by K. C. RILEY
“Now, what’s this all about?” Vye placed her hand on top of mine.
I turned my hand over to reveal my wrist and tried to force myself to not start crying again.
Vye’s eyes widened. “How?”
I told her how Jake had found some kind of spell to free me from ascending, to free me from the mark and the amulet. “Why? Why would he do that?” I was back to crying.
“Oh, honey,” Vye said sympathetically. “I think you know the answer to that.”
Her words dug deep into my soul. I asked if there was something she could do, a spell, an incantation, anything. But magic wasn’t her thing. She couldn’t help. And Jonas was still out of the country, not answering his phone.
Vye sat with me a while longer. We didn’t say much.
I sipped my tea and scanned the room. I almost completely overlooked the stack of fabric samples and menu cards on the counter. “What are these for?” I didn’t mention a thing about the mortgage bill that peeked out from the bottom stamped in red, Overdue.
“Mrs. Ellington is having another Women’s Society tea party at her home in a couple of weeks. Can you believe she asked me to host the next three for the year?
Mrs. Ellington. I never did tell Vye what she was up to, that it was Mrs. Ellington that raised Norah’s spirit from the dead in the first place. I wondered if the police ever found the girl in the closet.
“Are you in any kind of trouble?”
“Nothing to concern your little head with.” Vye pushed the notice under the stack. “Can I get you another cup of tea?”
Thinking about Mrs. Ellington and another tea party was more than I could digest. It wasn’t the time or place to talk about what she had done, even though it was clear Vye was counting on that gig.
My phone beeped a couple of times. “No,” I said, patting my eyes dry. “I better get back before they send out a search party.”
“Are you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“I’m here if you need me. It doesn’t matter what time.”
I nodded. I would have smiled, but it hurt too much.
I got in the car and noticed Jake’s sweatshirt crumpled on the back seat. It wasn’t there before. I pulled it up front and felt the soft fabric in my hands. The smell of him was all over it. I slipped my arms in the oversized hoodie and wrapped myself in it—in him. I wanted to be alone, but not in my room. And not in front of Vye’s either. The chapel came to mind. Sister Clara always knew the right thing to say.
I wiped my eyes and was about to pull off when the lamppost by the car flickered. And then the radio turned on by itself and combed up and down the stations all on its own. One by one, the streetlights of downtown Main Street turned on and off like they were trying to tell me something. “Jedidiah? Is that you?”
The radio station stopped at the song Jake and I had danced to earlier. Then it shut off. So did the flickering of the lampposts.
“Jaa...Jake?” I waited for an answer. “Are you there?” But none came.
The drive back home was dead quiet. I pulled up into the parking lot and, with my arms hugged tight against my body, I walked over to the chapel. It was late.
I looked in and whispered, “Sister Clara? Are you here?” I had no idea what I would say if she actually answered. And it didn’t matter because no one was there.
With my phone turned off, I lit a candle, and sat on the front pew. I shrugged as I nestled my little hands into Jake’s sweater. There was something in the pocket, a folded piece of paper. Please tell Cassie, I’m sorry. Underneath the words was a map of the woods to what I suspected was Cassie’s father. Christ. That wasn’t good.
My eyes welled up again at the thought of Jake saving me, protecting me, and then giving everything up for me. Jake had a good heart. Although I wasn’t sure how I would ever convince Cassie of that once I told her the truth about her dad.
It was around 2:12 a.m. when I woke up from the pew. Sister Clara was still nowhere to be found. An envelope with a red wax seal and my name written in calligraphy leaned against my hip.
I broke the seal and read the letter inside.
Dear Miss Maverick,
Congratulations on being accepted to The Secret Society of Souls. I’m sure you have many questions. They will all be answered. But first, you have quite a decision to make. To accept this invitation you’ve simply to repeat the following words:
Kuresche Pitar Moblem
But keep in mind, once you speak them, there will be no turning back.
P.S. Mr. Patrilo is not dead. We can help you find him.
One thing about this town and All Saints was clear. There was no escaping magic. What did I have to lose? If there was a way to get Jake back, I would do it.
“Kuresche Pitar Moblem,” I said out loud.
Something in the room slid across the floor. I turned. A stone statue of the Virgin Mary revealed a secret passageway and a faint light that glowed from within. I curiously walked toward it, curled my fingers tight into my hands, and stepped inside. The statue slid back into place behind me.
At the end of a torch-lit cavern was a magnificent granite door sculpted in stars, the moon, and the sun. The celestial bodies were all interwoven in time, the face of a clock with thirteen hours instead of twelve. Overlaid on top of it all was an ouroborus. If I remembered correctly, the symbol had something to do with the alchemy of life, death, and rebirth. The massive black dragon overlapped into an infinity symbol before devouring its own tail across the doorway. I was about to touch the stone scales of its body when its eyes glowed blue.
The doors opened. It couldn’t be...
Mason, Boyd, Josie, and Cassie stood around an altar of lit candles, herbs, and crystal skulls. Mason and Josie locked hands like they had been boyfriend and girlfriend forever. And at the center stood Mrs. Ellington with Cassie beside her. It felt like the breath had been smacked out of my body. None of them were ever my friends. They had been working with Mrs. Ellington all along. I could feel it in the air and the knots that pulled tighter in my stomach.
The night that Mason and Boyd took us to that abandoned witch’s gravesite, those old books Cassie was studying on her bed when I asked to borrow a screwdriver, and Josie working with Mrs. Ellington to pay for the dresses. Not to mention that stupid blog, that had Mason’s handiwork written all over it. It was all connected. The only one missing from the miserable lot was Kai. And as far as I knew he didn’t remember a thing about what happened that night.
But it got worse...
Mrs. Ellington, Josie, and Cassie’s eyes blackened over like Meghan’s. They were more than good liars, they were witches. They had been all along.
“Welcome, Lizzy, to The Secret Society of Souls,” Mrs. Ellington said. “We are so glad to have you.”
The southern charm in Mrs. Ellington’s voice was still sweeter than tea, but also completely unfazed by the fact that she had raised my aunt’s psycho spirit from the dead. She was practically responsible for my mother’s death. Did I have concrete proof? No. But Ezra had shown me enough in her cellar to know that I had been completely played.
Mrs. Ellington was about to speak again. “A war is coming—”
Who cared about a war?
“Before you say another word,” I interrupted. “You said Jake was still alive. That you could help me bring him back. Can you do that or not?”
“It’ll take some doing. But yes. Yes, we can.”
I couldn’t explain the bond I had with Jake. How it felt like I had known him, loved him, my entire life. And maybe even longer than that.
Logical or not, was I willing to work with the devil and a bunch of liars to get him back? The answer was a big fat yes.
“Fine,” I said. “Where do we start?”
About the Author
When not writing about fallen angels, vampires, werewolves, secret societies or the complexities of Young Adult first love, my favorite past time includes binging Netflix, home-brewed coffe
e, long walks along the beach, and my favorite—dark chocolate after a glass of sangria and pizza.
Books by K.C. Riley
Secret Society of Souls Series
Book 1 - Shattered
Book 2 - Fallen (Coming July 2021)
For upcoming book releases and bonus material please subscribe and visit me at:
secretsocietyofsouls.com