The Book of Lost Souls (18 page)

“Are you kidding me?” Raven said. “You’re not using anything in that book on me! Think of some other spell.”

With that, Raven stepped back several feet from the wall, got a vampire running start, and using a nearby tree for leverage, she scaled the wall. Once at the top, she spun, balancing on the iron spikes. “See you guys on the other side!”

Raven wiggled her fingers in goodbye fashion and disappeared into the shadows on the other side of the wall.

Bane and Devlin looked warily at Ivy. Raven was right—she shouldn’t use the book. There had to be another way over the wall. But the lure of the book inside her book bag was too tempting. It’d be faster. Certainly, there was something there she could use—a levitation spell perhaps.

Ivy unzipped the book bag and slid out
The Rise of the Dark Curse
. The vine trick she’d used on Devlin wouldn’t be enough to lift them all over the wall at the same time. But, maybe the tree could! She stared at the massive oak for a moment. The whispers from within the book beckoned to her. Yes! The tree...
 

The book opened, the pages turning on their own. It slowed near the middle of the book, a single page hovered upright, then turned back a page. An Animation spell. Devlin whined, sounding far off and distant. Ivy read the spell on the page, not really sure it was her voice she heard or if they were coming from the book
through
her. She wanted to yell at Devlin, to tell him to shut up, that she knew what she was doing.

It isn’t right. You’re using the book on Devlin and Bane.
 

But that wasn’t entirely true. She was using it on herself, too. Guilt still washed over her.
 

Just get everyone over the wall and then close the book. One spell. One hopefully harmless little spell.

A single voice from within the book seemed to laugh at this.
 

The air around Ivy sizzled with unseen energy. Tree limbs resembling gigantic gnarled hands reached from the other side of the wall. They snatched Bane and Devlin off the ground with enough force that they both yelped in surprise. They struggled to free themselves from the tree’s tight grasp, and the tree held them tighter.

“
NO!”
Ivy called out.

The book was calling to her, telling her she shouldn’t care how they all got over the wall, just that they did.

Another branch reached down and Ivy scrambled to grab the book and her book bag just as the tree snapped her up, knocking the wind out of her. All three branches hurled them over the wall, depositing them onto the ground like rolled dice. Devlin whimpered once before getting his feet under him. Bane growled and snarled as he trotted off and Ivy was glad she couldn’t hear what he was really saying.
 

She couldn’t blame him, really.
 

Raven was in her face, shoving her. “How much longer, Ivy? How much longer before that book gets someone hurt? Before YOU bring back something as bad as Vlad or the Blood Countess? You want to mistreat Devlin like that, well, that’s bad enough. I never would have thought you’d ever harm him. But Bane isn’t your dog. Touch him again with another spell like that and I’m off my diet, so help me.”

She shoved Ivy once more and Ivy landed on the ground with a thud.
 

Raven turned and walked away. She glanced over her shoulder. “Get rid of it. Soon.”

After a few more creaks and groans, the tree returned to normal. Ivy shoved the book into her book bag. “I’m sorry,” she barely managed to say.
 

Raven glared at her again as she checked on Bane.

Ivy sat, stunned, horrified, and ashamed that she’d actually used a spell from the book on anyone she cared about. But, it was as though she couldn’t help herself. “I know. I have to get rid of it. As soon as I find a safe spot for it. Someplace no one will find it.”

Devlin belly-crawled over to Ivy, ears down, tail down in submission. He licked Ivy’s hand.

The first tears were unexpected. Ivy rolled over on the ground to kiss him. That was twice she’d let Devlin down. “Never again, buddy. I promise. I won’t open it again.” She swiped at her cheeks. “I really didn’t mean to hurt any of you. Please, believe me.”

Raven came to stand above Ivy and extended her hand. “Burn it if you have to,” she said as she helped Ivy to her feet. “Rant over. Let’s go lizard hunting.”

Somehow, Ivy didn’t think the book would burn. Ivy believed that
The Rise of the Dark Curse
had a built-in defense mechanism. It was dangerous enough that it would prevent
anyone
from destroying it. And, if the
The Book of Lost Souls
was even worse, then she might almost feel sorry for the person who had it.
 

Shadows from an abundance of trees and shrubs dotted The Prescotts’ lawn.
 

Raven, Bane, and Devlin wasted no time hurrying away from anything else that might grab hold of them and waited for Ivy by a sundial in an open area twenty feet away.

Ivy dusted herself off. “Maybe we could bury—”

“
Shhh!”
Raven said. She pointed to Bane and Devlin, who’s attention had become heavily focused on something around the corner of the house.
 

They had picked up a trail and were trotting off across the massive lawn. Ivy and Raven followed, temporarily losing them in the topiary garden. It was difficult to tell which was a manicured bush and which was just a shape in the darkness. The moon had clouded over and wasn’t any help.
 

Raven paused, listening again. “There,” she whispered.
 

Two sets of gold eyes glittered ahead of them. Ivy retrieved the pair of hexed sunglasses from her book bag, leaving the top unzipped. The landscape took on an eerie black and green appearance. It was much easier to see everything now.
 

Raven motioned for Ivy to follow. This was why Raven was the better choice to bring. Raven’s night vision wasn’t as good as Shayde’s but she could hear just as well, and, more importantly, Raven was the risk taker.
 

They hadn’t gone far, maybe another couple hundred yards, when even Ivy’s ears picked up on the faint voices. Bane and Devlin crouched low, slinking into the shadows. Raven and Ivy darted the short distance from the wide open to the shadows along the house. The voices were getting closer. Too close.
 

Raven dropped to the ground, camouflaging herself in a small section of shadow and Ivy followed suit.

Ivy didn’t need the night-vision sunglasses to see who was there. Tara and Spike rounded the corner, laughing. Their hands were entwined, and they were spinning each other around in circles like children. They crashed to the ground not twenty feet from where Raven and Ivy lay. Neither of the girls dared to move a muscle. Bane and Devlin were thankfully hidden in the bushes farther away.

“That was fun!” Spike said breathlessly as he lay on the ground next to Tara. “Let’s do it again!”
 

Tara curled up next to him, resting her head against his chest. “Can’t we just lie here?” She gave him an affectionate squeeze.
 

Spike’s eyes diverted to a low flying moth. He snagged it, shoved it into his mouth, and chewed slowly. He looked at Tara guiltily, but she hadn’t seen.
 

“Uh, okay. But can we play on the trampoline again later?” he asked cheerfully.
 

“Do I need to give you another Maturity potion?” Tara asked, snuggling into him. “You’re much more fun that way.”

So
that’s
why he was acting so human! It’s wasn’t entirely the Intelligence spell, although that had been bad enough. Tara was doping Spike up with a Maturity spell. She couldn’t believe it. Tara? A
Maturity
spell? Well, Tara had to be going through it like Kool-Aid in order to get Spike past her own maturity level.

Ivy moved slowly, trying to reach her book bag without making noise or drawing attention, but Tara and Spike were too close. She had to be careful.

Tara leaned across Spike and kissed him. He held her in his arms and they continued to make out noisily. Ivy thought about the moth and felt her stomach lurch. Raven made soft gagging noises beside her.
 

Ivy sought out the bushes Bane and Devlin had ducked into. Gold eyes flickered from the dark and Bane took a tentative step out. His gaze swept between Ivy and the large gates in front of the wide and extensive drive.
 

Go back!
she wanted to tell him.
They’ll see you!
Finally, Ivy understood he wanted her to see something important. Bane shifted nervously, his gaze darting between where she and Raven were hiding to the direction of the gates and the street beyond them. Ivy peered through the gates and saw a car—
Dean’s
car.
 

“Dean’s here,” Ivy whispered into Raven’s ear.

“Hmm. This could be fun,” Raven whispered back.
 

Hardly.

When it came to capturing Spike, if it weren’t for bad luck, she’d have no luck at all. It was bad enough Tara had snuck out to see her boyfriend in training, but now Dean was here, too.
 

This wasn’t going to go down easily.
 

With Tara so close to Spike, Ivy didn’t dare recite the incantation. If she went with plan B and captured Spike as is, they’d never make it over the stone wall before Tara could cause enough commotion to wake the entire household, much less bring Dean running.

The
good
thing was that Dean was spying on Tara, which meant he still had an interest in his ex-girlfriend. Still, they couldn’t lie here the whole night. Ivy knew she had to do
something
. With Dean watching, Bane and Devlin couldn’t venture too far from the safety of the bushes. Well, Bane at least.
 

Devlin poked his head out. Luckily, with his earthy colors, he still blended in with the autumn colored shrubbery. He yawned and looked around, indicating he was bored. It was only a matter of time before Devlin would find something else to do.
 

There weren’t many things Beezlepups enjoyed more than getting into mischief. She had to come up with something soon before Devlin blew their cover.
 

CHAPTER 21

Devlin blinked, his adorable little face making her smile. He was nothing if not lovable and the very definition of cute. It was why she spoiled him with toys the way she did. She felt around inside the book bag and retrieved the hexed toy squirrel.
 

In between Tara’s squeals and groans and all the disgustingly loud kissing, Ivy surveyed the situation. If Devlin saw the toy, he’d charge from the bushes at full throttle. Devlin never could resist anything that squeaked. But, maybe she could use his fetish to distract Spike and Tara.

Ivy decided the best course would be to hover the toy high enough off the ground so that it wouldn’t
immediately
attract his attention. She also needed to keep it along the backside of the row of trees they’d come from where the toy would be concealed in shadow most of the time. For a second or two, the toy would be in plain sight to Tara and Spike, should they break from their marathon kiss and look up. There was also the chance Dean might see it. If he saw the toy, he’d also know Ivy was there. No one else carried dog toys with them. She also had to consider that the toy would be out of her sight for a few seconds. If the toy hit a tree then, she’d lose control of it
and
her only chance.
 

Slowly, she levitated Devlin’s toy. It sailed along, hovering about ten feet in the air and moved slowly toward the trees, keeping to the shadows until the last possible second. It went flawlessly. Tara and Spike were still too involved with each other to see the squeaky toy drift behind the trees.

Raven tapped her urgently.

“Not now,” Ivy hissed. Almost there, almost there. The toy should be popping out from behind the trees and toward the bush Bane and Devlin were hiding in just a second or two.

Raven was not to be ignored. “Dean’s not in the car anymore. I don’t know where he is, but…”
 

At that precise moment, Dean stepped away from where he’d been standing—the trees. He scanned the yard and Ivy watched his hand tighten around Devlin’s toy squirrel. Devlin pelted from the bushes like his tail was on fire. Tara and Spike broke from their embrace, startled.
 

Upon seeing Devlin charging toward him, Dean tapped the squirrel, reversing Ivy’s Silent spell. He squeezed the toy again, and it let out an audible squeak.
 

“Plan C,” Raven said, getting to her feet.

“But, we don’t have a Plan C!” Ivy replied.

“It’s called improvise!” Raven said, running for Spike.
 

Dean shot out a spell that knocked Raven off course, sending her into a tree.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Raven shouted.

“Lizard breath is
mine!”
Dean growled. “I’m going to rip him apart.”

Devlin was a blur as he raced toward Dean, with Bane right on his heels. Dean was so focused on Spike and Tara, he didn’t see it coming.

But Ivy knew it was going to hurt. Big time.
 

Devlin and Bane slammed into Dean at the same exact moment. Dean hit the ground with a hard, “
Ooompf!”
 

“This is your fault, Ivy!” Dean shouted. “That kiss was supposed to be between just us.”

Ivy shook her head. “Spare me the break-up speech, Dean. It never would have worked anyway.”

Tara was frantically smoothing her clothes and her hair. “It was a Kissing spell, Dean. I swear. I didn’t want to be with him.” She pointed to Spike. “Ivy showed up and hexed me,” she blubbered.

“What a little liar!” Raven scoffed. “You were unbuttoning his shirt, and
that
wasn’t part of any Kissing spell!

Tara fell to the ground and hugged Dean.

“It’s okay, Tara. She tricked us both. But, I’m still going to kill that lizard.” Dean’s next spell missed Spike entirely and hit the ground instead. A dirt clod exploded, showering Spike. Spike cowered, raising his hands to shield his face.