Page 58 of Signs and Wonders

Movement stirred in the shadows. Both Seth and Travis raised their weapons.

“Don’t shoot!” Evan stepped out of a depression in the wall, hands raised.

Seth froze. “Evan? How did you—”

A silver blade whirred past Seth’s ear, slicing through the newcomer’s bicep. Instead of a cry of pain or outrage, the creature wearing Evan’s face howled as the cut immediately blistered.

“He’s not Evan,” Travis warned just as the shifter launched himself at Seth. The narrow confines of the corridor offered little room to maneuver. Seth grappled for the gun, still not sure he could fire on the doppelganger.

Up close, Seth saw that the shifter wasn’t wearing any of Evan’s silver charms. Its eyes flashed red, and the creature’s supernatural strength was a dead giveaway. Getting shoved against the rock wall knocked the breath out of Seth, and he feared he was losing the fight for the weapon.

The shifter screamed in pain and arched back as Travis sank a knife into its lower back. Seth knew it wasn’t really Evan, but watching Evan’s face contort in agony still sent a visceral shock through him, and he fought the bone-deep instinct to protect.

“Help me cuff him,” Travis ordered, leaving the silver knife embedded. “I didn’t hit anything vital. Once the knife is out, he’ll heal, but this way he won’t come after us.”

Seth tried not to look at the bloody shifter or the so-familiar face as he snapped cuffs on the shifter’s wrists while Travis bound his ankles.

“Please, Seth, don’t leave me like this,” the shifter pleaded, copying Evan’s voice and expressions perfectly. A deep-seated need to safeguard his partner surged through Seth, followed by a torrent of anger at the creature’s manipulation.

“Fuck you for stealing his face,” Seth snarled.

The shifter gave a pained smirk, teeth bloodied. “Almost got you.”

Seth let his fury numb him as he shoved a gag in the creature’s mouth. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Can you pick up anything from the ghosts?” Seth murmured to Travis.

“Swain’s setting up for a ritual. One man is on a stone table, and the other is tied up on the floor.” Travis paused. “The ghosts say that the man on the floor made something catch on fire with his hands.”

“The anchor,” Seth guessed. “Evan must have gotten to it and used the rote fire spell. That’s my boy.”

“Another reason perhaps why Swain is intent on doing the ritual tonight, aside from the full moon. Without his anchor to store energy, he can’t afford to let his power wane, and he can’t draw on the anchor to bolster his mojo and help him open the rift,” Travis replied.

Seth knew they were running out of time. The next turn brought them to the door between the cave tunnel and the ritual chamber.

“Ready?”

Travis nodded. “The ghosts are in place. Just say the word.”

Seth set a small explosive charge in the lock. “Go!”

The lock blew open. Seth and Travis burst through the door, and Seth scattered a bundle of hex bags with disruptive magic onto the floor, spells designed to distract and cause chaos.

Smoke billowed, sparks flew and popped with a bang in midair. An impressive illusion of a dragon dove and gyred.

Cameron lay on a stone table, not moving. Swain, dressed in a ceremonial robe and holding a grimoire, stood beside the altar, chanting.

A circle of candles flickered around the altar, inside a space marked with runes and painted in blood. Evan lay in a puddle on the floor a few feet away, and from the position of his wrists and ankles, Seth could tell he was bound but appeared to be struggling to free himself.

Incense hung heavy in the air, mingling with the smoke from the candles and the hex bags. The temperature, warm when they entered, plummeted as dozens of ghosts streamed into the cave, shrieking. It was nearly impossible to tell the ghosts from the illusions, some of which appeared nearly solid.

Swain’s chant stopped abruptly, and he swung to face them with a furious growl. He sent an arc of blue lightning, barely missing as Seth dove out of the way. Seth doubted his deflection amulet could protect him from a full strike, and he didn’t want to test it.

Vengeful spirits advanced on Swain, no longer able to be hurt by his magic. Some were the barest shadow of their former selves, while those more recently dead manifested nearly solid.

Travis orchestrated the ghosts while Seth ducked Swain’s blasts of magic to edge closer to where Evan lay.

“You have ruined everything!” Swain screamed and raised a hand to send another torrent of power toward Seth.

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