The Sorceress (29 page)

As if reading her mind, Boozer, behaving like an agitated dog, let out a long, low growl. Then he flopped down on the floor, like an ornery child. Sitting on his big, hairy butt, he kicked his hoofed feet out in a tantrum. The soles were thick and grooved with deep, crisscrossing lines. Jen grimaced and looked away from Boozer.

“Be patient, Boozer. After I've finished with her, you can keep her as your plaything—she'll keep you company down in that dungeon beneath the cellar.”

Boozer's plaything! Kept in a dungeon? Oh, dear God, please help me!
The warm splash finally came, but not from Ethan. Petrified of what the beast had in store for her, Jen peed her panties.

THE GODDESS REALM

The time moved differently between the Dark Realm and the Goddess Realm. It seemed to Tara that all communication with her sister had stopped for several weeks. Poor Eris, she believed, was probably so afraid, being held in captivity with those vicious creatures and without the comfort of hearing her sister's voice.

Several times a day, Tara peered into the pond, trying to make a connection with Eris. To no avail. It was as if Eris's life
force no longer existed on that realm. Had she plummeted to the very lowest realm? Tara gasped.
No!
Imagining Eris being tormented by Satan himself was a ghastly thought.

Eris didn't deserve to be in such a depraved place. She was high-spirited, a little mischievous at times, but she couldn't help herself due to her nature. She wasn't as wicked to the core as those who dwelled in the fiery, lowest realm.

Tara cried up to the heavens, beseeching her ascended mother to help her find Eris. “Oh, Mother Inanna. Hear my cries. Guide me; tell me what I should do. My sister was sent to earth as a temporary home to teach her a lesson, but she misbehaved and was sent to that dreaded place. Now she's lost. The goddesses should have never sent her so far away from her home. She was lonely and probably kept company with the bad types.

“Now through no fault of her own, she is made to dwell with those evil beings that slither and screech in the realms deprived of sunlight. Give me a sign, dear mother. Please! My sister… your daughter is lost!”

And every day that Tara sobbed, her winged attendant wiped her eyes, covered her with her wings, and comforted her in the only way she knew how.

O
rdered by the woman to wipe up the puddle on the floor, to change her clothing, and to clean herself, all done with the hulking monster overseeing her, Jen, freshly scrubbed and changed, was marched back to Ethan's bedroom. Red-faced, she stood before her minor charge and the woman named Eris, who was referred to as “Goddess.” To Jen, she seemed more like a witch than a goddess.

The woman sat atop Ethan's desk. “What should we do about her?”

The boy sat in his swivel chair, stroking his chin in thought. “Punish her,” he remarked casually.

Eris looked at her slender hands. “I can't. I just acquired these.” She held them out to be admired. “Too lovely to risk damaging.”

“Nanny, we do not tinkle on the floor,” Ethan chastised, throwing Jen's own words at back at her.

“Talk, talk, talk. Stop all that jabbering and give her thirty and nine and be done with it,” Eris suggested.

“What, pray tell…is thirty and nine?” the boy asked, eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Lashes,” Eris explained, frowning at the boy's ignorance. “It's a pity we don't have the whipping post I was hoisted to during my life on the plantation,” Eris said and gave a grievous sigh.

Red-faced, Jen dropped her head. She felt utterly hopeless. Then she thought about Carmen and her heart lifted. She'd heard the senator speaking with her on his way out, so where was the cook? She probably slipped out undetected and was running down the road to get help, Jen told herself. Carmen would be back with the entire police force and then this nightmare would end.

“You want to reprimand her in the way you were dealt with when you were a rebellious slave?”

Lashes? Whipping posts…and slavery! What the hell are these lunatics talking about? Please hurry…save me, Carmen!
Jen's legs began to wobble. If only she could reach her cell phone. These demons were out for blood. Her blood! Something had to be done. Rome said that the dead can't hurt you, but these ghouls that Ethan had released from hell were of solid form. The phantom world had merged into the real world and these supernatural beings, mutant as they were, were visible, lifelike, and they could hurt her. Really badly, Jen feared. She gave an involuntary whimper.

“This sniveling governess deserves far worse than what I was given. But I'll settle for thirty and nine lashes.”

“And who should dispense the lashes? I'm a child. I haven't the strength,” Ethan rasped in complaint. Jen almost smiled in relief, but caught herself and maintained her terror-stricken look.

“Boozer can do it,” Eris offered.

“No!” Jen yelled. “He'll kill me.”

Eris and the child exchanged a significant look. “She's right,” Eris said. “Boozer doesn't know his own strength. Furthermore, I need her alive. I have no idea how long this physical body is going to last. It seems unwise to risk losing her when I may need to feed on her for my own well-being.”

Feed! On me?
A shiver of extreme fear worked its way up her
spine. Perhaps she'd stumbled into some sort of alternate universe. Yes, that had to be what was going on here because nothing made sense or seemed real.

Ethan began wheezing. “Are you suggesting the naughty nanny should go unpunished?” The sound of his raspy adult voice was unpleasant and very hard to get used to.

“Of course she should be punished,” Eris said. “But not by Boozer. You should give her the lashes.”

“I can't.” His voice was low; he sounded depressed. “I'm too small. I've been anxiously awaiting your assistance, Wicked One.”

“I'll assist you,” Eris said brightly. “I'll coach and guide you.” Then her voice changed to a disapproving low tone. “Really, Xavier…you're not like your old self. Who would have thought you'd be resisting an opportunity to inflict pain.”

“Okay, I'll do it.” The boy stood and stepped around the small desk.

Eris turned a searing gaze at Jen. “Go fetch a whip.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “These are modern times. I've learned much about this time period from my computer. Only sexual fetishists use whips and such gadgets. On the other hand, my father has a vast collection of belts in an array of leather and exotic skins.” He cut a knowing eye at Jen. “I'm sure you would have preferred to be taken over my father's knee,” the boy said with a trace of amusement. “But I'm afraid the discipline you require won't be of an erotic nature. Now, go get a belt…something sturdy that will leave marks when I strike your buttocks. Be quick, nanny!”

Eris gave the boy a nod of approval. “That's the spirit! Now, you sound more like the Xavier I once knew.”

“Stay close to her, Boozer,” Ethan instructed. “We don't want Eris's lifeline to get away.”

Her lifeline?
Jen thought, bewildered.

Boozer trudged across the room and shoved Jen so hard, she stumbled forward and crashed into a wall. Unwilling to even imagine the beast's next move, Jen composed herself and got moving.

Inside the senator's bedroom, she yanked open a closet and swiftly ran her eyes over the rack that held the collection of belts, while warily looking over her shoulder to make sure the monster who loomed over her, panting and salivating, didn't suddenly lunge.

Though she was repelled by the sight of Boozer, she didn't like having her back turned to him. She didn't linger over the selection process and grabbed a thin belt. Seconds later, she rushed back to the boy's room with Boozer close on her heels, and was comforted in a weird way by the sight of Ethan.

With his acquired mastery of language and menacing facial expressions, Ethan no longer seemed even remotely childlike. But at least he was small. Being so puny, she doubted Ethan could inflict any serious harm.

With a stiff upper lip, Jen handed Ethan the thin leather belt.

Eris sneered at the flimsy belt that dangled from Jen's hand. “Your governess chose something suitable for your miniature grasp,” she mocked.

The boy padded toward Jen. So small, his head barely reached her thigh. He stood for a moment glowering at her, his tiny hands fisted at his sides. Then he stood on his tiptoes and wrenched the belt from her grasp.

Giving in to a fit of cackling laughter, Eris eased off the desk. “This should be very interesting.”

“Strip down. Bare your buttocks.”

Jen looked aghast. Hearing Ethan speak was unsettling enough, but his request was way over the top and terrifying.

“Do as I say!” he shouted, his face twisted with pure evil.

Timidly, Jen tugged on the waistband of her jeans.

“Wait!” He pointed toward his bed. “Go over there and bend over.”

“Wouldn't it be better if she stood?” Eris interjected. “Boozer can hold her and make sure she keeps still.”

Both ideas were bad—absolutely nauseating, but all she could do was wait until a decision was reached.

“Yeah, lemme at her!” The words rumbled out of Boozer; his voice deep and coarse with yearning. His mouth watered; saliva spilled; his facial muscles twitched with anticipation.

“No!” She shrank back from his beastly gaze. It was inconceivable that her fate lay in the hands of a witch, a hulking monster, and a demon-possessed child. Jen trembled uncontrollably.

After brief consideration, the boy said, “Go ahead, and grab her. Get her ready for me, Boozer.”

In a matter of milliseconds, the beast locked his hairy hand around Jen's wrist, jerking her so ferociously that her body slammed against his. As she tried to wriggle away, he roughly worked her jeans over her hips.

Jen looked stricken. “No! Please, don't hurt me. I'll find clothes for Boozer to wear. I'm sure there's something here that can fit him,” she pleaded, her eyes focused on Eris, who seemed to be calling the shots. “With clothes he won't have to hide out in the cellar. He can come and go…and you know…mingle, with people.” Jen swallowed hard.

Eris considered Jen's words. “Do you know how to get to Roanoke?”

“Uh, Roanoke, Virginia?” Her head bobbed up and down. “Yeah, sure. It's about six or seven hours from here.” Jen forced her trembling lips into a smile.

“Good. I'll need you to drive me to the Stovall plantation.”

Drive you where?
She shouted in her mind, but nodded dumbly. She'd promise anything to buy time to save herself.

“Eris! You're getting time periods confused. The place that you're so fixated on existed hundreds of years ago. As you well know, from your last visit here, slavery ended. We're in a new millennium. No slaves, no plantations—Stovall or otherwise.”

Eris gave the boy a thoughtful look. “Times may have progressed since I was in Roanoke, but I know for certain that the modern-day Stovalls are living on that same plantation where my jewels were buried. I used my third-eye vision to track them. My wonderful trinkets have been unearthed and handed over to a snotty-nosed child.” Eris spoke through clenched teeth. “I want my property back.”

The boy snorted. “I didn't work hard constructing that bridge so that you could go traipsing off looking for trinkets. We will stick to the plan.”

“I don't take orders from you, you little brat,” Eris hissed.

“And you don't want me to start screaming my head off like one. My parents are a very powerful political couple…a call from this house to emergency services will bring the police and the news media in a scant few seconds.” The boy smiled wickedly. “You'll be suspected as kidnappers. It'll be a real mess when the authorities realize that the suspects aren't quite human. No pulse, no heartbeat, and flesh that's subject to emulsify without proper nourishment.” He glared at Eris. “Is that what you want? Hmm? Do you want to literally rot in jail?”

Eris looked away, considering the boy's threat. Ethan folded his scrawny arms and waited for her to see things his way. The disharmony between the ghoulish trio gave Jen some time to think. She needed to get to a phone. Her mind searched frantically for a way to reach the closest cell or landline.

Her cell was in her bedroom; too far away. There was a land-line telephone in practically every room of the house. All she had to do was slip away from these creatures and sneakily dial 9-1-1. She wouldn't even have to utter a sound. Like Ethan said, a call from the Provost household would instantly bring in the calvary.

“Your threats don't frighten me,” Eris retorted, cobalt eyes glittering. “But…” She paused and nodded toward Boozer and rolled her eyes upward. “I can't depend on Boozer to help with the planning. I'd better think this through before I rush off to Roanoke. So let's make a deal right now. If I help you destroy your parents, will you assist me in retrieving my jewels?”