Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology #2) - Charlie N. Holmberg Page 0,101
to restore it. He walked around the barn, stopping once to reinforce a sad-looking brace with a spell. As he came around the back of the barn, he heard movement and stopped, squinting across the darkening field, but it was only a hare bounding away, startled by him or some other carnivore lurking in the grass.
And then Bacchus felt the most euphoric sensation overcome him. His chest warmed, his nerves calmed, his muscles relaxed. There was something familiar about it . . . Distantly he questioned why he would feel so peaceful now, outside a dilapidated barn, awaiting his greatest enemy—
It came to him then. This feeling; it was something he got when he attended church in the city, when an attending spiritual aspector invoked inner peace, or the calling of the Holy Spirit. Raven—
He turned around, startling at the shadow beside him. A hand whipped up to his neck, cool fingers pressing into the skin. He jerked away, a shout ready on his lips.
“Be quiet,” a familiar voice murmured.
And Bacchus was, as though a string tied to his lips had jerked up, holding his jaw shut. Panic pulsed through his chest, but as soon as he thought to flee, his body ceased to obey him.
The shadow shifted forward, dim light revealing the face of someone he had dined with on multiple occasions. The moment he saw her eyes, he knew what had happened, and his stomach fell. Dread leaked into his limbs like spilled oil, cold as a January breeze.
Bacchus pushed against the magic, trying to pry open his mouth. If he could just warn them—
“None of that.” The hold on his lips doubled. Merton frowned at him, the expression drawing heavy lines down her face. “You’re an easy one to track, Master Kelsey. You stand out in the crowd. I would kill you and take your magic for myself, but she would never forgive me. Instead, we’re going to work together. Won’t that be fun?”
Somehow, without speaking, Merton told him to turn around, and even in his desperation not to heed her, his body obeyed.
It was going to work. It had to.
Elsie rubbed her hands together as she paced the length of the barn, eyeing a spider disappearing through a knot in a wooden floor plank. The lighting was uneven with the lamp and the darkening sky, which might affect their vision, should they need to dash outside. Would it be best to extinguish that light? But no, they needed Merton to know Master Raven was here.
She glanced at the spiritual spellmaker, who looked lost in thought, arms folded, mouth twisted. His long, gray-streaked hair fell over both shoulders, and his beard nearly touched it. He still wore his hat.
Then she heard the faint hum of a spell.
She straightened. “What are you doing?”
Master Raven didn’t respond right away. His movements were slow, like he was stuck in honey. Then he scowled.
“I was projecting myself to the road. It lets me see what’s going on.” Dismissing her with a dip of his head, he cast the spell again. For a moment its song seemed to be a harmony, two sounds dancing together, but when Elsie focused, she found it was the same spell as before.
She went back to rubbing her hands together. Everything would be fine. Merton was powerful, yes, but they outnumbered her. Ogden could seize her mind, and Bacchus could seize her body so she couldn’t escape, couldn’t cast spells. Elsie and Irene were on hand in case she tried. Emmeline would come with the police if they needed backup, and they had Master Raven. Elsie couldn’t imagine what a duel between two spiritually aligned spellmakers would look like, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
The most critical thing was protecting Master Raven. They knew Merton had at least one rational opus in her possession. A master mind-reading spell would be able to dig deep enough into Master Raven’s brain to pull out the contagion spell Merton was after, with or without the man’s cooperation. They could not allow that to happen.
The question was whether Merton would come alone. It would be an easy matter for her to acquire another Master Phillips to fight at her side, but even if she did, their numbers would still be greater . . .
The alley door opened and Bacchus strode in, the sight of him relaxing muscles Elsie hadn’t known were tight. “Anything?”