Sacred Circle (16 page)

“Spirit of the east, your essence I breathe. Return to your world with your burden relieved. Forgive those who used you, and treated you ill, depart from this place, your next task to fill.”

The double band engulfed her fingertips rather than dissipating, and in the center of the circle, a seismic popping noise began. The air around Brianna's head stirred, and she knew the last two Guardians weren't going to leave the circle without administering some form of punishment. Was their anger for the sacrilege of being left in the circle for five whole days? Or for the sacrilege she was performing with an unclean essence? She had no time to ponder the question as bolts of energy were sent rippling through her thighs, towards her toes.

Brianna sucked in her breath, fighting against being tossed to the ground under the jolt. Quickly, she prayed to keep the energy displacement from jumping to Tommy beside her. She had promised there'd be no harm to him. She had to keep that promise, no matter what. Arm smarting, Brianna realized there was only one way to diffuse the elementals' wrath from reaching him. She would have to release his hand and take the Guardians on face to face by herself.

Shaking off Tommy's fingers, she prepared to step across the boundary line. Her body was jerked back quickly, her fingers re-gripped. Tommy wasn't going to let her go. She had warned him against doing so, and he was standing fast to that promise.

Brianna's outstretched hand jerked under a new assault, and she realized her earlier fear had materialized. The slingshot effect was underway; however, instead of one set of negative energy, she was facing two. She felt movement behind her and realized Devlin was stepping in as he warned. She heard his voice cascade above her head.

“Awesome Sun and shimmering Moon; harken to the Witch's rune. Earth must grow, fire must burn, water must nourish, and air must churn. No other quest can be invoked by your wrath; no other power can disrupt the first path. By the dark of the Moon, and light of the Sun, so mote it be, your task is now done.”

The popping in the circle decreased, and Brianna felt an easing in her toes. Devlin's intercession appeared to be working. Brianna picked up the chant.

“We extinguish the full light of this circle at last. We release all evil, both present and past. We thank the blessed Guardians for heeding our call. Go now in love, with blessings for all.”

A swoop of air crackled around Brianna's ears, and the color bands around her fingertips vanished with a small “pop-pop.” The oppressive heat vanished just as quickly, derailing Tommy's hold on her fingers. In the next instance, she was on her knees, enduring a last jolt of energy, and covering her face with her hands. Her sudden, wracking sobs shocked even her. She heard Devlin's voice to her right.

“No, don't touch her, Tommy. There may still be some lingering energy present.”

May be? The set of tremors coursing through her body was solid proof that there was no maybe about it. Her blood was on fire. She hunched over, clutching her fingers.

“Brianna?”

The call was by her left ear.

“Still . . . h-h-here,” she stuttered through her shivers. “Though I c-c-can't see why I am . . . I'm b-blind as a b-b-bat, by the w-way.” A welcome heat enveloped her back a second later, and Brianna reveled in the heat of either Devlin or Tommy's jacket.

“Was that the stup . . . stupidest thing . . . you've ever seen d-d-done?” she asked, with a hiccup. She turned towards the area where she thought Devlin was. “Did it w-work?”

“Do fairy godmothers turn pumpkins into coaches?” Devlin answered, sarcastically.

A warm touch brushed her shoulders.

“That was the craziest—or bravest—thing I've ever seen done, I don't know which,” Tommy remarked, sinking beside her. “My hand is stinging like a death adder bit it.”

“Now you know how it feels to be bathed in negative energy,” Devlin said, dropping to his haunches beside Brianna. “Your vision should clear shortly,” he told her. “That is, I hope it will.”

Brianna hoped so too. Although she didn't see how he could be comparing this to the Dark Time incident. This one had contained electrical shocks and angry elementals, not much more. It hadn't killed anyone; it hadn't removed another best friend from her life.
At least not yet,
her inner voice chided. She banished that thought, concentrating on the knowledge that she had been as gentle as she could in releasing the Guardians. They had been tossed about under the confusion of energy displacement, but she knew that wasn't the true cause of their anger. No, they were pissed off because they had been left hanging in a confined space for five days.

Off to her left, she heard Tommy's sarcastic tones.

“I thought rainbows only came with the rain.”

“The color bands may have been beautiful to watch,” Devlin replied, “but trust me, if the Guardians had really wanted Brianna to suffer, we'd be calling the paramedics right about now.”

“They couldn't b-battle two witches,” Brianna stuttered, the pain in her arm starting to ease. She straightened up and raised her hand to her hair. She had to get control of her flagging energy. Nothing would be right until she did. She scrubbed her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. Her mother! The thought sent her crawling over the markings and into the circle.

“Mother!”

She was dragged back by her legs.

“Stay back. You're in no shape to touch your mother.”

The steel in Devlin's voice had Brianna scooting even further backward. What was she thinking? She brushed her eyes again, realizing the residual effects of the cleansing were causing a minor mind meltdown.

“Stay back, all of you!” a terse voice commanded from behind the trio. Brianna turned towards the voice.

“Brad,” she sobbed.

She felt a presence slump alongside her.

“Here, drink this. It should vanquish the tremors.”

A small glass was shoved into her fingers, and Brianna quickly drained the contents. Hacking coughs had her doubling over.

“What
is
this brew?” she sputtered.

“I'll tell you that when you explain to me how you managed to break the energy barrier.”

“I'm afraid I c-c-can't,” Brianna stuttered, trying not to gag on the remainder of the liquid burning the back of her throat. “It's a witches' pyramid and it's passed from mother to daughter in secret.”

“Well, what you just drank is secret too. It's a mixture that your mother set down in the coven Book of Shadows to ward off tremors and snow-blindness.”

“It's working,” Brianna remarked. “But how did you guess I would need it?”

“From Rufus. He expected your findings right after sunrise and when you didn't come, he came searching for me. Together, we deduced you had been forced to take drastic actions here. I figured if you were attempting a free-fall ritual, there'd be consequences, so I prepared a little toddy for you.”

“I'm grateful,” Brianna stated. “But in the future I think I'll skip trying free-fall rituals.”

“It's probably for the best. Now, let's see about retrieving your mother's body.”

He moved away, and Brianna followed the movement. Her vision was clearing, although the scrim of tears was making it difficult to focus.

“The earth needs time to neutralize the stash of energy, Brad,” Devlin stated. “When Brianna's safe to touch, everything else will be too.”

Brianna felt a tap on her elbow and jumped under the sensation.

“You're still a live-wire,” Devlin admonished, dropping his hand and shaking it.

“It's a fitting punishment for the wicked,” Brianna replied, brushing her goose-caked arms.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means I performed an ancient ritual that no solitary witch should've ever tried.”

A chuckle sounded in her ears.

“No other witch would've had the power to do it, so your reasoning makes no sense,” Devlin muttered. “You're not your mother's daughter for nothing, you know. And just because you don't care to follow in her footsteps, doesn't mean you didn't get some of her abilities passed on via your DNA.”

He was right, Brianna knew, and there was a time when she would've considered those abilities a great treasure. But now, too much time had passed and she had traveled too many miles away from the spiritual path of her parents. She gave a huge sigh. If the last few minutes had taught her anything, it was that some roads were dead-ends, and should never be traveled again. Brianna shook off her shivers.

“I can finally feel my toes and fingers again.”

Her eye caught the objects scattered around the circle, and she wondered why the little voice in her head was suddenly nagging her to look at her mother's body rather than the desecrated objects.

“Rrr-oww.”

The loud cry sounded a second before Brianna felt a black form hop in her lap and take up residence there.

“Go away, Nicodemus,” the doctor shooed. The cat growled at the doctor, but held its course. Brianna petted the sleek fur, drawn to the loud purrs now emanating.

“His name is Nicodemus?” she asked, scratching his ears.

“Your Mother's cat,” the doctor replied. He glanced at the feline curling into a ball in Brianna's lap. “She loves him, though I don't know why; he's an obnoxious creature.”

“I know why,” Brianna said, scratching his head. “He's a royal cat; I can feel it.” The purrs got louder at her words, and Brianna sensed the cat would not give up her lap, no matter how much coaxing the doctor might try.

“Praise the Lord and Lady. I feel a pulse.”

His words had Brianna shoving Nicodemus off her lap. He spat at her angrily, but she ignored the hiss. She watched as the doctor felt along her mother's neck artery and then listened to her heartbeat with his stethoscope. “She's alive, though I can't explain how or why.” His gaze skipped to Brianna's. “I don't know what you did, but whatever it was, I think you pulled your mother back from the River of Souls. Her lungs are barely working, but I detect a trace of life still there. You've managed to create a miracle.”

Brianna scoffed at his compliment as Devlin dropped beside her.

“There is no possible way I c-could've pulled my mother back from S-summerland with that ritual. If she's still alive, it's because she c-c-chose to be. Whatever happened to her, she was not willing to let the sin stand.”

“Either way, you've managed to help us avert a catastrophe.”

He raised his hand and gave a frantic wave. Brianna heard the sound of rushing footsteps and scooted out of the way as two tall teens with dark hair, dropped to their knees. In a matter of seconds, the boys had lifted her mother's listless body to a stretcher, hoisted it up, and left the clearing with Brad calling out instructions to a third youth, who met them when they reached the crest of the hill.

Brianna scrambled to her feet, feeling a brush along her ankle, and a loud meow. She glanced down at the form rubbing his chin along her lower leg and smiled. Nicodemus—ever vigilant, she mused, a true Priestess' familiar. She felt a tug on her arm, and the cat bounded a few yards away.

“How are the shakes?” Devlin asked.

“Gone, and my vision's back.”

A long sigh emanated.

“It's a good thing the elementals wanted to leave the circle more than they wanted to exact punishment for being trapped.”

Brianna's brain shot to attention at his words.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me.”

“That's it. I couldn't imagine why the elementals were so furious at being released. They should've been elated to leave, but they weren't. I could sense it.” She turned to Tommy. “How long would it take to file charges against the coven, Tommy?”

She felt a touch on her arm and jumped under the shock wave. Devlin's scowl was fierce.

“You're not filing charges against anyone. Not without proof.”

“I have proof.” Brianna ticked off the reasons on her fingers. “The circle was closed; there was no leakage of energy anywhere, and the quarters were left inside the circle on purpose.”

“You're sure?”

“I'm sure. And you know I'm right because Mother's still alive. It isn't possible to be alive after five days comatose—unless you're a High Priestess with the skills to thwart an attack.”

“Which means one of the Elders is behind the collapse?” Tommy asked, from their right.

Devlin's scowl deepened.

“We do not know that. We only have Brianna's hunch to go by, and I don't think we can rely on that at this stage. She's not fully recovered from the cleansing.”

Anger suffused Brianna's cheeks.

“I'll pit my intuition against yours any day, Devlin Janus, and if you remember, you told me to pay attention as I dispatched the Guardians. Well, I did, and now I'm going to do something about it.”

Brianna's elbow was snatched roughly, and her body propelled towards the rise.

“Before I let my wife make a complete mockery of her heritage by accusing a coven member of an evil deed, you and I are going to have a little chat. And this time, you're not going to invoke any of that High Priestess crap with me.” He flashed a wave at Tommy. “Stay and take notes on the items in the circle, Tommy. Rufus will want to claim them, and I want a complete inventory before he does.”

Tommy nodded his head and Brianna wondered why Tommy agreed to follow Devlin's orders; however, Devlin's tight hold on her arm propelled her up and over the rise so fast that all she could do was attempt to catch her breath and stay on her feet. In less than thirty seconds, they were entering the wooded path and approaching the standing footbridge.

Reaching the shade, Devlin swung Brianna to face him.

“Did you lose all your senses during the ritual? Or is it that you hate this commune so much that you would jeopardize its existence by formally accusing a member of the congregation of a sacrilegious practice?”