Ravenous

was drawing near.

Down to work. Holly narrowed her focus, shutting out the scene around her. The murder victims had mostly been students. All the recent portals had happened at or near the university: the Flanders house, the faculty club, Sinsation, the cemetery, and even her own house weren't that far distant. That meant something local facilitated the magic, something that touched all those places. A natural power source? That could be bodies of water. Fissures in the earth. Ley lines.

She knelt in the grass, pushing her hands into the dense, damp lawn. She scanned the earth lightly, the same way she had in the graveyard. With her power unblocked it was too easy, almost laughable. Holly sank into the scan, deepening it, digging in.

Holly saw them. Thick, gold streams of magnetic power streaked under the earth, brush strokes of brilliant energy throbbing with the force of the earth's core. Holly inhaled in wonder. She had never been able to see ley lines before. They ran too deep for most witches to get a visual. She didn't just have power; she had a lot of power. And there's no pain!

Holly followed the streams with her mind. They branched and trailed in every direction, but flowed more or less toward the east, under the university and then south to the cemetery. She let the largest line take her, pushing her mind along like a tiny craft in a race to the sea.

The earth sped by, the current of the ley line covering city blocks as quickly as a car. It was less than a minute before turbulence came. Electricity raced through Holly, a physical feeling, even though it was only her thoughts that it touched. And then the power began to whirl.

There was another line flowing from north to south. A mightier line, dark as old rum, pounded past her. It was chill and wild, bleak as the forsaken lands of ice. The two flows collided, smashing with a force that made the etheric atmosphere shake and shudder. Power zinged in ripples of lightning, circling outward from the whirlpool of magic. It was hair-raising, beautiful, terrible. She let her mind float upward, pinpointing the location of the storm.

It was right under the Flanders house. Well, that explains a thing or two.

What a choice location for a witch's house! Even without an added dash of demon, the spell that gave the house its sentience would have gained power from the maelstrom of power under its foundations. No wonder it had been so hard to defeat.

With this network of power under the area, it was obvious why the summoning rituals had worked. Power permeated the campus air like fog. Geneva could harness it easily. She had chosen an arsenal for her battleground.

But I can use that weapon, too. Holly withdrew her mind, slowly returning to herself. She staggered a little, then slowly sank to the wet grass, putting her head between her knees.

'Are you all right?'

The blackness of the night compounded her dizziness. She blinked her vision clear to see Perry dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans. His forehead was creased with concern.

'Yeah, I'm okay. I was just doing some magical scouting. I came back a little fast.'

She needed practice with her newfound powers, but there was no time. She was taking her driver's test during the Grand Prix. Sink or swim, honey. She let Perry pull her to her feet.

Behind Perry stood a tall, dark-haired young man with sharp cheekbones and wary eyes. A strange expression for one so obviously strong, she thought. His whole body spoke of fleet physical strength.

'This is Lore,' said Perry. 'He came from the other side of the portal, along with the rest of his pack. He's their alpha.'

'Pack?' Holly dusted the grass off her damp rump. The clammy cloth made her shiver.

'We are hellhounds.' Lore said it like a dare, as if he expected her to slap him.

'They're fighting with us in return for amnesty. They want to live in Fairview,' Perry explained. He looked shell-shocked. 'I had no idea what sort of a hell… I mean… I knew about the demons, but…'

Lore gave a single, solemn nod that might have been meant as a greeting. 'If you are to fight Geneva, you need to hear this. The portals enter a place called the Castle.' He spoke slowly, with the precise measure of someone coping in a foreign language. On the other hand, he didn't seem to have an accent. Maybe he just doesn't talk much.

'The demon prison,' Holly replied, wondering what the hell hounds had been on the other side of the portal. Then she thought of the picture in Grandma's book. Lore did look like he'd fit right into a Gothic decorating scheme.

'It is more than that. There are many who live there, creatures of all kinds. It is a huge, winding place without end. There are no doors or windows. No one has ever walked the length of one wall and returned to tell his tale.'

'More than just demons live there?' Holly said, confused.

'There are many prisoners. Many peoples. All are forgotten there.'

Holly was speechless. How did that happen? she wondered.

He went on. 'Your summoner has made many tries to free this demon. Whenever a doorway opened, as many as could escaped. Many changelings. The hounds. Then at last the demon herself.'

Perry interrupted, speaking about twice as fast. 'It sounds like a few changelings from our side of things were involved at first, then invited their friends from the Castle to come on over and form an army. They're crossing back and forth, using the Castle as their barracks. They've got a spell book they're using like a passkey.'

An army. That explains what I saw at the cemetery, Holly thought.

Lore continued. 'We lived quietly for years, and the Castle guards forgot our corner of the prison. If Geneva or her soldiers attract their notice, they will remember that part of the Castle. They will punish any they find still living there.'

'Will the guards cross the portal to our side?' Holly asked.

'Yes. The guardsmen are to be feared.' Lore clenched one fist, the gesture expressing far more than his simple words. 'I regret that there is no way to keep the door open and let those who deserve it go free.'

Holly studied Lore, taking in his rough clothes, the constant vigilance of his gaze. An escaped prisoner. A refugee. How many others like him were still in the Castle?

Her thoughts took a sharp turn. Alessandro crossed the lawn toward them, his long, worn leather coat flaring behind him. In addition to his usual weapons, a studded baldric crossed his chest, supporting a silver-edged broadsword. The champion's badge of office, the huge weapon was forged to kill immortals. Beheading with a silver blade was forever.

He stopped before Holly, cupping her face and kissing her. The power between them flared, making her knees go soft. The demon could wait. She wanted, needed to have him in her arms. There had to be couches in the student lounge. An empty dorm room. A study carrel.

Perry and Lore shuffled, the embarrassed-guy noises bringing the embrace to an end. Alessandro released her, raising his head to sniff the wind. A paper coffee cup skittered down the path, chased by the rising breeze.

'The fey have arrived.'

'I thought they were neutral,' said Perry.

'They won't fight, but they've agreed to keep the humans out of it. They've made their base to the north,' said Alessandro. He turned to Lore. 'Hounds patrol the perimeter. Keep any humans who get past the fey clear of the action. Frighten them if you have to. Wolves fight with the vampires. Omara's forces cover the south. She leads them herself.'

'If she leads the vampires, what are you doing?' Perry asked.

'I guard Holly. She is our chief weapon of magic. Call my cell the moment you have any knowledge of where Geneva has shown herself.'

'I found the energy web of this place,' Holly put in. 'We may gain some advantage if I watch for disturbances. There'll be a power spike before a portal appears. If we catch it soon enough, we can be waiting.'