“That’s not weird at all,” I said, making a face.
I wasn’t a fabled chosen one. I was just Skye, the reluctant witch with a flair for the dramatic. I would do what had to be done, and that was all. There was nothing prophetic about it at all. The stars definitely did not align on the day of my birth, I could vouch for that.
“Come.” Aileen smiled and shook her head, gesturing for me to step toward the center of the ruin.
Kneeling beside the crystal, we clasped hands and rested our free hands on the quartz, making a circle.
“For the witches of Ireland,” I whispered.
“Today, we are one coven,” Aileen added.
“Forever, we are one.”
Chapter 18
Standing underneath the branches of the hawthorn in the middle of the main road through Derrydun, I sighed.
I hated waiting. Especially when it was all world hanging in the balance and shite.
“It’s getting colder,” Maggie said, her breath vaporizing on the air. “Are you sure it’s not just a freak weather event?”
“This is how Carman got into Ireland,” I said, shaking my head. “Under the cover of snow.”
Roy paced behind us, clutching a shotgun, Mairead was lingering under the eave of Molly McCreedy’s, Mary Donnelly was handing out cookies, and Mrs. Boyle was standing guard over her garden, shovel in hand.
The rest of the villagers were spread out, manning the perimeter and waiting for signs of Carman’s approach. Aileen was holed up in the teahouse, out of sight—in the only warm place in town—and out of mind.
“It won’t be long now,” I murmured, glancing at the sky.
“Hooo!”
“What’s that?” Mairead called out. “Is it an owl?”
“I don’t think so,” Mary said, dusting off her empty tray. “Owls only come out at night.”
We all turned our attention up the road to the single set of traffic lights.
“Hooo!”
“There it is again,” Roy said.
“What do you suppose it is?” Maggie asked.
“Hooo!” Sean McKinnon appeared around the corner, sprinting down the road and waving his arms like a madman.
“It’s Sean,” Mairead said. “I’ve never heard him make that sound before.”
“Is his ass on fire?” Maggie asked. “I’ve never seen him run so fast.”
“The snakes are comin’!” he bellowed. “The snakes are comin’!”
“Snakes?” I glanced at Aileen, who’d emerged from the teahouse.
“There are no snakes in Ireland,” she said with a humph. “Is he drunk?”
Sean came to a stop in front of our group and doubled over, trying to catch his breath. “I’m.” Puff. “Not.” Puff. “Shittin’.” Puff. “Around.”
“Not a drop of whiskey in him,” Maggie said, sniffing the air around the Irishman. “Just the stench of not showerin’ for a few days.”
“I showered this mornin’ and washed meself with Imperial Leather soap, I’ll be thankin’ you very much.”
“Must be the Brut deodorant then,” Aileen said.
“Aileen!” Sean complained. “Skye, you believe me, right?”
“Where’d you see them?” I asked, in a mood to believe everything on the eve—or day—of battle.
“Comin’ down the road past the Ashlyn’s,” he replied. “A whole swarm of ’em. Brown ones, green ones, black ones, stripy ones. Mean lookin’ sons of—”
“Then they’re here,” I murmured, glancing at Aileen again. “Finally.”
“Boone’ll be with them,” she said, grasping my hands. “Are you ready to face him?”
I nodded. I’d fretted enough over his true nature. There was nothing left to do now but fight.
“It’s Carman,” I said. “All of it. Take out her, and the rest will fall. I must have a chance to win him back before…”
Aileen nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Maggie said.
“Me, too,” Sean added.
Roy nodded gruffly and lifted his shotgun.
“Spread the word,” I said to Mairead. “This is not a drill.”
“On it,” the Goth girl declared and ran off to warn the others.
“Aileen, go back inside. I’ve got this.”
A mass of writhing darkness appeared on the horizon and powered toward us, slithering down the road in one great heap.
“Ô mo dhia!” Mary exclaimed.
“What do we do?” Sean asked.
Say a prayer…
I steeled myself as the mass bore down on us, and I held out my hands, hoping for the best.
Mary clutched her crystal as the snakes wove around her and the other villagers, the talismans protecting them from being overwhelmed. Mrs. Boyle screeched something in Gaelic and chopped off the head of a snake with her shovel, then turned to slice and dice another.
I clutched my own talisman and felt out my Legacy. A rush of magic flowed from my core, and I pushed it outward.
“Go away,” I whispered. “No snakes allowed!”
I forced my magic outward, letting my instincts guide me. The barrier around me grew and grew until it exploded outward, sending snakes flying through the air.
“Argh!” Maggie shrieked. “There’s one in me hair! Get it out! Get it out!”
She jumped from foot to foot as Roy picked the little snake from her curly locks and flung it down for Mrs. Boyle to sever in half.
The snakes hissed and struck out, and I shoved them away with my magic, the closest to the blast exploding. Little bits of snake guts flew everywhere, and Mary Donnelly shrieked.
“This wasn’t in the plan!” she exclaimed.
As the rest of the snakes slithered away, I glanced back up the road. The traffic lights blinked on and off a few times, then died completely. Overhead, the sky darkened, the clouds brimming with darkness.
“I don’t like this,” Sean said, clutching Maggie’s arm.
“You’re supposed to protect me,” she complained.
“If I protect you, will you give me a kiss?”
“Eww! No!”
“Shh,” I hissed holding up my hand.
Silence fell behind me as I stared into the distance. I could feel something coming. Power crackled, charging the air, and I knew. This was it.
I saw the wolves first—three massive silver beasts prowling through the mist, their eyes catching the light and shining ominously. Behind them was a woman, her footfalls silent. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Maybe a parade with a float and confetti and a marching band. Or a chariot made out of the bones of her victims drawn by a hellhound.
No, Carman just wandered into Derrydun on her own two feet, escorted by her three sons in their wolf shapes. It was a little anticlimactic.
When she saw us waiting for her in front of the hawthorn, she moved ahead, taking the lead. She was exactly how I remembered her from the vision she’d dragged me into. Willowy, freckled, wild auburn hair, and beautiful beyond compare. Though it was tainted with a spiteful streak that made her eyes shine like ice.
She’d donned modern clothing, leaving the flowy dress at home. Boots, leather pants, black T-shirt, and a matching leather jacket. Total dominatrix style. All that was missing was the whip, but odds were, she had a magical one she planned to spank me with.
The three wolves prowled behind her, their heads lowered and their teeth bared. The one in front was huge, its fur tinged copper around its head and tail. The second was more silver but had a puckered hole on the left side of its face. That one was rub-a-dub one-eyed Dub. Trailing behind was the third and most silver of the trio. Boone.
My heart leaped into my throat as the entourage of doom approached. I didn’t need to cast out my magic to sense the link between Carman and her sons. The thread that wound around Boone was the brightest of them all. It flared in my mind’s eye like a red corruption, stoking the fire that fueled my anger. He didn’
t have a choice anymore. Not unless he was strong enough to break free.
The wolves began to shift, their bones snapping and their bodies taking back the fur as their human skin emerged. When they stood, the three brothers were completely butt naked, and each was as hot as the other. Black hair, smoldering eyes—eye in Dub’s case—six-packs and tight ass cheeks.
“Boone!” Sean McKinnon wailed as he saw his friend standing on the wrong side of the divide.
“He’s naked!” Mary Donnelly shrieked, covering her eyes.
“Wow,” Maggie breathed, tilting her head to the side. “What a sna—”
“Shhh!” Mairead slapped her on the arm, then sneaked another peek. “Wow, you’re right. That’s a huge—”
“Enough!” I said. “Boone’s got a big ding-dong, so what. He’s still connected to her. I can feel it…”
“Connected?” Sean McKinnon asked. “You mean she’s controllin’ him?”
I nodded. “Stand behind me and stick to the plan, okay? No sudden movements. That means you, Sean.”
They nodded, clutching their weapons of choice as I peeled away from them and went to meet my arch nemesis.
“Finally,” Carman said, standing a good ten meters away from the little group of villagers at my back and me. “Now we meet face-to-face, Skye Williams.”
“Still a raging ginger minge, I see,” I drawled. “Without the help of a vision to Photoshop out those fine lines, you’re a real mess. You really show your thousand years up close.” It was a total lie, Carman was perfection, but anything that peeved her off was satisfying right now.
Her eyes narrowed, but it was the only indicator she gave that my words hit home. I would take it.
“You’re only delaying the inevitable,” Carman said, raking her cold gaze over me. “I will have what I came for.”
“Nah ah!” I said, wiggling my finger at her. “Sorry to burst your world domination bubble, but I don’t think so. You’ve been voted off the island, so it’s time to go!”
“Aren’t her demands adorable, boys? What do you say Dother?”
Dub and Dother chuckled, but Boone didn’t move at all. Carman either had a strong hold over him, or he hated me so much he couldn’t bring himself to react.
“One, you’ll relinquish control over Boone,” I said, ticking my demands off on my fingers. “Two, you can leave peacefully, or three, we can do this the hard way.”
Carman’s lips curved, then she burst out into laughter, glancing at her sons. “Did you hear that? She wants your little brother.”
“My schlong is bigger than his,” Dub said.
“You want to measure?” the other brother asked.
Boone narrowed his eyes and brooded.
“Even with one eye, I can still see your dick is shriveling in the cold, Dother,” Dub said with a growl.
Ignoring the sibling rivalry, I sought out Boone’s gaze. If I couldn’t convince him to come home and come back to me, then we risked losing him forever. I couldn’t go on without him. I wanted to spend eternity at his side, annoying the cac out of him and forcing him to watch all eight seasons of Game of Thrones with me over and over until he’d learned all the lines. Then we would continue with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and do all that stuff with Mary Donnelly’s spring wedding.
I felt the ring on my finger and twisted the band around and around.
“Boone… I was wrong,” I said, my heartbeat speeding up to impossible levels. “I should’ve listened to you. I shouldn’t have reacted like I did. I should’ve fought for you.”
“What?” he scoffed. “No but?”
“No but.” I shook my head, ignoring the smug look on Carman’s face. “I want you to come home. We all do. I will fight for you.”
“Home?” Carman declared. “This place? Please.”
“I’m not talking to you!” I shouted, my magic flaring. “I’m talking to Boone.”
“You tell her, Skye!” Mairead shouted.
“Give that bitch what for!” Maggie added.
“All I see before me is a pathetic mess. A witch who doesn’t know up from down and twenty humans.” The witch laughed and shook out her hair. “You have no power here, Skye Williams, last Crescent Witch.”
“Maybe not,” I said, glancing at Boone. “But I have love and family.”
“I have my sons and all the power of Ireland behind me,” Carman shouted. “You have nothing! Stand aside or be annihilated. It’s your choice. Do you want your human friends to die?”
Empty bravado. I felt the thread connecting Boone to his mother and silently willed him to sever it. My gaze met his, and I mouthed the words, I love you. At that moment, I swore his eyes widened slightly, but I couldn’t be sure. He was still entwined with Carman, and we were out of time.
“The only person who’s dying today is you,” I said, my lip curling. “This is where it ends.” Turning to Boone, I cast out my magic and caught his. Whatever happens next…know that I will always love you.
I raised my hand, hoping he would see the ring was still where he’d placed it, and to signal our trump card. Carman’s gaze flickered to the side as Aileen emerged from Mary’s Teahouse and came to join me.
The ancient witch’s expression fell, and she let out an unearthly scream that vibrated through my bones. “Noooo!”
Turning, I reached out for Aileen’s hand. “Now!”
Our Legacy flared in a whoosh of wind, blowing our hair upward. The sky erupted overhead, a thread of golden light shooting out of the tower house. The tendril snaked across the clouds, separating into dozens of spidery beams as the central crystal connected with the outer boundary. The web flared brightly as it was completed, and then it faded, the afterimage burned into my retina.
“Kill them!” Carman wailed. “Kill them all!”
“She’s a bit dramatic,” Aileen said, tilting her head to the side.
“I guess it’s time to fight for real this time,” I replied.
My mother smiled. “Go get him.”
Carman flung her hands out at us with a cry, and shadows erupted around her and flew toward us with terrifying speed.
“Sluagh!” I cried, covering my face with my arms.
“Get down!” Aileen shouted.
The sluagh weaved right around me, buffeting my body with a whoosh of violent wind. They weren’t aiming for me, they were going for the humans!
“The crystals!” I exclaimed as the shadows sped toward the villagers.
Roy immediately dropped his shotgun and fumbled in his pocket. He fell onto his ass as he thrust the piece of quartz into the air just as a sluagh bore down onto his position. A flare of golden light met the creature, and it wailed, altering its path and zooming toward the sky. Up and up it went before it slammed into the web and literally went poof.
The other villagers did the same, standing shoulder to shoulder in a long line, brandishing their crystals. Aileen ran to help them as I turned my focus to Carman and the wolves. I had to separate Boone from his brothers, sever his link to Carman, and kill her. Easy…not.
The three men shifted once more, their bodies exploding into their wolf forms. It wasn’t anything like I’d seen Boone do before, not until the night of the ritual. There was no other way to describe it. They’d seemed to have turned inside out. That had to hurt.
They edged toward me, teeth bared and dripping saliva as sluagh exploded overhead like fireworks. One snap from one set of those jaws and I was a goner. Totally kaput. I raised my hand and called on my magic, hoping the spirit that had latched onto me wouldn’t fudge with me now.
Please, don’t overload, I pleaded. Not now. Please, not now.
I let the athame slip down my other sleeve. Curling my hand around the hilt, I held the blade steady, eyeing the two wolves as they prowled toward me. If they were hoping for an easy fight, they had another thing coming. This knife was more than sharp enough for three.
“Boone…” I murmured. “Please, don’t make me do this… Please…”
Dother snapped his jaws and leaped, but a ball of silver fur collided with him, knocking him to the side. They rolled over and over as I swiped the athame at Dub’s eye.
“I told you I’d poke the other one out if you ever came back!” I shrieked. “Come a little closer. Here puppy, puppy, puppy!”
Dub’s haunches tensed, and he launched himself into the air with a growl, his jaws opening. Ô mo dhia!
Silver collided with him, too, the streak so fast it caught me off guard. Boone! He was fighting back!
“Stop it!” Carman exclaimed, jabbing a finger in my direction. “Kill her! Kill the Crescent!”
Dub and Dain snapped and snarled, fighting one another while Dother lay motionless on the side of the road, his coat stained red.
Boone’s jaws crunched down on Dub’s neck, and I winced, brandishing the athame. Finally, wolf-Boone glanced up and focused on Carman, his lips curling back to show his stained teeth.
“My children!” she shrieked, holding her palms toward Boone. “My boys! My precious boys!”
He began to change, his bones snapping, and his paws twisting. He howled in pain, writhing on the ground.
“Stop it!” I shrieked at her. “Stop it!”
Carman wasn’t listening, her face was contorted, malice dripping from her twisted smile. This was her idea of punishment? Bitch!
Boone’s human form cowered on the road, the fur that had been matted with his brother’s blood now stuck to his skin. He forced himself to his knees even though he was shaking uncontrollably.
“You had no power over me then, and you have none over me now!” he shouted. “Get outta me head!”
Carman took a step toward him, her boot treading in Dother’s blood. “You’re grounded, Dain. You thought your last punishment was bad. The curse I’ll put on you will torment you for eternity.”
“Great parenting skills,” I muttered. “And I thought I was unqualified.”
Boone rose to his feet, the blood of his brothers caked onto his skin. The air began to crackle around him, and I knew. He was breaking the chains that bound him to his mother. He was coming home. He was coming back to me.
He fell to his knees with a cry, his chest heaving, and the tether broke, forcing Carman to recoil.
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