This Wicked Magic

Chapter 18

Vika ran up to the front door, but Certainly chased after her, insinuating himself between her body and the door, and stopping her before she could grab the doorknob. For as much as he knew she needed to get inside and help her sister, he wasn’t about to let her walk into a death trap.

She’d warded herself in the car against retaliatory magic and angels, but he suspected there wasn’t much magic that would work against a soul bringer. He had never bothered with a spell tattoo because he’d known it would be useless. The soul bringer was angelic in origin and demonic by nature, yet he was something else entirely, and neither Above nor Beneath would lay claim to his ilk. And he was, in a word, indestructible.

But they’d been able to hold him off at his loft; that meant they could shield themselves against him.

“Look at me,” he said, bracketing Vika’s face and forcing her to calm herself. “Take a breath.”

She nodded, slipping her fingers down the front of his shirt. He felt her nerves jitter against his skin. He grasped her firmer, forcing her to look at him. If he could hold her gaze for a few moments, he could redirect her worry.

“Hold my hand,” he said. “It’ll combine our powers and enforce the ward.” She did so. “Your grandmother’s nail, too.”

Nodding, she clasped the nail at her throat. CJ felt the powerful hum of magic and took it into his system, bolstering his own weak magic. The demons within churned at the intrusion.

“Whatever you do,” he said, “you have to remain calm. Don’t get emotional. That’s what he’s got over you. Whatever he appears to be doing, think about it twice, three times, before reacting. If he’s holding your sister, do not approach him, because he will—”

No, he wouldn’t say “snap her neck” much as he suspected such a result.

Vika got the message. “I’m calm. As calm as I can be. I’ll talk to him rationally. I can do that. But promise you’ll keep an eye out for Libby? If you see a chance to get her away from him—”

“I’ll go for it. Promise.” He pressed her shaking hand against his heart. “I love you, Vika.”

She exhaled and her gaze went watery. He’d never said it to her. Bad timing for it probably, but he needed her to know he was on her side.

With a nod, she said, “Let’s do this.”

They walked through the quiet living room, taking in everything. Nothing was out of order, save the opened compendium of paranormal breeds lying on the floor before the couch.

Certainly paused beneath the chandelier. It wasn’t lit, and the evening fast approached. He closed his eyes and drew in calm from the crystals. Touching his left hand to the barbed rose on his right wrist, he remembered family. Anything for family.

“In the kitchen,” Vika whispered, and gestured he take the lead.

CJ walked through the swinging doors first. The couple over by the garden doors broke away from each other—they had been in an embrace—though Reichardt gripped Libby’s wrist, keeping her from fleeing his side.

Startled unexpectedly by what he’d seen, CJ got a decidedly loose vibe from the soul bringer. Had they been kissing? Yet the looseness was followed by a dark anger when Vika joined him.

He tilted his head to whisper to Vika, “I think that’s lipstick on the soul bringer’s mouth.”

“Vika!” Libby said. “I was hoping you wouldn’t come so quickly.”

“I’ll bet,” CJ muttered, and didn’t hide his smirk.

The soul bringer appeared to find his stoic mien and stepped forward, holding Libby firmly. Yet Libby didn’t appear in dire straits. In fact, she brushed the hair from her face and fought a slippery smile.

Reichardt announced, “I will demand recompense for the tainted souls you served me, witch.”

“Recompense?” Vika’s hand squeezed CJ’s hand. “Tainted? Are you okay, Libby?”

“Best I’ve been.”

“You’re not in trouble?” Vika asked cautiously. “The texts?”

“Oh, yes, I am in trouble. Reichardt wants to kill me if you don’t do what he says. But—” Libby flashed her sister a look that said more than CJ could understand, though he suspected she wasn’t terribly upset being held by the soul bringer.

“You used the souls before allowing me to scrub them from you,” Reichardt explained. “They are tainted by the dark witch’s collection of demons.”

“Oh.” Vika flashed a look to CJ. “I hadn’t considered that.”

He hadn’t considered it, either, but it made sense. Of course the soul would take on residue from the infestation within him.

“Above would not accept the souls,” Reichardt stated. “Which leaves my record blemished and inaccurate. I must be remunerated appropriately.”

“It’s not her fault,” CJ posited. “I was the one who tainted the souls.”

Reichardt crossed his arms in thought, which made him drop Libby’s wrist. But Libby remained by his side, actually clinging to the brute soul bringer. There was not room for a quick dash to get her away from him. And CJ had to wonder if Libby would allow him to rip her away from the guy’s side. Was she really so blind to the danger?

“I demand a reprieve,” Vika said.

“On what grounds?” the soul bringer asked.

“On the grounds you should be thankful I’ve been letting you scrub me all these years. I could collect the things and go on with it. It is only by my permission you are able to gather the souls from me and keep your record unblemished, and you know it.”

Reichardt tilted his head. In wonder? CJ was surprised at the soul bringer’s seeming entrance to emotion. Everything about the man was...off. The lipstick was not his color, but he suspected Libby had been doing her darnedest to change his religion.

But could a kiss actually reach inside the stoic soul bringer’s chest and soften his glass heart?

The man reached out toward Vika, and CJ moved in front of her, protectively. With a flick of his fingers, Reichardt sent something toward them. It hit CJ in the chest like a spear, and he felt it move slowly through the entrance tattoo above his nipple, as if a tangible blade cutting his skin and serrating his muscle. When Vika’s body jerked against his, he knew she’d been pierced, as well. The soul bringer moved his fingers up, and CJ’s and Vika’s feet left the ground, suspending them above the gleaming kitchen floor.

“Don’t do that!” Libby pleaded. She made to rush for them, but Reichardt grabbed her by the hair.

“You are alive only at my will,” Reichardt said to CJ and Vika.

Their personal wards were not working, but CJ sensed they weren’t in danger. The soul bringer might offer a deal if they talked nicely to him. And he felt little pain. As well...he felt the slither of something dark exit his soul. Another demon?

Libby struggled against the soul bringer’s hold, but he held a firm grip on her hair.

“He’s going to hurt her,” CJ heard Vika whisper.

“No, he won’t.” He hoped. Just because the lipstick had been smeared didn’t mean the man had suddenly developed compassion.

“I’ve souls!” Vika yelled. “The ones that came out of you when you landed here. Take them!”

“I will. But that is not the payment I seek.”

CJ had to act. But without control over his body right now, there was only one means to get the soul bringer’s attention.

“I will pay Viktorie St. Charles’s debt to you,” CJ tried. “Ask of me what you will to satisfy your request for remuneration.”

With a nod, the soul bringer lowered his hand, bringing CJ and Vika to their feet. He pulled back his hand, tearing the invisible spear from their chests. CJ caught his palm against his chest, and blood oozed over his fingers. And something exited his soul. Hell, the soul bringer had allowed another demon leave.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that when Vika fell against him, liquid heat spilling down his back. The soul bringer had hurt his woman. The bastard would pay.

“You hold many souls in the balance, dark witch,” Reichardt said. “Your trip to Daemonia was fruitful, yes?”

“Uh.” He didn’t want this to come out now. It was something he needed to tell Vika about in privacy.

“Should the Nacht März be rallied,” Reichardt continued, “you will snuff out the lives of countless mortals. So like your parents, eh?”

“I have no intention of doing any such thing,” he said firmly. How the soul bringer knew his secret he could not question.

“But you must,” Reichardt returned. “So many souls would appease my masters of Above and Beneath. If you wish to pay Viktorie St. Charles’s debt, then you will call forth the Night March.”

CJ’s shoulders dropped at the not impossible but terrible request. He felt Vika clutch at him from behind. Libby cast him a pleading, wondering gape.

Upon his escape from Daemonia, he had carried a wicked darkness to this world. He had never intention of releasing it. His means had been to keep it from the hands of one warlock who would.

And now he must commit the one act of evil he could not fathom to save Vika’s and Libby’s lives.