The Watcher

by Heather Kindt

  “Oh, I know they don’t deserve to die. I do want you dead, Delaney, but I also want you to suffer, just like I’ve suffered.” Her red painted-on grin filled her face in an unnatural way that reminded Laney of the Joker.

  “Why? What have I done to you?” She inched closer to the Wanderer. “I don’t even know you.” She didn’t want to alert the woman to the fact that she’d been spying on her from outside the book, well, at least her interactions with William.

  The Wanderer ran the blade of the knife along her hand. She obviously loved the drama of the situation. “Has your boyfriend mentioned what I am?”

  “A royal bitch? Yeah, I think he’s mentioned it a time or two.” Relying on Jonas to have some major life revelation at the moment didn’t seem to be working, so she would have to come up with something on her own.

  The Wanderer’s eyes flashed, more electric than ever in the candlelight. “I’m a Watcher and someone I cared about, someone I loved, destroyed everything I held dear. He did it without a second thought.”

  “You’re a Watcher?” Laney acted shocked, though the book revealed this to her at the same time it revealed it to William.

  “I like to say I was a Watcher.” The Wanderer removed one of her necklaces from beneath her cloak and let it dangle from her crooked finger—the green pendant with the golden eye. The stone was riddled with cracks, and the eye was mutilated in the center. “I’m no longer a Watcher because my Weaver no longer exists. He betrayed me, so I betrayed him.”

  “What happened?” Laney pushed for all the knowledge she could obtain so she could know who she was dealing with and to give her more time to think.

  “Robert wrote me into existence. We fell in love, and I was drawn out of the book through a Gate Keeper. And as you know, the reason a Watcher leaves a book is to protect their Weaver from an Ender. As the clashes became more frequent, Robert began to fear his Ender. The beast killed his sister and threatened other members of his family. But he was weak. I begged and pleaded with him, but instead of facing the Ender together, he threw the book into the fire. Everyone and everything I held dear was destroyed in an instant.

  He didn’t understand how I was so distraught over my fictional world. A week later, I slipped a drop of poison into his drink. It was his payment for what he’d done.” She took out a second necklace, this one with a Weaver pendant.

  “How could you kill the man you loved?” The thought of destroying William’s world, Mr. Clarke or Sarah, never crossed her mind. She couldn’t do it to him.

  “When love is dead, anything is possible.” The Wanderer now held onto Nick’s rope; she plucked it like a guitar string. “I think he was in love with another woman like you are in love with another man.”

  Laney grimaced, knowing that the Wanderer tried to open a wound to play with her guilt. But there was no way she was going to let this woman hurt either man. “How do you travel between books?”

  The Wanderer held out her hand. A purple ring with a golden key glistened from her finger. “Once you have blood on your hands, it’s easy to continue to get what you want. On that day, when Robert destroyed my home, I had to prevent any Weaver from doing it again to other unsuspecting Watchers. The Gate Keeper didn’t see it coming. I believe it was suffocation in her sleep. No one knows what happens when a person possesses all four symbols of the codex—Scripto, Custodio, Fores, and Finis. The four need each other, but if one person possessed all four, it could give her all the power and restore the broken stone.” The Wanderer already had three of the stones. She only needed…

  “Why do you want all that power?” Laney didn’t need to ask the question. She already knew the answer. The Wanderer was different from her. Where Laney wanted love, the Wanderer wanted domination.

  “Delaney, in and out of the book world, we are ruled by men. What if I could control them? There is someone in control right now, and I could take that power from him. Imagine regulating the entire Weaver world—instead of being held at a Weaver’s whim, you’ll do what I say.”

  “Even if you get an Ender’s stone, one of your stones is useless.” She thought that stating the obvious might talk this woman out of her madness.

  “I need the Ender’s power to make my Watcher pendant whole again. In its current state, I can’t use it. I can only imagine the power you hold by weaving the words. Someday soon, I, too, will write whole new worlds into existence.”

  “Where are you going to get an Ender’s stone?” Laney had an idea, but she didn’t speak the words aloud. She’d only written one Ender into this story.

  “I’m tired of this conversation. It’s time to make your choice. Will it be our young, dashing Watcher, or his replacement?” The Wanderer once again held her knife to William’s rope, the blade between the cords.

  Laney’s thoughts spun with the impossibility of the decision. There had to be another way. “I can’t make a choice.”

  “Robert chose. So can you. Whom do you choose?” Her voice grew hysterical, and her knife cut deeper into William’s rope. One of the cords snapped free, causing the entire rope to vibrate.

  She couldn’t think straight as she imagined William falling from his perch above. The fall would kill him.

  “Stop!” She rushed forward to grab the Wanderer’s arm. “I’ll get you the Ender ring.”

  The woman dropped her arm from William’s rope, and her Joker smile reappeared across her face. She paced the floor of the barn. It was apparent that a new plot filled her mind. Her pace quickened.

  Finally, she spoke the last words Laney ever expected to hear. “Yes. You’ll get the stone for me… from your brother.”

  Chapter 20

  Jonas chugged down his third glass of water, trying to wash away the shame inside. Why did he let Delaney go and face the witch alone? He knew the death and heartache the Wanderer planned. He made up the game—a sick way to have a good time. Wrapping Nicholas and William in ropes after the Wanderer put them to sleep, he set the apparatus up in the barn using some old pulleys and ropes the family had lying around. He hefted each of the men up to the rafters while the Wanderer set their feet on the beam. The rope tightened around the cleats to make sure they didn’t fall and ruin an evening of good family fun.

  He rotated the ring on his finger, around and around, sliding it up to his knuckle, then back again. The skull represented his evil side that he detested.

  “Where did you get that ring?” His younger sister Penelope sidled up next to him. “It is really odd.”

  “I found it.” Jonas lied. “Last week, when I was working in the field, I unearthed it in a shovel full of dirt.”

  “Do you think it belonged to a gravedigger?” She placed her finger on the stone. “It has a skull on it.”

  “Perhaps it did.” Jonas stuck his hand in his pocket, annoyed with his younger sister’s intrusive questioning. “I thought you were going to the dance tonight.”

  “I am. I told mother I would check on you. She is showing her concern again, now that you have returned from your trip.” Penelope touched his arm. “We all miss Thomas, but it seems you are taking it the hardest.”

  Jonas tried to keep his mind off the thoughts of his brother. Revenge and hatred were much easier emotions to tend. These emotions had turned the Wanderer into a monster. And Delaney was almost human—someone who regretted her treatment of him in the book.

  Maybe it was time to stir the pot a bit.

  “What do you mean my brother? I’m an only child.” Laney thought about her older brother, who died as an infant. She never questioned her parents’ story about his death. Ice crept through her veins. Her world turned upside-down.

  The Wanderer’s smile grew wide with her wicked revelations. “This is too delicious. You do have a brother. Someone I kidnapped as an infant and raised as my own. I didn’t want him growing up as a filthy Weaver.” She placed the knife on the ground as she hiked up one of her knee-high boots. “And as an act of ultimate revenge, I placed him in your book as your ar
chenemy.”

  The icy chill inside Laney reached her back, and she shivered, wrapping the sleeves of her jacket tighter around her. Jonas? Not Jonas. It didn’t even make sense. How could someone like him be her flesh and blood? It was enough when she thought he was her creation. “You’re a liar.”

  “I revel in this truth.” The Wanderer stared off into some faraway world. “He was such a good boy growing up, but you’re the one who’s turned him into a monster.”

  Laney raised her hands to her head and clenched her hair. The Wanderer had to be lying. Either she was, or Laney’s parents were. They said he died, not that he was snatched from his crib. Was this why her father was so overprotective? She refused to believe this as truth until she talked to her parents.

  “Back to the subject at hand.” The Wanderer held her knife up to Nick’s rope this time. “I need you to get your brother’s ring, or they both die.”

  “How am I going to do that?” She stared at Nick, hanging helplessly above her. “He’ll never give me his ring. Jonas hates me.”

  “That’s up to you, Weaver. Work your magic on him.” The Wanderer ran her knife along the rope. Multiple fibers broke loose from the main shaft. “Or use your travel time wisely to reflect on which boy you’ll save.”

  Laney ran for the door, tearing herself away from William and Nick. Her gut screamed at her to stay, but it was impossible to save them alone. If she got the ring from Jonas, she’d need assurance of safety for the two men before the Wanderer got her hand anywhere near the Ender ring. She had no idea where to find Jonas and doubted he’d give her the time of day.

  When she approached his house, she peered in the windows. Mrs. Webb stood by the hearth, stirring something in a large cast-iron pot. A younger girl kneaded thick dough in a bowl, but no sign of Jonas.

  Reaching the road, she quickened her pace. There had to be a way to save both men from their impending doom, but at the moment, she wasn’t even sure if she could get them down while the Wanderer was there. Thoughts swam through her head when she ran into someone walking in the opposite direction.

  “Watch where you’re going,” Jonas snarled. His face lifted slightly when his eyes met hers.

  “Jonas, I need your help.” She grabbed his arm, amazed by her luck. “She’s going to kill them.”

  He sighed. “I told you about her plan.” He turned his face to the right. Did he resemble her dad? “Maybe if you distract her, I can get them down.”

  “That’s the other thing. She wants your ring—something about being more powerful with all four pieces of the codex.”

  “And that’s what we need—this woman being more powerful. No way. This ring is staying on my finger. It kind of likes hanging out where it is.” He shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “You need to trust me to lure her with the ring. I promise I won’t let her have it.” It was the only way.

  “And how am I supposed to trust you? The woman who ruined my life?” He stopped and leaned his back against a fence.

  “You don’t.” She laid her hands on the fencing and scuffed the dirt with her toe. “But a week ago you wanted me dead, and now you’re willing to help. Something inside is telling you to trust me.” She placed her hand on his arm. Could this man really be her brother? “I won’t let you down.”

  Jonas tilted his head back, blowing a stream of air through his lips. He removed his ring and rolled it between two of his fingers. “Here.”

  A surge of hope ran through Laney as she placed his ring in her pocket. “I’ll go in and lure her outside with the ring. You enter through the side of the barn and free them. Maybe they’ll be coming around by the time you get them down.”

  The plan was almost foolproof. She would distract the Wanderer long enough to keep her away from the rescue mission. She rushed back down the road to the Webb house, keeping to the woods on her way to the barn.

  She slipped in through the front door and set her lips in a firm line. “I was able to obtain the ring.” Laney held up her bargaining chip for the Wanderer to see.

  The woman jumped up from her journal at the desk, red hair flaming behind her like a meteorite. She rushed across the room. “Give that to me.”

  “No.” Laney stuck it back in her pocket and did a one-eighty out the door. The woman would follow her now that she had the one object she wanted.

  When they reached the tree line, the Wanderer appeared desperate but held on to her regal wickedness. “I have to say, I’m surprised you were able to obtain that ring. Last time we spoke, Jonas wasn’t overly fond of you. How did you do it and so quickly?”

  “I have my ways.” Laney stood up straighter, trying to appear like an equal foe. She had no power as a Weaver over this woman, but she wanted to at least appear badass. “Before I give you the ring, I want two things.”

  “Depends on what you want. I’d already planned on giving you two things. They’re hanging from the rafters.” The Wanderer smirked at her painful humor.

  “That’s one of the things. I want them both down and free and safe passage for whomever chooses to go back to my home.”

  “And the other thing?” The Wanderer tapped her finger on a tree.

  “I want you to tell me about my brother. What was he like growing up? I know you intentionally put him in the book, but how did you do it? Is he a Weaver?” Laney threw the questions at the woman to stall, but she also wanted to know the answers if Jonas was really her long, lost brother.

  Her painted-on eyebrow rose into an unnatural arch. “You believe me?”

  “I’m starting to. I just want to know more before I leave this world. Before I leave him behind.”

  The Wanderer leaned against a tree, and Laney knew she’d bought Jonas more time. “Because I killed my lover, I never had children of my own. I kept my eye on Weaver families, so I’d know when a new child was born. The trait usually skips a generation, so when I heard that Grady’s first grandchild was born I spied on your parents. They were so unaware of the danger. The three of them were so happy, but that was to be short-lived.

  Late one night, while they slept in the next room, I snatched the child from his crib.” The Wanderer’s eyes glowed. “He was my child. I taught him many things, like how to ride a horse, use a gun, and how to read. Jonas loved me more than anyone ever loved me before. Then you grew up and started to write.” The Wanderer pouted. “I sacrificed my son to stop the Weavers in your family. His hatred for you brought my revenge full circle.”

  “He’s not your son.” Laney clenched her fists.

  If this woman spoke the truth, she stole her brother’s entire life from him. It was worse than anything Laney ever did to him.

  “He’s more my son than your mother’s son. She only gave birth to him. I raised him.”

  “But you stole him! My mother is the most loving, caring person I know. She still loves him even though he’s been gone for over twenty years.”

  “She would have raised him as a Weaver.” The Wanderer said the last word like it was the worst curse word in her vocabulary. “As I said, when I sacrificed him, I had to erase his memories of his life before your book. A peddler provided me with an amnesia serum that I mixed in a drink one night. While he slept, I used the Gate Keeper ring to transport him to your book. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but it had to be carried out. He has no memories of his life with me.”

  The Wanderer’s eyes drifted to Laney’s pant pocket. “Silas gave him that ring.”

  “So, is he a Weaver?” Laney thought about the connection that sharing the trait brought to her and Grady. Maybe it could heal her relationship with her brother.

  “That is yet to be determined. I taught him to read and write, but I never allowed him to pen fiction. In fact, I forbade it.”

  Laney pictured the older woman as a strict parent. She probably even used a strap on Jonas when he disobeyed. The Wanderer answered her questions, but she wanted to give Jonas more time. No signs of life came from the barn.

 
; “Why do you want the four rings of the codex?” It was direct, but the woman might be desperate enough to answer.

  “Complete power to eradicate the Weavers.” The Wanderer said it like she was telling Laney about the weather. “My dream is for every author to be a plain, ordinary, boring author. And I will start with your precious Golden Recluse.”

  Laney swallowed. There was no way she could let the Wanderer get ahold of Jonas’s ring. “How will you do that?”

  “You ask too many questions.” She stepped closer to Laney. “I’ve already wasted enough time.”

  Jonas needed more time.

  Laney connected the four powers to jump to her conclusion. “You want to send Weavers into their books to kill them with your pen.”

  The rope slipped a little in Jonas’s ungloved hands. He bit into his lip to suppress a scream. His palm ripped open, and blood smeared on the rope. The intense pain reminded him to tell William to lose a few pounds. The minutes blurred. He clenched his jaw through the searing white heat that pulsed through his hands and up through his forearms. Even though it was the right thing to do, Delaney owed him big time.

  After what seemed like an eternity, William’s body touched the ground and settled in a heap on the dirt floor. Jonas knelt down next to him and removed an ammonia-doused rag from his pocket. He placed his hand below the Watcher’s head then held the rag under his nose.

  William’s eyes flew open, saw Jonas, and his bound body flopped on the ground like a fish out of water.

  Jonas kept the gag in his mouth to prevent him from alerting the Wanderer. He removed his knife, and the Watcher’s eyes grew wide.

  “Stop moving around so much. I’m not going to kill you unless it’s accidental because you can’t keep still.” He had his hand on William’s chest, trying to hold him down. “Delaney’s distracting the Wanderer, but I don’t know how long we have.”

  It took Jonas about three minutes to cut through the ropes before he removed the gag. He clamped his hand over William’s mouth, ready to muffle it, in case he called out.