JAKrentz - Witchcraft (22 page)

"Come on, Kim, move."
Cavenaugh
reached for Kimberly's arm, trying to push her through the open window, but she was unable to cooperate in her own escape. Every movement seemed to require incredible effort. "
Cavenaugh
, I can't ...!"

"Goddamn it, Kim!"

Cavenaugh
grabbed her, trying to forcibly stuff her through the window.

He was interrupted by another voice from the doorway. "You shall not escape the power this time!" Ariel's shrill screech of fury was backed up a second later by
Emlyn's
uneasy command. "Stop where you are,
Cavenaugh
, or I'll shoot the woman."

"Which woman?"
Cavenaugh
asked, sounding vastly annoyed. "Right now all three of them are giving me a headache." But he reluctantly stopped trying to push Kimberly through the window and stepped down off the bed to face
Emlyn's
gun. The smoke from the brazier continued to waft through the room. It was diluted now by the effects of the open window and door but it had not completely dissipated. Kimberly remained on the bed, her legs feeling shaky as she stared at the three people in the doorway. "Aren't these about the poorest excuses for witches you've ever seen,
Cavenaugh
?" she muttered.

"Yeah,"
Cavenaugh
agreed, his eyes narrowed on
Emlyn's
gun. "Pretty poor. Kim, stay right where you are."

"You have mocked the power one too many times," Ariel shrieked at Kim. She lifted her hands high above her head. The full sleeves of her robe fell back revealing a variety of odd bracelets on her wrists. "Uh, my lady,"
Emlyn
began with what
Cavenaugh
thought was superb diplomacy under the circumstances.

"Perhaps we should wait until later?"

"Let her teach the bitch a lesson,"
Zorah
interrupted fiercely. "Call up the power, my lady! Let the darkness rain on her. Let her see what it is she mocks!" Oh hell, thought
Cavenaugh
. Looking straight at
Emlyn
he said coolly, "This whole scene is getting a little out of hand, isn't it? Maybe it's time for you to split. I think you can write off any money you might have been hoping to see."
Emlyn
glowered first at
Cavenaugh
and then at Ariel who was still standing with her hands raised above her head. The older woman had shut her eyes, her face twisted intensely. She was beginning to chant "Let the power that dwells in the depths of darkness come forth to anger the challenge of this foolish creature of light," Ariel intoned while
Zorah
watched in anticipation. "Let that which lives on the fringes of the universe and in the center of the Earth rise to smash the impudent being."

"
Cavenaugh
... " Kim began uneasily and then closed her mouth. This was nothing but a crazy woman's act. It was probably just the remnants of the smoke lingering in her head that made Ariel seem so menacing.
Cavenaugh
ignored the new fear he heard in Kim's voice. Right now the only one who held any real power was the guy with the gun, and
Emlyn
was looking distinctly unhappy. That didn't make him any less dangerous. "My lady," the male witch tried again, "I think it would be better if we saved this bit for another time."

"Shut up!"

Zorah
hissed. Ariel's voice was rising in intensity now, filling the room as she chanted. "All that answers to me; all that I have chained and bound according to the ancient laws, hear me now!" Ariel called.

"Hear her,"
Zorah
echoed fervently, her eyes glittering with excitement.

"As her handmaiden I, too, call on that which is raw power!" Kimberly shuddered and didn't know if the shiver was caused by the cold night air pouring into the room or Ariel's chanting. But she obeyed
Cavenaugh
and stayed very still on the bed.
Emlyn
moved uneasily. "
Zorah
, stop her, we've got to get these two under control. She can use her witchcraft later!"
Zorah
turned on him violently, her eyes wild. "Hush! You are only a man. You will never understand the depths of the power you serve. Leave my lady alone!" Ariel droned on, oblivious to the conversation. "Out of the bottom of the pit of darkness, gathering the forces of the ancient magic as it rises, lifting up into the surface world, flooding in from the farthest reaches of emptiness ... "
Cavenaugh
slanted a glance at Kimberly who was still sitting on the bed. At least she was staying put although she appeared half-mesmerized by Ariel's chant. When he made his move he didn't want her getting in the way. "The time has come," Ariel shrieked. "Fill this space, oh spirits of the great void, fill it with fire and darkness and destruction ... "

"
Zorah
,"
Emlyn
snapped, "this has gone far enough. She's nuttier than a fruitcake. Stop her!"

"You, too, shall suffer for mockery and disobedience!"
Zorah
promised him. "Only my lady and I will be left alive in this room! "

"Now!" Ariel yelled. "Let it be now!"

"Now!"

Zorah
screamed, lifting her own arms high above her head.
Emlyn
lost patience and reached out to grab one of Ariel's raised arms. "Stop it, you dumb broad!" "Don't touch her, you fool!"
Zorah
shouted. "The power is flowing now!" It might as well flow now,
Cavenaugh
decided, agreeing silently with the woman.
Emlyn's
full attention was on Ariel and
Zorah
. There wasn't going to be a better opportunity. With a quick movement
Cavenaugh
reached behind his back and withdrew the flat metal case that he had concealed there. "The moment of power is here!" Ariel cried out. "Let it be now!"
Zorah
yelped, trying to fend off
Emlyn
.

"You've got it, ladies,"
Cavenaugh
muttered and hurled the flat case at the feet of the trio in the doorway. An instant later brilliant, blinding light flashed through the room. Screams from everyone except
Cavenaugh
echoed from one end of the house to the other as each sought to cover his or her eyes.
Cavenaugh
had already prudently covered his own eyes with his hand. He counted to five and then opened them. The fiery white light produced by the exploding chemical compound in the case was still blinding but the initial brilliance had faded.
Cavenaugh
was careful to keep from looking directly at the case as he leaped across the room. Seconds later he reached
Emlyn
who was shouting idiotically. The gun lay on the floor where it had been dropped during the first shock of the explosion.
Zorah
was screaming. "My eyes! My eyes!"
Emlyn
yelled. "I can't see." Ariel seemed stunned. She fell back, reeling, holding her hands protectively out in front of her.

Temporarily blinded, she stared sightlessly at what she must have been convinced she had just unleashed. Kimberly was still on the bed, her palms over her eyes. "
Cavenaugh
!"

"Right here, Kim. It's okay. You'll be able to see in a couple of minutes."

"Oh, my God,
Cavenaugh
, what happened?" She lowered her hands to her sides, her head turned in the direction of his voice.
Cavenaugh
looked at his brave, temporarily blinded witch. "Everything's under control, honey. I've got the gun."

She blinked rapidly a few times. "I can't see!"

"It's just the light.

You'll be all right soon," he soothed as he grabbed
Emlyn
and began tying the man's hands behind his back with the rope belt that
Emlyn
had worn. Soon the still-stunned Ariel was secured. He was working on
Zorah
when Kimberly got shakily up off the bed. She was still blinking rapidly. "That's a hell of an act,
Cavenaugh
. You should take it on the road," she murmured, still sounding shocked. "You never told me you were into witchcraft, yourself." He smiled grimly as he finished tying
Zorah's
wrists. "You learn a lot in the import-export business."

"So I see. I think I've asked this before, but what exactly did you import?"

"I'll tell you later. How are your eyes?" She shook her head as if to clear it. But when she looked at him Kimberly was focusing almost normally. "Okay, I think.
Geez
,
Cavenaugh
, what was that stuff?"

"A chemical powder that reacts with oxygen. When the case is broken the chemical explodes in a bright flash."

"Like a small bomb," she said in awe. "I could use that in a book."

"Be my guest. How are you feeling?"

"Odd."

"Yeah, you look a little odd. Get some water from the bathroom and put out the coals in that brazier." Kimberly looked at the still-glowing brazier and then nodded obediently. She walked into the bath and returned a moment later with a drinking glass full of water.

Very carefully she poured the contents over the coals. There was a hissing sound and a small cloud of steam. "Now go call the cops,"
Cavenaugh
ordered distinctly. Kimberly started out of the room and then stopped a moment in front of Ariel. The older woman's eyes were wet with tears. "She's crying,
Cavenaugh
." "Yes, so she is."
Cavenaugh
said gently. "Go make the phone call, Kim." "It's all so sad," Kimberly said several hours later as she reached into her cupboard and pulled out a bottle of
Cavenaugh
Riesling. "Aunt
Milly
is going to be crushed when she hears how Ariel was deceiving her."
Cavenaugh
took the bottle from her and inserted a corkscrew. With a smooth, thoroughly expert movement, he removed the cork and started pouring the wine. "I don't feel so good about it myself. When I think of how none of us suspected what a fruitcake Ariel really was, I get cold chills." He swore softly and took a large swallow of wine from one of the two glasses he'd just filled. "What a fool I was." Kimberly watched him from under her lashes. This was the first time they had been alone since the authorities had come to collect Ariel and her pals. There had been endless questions and statements and explanations. But finally everyone had left. "I know how you must feel," Kimberly said softly as she picked up her own glass of wine. "But no one realized what she was really like." He looked at her broodingly. "It was my responsibility to protect my family and you. I blew it." Kimberly picked up a platter of cheese and French bread she had prepared. "Nonsense. You saved us all.

And I for one am extremely grateful." She led the way over to the two chairs in front of the fireplace. "You do realize what was on the agenda for me this evening? Ariel was going to make me the star attraction in her first sacrifice ceremony. Nothing like being a guinea pig in some witch's act." She shuddered and flopped back in one of the chairs.
Cavenaugh
followed slowly, pausing to stoke up the fire he had started an hour earlier. For a moment he stood staring down into the flames. "Are you sure you feel okay?"

"What? Oh, you mean am I suffering any aftereffects of that herb Ariel used on me. No, I'm fine, really I am. As brilliantly clear-headed as I've ever been." His mouth crooked faintly in spite of his mood. "I'm not certain that's very reassuring." Kimberly grinned briefly. "Poor
Cavenaugh
. You've had a rough time of it lately, haven't you? And all because of me."

"I wasn't the only male who was having trouble with females this morning. I almost felt a twinge of sympathy for poor
Emlyn
."

"E
mlyn
!"

"Well, he was only playing at being a witch because he really thought Ariel's plan for kidnapping Scott would work. After it fell apart, I guess she convinced him she had another scheme up her sleeve. It must have been a shock when he realized what a real nut she was."

"I wonder how he and
Zorah
met Ariel."

"The cops are wondering, too. They promised to let me know the whole story when they've finished dredging it out of those three. The first thing they'll have to do is find out
Emlyn
and
Zorah's
real names!" "I thought they sounded a bit on the theatrical side," Kimberly noted. "How did Ariel become such friends with Aunt
Milly
?"

Cavenaugh's
face hardened. "They met in a garden club." He winced. "I can still remember
Milly
telling me what a "magical" touch Ariel had with herbs."

"She does know a lot about them. Probably from studying all sorts of arcane books. Ariel really feels she's this generation's keeper of some sort of witchcraft mysteries. I'll have to work her into a book ... "

"Just as long as you don't feel you have to do any hands-on research,"
Cavenaugh
growled forbiddingly. Kimberly's response was a yawn that she barely managed to cover. "My God, I'm exhausted. You must be, too."

"I am. In spite of what you may be thinking, this really has been a slightly abnormal day, even for members of the
Cavenaugh
household,"
Cavenaugh
said with real feeling. Kimberly smiled briefly and then fixed him with a very earnest expression. "But it's all over now. You've more than kept your promise. You've fulfilled the responsibility you felt you had toward me. I want you to know that,
Cavenaugh
. You don't owe me anything else." It was important to her that he understood he was free in that sense, Kimberly realized. "You've kept your promise. "My promise to take care of you? Kim, I want to talk to you about that." He walked over to the other over-stuffed chair and lowered himself into it. Kimberly watched him obliquely. She liked watching him, she reflected. There was an easy, masculine grace in his movements, even when he was simply taking a seat. "What's to talk about?" she tried to ask lightly. "It's over. You've done what you said you'd do. And without a lot of help from me, either," she added wryly. "You did your part," he interjected. Kimberly took another sip of wine. "Thank you for coming after me,
Cavenaugh
. You saved my life."