, why are you being such a bitch? Emily needed to leave, yeah, but Brian could have helped us.”

“It’s Marnie’s spell,” Meaghan said, her voice tight. She could feel the anger bubbling up inside her trying to burst out. “Ignore her.”

Natalie glared at her. “You’re just jealous. Because I have real power. And I’m younger.”

Seeing the look in Meaghan’s eye, Sid grabbed Natalie’s arm. “Whoa, there, sweetie, let’s go over here a second, okay?”

As they walked past her, Annie said. “At least Meaghan has an actual human hair color.” She turned back to Meaghan. “So, what do we do next?”

“Are you still with me? Have you lost your mind again, too?”

Annie shook her head. “Not totally. But Natalie is getting on my last nerve. The way she treats Brian is inexcusable.”

Meaghan shrugged. “That’s the spell.”

“No,” Jamie said. “It isn’t. She’s always been awful to him. Poor guy. He’s loved her since high school. She gives him enough to keep his hopes up, but no more. He’d marry her in a minute if she’d have him.”

“Maybe not anymore,” Meaghan said, remembering the flat, dispassionate tone in his voice when he said he was leaving. “Not that it matters if we don’t get into city hall soon.” She sighed, aware again of how exhausted she was. But that didn’t matter. She had work to do.

Jamie and Natalie were by far the strongest of the group, but both were increasingly unreliable. Every moment took Jamie closer to when the lorazepam finally wore off and the black magic of the sigils reasserted itself. Or he had a heart attack.

Natalie was now acting like the stereotypical high school mean girl, with the exception of being able to hurl hexes along with insults.

Annie seemed to be keeping it together better and she could talk to the ghosts in city hall, true, but she had no defensive abilities. In a confrontation with the wizards, she’d be helpless to protect herself.

Then there was Sid, who still didn’t trust Meaghan enough to tell her what was going on, but seemed to have no problem criticizing her judgment.

The person she most wanted by her side right now was John. But he was locked behind a magical door that couldn’t be opened for hours. And she’d tricked him into being locked behind that door.

Jamie touched her arm and smiled at her. “Don’t worry. John will get over it. You made the right call.”

Meaghan frowned at him. “You can read minds now, too?”

He laughed. “No. That one I could read on your face. I better go talk Natalie off the ledge before she turns Sid into a frog.” He gave Meaghan a sideways glance. “No matter what happens between you and John, I’m not calling you Mom.”

Meaghan smiled, feeling better for a moment. “I can live with that.”