Chapter One
Blood dripped from the bone chandelier, fat drops that pooled and ran in the cracks of the stone floor in a mockery of veins and arteries. Shrieks echoed off the walls, rising to a keening fury. He covered his ears but could not shut his eyes. The carnage before him would not be denied.
“Leoben, what have you done?”
He fell, the stone bruising his knees. There were so many bruises on his body, a few more hardly mattered.
“Leoben!”
The screaming would not stop. It had to stop. He would make her stop if he had to. Another voice punched through the din.
“Leoben!”
Unbidden, magic ripped out of him and into the source of the shrieking. Blood splattered his face as the room abruptly fell into silence.
“Oh, Leoben.”
He shivered. “Help me, Agnar.”
The wailing drone of an alarm sounded, waking Pete from his nightmare. He sat up on the couch and reached for his cell phone on the coffee table. A text message read “Below gate flare.” Sighing, he tossed the phone back to the table and rubbed his face. They could handle this without him unless something came through, which never happened. It was the Sideways gate they had to worry about in that regard. An energy spike from the Below gate was rare but not unheard of.
He glanced at the TV. The movie had ended while he slept, the DVD skipping into the director’s commentary. He shut it off and ambled into the bathroom. Two minutes later he came rushing out as his cell phone rang again. This time it was a call and not a text.
“What?”
“Pete, it’s Maura. Franny told me to call you because they’re all doing their thing with the gate. Eve was out walking MacGuffin when it flared.”
Without a word he dropped the phone and ran, barely taking the time to shove his feet into the boots by the door.
**
In her few months at the Bradbury Institute Eve had devoted much of her time working with her psychometry ability, getting better at both reading and shielding. A by-product of that seemed to be an overall increased sensitivity to psychic energy. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was feeling as she stood in the snow clutching the Yorkie’s leash, but it was definitely powerful and scary. MacGuffin didn’t like it either. He stood poised at the edge of his leash, tiny body quivering as he growled, one foot off the ground.
“Is it that way, Mac?” She peered into the dark night in the direction he was facing. Her small flashlight wasn’t enough to reveal anything. Voices reached her, oddly amplified in the snow. She recognized Chet’s voice but couldn’t make out the words.
MacGuffin barked, ran around in a circle then hid behind her. She picked him up, tucking him under her arm and inside her coat as much as possible. He wore a little doggie sweater but she didn’t think it was only the cold that made him shiver.
I should take him back, she thought. But she really wanted to know what was going on out there in the forest. She half-turned, still talking herself into going back inside, when a flash of light caught her eye. Something was on fire deeper in the forest.
Making sure she had a good grip on the dog, she took off in a quick walk toward the fire. The snow was several inches deep and made for rough going. The closer she got to the fire the stronger the uneasy feeling became, as if something nasty was trying to bubble up below the surface of the calm winter night.
She reached a clearing, the sight at the center of it making her hold back at the edge of the tree line. Chet, Franny, Judith, and Rami were standing in a circle, hands linked, chanting. The sound rose and fell in an odd rhythm. Inside their circle floated a four foot cone of fire.
MacGuffin tried to wedge himself deeper into the safety of her arm and coat. Really, she couldn’t blame him. This was by far the freakiest thing she’d seen at Bradbury yet.
Another energy signature announced itself on her radar, cool as the winter night with a hint of wildness at the edges. She turned to see Pete approaching, his mouth in a tight line, eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for his attitude.
He bit out in a harsh whisper, “What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Walking MacGuffin.” She hoisted the little dog, then pointed at the strange tableau in the clearing. “What’s going on there?”
Of course he didn’t answer. Grabbing the hand that held the flashlight he said, “Back inside. Now.” He pulled.
If she hadn’t been carrying Mac she would have considered making an issue of his rudeness. The dog was shaking and needed to be taken inside so she acquiesced, walking back the way she came. She paused at the spot where she’d first felt the change in the air, shining the light across the ground.
“What are you doing? Move it.”
“Looking for this.” She knelt to pick up a small blue bag with the end tied. “Here, you carry it.” She flung it at him.
“The dog’s poop bag?” He held it by the tied end, lip curling in disgust. “Nice.”
Eve marched toward the institute. “I would say fitting.”
If he wanted to treat her like crap, she would return the favor.
**
Once they returned to the Oracle Eve got MacGuffin settled in front of the fireplace on a pillow with a rawhide chew and his favorite toy. Maura brought steaming cups of butternut squash soup and a plate of crackers, leaving everything on a table halfway between Eve and Pete. Pete stayed in his chair. Wearing a t-shirt and jeans with no coat, just looking at him made Eve shiver. The laces of his boots weren’t tied. He must have rushed out the door to keep me from being nosy.
That was her own frustration talking, though. Eve still knew nothing about the forest or why it was off limits. Off limits to her, the others didn’t seem to have the same restriction. It was the only thing about Bradbury that she had a problem with. Well, that and Mr. Bad Attitude.
Pete leaned down to tie his boots, muscles flexing under the tight t-shirt. Eve lost track of her thoughts for a moment as she watched the gun show. The sleeves barely contained his biceps. He sat up too fast and caught her looking. Scowling, he broke eye contact as fast as he made it.
Determined to either break through his rudeness or maybe just annoy him, Eve rose and walked to the table with the food. She balanced the plate on top of one bowl along with the spoons and carried everything to his table. Setting one bowl in front of him and the plate in the center, she sat and tasted the soup. Finding it as delicious as everything else Maura cooked, she tucked in with gusto.
Pete said nothing, didn’t make a move. Just watched with his usual squint. “It’s going to get cold,” she said.
He picked up a spoon and began to eat. They finished in silence, avoiding each other’s gaze. When he finally spoke it was about the last thing she expected him to say. “Do you celebrate Christmas?”
“That depends. You planning on getting me a present?” Eve had no idea where that came from.
Pete paused with his mouth slightly open, his twilight blue eyes silvering briefly. “If you’re going home for Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate we’ll have to figure out some security arrangements for you.”
Eve frowned. A few months before she’d been kidnapped and threatened while trying to retrieve The Key of Darkness, a dangerous grimoire, for the institute. She’d inadvertently used her psychometry to read an enchanted ring that belonged to a henchman named Crantz, allowing her to see the face of the man they believed to be the leader of another occult organization. The trouble was, he’d seen her face too, and for that Crantz threatened to kill her. “I don’t see how there’s anything to be worried about. It’s not like I saw that man well enough for someone to draw him.”
“They don’t know that.”
“I mean, blue eyes. That’s about all I can really be sure of.” She gestured at him. “You have blue eyes. Does that mean it’s you? Of course not. Lots of people have blue eyes.”
“Are you planning on going home for the holidays?”
“Your eyes are different than his. Darker. Not so cold. Not that you’re exactly Mr. Warmth.” She tittered.
“No, I’m Mr. Bad Attitude.” There was a huskiness to his tone that brought her up short, stilling the laughter on her lips.
“Um, ah.” Real eloquent, Evie. Good job.
“So are you going or staying?” He scratched at the stubble on his chin. Eve wondered if he was growing a goatee, just being lazy about shaving, or if he’d secretly read her mind and knew how freaking sexy she thought he looked with beard scruff and was trying to torture her.
She pulled her sweater tighter and crossed her arms over her torso. “I think I’ll stay if that’s okay.”
Pete leaned back in the chair. “It’d be better if you didn’t.”
“A second ago it sounded like it would be more work if I went home.” Not that she had any desire to do that in the slightest. “What’s the deal?”
For the briefest of seconds he looked ashen. “If you’re here for Midwinter you’ll have to be told about the forest. So it would be better if you went home.”
“Well, I don’t want to go home. I’m not close with my family.” She hated to admit that so she did her best to downplay it. “And it’s about time I was told about the forest.”
“There are people here who don’t know the whole truth of it. All you really need to know is to stay out.”
Eve didn’t feel like arguing, especially with Pete. It seemed like he could argue for hours, like he got some perverse pleasure from being contrary. Maybe teasing him would yield better results. “You’re just trying to cheap out and not get me a present.”
“You wanna play Secret Santa with me you’ll have to promise I’m gonna get better than a bag of dog shit.” His face lit with a grin, quickly chased away by his usual closed expression.
“I bet I could give you something that would make you quite happy.” She didn’t even consider there might be more than one way to interpret that until he spoke.
“Yeah, I bet you could.” A faint blush stained his cheeks, the corners of his mouth tipped up.
Her stomach dropped to the floor, threatening to take her sense of propriety with it. She was saved from having to respond, or possibly embarrassing herself, when Chet entered the Oracle.
Pete said, “Everything okay?”
Chet looked from Pete to Eve and back. “Yeah. Everything okay here?”
“No,” Pete said as he rose. “She’s planning to stay here during the holidays.”
Eve rolled her eyes and shook her head, feeling juvenile but not stopping herself. “One of these days you’re going to slip up and be nice to me, Cadkin.”
“Won’t that be a red letter day, Kane.” Pete said good night to Chet and left.
Chet dropped into the chair Pete had just vacated. His black hair stood on end even more so than usual, making him look like an anime character. He pulled the plate of crackers close and ate one before speaking. “We’re going to have to talk about the forest.”
Eve leaned forward, drumming her hands on the table. “Yes!”
He crunched another cracker. “Tomorrow morning, my office. Consider your security clearance upgraded.”
“I have a security clearance?” She grinned.
“Don’t get too excited. It just means you get access to more of the books.” He stood, taking a handful of crackers. “Franny went home. I’ll walk you and MacGuffin back.”
The secrets of the forest finally revealed – Eve couldn’t wait.
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