Page 55 (1/1)

I re Cherokee on the Trail of Tears, and gaining ly is a shape-shifter and a witch and a deles all at once"

"Yes It cannot be killed, only bound and banished, as I feared"

"Yeah," I said "That part we got Thank you, Aggie One Feather I’ll call later" I thu with Rick in the corner Kemnebi, in hu particular attention to the sole surviving olf Lincoln Shaddock had disappeared earlier and reappeared now in a burst of vamp speed and displaced air He looked pinker andfed well I didn’t ask who he snacked on He brought Pickersgill with hielina while orked

The bases had been removed from the walls and stacked in the other room There were a lot of us, five witches, a were-cat and a were-cat in training, a va, spelled olf and parts of a dead olf And the deuest of honor

There were talisrareen Shedown the street, because nothing alive was left in Evangelina’s garden Big Evan had a flute carved of pale wood Cia had a huge er than two fists held together, like an oval crystal ball, its surface catching the light in rainbow hues The toddler ide awake, strapped into his car seat, kicking and saying disconnected words about bananas Molly seeibberish to me He had a feather and a holly leaf tucked under one of the straps Dad was an air sorcerer, and Maelina had a pile of stuff: a black rock, a withered leaf, a piece of bark, a wilting daisy, a silver earring, a haing feather, and a doll It was Ka Nvsita, a Cherokee doll I had given her It had been in Molly’s van Nothing in the pile made sense, especially the doll All witches have an affinity to y in one area or another: moon, earth, water, stone, air, soies, but they all have one area of particular strength Angie Baby had s, the feather, and ame When she saw my puzzlement, she lifted a shoulder and went back to her conversation Molly wasn’t worried Angie was a witch whiz kid; kids weren’t supposed to have ic until puberty No one kneas about to happen with Angie’s gift

The de as far away fro more real and solid than ever And er, blacker, ood and evil forms, the polar opposites of each other, like skinwalkers and liver-eaters, witches of the light and blood-witches, civilized varoup that helped hurilled with onions Or raw

I slid away from them, to the floor in the corner,I could do to help except give blood, but, like Rick, I wasn’t gonna ainst mine His eyes widened when he felt the knife belted there I let row "Better safe than sorry"

He grinned back "I got thirty-eight silver reasons to agree" Meaning that he had a 38 handgun loaded with silver strapped to his ankle or in a boot sheath We ood team

We stayed out of the hile the witches discussed the ways and language they would use to call the angel and planned out the working they would use to bind the de whistles and chirps and setting the redAlmost as if they reacted to his tension Almost as if they were alive

Outside, the e to hunt, to mate, to roam the dark, free and powerful To feel the air in our pelt, scenting and tasting and hearing the life of the world Ke it too, his heart rate a little fast, his sweat s of excite in his sleep, paws running

Big Evan ca a cut-crystal bowl and an atha, he grabbedindrawn breath My blood welled, scarlet Evan whispered the name, "Kalona Ayeliski"

The witches all sat The Raven Mocker screa

I juhed under his breath "Not funny," I lared at me "If you can’t be quiet, we’ll ask you to leave We have enough proble"

"Sorry," I , as if he were suppressing silent laughter I wanted to punch hiet ather," Evan said My humor disappeared as if bloay by a hurricane It was siather for son language, in unison, like recitation Irish Gaelic, I thought, the language Molly and her sisters use when they do a e, flowing like a strea Fs, and long, sibilant Hs I foundin, closer to the ht have been in a Cherokee cere Evan leading the phrases, the others repeating the as if he wanted to join in, his pudgy hands gripping the straps of the car seat I was re up intothat I help his spelled family

And then I heard the word Hayyel fall from Evan’s mouth And the others repeated it "Hayyel Hayyel Hayyel" Over and over again, the syllables falling like a drumbeat, or a heartbeat, rhyth strea arc My heartbeat found the rhythel’s na, for it was a calling, a repeated prayer "Hayyel Hayyel Hayyel"

Evan leaned forward and took the flute in his hands The others each took up their talis both the holly leaf and the feather, one in each fist, his ar up and down in exciteie’s ie Baby’s eyes ide, her lips parted, face flushed "Hayyel Hayyel Hayyel" they all said She was holding the doll, the other things forgotten AndThe doll’s eyes were glowing I shrank back against the wall The doll’s eyes were glowing golden, likeup in lass eyes could-- But this was e of thorns, the oke up, eyes wide and uely aware of Lincoln Shaddock as he left the roo like a faint, dry wind "Hayyel Hayyel Hayyel"

As the others repeated the chant of the angel’s na melody on his flute, Molly added words to the chant, like a descant sung in soft minor notes, "Kalona Ayeliski Kalona Ayeliski"

The Raven Mocker stood in the center of his cage and screa, pure and brighter than the sun I shrank back, covering h my arms, my bones, my lids, intoattacking the de atoht of the center of the universe And the darkness of a black hole, eness The sound of bells, high winds, roaring waves Echoes and echoes of a perfect, pure note sung for eternity Screaether, in coers into the blood in the crystal bowl and flung the e Above it all, I heard Molly start the binding words, "Hayyel, bíodh sé daor, le ht went out The burn on"Mo chuht had disappeared The fighting angel and deone Hedge of thorns was gone The blood was gone The salt coone The black paint on the floor was gone, leaving a circle of concrete, seared pure white And silence No one ainst the retinal burn

A olf lay on the floor in wolf form, asleep or dead; not the wolf he had been, not reddish brown and wild, but a huge, pure white wolf, with only a hint of gray in his ruff Kem was on the far side of the rooht, none of his spots visible after the blast of light Rick was holding ainst me in the corner, his eyes unfocused and wide He smelled of cat, wild and ht now, only his tats holding him to human form Everyone two-natured was affected Except me I just felt curiouslyempty I reached for BeastBeast?

Upstairs, a door slammed A door? Dazed, I shook my head to clear it "Crap," I said I shoved away fro over Evil Evie’s skirt, blinking away the afteriill was skewered to the floor with a stake in his belly, bleeding like a stuck pig Evangelina was no longer asleep on the floor And Lincoln, who had torn out of the base as well