“Sounds like a game plan.” Aiden touched my arm, squeezing it lightly. “I feel like a broken record right now, but be careful.”
“As long as you promise the same, Ranger.” I quickly kissed him and then glanced across at Ashworth and Eli. “Same thing with you two.”
“I have a truck to rebuild thanks to that bitch,” Ashworth grumbled. “Trust me when I say she’s not going to get the chance to write off anything else I care about.”
He glanced at Eli as he said that, and there was such an obvious depth of love between the two that it made my heart melt. I wanted to find a love like that. I really did.
The four of them collected the high-pressure sprayers from the back of the SUV, and then Aiden handed me the backpack that held the large jar containing the soucouyant’s skin. It was surprisingly heavy. He touched my cheek lightly, briefly, and then turned and led Ashworth and Eli into the scrub.
I took a deep breath and glanced at Belle. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be. Let?
??s do this.”
I grabbed my phone, flicked on the flashlight app, and retraced our initial path. And as before, we’d barely entered the forest when Katie’s energy spun around me, leading me away from the main track. The path gradually grew steeper and rockier, forcing us to slow down even further. Neither of us bothered curtailing our noise, however. Right now, we needed the soucouyant focused on our approach rather than the men trying to sneak up behind her.
We reached the point where we had to leave the track and make our way through the trees, and my pulse rate went up several notches. The brightness of the soucouyant’s fiery form was very visible, despite the thickness of the scrub dividing her and us.
I took a deep breath and called the wild magic to me. It answered, a rush of power that was both intoxicating and euphoric. My senses immediately expanded, and suddenly I could hear the soucouyant as easily as I saw her—heard the rustle of the flames, the shudder of the earth under her fiery feet. Smelled Monty’s fear and agony, but not his burned flesh. She might have him trapped, but she hadn’t yet set her flame on him.
I turned, took Belle’s hands, and said, “Right, we need to cast a couple of fire nets. Raise your magic and repeat everything I say.”
I didn’t bother with mind speech. There was a risk of the soucouyant hearing us, but better her attention was on us rather than the men.
Belle frowned, but didn’t object. I started the spell; Belle’s words echoed mine, and the air around began to burn as twin nets formed around each of her hands. The wild magic wove its way through each thread, toughening and empowering our magic.
Once we’d both closed and activated the spell, Belle said, “Two nets?”
“One for the soucouyant, one for you.”
“Fuck my protection—what about you?”
“The wild magic is with me. I’ll be fine.”
Her gaze scanned mine briefly. The concern so evident in her thoughts and in her expression didn’t change. “And if Eli is right? If the wild magic does prove to be useless against spirits?”
“It won’t be. These spells are a mix of both our magic and the wild magic, and it was a similar combination that successfully contained the other soucouyant. Once her attention is on me, you should be able to cast the net over her. It won’t kill her—it wasn’t designed for that.” And I certainly didn’t want to stain the wild magic by making it party to murder. “It’ll just contain both her and her flames long enough for us to hit her with water.”
“And what if she hits you with fire the minute you appear? I’m betting she doesn’t want to reclaim her skin but simply wants it destroyed so she can start stealing the skin of others.”
“Undoubtedly, which is why I’m about to weave another net.”
She studied me, her concern increasing. “Your weariness is already pulsing through me, and you’ll need a whole lot more strength—”
“Which I can pull from the wild magic rather than you at this point. Relax Belle, it’ll be fine.” I smiled as I said it, even though I didn’t personally believe it. There were too many things that could go wrong. “Ready?”
She took a deep breath and then nodded. I began weaving another fire net around my fingers as I continued on through the trees. With Katie’s presence enhancing my senses, it didn’t take very long to reach the clearing. I paused before I stepped through the last of the trees, scanning the clearing, looking for Monty. After a moment, I saw him. He was on the ground to the right and there were threads of disintegrating magic roiling around his body. That’s why he hadn’t yet been burned—he must have sensed her approach and cast the spell before he and the house had been hit. But the relief that surged was very quickly extinguished when my gaze slipped down to his legs. The bottom half of his left leg lay at right angles to his body. How he was still even conscious I had no idea.
The soucouyant sat on a chair fashioned out of fire in the center of the clearing; a queen on her throne, ready to meet her subjects. I took another of those deep breaths that didn’t really do a lot and then said, Belle, contact the others. Tell them I’m about to enter the clearing.
Done, she said. Be careful.
Stay in the shadows directly behind me. I’ll step aside once I’ve got Monty clear.
Wait... what?
No time to explain.