“Aiden—”
“Shut up and let me concentrate.”
I did. Even with my weight, he was getting up the hill far faster than I could.
But as we neared the top, there was a huge whoosh of energy and a fireball of heat lit up the night sky.
Belle? I silently screamed, my heart going a million miles an hour.
Safe, still safe, she said quickly. But the bitch is now hunting me.
Keep under the water as long as you can. We’re not far away.
I’m a familiar, not a goddamn fish.
We reached the top of the hill. The valley below rolled out before us, a dark expanse lit by two fires—one the burning wreckage of Aiden’s truck, the other, less bright fire the soucouyant.
Over the water and hunting Belle.
“Quick, put me down, Aiden.”
Even as he obeyed, I began adding to the spell already twined around my fingers. I threw in everything I could think of, making it a combination of the fire spell that protected the café, wild magic, and the repelling spell. Then I took a deep breath and cast it, with as much force as I could muster, at the soucouyant.
The effort had my knees buckling, and I would have fallen had Aiden not grabbed me. I didn’t say anything; I just watched, my heart beating so fiercely it felt ready to tear out of my chest. The fierce, pulsing ball of red, gold, and silver rocketed toward the soucouyant, but at the very last moment, she seemed to sense it and spun around. The ball hit the middle of her fiery form and then exploded. The force tore a scream from her body and sent her spiraling at speed away from the lake, away from Castle Rock.
It wasn’t until her flames winked from sight that I in any way relaxed. Belle, she’s gone.
That was some fucking spell you hit her with, she said. Where’d you drag that one from?
Desperation is the mother of invention. I glanced at Aiden. “The soucouyant is down for the night, but not dead.”
“And Belle?”
“Safe.”
“Does she want me to arrange someone to come pick her up?”
I silently asked the question and then shook my head. “She said it’ll be quicker and easier if she simply walks back.”
“Good.” His gaze went to his burning truck for a second and then he touched my back lightly. “We’d better return to the house and see what sort of mess the soucouyant has left behind.”
I turned and headed down the hill. Aiden called in his troops but kept close, touching my elbow and holding me steady the few times I slipped on the stony ground.
“We tried knocking front and back, but got no response,” Monty said, as we neared. “Is Belle okay?”
“Yes, but the second soucouyant is no more.”
His eyebrows rose. “The explosion destroyed her? I wouldn’t have thought that possible.”
“It wasn’t. Our spells gave way and Belle super-soaked the soucouyant before it could crisp her.”
“Shit.” Monty thrust a hand through his hair. “How are we going to find the other one now?”
“That’s your problem, not ours,” I bit back. “And I’m sure Belle will appreciate your concern over her safety.”
Surprise, and perhaps a bit of contriteness, crossed his expression. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Argue about that on your own time,” Aiden said. “We’ve a crime scene to investigate. Ashworth, Eli, can you two keep watch out here? Just in case that bitch comes back?” He glanced at Monty and me. “Ready?”