Legacy & Spellbound (2 page)

I must roam through time and space, earthbound, until he is truly dead… .

“No,” she whispered, then clamped her mouth
shut and moved on. Isabeau, Holly's ancestress, had died betraying her husband, Jean Deveraux, six centuries before.

And now she lives on in me,
Holly thought bitterly.
And Jean lives on through Jeraud Deveraux. The two won't let us rest.

Isabeau and Jean had been married, pawns in a deadly game played by their families. It had been their destruction. Now Isabeau and Jean were both cursed to wander the world as spirits until they fulfilled the curse each had laid on the other … Isabeau, who had sworn to her mother, the fierce Queen Catherine, that she would kill Jean, was doomed to walk the world, earthbound, until she could fulfill her vow and kill her husband.

Jean had sworn vengeance on Isabeau herself, after she had betrayed his family to her mother. Thanks to her duplicity, every man, woman, and child of Deveraux blood had been put to the torch. Infants. Even their livestock had burned alive. Only Jean had escaped, and he had been horribly burned.

Now Jeraud Deveraux had been burned, just as Jean had been. By the woman he loved …

In each succeeding generation, Jean and Isabeau had attempted to possess members of their own families, through whom they would free themselves from
love and hate, and sink into the earth for one last time … hopefully to find peace in the arms of angels, or in each other… .

Each generation had failed them.

In Holly's time, she was Isabeau's vessel, her unwilling host. Jeraud Deveraux, the son of her terrifying enemy, Michael, was the one Jean used. Passion and hatred boiled inside them both as Jean and Isabeau pursued each other through time and space, loving and hating, willing death, and forbidding it… .

Now Holly shook her head. Isabeau spoke to her more lately, calling to all that was cold and wild within her. It was getting harder to ignore her, harder to draw the line between them.

She glanced about, wondering how much farther she and her fellow covenates had to go. It was bitterly cold in London; granite-colored snow cascaded from skies the color of gravestones, and the bitter wind could freeze bones. Double-decker buses and old-fashioned black taxicabs slammed around overcrowded traffic circles; pedestrians slogged along, caught in a crush of steamy breath and bad tempers.

Overhead, seven falcons wheeled, minions of the Deveraux, searching for Holly and her coven. Holly had been the first to notice them, scrutinizing the birds perched on the lampposts outside Victoria Station,
their beady, glaring eyes ticking as each passenger rushed by.

Back in Paris, the High Priestess of the Mother Coven had woven spells of invisibility around Holly's coven to protect them from the Deveraux—from the entire Supreme Coven, for that matter. Having no desire to test those waters, Holly and the others had darted back into the train station and quickly boarded an Underground train for Essex Square, but somehow the birds were able to sense the presence of witches, and were trailing them.

Now their wings cast deadly silhouettes against the neon signs and streetlights that were winking on, although it was barely four in the afternoon. Winter days in London were short; the night reigned supreme. Camouflaged among the dark umbrellas, the birds swooped and searched, unnoticed by the mundane Londoners because the creatures were magical and only visible to those who walked in that world. So far, the creatures still could not locate their quarry.

Now the Coven hurried along. With Holly and Amanda were the remnants of their coven: Tommy Nagai, Amanda's best friend; Silvana Beaufrere, a friend of Amanda's since childhood; and a very reluctant Kari Hardwicke. Kari had been a member of Jer's coven and Jer's lover before Holly had come along.

Holly sighed as she looked at her. Kari had never forgiven her for leaving Jer behind in the school gymnasium as it was consumed by the Black Fire conjured by his father and brother. For months they had thought Jer dead and the members of his coven had joined with Holly and her friends. Now, all Jer's coven were dead except for Kari, and she wanted out.

Kari had accompanied them to London only because the High Priestess of the Mother Coven had informed her that she would likely be killed or taken hostage by the Supreme Coven if she left the relative safety of their numbers. She wanted nothing more than to go back to Seattle and, like Nicole Anderson, forget that she had ever learned that magic and witch-ery were real forces in the world.

The new member of their party—if not officially of their coven—was Sasha Deveraux, Eli and Jer's mother, and the estranged wife of Michael. The lovely red-haired, green-eyed woman had asked to come with them, her mission being to save her beloved son, Jer, and to turn him completely away from the worship of the Horned God and all the darkness that entailed … or so Sasha hoped.

And so Holly hoped too.

But Holly had promised the Mother Coven—and Nicole's sister, Amanda—that they would save Nicole
first. Once she had been rescued from the Supreme Coven—
and how are we going to manage that?
—then Holly was free to go after Jer.

I hope it's a promise I can keep.

The Mother Coven had helped ward their passage to London; they had gone by train and then by ferry, Holly remembering all the while that the curse on her family was that those who loved them would die by drowning. For that reason, she had refused to take the Chunnel, the underground tunnel that transported travelers underneath the English Channel. In the end she hadn't been sure that the ferry was any better. She spent the entire trip reliving the nightmare of the ferry attack in Seattle, when they had lost Eddie.

When I lost Eddie,
she reminded herself. She was still haunted by his face and by the sure knowledge that he had died because she had chosen to save her cousin, Amanda, instead of him. It was a secret she had kept to herself.
Along with so many others lately.
She sighed, frustrated. Being a leader meant making the tough choices, the sacrifices.
Hey, whatever helps me sleep at night,
she thought bitterly. The truth was, she was beginning to scare even herself.

For the hundredth time she thought of the great battle waged on and over the Bay against Michael's legions. She remembered the promise she had made
her dead ancestress, the powerful Catherine. The promise that she would be worthy.

She shivered, but it had nothing to do with the biting cold. She wasn't sure what she would have to do, how much more of her soul she would need to sacrifice to be worthy to carry Catherine's mantle. Her visions of Catherine, from her daughter, Isabeau's point of view, had been unbearably gruesome. She shook her head and glanced anxiously at the sky.

Focus; keep your mind on the task.

Holly glanced down at the slip of paper in her hand. It was the address of a Mother Covenate safe house, and the owner was putting herself at great risk by opening her doors to the Cathers coven. Again Holly noted the relative weakness of the Mother Coven as compared with the Supreme Coven—and as opposed to the violent and brilliant ghost army she herself had led into Elliott Bay to save Kialish and Silvana … though only Silvana had survived.

Cahors all,
she thought, her heart beating fiercely.
Wild and strong and fearless. They called me their queen … and Catherine said I was the one who could keep the family name alive… .

But I need Jer to do that. His magic combined with mine will give us the power to defeat the Supreme Coven. I feel that. I know that… .

Oui, ma belle,
a voice whispered inside her head.
Alors, go to him. Go now. Vite.

It was Isabeau.

Torn, Holly gestured to the others, indicating the fish and chips shop across the street. It was a landmark for them. They were supposed to turn right, then go through the second narrow alleyway. Their contact would be watching in the window for them.

Kari looked longingly at the shop—it had been hours since they had eaten—but Holly firmly shook her head. Creature comforts had to be denied until they were out of harm's way … or at least off the streets.

The Coven obediently turned right, hanging back from Holly. Her face burned; she was ashamed and defensive, still remembering how she had nearly hurled a fireball at them in the Moon Temple, the most sacred ground of the Mother Coven. As it was, she had insulted Hecate, one of the most revered aspects of the Goddess—and the name of Nicole's familiar, whom she had sacrificed for power.

They're shocked at me for doing it … and yet, it's up to me to make sure they survive the attacks from Michael Deveraux. I sacrificed a little part of my soul for them, and all they can think of is how horrible it was of me to drown the cat.

She put her hands in the pockets of her black wool
coat and ducked her head, angrily pursing her lips.
What's the saying? Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown… .

Then Amanda hurried up to her and tugged at her coat sleeve. Holly glanced at her; her cousin was jabbing her finger upward, and her face was ashen.

The seven falcons had lined up on a second-story brick ledge on the opposite side of the street; they cocked their heads in the direction of the fugitive coven, their blue-black feathers shining in the street light. Catching the glow, their eyes gleamed; they clacked their beaks together softly, menacingly, and their claws jittered on the balcony as they edged along, matching the particular, quick rhythm of Holly's footsteps.

Amanda stared at her as if to ask,
What do we do?

Holly's face prickled with fear; her heart thundered against her chest, and she clenched her gloved fists inside her pockets to keep from crying out.

Can they hear us?

Have they found us?

She didn't know if she should avoid their gaze or study them to see what they might do next. It was then that she realized that the falcon in the middle—three stood on one side of it, and three on the other—was cast in an eerie green glow; it was also larger than the others. There was something about it that differentiated it from
the others; it was the leader, and it was unearthly … unnatural. Could it be Fantasme, the spirit-familiar of House Deveraux, that had survived through the ages partly as symbol, partly as a real, living thing? It had been Fantasme that had saved Jer's brother, Eli, from the Black Fire so many months ago.

The lead falcon screeched once, then swooped from the perch and began to fly across the street.

Holly whirled around to warn the others not to make a sound. Just in time, Tommy clamped his hand over Kari's mouth, shaking his head vigorously. Kari's eyes bulged; Tommy kept his hand over her mouth, and Holly waved both hands to tell her,
No! Stop!

Then the whir of wings above her caught her attention. She looked up to see the falcons aiming themselves directly at them. Their claws were extended, their beaks clacking.

The falcons are attacking!

She thought of Barbara Davis-Chin, who had been attacked by a falcon after Holly's parents' funeral, and who still lay near death in a hospital in San Francisco. Little had Holly realized then that the falcons were minions of Michael Deveraux and his evil son, Eli. She had had no idea that a world of magic existed, and that she was one of the primary players in it.

Still mute, Holly signaled for everyone to run.

She didn't look back at the group as she raced down the sidewalk, hoping the others kept up— expecting them to—and wondering if she should break the edict of the Mother Coven not to use magic on the London streets unless they were in mortal danger.

“Once you spellcast, they'll know exactly where you are,” the High Priestess had warned Holly. “The only chance you have against them while you rescue Nicole is to remain hidden.”

And passive. And unarmed,
Holly thought now.
We're in danger. Should I break the cloak of invisibility to fight?

The lead falcon moved its head in lockstep birdlike fashion, twisting right, left, and then it swooped back up into the lowering sky. The others swooped back up in formation, forming a V behind it, and then skyrocketed toward the moon.

Holly was so surprised that she stumbled over her own foot and fell to the ground. Her ankle throbbed as she dragged herself closer to the wall of the nearest building.

Sasha ran up to her and pointed a finger as if to cast a spell. Holly wildly shook her head, and Sasha immediately stopped, bending over and extending a hand toward Holly, a simple physical gesture to help her up. Holly gripped Sasha's wrist and let her pull her to her feet. She hissed from the pain in her ankle.

They both looked up.

The shimmering lead bird seemed almost to disappear against the moon as the others became small, moving lines … and then they disappeared. Whether they had truly vanished to another place or continued to fly until they were no longer visible, Holly couldn't tell.

They might come back.

Not willing to take any chances, she limped forward, gesturing with her hand that the others should do the same. She could hear their footfalls, heard one of them faltering and turned around to see Kari stop, looking panicked and confused. Tommy grabbed her hand and yanked her forward; she shook her head again and stayed rooted to the spot.

She's freaking out.

Amanda glanced at Holly with something like exasperation, then ran back to Kari and took her other hand. Silvana made encouraging gestures while Tommy kept hold of her and, together, he and Amanda pulled her forward like a horse on a lead line.

Holly glared at Kari, but Sasha gave her a little tap as if to say,
Ease up on her.
Then she slung Holly's arm over her shoulder and helped her forward.

On their side of the street, about a hundred feet away, a door opened.

A man peered around it, saw them, and raised his hand.