Steadfast (29 page)

“That’s the idea.” But Nadia only looked about one-tenth as excited as she ought to. “Verlaine, it’s dangerous.”

Of course it couldn’t be easy. Mateo leaned closer to Nadia. “You mean, you could be hurt?”

“Maybe, but that’s just part of working high-level magic.” Nadia didn’t even glance at him; it was Verlaine she spoke to. “I’m not talking about it being dangerous for me. I meant for Uncle Gary.”

“He’s in the hospital with about a zillion tubes in him and a crazy, evil witch keeping him in pain,” Verlaine said. “How much more dangerous could it get for him?”

Quietly Nadia replied, “If I do it wrong, he could die.”

Verlaine sucked in a breath. Faye put one hand on her shoulder, temporarily back in school-counselor mode.

It wasn’t like Verlaine hadn’t been afraid of this before now. She’d hardly been able to think of anything else since Uncle Gary’s collapse. But hearing it from the exact person she’d been counting on to save him—that made it much more real. She whispered, “Why would he die?”

“Right now the magic is holding him in this painful space between life and death.” The amber light from the spell book still played across Nadia’s face. “I’m going to ease his pain, which means easing the spell’s hold on him. He should come back to the side of life. But—I don’t see anything in this spell to guarantee that. I don’t know what kind of condition he’s in, or whether there’s more to what Elizabeth has done. So I’d be cutting all her ties at once, and anything could happen.”

“The spell is about easing suffering, right?” Verlaine demanded. “What kind of loser spell would only end suffering by killing people?”

“It’s probably more about helping people who are sick or injured through normal means, rather than suffering because of magic,” Faye suggested.

Mateo said, “Are we sure this is a good idea? There are a lot of people in the hospital. That’s a lot of lives to take a risk with.”

“I don’t know.” Nadia bit her lower lip. “Maybe—maybe I jumped to conclusions.”

They were jumping to conclusions about something that could kill Uncle Gary? And yet what was the alternative? Her brain was doing the calculations her heart was too weary to handle.

“We should think about it,” Mateo said.

“I know,” Nadia agreed. “I know. We just don’t have much time to think. And the spell has to be anchored—someone would have to be at the hospital, in the thick of it, wearing one of my own witching charms. The pearl. That person would bear the biggest part of the risk. Even if none of the patients died, this person might.”

“I could do it,” Faye offered. “If we decide to cast this spell.”

Verlaine made up her mind. “You have to do it. You have to try. And I’ll anchor the spell.”

Everyone stared at her. Verlaine couldn’t quite believe she’d said that herself. But she knew what she knew.

“I love Uncle Gary as much as I love anybody on Earth.” Her breath didn’t want to support her voice; it felt caught in her chest, waiting for tears she wouldn’t let come. “But I don’t just love him. I
know
him. And if we could tell him how much is at stake—that this could mean the deaths of thousands and thousands of people if we fail—then he’d say to take the chance. He’d do it himself if he could. I know that, for sure.”

It felt beyond horrible to risk Uncle Gary’s life like that. Just getting the words out seemed to have stolen the strength from her body.

But a life was more than a pulse, more than a breath. A life was also made up of what you believed and what you stood for. Of what you were willing to do—and who you loved. Protecting Uncle Gary’s survival at the cost of so much pain and suffering would betray his life more surely than anything else, and Verlaine knew it.

“I’ll take the chance with him,” she said, holding out her hand for Nadia’s pearl charm.

Mateo reached across the table and took her free hand. Verlaine was surprised how much it helped.

“I’m going to get it right,” Nadia said . . . no, promised. Her dark eyes burned with intensity as she removed the pearl charm from her bracelet and put it into Verlaine’s palm. This was the swearing of a solemn oath. “I can do it. I can and I will.”

“I know,” Verlaine replied, and for a moment she could really believe.

Mateo’s hand tightened around hers. At first she thought he was still attempting to comfort her, but then his grip became even tighter, until the bones of her hand ached. She looked at him in alarm, but he was staring past her—through her—

Nadia shook his shoulder. “Mateo?”

He collapsed.

“I serve the One Beneath, and he will not be denied,” Elizabeth said, storm winds whipping her chestnut hair, her eyes alight as if with an unearthly fire.

“Someone, help!” Verlaine ran along a corridor, pursued by pounding footsteps and the shouts of dozens of—people? Demons? In the shadows Mateo couldn’t tell any difference. All he saw was fury and destruction, bearing down on her faster by the moment.

Nadia was attempting to stand amid rushing water, as though she were in the middle of a flooded river. And yet she was holding on to something like a door, or a pillar—like she was inside, even as the waves rose higher.

The storm winds whipped Nadia’s blue-black hair, lightning brilliant in the sky, as she said, “I serve the One Beneath—”

“Mateo?
Mateo!
”

The dizzying swirl of potential future and present steadied, and he once again knew where he was: La Catrina, specifically lying on the floor. His head lay in Nadia’s lap, Verlaine was patting one of his hands, and Faye seemed to be grabbing something from the bar, maybe a damp rag or some ice. Mateo shifted his weight, then winced. “Ow.”

“You fell pretty hard,” Nadia said. “The visions again? What did you see?”

“I can’t tell. Sometimes the dreams aren’t literal; you know that.” He groaned and pushed himself to sit upright. “I saw you in trouble—as usual. Verlaine, too.”

“Oh, yay,” Verlaine muttered.

The front door jingled, and Mateo frowned; he thought he’d locked that door. But someone else had a copy of the key—Dad, who was staring at him in dawning horror. “
Madre de Dios
, Mateo, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Mateo said, but he didn’t think it was too convincing, seeing as how he was sprawled out on the floor.

Sure enough, Dad ran to him, his face white. “Is this another one of the seizures? I was just starting to think maybe that was a one-time thing, but now—”

Last month, a spell gone wrong had landed Mateo in the hospital overnight; the doctors, having no other way of understanding what ailed him, assumed he must have had a seizure. Mateo had felt awful about panicking his father, but he’d thought they’d all get over it quickly enough. So much for that. “I don’t think so.”

Dad wasn’t buying it. “We’re taking you to the hospital, right now.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” Faye said, stepping out from behind the bar, ice bag still in her hands. “Mr. Perez? I’m Faye Walsh from Rodman High. I understand your concern for your son, but given the illness sweeping through the community, not to mention the quake—the hospital’s not going to have capacity for Mateo right now. These are emergency situations.”

Wow, she was a good liar. And because she was an adult, Dad actually listened.

“I don’t like it,” his father said, but he sighed. “You’re right, though. Mateo, have you been taking your antiseizure medication?”

“No,” he admitted. This was because the stuff was useless, but at least Dad wouldn’t look any harder for an explanation.

“I tell you, and I tell you! In one ear and out the other!” Dad rarely yelled unless he was really, really scared. He was yelling now. “Come on. I’m taking you home. You’re going to take your medicine and lie down for a while.”

Mateo turned to Nadia in dismay. He wanted to be with her now—to lend his Steadfast power to the spells she would cast. That had just become impossible.

She closed her eyes for a moment, as if concentrating, and suddenly they were suffused by an aquamarine light. He realized immediately that nobody else could see this besides him, and perhaps Faye: This was magic. Nadia had just cast a spell, and whatever it was, it made him feel steadier instantly. It was a little like being desperately seasick aboard a boat, then stepping onto solid ground.

“This should help you sort out the dreams,” she murmured, low enough for Dad not to hear. “I don’t know that it’s going to stop them, but you should be able to tell the difference between dreams and reality.”

Faye had engaged Dad in a conversation about how the school could accommodate Mateo’s condition. He decided he liked her. Quickly Mateo whispered, “I can sneak out. Just give me ten minutes or so at the house.”

To his surprise, Nadia shook her head. “If you’re overcome—it’s dangerous to both of us, Mateo. What I want you to do is to report the visions to me if you can. Text me, or call. If you start to see a more definite future, and there’s something you can warn me about, then warn me, okay?”

“Or me,” Verlaine piped up. He’d almost forgotten she was sitting near them. “Since I’m in danger, too. If the One Beneath is coming after me, I’d appreciate a heads-up.”

“I want to be with you,” he said to Nadia. “I want to help you.”

“You do. Every hour. Every minute.” She framed his face with her hands. “You’re my strength, always.”

It didn’t matter if the others were watching. Mateo pulled her close and kissed her, and tried very hard to believe it wouldn’t be for the last time.

“That was
amazing
,” Gage said as he smiled dazedly at the ceiling.

Naked, Elizabeth rose from the pile of blankets that Gage believed to be a bed. His mind was now clouded by her magic. The worst effects of Betrayer’s Snare had by now worn off; a couple hours’ use of a male body had burned away the fever of her desire and left behind only sore muscles and a slightly elevated pulse.

“You always seemed so, I don’t know—
shy
.” He grinned over at her, utterly besotted. She stared back impassively; he would be incapable of recognizing her indifference. “Guess I got that wrong. Or maybe you just choose your moments to show that wild side.”

“I choose my moments,” she said, considering her options.

It would be easy enough to make Gage forget the entire encounter. However, she could do that at any point. With Betrayer’s Snare no longer influencing her, she would have no more need of him in her bed, but that didn’t mean he was useless.

Sex was a necessary ingredient in a spell she hadn’t cast in a very long time. At this critical moment, couldn’t she use more than one servant? Asa’s loyalties were so cloudy, his obedience so grudging; to have a slave who obeyed from slavish adoration rather than fear might prove useful.

Once Gage became her thrall, she could use him to spy. To undermine. Even to kill. And he would never question it.

“Come here, my love.” Elizabeth held out her hand. Gage rose to take it, just as willingly as he would soon give her his blood.

25

NADIA STOOD AGAIN AT THE BEACH. THE AREA WAS
deserted. Everyone in Captive’s Sound was probably either inspecting their homes for earthquake damage or running to their loved ones. That meant she had the wide expanse of pale sand and the dark, churning sound to herself.

At least, for now. She had no doubt Elizabeth would find her soon.

Her phone chimed with texts, one after the other. She held it up to look at the screen.

From Mateo:
Dad helicoptering. Feeling all right. No more dreams yet. You okay?

I’m fine,
she texted back.
Setting out any second. Love you.

From Verlaine:
I’m at the hospital. All systems go!

The phone chimed one more time. This time it was Faye.
In front of Elizabeth’s house. There’s light inside—she seems to be home, and I don’t think she’s alone. I’ll let you know if she’s on the move.

Once again Nadia felt a quiver in her belly, both of astonishment and of doubt. The astonishment came from having finally found someone else who understood witchcraft and was willing to talk. No, Faye wasn’t a witch herself, but her mother’s Book of Shadows had already proved incredibly useful.

The sky overhead rumbled with thunder. Mateo had often told her about the horrible roiling he saw over Captive’s Sound; it was evidence of Elizabeth’s hold on this town, visible only to a Steadfast.

Or it had been. Now even Nadia thought she saw a movement in the clouds that was less like the wind, more like the slithering of something almost alive.

Could everyone see it now? With all the signs and portents—the way this town was literally coming apart—would others realize that something unnatural was at work?

It didn’t matter. That was something for Nadia to deal with after this, if there was an after.

She walked toward the nearby pier, where a lone rowboat was tethered, bobbing up and down on the waves. For a moment she imagined herself as being just as alone, but that wasn’t true.

Her friends were all doing their part—and Mateo was with her, no matter what.

Faye tried to make herself comfortable in her car. Like anyone could get comfortable when the sky was doing . . . that.

I’m glad you can’t understand this any longer, Momma,
she thought.
And yet I can’t help wishing you still had your Craft and could come here to kick some Sorceress ass.

Could her mother have overcome Elizabeth’s power? No telling. But it wouldn’t have hurt to have her on Nadia’s side.

She’d known the minute she first drove into Captive’s Sound that this place was serious trouble. To a Steadfast, every inch of this town looked like a nightmare come true. No wonder Mateo Perez had had trouble with it; even Faye, with her years of experience, had been terrified by her first sight of the many spells that wove along the streets and buildings and sea. Evil dwelled here: no question about that.

But she’d taken the job exactly because this town was so troubled—because, even if she’d never be a witch like her mother, she wanted to think she could do some good.