Natural Magick (23 page)

“
And here we all thought you didn’t have the stomach to be one of us. You’ll do as you’re told, do you hear me? I’m not the pussy you think I am. I’d rather just kill you and end this stupidity, but Apollo wants you for his own reasons, and he’s the oldest. Sherman knows what he’s about, and he knows just how to make them suffer in ways you can’t even think of. Now, you’ll come to that baseball field in the center of town at sunset, and you’ll come alone. If I even smell one dog, or feel any other power other than ours, I’ll kill them both after I kill you.”

“
I’ll be there, but you’d better be prepared, Hermes, all of you, because I’m only going to ask you the one time to walk away or I’m going to kill you all. You can bank on that.” Pete hung up the phone, tears in her eyes. “They’re going to kill them anyway, aren’t they?”

“
Not if I fucking have anything to say about it,” Mel said as she hugged Pete to her. “That man has caused enough problems for several lifetimes and this will end now.”

Mel had told Pete that while she couldn’t use her magic against them because it wasn’t fated that she interfere, she could be support for them and guide them. The Fates, or the Sisters Three, were very particular about that.

~~~

They had thought to stake Dominic out in the sun and just let him fry to show her they meant business, but Sherman had pointed out that with him alive, they had a bargaining chip against the others if Dilly brought them with her. He said that once they got her home and the other vamps gave up looking for her, then they could do whatever they wanted to her husband, which meant they were planning to torture him. As for the dog, they didn’t know what Bradley was other than that Pete had called him a wolf, but he would prove to be a fun toy once they were back home. With Sherman’s magic gone, the magic that had once made him a true immortal, he could not tell what a species was until he tasted them. And he did not want to bite Bradley to see how much power the man had.

Ares had decided to keep Bradley for himself. His plan was to make him pay for pissing on him, at least until the wolf’s heart gave out under the stress and pain. Ares had a large arsenal of torture devices.

The trap had been to wait for them to come out and feed, or whatever the dog did, and drop silver chains onto them as they were walking through the field. Silver had the same effect on both of the beings, rendering them helpless and in a great deal of pain as it seared itself into their flesh. Hermes and Pan, Pete’s youngest brother, had caught Dominic and Bradley unawares when the two men had been on their way to the towers deep in the forest.

Once they were down, Pan had managed to get close enough to them to cut them in several places with the silver tipped blades that Sherman had provided. He told them that the blades were specially enhanced and that silver dust would stay in the wound, eating away at the flesh as long as the men did not get to feed and break the magic. Once they were subdued and weak enough, it was little problem to load them into the van they had stolen and take them to the field.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“
I don’t like this and I forbid you to go out there alone. I am your master and I demand that you listen to me.”

Aaron had been “demanding” of her for the better part of three hours and Pete still was not listening to him. It was his job to protect her, she understood that, but they had taken Dominic from her and they were going to pay. Besides, it was not as if she was going out alone. Sara and Shade both were helping her behind the lines so to speak. And Mel was going to be there, just not out in the open.

“
Are all vampires this bossy?” Pete had turned to Sara when she asked, knowing full well the answer, but asking anyway to try and defuse some of her frustration.

“
Yes they are, but I must agree with him, Pete. You are walking into a trap and you very well know it. I can keep them from knowing you’re there until it’s too late, but I don’t want any of you hurt. Sherman is a very powerful being, as well as a heartless prick. I worry about your safety. You will be careful, won’t you?”

“
Yes. Queenie is going to be there too. She is as mad as a hornet right now and I think I like her that way. She said that if I got into trouble, she would make sure the men were safe and that she could help me by keeping me centered. I trust her.”

As Pete drove along the road toward town, she felt the moon coming up. It felt like a pull on her skin and the Sigil on her body. The sudden need to feel it on her face was overwhelming, so overwhelming that she pulled over to the side of the road and took off her helmet. She raised her face to the moon’s light in much the same way she had with the sun light when she had been standing outside the Mackey building only a few days ago. It felt just as good, so good in fact that she took off her flannel shirt and t-shirt and stood there in her skimpy bra, her head back while she absorbed the power from the lunar rays.

Pete felt the first stirring of the leaves after a couple seconds of standing there. Then the longer she stood there, the more she could feel their reaction to the lunar pull. It was believed of all magical beings that the moon had a better healing process and stronger properties than the sun, especially to plants and herbs. When a plant seemed to be reaching for the sun, it was in actuality reaching for the moon.

Pete’s body was soon pulsing with energy and power. She felt the ivy tighten around her bicep and thigh, only to realize that it was not just tightening but the muscles there were becoming stronger and more defined, making the vine feel too small. The vine moving to accommodate this change had it shifting along her body in a dance of a caress, moving and shaping itself to her newer body.

Her spine tingled at first with strength, the muscles in her back elongating and becoming more flexible and stronger. The magic of the vines moved down along her arms and through her waist and abs. The power they gave off was more defined, more shieldlike than before. It was as though it knew it needed to prepare her for battle. She removed her bra when she felt the leaves move up and cup her breasts protectively, shielding her nudity and protecting her heart. The vine that was along her spine stretched and pulled until it covered her thighs and the calves of her legs. Long lines of branches encircled her ankles and strengthened her knees. The movement along her arms had her watching in wonder as her elbows and wrists were protected like her knees, sheathed in a heavy branch and armored with leaves. Her body was encased now, safe from whatever they threw at her, strengthened by the protective shell around her.

When she finally reached the field where they were waiting, she felt more powerful than she had ever been. Strength and confidence radiated from her in arcs of light and pulses of unspent energy all over her body. She walked to the group of them as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“
Hello, Mother, it’s been a long time. Too bad it couldn’t have been longer. You must be my youngest brother, I’m Pete. I’m sorry to say that I’m not at all happy to meet you.” Turning to the others, she said, “I will give you this one chance to tell me where they are and to leave here and never to return, any of you. I don’t want to have to kill you all, but I will. I can.”

She watched as Sherman took two steps away from the group. He would run, she thought, but he could not hide. He was as dead at the others.

“
You try, sister dear, and he dies,” Apollo said calmly. “It’s as simple as that. You think you’re so strong? Well, you aren’t half the power base we are. Now, this is what’s going to happen. We’re all going to get into the car and pretend this never happened.”

She felt him then; Dominic was close. Opening herself up to him was not as hard as she had thought it would be.

He was hurt and extremely weak. Silver. She could almost taste it on him; it felt as if it was inside of him. Bradley was there, too, but not as weak as Dominic. She sent a message to his brother, David, and to Aaron telling them she had found them and where to look. And she told them to please hurry, that both of them were weak.

“
Baby, I’m here. I’m all right; go get Aaron and the others. These men are too dangerous for you to take on alone.”

It took her a few seconds to realize he was actually telling her to leave him there and send someone else to come back for him. She was going to kill him if he lived through this.

“
Shut up, you ass. I can feel your pain and your loss of blood. Send someone back for you; is that what you’re saying? Are you insane? No, don’t answer that. You’ll just piss me off more than you already have. You have to trust me, and do as I say. I contacted Bradley’s family and Aaron, and they’ll be here soon. I need for both of you to dig your feet and hands into the soil under you. Shade is going to have the earth try and heal you enough to get us out of here.”

She hated to do it, but she closed off the connection to the men so that she could concentrate on the people in front of her.

Shade had a special connection with the earth. Her power was of the elements, just like Pete’s. But where Pete could only ask help from the under earth part of the elements, Shade could ask the above earth as well. Shade had once healed Brent when he was near death by asking the earth to heal him by bringing him into the ground. Poor guy had been drugged by his own mother and used as bait to lure both Sara and Shade to a cave to be killed. These two would be just as safe with Shade helping.

“
Oh Pete, you are so stupid if you think that we are not prepared for you and your little display of lights. It is pretty, as you are well aware, but it will not stop me. I mean to have you, my dear. I’ll have you over and over again until I tire of you. Then maybe I’ll give you to your brothers as their reward. Your mother, bless her, has given you to me. I will breed such powerful children from you, then we together will take my ex-mate down.”

Pete glared at Sherman. “So be it. I have given you a bargain and you have refused it. You will now face me.”

Suddenly, the earth shifted, knocking them slightly off their stance. Sherman was the quickest to recover and stood up. As she watched, he began making signs in the air and chanting something she could not hear. Ignoring him for the moment, she concentrated on her family. She knew that he was not going anywhere.

The first stirrings of fear showed in Apollo’s eyes when Pete raised her hands toward him. Arches of light moved from her fingers and to the ground in front of her.

“
Now, Dilly…” Aphrodite started condescendingly, as though Pete would never hurt her own mother.

Her mother’s smug expression turned to horror as the first roots from the ground started to climb up her legs. Aphrodite moved to get away, stepping quickly and clumsily around the opening in the earth. As soon as she tripped, the weeds and grass began to cover her, tightening their grip every time she tried to break free. Within seconds, the greenery engulfed her, silencing her screams of terror as a long branch of a root stabbed into her mouth and out the back of her head, killing her.

The brothers stood frozen. They had not tried to reach their mother to save her. It had happened so quickly. In horror, they looked to Pete, and she smiled at them. She could smell the terror now.

While her mother’s screams still echoed in Pete’s ears, Zeus leapt forward to grab her. She sensed his need to kill her was more important than taking her home at this point. His own horrors at her made him act without thinking. It was a costly mistake on his part, deadly, as a matter of fact.

The moment Zeus touched her, his eyes widened in alarm, as though he finally realized he had made an error. A horrible, horrible error.

The vine, under Pete’s command, reached out, grabbed his throat, and lifted him up off the ground. When he did not release her quick enough, another branch reached out, ripped his arm from the socket, and dropped it below him. Zeus watched as the ground lifted his appendage up and walked it over to a widening hole in the earth, end over end as it went. As he watched, screaming incoherently, the root around his neck pulled him closer to the same hole and dropped him into it. Within seconds, he, too, was completely sheathed in a cocoon. He made only one small noise. It sounded to Pete like a denial, a single “No.”

Hermes and Pan moved toward where she knew Dominic and Bradley were being held. Pete’s mind moved quickly to prevent them from using the two hostages as shields. The ground broke open at the brothers’ feet. Roots and other undergrowth pulled them knee deep into a cavern.

“
You’ll not harm what is mine,” she told them as she lifted her hands high in the air.

The first jolt of power hit her square in the chest, making her stagger slightly and barely able to keep her balance. Looking for the source, she watched as Sherman began gathering the elements around him again. Dark flashes of something, power, she supposed, began to fill the space between his hands.

Pete felt the magic, a cleaner, softer, but no less stronger magic seconds before she saw her. Suddenly, Queenie was standing next to her. Mel winked at Pete and smiled.

“
He’s mine. Take care of the rest. I will hold him for you.”

Mel opened her hand and a single bolt of magic hit Sherman, knocking him back as his power dissipated. As Mel moved forward, her feet never touching the ground, Sherman began to crab walk backwards to get away from her. Pete smiled and looked at the remaining men.

A small root began making its way to the two men, encircling their throats in a loose rope around their neck. As it danced along the men, the grasses and roots below them started making their way up their bodies, stabbing them as it crawled up them, winding in and out of their bodies in a macabre art of stitching them together. When the roots were at their chests, the one at their throat began tightening them together, and squeezing them. Eyes protruded from their skulls, mouths opened, but no sound came forth. When the rope had worked so tight that it looked to be a part of their skin, it gave a final snap and both heads exploded from their bodies, eyes still open and staring at their bodies before they, too, fell into the earth.