Fury of the Seventh Son (Book 13) by Joseph Delaney Read Free Book Online

little older than when I’d last seen them. They were taller, and their faces and bodies were now those of young women.
    â€œYou’ve taken your time! Been waiting here for you for almost an hour, we have. And you don’t seem too pleased to see me, Tom.” Mab smiled. “Should be glad, because we’re here to help you again.”
    I didn’t trust her one bit. Before the battle on Pendle Hill, she had tried to force me to open one of Mam’s boxes for her—the trunks that the Malkins had stolen after raiding the farm and kidnapping my family. When I’d refused, she’d threatened to murder Mary, my young niece. And I’d known instinctively that it was no idle threat. Mab was a blood witch and would kill to get what she needed in order to practice her dark magic.
    However, she had since formed an uneasy alliance with us. She had accompanied us to Greece to fight Mam’s mortal enemy, the Ordeen.
    â€œHelp us to do what?” I demanded.
    â€œHelp you to finish off the Fiend, of course—destroy him near that big rock. Must make you feel really important to have a hill and a rock named after you!”
    I felt cold inside. I’d thought that this knowledge was confined to just a few people—me, the Spook, Grimalkin, Alice, and the lamia witch Slake.
    Mab gave me a wicked smile. “I suppose you thought it was a secret! But nothing stays hidden from me for very long. It was easy-peasy to scry what you’re up to. And I know others will find out too, and at Halloween they’ll all head for that hill where you’re supposed to kill Alice! Many will be servants of the Fiend. You’ll need our help to fight ’em off, so don’t you scowl at me like that. I thought you liked me once.”
    â€œHe was a bit soft on you, that’s for sure!” Jennet said. “Once Alice is dead, he’ll soon come round to that way of thinking again.”
    Of course it wasn’t true. Mab had used dark magic to make me kiss her, hoping to sap my will and control me. But her attempt was doomed: when we first knew each other, Alice had gripped my forearm so tightly that her nails pierced my flesh, leaving scars. She’d told me it was her brand. And it meant that no witch could control me in that way. So Mab had failed. I’d never felt anything for her but anger and revulsion.
    â€œShould I tell him about Alice?” she said, smiling slyly at each of her sisters in turn.
    â€œYes! Yes! Tell him now. I want to see the look on his face,” Beth gloated.
    I thought I knew what was coming. No doubt she was going to claim that she’d scryed Alice’s death again. Had she seen me slay her as part of the ritual? If so, she was mistaken. I wasn’t going to do it. And for all her power, Mab had been wrong about Alice before.
    Scrying could be uncertain. In Greece, Mab had predicted Alice’s death. But when Alice had been seized by a lamia and dragged deep into its lair, I had saved her with a spell—a dark wish given to me by Grimalkin.
    But what Mab now told me came as a real surprise.
    â€œYou saw Alice, didn’t you?” she said. “Well, guess what—she’d been back for nearly a week before she bothered to contact you! She can’t care that much about you or she wouldn’t have let you go on worrying, would she?”
    I just stared at Mab, wondering if she was simply lying to hurt me.
    â€œTell him the rest, Mab!” said Jennet. “I want him to hear all of it!”
    â€œAlice has found another way to finish off the Fiend. Grimalkin is helping her,” Mab gloated.
    â€œI know that already,” I snapped angrily. “She told me what she was doing.”
    â€œDid she now? Well, I bet she didn’t tell you everything. Alice is going to use the Doomdryte ,” Mab crowed.
    That word, Doomdryte , was like a blow. I couldn’t hide my feelings, and all three girls grinned at