I pushed up and ran over to the stranger. He was still breathing, but how long he would remain that way when he’d been gutted I couldn’t say. Death might be hovering, but she hadn’t yet stepped close to claim his soul.
There was still hope.
I swung my backpack around, then glanced up as Aiden and Monty entered the clearing. “We need an—”
“Already called. Tala’s going to meet and lead them in.” Aiden’s gaze fell on the stranger’s stomach, and his expression darkened. “They may not get here in time, though.”
“We can’t all stay here and wait for them,” Monty said. “We need to go after that bitch and stop her.”
“You two go.” I pulled the small medical kit and a bottle of holy water from my pack. “I’ll wait here for Tala and the medics.”
“Perfect plan,” Monty said. “Aiden?”
Aiden’s gaze held mine for a heartbeat; deep in the depth of his bright eyes, I could see the battle between heart and duty.
“Go,” I said softly. “I’ll be fine.”
A smile twitched his lips, then he nodded and said, “This way.”
As the two of them ran from the clearing, I carefully removed the shredded remains of the stranger’s clothes from the edges of the wound and his exposed intestines, then undid the small bottle of holy water and poured it over the sterile dressings from the medical kit. I didn’t bother trying to push everything back into his body; I’d read enough books to know that generally wasn’t a good idea. Instead, I simply covered the wound and protrusions to keep them sterile. There was nothing else I could do for him; nothing except free him from whatever spell might still remain. If death was his destiny, the last thing he deserved was for his soul’s journey to be hampered in some way by the Manananggal’s magic.
The only trouble was, the binding spell she’d placed on him wasn’t visible even though the dark caress of its energy made my skin crawl. Embedding spells in this manner wasn’t something I was familiar with, and I had no idea if dismantling it would be dangerous. Which meant I’d better call Belle in.
I sat cross-legged on the ground near his head and reached for her. You busy?
If you consider eating a great big bit of chocolate cake busy, then yes. You need help?
I’m about to break whatever magic lies on the victim of the Manananggal. I just need you to keep an eye on proceedings.
Her surprise ran through me. Said victim is still alive?
Long story, but yes, because she used him to lure me into a trap.
Confusion replaced the surprise. How?
I somehow created a connection between us when I used her blood as a tracker. She must have guessed we’d be staking out local weddings and used the stranger as bait.
Getting rid of the local witch is the sensible thing to do. You okay?
Yes, but the lure isn’t. The ambos may not get here in time, and I don’t want to leave the stain of her magic on him.
Good idea. Even if it doesn’t hamper his journey, it might somehow alter the trajectory of his rebirth.
That’s what I thought. You comfortable?
Yeah, go for it.
I took a deep breath to center my energy, then carefully reached out with my ‘other’ senses. What I couldn’t physically see instantly became visible. The spell was a fist-sized mass that sat just above the long cut that had gutted him. Tendrils not only ran up to his brain but also around his heart; the latter explained his pasty skin and blue lips. For whatever reason, she’d been controlling his heart rate.
Perhaps she didn’t want him going into cardiac arrest and damaging his heart before she’d had a chance to dine on it. Belle’s mental tone was grim. The spell’s construction is somewhat unusual, isn’t it?
She knows she’s dealing with another witch, so I suspect she’s taken steps to prevent interference.
A final snare?
More than likely. I scooted around to the side of his body and studied the spell from a different angle. And caught, through a slender gap between two of the concealment spell’s threads and a still gaping bit of wound, something that looked a whole lot like metal. Darkish-colored metal. I shifted again and leaned closer. It was definitely metallic…
A horrible suspicion stirred. Hoping like hell that I was wrong, I peeled back the nearest section of dressings and used them to carefully open the wound up. It revealed exactly what I’d feared. The final trap wasn’t just magical; it was also physical.
Something had been shoved into the internal cavity created when she’d gutted him. Something I rather suspected might be a grenade, given the little I could see of its shape.
Which means the spell has probably been designed to remove the pin the minute anyone tries to dismantle it, Belle commented. How the hell are we going to counter that?
I don’t think we can. I simply didn’t know enough about this sort of magic. I think our best bet would be to remove both the spell and the grenade from his body.
What if it’s primed to go off if it’s moved?
That’s more than possible. I put the dressing back over the wound, even though there was probably little point to worrying about infection now. Not when a grenade had been unceremoniously shoved into his gut. I think I’ll call—
I stopped, my heart leaping at the sound of a twig snapping. A second later, Tala stepped into the clearing. She quickly scanned the area, then looked at me. “The area’s safe to enter?”
“For now. Where are the ambos?”
“Waiting for the all clear. Define ‘for now.’”
“There’s a spell-wrapped grenade shoved into his stomach; I can’t dismantle it, and I’m not sure if it’s safe to remove it.”
She stared at me for a second. “Seriously?”
“Very.”
“Why the hell are you still sitting next
