“We know how you feel,” Avery assured her, and Karen smiled bashfully.
Reid inhaled a shaky breath as he wiped at his clothes and skin. Bug guts matted his hair to his face and a slimy trail coated his clothes. “I’m glad it’s over.”
“Not yet.” Avery clasped his hand and squeezed it. “We still have to find Lila.”
“We will,” he assured her before he scanned the group. “What about Landon and Tina?”
“Landon was injured, so Tina took her back,” Rosie answered.
Reid’s eyes darkened with fury. “Is she all right?”
“She’ll be fine,” Alex assured him.
“Are you all right?” Avery asked him.
“That took a lot out of me, and my powers are drained, but I’m good,” Reid said.
“Then it is a good thing we have Avery with us!” Karen declared.
Avery stiffened when Alex and Rosie once again turned wary eyes on her. Though she still hated their looks, she found they didn’t bother her as much with Reid standing by her side.
Reid’s brow furrowed as he studied her. “What is she talking about?”
Avery met his questioning eyes before averting her gaze. If he started looking at her like Rosie and Alex, she would lose her calm. “We’ll fill you in while we search for Lila,” she told him. “Let’s get out of here before these things come back to life or we’re buried in here.”
“I agree,” Alex said.
Avery ignored the countless dead bodies of the insects as she bent to dig her way out of the dirt entrapping her while the others did the same. Once they were free, they made their way over to the door on the other side of the room.
When Rosie shoved the door open, they fled what would have been their tomb.
CHAPTER 32
Reid leaned against the wall with one leg bent behind him and his arms crossed over his chest while he stared at Avery. They’d just finished filling him in on everything that happened while he was in the trunk. She shifted beneath his scrutiny and gazed down at her feet; she was tired of staring at her battered sneakers.
“Do you feel burnt out now?” Reid asked her.
“No,” Avery said. “I still feel powerful, maybe more so.”
She chanced a sideways glance at Rosie, Reid, and Alex as they telegraphed silent messages to each other. That was it! Anger flashed through her as they continued to treat her like an oddity while keeping secrets about what they knew. She already had Regan playing games and keeping things from her; she didn’t need it from them too.
“I don’t know what is going on here, but I’m really tired of you keeping things from me,” she said. “If you have something to say about me, then say it.”
Reid lowered his leg and stepped away from the wall. “I’m sorry, Avery, but I don’t know what to make of this.”
“Neither do I,” Alex said, and Rosie nodded.
“Make of what?” Avery demanded.
When they exchanged another look, it took all her willpower not to throttle them as her nails dug into her palms.
“Our powers are stronger than our parents, but none of us have ever been able to use our powers so often or as strongly so early in our learning,” Reid said. “And I’ve never heard of a light coming out of someone before.”
“What are you trying to say?” Avery asked. “And I swear if you guys exchange one more look, I’m going to strangle all of you!”
Reid smiled, but the sadness in his eyes frightened her. “I don’t know what it means, Avery. I’ve never heard of a witch being as strong as you are. Maybe if you’d embraced black magic and turned evil—”
“I have not!” Avery blurted. That damn annoying voice started clamoring in her head again, but this time it screamed to be heard.
“Avery isn’t evil!” Karen slipped her arm through Avery’s and pulled her close as she glared at the others. “And screw all of you for thinking it could be possible!”
Avery was grateful for Karen’s fervent belief in her, but an impending sense of doom gripped her as the voice whispered to her again. A part of her wanted to acknowledge the voice, but the other part preferred to bury it forever. In the end, the denial part won out as she shoved the voice aside again.
Lifting her chin, she gazed defiantly at them. “I am not evil. How could you think that?”
“No, you’re not evil, and I don’t think it,” Reid said. “Witches who embrace darker magic tend to be more powerful than most, but the members of our coven are still a level above them. We are stronger natural witches than any of the others we’ve ever heard about. The strength of our powers could almost be considered evil, but none of us practice black magic.”
“Why are your powers so strong?” Karen asked.
“Because our families have been witches for generations and can trace our ancestry to the ancient druids. However, no matter how strong our power is, we do burn out if we use it too much, as we have now. Avery has used her power more than any of us today, yet she feels stronger.”
Avery’s eyes narrowed on him. “So what does that mean?”
“We don’t know, Avery. That’s the problem,” Rosie said. “We have no idea why you’re as strong as you are.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s not like you,” Karen said. “If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have made it this far. So, why don’t we take this as a blessing and find Lila, so we can get out of here.”
“I agree,” Alex said.
When Reid embraced Avery, Karen released her arm. She ignored the drying bug guts sticking to them as she buried her face in his neck.
“We’ll figure it out, Avery, I promise,” he whispered in her ear. “It will be all right.”
She nodded her agreement, but something inside told her it wasn’t going to be all right.
• • •
Avery pushed open the last door and froze. Beneath a single light bulb, Lila sat in the middle of the room with her hands and feet bound to a small, battered wheelchair. The chair, with its spiked back and thin metal railings, resembled one of the wheelchairs from old asylums she’d seen in countless horror movies over the years.
Lila’s chair sat in the middle of five identical others. Her head was slumped forward, and the curtain of her chocolate-colored hair hid her face. “Lila,” Avery breathed when her friend didn’t move.
Breaking free of her paralysis, Avery raced across the room and bit back a cry of pain when she landed on her knees before Lila. Her hand fell on Lila’s shoulder, and she shook her roughly. Lila’s eyes opened, and she lifted her head to stare blankly at Avery. Then she jerked forward with a strangled cry of relief. Avery pulled the gag away as Reid hurried over to help her untie Lila.
“Thank you!” Lila cried and threw herself into Avery’s arms once she was free.
“Don’t thank me,” Avery whispered. “Lila, what are you scared of?”
Lila strained to stand up, but her legs wouldn’t work, and she fell heavily into Avery’s arms. Her tear-filled eyes clashed with Avery’s when she replied. “Being paralyzed and unable to defend myself should something attack me.”
Reid helped Avery ease Lila back into the wheelchair. Avery brushed Lila’s tangled hair away from her forehead as she sought to comfort her friend. “We’re going to get through this,” Avery promised her.
“I know,” Lila said with a tremulous smile.
“I think we have to sit in the chairs for this to start,” Alex said.
Avery warily studied the empty chairs. She did not want to sit in them. The minute they did, she knew something would attack them, but they had no choice.
Sighing in resignation, Avery rose and sat in the chair next to Lila’s. The second her ass hit the seat and her hands gripped the armrests, her legs locked down. Terror spurted through her when she tried to lift them, but they didn’t respond to any commands she gave them. When the others settled into the remaining chairs, panic flashed over their faces as their legs locked down too.
“I don’t l
ike this,” Karen whispered.
Shuffling noises and the clicking of claws on the wood floor filled the room from behind a red curtain Avery hadn’t noticed until now. A clawed hand wrapped around the curtain before it pulled back to reveal the six hideous monsters on the other side. Standing over six feet tall, these monstrosities were the much taller versions of the horrible little creatures from the trophy room.
Tufts of brown hair coated their scaly bodies, and their tails thumped against the floor. Their muzzles were long, and their yellow fangs jutted over the bottom of their distorted lower jaw. Gleaming black and blue eyes stared malevolently at them as the monsters crept closer.
“Oh!” Lila gasped. “I never pictured anything that horrible. What are they?”
Avery’s mind screamed at her to run, but her leaden legs refused to cooperate. She gulped as her fingers dug into the metal arms of the chair. One of the creatures separated itself from the others. Its fur glinted in the light as its scales took on a slimy sheen. Leering at them, its head bobbed up and down while it led the way with the others following it. Inhuman growls rumbled from their throats.
“Avery!” Rosie shouted. “Do something!”
Oh, now they want me to do something, she thought as she eyed the creatures. The only problem was, she didn’t know if she wanted to do anything. Whatever was different about her was scary, and so was the growing strength of her powers. If she continued to use them, and they continued to grow, would she be the one controlling them, or would they end up controlling her?
The possibility was as terrifying to her as these monsters.
Before Avery could sort out the tumult of her emotions, the creatures rushed at them and screams erupted around the room. When Karen threw her upper body sideways, her chair rocked before toppling over. Free of the chair, she dragged her legs across the floor as she crawled backward.
The monsters were on top of them before Avery could blink. When a large muzzle loomed in front of her, the putrid breath filling her nose made her gag. Fur pricked her palm when she gripped its muzzle to keep it from getting any closer. Paws larger than her head landed on her shoulders, and claws dug into her flesh. Avery screamed when they pierced her skin.
CHAPTER 33
From the corner of her eye, she saw one of them lift Reid and toss him away. Karen’s crawling halted when one of the creatures threw itself onto her. Lila screeched as the weight of the monster on her propelled her backward while Alex and Rosie beat at the ones on top of them.
“Avery!” Karen screamed.
Avery’s fingers dug into the thick skin of the creature before her. The drool rolling from its mouth splattered her legs and soaked her shorts. She tried to remain calm and gather her chaotic thoughts, but it was difficult in the violence shaking the room. Rosie shrieked when one of the beasts sank its fangs into her shoulder.
“No!” Avery screeched.
Her instincts reacted before her mind could comprehend what she intended, and her adrenaline-fueled power surged out of her in a brilliant flash of deep blue light. When the light ensnared the creatures in a giant lasso, it bound them together and dragged them into the center of the chairs before cinching tighter and tearing them in half.
Neon orange blood splattered the room, and them, as pieces of the monsters were thrown into the far wall. Avery wiped away the smear of orange blood covering her face and blurring her vision. She gazed at it for a second before her legs were released and she slumped forward.
“Wow,” Lila breathed.
“I have never seen anything like that,” Alex said.
Avery lifted her head to meet their astonished gazes. Karen climbed to her feet and hugged herself as she stepped toward them. Reid moved to stand beside Karen while he stared at Avery in disbelief. Avery diverted her gaze from his as she climbed onto unsteady legs. Resting her hand on the back of the wheelchair, she used it to steady herself. The power still coursing through her made her feel stronger than before.
And it terrified her.
“Rosie, are you okay?” she inquired tremulously.
“Yes,” Rosie said. The blood soaking her pink shirt had turned it a deep red. Rosie whimpered when Alex slid his shirt off and pressed it against her jagged wound.
“Do you feel drained yet?” Reid asked her.
Avery wished she could lie to him, but she couldn’t. “No.”
Confusion turned his silver eyes the color of molten lead. “Do you feel stronger?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so glad you became a witch!” Lila cried as threw her arms around Avery.
“You knew?” Karen asked.
Lila grinned. “I figured it out.”
“How?”
“We can explain that later,” Avery said. “But first, let’s get out of this place. We’ve found everyone; it’s time to go home.”
And hopefully Regan would let her leave. Avery shut the possibility of being trapped here down; on top of everything else, it might unhinge her.
The only door in the room was the one they’d entered through. Avery sidestepped puddles of orange blood as she walked across the room, pulled the door open, and stepped through it. She found herself back in the old-fashioned sitting room, standing near the intricately carved staircase. The circle beneath the stairwell swirled beckoningly to her as it promised freedom from this world.
“We did it,” Reid said as he clasped her hand.
When Avery looked at him, she hated the unease in his eyes, but she also saw strength and, she believed, love shining there. Would that love remain after she told him everything that happened in this place?
Maybe she really was evil; would a good person allow Regan to get as close to them as she had?
“Let’s go,” Reid said.
She smiled tremulously at him and squeezed his hand as they strode toward the circle.
“Not so fast.”
Avery froze when Regan materialized before them, effectively blocking their exit. His sly grin and beautiful eyes made her hackles rise as she braced herself for whatever he’d planned for them. Avery stepped closer to Reid, and the muscles of his forearm bunched beneath her palm when she gripped it with her free hand.
“The game is over,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “I’ve found everyone, and they’ve all faced their fears. We are leaving.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he said as he wagged his index finger at her. “Not everyone has faced their fears, Avery.”
Avery felt like he’d driven a sledgehammer into her gut. “That wasn’t part of the game.”
“Oh, darling,” he purred. “I made the game, so I make the rules. If you’re going to get out, then you have to play.”
“You’re going to hide me?”
“No, this can be done right here. Lila, be a dear and pull that unusual little crystal out of your pocket.”
Lila glanced at Avery before dipping a hand into her pocket to remove Avery’s crystal. Dangling from Lila’s fingertips by its chain, Avery’s crystal’s clear depths reflected the colors of the circle across the marble floor. Hope swelled in her chest when she recalled Landon’s words about her crystal being able to help open portals between the worlds.
“It won’t help you escape here,” Regan said.
Avery’s eyes flew to him as he seemed to guess at her thoughts.
“It can help open portals from the human realm into other worlds, but not from those worlds into the human realm,” Regan continued. “If you’d used your crystal to come here, you would be able to leave through the portal you created, but since you didn’t, you cannot use it to escape.”
“I wasn’t thinking about using it to escape,” she lied.
He chuckled as he brushed an imaginary piece of lint from his shirt. “Yes, you were. You wear your thoughts as plainly as you wear your clothes, darling.”
I hate you! Avery bit back the words as she glared at Regan; they would only amuse him.
“It may not help you escape, but that crysta
l is as rare and unusual as its owner,” Regan murmured while his gaze ran appreciatively over Avery’s body.
Reid released a growl that sounded more animal than human. His silver eyes blazed with rage as he glared at Regan who smirked back at him.
“You’re out of your league here, boy, with her and most certainly with me,” Regan drawled.
“I’ll show you out of your league, specter,” Reid snarled.
Avery held Reid back when he stepped toward Regan. If Reid went after him, Regan would make him suffer—if he didn’t kill him outright. When a wave of power seeped out of Regan, Avery felt its oily blackness creeping into her soul. There was so much of it, and it was so corrupt, yet it was only a fraction of what he truly possessed. As it wove its way deeper into her, she had the overwhelming urge to vomit his power out before he reeled it back in.
When she looked at Reid again, his face was ashen, but his chin remained high. The others looked as if they’d swallowed something foul, and she imagined that’s what she looked like too.
“Take the crystal, Avery,” Regan ordered as his voice took on the hypnotic tone she recalled.
“Why?” she demanded.
Regan’s magnificent face was almost angelic as a smile played across his full lips. “So you can face your fear.”
“I don’t have any!” she snapped, knowing she lied.
He wiggled a finger at her. “Yes, you do. Just ask that little voice in your head.”
Avery took an involuntary step back as all eyes spun toward her. “How do you know about that?” she demanded.
Regan’s smile became smug as he took a predatory step forward. “I know you better than you do, and certainly better than lover boy here.”
His electric eyes flashed as they swung toward Reid when Reid pushed Avery back and stepped in front of her. Reid’s shoulders straightened as he glowered at Regan. Avery gripped his arm when she realized they were close to fighting. If it had been a fight between two humans, Reid would win, but Regan wouldn’t fight fair.
“You don’t know me!” Avery cried.
“Oh, but I do,” Regan replied. “Take the crystal, Avery; otherwise, you’ll stay here until you die.”
Nightmares (The Coven, Book 1) Page 19