“For now, just help with clean-up and first aid,” I said, trying to banish the fear from my voice.
“I’m on it.” She rolled up her sleeves and walked to the corner to grab a broom.
***
The rest of the night passed by uneventfully with cleanup and organization. Locating the box took longer than anyone had anticipated. Then there were still layers of concrete to get through before they could reach it. When the wolves had buried it, they’d made sure it would not be easily unearthed. The box had yet to be retrieved by the time I had to take shelter from the morning sun.
The members of my clan, as well as Santino and Ian, all took shelter in one cabin and waited out the day in quiet anticipation. I tried to sleep, listening to the sound of the construction equipment as it banged and drilled and rumbled in the distance.
The moment the sun dipped enough behind the horizon for it to be safe to venture outside, I left the cabin.
The construction equipment sat idle, and the silence allowed me to hear my footsteps crunch the snow. I hoped this was a good sign.
I spotted a small crowd gathered at the back of the building.
“Hands off,” I heard Aiden commanding.
I broke into a sprint and joined the crowd. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve got it.” Aiden held the wooden box above his head. Being a tall man gave him an advantage over Fallon and Saul, who looked as if they were considering jumping to grab it.
They danced in place nervously next to Aiden, with their attention focused solely on the box as if it were the object of their greatest desire.
I remembered back to the first time Fallon had laid eyes on the box. The enchantment placed upon it was irresistible to humans. That was part of its curse. It could hold within it all the evils of the earth, but no human could help themselves around it. They had to open it and see what was inside.
Both Saul and Fallon were clearly under its spell. Their eyes remained unflinching on the box that Aiden held high in the air. Fallon, in a bold and uncharacteristic maneuver, jumped up and took a swipe at it as if she would be able to remove it from Aiden’s hand.
“I said, hands off,” Aiden shouted again.
I couldn’t believe he actually shouted at Fallon. This was so unlike him; but then again, Fallon was not herself either.
She didn’t seem to mind his yelling though, or perhaps she didn’t even notice it. Her eyes remained locked on the wooden box.
Two pack members, in human form, placed themselves in between Fallon and Saul, acting as bodyguards.
“You’ve definitely found it,” I said happily. This was it, the last piece we needed. If Saul was right, we might have Lysander free before sunrise.
“Yeah, but we can’t let them have it. They’ll try to open it.” There was no smile in Aiden’s voice.
I shrugged. “If what we think is right, it doesn’t matter. The box is empty.”
One of his eyebrows arched. He cocked his head sideways. “Would the spell still work if the box was empty?”
“My guess is yes.” I tried to sound as positive as I could. There was really only one way to find out for sure if the box was empty. Someone would have to open it eventually.
“No offense, but do we want to rely on a guess?”
Saul jumped up this time and tried to swipe at the box. “It has to be open if the witch hopes to put back the spirit.” His voice was desperate. “Let me be the one to do it.”
Fallon shoved Saul aside. “No. I get to open it.”
“Haven’t you already had an opportunity to open it?” Saul sounded like a petulant child. “It’s my turn.”
“I’ll open it.” I said loudly. “If I’m wrong, then I take all the blame.”
“If you’re wrong, then we all die. You remember what that thing was capable of?” Aiden said with all the authority his father had once had.
How could I forget? Aniketos had overpowered and killed an ancient vampire, Rozaline. He tore her apart like she was nothing more than a rag doll. Not being bound in physical form, he could be invisible as he struck; he could swarm his victims like horde of bees and rip a body to shreds in moments. Aniketos was not a force I wanted to go up against again. Deep down in my gut, I knew he wasn’t in the box.
“Yes, I remember very clearly.” I locked eyes with Aiden and put conviction in my voice. “But I know I’m not wrong here. Lysander said he was not alone. The only other spirit around was Aniketos. If he’s in the crystal with Lysander, then he cannot be in the box.”
Aiden narrowed his eyes at me. “Do we have a backup plan?”
I hesitated before answering. “Not yet. Ariana and Saul were supposed to be working on that today.” I glanced around, not seeing Ariana, and wondered where she might be.
Saul gave no indication that his name had been spoken. His eyes remained glued on the box in Aiden’s hand.
“Why don’t we wait to open this? Let’s remove the temptation and see if we can’t get some answers first.”
I nodded. “Good idea. Take the box to the cabin with my clan, and I’ll bring these two to the main building.” I grabbed Saul by the scruff of his shirt and grasped Fallon’s arm with my free hand. “C’mon, you two.”
Aiden trotted down the path with the two pack members still at his side.
Both Saul and Fallon let out whimpers of protest and tried to follow, but I held them tight and pushed them toward the building.
Once inside, it seemed the box’s enchantment had waned. The glassy unfocused expressions that had been on Saul and Fallon’s faces faded. They blinked and looked at me as if wondering why I was manhandling them.
I blocked the door in case any of them decided to make a break for it. “So, which one of you is going to tell me how we plan to get Lysander back in his body and Aniketos back in his box? Hmmmm?”
“I’ll tell you,” Ariana said. She stood from the bench where she’d been sitting and walked over with the book in one hand and the crystal in the other. “We need to find a vessel for each spirit to fill. And we’ll have to break the crystal to prevent both the spirits from getting back inside.”
“Lysander’s spirit can return back to his body, right?” I asked. “But what can we use for Aniketos? Where would his spirit go if it had no vessel?”
“His ashes still remain in the box, right?” Ariana asked.
“I think so. We never opened it, though. To be sure.”
“If his ashes are there, they might still be of use to us.” Though she spoke with certainty, I could see some doubt in her eyes.
“So we call him back to the box?” I asked.
“Sort of.” Her face briefly contorted as if she was fighting with what to say. “What we
hope
for is that each spirit will find its place, and when they do, we can seal them both back inside.”
“But?” I met her eyes with a questioning gaze, and held my breath expecting the bad news that was certain to follow.
“But… there is no guarantee with this magic. They are both of the same bloodline, and we don’t have their original blood to work with. Lysander might just as easily get caught in the box and Aniketos in Lysander’s body.”
I released the breath I’d been holding. While not the best of news, it wasn’t all bad. If Lysander did manage to end up in the box, releasing his spirit was not that hard to do from there. However, allowing Aniketos to take control of Lysander’s body, that was something we needed to avoid.
“Is there anything we can do?” I asked.
“Hope and pray,” Ariana replied.
“That’s comforting.”
“Sorry.” She shrugged. “But it’s the best I can offer.”
“I guess it’s better than nothing, right?”
“Exactly.” She feigned a smile.
“When can we perform the spell?”
“As soon as we have the box.”
“I’ll tell Aiden to bring it. You three stay here and set up.”
CHAPTER 27
When I returned, Ariana had transformed the lobby into a Wiccan playground, ready to perform her magic. A large pentagram had been drawn in chalk on the ground, and surrounding it was a circle drawn in a white powdery substance that looked like salt.
In the center of the pentagram stood Lysander’s coffin, set up on top of saw horses. An empty table sat next to it with enough space in between for a person to stand.
Saul and Ariana stood over Lysander’s coffin, with their heads together, staring down at the book.
“The others are on their way,” I said.
“Do you have the box?” Ariana asked expectantly.
At once, all three pairs of eyes were on me.
“No, Aiden is holding onto that until we’re ready. He doesn’t want any problems, since you three are susceptible to the curse.”
Ariana shrugged. “That’s fine, as long as it’s here for the ceremony.” She turned to Fallon. “Red candles on the star points, please. And I need two green and one black candle in between each of the red ones.”
Fallon, following orders began setting the red candles as indicated. I joined her and grabbed some green and black candles from a basket sitting on the floor.
“So it’s green, black, green, red?” I asked.
“Yep. All the way around,” Ariana replied.
I was glad to see that some things were already being done differently and said a silent prayer that this time it would work.
Santino joined us just as I was setting the last of the candles. He made a beeline for Saul. “Need any help, my friend?”
Saul shook his head but didn’t look up. “You’ve done enough. After all my years of research, I can die a happy man having seen the Pandora’s Box. Helping to close it again forever is the icing on the cake.”
“You are a sentimental old fool,” Santino said.
“I should say the same for you.” Saul finally lifted his head to acknowledge his friend.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say Santino was smiling.
“When this is over, what will you do?” he asked.
Saul shrugged. “I don’t quite know yet. Maybe I’ll retire and publish my memoirs.”
“You’d have to publish them as fiction. No one would believe the things you’ve seen.” Santino laughed.
Ariana looked up from the book. “Did we get the sage smudge sticks?”
Fallon walked over to the basket and pulled out two sticks made from what looked like dried and wrapped leaves. “These them?”
Ariana smiled. “Yes. I’ll need those near Lysander’s body. If we’re lucky, they might help steer Aniketos’s spirit away from him.”
“What are you going to use to attract him to the box?” I asked.
“Human blood.” Ariana picked up her ceremonial knife and sliced open her hand. She held it over a small copper bowl and let her blood drizzle inside.
The scent teased at my nose, and I involuntarily licked my lips.
“See,” she said. “Tempting, isn’t it?”
I shook myself and turned away. “Very.”
Crystal, Drew, and Nicholas walked into the room, followed by Aiden. I could see he held the box in his hands, and it appeared the others were using their bodies as shields.
“We’ve stationed the remaining wolves around the building to guard. They can be in here at a moment’s notice if necessary.” Aiden said. “Brady and I will cover the front and back entrances. We’ll leave you to perform the magic alone in here.” He handed the box to Nicholas. “Good luck.”
Nicholas nodded and took the box. “I don’t believe in luck. This will work.”
“Well, I believe in luck,” I said to Aiden. “Thanks.”
“Fallon,” Aiden called. “Will you be joining us outside or remaining here with them?”
Fallon looked to me and then to Aiden. I saw the hesitation in her eyes. “I… I need to be here for Alyssa this time.”
Aiden nodded. I spotted a hint of disappointment in his eyes, but not anger. He walked to Fallon and pulled her in close. “I understand. We’ll be just outside. If you need anything, just call out to me. I’ll hear you.” He kissed the top of her head and then released her and walked away.
Nicholas held the box to his chest, and Crystal and Drew stepped in front of him now to block everything from view. Even with their efforts I could see the pull on the three humans in the room.
Ariana appeared as if she could no longer concentrate. Her eyes kept darting between the book and Nicholas.
“It’s now or never,” I said. “We might as well get this over with. Otherwise we’re going to have these guys mobbing us to open the box, and they’ll never get to the spell.”
Nicholas took a deep breath. “You’re sure about this?”
“As sure as I’m going to get. Just do it.”
Nicholas held out the box. He took a deep breath and winced as he pulled it open.
The room collectively held their breath and a deathly silence filled the space.
I shot furtive glances at Saul, Fallon, and Ariana. They too were glancing around the room as if waiting for something.
I remembered back to the first time we’d opened the box. There had been a cold chill that ran through the air, but I felt no such rush now. In fact, the air was eerily still. I took that as a good sign. “I think we’re okay,” I said.
As if in unison, sighs erupted through the room.
No longer under the compulsion to open the box, Ariana seemed to have regained her composure. She took one last glance down at her book and then looked at Nicholas. “Please place the box here.” Ariana indicated to the table next to Lysander’s coffin.
Nicholas’s eyes darted all around the room. Though there had been no sign of Aniketos, he still seemed to be on high alert. He joined Ariana at the coffin, gently set the box down, and then backed away.
“Take your places, please. One person on each point. Alyssa and Nicholas, join me here; I’ll need your blood again. As the closest links to Lysander, your blood will have to attract his spirit.”
Just as before, Ariana opened the lid of the coffin and turned it sideways, uncovering the upper and lower halves of Lysander’s body. She set a medium-sized cauldron on the top of the coffin. In separate dishes, Ariana laid out various herbs and incense and then lit them. Instantly, the cavernous room was filled with thick pungent smoke that reminded me of death.
Unlike before, however, she kept her goddess pendant on. A good idea, considering how the magic had affected her the last time.