Slayer shifted me to the grounds of the old house where we’d been before. Crisanne’s house. She hadn’t been there then, and from what I could see she’d never returned. I sent him a questioning glance.
He inclined his head, acknowledging my unspoken question. “Right address. Wrong place.” He lifted his hand and a power ball shimmered in his palm. The ball brightened and illuminated a larger area. On the farthest edge of the light was a dense copse of trees.
Old trees. Judging by the thickness of their trunks, they were probably a thousand years old. I looked at him again.
“Look closely, Astra.”
I hoped he wasn’t forgetting that I’d lost my ability to see auras and life forms. All I had left was slightly better than normal vision. But as I focused carefully on the copse of trees, I realized that was all I needed.
Between the dense green foliage that fluttered in a persistent breeze, I could see an opacity that shouldn’t have been there.
As I continued to peer at the massive blot of black shadow, I started to make out the edges. Roughly rectangular walls rose to a peak at the top. “Tree house?”
Slayer nodded. “No stairs, no ladders, no elevators.”
I snorted. “What does she do, fly up there?” The house was seventy-five yards above the ground if it was an inch.
Slayer lifted an eyebrow at me and I wanted to swear.
Of course the bitch could fly. She’d sucked up all my power, hadn’t she?
“Let’s kill this maggot,” I told Slayer.
He seemed disinclined to argue.
My sister had moved up next to him when he arrived. Though Darma made a face when I spoke, she didn’t argue the point.
I hadn’t really spoken to my sister since Crisanne had magic-raped me. I guess I assumed she wouldn’t understand my horror at suddenly being without my power. She’d eschewed her own magic for a couple of decades before recently embracing it.
But her unaccustomed silence made me wonder what she was really thinking. She should have been bossing me around by now.
I added it to the long, long list of stuff I needed to figure out once I’d kicked Crisanne’s narrow brown ass back to Hell where it belonged.
The air around us had been wavering and shimmering as we’d stood there, a series of pops announcing the arrival of the rest of my merry band.
Aubrey stood next to me in his guardian form, apparently taking his guardian duties seriously. Myra, Flick and Maid Merriam stood nearby.
I guessed that made me Robin Hood.
Myra was in full Archangel regalia, her silver-and-gold robes floating softly around her legs in the breeze. In warrior mode, she stood nearly as tall as the Venutians, and throbbed with anticipatory power. Her massive wings fluttered softly behind her, appearing graceful despite their immense size.
Flick looked skinny and ridiculous in a black leather jacket and matching leather skinny pants. It wasn’t a good look for him. I could see his bony knees knocking together.
Merriam was dressed as she’d been in my office, wearing tight black leather pants, a form-fitting black leather vest and short black boots that I would have loved to take for a test drive.
Unfortunately her feet were probably a size twelve.
Standing tall and proud next to a shrinking Flick, Merriam looked like an Amazon. Her dancing angel tattoo glowed in the dark. She grinned and gave me the thumbs-up when I looked at her.
I smiled back. Despite the ridiculousness of Merriam being Flick’s new girl pearl, I realized I liked her.
The Venutians couldn’t space shift, but they’d hitched a ride with the angels.
Bob and Ralph crouched a dozen yards away, panting and peering at us through eyes that had gone eerily red in the backwash of Slayer’s light.
They were massive in their wolf forms, much larger than I would have thought given their mild-mannered human personas. And nothing remained of the cute and cuddly men I’d grown to love.
When they shed their humanity to embrace their animal forms, they became unabashed predators. Nearly five feet tall at the shoulders, they had paws as big as my head. Dense fur covered rippling frames of pure muscle and sinew, allowing them to run at preternatural speeds.
Bob was charcoal gray with white and black points, and Ralph was almost solid black. Their thick snouts were open as they panted, showing enormous white teeth that looked as if they could easily rip through even leathery gargoyle flesh. In fact, I knew that a large part of their business at Werever…Whatever was taking down rogue gargoyles when they escaped their demon handlers. The two werewolves’ yellow eyes were focused on me with an intensity that made me slightly uncomfortable. They were obviously waiting for direction. The rest of the werewolves formed a rough semicircle that fanned out behind them.
I twisted my lips, suddenly feeling as if I’d indulged in overkill. “Do you think we brought too many warriors to the fight?” I asked Slayer. “I mean, it is only one woman. We can’t all beat up on her at once.”
Slayer fixed an intense golden gaze on me. His eyes were dark from the black specks that colored the gold when his emotions ran high. “Never underestimate her, Astra.” He looked around at the assembled group and addressed everyone. “Crisanne is never alone. She’ll know we’re here by now, and she’s probably got a thousand nasties lined up in there to deal with us. She controls the minds of dark fairies, gargoyles, dragons, wizards, demons and earthbound creatures. What she doesn’t have she can create with a thought, and the manufactured beasties are every bit as deadly as the real ones. I realized only recently how much power she’s accumulated over the last several years. She’s been draining and controlling other dark-world creatures for years. You’ll need all your wits about you when dealing with her. Once she gets hold of you, she can make you do whatever she wants and then suck every ounce of power out of you. This woman is evil and dangerous. Is that clear?”
It was the longest speech I’d ever heard Slayer make.
The single lone howl of a distant wolf cut through the silence and the werewolves lifted from their haunches, their massive heads swiveling and snouts scenting the air. The single howl was soon answered by another and then another, until the night sky sang with the plaintive notes.
From another direction came a deep-throated growl. It sounded too close for comfort.
Crisanne was marshaling her troops.
I looked around at the faces of my little army, feeling responsible for having brought them all there. “We may not have the element of surprise, but we do have Dr. Lee.” I smiled at my Venutian friend. “She’ll be able to read Crisanne’s thoughts for us. Hopefully we can stay one step ahead of her.” Heads nodded again.
“So what’s the plan?” Captain Lee asked.
I looked up at him and noted the impatient line of his massive jaw. Despite Slayer’s warning words, the Venutians were anxious to engage the battle. “The werewolves will surround the house and clean up anything that comes out of the woods.” I looked at Bob and Ralph. “If you get overwhelmed send a runner to howl at the house and the Venutians will come down and help.”
Bob gave a single yip and the pack moved out, taking up positions around the tree house.
I looked at the angels. Before I could speak up Aubrey said, “I’m with you at all times.” I thought about arguing but then remembered my promise to him and nodded. I glanced toward Myra. “I need you three to take on anything magical that hits us inside. The Venutians, Slayer, Darma, Aubrey and I are gonna pin that bitch down. If you’ll take care of the nasty shit she throws at us, we can concentrate on not letting her get the best of us.”
Myra nodded. “Done.” She looked at Flick and Merriam and they all disappeared with a pop.
I turned to Dr. Lee. “You stay as close to me as you can so you can keep me informed.” She nodded. “Captain Lee?”
He lifted his chin, grinning. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. “You’re incorrigible. I need you inside, but if you hear the wolves calling for help I want you to drop back down here and help. Promise me?”
Captain Lee glanced at his soul mate and, for a moment, hesitated.
She shook her head. “I’ll be fine, dear one. I’m surrounded by angels from heaven.”
Finally he nodded. “I will do as you ask, Astra.”
I touched his massive forearm. “Thank you.”
Finally, I looked at Slayer and he nodded. “The plan is simple, but it has a shot at being effective.”
I caught Darma’s eye. She looked grim but she nodded. “Whatever you need me to do, Astra.”
Tears filled my eyes and I nodded, willing them away. “Good. Then let’s go get this bitch.”
* * * * *
Aubrey went in first to make sure we didn’t land in the middle of a trap. We waited silently on the ground below, listening to the countryside roil with unrest as Crisanne worked her ugly magic on it.
The first fight had broken out at the back of the property by the time Aubrey returned. I tried to ignore the snarling and snapping of wolves as he told us what he’d found.
“The place seems empty but it’s not. There’s something there, a presence or ward of some kind. But, whatever it is, it didn’t stop me from entering or leaving so I think we’re okay.”
I nodded and grabbed Dr. Lee’s arm, then lifted my hand to Aubrey’s forearm so he could shift us into the house. The Venutian soldiers started climbing the tree from the outside in case something waited in its dense foliage high above the ground.
A deep-throated roar sounded from the trees nearby and, as we began to leave the sphere of sound and movement, an enormous black shape burst from the tall grass at the edge of the property.
I prayed the wolves would be able to handle the massive bear.
We landed in a dark, silent room. I glanced at Dr. Lee and she shook her head. She couldn’t hear Crisanne in the house. Either she was blocking her thoughts somehow or she wasn’t there.
Slayer and Darma popped in behind us.
I jerked my chin toward a nearby door and Aubrey preceded me through it. It was a small, simple personal-hygiene room. Nowhere to hide and nothing sinister.
We retraced our steps and moved to the second of three doors on the main floor. To one side a set of open wood stairs climbed upward, toward what appeared to be a loft area.
The second door proved just as uneventful as the first. It held a large bed and a single chair. Nothing else. The room was cold, filled with fresh air from a single open window on the long outside wall.
From the window came sounds of fighting far below us. A pounding started somewhere in the house and I jumped, my sword coming up before I realized it was Captain Lee pounding on the front door.
Slayer went to let him in.
I checked the closet and under the bed and saw nothing, so Aubrey and I went back out to the main room. Both of us looked at the stairs.
Something about it didn’t feel right.
The air shimmered around us and the angels appeared in the room.
Myra looked cranky, as usual, but also a little worried. “We’ve been all over the area. Other than the earthbound creatures outside, there doesn’t appear to be anything to fight.” She settled her gaze on me. “I don’t like it, Astra.”
I shrugged. Maybe we had overreacted. Maybe Tweener Crisanne wasn’t spoiling for a big fight after all. Maybe she’d run away scared when she saw us arrive.
And maybe I was Robin Hood.
I jerked my head toward the stairs. “What’s up there?”
Merriam stepped up. “It appears to be an escape hatch. As far as I could tell it goes nowhere.”
I headed for the stairs. I’d confirm what Merriam found at the top of the stairs and then we’d call it a day. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed that our search for Crisanne had failed.
I still had to get rid of her, for Dialle’s sake.
The stairs creaked when I stepped onto them. As I climbed into the shadows of the landing above, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had washed through me as soon as my foot touched the first step.
I didn’t know how to catalog the feeling, since I no longer had magic to “read” with, I had to chalk it up to an overactive imagination.
Aubrey was right behind me, so close I could feel his breath on the back of my head. I was pretty sure he was moving closer with every step. Apparently I wasn’t the only one getting the heebie-jeebies from the stairway to nowhere.
Behind me, I was aware of Slayer and Darma climbing the stairs too, and, when I glanced down, I saw the Venutians gathered together in the main room, watching.
Dr. Lee looked uncomfortable.
I reached the top step and stopped. The silence throbbed around us, the shadows so dense in the loft area that I couldn’t see anything.
Aubrey lifted a hand and white light speared through the long, narrow area, illuminating only a few pieces of furniture and an ancient mirror on the wall.
My gaze skimmed the area and I wished I had my sensing power back again. Something felt off about the space but my human eyes saw nothing.
Darma and Slayer moved past and Slayer walked carefully to the end of the loft, peering over the rail at the back. Darma stopped in front of the mirror.
As I slid my gaze back to the door before me, something flickered on the edge of my vision and I jerked my head around. For just a blip in time, I thought I saw a pair of red eyes peering at me through the mirror.
But it blinked away so rapidly I dismissed it, figuring it was just the reflection of Aubrey’s angel glow.
“Would you like me to open the door, Astra?”
Aubrey spoke quietly, probably to keep from embarrassing me in front of the others who waited on the stairs and below.
I shook my head and took a deep breath. I could do this.
I grasped the handle. The handle moved almost imperceptibly under my hand.
“Astra!” I turned to Dr. Lee and she had stepped forward, her hand lifting to stop me. “Don’t…I hear something.”
“What do you hear?”
“Whispers…nothing more.” She shivered. “Don’t open the door.”
I looked at Aubrey.
Darma screamed and scrambled backward as something huge and black flew out of the mirror. Before my horrified gaze, she fell over the railing, a massive black hellhound riding her chest to the ground.