Page 49 of Transfiguration
“We don’t know,” Seiran said. “We cataloged all of this, but I can’t find any records of anyone looking at it when I pull up Fellowship records. I don’t know how close Hart looks at every aspect of the Fellowship. He seems more focused on the business end.” He turned his gaze to Sam. “And the reports say nothing about the symbol or this giant rune. I asked a few of the investigators who were on-site and they don’t recall seeing or experiencing any of this. Either someone wiped their minds or they really can’t see it. Emmaline looked at me like I was nuts, and she’s my best investigator.”
“How can anyone miss it?” Con asked. “It feels like my teeth are on fire.” An ache echoed through his bones, filled with memories of a time long past. “Was Roman a part of this Kresnik thing? Is that why it feels the same as all those years ago?”
“Some runes in the cabin look familiar,” Sam said. “Stuff he gave me to scrawl in my blood and protect the area. It’s been a long time though, and I can’t find the old records anywhere. We even dug through Dominion records. It’s like it never happened. Roman and half the Ascendance bullshit all vanished into vague mentions. But I’m enforcer class, not information,” Sam said. “I thought you might access more?”
“Wait… like Kat’s death never happened?” Con felt his gut flip over at the idea that the Dominion had murdered her to cover this up and then made any knowledge of her existence disappear. Why her and not him? Had she known more than him? “I input the symbol earlier today and it’s vanished from all my records. Even my burner phone, which no one should have access to.” Con opened his phone to his I&R access, doing a handful of searches and finding nothing. “This location comes up with nothing.”
“Not even records of all the dead found?” Gabe asked.
“Nope. Nothing.”
“Fuck,” Seiran growled. “I knew I couldn’t trust the Fellowship either.”
“I’ve got people looking,” Gabe said. “Carefully. Mike said these guys are dangerous, small things cropping up, but often vampires turn up dead, no explanation. He thinks it’s part of this group, but we don’t have confirmation. I’ve never encountered this before,” he pointed at the rune, “but the old European Kresnik was common enough. They didn’t use magic but hunted vampires. Would sometimes paint warnings in blood where they had cleared out a nest. My vampires have always been on alert for their revival. Last uprising was three or four centuries ago.”
“They hunt only vampires?” Con asked, frowning as he tugged Sam closer. “Didn’t this mess have vampires and witches? Didn’t you say they are vampire hunting witches?” he asked Sam.
“We’ve tied the symbol to a half dozen Dominion families caught in the fire,” Seiran said. “It’s on my private server, and triple copied.”
“The Kresnik were equal opportunity killers,” Gabe said. “They prided themselves on killing anyone associated with vampires: focuses, servants, blood bonds, all of them. Sounds like they’ve been growing and reestablishing themselves since Tresler’s demise. Prior to that, we mostly wiped them out, or at least that’s what they led us to believe. The Vampire War triggered something, and they rose in numbers, popping up all over the world. Some of my vampires have reported catching a glimpse, but we don’t send that to the Fellowship. It stays among the vampires. The strange thing is that the Kresnik I remember thought of witches and vampires the same way, the only good witch was a dead one. The only good vampire was one turned to ash. That’s why it was the bone in fire symbol. Burn a vampire, a witch, any of them, turn them to ash, and you’ll know they are dead.”
“This is magic,” Con said. “This spell isn’t something any non-magic person could create.”
He released Sam’s hand to cast a clarifying spell that made the wind color the waves of rippling magic, adding visibility. The rune dug into the ground with roots of magic buried deep, expanding throughout the entire area, illuminated with hundreds of smaller runes. It wasn’t just one big scorched earth symbol, but a growing bit of nastiness like Con had never encountered before. Had they sacrificed a person for each rune that now fueled this? Around the center symbol were a dozen others that seemed more elemental, runes Con knew from old texts meant things like water, ice, wind, earth, fire, stone, etc. “The smaller runes around the edges are elements. They are binding and fueling this thing with elemental power.” Did that mean it was some sort of portal gaping open to a hell dimension or something? It pulsed with nauseating waves of power, but didn’t feel like something evil was going to pop free at any second. Closed? Waiting to be reopened? Or something else?
“Fuck!” Seiran said as he stepped back. There was no space to stand clear of the lines. “Why does it feel like it’s a beacon?”
“For death,” Gabe added.
“A portal to hell,” Con corrected, staring into the black void that sucked life from the earth itself. “Or wherever demons come from. I think we all have our answer. They summoned a demon here, maybe more than one. And it feels like maybe it’s strong enough that they could do it again? The question is why?”
TWENTY
Con’s phone let out a jarring shriek and a half second later Sam’s, Seiran’s and even Gabe’s did too. Con fumbled for his, pulling it out of his pocket. It was the emergency signal, and it came from Bella’s phone, his screen flashing her name in red. “Fuck!”
Sam silenced his and hit a button. After a few seconds, he frowned. “Luca isn’t answering.”
Con met Sam’s wide eyes, terror rising. That alarm would have woken Luca, too, and he should have been home with Bella, keeping her safe. How was Bella in danger? Was Luca hurt?
Con changed, yanking on the stored power in his many tattooed runes to call his hawk, which was smaller but faster than the owl. He didn’t have to worry about getting wrapped up in clothes as they didn’t fit the hawk at all. Nor did he ever worry about new moon or full moon issues, the strength of his runes making the change near instant and flawless, a flow from one form to the other.
“Fuck!” Sam cursed. “Wait for me, Con.”
“That was impossibly fast,” Seiran said.
“Worry about Con later, Ronnie. Luca and Bella are in trouble.” Sam changed, his not as fast or flawless as Con’s, a more stuttering change, but his raven form popped out of his clothes, leaving behind the fancy suit. And that was all Con waited for as he lifted toward the sky, racing toward their loft.
Seiran and Gabe’s comments faded behind them. Con focused on his destination like a laser beam. His heart hammered, and he knew Sam was struggling to keep up. Con’s hawk was technically a peregrine falcon, the fastest of his species, and he raced through the distance, praying to get to Bella in time. Luca would be okay; he was a badass even if he came across as sex-obsessed boy band singer. That hope was the only thing keeping him moving.
He caught the scent of smoke first, then the black wafting of it as it curled into the sky. Fire? He soared around a handful of buildings, trying to get to the center of the city. The noise far below was loud and invasive. Fire trucks and police cars, and the heightened noise of traffic, which was odd at these early hours.
The building came into sight, a horror of catapulting flames. He fumbled, half tumbling for a few seconds at the inferno that draped over half the building. Had Luca and Bella got out? Con frantically tried to locate their floor. They weren’t at the top, had always preferred to be near the middle of the building, and the flame blazed upward, eating up the towering sides of metal. But he couldn’t count the floors and hovered when panic overwhelmed him. What could he do? His power was wind. It would fan the flames, wouldn’t it? He could pull the air out of a room, but out of an entire building? And what if people were in there? Yanking the air out would crush their lungs.
Sam shot past him, the raven form bursting into an orange rush of flames, his phoenix coming out as he blasted toward a lower section of raging fire. Con followed close behind, the heat intense and painful, his feathers singeing, but unwilling to let Sam go alone.
Sam’s power smashed into the side of the building like a fist. Dousing the flames instantly, the fire out, but waves of intense heat rippling off everything, the smoke choking. Con followed Sam in through a giant hole in the building's side. Everything scorched around them and blackened. Con trembled in fear as they glided down the hall and to the crumbling walls that should have led to their loft. Minutes had passed, not hours since the emergency button. Was Bella inside? Luca wouldn’t have left her, right?
Con slipped through a gigantic crack in the wall, the floor hot enough to burn his feet, so he hovered, choking on the smoke as it stung all of his senses. He called a roll of wind like a blanket of cool energy as he worked to find a way through the smoldering mess of ash and charred remains of their home. How had it burned that fast? How had it happened at all? Why hadn’t the sprinklers gone off? They should be standing in water since the entire system was rigged to run at the barest hint of smoke.