Free Spellbent by Lucy A. Snyder

The men and Karen were all knocked to their knees by the shock of the explosion, and for a moment I was certain I’d been deafened.
    A round, bright portal opened where the bolt pierced the clouds, and a creature that looked like an enormous crystalline orrery began to drift down to Earth. My mouth went dry as I realized it was a Virtus. How had Karen managed to call a Virtus? The guardian spirit’s ten diamond eyes orbited around a pulsing magma heart, and as it slowly spiraled toward the house it left behind a trail of glowing mist that curled into mathematical symbols before it evaporated.
    Fortunately, any mundane neighbors who might have been awakened by the noise in the street wouldn’t be able to see or hear what was happening on the lawn. I could feel that the house and its yards had a camouflage enchantment, presumably to keep the children’s practice sessions out of sight of the neighbors. The magic seemed strong enough to shield even the huge Virtus from view.
    Mother Karen had gotten to her feet, her palms blistered from the exploding staff, her knees caked with mud and grass.
    “Hear my plea!” she shouted up to the Virtus in its own ancient language. “These men have come to unlawfully abduct a girl under my protection.”
    The Virtus’s inhuman jewel eyes all focused on Karen. “You claim a mark of duty to this girl?”
    “Yes. I am her master’s rightful proxy,” she replied.
    Trembling, Karen held her scorched palms up to the guardian. A glowing tentacle of plasma emerged from the Virtus’s heart and probed Karen’s left palm. A sigil glowed bright in her hand, and she gasped in pain.
    “She has the proper mark,” the Virtus said in English, turning on the men, who had all gone pale. “Present your counter. Now.”
    “Our. . . our master is Benedict Jordan—” Cold began.
    “Irrelevant. Present your counter.”
    “We, uh, we don’t have one, but Mr. Jordan—”
    “Irrelevant.” The Virtus flared bright as the sun, and the proud men cowered in its harsh light. It was a truly beautiful scene. “If you do not have a counter, you have no right to the girl.”
    The Virtus’s plasma tentacle shot down and drew a burning circle around the house. “You shall not cross this line without permission from my kind, or you will be expunged. Leave this place now, or I will remove you.”
    Jordan’s men couldn’t get back to their vehicles fast enough.
    “Thank you,” Karen said to the Virtus as she knelt before it.
    “Why have you spent your token on such trivia?” the spirit demanded. “Kings have warred for the artifact you possessed to save their entire tribes, and you use it for a single girl?”
    “It seemed like the thing to do at the time,” Karen replied, her voice shaking.
    “Foolishness,” the Virtus replied, and disappeared back into the night sky, leaving behind only the smell of ozone and the smoking ward circle.
    Karen got back to her feet, more slowly this time. “Well, that’s that.”
    She dusted herself off as best she could with the backs of her hands, then looked past me into the house. I turned to follow her gaze; her teenagers were clustered on the stairs, smelling frightened.
    “Nothing more to see, kids,” Karen said, sounding profoundly tired. “Everybody go back to bed. But since you’re still awake, Jimmy, please help me get my hands cleaned up. .

chapter six

    The Luckiest Girl in Ohio
    I gradually woke up in a bright, sunlit room; I didn’t really want to be awake. My face was wrapped in gauze, and the slightest movement hurt like hell. It took me a moment to realize I was in Mother Karen’s guest suite.
    The ache from my bandaged left eye spread back through my skull; both temples throbbed. My left arm was bandaged up under my breasts. I tried to shift my legs but couldn’t. A fat calico cat dozed between my feet.
    “You’re awake?” Pal popped up beside my pillow.
    “Sorta.. . ,“ I mumbled.
    “She’s awake!” Pal chirped to the cat, who