Denai Touch: Excalibar Investigations Series (6 page)

“Maybe. Did you pick anything up from the coven members?” Jason asked.

“I could only touch the surface, when I tried going deeper that bitch Ronnie’s amulet hit me,” she rubbed her aching temples. “I couldn’t read Colbane at all – not even a hint of thought! Antes felt like a robot, Colbane probably used his compulsion on him, and all Fronika kept thinking about was all the things she’d like to do to you. One thing I
could
sense was they’re planning something.”

“What?”

“I couldn’t get proper details, but did sense it was a circle or ritual of some kind. Some covens have weekly or monthly circles depending on the phases of the moon,” Cate walked over and touched the large LCD screen on the wall and made a calendar appear. “It’s the full moon tomorrow night, we both know what a powerful time that is.”

“Did they suspect us at all?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s possible, given the lengths they’ve gone to in an effort to shield themselves. I’ll call Steve and tell him to put that address under surveillance and ask if he knows where those amulets might have come from.”

As soon as evening came, they drove to the address in a hire car, a beat up little Honda. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take any weapons with them, concealed or otherwise, since the coven would be sure to check for them.

Jason asked. “Why do I suddenly have a very bad feeling?”

“I’m the one who’s supposed to get those,” replied Cate.

“Well, I have one and when I get them something bad inevitably happens,” he said, brow wrinkling.

“We’re going to find out exactly what this coven has been doing and if there’s a trap we sure as hell won’t be falling into it.” She touched the tiny ear piece inside her ear. “Goddess to Tower.”

“Tower here,” Steve’s reply came through loud and clear. “Are you sure you don’t want any backup? At least let Jade be there.”

“I don’t want to draw any unwanted attention,” she replied. “Having backup nearby could give the game away. But we’ll call if we need help.”

“Look like they’re building a fire,” said Jason. “Think they’re planning on burning us to death? I can think of much quicker ways to kill someone.”

“Just be ready.”

They exited the car and headed over to where a large fire was blazing against the still night sky. Only five people were gathered around the fire: Colbane, Antes, Ronnie, an attractive-looking brunette woman, and an unfamiliar black male they didn’t recognize.

The brunette she identified as Bethany Turner, the coven’s High Priestess, and when she met the gaze of the dark stranger, a feeling of unease settled in her stomach – she couldn’t sense what he was and that was never a good thing.

Can you sense anything from that man?
asked Jason.

No. Do you think he’s wearing some kind of amulet?

Cate scanned the stranger deeper with her senses, calling on the full strength of her powers. She felt nothing, not a hint of anything.

“Welcome my friends,” Colbane gave them a cold smile. “Cerys, Declan, allow me to introduce Bethany Turner, High Priestess of the Thorn.”

Bethany’s whiskey-coloured eyes roamed over them both, and Cate’s senses tingled in recognition of another Denai witch, who had an aura of dark energy about her.

Denai witches were born with the powers of both light and dark, a perfect balance of nature that made them more neutral than good or evil. But given the strength they possessed, such power had to be kept in check. Some enjoyed using their gifts to inflict pain and suffering on others until they became a Dark Denai – a soulless killer that needed to feed off pain and fear to survive.

Cate gave her best confused look. “Beth, you never told us that you lead another coven.”

“You didn’t really think she only led your poor excuse for a coven, did you?” Ronnie asked.

“Hush Ronnie,” Bethany snapped. “They’re welcome here.”

Jason automatically bowed his head, following the age-old custom of respect for a Denai witch. Denais didn’t normally use such formality with each other, unless it was to their Grand Mistress or her Second. Another well known fact was that people should never look one of them directly in the eye or she would see into their soul.

“A McCray bows to no one,” was something Seline had ingrained in her. Cate met the other witch’s gaze easily, showing no sign of fear or respect.

Bethany’s eyes widened in surprise.

Ha, bet you’re used to people cowering before you
, Cate thought with disgust.

“You’re supposed to bow your head,” Jason hissed.
Cate, what are you doing?

Trying to read her, obviously.

That was one myth about the Denai which was true, direct eye contact made it easier to read people.

“Let’s just cut the crap, shall we?” asked Cate. “I’m tired of playing games.”

“Take them!” Bethany ordered.

Cate threw up her hand, sending the other Thorn members flying through the air with a burst of kinetic silver sparks. She turned her attention to the black male, blasting him with her magic. He raised his hand, her magic dissolving uselessly against his palm.

“Shit!” she muttered.

Now they were really in trouble. No wonder she couldn’t sense anything from him.
Damn, I should've known!

He was a Null — the only kind of being in existence that was immune to all magic. A Null possessed a kind of anti-magic, which meant no form of it could touch or be used against them. Much like a Denai, when they touched any Magickind, they could use their own magic to strangle them. Nulls were very rare, most never survived childhood, given how deadly they were to all of Magickind.

Sod it, the illusion is over with!
Cate snapped her fingers so their appearances blinked back to normal.

“You!” Bethany snarled. “I can’t believe Seline would be desperate enough to send her own granddaughter after me.”

“Maybe it’s because she knows I’m the only one who can bring you down.”

A fireball formed in Bethany’s hand as she prepared to strike.

Cate raised her own hand exploding the other Denai’s magic.

The members of the Thorn instantly started their magical assault, hurling fireballs and spells in all directions. Cate deflected the fireballs as the invisible energy battered against her, and she felt the amulet against her throat flare with power.

Jason raised his hand, blasting Antes with a stream of static, rendering him unconscious before turning his attention to Fronika.

Colbane flew at Cate, grabbing her by the throat. He was on her, fangs bared, but she knew he wouldn’t bite as Denai blood was lethal to vampires. She brought her fist up, punching him hard in the face and he tightened his grip.

“Get your filthy undead hands off me!” Her eyes flashed silver and Colbane staggered back as the light rippled into his eyes.

He stood there looking dazed as she felt her head start to pound.

What the hell?

Colbane just stood there, motionless.

“Colbane, you fool! Don’t just stand there, kill her!” Bethany cried.

He didn’t respond. Had she somehow compelled him? If so, how? Vampires were normally immune, unless it was at the hands of a Denai medium.

Cate quickly pulled out a pair of handcuffs and tossed them to Colbane, he caught them still staring at her. “Kill the Null,” she ordered. “Then use those to cuff yourself.”

“Yes, Mistress,” he turned and flew at the Null.

Bethany stared in disbelief. “That’s impossible. No Denai – not even the Grand Mistress — can compel both the living and the dead.”

“I must be special then, so why don’t you just give up and come quietly?” Cate asked. “We both know you’re not getting out of this one, Bethany.”

Bethany responded with a round of fireballs, Cate returned fire with blasts of kinesis as they both blocked each other’s magics. Bethany screamed and Cate felt a wry satisfaction to see one of the kinetic blasts had singed some of the other Denai’s hair.

A quick glance told her that Jason had already rounded up the other coven members and was now trying to get hold of the Null. The blasting of magics was getting her nowhere; she had to be close to the other witch to compel her. Feeling the burn of heat against her cheek as a fireball came precariously and then spotted Colbane lying on the ground unconscious after being overpowered by the Null.

Touching her wrist unit, Cate turned on her shield and a protective blue bubble formed around her. She headed towards Bethany at a run, while fireballs battered against her shield. Just as she made a grab for the High Priestess there was a blinding flash of light.

Cate cried out as she suddenly landed on the floor of a darkened room. “What the...?” She looked down at the ground and noticed the glowing lines of a Silveron spell engraved into the wood. She instantly recognised the Denai star etched within the circle.

Oh crap!
Leaping up, she was instantly jolted by a field of energy, trapping her inside.

“Don’t bother.” Bethany appeared from the shadows. “You know spell traps are unbreakable, even for us.”

“Ha, this won’t hold me for long.” She raised her hand; kinetic silver orbs burst against the energy field then slammed back into her.

Her forehead smashed against the floor, the Silveron from the engraving gashing her skin.
Bugger!
Cate knew damn well her magic would only rebound on her. She only had herself to blame for her injuries.

“What the hell do you want with me?” She demanded. “My partner and team won’t be far behind. Jason will crucify you if anything happens to me.”

“They can’t find you if they can’t sense you,” said another voice.

A woman with short, red hair emerged from the shadows. She had a cold kind of beauty and green eyes. She was dressed in a red and black turtleneck dress and spiked heels. Tasha Phelps always liked to look her best.

Well, this is a surprise
.

Cate certainly hadn’t expected to come face-to-face with her arch enemy. Not tonight at least. “Tasha, long time, no see,” she forced a smile. “Though I am disappointed you didn’t come and get me yourself. You don’t normally like people doing your dirty work for you.”

Tasha laughed. “Ah, I
have
missed you, Cate.”

“Wish I could say the feeling was mutual,” she reached for her gun, only to realise it wasn’t there. “So, what's the plan this time? Obviously, you didn’t just bring me here to kill me or you would have done it already.”

“You’re going to find something that we’ve been searching for, for a very long time.”

Tasha grabbed Cate by the throat, causing her skin to instantly burn from the Null’s touch as she was cut off from her powers. Bethany came over and touched Cate’s forehead. She gasped as pain jolted across her temples forcing her eyes to snap shut. Images started flashing in her mind as Bethany forced Cate to use her Sight. The visions came so hard and fast she couldn’t make out what any of it was.

The pain inside her head grew steadily worse, until it threatened to overwhelm her and she could feel blood beginning to trickle down her face. She’d never experienced this many visions all at once before and it was taking its toll. Damned if she was going to let Phelps use her like this is! She brought her knee up hard, hitting Tasha firmly in the abdomen. She grunted and loosened her grip; it was enough to weaken the connection.

Opening her eyes, Cate swung her fist, hitting Tasha in the face and felt the satisfying crunch of bone and cartilage. With another sharp kick, she knocked the Null away from her. Thanks to her proximity, the circle wards were neutralised.

Ignoring the blood pouring from her nose, Cate leapt out of the circle; flinging out her arm, she kinetically threw Bethany against the wall, hard.

Now she needed to get the hell out of there and she wasn’t planning on going alone either, not when she had the Thorn High Priestess and Phelps within her grasp. She could probably grab Bethany and teleport away, but Tasha was another matter.

Gun,
she thought holding out her hand. Silver orbs sparkled forming into her handgun. A quick flick and the safety was off. Cate aimed her weapon and fired a ray of streaming energy, hitting Bethany in the chest. The other Denai slumped against the wall, unconscious.

Too bad Nulls are more resilient than witches
, Cate thought.

She turned and fired at Tasha, who raised a hand to deflect the beam, making her yelp as the energy sizzled against her palm, causing angry red welts to appear.

Cate smirked. “You didn’t really expect me to be stupid enough to use magical energy, did you?”

She fired repeatedly. Tasha leapt out of the way as Cate continued to shoot endless rays of energy, setting the weapon to full stun. There were only so many places in the room for Tasha to run to. Obviously Phelps had had practice at dodging ray blasts, since she was skilfully avoiding every stream.

“Until next time,” Tasha snarled and fled.

“Bugger!” she cursed and holstered her gun.
Damn and double damn! Next time use bullets! There’s no point in going after her.

Cate started looking around for some form of escape, but the room didn’t seem to have any visible doors or windows anywhere. Grabbing hold of Bethany, silver orbs sparkled around them as she tried to teleport.

Cate slammed into the floor as her body reformed, and Bethany landed beside her. Of course, the place would be heavily warded to stop anyone from teleporting in or out. She swayed a little but ignored her head, which was pounding like a heavy drum.

“Jason?” she called, hoping he would appear and get her the hell out of there.

No response. From the static in her ear she knew her comm link wasn’t working either.

Fine, then she’d use the only other way out she had. Turning her attention back to Bethany, Cate gripped the other witch’s wrist, knowing that skin to skin contact would make the compulsion a lot easier. Bethany’s dark eyes opened, just as silver orbs rippled into them with what little strength Cate had left.

Compelling other Denais was a lot harder than any other Magickind, since it required a lot more energy. She was the only one able to do so.

“Get me out of this room,” Cate commanded.

Bethany’s eyes glowed momentarily. “Yes, Mistress.” The High Priestess got to her feet and walked over to the opposite wall, where a door shimmered into view and yanked it open.

Cate followed Bethany outside into a dimly lit courtyard. “Where the hell are we?”

“At the compound. Mistress, you’re bleeding.”

Cate ignored that last remark and quickly looked around to see people hurrying toward them, her weakened senses warned of imminent danger.

“Go, use your powers to compel and immobilise them. Tie them up or do something so they won’t be able to escape.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Bethany ran off in the other direction.

Cate knew the compound’s electronic wards were programmed to only let certain people teleport in and out, and she didn’t have the energy to break through it.

“Jason!” she called again. Still no response.

Damn!
She was going to need backup to put the other coven members under arrest, and Goddess only knew how long her compulsion would last on Bethany.

Cate needed to disable the wards, so she could let the others in or at least find a phone. Bethany was only one witch; if one of the other coven members overpowered her she’d lose her only ally.

She then remembered Colbane. He should still be under her control, since she hadn’t removed it, and it wouldn’t have had time to wear off on its own yet either. Anyone under compulsion had no choice but to obey. Since the vampire was still bound to her by magic, she should be able to call him.

Colbane?
she called out with her mind, ignoring the pain it caused her.
Colbane, come to me now, bring Jason Talbot with you
.
Let down the wards.

Colbane appeared at her side. “Mistress.”             

There was a bright flash of static as Jason appeared. “Ah, thank the gods. You look like hell.”

“Thanks a lot,” she said then smiled. “Call for backup, we’ll need help taking this lot to the Tower.”

“We brought in fifteen Covenant members, not bad for a night’s work.” Jason looked over to where Cate was laid down on the settee with an ice pack on her head and tissues in her nostrils to stop the flow of blood.

“I can’t believe Bethany got away! Tasha must have grabbed her because I know she was still under my control.”

“I still can’t believe you almost got yourself killed!” he replied. “We knew it was a trap, we shouldn’t have gone in without backup.”

“We got them, didn’t we? That’s the most important thing.”

“Not as important as you are,” he retorted and his eyes flashed with anger.

Jason hated her recklessness; at times it infuriated him. He’d been out of his mind with worry as soon as he realised she had disappeared. Tending to her wounds was becoming a disturbing habit lately, as was the toll her powers were taking on her body.

Cate looked up at him in surprise. “Don’t start with the over-protectiveness again.”

“I can’t help it – I – you’re my partner. I care about your safety,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “I think you should talk to Seline about your powers.”

Cate’s forehead creased into a frown. “Why?”

“Because every time you use them lately, it weakens you. Don't think I haven’t noticed how frequent the headaches and nosebleeds are getting, despite how much you try to hide them. I’m worried about you, Cate.”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure as hell don’t look it. You need to talk to your grandmother. I’ve never seen other Denais harmed by their powers the way you are.”

“I’m not most Denais though, am I?” she said. “I’m the Goddess Marked.” Cate sighed and he knew how much she hated that term.

“Please just talk to Seline. Perhaps she can help, I hate seeing you suffer like this.” He paused. “Look, if you don’t tell her, I will.”

Her eyes flashed and narrowed as she snarled, “You wouldn’t dare!”

“I would if it’ll help and stop you being like this all the time.”

Cate groaned. “Fine, I’ll talk to her later. It’d be nice not having to need you to take care of me all the time.”

Jason smiled. “Ever think that I might actually enjoy taking care of you?”

“Why? Do you think of me as your sister or something?”

“Or something,” he replied and removed the ice pack.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he pulled away the tissues.

“Taking care of you.” Jason held his palm against her forehead calling on his elemental energy.

The gash over her forehead closed and faded, just as colour returned to her skin making her look well again. He gently caressed her cheek, brushing away any lasting sign of injury. Feeling the energy burning between them, their eyes locked for a moment. They were so close he could easily have bent down to kiss her. Realising what he was doing, Jason quickly pulled away and rose to his feet.

Cate sat up and frowned. “How did you do that? I didn’t know you could heal people.”

“I can’t – well, not the same way Ian can. I just gave you some of my energy and enhanced your natural healing ability. Feel better?”

She smiled. “I feel wonderful — you really are full of surprises, Talbot.”

You have no idea
, he thought. “Well, now you know. Good night.” He turned to go.

“You don’t have to hide things from me. I’m your partner and friend — you know you can tell me anything.”

If only that were true
, he thought sadly. “We can’t tell each other everything.”

“Why not? Most people can’t hide anything from me. I know you’re more than you seem to be,” Cate paused. “I was able to compel Colbane tonight. It scared me,” she admitted. “I know I can compel ghosts, see them and summon them, but I’ve never been able to compel a vampire, especially one as powerful as Colbane,” she hugged herself. “Sometimes I wonder what I’m turning into.”

Her powers were really growing rapidly. Jason turned and went over to sit beside her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t have to be afraid of your powers.”

“Denais compel the living and Denai mediums compel the dead. No one has ever been able to do both. You’re afraid of what my powers are becoming, you might be immune to my magic but I know you,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder if my powers are too much for me to handle — that one day they’ll push my body too far.”

“Don’t say that. You wouldn’t have been given these gifts if you couldn’t handle them. That I do know.”

“Your eyes are glowing,” Cate said in surprise.

“What?” He instantly jumped up.
Crap!
He turned away briefly and blinked a few times.

“Your eyes just glowed.”

“Er – maybe you’re tired and thought you saw something. My eyes don’t glow.”

“I definitely saw them. They do that when you get angry sometimes.”

“Must be an elemental thing — besides, I’m not angry.” No, he was definitely feeling the opposite of angry.
Fuck, Talbot, you really need to be more careful.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he told her.

Jason fled to the safety of his room and sighed. Gods above, it was getting harder to control himself around her.
Get a hold of yourself. You know damn well you can never be with her.
He groaned and cursed; his feelings had almost given him away.

Damn, he had more restraint than this. Centuries of living had taught him how to contain his emotions. He had learned everything he needed to not appear more than he pretended to be. But gods be damned, he seemed to lose all control around Cate.