Circle of the Moon (Soulwood #4)

“Yes. When I read the land, I got a good look at the ring on the demon’s hand. The red stone was embossed with a rune. T. Laine says it’s Gebo in opposition.”

The reserved, unemotional FireWind took a hissing breath.

“We have its calling name, based on the initials B.K.L. I think it’s huge and powerful and tied to the magma working its way up through the earth’s crust,” I said.

“Hmmm. There are hot springs and other signs of geological activity in the Appalachians. In answer to your question, yes, containment vessels do have a maximum suppression and restraint assessment, but no one knows how to measure demonic energy, so PsyLED labs haven’t tried the systems with anything larger than your garden-variety flesh-eating imp.”

“So we can’t contain it, and we can’t kill it, and Jason is under the magical protection of a powerful hedge of thorns until he lets it drop to free the demon. And we have to act before sunset and the vamps rise.”

“Yes. But until the bargain is completed, the demon’s power is fundamentally and effectively limited.” I could almost hear the frown in his voice when he added, “We thought Rick was being called for two reasons: revenge, and to power the working to call the demon. But something is off.”

“Right,” I said. “Why shoot Rick? Why try to turn himself into a werecat?”

“Best guess is blood spatter for the calling, and were-taint to heal his cancer. Jones found a diagnosis of leukemia in his history.” He made a ruminative sound. “Tonight is the total dark of the moon. The new moon rose around dawn. It is up but invisible all day, and will set around seven p.m., before sunset in Knoxville in summer.” He made the pensive sound again. “Since nothing magic happened when it rose, the curse must be timed for the interval between moonset and sunset. Thank you, Ingram. This is invaluable information. We have a great many logistics to work out, and our timeline to stop Jason may be a very narrow window.”

“From the time Jason starts the spell and drops the hedge, to the moment he’s killed enough sleeping vampires to free the demon, but before the demon is actually set free. And then we have to figure out a way to send the demon back,” I clarified.

“I suppose that’s correct. Anything else, Ingram?” FireWind asked.

“Has anyone thought about putting Rick on a plane for the Vatican?” I asked.

“Several times. It’s still in discussion.”

“Last question. What if the vampires with Jason don’t know what we do about the demon and its summoning? Godfrey is an old vampire who probably knows a lot about magic, but this is brand new curse-working. What if Jason is using them for more than we think?”

I felt FireWind’s attention narrow onto me. “I’m listening.”

“What if the curse part of the spell isn’t just for Rick, but also is directed at the other group that hurt him? What if the curse is directed at all the vampires in Knoxville? Or even all the vampires in the state? Or think bigger. What if the curse is directed at the life force, or un-life-force, of every vampire in the world all at once? Just causes them to bleed to death like the cattle did at the stockyard.”

FireWind went quiet and the silence stretched out. “What you’re suggesting is, or should be, impossible. But … A vampire kidnapped him and killed his grandmother in front of his eyes. Yet he’s working with a vampire now.”

“If Jason starts the curse after moonset and before sunset,” I said, “in the last ninety minutes of day, before the vampires rise, he’ll have sleeping vampires available to bleed into his curse, the way he bled the cattle at the livestock center. He wouldn’t even have to cut them. That narrows our timeline even more.”

FireWind muttered something that might have been cussing in another language. “He gets revenge on Rick, kills him, is healed by vampire blood or the were-taint, kills large numbers of vampires, and has a demon at his disposal for as long as their agreement lasts. The little sorcerer is brilliant.” There was reluctant admiration in FireWind’s voice.

“If we miss our window,” I said, “Jason will have the demon to grant him power for as long as he lives, which might be a long time as a werecat or a vampire.”

FireWind agreed thoughtfully. “Logistics will be a nightmare and we don’t have much time to prepare.”

“And that narrow window,” I said.

“The unit is exhausted. New-moon set is less than an hour and a half before sunset. This will be tricky. Get a nap. Be at HQ by four p.m. And, Nell, see that Mud is elsewhere. This will not be the safest place on earth.”

The connection ended. The safest place on earth. As far as I was concerned, that was Soulwood. I wondered if I could get the vampire tree to babysit. I needed sleep, but my family was more important. I needed … I needed to claim the church land. I needed a sacrifice.

I shook my entire body like a dog shakes its fur. No. I was not killing someone to claim the land. At my feet a tendril pushed through the soil, and a single thick, green leaf uncoiled, resting against my ankle.

In the yard, Mud screamed with laughter and rolled on the ground with Cherry. Overhead, a bird sang, long and sweet. I smelled wisteria and the grape Kool-Aid smell of kudzu in bloom. The vampire tree tendril coiled up my ankle and wrapped around it. Not trapping me. Just … making me aware. Reminding me, as if it had access to my mind. And maybe, on some level, it did.

Larry Aden had been wounded by the vampire tree. The tree had his blood. The tree could … sacrifice Larry, and I could claim church land through it.

And that would be murder. Not self-defense to protect myself. But premeditated, cold-blooded murder. An icy thrill rushed through me like a broken dam of glacial water. My body clenched. Goose bumps flew across my skin, pebbling my arms and legs and up my chest.

I looked out over Soulwood, over land that was almost holy. “I’ll find another way,” I whispered, staring at the sprig of the vampire tree on my ankle. It now had three leaves and was about six inches long. I bent down and plucked the sprig. I carried the vampire twig to the back porch and tucked it into an unused pot of soil.

Today was the total dark of the moon, and though the moon was up now, and would actually be above the horizon all day, it wouldn’t be visible at all. The darkness of the night sky would be brightened only by stars. And whatever curse and demon-summoning Jason had planned.

Inside the house, I showered and crawled into bed. I fell fast asleep. I still didn’t know what I’d do with Mud when I went back to work, but my brain needed sleep and I could problem-solve after some rest.

? ? ?

I dropped Mud off at Esther’s, though I didn’t get to see my older sister. Esther didn’t come to the door when Mud and I knocked. Jed opened the door, a man at home in the daylight, when by church codes he should be working.

“Jed,” I said.

Jed looked tired and angry and had a three-day beard. He didn’t meet my eyes. “Nell.”

I remembered Esther’s fingers at her hairline, so much like mine when my leaves were trying to grow. If being plant-women ran in the family, as I believed, Esther was likely to grow leaves too. But she hadn’t talked to me.

He pushed open the door, but I caught Mud’s shoulder. “If Esther needs my help keeping things trimmed back, you let me know.”

Mud laughed and skipped inside. Jed’s eyes flashed fire and he closed the door in my face.

“Hospitality and peace to you too,” I shouted through the door. I probably shouldn’t have stirred that pot. But if my sister was growing leaves …

I got back in my truck and took off for HQ.

? ? ?

It was just past four, and T. Laine was talking as Tandy put the last pencil traces on the sketch of the smoky fist of the devil trapped in the earth. “The New Orleans coven and I agree. The spell Ethier is likely using to summon his demon is a shared power spell. It can be called totality. It’s a bargain type of spell, one where a witch and a demon share witch and demonic strength and power at different times and for different purposes. For instance, the demon might use the witch’s strength and youth to power itself to the surface, in which case, the demon steals years, the witch ages, the demon gets free. Then the bargain reverses as the demon extracts more power from the deeps along his pathway, which he then gifts to the witch. The witch ages, but he ends up with one major power/working/curse/whatever. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.”

“Except that Jason isn’t aging. Rick is.”

“Jason added levels in a working so complex I may never understand it.”