Binding Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Rudi nodded. “Do it.”

  Shukra opened the pouch, but before he could administer it the wounded Ghandarva stopped bucking and lay still.

  What? I glanced at Banner

  He is dead.

  No, that couldn’t be. He was a celestial being … they are immortal.

  But not immune to harm. His injuries must have been severe. Paimon’s tone was somber.

  And waking him from the healing sleep hadn’t helped. Were we responsible for his death? The look on his brothers’ faces was answer enough.

  “You. You woke him. You did this!” Ajit pointed a trembling finger in our direction. Banner pulled me against him, his body tense. Rudi was sobbing softly.

  “And you’ve been hiding a crime,” Banner said.

  Ajit blinked. “What are you talking about?”

  A disturbance in the air behind me alerted me to the arrival of more creatures. Several more Ghandarva, accompanied by Vritra, burst into the room.

  One by one the Ghandarva fell to their knees and a low keening filled the air.

  Banner’s arms tightened around me.

  I cleared my throat. “Your brother was with my friend Urvashi when she went missing just over a week ago. She’s an apsara. We found Ghandarva feathers strewn all over the place. Your brother’s wings are wounded.”

  Ajit blinked. “Yes. We know Urvashi. She’s missing?”

  “She was, but she turned up safe and sound, except she’s not herself. She’s not the only apsara who was taken. Several were, but they all returned at the same time as if … as if nothing had happened.”

  Ajit traded glances with his weeping brother. “He was seeing her.”

  Rudi swiped at his tears. “You think whatever took these apsara hurt our brother.”

  I lifted my chin. “I’m sure of it.”

  “So you broke into our home to question, Dharma?”

  Dharma, the dead Ghandarva’s name was Dharma. I nodded. “Our intention was to get some answers. Your bother was part of an ongoing investigation. The IEPEU are looking into this. If you’d informed the authorities about the attack on him then—”

  “No.” Ajit made a slashing motion with his hand. “We do not bow to your mortal laws. An assault on one of ours will be answered in kind. We will make sure of it.”

  Except we have no idea who assaulted him. Paimon growled in exasperation.

  Shukra sighed. “Is there anyone else who may be able to shed some light on all this? It seems far-fetched. If the apsara are home and claim to all is fine, then what makes you so sure the cases are connected? Dharma could have been attacked elsewhere, maybe a brawl of some kind? What were his wounds like?”

  “What about the feathers all over Urvashi’s apartment?” Rudi said looking to me for confirmation.

  I nodded. “There were definite signs of a struggle.”

  Shukra pressed his lips together.

  Ajit gently peeled away the tape covering Dharma’s abdomen. The stench of death, sickly sweet hit the back of my throat.

  Paimon gagged. And Banner slapped a hand over his mouth. But it was the wound that had me fascinated. Four deep claw marks, seeping green fluorescent pus ran across his torso. The flesh on either side was swollen and bulging.

  “It looks infected,” Banner said.

  “Ghandarva don’t get infections,” Vritra said. His deep baritone was reflective.

  “The wounds could be Yaksha.” I stepped closer to examine them better. “Except they’re too far apart, suggesting large hands. A wide hand span.”

  “And the pain he was in,” Ajit said. “He barely made it back to the nest and was incoherent when we found him. We’d hoped the healing sleep would bring him back to us.”

  “And now he’s gone … if you’d let him sleep …” Rudi said.

  “There is no proof the healing sleep would have saved his life.” Vritra said. He turned his attention to me. “Why didn’t you just ask the Ghandarva for their assistance instead of breaking into their home?”

  “Would you have given us access?” Banner asked Ajit. “Honestly?”

  Ajit clenched his teeth. “This is Ghandarva business and outsiders, however invested, are not welcome.”

  Well there was his answer. They would have shut us out.

  Vritra sighed. “If there is something untoward taking place in the city then we must work together to stop it. I will contact the IEPEU, find out what we can about the case. Maybe there are some clues that have been missed.”

  Shukra stood up straighter, his beard twitching. “I won’t rest until Dharma’s killer is brought to justice.”

  “We care nothing for the city.” Ajit said. “All we want is the creature who did this.”

  The other Ghandarva moved to flank Dharma’s dead body.

  “Please, leave us to our mourning. The celebration is over.”

  My heart sank. Our only lead was gone and we were back to square one.

  Paimon’s agitation was like my own … his impatience was my impatience. We were becoming too entwined. If we didn’t find the attacker soon, then I’d lose myself completely.

  Vritra led us back to the lift.

  I turned to him. “There has to be something more we can do than ask questions.”

  Vritra sighed. “Gathering information is all we can do. Unfortunately Dharma took his memories into death with him.”

  Memories … of course. We just needed something belonging to the Ghandarva. Something tied to him like hair or blood or … “Feather. We just need a feather.”

  Shukra’s eyes narrowed “What do you mean?”

  “We can use a feather to craft a spell linking to his memories.” I looked to Banner. “My mother did it once when my father passed away. She used a lock of his hair. I don’t know what the spell was, but you can find out, right?”

  Banner blinked down at me and then smiled. “Yes. I can. But the longer we wait the more difficult it will be to forge that connection.”

  There was so much mother hadn’t taught me about magick, about the skein. But then why teach someone who was unable to practice? It hadn’t stopped me from observing her though, of building a knowledge base of what could and couldn’t be achieved.

  Banner tried to side-step Shukra “I’ll go get a feather.”

  Shukra blocked him.

  Paimon spat some word I didn’t recognize. From the inflection I guessed it was a curse.

  Shukra puffed up his chest. “Now is not the time to be asking the Ghandarva for anything. You’re lucky they are permitting you to leave with your lives.”

  The lift arrived and Vritra ushered us in. “Shukra is right. Leave it to me. I’ll ask them tomorrow.”

  But we didn’t need to ask. “No need. I have a feather back at my flat. I took it from Urvashi’s house.”

  Banner’s brows flicked up. “Great. I’ll get started crafting first thing tomorrow. It’s a complex manipulation so it may take some time.”

  “So we’ll see what he saw?” Vritra asked.

  “If I can get the spell right, we’ll be able to scroll through his most recent memories,” Banner said.

  We are close. So close.

  Yes we were. And this time tomorrow we could have our answers.

  21

  B anner was busy getting shit together for the spell. The feather was the key ingredient though, and it was back at my flat in my black tote bag. But first I had a shift at the soup kitchen. Things had been so busy recently, and leaving Victor to fend solo was not an option.

  The soup kitchen was heaving. Mira, in her older woman guise, stood behind the counter ladling as fast as she could. The clatter of pans in the kitchen was followed by Honey’s harassed figure bustling into the main room. She spotted me and sagged.

  “Thank god you’re here. I turned up with the food delivery to find Caro swamped.”

  Caro? Who the heck was … oh, yeah, Mira in her new form. “Where’s Victor?”

  She shrugged. “Look. I’m happy to stay a
nd help. It looks like you need it.”

  More people pushed through the doors. I looked them over, alarm bells ringing. The homeless and needy had a certain look, a certain aura, and the group of teens that had just walked through the door had neither. They were clean, well dressed and, upon closer inspection, high.

  Honey stiffened. “Want me to get rid of them?”

  I shook my head. “I’ll speak to them.”

  Paimon stirred, suddenly alert. He seemed to be going away for longer periods of time recently. Growing silent and drifting away. I was afraid to ask if this was another symptom of the binding. What was happening to the djinn linked to me?

  The lads giggled as I approached.

  “Hey guys,” I kept my tone light and friendly. “I think you’ve accidentally stumbled into the wrong place. This is a soup kitchen for the needy.”

  The tallest of the group nudged the stocky one.

  “We’re needy. In need of some munchies.”

  “There’s a takeaway up the street. You can get your munchies there. Now, please leave.”

  The smile vanished from his face, and his red rimmed eyes hardened. “Make us.”

  Paimon’s energy surged up inside me, searing my skin. My face tingled and burned.

  “What the—” the ring leader fell back against his comrades. “Fucking hell.”

  They turned and ran for the exit, slamming out into the night.

  What had just happened? I reached up to touch my face, the hard jaw, the aquiline nose … no, no, this wasn’t my face. It wasn’t me. Panic squeezed my chest.

  Paimon?

  The features melted away beneath my fingertips until I had my face back.

  Oh, god … how …

  They’ll believe it was an illusion caused by the drugs in their bloodstream.

  He sounded tired and far away.

  Paimon? What’s happening?

  I don’t know …

  The surge at the counter had died down, and Caro aka Mira and Honey stood chatting amiably. Well it probably looked amiable to anyone who didn’t know what Mira was. I’d seen the way she’d looked at the other woman when Honey had been introduced to Victor. That hinn was up to something. I liked Honey and there was no way I’d let the hinn harm her. Victor wasn’t here right now, so the chance of the hinn doing something impulsive in the throes of jealousy was slim. Great, because right now I had a bigger problem.

  “Caro, can I have a quick word?” I ushered her into the kitchen and lowered my voice. “There’s something wrong with Paimon.”

  Mira was instantly alert. “What have you done to him?”

  “Me? Done to him? He’s the one who took over my body, remember?” I waved my hands in shoeing motion. “But never mind that. I’m worried about him. Listen. Paimon? Paimon?” There was no answer. “See? He’s been getting worse the last couple of days and now he sounds real far away. He sounds exhausted. What’s going on?”

  Mira cursed in a strange language. Either that, or she was spitting words with vehemence for some other reason.

  “Mira, you need to tell me what’s happening. Things have been super weird lately and just now … he changed my face.”

  Her eyes flared in panic. “That’s why he kept sending me off on errands. He didn’t want me to know how bad it was. Paimon. Paimon, come on wake up!” She shook me.

  Mira? What?

  “We’re out of time. You need to unbind. Unbind now. We’ll go back home and wait for you to gather your strength, and when we come back we’ll find another host and start from scratch. This union will prove fatal.”

  Yes, unbind. That’s what I wanted right? The word fatal resonated in my head. “What do you mean, fatal? How?”

  “What does it matter to you? Your aid was reluctant at best, and now you have the chance to be free of the burden. Go on with your life.” She looked through me. “Paimon, what we suspected is coming to pass. You must untether yourself.”

  Almost there. We will have a name …

  Mira focused on me. “You have a name?”

  “We will in a few hours. Banner is preparing a spell. I just need to pick up the final element from my flat.”

  “Then what are you doing here? Go. Go now. Once we have a name, once we know what we are hunting, the predator will become the prey.” She switched her focus, her eyes growing dazed. “I will find this creature and tear out its heart, my lord. Do not lose yourself.”

  Mira was right, I needed to get to my flat, grab the feather, and get back to Banner’s. We needed to complete the spell and find the culprit. A week ago I’d have happily sat back and let the djinn die, but now … he was more than just an invasive presence, forcing me to do his bidding. He’d become the voice in my head, the comforting presence when I was afraid, and the voice of reason against an impulse decision.

  Paimon was fading, and I couldn’t lose him.

  22

  M ira promised to meet me at Banner’s. I had no idea how I’d explain her presence to him, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. The moon was high tonight, still full from the night before, and the street was bathed in silver. It was around eight in the evening, still early by city standards, and pedestrian traffic was at a peak. The bakery was close enough to Piccadilly square to benefit from the activity, and my flat above it got the most of the city night-life hum. It was soothing, a reminder I wasn’t alone.

  Skirting round the back of the building, I climbed the stairs to my apartment and let myself in. The flat was dark, the only light streaming in from the window. Now, where had I put the bag I’d had on me that day? The built-in closet, that’s where. Two seconds later the bag was in my hands, a quick check showed the feather to be nestled within. Great. I took a step toward the door and froze as a shiver of awareness skated up my spine. Someone was in the flat with me …

  Carmella … something …

  A shadow detached itself from the corner of the room and lunged at me. Shit. No. I turned to run, but it was on me. The floor rose up to greet my face and the air shot out of my lungs. The thing flipped me over, its huge mass straddling me. I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. The hands … huge clawed hands.

  Oh god this was it. The creature we’d been looking for. It raised an arm, ready to swipe.

  I was going to die.

  My wrists flared in agony. Every cell in my body fizzed to life and icy energy shot out of me, slamming into the beast and forcing it back.

  Carmella, run!

  Paimon was too far away. Too far … but I was at the door, the handle in my hand, until it wasn’t, and I was being hauled back into the room. Green eyes flashed from within a mass of vibrating shadow. The monster froze as if listening, as if considering something. Those glowing green eyes widened and then narrowed to slits. It raised its dreadful paw and slammed it against the side of my head.

  Darkness claimed me.

  _____

  Carmella. Wake up … Now! An icy breeze kissed my brow. Wake up … grave danger.

  Danger? The shadow monster in my flat … I sat up to shadows and gloom.

  “Where are we?”

  Underground. There are rooms. I do not understand.

  Underground rooms? “How do you know?”

  Your phone … bars … reception …”

  I couldn’t catch his words. He was fading in and out. Dammit.

  My phone was by my side. Full battery but, like Paimon had said, no signal. Shit. I stood and checked out the room. Not that there was much to check out. It had been stripped bare. The carpet was gone and even the light bulb had been taken. There was no window, only a door.

  There was something familiar about this set up. It reminded me of home. Not the home I’d grown up in, but the one I’d traded it in for when joining the guild. As the archive librarian for the assassin’s guild, I’d been offered accommodation. I’d taken it, loving the secrecy and security of the underground apartments housing the majority of the guild assassins and employees. But the guild had been
closed down.

  Carmella … get out … here …

  Why had it left me alive? Why not just kill me? But then it hadn’t killed the apsaras … but I wasn’t an apsara. What did it want from me?

  Carmella … dammit woman …

  Okay. Right. Escape time. “You with me?”

  Silence. “Paimon?”

  Always. His sounded a little closer. More present.

  Good.

  I reached for the door expecting it to be locked, but the handle turned easily. We stepped into a larger room, also stripped bare, but the kitchen area was still distinguishable. An apartment similar to the ones I used to have. Way too similar. We stepped outside. Oh shit. I knew this corridor. There was no running from the fact we were in the guild accommodations under Soho.

  “Paimon, Mira traced the essence to Soho.”

  Yes.

  “We’re under Soho, probably right below that spot, which means it was here all along. The djinn were brought here.” My pulse fluttered. We were in the belly of the beast, but instead of fear, excitement fizzed in my veins. “The creature must have used a sewer access to get down here.”

  The set up was built around the city’s sewage system. There must be some breach, some access I didn’t know about.

  Can … guide … out?

  Crap he was drifting away again. I needed him. “Stay with me. I think I can get us into the guild building, but then …” Crap. Exit had been by palm scan, and it was highly unlikely any of the technology was operational now. The building was boarded up. The electricity was probably turned off too.

  What?

  I explained the problem.

  It’s … only exit … know … head to it … Figure the rest when we get there.

  Okay. I projected.

  Keeping alert, I moved fast through the corridors until the access door to the guild offices appeared. The panel on the wall was dead. No yellow light.

  We’re not getting out this way. I projected.

  Wait. Look, its open.

  Yes … it was open a crack. A gentle push and I was through into the stairwell leading up to the offices. There’d be another door, and if this one was open then …