Demon's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 2 (8 page)

They went over the maps of Albany and decided on a hotel
that was a little over two miles away from the coven house there.  She wasn’t
exactly focused, she kept thinking about the possibility of getting an elemental
to help them spy, was it worth the risk?  Or was it more of a risk to not take
advantage of the power her unique family tree provided?

It seemed many of the risks involving elementals for witches
wouldn’t apply to her, except perhaps for the last one, asking it to do
something physical, which she could avoid.  It also didn’t help her focus that
Silva and her damn shifter body was reacting to Ed’s presence.  She found
herself touching his arm, and tilting her head flirtingly as they discussed
what they should do when they arrived.

Frustratingly, Ed didn’t seem to be getting the point, or
perhaps he just wasn’t reading the signals right because of the past.  Either
way it was apparent she’d have to be more obvious about it.  So when they
finished planning and got up to pack their stuff, she stepped closer to him,
and their bodies were parted by a mere inch or two as she looked up into his
eyes.

He swallowed whatever he was going to say and looked down at
her with heat and a little confusion in his eyes. 

She knew they’d have to talk about it, decide what they were
doing, but right now she’d had enough thinking and debating on her own, she was
ready for this, she… really wanted this, and liked him more than enough to take
a chance.

When he didn’t step back for a few seconds, she took that as
a good sign and moved against his body with hers and went to her toes in an
obvious invitation to kiss that even the thickest man couldn’t fail to figure
out, and Ed wasn’t even close to that.

He took her invitation, wrapped her in his arms and kissed
her softly at first, but it grew hungry and demanding very quickly when she
rubbed up against him and moaned into his mouth.  Her whole body felt hot as
their kiss deepened further and her lady parts started to tingle…

She couldn’t remove the satisfied smile from her face when
they left the motel a couple of hours later.  It had been a while for her, but
beyond that it had been better than she’d ever remembered.  She’d been…
unrestrained to say the least.  She loved that she could still scent him on her
skin and her body was pleasantly sore, a constant reminder of the passion
they’d shared.  There was a slight awkwardness at their new intimacy, but not from
regret, she knew they needed to talk about where they were going from here.

Ed looked, very happy but still a little confused, which
endeared him to her for some reason.  He was a confident man, but she enjoyed
the fact he wasn’t quite so sure where he stood with her.  She wondered if that
was the independent tiger in her.

She didn’t mind though when Ed took her hand and squeezed
it, and then kept it; and Silva… well she was still purring in satisfaction deep
in Celia’s mind.

They didn’t talk yet though, not about that.  Guys weren’t
really the ones that started the defining the relationship talks, and Celia…
well she just wanted to enjoy it for now, whatever it was between them.  That
was the whole point, she liked him, was attracted to him, but she was also
learning what she wanted by doing.  She did want a deep relationship, but she
was willing to let time define it.  Once she understood it, and her needs,
she’d be able to explain it to him.

Ed asked softly, “Hungry?”

She laughed, “When am I not?  Is it lunchtime already?”

Ed nodded, “We left a little later than planned,” he said lightly
with his lips twitching on the corners, “We can get lunch though, and still
make it to the hotel and check in before rush hour.”

She smiled, “Sounds like a plan to me, but I don’t want fast
food.”

Ed shrugged, “I was thinking of a restaurant myself.”

She nodded, “Any restaurant is fine.  I’ll eat anything.”

When they arrived at the hotel later, they still didn’t have
anything more than a general plan.  After they checked in, choosing a room with
a single large bed instead of two smaller ones, Ed took another shower.  Even
after just four hours in the van she felt like she needed one as well.  She
decided that they needed more information, so she sat on the bed with her legs
crossed and tried to reach out with her spirit.

Cilla had said if she reached out with her spirit she could
summon an untied elemental to her, without the circle or her power as a witch. 
But she really didn’t have a clue what she was doing.  She felt like a kid
wishing for something, maybe she should have asked more questions last night. 
Then she felt something answer her call, and she realized it was less a
summoning, then a request.

She realized that’s why she wouldn’t need a circle to hold
the elemental and prevent it from attacking her, because it came of its own
free will, and she got the sense it was curious.  She opened her eyes and
looked right at it.  She could see the outline of a being, like a six inch tall
person, except it was all made up of thickened air, wisps, and spirit.  It
wasn’t defined, just the idea of a person, and she was sure the spirit chose
that form for its own reasons.

The fight for dominance was different than she expected as
well.  She thought it would be harder, but it was closer to a staring contest
than anything else.  She kept staring at it while she had strange ideas to ask
it for wealth, pleasures of the flesh, or power.  She realized quickly that the
only way to lose would be to give into the temptations it offered, but she was
too disciplined and stubborn for that.

What she didn’t know, was the elemental was just getting
started, learning about her reactions and desires.

Then it tempted her with what she really wanted, family,
children, and her mother.  Tears started to drip from her eyes at the gut
wrenching need to see her mother again, and to have a peaceful life with a
family, and the power to protect them all and keep them safe.  She dared not
look away though, not even long enough to wipe her eyes.  So much for easy. 
But she managed to keep her lips tightly closed and not cry out, or beg the
spirit before her for what she wanted most, but could never have.

The elemental started to spin and the strange cravings in
her mind slowly faded.  She didn’t understand how she knew, but she had no
doubts this elemental would follow her commands now.  She felt a… connection
with it.  She took Cilla’s advice and ordered it not to allow any other beings
to challenge it.  She thought for a long time about how to word the request to
spy on the coven and report what it finds.

So much so that Ed came out before she had done so, and she
jumped in the shower, and didn’t give the order until she was almost done.

She thought of Gerald and the house he was in and ordered, “
Watch
this one until the sun rises tomorrow, then report back to me with all he says
and does.  Also, show me what magic protects the house.”

She didn’t think that would be too much information, a list
of ward spells, and a man’s activities for a little over twelve hours.  The
human mind was fairly vast, and she figured it would take something like the
knowledge in the library of congress to truly damage it, maybe more than that.

She sighed as the elemental disappeared, she really hoped
she was doing the right thing.  She considered getting one of fire as well, but
certainly not tonight.  The heat felt good on her sore stiff muscles and she
wished she could go out for a run.  But then, maybe there was a better way to
work her energy off tonight.  That thought took her by surprise, as it had only
been six hours, but she found herself craving him again.  It seemed her libido
would bounce back as fast as everything else did now.

They were up on a high floor, Ed had requested it, and when
she came out and got dressed Ed was casting a spell she wasn’t familiar with on
the window.  It looked a little reminiscent of a glamour’s illusion, but felt
different as it took form.  Suddenly she was looking at a large mansion that
put the one in Charlotte to shame. 

Ed turned and smiled when he caught her still getting
dressed.

“It’s a real time illusion of the front of the coven house,
we should lay low a day or two and watch them come and go, see if they have any
guards out and when they change shifts, all that.”

She shook her head in amazement, “You’ve got to teach me
that.”

He shrugged, “It’s line of sight only, it doesn’t work from
too far away.  Think of it like a magical high powered telescope, except normal
humans won’t notice it at all.  Regardless, it’s only working because we’re
high enough to see the house from here.”

She considered flirting about the fact they’d be shacked up
in here for a couple of days, but it wouldn’t help if they didn’t actually
watch.  There would be time for that later tonight, once the coven house was closed
up for the night they could do the same.  They talked about little things, both
avoiding discussing anything about them being a couple, while they watched the
coven house.

A pair of people left and a few more went inside the house
in between five and seven.  A few more trickled in after that, but it didn’t
tell them very much.  Possibly the most important information they got was
there were two shifters who actually patrolled around the house, they could
tell because the men were built like shifters, witches weren’t usually so big. 
Also, that Gerald wasn’t seen at all leaving or coming before they turned in
for the night.

If Ed was surprised at her advances that night he got over
it quickly.  She felt content, safe, and warm in his arms when they finally got
around to falling asleep.

Celia jerked awake and felt like her head would explode as
knowledge poured into it from the air elemental that now served her.  It was so
much more than she could have imagined, she’d made a mistake.  Just the
information on the wards alone, the elemental didn’t pour in a list of spells,
its mindset didn’t work that way.  Every breath, twist, and subtle curve of
magic around the house was poured into her mind.

She squeaked in relief when the information finally stopped
and took a deep breath.  The good side effect was she had a much more
comprehensive understanding of wards, she even thought she might be able to
cast the ones she hadn’t already known, without words, simply by knowing the
complex and interweaving shape of it.  A witches spell was made up of words,
gestures, and sometimes ingredients, the point of those things were to shape
the magic.  Now that she knew that shape intimately, she was pretty sure she
didn’t need those three things for what she learned.

That was… incredible.  She took another deep breath and
tried to relax, she could see where even just knowledge could lead her to
greater power through understanding.  She also realized it was more temptation
she’d need to resist, she needed to use the elemental wisely and not get
greedy, or her head might actually overload one of these days.

Still… if she had the elemental examine the illusion spell
of the house she could learn it in seconds, and cast it with her mind. 
Tempting, but she resisted. 

The knowledge about Gerald had been even more intense than
the wards however, as the elemental had followed her orders.  Give a human
those orders, and you’d hear about what he said and did in his interactions
with other people and the environment.  Apparently an elemental took it in its
most literal form and included everything his body did.  Everything.  She not
only knew what he’d said, who’d he talked to, what he ate, and where he slept,
but much more than that. 

She also knew every time his heart had beat over the last
twelve hours, every time he bent an elbow, or flexed a muscle.  Moved his
little toe, or glared.  The amount of body movements, including internal ones,
was ridiculously high, and some of it was pretty disgusting.  She knew more
about how the muscles in a man’s body worked to use the bathroom than she ever
wanted to know.

Next time she would be more specific and ask for simply what
he could see or hear, she could tell what he did from that information.  It
would be more than enough.  Still, she’d also gotten the information she was
looking for as well, and felt well enough after a few minutes to start going
through his conversations and anything else she thought might be important. 

The most shocking thing was she had total recall of the transferred
knowledge, it seemed somehow sharper and more real than her own life
experiences.  Some of it she could never forget even if she wanted to, and
that… was the price for knowledge.  She’d have to live with it.  She thought
eventually she’d be able to control what and when she recalled it, but the
human mind was a funny thing, and right now her brain kept bringing up things
she’d rather it not even as she went over the important stuff.

On the good side, that same recall meant she’d never forget
those wards, or any other spell she may want to study in the future.  It was
really… tempting.

She came to a few conclusions from the good information
she’d managed to pick up mixed in with all the garbage.  Gerald was the true
enemy, not his whole coven.  She didn’t think they all deserved to die, not
even close, if they took out Gerald the coven would most likely fall apart.

She’d counted eleven people he’d talked to that night, and for
every single one of them he’d taken the time to firm up some type of control
spell on them.  They weren’t all puppets under his thrall, but even his
enforcers who she got the impression weren’t good people, had more subtle
spells on them so they wouldn’t question orders or get the idea to leave the
coven.

Some though, seemed to be locked down hard, the way Elaine
had claimed she was.  The biggest problem of course was how did she convince Ed
of that without telling him how she got the information?  Their mission was to
destroy the whole coven, he’d need a solid reason to change that plan to just
the coven leader.  She supposed she could just tell him about the elemental,
but that won’t make sense if he doesn’t know she’s one eighth fae. 

She knew Paul was scared of the idea of her sharing the secret
only he knew about, but the idea of telling Ed part of her secrets made her
feel guilty about holding back the rest of it.  Should she tell him about Silva
being separate as well?  Or does that come too close to revealing shifter
secrets, she’s supposed to be neutral and not share information between the
races.

Ugh.  She wasn’t sure, she just knew she wanted to, and at
the same time didn’t.

She took a shower and got dressed, and ordered some room
service while she let Ed sleep a little longer, while she kept an eye on the
house.  She considered sending the elemental back in with updated spy orders,
but there wasn’t really a reason too.  She knew already what she needed to
know.  His calendar was in a lot of the memories the elemental had transferred
to her, and he had an appointment outside the house tomorrow at two.

That gave them plenty of time to work on an ambush.  She
decided she would just tell Ed about her fae ancestor, and that she got the
info they needed.  She felt bad about it, but decided not to tell Ed about her
crazy split personality and soul thing. 

Not because she didn’t trust him to know that, simply
because he was a witch, and to explain the issue she’d have to tell him how it
was supposed to be, which wasn’t an option for her at all.  She had to keep
witch secrets from shifters, and shifter secrets from witches.  That’s how it
was, and she thought Ed would understand that.

She woke him when breakfast arrived, and told him all about
the elementals, from when she thought they were simply figments of her
imagination all the way to when she dreamed of her fae great great grandmother. 
He was quiet and looked thoughtful as she told it, and didn’t interrupt her
once until she finished.  She appreciated that he sensed it wasn’t easy for her
to talk about.

He frowned, “You think he’s controlling the whole coven, how
could they let that happen?”

She shrugged, “I’ve been thinking about that, at first the
coven was normal when it combined, and from what Elaine said, Gerald was an
okay guy that dated and eventually married her.  I’m guessing he didn’t go all
dark witch all at once, and when people started to object, he gradually built
up to it.  Maybe at first he simply settled a disagreement by changing or
clouding someone’s mind.

“Then he probably worried about losing his coven and his
power as the head of it, so a little loyalty spell here and there.  I’m guess
it took years before he started to control everyone and started into the darker
stuff like summoning demons, assuming he’s done that before.  Nine years is a
lot of time and dark magic is a seductive, slippery slope...” she trailed off.

He nodded, “So just him, and he’s definitely leaving the
mansion tomorrow after lunch?”

She said thoughtfully, “If his calendar is right, yes.  But
we also need to watch his enforcers, they seem the type that usually hide from
enforcers, and at best will move on to abuse their power if we let them
escape.  He doesn’t seem to control them as much, just directs their brutal
nature.”

He frowned, “Alright, we’ll do it your way, since it’s safer
and slightly less crazy than attacking a whole coven anyway, even if still
slightly insane, you say he has four enforcers?”

She nodded, “Yes, and I’m sure they’ll be with him.  Maybe
some of those shifters too, he probably has them mind controlled, it’s been bothering
me that they were guarding the house.”

He blew out a breath, “Right.  That does make sense, but it
isn’t easy to mind control a shifter, their magic is all internally focused.  I
wonder how he got around that.”

She shrugged, “I’d believe he found a way to do so, before I’d
believe he discovered shifters that would guard witches with their life, and
were evil enough to align with him.”

He waved that away, “You’re probably right, and I’ll also
keep what you told me to myself.  I don’t know how unique that is, but the
council doesn’t need to know your part fae.”

She smiled at that, her senses picking up the honesty of the
statement, and they set up a plan for tomorrow afternoon while they watched the
house.  They didn’t learn all that much more, except only about eight of the
coven members seemed to have a job outside of the house.  The rest of them
just… stayed there and did who knew what all day.  It was disturbing to her.  Especially
her shifter nature which would hate to be locked up, that coven house was a
prison of sorts.

By that evening the hotel room was getting a little
claustrophobic, so they went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner.  She felt
a pleasant shiver down her spine at the way he looked at her, as if she was the
only other person in the room.  She wasn’t sure what they had between them, but
it was growing.  She also couldn’t help but notice he seemed a lot more
relaxed, she hadn’t seen him really scowl since they started this trip.

After dinner, his attentions back up in the room got rather
more intimate than merely caressing her with his eyes.

She even thought she might be falling for him at the end of
the night, when he spooned into her and held her close.  Whatever they had, it
was exciting and new, she was looking forward to wherever it might lead…