Page 24 of Balor

Ben tilted his head as he used his enhanced senses to pick up on conversations and movements the rest of us might miss. “They’re talking about a ritual. I think Thaddeus is going to sacrifice Belladonna’s child to strengthen his magick.”

I clenched my hands, the familiar rage building inside me. Like I’d ever let that fucking happen. “What else did you hear?”

“There are at least a dozen guards. I can also hear chanting farther inside the building. It’s faint, but it’s there.”

I opened up my senses and tried to discern exactly what we’d be walking into. I sensed more people, some with weapons in addition to their magick. And farther inside, a room that felt… wrong. Almost as if it had been tainted by something.

“We’ll have to split up to hit them all at once,” I said.

Jackson snorted. “Or you could wait a moment. We’re in the south near a plantation. Give me a few minutes and you’ll have a large army at your disposal.”

I glanced around. “Confederate and Union soldiers?”

He shrugged. “Among others. I also sense Native American remains, some slaves, and there’s a family cemetery behind the house with generations of the family just lying beneath the dirt.”

I winced. The thought of raising slaves felt wrong on so many levels. Those people had suffered enough already. Same for the Native Americans. “Is it possible to only raise the soldiers?”

Jackson’s eyebrow rose. “Fine. If that’s what you want. It will add about thirty people to our numbers. If I had to guess, this plantation was used as a hospital ward during the Civil War.”

“What about animals?” Clay asked.

“A lot of sheep.” Jackson grinned. “But there are also wolves, mountain lions, a few bear, and…”

He tipped his head to the side as if trying to reach out to those under the soil. I waited, hoping he’d continue. Jackson closed his eyes and took a breath, then started to chant under his breath. His hands glowed as he held them out over the ground, and a green light suffused the earth beneath our feet and shot out in every direction.

The ground began to rumble, and soon bodies -- both human and animal -- began to rise. I blinked when I saw some bison joining the misfit undead army. I also saw three herds of deer, even though I wasn’t sure what good they’d be. In the distance, I heard screams and knew the necromancer had also raised bodies around the house and the guards had spotted them.

“Find the person responsible!” someone yelled. Possibly Thaddeus.

“What are these? Zombies?” someone else asked.

I glanced at Jackson, who merely winked at me. “These undead aren’t going down unless either I do, or if I give them the command to rest again. And as you commanded, I left the slaves and Native Americans alone.”

We breached the gates of the plantation and surged forward, with Clay shifting into his bear form. Ben’s fangs flashed in the moonlight, and an unholy glint entered his eyes. Looked like it was going to be feeding time for him. I just hoped he didn’t bring any of them back as vampires. That was the last thing we needed.

I’d wanted to leave Belladonna behind, but as she’d pointed out, being alone would put her in greater danger. So she stood beside Collin, tossing spells at her ex-coven members, and keeping up with the rest of us. I felt proud of her, and a little worried at the same time. Her confidence was still lacking, but I knew only time could improve it.

Jackson’s army couldn’t be taken down by the coven’s spells, and they charged forward. The soldiers used their bayonets or swords, for those who had been officers, to stab or slash at the witches. I eyed Belladonna, wondering how she felt essentially seeing her family dying before her very eyes. Except, when I looked, she was gone.

I scanned the area, my heart rate increasing. No matter where I turned, I couldn’t find her. What the fuck had happened? She’d beenright therejust a moment ago.

“What’s wrong?” Collin asked, coming up beside me.

“I can’t find Belladonna.”

“I was taking down a witch and when I looked up, she’d vanished. I thought she’d gone after someone.”

I wanted to yell at him, but I knew how things could get in the heat of battle. He hadn’t lost track of her on purpose. “Find her!”

Collin looked around. “I’m on it.”

I focused on the battle at hand, but it seemed as if it was going a little too well. This was easy. I’d heard this coven was a force to be reckoned with, but they were dropping like flies. Something was wrong.

Collin came back after several minutes. “No one has seen her, and there’s something else.”

“What?” I asked.

“Tracks going off into the woods. I think someone may have snatched Belladonna and run.”

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