Wicked Circle

A tense moment passed before Menessos gestured at Goliath, who demonstrated his reluctance in the slowness with which he shut the door.

As Menessos reclaimed his former position, Mero sank into the seat. He rose again to retrieve the silken sheet that had slithered to the floor when tossed aside. “Your witch is in no danger,” he said, spreading it over Menessos’s lower half. “Liyliy has the necklace in her possession. She’s just going to flee. It is the confinement of her sisters we must worry about. They don’t yet know the necklace is gone.”

“You don’t know Liyliy,” Menessos argued. “She won’t simply run, encumbered with the safekeeping of that necklace. She’ll want the thing destroyed, and she knows that Persephone—if caught—will be in a bind herself. She’ll use that leverage to make my witch destroy it.” Menessos shook his head. “You worry about rebinding the sisters. I want my people out searching.”

Mero saw the other vampire’s hands clench. He knew Menessos wanted to be out searching personally.

A commotion in the outer room had Mero heading for the door. Goliath and Mark blocked the doorway, then he heard Giovanni’s voice saying, “I am an Advisor to the Excelsior, and as such, I demand you let me pass!”

“What do you want, Giovanni?” Mero asked.

“I have news.”

Mero asked, “What news?”

“I’ve spoken with our Excelsior.” His grin was as malignant as his tone. “He’s named me the Interim Quarterlord.” Snickering, he added, “The documentation to prove it is on its way.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

I flew between the blades of the hundred-and-fifty-foot-tall turbine. Liyliy was so focused on me that she must have misgauged the rotation of the huge blade. I heard her cry out as it came down on her head.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I sped around the south side of the Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Seconds later, Liyliy still wasn’t behind me.

Just as I released a sigh of relief she dived from the opening in the upper section of the southwest corner. Apparently being smacked by the giant metal blade of a wind turbine wasn’t enough to hurt her.

I intentioned for speed, and Liyliy’s talons raked through the broom’s straw. It caused the top of the broomstick to point up and I was carried once again into the sky. Below, Liyliy hit the ground but immediately flopped and flapped to gain altitude.

Though my heart was racing, the cold wind was becoming more than a mere annoyance. This gown had zero warmth, but I had to escape. With a thought, I hit the open air and asked the broom for sixty miles per hour. Seventy. Eighty.

The wind was such that I found myself again wishing for a pair of goggles like I’d seen other—albeit older—witches wear. My eyes were watering and forced shut. I managed a forward peek every few seconds to ensure that I wasn’t about to fly into a cell tower or something that might sneak up on me, though I was relatively certain that that wasn’t going to be a problem while skimming the shoreline of Lake Erie.

The harpy was far in the distance, but not giving up.

Ninety. A hundred.

The skirt of my dress was flapping so hard that I heard it begin to rip. The sheer outer layer couldn’t withstand this kind of abuse. Neither could my skin; I was so cold. My body ached with exhaustion again.

Cedar Point Amusement Park appeared when I was peeking. Behind me, I saw nothing of the owlish figure, so I dropped low and slowed, halting on the far side of the Sky Ride.

I was panting like I’d run a race, but I hadn’t. I was just so tired. Ready to blame it on an adrenaline rush bottoming out, I thought of something that I hadn’t considered before: How does a broom fly? It’s a magical item with the specific capability of flying, but what fuels it once it’s in the air?

There was only one answer that made any sense. Me.

I just fueled a broom for triple-digit speed. After being drained during the forced- change spell, I didn’t have much to spare.

Apparently, the intentions were only as good as the stamina the riding witch had to offer. I could refuel from the line, to a point anyway, but my pursuer would likely sense that and locate me, so for now, I resisted that urge. Finding cover was priority number one. The harpy might have been gone, but I needed a warm place to hide and recover. I surveyed the darkened park. There was no getting into the stairwell that led up to the ski-lift-like Sky Ride. The doors were of course locked.

Directly across from me was the Jack Aldrich Theatre. To the north, I saw Point Pavilion. That would provide overhead cover at least. I flew under the metal roof and put my feet down atop one of the picnic tables.

I’d just begun to feel a noticeable reduction in my pulse when a shrill screech echoed over the park. I flew to the end of the row, then crawled under the end of the farthest table and slid the broom with me. The scuffing sound of it made me grit my teeth and hope that Liyliy hadn’t heard.

Talons clacked on the metal roof as it creaked with the weight of something large.

Shit, shit, shit!

Stock still, I held my breath.

It seemed a long minute ticked away before I heard the scrape of talons leaving the roof.

Relief flooded over me—too soon.

Liyliy, in human form, dropped to the ground midway of the pavilion, clothed in a sheath of gray silk.

She’d be waiting for a shift of shadow to give me away. So I remained frozen in place and watched her from the space between the seat and the underside of the table.

Her silk fluttered into mist, stretching, searching.

She was going to find me no matter what.

I dropped to my stomach and rolled from under the table on the far side, dragging the broom with me and intending it up even as I rolled atop it.

Liyliy screeched, jerking her misty-parts back to her and shifting to owl smoothly. The broom carried me over the wall to back of the pavilion area and toward the roller coaster there. Liyliy was right behind me. I swerved into the coaster’s supports, darting through where she was too big to follow. There were larger spots that accommodated her easily, though. She angled up and shot through one, stretching down as soon as she passed through.

I zigzagged and zoomed underneath the coaster. She was above, and the track provided me cover. I followed the twists and spins, feeling the whoosh of air as talons reached for me if I drifted to one side. Again and again, she tried to find purchase in my skin. I slowed down for sharp curves. I sped up for the few straightaways. I was so tired, I tried to tap a ley line. Where is one?

The chase made it difficult to feel for a line, and when I did find one, I absorbed a sip here and there—more of the biting shock of initiating such a connection and not so much of the actual transfer. The swift curves of the coaster made it impossible to maintain the link to the ley line.

Defeating her would require more than speed and maneuverability. I was going to have to use magic, but this was happening too fast to think of a focusing rhyme.

Her talons touched my back.

I screamed.

The broom veered down and right, keeping the swipe of claws shallow, but I no longer had the coaster track giving me cover. I tried to swerve back under, but Liyliy anticipated the direction of my veering, and my rebound. She dived again, forcing me in the opposite direction.

A talon closed around my biceps and heaved upward.

My arm wrenched and I screamed again. Still holding the broom, I kicked and swung the bristly end at the harpy’s beak with all my might. As my efforts made me twist in the harpy’s grip, I felt the bones of my shoulder grind out of the socket just as the stiff straw jabbed into Liyliy’s big, round, yellow eyes.

She screeched and released me. I fell past a sign for the Raptor and landed on a bed of mulch, twisting so I