“And you can kindly inform your people not to get in my way when my witch is in need of help,” she said, as she strode toward us.
She’d obviously stopped at the café to change, because she was now wearing jeans, a singlet top, and runners. She also had our backpack slung over one shoulder.
“Belle, what the fuck are you doing here?” My voice was a mix of annoyance and relief. “You’re supposed to be in Melbourne.”
“And I was. But I could hardly stay there given the vague premonitions of doom that kept rolling down the line. I grabbed a cab and hightailed it back here as soon as I could—and it cost a goddamn fortune, let me tell you.” She grimaced. “Raphael, I’m afraid, may never forgive me.”
I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry—I thought I had my thoughts locked down.”
“That’s always going to be a hard task given the strength of our connection and the force of your fears.” She stopped beside me and studied the building. “That feels really nasty.”
“Yes, and I’d like to know how he found the strength given he’d still be recovering from the soul transference.”
“You’re talking about someone who uses the blood of others to strengthen his spells. He wouldn’t have to use his own damn strength.” She paused. “Have we located the three witches yet?”
I did not want to even think about whose blood might have gone into that spell. “No, and we probably won’t be able to until we deal with that barrier.”
“I’m not sure that if even we did combine strength we’d be able to do that.”
“No.” I hesitated as energy stirred around me. Not the dark energy, but wild. And once again, the source was the old wellspring rather than the new. “We could try a simple containment spell—if it succeeds, we might be able to push it far enough away from the building to get inside and see if the men are alive.”
Belle’s expression was dubious. “Aside from the fact that stuff feels volatile, the building itself doesn’t look safe.”
“We’ve people at the rear of the building,” Tala said. “There’s a small portion of the house unaffected, and it’s the one spot the purple glow isn’t emanating from.”
“Can we get around there?” Aiden asked, before I could.
Tala nodded. “It’s safe to go through the yards of the neighbors on either side—the purple glow isn’t reaching that far.”
Aiden glanced at the two of us. “Follow me.”
We moved swiftly down the sideway of the old single-story weatherboard house to the right of Ashworth’s place, clambered over the fence, and then walked across to where Byron was standing.
>
“Still no sign or sound of movement,” he commented.
I studied the intact portion of the building; magic that wasn’t purple or foul in feel encircled that entire area and relief surged.
“At least one of them is definitely alive and conscious,” I commented, “because that section of the building is being protected by magic that doesn’t belong to the heretic. He’s also left an entry point into the magically protected area around the rear door.”
“Meaning it’d be safe to go in?” Bryon asked.
“Not without us dealing with the other stuff first.”
The wild magic stirred around me again. I frowned, reached out, and felt it settle on my fingers. Felt the surge of power both within it and me. For whatever damn reason, it appeared my connection to the force of this land was growing.
Belle sucked in a breath, and I glanced at her sharply. “What?”
“I can feel it—feel the wild magic. It’s a distant storm surge, but more powerful.”
“Is it affecting you in any way?”
“No.” Her gaze moved to the building. “You know, while neither of us has the power to contain whatever that haze is, if you enhanced our spell with the wild magic, it might be a different story.”
“I’m not sure that’s safe or possible—”
“Ladies,” Aiden cut in. “Whatever you’re going to do, it needs to be done quickly, before the strength of whoever is protecting that end of the building gives out and the whole lot comes down on top of them.”