Slade (11 page)

“Yeah. I’ll test it out. You give it the old whammy. You up for it?” Slade was excited by the challenge and happy to have found a way to keep her back—at least a little—from the main area of action.
He’d be taking on the full wrath of the magical protection while she worked from behind him.

She eyed him with mingled suspicion and worry in her beautiful eyes before nodding once in agreement.
Without giving her time to change her mind, Slade stepped away from her side, expecting her protection to fade, but much to his surprise, the shield of Light stayed around him. It was even stronger than he had thought.

And there she went, surprising him again. Damn, he liked that a lot. Hells, he liked
her
a lot. Which was something he wanted to explore, in great detail, once they had a little time to themselves.

For now, they had to get through the archway and conquer whatever waited within.

Slade sent out his best countermeasure through the shield of Light, aimed at the roiling black, red and brown blood magic. The combination looked like dark rust—or dried blood—which was probably what powered such a foul thing.

The dark miasma reached out tendrils of its foul self at him, seeking to attack, or at the very least, trap him in its coils.
The Light protected him, as did his own magical protections, but the reaction from the barrier in the archway was much stronger than he’d expected.

“Now, Kate!” Slade called out as the barrier reached for him again, stronger this time.

He concentrated his power and struck back, knocking it down somewhat, but his magic alone wasn’t going to be enough. Then Kate joined in.

A blast of pure white Light broke through the roiling cloud, making it bleed energy into the floor, then through it, to whatever lay beneath, and ultimately into the earth. Kate’s power shored up Slade’s and together they were able to wipe the archway of all taint, banishing it and dispersing it.

Kate let up the onslaught at the same time Slade released his own attack. The barrier was well and truly gone.

Slade took a deep breath and turned to survey his partner, his senses alert to any and all threats. So far, nothing took offense at the destruction of the barrier. Good.

Kate seemed to wilt, but her spirit was high. They’d both expended a great deal more energy than Slade had expected. He took an involuntary step toward her.

“Are you okay?”

Kate nodded, biting her lip for a moment as she caught her breath. “Good to go,” she replied, somewhat unconvincingly, but the smile and thumbs up that accompanied her white lie made him feel both pride and joy in her indomitable spirit.

Slade spared a minute to let the two Redstones know that the foyer was safe if they needed to advance into the house. Grif and Mag nodded, but the older brother looked pointedly at his watch and Slade knew they were running low on time. He turned back to Kate with renewed determination.

“Stay behind me, kitten,” he instructed softly.

“No problem. I’m not too proud to admit, I need a few seconds to regroup mentally, if not physically. That clo
ud was really disgusting. Slimy.” She shivered.

“Evil,” he agreed. “Sometimes it manifests like that.” Slade shrugged.

“You’ve seen this before?”

He found it oddly satisfying to have surprised her for a change.

“A few times, but not exactly in this configuration. This whole house is a new one on me.”

“Me too,” she agreed, moving closer to him as they prepared to enter the great room.

Chapter Six

As Kate entered the great room, the awful sight that met her eyes took breath away.

“Sweet merciful Mother of All,” she whispered as her attention was drawn by the pulsing power of the dark circle that had been permanently inscribed in the hard wood floor. That barrier would not be easy to cross.

Beyond it—in fact, all around the perimeter of the large room—were cages. Cages that held occupants of varying sizes and shapes. Many of them were cats. Several started mewling pitifully as she walked in, just behind Slade.

“None of these
animals are shifters, thank the Goddess,” Slade said quickly, his nose pointedly sniffing the air.

“But they are magical. I think they’re familiars,” Kate said, walking to the closest cage and peering inside at the weak, fluffy, black and white cat that lay so forlornly within. “Valerie can help with this. She’s got a special affinity for these kinds of creatures.”

“Kate,” Slade’s tone caught her attention. “Something’s moving inside the circle. Behind the altar.”

Kate looked at the circle once more, realizing the small, low table, which was about the size of a
small ottoman or large footstool, was what Slade accurately described as an altar. She remembered when they looked in the window, that the mage had been sitting on the floor inside the circle, facing the altar, doing something. She dreaded what she might see. For all they knew, he could have been calling demons when they interrupted him.

“The good news is, I think the perimeter of the room is clear. The simple magic of these familiars apparently foiled wh
atever attempts our guy made to work his evil outside the circle,” she said quickly. “I think we can move around the room freely. Whatever’s inside the circle won’t be able to get out until we break it, and the familiars’ energies have kept the rest of the room clear.”

“Good
.” Slade looked around as if confirming her ideas for himself. “Stay here. I’m going to go around and see what’s lurking on the other side of the altar.”

She nodded, but he was already off, stalking silently around the room. As he went, the familiars who had the strength
, rose in their cages to watch him. Many sets of feline eyes followed his progress with clear curiosity.

He
cursed under his breath as he saw whatever it was that crouched behind the small altar.

“It’s a bear cub, and it’s bleeding,” he announced quietly. “I think the bastard was trying to fill
the chalice with this little one’s blood. There’s a very ornate goblet lying on its side next to the poor thing and blood all over the floor back here.”

“We have to help it,” Kate said without hesitation.

“Yeah,” Slade answered, a pained expression on his face. “But first we have to get to the cub and then we have to subdue it. The little one may be weak, but it is also scared witless. And I can’t smell it or hear it. The circle must be containing everything from within. I can’t scent whether it’s a shifter or just a baby bear. We also can’t hear it and it can’t hear us. It can see me though, and it’s getting angry.”

“Then we’d
better figure out how to get to it and get the chalice.”

“And get the hells out of here,” Slade agreed. “Any ideas?”

“Yeah, one.”

Kate reached into her pocket and took out the small bag of herbs and stones she usually kept with her. They were
part of her magical stock and trade, and she’d come to learn over recent years, that she never quite knew when she’d be called upon to work different kinds of magic.

Kate walked around the circle, placing small, semi-precious stones at the four cardinal points hoping to contain whatever would be unleashed when she broke the perimeter of the evil circle. If the bear was more than just a bear, she didn’t want it running amok before they could stop it.

To that end, Kate set up her own barrier of protection around the evil one, encasing it as best she could under the circumstances. She did it quickly and with as little fuss as possible, regaining her strength and centering herself as she went. She got a good look at the bleeding bear cub. It looked so innocent, but without certain knowledge of what it really was, Kate was still suspicious. Too often in her experience, evil masqueraded as something innocent.

The bear watched her with
equal suspicion from its position on the floor when she walked around that side of the circle. There was intelligence behind those soft brown eyes and Kate worried anew about what sort of creature they might be dealing with.

T
here was only one way to find out.

Kate raised her arms as she raised the dome of protection outside the circle, enfolding it in the
power of the Light of the Lady which showed in faint sparks to her mage sight. Kate knew Slade saw it too. He looked at it with approval before turning back to her.

“Handy,” he commented with a slight grin. “Now what?”

“One of us has to break the outer line of the circle.” She grimaced as she thought of what could happen after they took that final, irrevocable step.

“What do you recommend?” Slade looked to her for advice, which she found both frightening and gratifying. She didn’t want to advise him—or anyone, for that matter—to take an action that might result in their injury, or even their death.

“A bit of salt should do it,” she answered softly.

“That’s all?” Slade looked surprised.

“Sometimes simple is better. I always keep a little salt in my pouch. It’s more powerful than most people know.” She lifted the little bag in her hands. “This salt was consecrated in the circle of stones at the full moon, under the Lady’s guidance, but even regular table salt usually works. This stuff just has that little extra whammy.” She opened the small pouch that held the salt. It was a mix of fine and more granular crystals and it was pink.

She realized immediately that Slade u
nderstood the significance of the color.

“That’s Himalayan
.” He paused beside her, looking down at the pink crystals in her hand. “I think that means this is my task, don’t you?” He reached out to take the salt from her, but she stopped him, clasping his arm and looking up into his eyes.

“I’m worried, Slade. That bear might be something else entirely. Once we break the barrier, I have no idea what will happen. It could be bad. Very bad.” She tried her best to caution him. Something inside—some inner sense that she
would never fully understand—made her fear for him.

She couldn’t lose him now. She had only just found him.

“You hold the barrier. I’ll deal with whatever is inside. Don’t worry. I’ve done this kind of thing before.” He reached down to kiss her lips sweetly while taking the little pouch of salt from her trembling hands.

And then he was gone. Moving away, toward the evil circle.

“Just pour the salt over the line, breaking it,” she coached, all but gnashing her teeth with worry.

And she had a right to be worried. The moment Slade poured out the pink salt from the pouch and it touched the dark line on the floor, things happened in super fast slow motion.

The bear roared, no longer a bear as it changed and shifted into a much larger, deadlier form. It leapt for Slade, claws extended. The claws became hands, but the sharp nails remained, raking over Slade’s body, slicing through his clothing as if it were nothing.

“Miranda, no!” Mag’s shout came from
the archway behind Kate. The younger Redstone had entered without her realizing it and he seemed to recognize the creature inside the circle whose glistening fangs were even now bearing down on Slade’s unprotected neck.

It was a woman.

It was a vampire. And she was crazed from starvation and blood loss.

Dear Goddess, no!

“Miranda!” Mag dashed into the room, stopping only feet from the woman who held Slade immobile, bleeding from a multitude of cuts she had inflicted in less than a few seconds.

She seemed to pause, her fangs a breath away from Slade’s skin, and look at Mag Redstone.

Her red-rimmed, wild eyes cleared and she stopped, dropping the bone-crushing hold she’d had on Slade. He slumped away from her as she moved toward the younger Redstone.

“Careful, Mag!” Grif spoke
in a low growl, just entering the room.

“It’s okay. This is Miranda. She’s a friend of mine. Sweetheart, what have they done to you?” Mag’s voice broke as he held out his arms and the blood-stained vampiress walked into his embrace as if finding an oasis in the desert.

“Magnus?” Her voice was confused, weak, but still held that vampire mojo Kate had heard about. She could enslave every man in the room just by saying
come hither
, but she wasn’t doing it on purpose. It was part of her magic that she had to consciously tamp down.

It was clear the woman was beyond doing that at the moment. She was weak and injured. Still bleeding and more than a little out of it.

“I’m here, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” Mag took her in his arms, crooning to her gently, clearly familiar with the woman and willing to put himself at risk for her sake. She could still go crazy and rip his throat out in her hunger—and it was clear to Kate she had been deprived of the blood that fueled her existence for a long time.

“She needs to feed,” Kate whispered.

“I know.” Mag Redstone met her gaze over the vampire’s matted blond hair. He guided her lips deliberately to his throat and closed his eyes in obvious pleasure as she nuzzled him. She bit into his skin almost delicately, as if she cared for him and didn’t want to hurt him.