Captivating Magic (The Thorne Witches #14)

Chapter 11

11

“ T here’s a clue in her parting words.” Castor nodded toward the sealing veil. It snapped shut with a spark and sizzle behind Isis’s grand exit. “She’s great with riddles.”

“You think she was trying to get a message across?” Ebba asked, fighting a yawn.

Her energy had amped up in the presence of the Goddess, but now that the deity was gone, fatigue was knocking on her door and reminding her she’d been active far too long. Spirits were like the living, and they needed to rest and regenerate. Sleep was as imperative to her as it was to any other.

“Undoubtedly,” Alastair replied in his stead. Of Lo, he asked, “Have you ever called forth your familiar?”

“I’ve never felt the need.”

Glancing between them, Ebba wanted to ask what all their discussion of familiars meant, but kept silent. She gleaned the concept from books she’d read and television she’d watched for entertainment. What self-respecting paranormal fan didn’t know about the talking cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch or the beautiful cat with a Triquetra symbol on its tag in the series Charmed ? More recently, birds of prey, like Hedwig from Harry Potter , were symbolized as familiars.

Ebba frowned, recalling Liz and Laszlo watching some of those shows and movies with her. Their unexplained hysterical laughter now made a helluva lot of sense.

“What?” he asked, edging closer to wrap an arm around her waist. Or what should’ve been. His touch never landed, instead sweeping through her, causing a chill.

“Okay, that was freaky.” She shuddered and sat down, using the stone wall for support. At least the smooth surface still felt solid!

Lo followed, plopping beside her, stretching his legs out, and crossing his ankles. With his hands folded in his lap, he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. “Why are you frowning so hard, Ebba?”

“I was thinking about the whole animal-familiar thing and recalled you and Liz laughing at me when we were younger.”

“What?” His lids flew open, and he stared at her as if she’d suddenly developed a fat, hairy wart on her nose. “We never laughed at you! How the hell can you—ah!” His lips curled into a smirk. “Your obsession for witch and wizard movies. Got it.”

“You’re a jerk,” she snapped. “You had the perfect opportunity to tell me then, but you and your siblings chose to mock me. Right to my face, I might add, without me ever knowing I was the butt of your jokes.”

He sobered. “No, Sweet. We were mocking the show and how much they got wrong.”

“Nothing was right?” Her disappointment was keen. She loved the paranormal.

“Some,” he admitted with a twinkle. “Wands can be useful tools, and grimoires exist. Only the most talented can cause someone to fly through the air, because it takes a major energy surge to accomplish it. Freezing people can only be done by Travelers or those as powerful as Alastair, but never for long.”

As she absorbed everything he’d revealed, along with the indulgent expressions of the other men, Ebba grinned. “That’s badass.”

“You seemed frightened earlier,” he reminded her.

“Not me. Chickenshit Spencer was in charge.” Sighing, she crossed her arms. “I wish I’d have known sooner. I’d have loved the extra time to learn all about what you can do.”

“I’m happy to answer what I can.”

“Time’s running out,” Alastair reminded them. “We need to get Ebba back to her body and find a way to subvert her ultimate death.”

“You still intend to help us?” Lo’s voice and face revealed his surprise. For one with such a close-knit family, why did he behave like every kindness was shocking?

Alastair seemed thrown by his disbelief, too. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? We’re family, son.”

The Adam’s apple in Lo’s throat bobbed repeatedly as if he were struggling with deeper emotions. Her lack of physical self thwarted Ebba’s desire to hold him. Hoping to change the subject and allow him time to recover, she peppered Alastair and Castor with her questions.

“Do vampires exist?”

“I’ve only met one man who made me believe they could. His name was Lucian. He had an old-world air and an impossible-to-place accent,” Castor said with an exaggerated flare of his eyes. “I could sense his power, but he wasn’t any type of witch or warlock I’m familiar with.”

“Really?” Ebba leaned in. “What happened when you encountered him?”

“Not much. We were both at a fundraising gala in New York about ten years ago or more. Our eyes met and held across the distance of the ballroom, but I felt his presence from where I stood.” Castor shrugged. “There have been very few instances when it felt as if someone walked across my grave. That was one.”

“Did you speak to him?”

He chuckled. “No. My companion was eager to, though, and I abandoned her to her pursuits to find other entertainment for the evening.”

“What?!” She punched his chest—and missed. “How can you leave a woman with a strange and potentially dangerous man? What’s wrong with you?”

“I assure you, Ms. James. Lily was thrilled with the idea and highly capable of caring for herself.”

“Lily?” Alastair grinned. “Not Lily Townsend?”

“That’s the one.”

With an amused snort, he tugged his cuffs. “She likely ate him up and spit him out.”

“My thoughts exactly, Al,” Castor replied.

Glancing between them, Laszlo joined in the conversation. “What about shifters? Are they real?”

“Shifters?” Castor and Alastair shared a disconcerted glance.

“Like werewolves,” Ebba said, nodding in her curiosity. “Do werewolves exist?”

“Not that I’m aware. Al?” Passing the question off to his friend, Castor collected the pillar candles.

“I’m not certain I’d call them werewolves. Not as you’d see at a cinema, anyway. But perhaps the creatures from the Netherworld dimension could technically be classified as shifters.”

“Netherworld dimension?” Aware her voice was piercing in her excitement, Ebba moderated her tone to ask, “What are they like?”

“Their snouts are elongated, their teeth able to rip a man—or woman—to shreds, and their saliva is acidic. The Aether created them to guard a child trapped in the Netherworld.”

She shook her head, torn between disbelief and wonder. How did these things go on without notice? Were non-magic mortals ignorant of their surroundings twenty-four-seven?

Collecting her wayward thoughts, she tuned in to Alastair, who had continued discussing mythical creatures. “I believe historically, legend has labeled them Cerberus,” he concluded.

“Wait, what did I miss? The three-headed beast that guards hell?”

“Yes.”

She scoffed. “You’re having me on, Mr. Thorne. Pardon my language, but no fucking way!”

“Actually, it’s true,” Lo said with a short laugh. “Multiple family members saw it when…”

“When?”

“This sounds even more outrageous, but when my cousin Autumn’s children accidentally went through a portal to another dimension.”

“Ohmygawd! That’s possible?” Ebba circled back to the idea she might be tripping on psychedelic mushrooms.

“Yes.” Alastair smiled in the face of her incredulousness. “Perhaps one day, in the far distant future, when it’s your time to cross over, you’ll experience those things.”

Laszlo appreciated his cousin trying to ease Ebba’s potential fears about what was to come, but the ugly truth was that Lo was in a worse state than her.

“What do you think Isis meant when she mentioned a familiar, Al?”

“They enhance a witch’s power to the umpteenth degree. It may be what you require to defeat Death and keep Ebba here.”

Could it really be as simple as that? Somehow, Lo doubted it.

“I’ve listened to your stories in the past, cousin. You’ve conversed with Isis many times and always came back with a new problem to solve. The two of you delight in finding workarounds.” Lo sat up straighter. “That’s it, isn’t it? She’s trying to tell me that anything I do will require additional help.”

“That’s what I believe, son. She can’t outright tell you what to do without breaking cosmic rules or stepping on toes, but she’s brilliant when it comes to supplying the tools to do things yourself.” Alastair straightened his tie. “We merely need to discover what those tools are.”

Ebba yawned, attempting to cover it with her hand. “Fifty dollars says it has to do with a familiar.”

“I’d take the bet, but I suspect you’re correct,” Alastair replied. “I like you, Ms. James. You have the necessary spunk to see this challenge to its conclusion.”

“Challenge.” Castor chuckled. “You have a way with words, Al.” Pausing in front of Ebba and Laszlo, his expression turned solemn. “If I’d have known I was going to cause you this much trouble, love, I’d have found another way to save you.”

“I don’t understand how you bound her to Earth. What the hell kind of spell did you use? Is it possible to reverse engineer it?” Lo asked, rubbing a hand along his neck to work out the kinks.

“Castor is descended from Zeus. He doesn’t require anything but a thought to stop time and create chaos.” When the man in question would’ve objected to Alastair’s statement, his cousin shook his head. “It’s not meant as an insult to you, Alex. I’m clarifying why this happened. For whatever reason, in the moment, you were compelled to save the girl at any cost. Your supercharged DNA tethered her to the earthly plane in place of her body.”

“She was unable to reenter after I healed her,” Castor concluded slowly. Swearing, he palmed his forehead. “I’m an idiot!”

“No argument here,” Lo muttered.

Ice-blue eyes narrowed on him. “I don’t believe comments were invited from the Peanut Gallery.”

“And yet you got them anyway. So sad for you, dude. But maybe think next time before you randomly throw magic around.”

“I’m thinking about freezing time and using your face like a pi?ata. Make you nice and pretty for your new girlfriend here. Interested?” His mouth kicked up on the left side in a chilly smile. “And my unthinking act saved her, allowing the time for you to say goodbye. You can thank Zeus for my little gift.”

Lo turned salty at the suggestion of saying goodbye to Ebba. “Fuck off.”

“Gladly.” Castor nodded once to Alastair. “Call or text when you’re ready for me to reverse what I did. I’ll be waiting.” With a tight smile for Ebba, Castor teleported away.

Heat crept up Lo’s neck as Ebba and Al focused on him. “Sorry, but that man gets on my last fucking nerve. Like it’s his personal mission to piss me off.”

“It is,” Alastair replied with a short laugh. “He lives to irritate. If you want to drive him insane, don’t engage.”

Ebba stood and brushed off the seat of her pants. Lo suspected it was out of habit since there was no physical dirt clinging to her ghostly form. “I believe you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, Mr. Thorne.”

“Shh. Don’t let word spread. Others will expect things I’m not willing to provide.”

“I’ll take Ebba home.” Laszlo climbed to his feet with all the enthusiasm of a man heading to the gallows. His work hadn’t begun, but when it did, things would get rough. “The first order of business is to eject Dipshit Spencer, the rotten pig-fucker. Will you call me if you figure out how a familiar comes into this, Al?”

“Of course. There’s one other source I intend to speak to, but I’ll be along shortly to work through this problem.”

“Thank you.”