Page 67 of Last Resort

Next, she put down a long, woven cord around an area within the larger circle to create a warded workspace for her magic. She laid out candles and her chalice, taking precautions against starting a fire.

“Go ahead and start digging,” she told them. “I’ll set up protections and distraction spells. Let’s hope we don’t need them.”

Erik stayed on watch while Ben set his coat aside and began to dig. The sandy soil threatened to fill in what he had just removed, but the moisture from a recent rain made the job a little easier.

“I hope he didn’t bury it like a body,” Ben said. “Six feet down is a deep hole.”

“I doubt he had time.” Erik scanned the horizon for threats. “He would have gone down far enough to protect it from animals, but he expected to return shortly.”

Ben dragged his sleeve across his forehead. “I have new respect for gravediggers.”

Alessia chanted. Erik remained a silent, protective presence with his gun drawn. Ben concentrated on theshish-shishof the sandy soil on the iron shovel blade, trying to keep a regular rhythm and wondering how sore he would be in the morning.

The air smelled of pine and incense. Despite the chill, sweat trickled down Ben’s back beneath his shirt and made damp hair cling to his forehead.

Alessia’s chant finished with an exclamation, and she threw her hands toward the sky. Ben felt a prickle like he had at the Commodore Wilson ritual, and when he squinted, he thought he saw tiny sparkles like dust motes in the air all around them.

“Someone’s coming,” Alessia said quietly.

Ben kept digging. Erik raised his gun as Alessia began another chant.

“Dig faster,” Erik urged.

Ben bit back a retort and pushed the shovel in deep. If they were truly in the right spot, he hoped to hit pay dirt soon.

On the next stroke, the tip of the shovel thudded into something. Ben was a little over two feet down. He scooped more dirt away, revealing what appeared to be a battered old suitcase.

“Found it!”

“Get away from that! It’s mine!” Holden Carr burst through the trees. He held a gun in one hand and the gold relic in the other.

A shot fired.

Erik dove to put himself between Ben and the protective scrim, returning fire and rolling away. Alessia shouted a word of power.

The incoming bullet glanced off the magical dome and went wide. Erik’s shot went right through, but Carr threw himself to the side. Before they could exchange another volley, Alessia gestured, and an invisible force tore the gun from Carr’s hand and threw it into the brush.

“You’ve got no right!” Carr screamed, furious. Ben bet that terror over leaving his witch debt unpaid stoked the other man’s anger.

“Neither do you,” Erik retorted, keeping himself between Carr and the others.

Carr leveled the relic like an athame and yelled something Ben didn’t quite catch. A force buffeted Alessia’s warding, and she shouted in a language Ben had never heard. The sparkling dome held, making the dueling magics a contest of wills.

“Fuck this.” Erik fired again, catching Carr in the bicep. Carr howled in pain and lost his focus, breaking off the attack.

“Drop the relic, or I’ll shoot again,” Erik threatened.

A wild, half-mad grin lit Carr’s features as he came to his knees, launching another strike with the saint’s bone, making the dome flare with light. When Ben’s eyes adjusted, Carr had found refuge behind a tree where he could keep up his barrage while avoiding Erik’s shots.

“Give up!” Erik covered Ben as his partner worked to dislodge the suitcase from where roots had grown around it. “The cops know all about you. They’re looking for you.”

“I’m not scared of the cops.”

Alessia held back the magical assault, but Ben knew they couldn’t keep the standoff going indefinitely.

“But the witch you owe is another matter, isn’t it?” Erik called back, and Ben knew his partner was trying to rattle their attacker. “What happens if you can’t pay him back? Will he kill you quick or curse you slow?”

“Shut up!” The bone glowed brightly in Carr’s grip, and Ben remembered what Teag said about the relic having its own price. He wondered if Erik’s intent was to push Carr to drain himself because their attacker seemed heedless of the energy his object expended.

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