Chilling Cadence

Fifteen

Lorelei arrived at sundown exactly as she had promised. Cadence had been busy all day with leaving visitors who had stopped by Inquiring Siren for the “spook factor.” They had treated her shop like it was one of the voodoo shops in New Orleans, giggling over charms and gawking at bottled potions. Even as full as her hands had been, she kept looking over at her Grandmother’s clock and she couldn’t help but think the day was going too slow. Even when Chau had arrived and talked to her, her mind still drifted back to the church and the basement where they were keeping her mother.

Reverend Whitlock was no ordinary man, and Cadence was sure he was a lot stronger than his kind, fatherly face showed, but she still couldn’t help but feel worried. Her mother wasn’t an ordinary Witch, she was a Nightingale and one of the strongest Necromancers among the Nightingale women. If she regathered the strength that had been zapped from her when Cadence had destroyed the Cyhyraeth, forget Reverend Whitlock, even Cadence might find herself having a hard time keeping Jocelyn Nightingale in check.

So, when the door opened and Lorelei stepped in, Cadence’s heart both rose and fell. She wanted to see her mother again—to see the woman who was always smiling broadly in the pictures and who Grandmother had adored—but at the same time, she didn’t want to see her because the woman Reverend Whitlock was housing wasn’t the bright-eyed Lyn her Grandmother spoke of so affectionately. She was Jocelyn Nightingale, the Necromancer Witch who had lost everything that had made Grandmother love her in the first place.

There were still a few rays of sunlight left when Lorelei arrived in the shop, and Cadence watched the Vampire slink to the darker corner of the shop, keeping the parasol open until she had reached her safe place.

Chau was standing near Lorelei and the two of them were talking, but Cadence was so busy ringing up the Witches who had come by that she couldn’t pay attention to them. When she had rung up the last Witch—a man in his late sixties who had taken up most of her time as she had answered questions about when her next shipment of moonwort would be coming in—she walked up and flipped her sign to CLOSED.

She let out a sigh and turned to look at Lorelei who looked as impassive as ever.

“We’re going to see her now, right?”

Lorelei nodded once. “There’s no need to waste any more time.”

Cadence couldn’t deny that. They shouldn’t waste any more time. She knew there were a lot of questions everyone wanted to be answered. Why had Jocelyn come to Glasskeep? Did anyone else come with her? Had someone sent her? And more, so much more. The people of Glasskeep had been put in a compromising position and had almost been exposed due to her mother’s actions. Still, Cadence couldn’t help feeling like she wanted to postpone their meeting a little more. She was afraid to see her.

Still, she walked with Lorelei to the church. Chau, who was tagging along, was strangely quiet. She had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire day. Cadence had noticed it, but the look on the girl’s face told her it was better not to ask. Something about Chau’s expression reminded Cadence of the incident that happened when she was twelve. That explosion of raw destructive power and the horrifying aftermath.

Now that she thought about it, she had no idea what Chau was. She knew that Chau wasn’t human, but her father had been. She had been in such a state of shock last night, but thinking back on it, there hadn’t been a supernatural air about him. He had been completely human. Since Chau wasn’t, Cadence assumed that her mother must not be human either.

When Cadence was young, she often stayed away from humans. She would walk to and from school on her own, and keep her head down in class. If a boy expressed interest, she would turn him down with a quickness that surprised even herself. When she looked at Chau’s actions, the girl seemed a lot like her. Always alone, never bringing around any friends her own age. She seemed to only hang out with either Lorelei or Cadence, and the air around her was one Cadence recognized all too well: loneliness.

But Glasskeep was a town where all supernaturals lived. There was absolutely no need to keep her distance. There were all manner of Witches, Vampires, and Faeries living in Glasskeep and the humans who lived here were all under a Vampire’s protection. They all knew that many of the people in Glasskeep weren’t at all what they seemed.

The church was getting closer and closer, and Cadence decided she’d try to broach the subject later. What was happening right now was an incredibly pressing matter.

“Her magic hasn’t recovered yet?”

Lorelei, who had been twirling her parasol without a care in the world said, “The basement of the church is full of anti-magic sigils. A Witch came in about a decade ago and drew them after a…less than savory incident with a Witch. No matter how powerful a Witch your mother may be, she can’t hurt anyone if she can’t use her magic.”

Chau’s eyes widened and she gaped at Cadence. “The Necromancer is your mom?”

Cadence cringed. Somehow the girl’s wide-eyed curiosity made her words painful to hear.

“It’s surprising, don’t you think so? I, too, found it hard to believe that Necromancer was Cadence’s mother. I had planned to make her my t****l after questioning her, but I couldn’t do such a thing after finding out who she was. What a pity. Her Cyhyraeth almost killed me, too. I would have loved to…even the score.”

The grin on Lorelei’s face reminded her of that too wide grin on Darius’ face yesterday night. The only difference was, somehow, Lorelei looked creepier than he did.

Reverend Whitlock was waiting for them by the podium in the front of the church. His face was grim when they approached.

“How is our Necromancer friend?” Lorelei asked. Cadence detected the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“She has caused no trouble,” the Reverend replied, his eyebrows furrowed. “She has been quiet this entire time.”

Lorelei stretched out her pale, slender hand and Reverend Whitlock placed a set of keys in them.

“Chau, you stay here with Rev.” Lorelei handed the Reverend her parasol. “Cadence, if you’ll come with me.”

Cadence knew she could put it off no longer. On leaden legs, she followed Lorelei, her throat so dry it clicked whenever she swallowed. Whether she wanted to or not, she was going to meet Jocelyn Nightingale.

“YOU FELT IT, too, right?” Hansel’s voice was breathless and he was so agitated he was vibrating.

Gretel watched her brother walk back and forth, pacing the length of the small motel room they were sharing. She was sitting on the bed she had claimed, her elbow was on the thigh of her crossed legs and her chin was resting in her palms.

“Can you stop pacing like that? It’s hard to think.”

Hansel’s pacing halted, but he stared at his sister with wide, bright eyes. “But you felt it, too, right? Last night…the Nightingale Witch…”

Hansel’s lips had pursed in a thin line and she didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. He already knew she had felt it. They had both been asleep, waiting to hear from the Association about whether or not they had heard anything about the Nightingale Witch. In the middle of their sleep, they had felt it. That same destructive energy they had felt over a decade ago and both of them had bolted up, completely awake. It had dissipated before Gretel had been able to find out exactly where it was coming from, but there was no doubt who that energy belonged to. There were few Witch families who could produce such powerful magic and even fewer Witches who could startle, not only Hansel and Gretel from their sleep but also all the members of the Association.

“Has anyone said anything else?” Gretel asked, leaning back and supporting all her weight on her hands. She tapped a finger against the poor quality of the motel’s blanket.

“Not after last night. They say she’s somewhere in Texas, that’s all.” Hansel groaned, falling face-first onto his bed across from her. “Texas is the size of…well, Texas, how are we supposed to find her there?”

“Stop panicking.” Gretel sighed. “Samhain is in two days, her magic will be at its height for the entire day, remember?”

Hansel’s head jerked up and he looked at his sister for a long time, saying nothing and blinking before a wide smile spread across.

“Right. That’s right. I totally forgot.” He paused. “So, what do we do?”

“First, contact the agency and have them send us plane tickets to Texas. We should arrive in Houston tomorrow morning. And after we’ve arrived, it’s then a matter of playing the waiting game. The moment Samhain arrives, her magic will be so powerful, even the members of the Association will feel it, just like they did tonight. We won’t even have to track her down ourselves. They’ll contact us. And then…”

A huge grin stretched across Hansel’s face. “I’ll contact HQ now.”

Gretel turned her head to the ceiling as her brother typed in their message to headquarters.

You can’t hide forever. I’ll make sure you pay for what you’ve done.

JOCELYN NIGHTINGALE WAS completely blank-faced when Lorelei and Cadence walked into the room Reverend Whitlock had been keeping her. Although the door was made with reinforced steel with a little sliver for someone to look through, the room itself was actually quite nice. A single twin bed, a window too high up to reach, even if you were standing on something tall and a desk stacked with books just in case someone got bored.

Jocelyn was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the wall. Cadence understood now why Reverend Whitlock had been so disturbed. It definitely wasn’t normal for someone to just sit and stare at the wall, but Jocelyn wasn’t normal anymore.

The moment Cadence entered the room, she could feel her magic being restricted. It was an uncomfortable feeling, like being shackled. Even though Cadence didn’t want to use magic, it was a part of her. It was as much of a part of her as her arms and legs. Not being able to feel her magic was restrictive, unnatural.

Jocelyn was watching her. Her cat’s eyes were speculative as they studied Cadence.

“You’re all grown up,” she finally said. The two of them had been eyeing each other for a time without speaking.

Although the words Jocelyn was speaking would be sweet if spoken by another mother who had been separated from her child when the child was still young, there was nothing sweet in Jocelyn’s voice. Her words carried the same infliction and tone it would have had if she had said the sky is blue and grass is green. There was no feeling in her voice at all.

Cadence’s chest tightened, but she pulled herself together. She had learned to do that one thing very well after her Grandmother’s death.

“It’s been two decades,” she responded, her voice equally emotionless. “Children grow up in that time.”

“And Mom?”

“She died.”

Even though she knew Jocelyn would not react, it still stung more than it should have when her mother’s face remained unchanged. Of course, she wouldn't care that Grandmother had died, she couldn’t feel anything anymore. But somehow, Cadence had been holding out hope that those words would trigger something in her. She had hoped there would be a flicker of sadness, an inkling of regret.

But there was nothing. Her face was as cold as it had been from the moment they had walked in.

Cadence looked away, her stomach-churning.

Lorelei, who had been watching silently, stepped into the room. Jocelyn’s face changed for the first time to reveal a mask of wariness. Of course, she would be able to feel wariness, at least. Even when a Witch lost all emotions, the one emotion that remained was the feeling of self-preservation. Even though Jocelyn could feel no fear for Lorelei, she was aware of how quickly the Vampire could kill her and she didn’t like it one bit.

Lorelei grabbed the chair that was tucked into the desk and spun it around to face Jocelyn before she sat down.

“I hope you don’t mind answering my questions.” Although Lorelei’s tone was pleasant, it still hinted that Jocelyn had no choice but to answer.

When Jocelyn didn’t respond, Lorelei seemed to take it as an affirmation and moved on.

“Why did you come to Glasskeep?”

“I felt strong magical energy here,” Jocelyn answered after a while. “A place where all of my magic would be amplified. I needed that.”

“You’re one of the strongest Necromancers in the Nightingale family,” Cadence cut in. “Wouldn’t you have enough magic on your own even without coming to Glasskeep?”

“I ran into…trouble. The Witch Hunters caught wind of me eight years ago and dispatched a rather troublesome Hunter to chase me down. His sword didn’t pierce skin, but it did pierce into magical power and drain it from the Witch it had pierced. He drained my power by more than half. Like that, the only dead I could raise were birds.”

Well, that explained why she had needed the Cyhyraeth. She had been able to summon it due to the strong energy here, but she still wasn’t powerful enough on her own, and therefore she was trying to gather as many souls as she could before Samhain.

“It’s unfortunate, isn’t it? Samhain is tomorrow. All I needed was to gather the souls of those teenagers and wait another day and I would have been even more powerful than I was before.”

Cadence was appalled. “No wonder the Hunters sent someone after you,” she snapped. “You’re a monster.”

“If I’m a monster, you are, too. We’re of the same kind, after all. Not to mention, the Hunters sent two of their best after you, aren’t I right?”

“How did you know?” Cadence asked through numb lips.

“The dead speak. Your fate is quite interesting. If I had known I’d given birth to a child with such a powerful future, I would have taken you with me.”

Cadence had no response. Lorelei realized Cadence wasn’t going to continue the conversation and turned it back to the topic she wanted to know about.

“Did you bring any others with you?”

“No, but I’m not the only one rushing to Glasskeep.” She looked straight at Lorelei. “The Dead say interesting things, Vampire. Especially about you and your sister.”

Cadence watched as the darkest fury rolled across Lorelei’s face. Cadence’s heart raced in her chest and she took a step back in spite of herself. Jocelyn might not have any emotion, but that look on Lorelei’s face made the wariness come back into her eyes.

Lorelei stood and move forward until she was towering over Jocelyn. Her pale, slender hands reached out to grip the woman’s jaw in her unbreakable grip.

“I suggest you tell me what you know while I’m still patient.”

“Aren’t Vampires supposed to be smarter than most? Haven’t you guessed it already? Do you think all this supernatural energy coming from Glasskeep hasn’t caught the attention of every non-human that exists?”

Lorelei’s normal composure seemed to have evaded her and she dropped her hand from Jocelyn’s face. Her eyes were narrowed to slits and her lips were curled into a frightening snarl, her teeth—fangs and all—exposed.

“Damn it all to Hell,” Lorelei cursed.