CHAPTER 3

 

 

Ten degrees. It felt like five-below with the wind chill—a typical frigid Chicago winter. Spring bobbed around the corner but couldn’t come fast enough. Especially not when her heating bill skyrocketed and the apartment she rented didn’t have in-floor heating.

Aisanna woke in the wee hours of the morning freezing cold with a crick in her neck and throbbing in her bones. Her mouth tasted stale, like she’d munched on an entire box worth of cardboard. She ran her tongue along fuzzy teeth. It took some time to realize where she was and wonder at her own inability to make it down the hall to her bedroom.

Had she gotten such a scare she couldn’t manage the ten extra feet? Or was it laziness? Probably the latter.

She rose with a groan, every inch of her cold and numb. A tingle spread through her limbs when blood began to circulate. She eased down the hallway and her body protested each step of the way.

She drifted down to the pillowtop mattress. Turning over, she noted the curtains were open. Her fingertips crept across the bed until it became too much effort to reach any further. Yeah, they would have to stay open. Icy light from the moon bleached the clouds bone-white and played over the stained carpet.

It was a reminder of her numbered days. She flexed her fingers, and her ever-present magic sent heat spiraling upward from her core. A magic she’d almost lost for good, thanks to a psychopath with a death wish. Sadly, the late and never-truly-great Herodotos, the man who’d tried to curse her and her family, had had a point. The eclipse was coming and with it, a thinning of the veil separating their world from the world of ancient magicks. The place where witches and wizards drew their powers.

A lunar eclipse during the vernal equinox equaled trouble for anyone with the genetic markers to use magic. Worse for those who didn’t and felt the effects. The diminishing wall between worlds gave rogue magic a chance to leak through onto their plane of existence. And right along with it came something Aisanna and her sisters called Darkness, who seemed hell-bent on letting chaos reign supreme.

It wasn’t the best bedtime story.

She shifted her hand to catch the light, the unfeeling silver ray stealing the heat from her body. Instead of focusing on the sinking feeling in her gut, Aisanna rearranged her pillow, rubbed at her temples and the ache there. One hand drew the thin blanket closer to keep away the chill in the air. The shadows looked too black. Too corporeal. Maybe she was still dreaming, sleepwalking to her bed in an unconscious desire for comfort.

Come to me.

The voice echoed in her head, the voice of imaginings and nightmares. Aisanna sat straight up, every hair shot to attention. “Who’s there?” she called out in a high and tinny voice.

Something brushed against her cheek, the insubstantial breath of a phantom. A spirit who trailed beside her and sought to damn her soul. The same one who’d targeted her sister weeks before.

The room stilled. Not even the curtains moved by the forced heat coming through the registers. The air became heavy and Aisanna knew something waited for her.

She was afraid to speak again. She dragged her blanket toward her chin like a shield and watched her breath cloud in front of her.

You’re mine.

At the sound of the second statement, real and tangible, she began to scream, scream until the noise blocked out her fear. She was not Astix. Fear did not make her stronger. Fear made her shrink into herself until she became a statue. Unable to perform under pressure.

Using the sound for cover, Aisanna scrambled to her feet.

As fast as she could manage, she grabbed her coat and keys and, still screaming, bolted for the door. Her neighbors would surely file complaints about the noise but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about the time of night or if every person in the building heard her; she continued her caterwauling until she reached the sidewalk. Only then did she remember that Elon had driven her home and her own car was still parked beside the shop.

Dammit!

No way was she going inside again. Not with voices speaking to her in a tone she painfully remembered, had heard in her dreams for the better part of three weeks after escaping capture. She was not a shrinking flower to shy away from a powerful enemy. At least, she didn’t want to be. But the thought of being alone with a beast like the one her sister had faced alone brought a return of her shaking.

She shrieked her way down the street until there was a safe distance between her and the building. Only then did she halt her forward progress, powerwalking under the line of street lights.

Okay, think, she admonished. You have no car, no cell phone, no way to go anywhere if you wanted to. What now?

Aisanna dug deep into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a ball of lint, a cut stem from a rose, and roughly sixty-seven cents in mixed coins. It wasn’t enough for a cab, let alone a payphone. Turning down the sidewalk, it was only then she realized she’d forgotten shoes.

Double dammit.

The frosted concrete stung the bare soles of her feet with each step she took, deepening her awareness of the predicament. Turning the corner, she peered down the block and tried to make out any signs of life. A small sound to her left had Aisanna whipping around with her hands held aloft, ready to defend.

Rats scurried among the garbage cans and ignored her presence in their quest for food. Streetlamps flickered. Aisanna shook, anxious, and fingers and toes turned blue in the biting winter weather.

Despite the pain, she ran, feet slapping the sidewalk. Fighting to outrun her demons. An all-night convenience store sat several blocks over, and even with the distance she was determined to make it. Put one foot in front of the other and all will be well. She repeated the refrain. Said it twice more for impact.

It took longer than she wanted it to, with several stops to press her body against the side of a building and try to fill her lungs, until she finally burst through the door amidst the tune of a jaunty mechanical greeting. The clerk behind the counter took one look at her and reached a hand down automatically for the weapon holstered there.

“I need to use your phone!” Her breath came in gasps and she held her side against the stitches there. “Please.”

After minutes of convincing and hard-boiled pleading, the man handed over a cell phone and helped her dial the number when her fingers refused to cooperate. He stared at her while the dial tone sounded, each ring fraying her nerves to the point of no return.

Finally, a lethargic female voice answered the call. “Hello?”

“Oh, thank God!” Aisanna sobbed out. “I need your help.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Instantly, sleep left Astix Cavaldi at the panic she heard in her sister’s voice. “Aisanna? Did something happen?”

Get a hold of yourself, Aisanna demanded. She turned her back to the clerk and his eavesdropping ears, speaking low. “I need you to come get me.” She held her hand cupping the phone and dropped her voice. “I, uh, can’t go home right now.”

“Where are you?”

She made out the sounds of shuffling before a second person spoke from the background. Leo Voltaire, her sister’s soon-to-be-fiancé, took the phone. “Aisanna, what’s this about?” he rasped. “It’s three-thirty in the morning. This better be an emergency.” The threat was short the necessary gumption, worry in its place instead.

“I need you to come and pick me up. I left my car at work and I can’t go back to my apartment. I can’t.”

“Is there someone in your house? I have people who can be there in a matter of minutes, just say the word.”

Aisanna sighed harshly and slapped a hand on her leg. She didn’t need Leo sending any of his Claddium coworkers-slash-goons to her house. Not when she trusted them as far as she could throw a bull by the tail.

“Just come!” She rattled off the name of the convenience store and clicked the button to disconnect, though it lacked the satisfaction of a slammed receiver. Then she turned to the clerk, who peered at her scraped and bloodied feet. “My brother-in-law,” she told him with a glare.

The Claddium, she thought darkly. The collective that governed magic users great and small. Leo was all right, considering he worked for the bastards who were keeping her brother locked in the Vault, a prison even the most magical adept couldn’t escape.

There was no way she wanted any of them interfering in her business. Whatever was happening—whatever Darkness wanted with her—she’d solve it without any bastards. Period.

An entity of pure evil lacking a form, Darkness manipulated people and pulled strings like a puppet master. It wanted a host, a willing body to take over as keeper of the balance. It had once chosen her sister Astix. Now, it seemed, its sights were set on a different sister entirely.

Astix and Leo were the closest to her, and Aisanna knew they would come if she asked. There was no way she’d call Elon. He would jump at the chance to offer her assistance, but it would put thoughts in his head that could take her weeks if not months to dispel.

Fifteen minutes later, a black Lincoln pulled to the curb with enough pomp and circumstance to have Aisanna expecting the president. A blond-haired man popped his head out of the passenger side window to frown at her.

She speedily thanked the shop owner and went outside. Hunching against the weather, she hurried, the wind smacking at her with a gust of cold that brought tears.

“You let my sister drive?” she said to Leo in lieu of a greeting.

He scowled. “I’m not a morning person. She understands. She’s a better driver, anyway.”

The back door clicked open and Aisanna slid along the heated leather seats. She snuggled against them with a groan. “Thanks again for coming to get me.”

Astix spared a glance over her shoulder before pulling onto the street. “You have a lot of explaining to do, missy. I hope you understand you’re not getting off the hook until I have answers.”

“Later,” Aisanna promised. She let her head sag, finally relaxing. Her bare feet she pulled under her until feeling returned. “Later.”

As soon as they reached the house, Aisanna dosed herself with a valerian tincture she prepared by using her magic, conjuring roots and leaves in a mixture sure to induce sleep. The very ritual of it helped to soothe her nerves. It was instinctual: a combination she’d made since developing night terrors as a teenager. There were no surprises when it came to her earth magic. It was tried and true. Before falling asleep to make the most of the few scant hours left before the sun rose, she lay in the relative safety of the guest bedroom, nursing her blisters and strained muscles, and wondering how the hell she was getting out of this.

 

**

 

In the morning, she woke up late with no idea where she was and no recollection of getting there. Unfamiliar sheets tangled around her legs and she shot upright, nearly knocking the upholstered linen headboard askew. Her heart raced, beating against the cage of her chest until she willed it to slow. She was secure, sheltered, out of harm’s way. For the moment.

With bright sunlight streaming in through bare windows, her hallucinations seemed silly, the product of an overactive imagination and fatigue from the day before. Aisanna sank back and pushed lank strands of hair from her face. Her fingertips traveled from the line of her scalp down to below her chin. Sparing a glance at her feet, she hissed and drove them beneath the blankets. Certainly not her best idea, to run off barefoot. Panic did strange things to a person. It wasn’t her proudest moment.

She sighed and rolled over.

The eclipse was more than a month away. Darkness was out there, and they still hadn’t been able to find a way to stop her or free their brother Zenon from the Vault.

Tension hung on Aisanna’s shoulders. She was the oldest. It was up to her to figure things out and get a handle on the problem. She was doing a piss poor job of it so far.

She finally got out of bed and grabbed her dirty clothes, squelching down her disgust. The rumpled knit top and corduroy pants hid the wear well but she needed a shower. She made her way down the hall and into the living area feeling like something a cat had puked up.

Leo and Astix were already awake and sitting at the counter enjoying a cup of coffee. The scent of freshly roasted beans hooked Aisanna. Drew her forward with the comedic dedication of a cartoon character.

“Please tell me you made extra,” she called ahead.

“I might have,” Leo answered. “I’ve seen the way you drink. I’d be running around like a tornado if I had as much caffeine as you.”

“You make up for it with the sugar. I’ve seen the horrifying amounts you dump into your cup. It ruins the coffee.”

Upon seeing her sister, Astix swallowed her sip and rose from the stool. The first time they’d seen each other, after a twelve-year absence, she had been unable to make and maintain eye contact. She’d had an inexplicable way of hiding her face to discourage attention, clearly agonized when she became the subject of scrutiny. A product of her banishment under Claddium orders.

Now she was at home in her world. Buoyant and, if not outgoing, affable.

She motioned for Aisanna to sit. “I saved a plate of bacon for you. It’s in the microwave when you’re ready. Thought you could use a little bite to eat before you run off.”

“Thanks. Look at you, all domesticated.”

Astix grinned. “I know.”

Aisanna went about the motions, heating her food and bringing the steaming platter to a small kitchen table shoved into the corner. A show of her own independence in the face of last night’s cowardice.

She shoveled bacon into her mouth and ignored the eyes on her. Salty goodness burst on her tongue and she sighed with pleasure.

“So,” Leo began, “are you going to tell us what happened?”

Aisanna took her time swallowing before giving them a noncommittal answer. “I got spooked. Thought I saw someone in my apartment.” She glanced up, met her sister’s eyes, and glanced down again.

“That’s it?” Astix leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “You thought you saw someone in your apartment so you booked down the street without your coat or shoes? You can’t expect me to believe you when you lie right to my face.”

The sisters, so alike in looks yet miles apart in temperament, were similar in stature. Both boasted the same thick head of reddish-brown hair and classical features, down to the small mole on their left hipbone. Oval faces were canvasses for odd-colored, upturned eyes, refined noses, and slightly fuller upper lips.

“Yes, that’s it.” Aisanna cleaned the remainder of her plate in record time and pushed it away. “Nothing more to tell you. I thought I saw something.”

“Says the great and powerful Oz.”

Astix didn’t buy the tough guy act. She stared her sister down as though she could determine any hidden secrets. Aisanna was slicker than expected. There were plenty of thoughts flashing behind her eyes, and Astix supposed they would come into the light eventually. She understood how difficult it was, holding things inside. Holding them until she felt like she’d burst.

She shook her head. It wasn’t her business to micromanage. It wasn’t anywhere in the scope of what she was prepared to handle, either.

Their time was numbered in weeks, Astix thought as she walked over to pour herself another cup of coffee. And she certainly didn’t feel like they were any closer to a solution. Whatever Aisanna was dealing with, she would rather bleed dry than ask for help. It was one thing that hadn’t changed. Which meant if Astix wanted an answer, she was going to be sorely disappointed. Aisanna did things in her own way and in her own time. Maybe it came from being first born. Regardless, it was annoying.

Aisanna rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sighed. “You’ll excuse me if I was a little too distracted to do any of my customary ass-kicking. I’ve had a rough couple of days. Calling you was the best idea I could muster.” Her face held a faraway expression with lines of strain around her mouth. “Some things are out of my control. You understand, right?” She asked the question in a tone that made sure the others knew she didn’t care about the answer.

“Another late night?” Leo’s eyebrow rose nearer to his hairline to blend in with the golden mane. “You seem to have a lot of those lately.”

Astix shoved her elbow into the soft meat of his side. “You weren’t supposed to say anything about it.”

“Oh, ha ha. You know I don’t discuss my personal business with you. And that’s the last time I bother having a conversation with you about sex. Thought you could use some pointers from a master. Never again.” Aisanna threw back the rest of her coffee and brought both dirtied dishes to the sink, shooting her sister a bitter glance over the shoulder. “Thanks for the ride. And the bed. The food, too, while I’m at it.”

“Last night had something to do with the eclipse,” Astix said. “Didn’t it?”

“Maybe. I’ll tell you when I know more.”

“You’re going to look into this on your own?”

“Why not? You did.” Aisanna absently rubbed the spot on her wrist where a death rune had nearly taken her life. Now the skin was smooth, pale. Unblemished.

“Yeah, I did,” Astix replied. “But you didn’t have any magic. It was up to me to figure things out before you died. Literally died. Now, I guess I’d hoped we could help each other. If you need—”

“Don’t,” Aisanna interrupted. “Don’t talk about it.” She turned to Leo. “Are you heading to the office today?”

“I’m about to leave in two-point-seven seconds. I pushed some morning appointments forward so I could drive you back. You see? I’m nice. I think about these things.”

Aisanna blushed. “You didn’t have to wait around for me. Unless you’re trying to make me feel guilty. In which case I will tell you, it’s definitely working.”

Leo moved into his winter coat before donning his signature red scarf, which accented his long, gilded hair to perfection. “There’s no need for guilt. Call it family responsibility instead. Besides, your shop is only six blocks over from my office. It’s not far enough out of my way that I’ll ask for gas money.”

At first it had bothered Aisanna, renting a building so close to the Claddium headquarters. The three-story brownstone housed the meeting hall for the four elected officials representing the elemental magic holders of the Great Lakes region. Leo’s father headed the Earth Elemental Division and held quite a bit of power in his polished fist.

She’d had time to adapt to not only the proximity but also the idea of her sister bedding down with one of the Claddium’s own golden boys. Leo wasn’t like the rest of those militant lemmings.

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” Aisanna gratefully took the coat Astix handed her and slipped it over her shoulders, buttoning the front and grabbing a final piece of toast off of one of their plates. “Also, do you think I can bother you for a pair of shoes?”

“Jeez. You’re needy.” Astix moved down the hall to search her closet and came back with an old pair of black biker boots. “Here, these should fit. Your feet are smaller than mine. Stuff some socks into the toes and it will be okay.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Aisanna bent to lace the boots as Leo and his woman stared at each other. “Off to the races?” Astix asked.

“You bet.” He crossed the space in two great strides and took Astix in his arms.

To see them together now, no one would suspect the solitude Astix had endured, the years of separation from her family. It had taken time for Leo to build her trust, but once given, it was forever. Now, she stared up at her beau with love evident in every line of her face. And only the smallest hint of embarrassment at their audience.

“I adore you.” Leo bent to kiss her.

“I adore you too.”

“Ugh, you guys make me sick to my stomach,” Aisanna said.

Astix broke the contact and glared across the room. “Not going to apologize for the benefits I’ve reaped.” The wink was for Leo. Apparently, she was a woman who winked now.

“Yeah, okay. Maybe I can look forward to a little red-hot romance in my life soon.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Sure. Haven’t you heard? I think it’s my turn to be cursed. Nothing like being courted by the spectral embodiment of evil.” Aisanna spoke through the last bite of toast and followed Leo out the door. “Let’s go.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what really happened?” Astix called after them.

“No!”