Morrigan's Cross
Page 83
“It’s not like we can check her ID.”
He shook his head, not bothering to ask her meaning. “She has to be tested. Upstairs, I think, in the tower. We’ll make the circle, and we’ll be sure.”
When they were gathered upstairs, Blair looked around. “Close quarters. I like things roomier. You’re going to want to keep your distance,” she warned Cian. “I might stake you, just knee-jerk.”
“You can try.”
She tapped her fingers on the stake in her belt. There was a ring, a ridged band of silver, on her right thumb. “So, what’s all this about?”
“We had no sign you were coming,” Glenna began. “Not you specifically.”
“So, you’re thinking Trojan Horse?”
“It’s a possibility we can’t dismiss without proof.”
“No,” Blair agreed, “you’d be stupid just to take my word. And I feel better, actually, knowing you’re not stupid. What do you want? My demon hunter’s license?”
“You actually have—”
“No.” She planted her feet, very like a warrior bracing for battle. “But if you’re toying with doing some kind of witchcraft that involves my blood or other bodily fluid, you’re out of luck. Line drawn on that.”
“Nothing like that. Well, witchcraft, but nothing that requires blood. We’re linked, the five of us. By fate, by necessity. And some, yes, by blood. We are the circle. We are the chosen. If you’re the last link of that circle, we’ll know.”
“Otherwise?”
“We can’t harm you.” Hoyt laid a hand on Glenna’s shoulder. “It’s against all we are to use power against a human being.”
Blair glanced toward the broadsword leaning against the tower wall. “Anything in the rule book about sharp, pointy objects?”
“We won’t harm you. If you’re Lilith’s servant, we’ll make you our prisoner.”
She smiled, one corner of her mouth rising, then the other. “Good luck with that. All right, let’s do it. Like I said, if you’d swallowed everything without a hmmm, I’d be more worried about what I’d walked into here. You guys around this white circle, me in it?”
“You know witchcraft?” Glenna asked her.
“I know something about it.” She stepped into the circle.
“One of us at each point,” Glenna instructed, “to form a pentagram. Hoyt will do the search.”
“Search?”
“Of your mind,” he assured Blair.
“There are some private things in there, too.” Uncomfortable, she moved her shoulders, frowned at Hoyt. “Am I supposed to think of you as my witch doctor?”
“I’m not a witch. It will go more quickly, and without discomfort if you open to this.” He lifted his hands, and lit the candles. “Glenna?”
“This is the circle of light and knowledge, formed by like minds, like hearts. Within this circle of light and knowledge no harm will we impart. We seek to link so we may know, within this ring only truth bestow. With mind to mind in destiny, as we will, so mote it be.”
The air rippled, and still the candle flames rose straight as arrows. Hoyt held out his hands toward Blair.
“No harm, no pain. Only thoughts within thoughts. Your mind to my mind, your mind to our minds.”
Her eyes looked deeply into his, had something flickering in his head. Then they went black, and he saw.
They all saw.
A young girl fighting a monster nearly twice her size. There was blood on her face, and her shirt was torn. They could hear each drawing of her labored breath. A man stood off to the side, and watched the battle.
She was struck to the ground with a vicious backhanded blow, and sprang up. Struck down again. When the thing leaped, she rolled. And stabbed it through the back, into the heart, with a stake.
Slow, the man said. Sloppy, even for a first kill. You’ll need to do better.
She didn’t speak, but the mind inside her mind thought, I’ll do better. I’ll do better than anyone.
Now she was older, and fought beside the man. Ferociously, savagely. The odds were five to two, but it was done quickly. And when it was done, the man shook his head. More control, less passion. Passion will kill you.
She was naked, in bed with a young man, moving with him in the low light of the lamp. She smiled as she arched to him, nipped his lip. A diamond winked madly on her finger. Her mind was full of passion, of love, of joy.
And of despair and misery as she sat on the floor in the dark, alone, weeping out the shards of a broken heart. Her finger was bare.
She stood on the rise above the battleground, with the goddess a white shadow beside her.
You were the first to be called, and the last, Morrigan told her. They’re waiting for you. The worlds are in your hands. Take theirs, and fight.
She thought, I’ve been coming toward this all my life. Will it be the end of it?
Hoyt lowered his hands, brought her slowly back, as he closed the circle. Her eyes cleared, blinked.
“So? Did I pass the audition?”
Glenna smiled at her, then walked to the table, lifted one of the crosses. “This is yours now.”
Blair took it, let it dangle. “It’s nice. Beautiful craftsmanship, and I appreciate the gesture. But I have my own.” She tugged the chain from under her shirt. “Family thing again. Like an heirloom.”
“It’s lovely, but if you’d—”
“Wait.” Hoyt snatched at the cross, stared at it as it lay in his palm. “Where did you get this? Where did it come from?”
“I told you, family. We have seven of them. They’ve been passed down. You’re going to want to let go of that.”
When he looked up into her eyes again she narrowed hers. “What’s the problem?”
“There were seven, the goddess gave me, on the night she charged me to come here. I asked for protection for my family, the family she ordered me to leave behind. And these were what she gave me.”
“That was what, nine hundred years back? It doesn’t mean—”
“It’s Nola’s.” He looked over her head to Cian. “I can feel it. This is Nola’s cross.”
“Nola?”
“Our sister. The youngest.” His voice thickened as Cian moved closer to see for himself. “And here, on the back, I inscribed it with her name. She said I’d see her again. And by the gods, I am. She’s in this woman. Blood to blood. Our blood.”
He shook his head, not bothering to ask her meaning. “She has to be tested. Upstairs, I think, in the tower. We’ll make the circle, and we’ll be sure.”
When they were gathered upstairs, Blair looked around. “Close quarters. I like things roomier. You’re going to want to keep your distance,” she warned Cian. “I might stake you, just knee-jerk.”
“You can try.”
She tapped her fingers on the stake in her belt. There was a ring, a ridged band of silver, on her right thumb. “So, what’s all this about?”
“We had no sign you were coming,” Glenna began. “Not you specifically.”
“So, you’re thinking Trojan Horse?”
“It’s a possibility we can’t dismiss without proof.”
“No,” Blair agreed, “you’d be stupid just to take my word. And I feel better, actually, knowing you’re not stupid. What do you want? My demon hunter’s license?”
“You actually have—”
“No.” She planted her feet, very like a warrior bracing for battle. “But if you’re toying with doing some kind of witchcraft that involves my blood or other bodily fluid, you’re out of luck. Line drawn on that.”
“Nothing like that. Well, witchcraft, but nothing that requires blood. We’re linked, the five of us. By fate, by necessity. And some, yes, by blood. We are the circle. We are the chosen. If you’re the last link of that circle, we’ll know.”
“Otherwise?”
“We can’t harm you.” Hoyt laid a hand on Glenna’s shoulder. “It’s against all we are to use power against a human being.”
Blair glanced toward the broadsword leaning against the tower wall. “Anything in the rule book about sharp, pointy objects?”
“We won’t harm you. If you’re Lilith’s servant, we’ll make you our prisoner.”
She smiled, one corner of her mouth rising, then the other. “Good luck with that. All right, let’s do it. Like I said, if you’d swallowed everything without a hmmm, I’d be more worried about what I’d walked into here. You guys around this white circle, me in it?”
“You know witchcraft?” Glenna asked her.
“I know something about it.” She stepped into the circle.
“One of us at each point,” Glenna instructed, “to form a pentagram. Hoyt will do the search.”
“Search?”
“Of your mind,” he assured Blair.
“There are some private things in there, too.” Uncomfortable, she moved her shoulders, frowned at Hoyt. “Am I supposed to think of you as my witch doctor?”
“I’m not a witch. It will go more quickly, and without discomfort if you open to this.” He lifted his hands, and lit the candles. “Glenna?”
“This is the circle of light and knowledge, formed by like minds, like hearts. Within this circle of light and knowledge no harm will we impart. We seek to link so we may know, within this ring only truth bestow. With mind to mind in destiny, as we will, so mote it be.”
The air rippled, and still the candle flames rose straight as arrows. Hoyt held out his hands toward Blair.
“No harm, no pain. Only thoughts within thoughts. Your mind to my mind, your mind to our minds.”
Her eyes looked deeply into his, had something flickering in his head. Then they went black, and he saw.
They all saw.
A young girl fighting a monster nearly twice her size. There was blood on her face, and her shirt was torn. They could hear each drawing of her labored breath. A man stood off to the side, and watched the battle.
She was struck to the ground with a vicious backhanded blow, and sprang up. Struck down again. When the thing leaped, she rolled. And stabbed it through the back, into the heart, with a stake.
Slow, the man said. Sloppy, even for a first kill. You’ll need to do better.
She didn’t speak, but the mind inside her mind thought, I’ll do better. I’ll do better than anyone.
Now she was older, and fought beside the man. Ferociously, savagely. The odds were five to two, but it was done quickly. And when it was done, the man shook his head. More control, less passion. Passion will kill you.
She was naked, in bed with a young man, moving with him in the low light of the lamp. She smiled as she arched to him, nipped his lip. A diamond winked madly on her finger. Her mind was full of passion, of love, of joy.
And of despair and misery as she sat on the floor in the dark, alone, weeping out the shards of a broken heart. Her finger was bare.
She stood on the rise above the battleground, with the goddess a white shadow beside her.
You were the first to be called, and the last, Morrigan told her. They’re waiting for you. The worlds are in your hands. Take theirs, and fight.
She thought, I’ve been coming toward this all my life. Will it be the end of it?
Hoyt lowered his hands, brought her slowly back, as he closed the circle. Her eyes cleared, blinked.
“So? Did I pass the audition?”
Glenna smiled at her, then walked to the table, lifted one of the crosses. “This is yours now.”
Blair took it, let it dangle. “It’s nice. Beautiful craftsmanship, and I appreciate the gesture. But I have my own.” She tugged the chain from under her shirt. “Family thing again. Like an heirloom.”
“It’s lovely, but if you’d—”
“Wait.” Hoyt snatched at the cross, stared at it as it lay in his palm. “Where did you get this? Where did it come from?”
“I told you, family. We have seven of them. They’ve been passed down. You’re going to want to let go of that.”
When he looked up into her eyes again she narrowed hers. “What’s the problem?”
“There were seven, the goddess gave me, on the night she charged me to come here. I asked for protection for my family, the family she ordered me to leave behind. And these were what she gave me.”
“That was what, nine hundred years back? It doesn’t mean—”
“It’s Nola’s.” He looked over her head to Cian. “I can feel it. This is Nola’s cross.”
“Nola?”
“Our sister. The youngest.” His voice thickened as Cian moved closer to see for himself. “And here, on the back, I inscribed it with her name. She said I’d see her again. And by the gods, I am. She’s in this woman. Blood to blood. Our blood.”
