Page 60 of Sinistram
Travis crossed his fingers. He had doubts about his own magic being sufficient to cast the spell, but having other witches around to lend him power and protect the area made the odds of success much higher.
“Yes, I will. And I’ll make some calls to folks I trust in the Logonje and Father Leo with the Occulatum,” Jacinski said. “The Sinistram isn’t going to ignore this. Are you prepared for that?”
Travis gave a bitter chuckle. “Honestly? I don’t know. From what the Keeper said, there’s discord in the ranks about turning the place over to vampires. That alone is huge because the Sinistram doesn’t tolerate differences of opinion. But at least some of the priests think their whole mission and history have been betrayed.”
“Because they have been,” Jacinski replied. “And there’s no way to know whether those people will be with you or against you, no matter how strong their feelings.”
“I understand. But we have to do something,” Travis said. “We think that the vampire elders have been behind the hunter deaths that have escalated recently, and that they’ve used magic to power up monsters like the Mon River creature and others to draw out the hunters and make them easy targets.”
“There’s always a price for magic,” Jacinski warned. “Have you factored that into your plans?”
Brent looked at Travis with worry, but Travis nodded with a certainty that didn’t quite reach his gut. “Yes, if that’s what it takes. We can’t let them bring about the end of the world, even if it’s a local apocalypse instead of a global one.”
“What’s your next move?” Jacinski asked.
“We’re waiting to hear from a couple of other friends with special talents who are rallying the troops.” Travis left out that one of those friends was a vampire himself. “Then we show up to work the magic, which might precipitate the ‘When.’ Someone’s got to make the first move.”
Saying that made him sick to his stomach, not wanting to be the one who started the End of Days. But at the same time, forcing a confrontation might be their only chance to draw Sinistram out on their own terms.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Jacinski said. “Let me check in with a few people I trust and call you back. I’m guessing you aren’t planning to get to sleep anytime soon?”
“No, not soon.”And maybe never again.
“The situation sucks, but thanks for trusting me and calling me in,” Jacinski said. “Maybe this is the moment we all ultimately trained for, even if we didn’t know it. Who knows? Someone might write a song about us.”
He ended the call, and Travis looked to Brent. “I guess it would be cheesy to roar into the park blaring a soundtrack of songs about the apocalypse.”
Brent chuckled. “Can’t say I’d mind, but that sort of thing probably only works in movies.”
Travis went back to working on the grimoire, while Brent returned to researching on his laptop. When Travis’s phone rang, he realized it was midnight already.
“Cassidy and Sorren, thanks for calling back. Do you want to go with your news first or ours?”
“I’ll start,” Sorren said. “Archibald Donnelly and Rowan are with us. We have other allies who plan to work supportive magic remotely,” Sorren told them. “They are researching spells and protections and can meet you when you have a when and where.”
Travis cleared his throat. “About that. We’ve figured out the who, what, why, how, and where, and we think the when is the full moon tomorrow night.” He filled Sorren in on what they had learned.
“But we also got an unexpected gift,” he added. “One of the Keepers from the Sinistram secret library dropped off the Precepts grimoire.”
Sorren was silent for a moment. “You’re sure.”
“Positive.”
“It was rumored that the Sinistram had it, but we weren’t certain,” Sorren said. “Do you understand what the book is and how dangerous it can be? Not just to my kind, but to you, to people with magic, and to supernatural creatures? Can you read it?”
“So far, yes, I can read it. And I’m getting a growing idea of the danger,” Travis replied. “From what I’ve read so far, the Precepts grimoire is connected by its author to the Sinistram, so only someone with a Sinistram connection can use it.”
“But you left the Sinistram,” Brent said.
Travis sighed. “Not according to them. That whole bit about ‘thou art a priest forever.’”
“Do you think you’re strong enough to work the magic?” Sorren asked.
Travis took a deep breath. “I think I’m going to have to be. I’m the only one of us who used to be Sinistram. Pawel Jacinski is reaching out to the Logonje and the Occulatum for help,and we have some less powerful witches who can secure the perimeter.”
“Good. We will need all that help.” Sorren paused. “I can’t believe we’re talking about the Precepts. It’s legendary among my kind. Or perhaps, more like the boogeymen. Many people doubted it still existed, or that it ever did. Fitting, I guess, for the End of Days.”
“How do we use it and not hurt the good witches, vampires, and immortals?” Travis asked.
