Spellmaker

“There’s enough light for them to get here without problem. They’ll park the carriage around back.” She could hear the horses approaching the barn now, struggling through the weeds.

Bacchus nodded. “All will be well. I was just admiring the dogwood.”

“Oh.” She peered out the window, but didn’t see any of the tall branches or white buds that hugged the stonemasonry shop. She leaned forward, searching, but saw only meadow, distant trees, and far-off hills slowly being swallowed by night’s shadow.

“Where is—”

Ice flashed through her limbs.

Dogwood.

Her mind flashed back to their moment outside the stonemasonry shop, standing in the bushes’ shade. It will be a password, of sorts.

She’d heard two songs when Master Raven cast his spell. Bacchus had been outside, alone.

Merton was already here. And she hadn’t brought a lackey—she’d made one on the fly.

Bacchus.

Her heart blenched as one of the alley doors flew open, Irene hurrying inside, breathless, Ogden right behind her. He nearly shut her skirt in the door.

“That’s that,” he said. “Now we—”

Elsie whirled around. “Take Raven and run!”

Confusion flashed across Irene’s features, but Ogden stiffened, tense.

Elsie rushed for them. “Get him out—”

The old floorboards of the barn bucked and shook, sending Elsie to a knee. They threw Master Raven and Irene to the ground; Ogden grabbed the door latch and stayed upright, his eyes darting to Bacchus, whose hand was outstretched.

“What are you doing?” Ogden barked, just as the floor grew up over their feet.

Elsie’s heartbeat threatened to break skin. “She’s controlling him!” She slid her hands over the misshaped mounds binding her down and broke the spell. Irene had already done the same and ran to Ogden to free him, only to have the floor swallow her steps and knock her down, nearly twisting her ankle.

Bacchus turned and marched toward Raven, throwing a spell at Elsie that thickened the air around her. She might as well have been walking through a ball of yarn. She saw the glimmering rune ahead of her, but reaching it was like trying to breathe honey.

Bacchus grabbed Master Raven by the lapels and shoved him onto the floor. Master Raven’s clothing stiffened around him, making him look more like a nutcracker than a man. Pinning one of his hands down, Bacchus made the wood mold up around it and harden into a shackle.

Elsie, lungs struggling to breathe, reached the rune and untied it. The return of normal gravity had her collapsing to the floor, gasping for air.

“Now that I have your attention,” said a sweet voice. Elsie whirled around to see Merton near the center paddock door, dressed in simple violet, her gray hair pulled back into a thin twist. The smile on her face faltered. “We have a spellbreaker on the loose, Master Kelsey.”

She pointed not at Elsie, but at Irene, who had again freed herself and was crawling toward Ogden. Standing, Bacchus motioned his right forward, and a burst of wind swept across the barn, picking Irene up off her feet and slamming her into the alley doors.

“Stop!” Elsie cried, running for her friend, but a rune sparked to life near her knees, thickening the air once more. This time, however, it was only the air around her legs.

“Ogden!” Elsie screamed.

Ogden shook his head. His face was red and perspiring from his struggle against Bacchus’s spell. “I can’t get to her! She has the same thing Phillips had . . .” The air tingled as a rational spell swam to Merton. “No, not the same. Different—”

“You’re so noisy on your own, Cuthbert,” Merton said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. Her gaze moved to Master Raven. “After all these years, this is how we meet? I was hoping it would be on friendlier terms.”

Master Raven spat in Merton’s direction.

She was unfazed, her eyes shifting to Elsie. “I still want to have a real chat, my dear. Just you and I.”

Incredulous, Elsie didn’t know what to say. She bent over and untied the spell holding her in place.

“I’ll let him go if you come with me.”

She froze. Merton didn’t mean Master Raven.

Elsie’s gaze moved to Bacchus, who stood guard over the American, waiting for his next command. He was straight and unmoving, yet in his eyes Elsie saw despair. Resistance.

Blinking to clear her vision, Elsie whispered, “Where is it? The spell?”

“Really?” Merton complained, but she was looking past Elsie. “You can’t stay down?”

Elsie turned to see Irene freeing Ogden from his binds.

“It really is pointless to keep you alive.” She waved a hand, and Bacchus raised his.

“Bacchus, no!” Elsie ran toward him. The air crackled as lightning shot from his fingertips.

Elsie intercepted it, feeling a jolt up her arm as she dis-spelled the blast just as she had with Nash at Seven Oaks.

“Impressive!” Merton cheered. “You’re such a wonderful asset, Elsie. Surely we can work things out. I’ll move on without you if I must, but—”