“No!” Lena shouted from behind me. Relief rushed through me as I spun to face her. “No! Violet!”
She dashed around me trying to get to Violet, but I was too fast. I gripped her by the waist and forced her to remain where she was. There was nothing she could do for Violet. She’d already been hit with the banshees’s scream.
“Let me go!” She fought against me but I refused to release her. “Thane, let me go!”
“No. Put your shield up. You know it's the only way we can beat them.”
She stopped struggling and eyed the Sisters.
“How nice of you to join us, Lena. For a moment, I thought the sight of us had frozen you for good.” The Sister floated closer. Her putrid breath wafted to my nose when she spoke. “Was it the dragon going down that garnered the reaction out of you?”
“I’m betting it was, Sister,” the other said. “Let’s have fun with the other dragon then and see what she does.”
In an instant, the tornado of smoke dissipated to reveal Hubs suspended in the air with the horribly thick smoke entering his mouth and nose. His eyes were wide with fear, and a choking noise spurred from him. I knew what he was feeling—the way his lungs burned in their frantic search for air, the way they expanded with a foreign substance he couldn’t get away from, the fear of knowing these may be his final moments.
“Stop!” Lena shouted. There was no plea in her tone. She was all determination and power. When the Sisters refused to listen, she stepped closer to them and raised her hands. “I said stop.”
“What are you planning to do to us if we don’t, little raven? What power do you have that works against us so well?”
They still didn’t know? After all this time they still had no idea what happened that day? Seriously? A smirk twisted at the corners of my lips. We still had an advantage.
“Don’t tell them.” I stepped to Lena’s side. “Don’t tell them a thing.”
“Silence, you,” the Sister nearest me insisted.
She was inches from me in the span of a heartbeat. Her mouth opened, and she released a scream that paralyzed me. My insides vibrated as I felt the scream penetrate me. I closed my eyes and fought the urge to cry out, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
“I said stop!” Lena shouted.
The pain disappeared in an instant, and I knew it was because of Lena. When I opened my eyes there was a purple wall separating me from the Sisters. Hubs was lying on the sand a few feet away, covered from head to toe by Lena’s shield too. He wasn’t moving.
I hoped Lena’s shield had reached him in time.
“What is this power you have?” one of the sisters asked. “You’re merely a raven. You shift. You see certain things. Nothing more.”
The other Sister didn’t speak. Instead, she opened her mouth and released a scream that shook the thin wall of Lena’s shield but Lena stood strong. She didn’t let it through.
I’d never been more proud of her.
“You’re wrong,” Lena said through clenched teeth. “I can do so much more than that.”
The shield in front of me brightened. It was gaining power. I wasn’t sure how Lena was doing it, but I knew that was what was happening. When a purple blast hit the Sisters, sending them to the sandy ground, I knew Lena and I had won.
She’d tapped into her gift more than ever before, and now it was my turn to do my part and ensure our freedom from the two hags.
I stepped forward but so did Lena. She released another blast, sending the Sisters flying a few feet away.
“That’s for hurting me and Thane all those years,” she said as she stalked closer to them. She released another blast, and I didn’t try to stop her. “And that’s for hurting my friends.” Another blast rippled from her, hitting the Sisters again. “And that’s for being who you are.”
She was heaving now, her lungs starved for air and her body overloaded with adrenaline. I reached for her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Let me,” I said.
She folded over, resting her hands on her knees and gasped for air. “Fine. Go ahead.”
I started toward them. They were sprawled out across the sand with their limbs bent in unnatural ways. Black blood trickled from their noses. I didn’t let the sight of them deceive me, I knew neither of them were dead.
Evil that strong didn’t die easily. They were the type you had to double-tap.
I bent over the first Sister and gripped her face in both my hands. With one swift jerk, I snapped her neck. The sickening sound of bones breaking echoed through my ears, causing nausea to roll through me. I ignored it and reached for the other Sister to do the same. Once it was done, adrenaline leaked from my pores as I struggled to calm my rolling stomach.
A hand smoothed over my back. I knew it was Lena without having to look.
“You did what you had to,” she whispered. “We both did and now we’re free.”
She was right, but what did that freedom from the Sisters mean for me? Did I need to say goodbye to her now?
I straightened to my full height and shifted to face her. Strands of hair had slipped free from her ponytail and blew around her face in the wind. Something in her eyes reflected a newly gained inner strength from battling her demons and winning. Her cheeks were flushed from overexerting herself.
God, she was beautiful.
I gripped her waist and pulled her in tight. She melted against me like I knew she would. Without hesitating, I bent my head and kissed her praying it wasn’t the last chance I’d get.
I wanted to be excited we’d taken out the Sisters, but my worry of what would happen next in regards to me because they were gone was too strong.
And if I only had seconds left, I wanted to spend them with my lips to hers.
“Wow,” she breathed when she pulled away. “I—wow.”
I placed my forehead to hers and grinned. “Yeah.”
Movement to my left captured my attention. I went on high alert, but it was only Hubs coming to.
“I hate damn banshees,” he grumbled. “The only good thing about them is I think that black smoke crap they used on me cleared my lungs out. Don’t seem to have a cough anymore. Guess that means there’s no reason to see a doctor now.” He beat on his chest and glanced at his wife.
Violet had come to at some point as well. She was crouched down beside him. Blood trickled from her ears, but other than that she seemed to be okay.
“I still think you should get checked out,” she insisted.
As the two of them bickered back and forth something silver in the sand caught my eye. It was the compass. It was still here, did that mean I’d remain here too? Hope bloomed through me.
“I can’t believe we did it,” Lena whispered. Her words sounded off. Exhausted and weak. I glanced at her. “I just—”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she passed out in my arms.
I held her tight as panic seized me. What the hell just happened? I was supposed to be the one to go, not her.
“Lena?” I shook her gently in my arms. “Lena!”
When she didn’t come to, I laid her on the sand and checked to make sure she was breathing.
“Is she okay?” Violet asked. Both her and Hubs rushed to where we were. “Is she breathing?”
“Yeah. I think she fainted.”
“We should get her to her apartment. Let her rest,” Violet suggested.
“I’ll stay and figure out how to clean this mess up,” Hubs said. “The hunters have probably already heard of the commotion. I’m sure they’ll be sending someone soon. Word tends to travel fast around here.”
I heard him, but I didn’t respond. Instead, I hoisted Lena in my arms and started toward her apartment with Violet hot on my heels. People stared as I carried her. They murmured and whispered things. I didn’t care. All that mattered was Lena.
I paused when I reached the door to the stairway that led up to Lena’s apartment. Violet maneuvered around me to open it,
and I started up the steps.
“She okay?” Someone asked from behind us. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder and spotted Claire, Mason’s fiancee.
“She’s going to be fine,” Violet answered. She was climbing the stairs behind me.
“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do. I sort of owe her a favor,” Claire said. I could feel her eyes boring into my back as I continued up the stairs.
How did she owe Lena a favor? I couldn’t imagine they’d talked more than a handful of times before. Lena kept to herself.
I thought again of the Sisters’ bodies being left on the beach. I wasn’t sure what the rules and regulations were in a town like this or who the hunters Hubs had mentioned were, but I imagined we’d probably broken a few rules and pissed some people off by what went down on the beach.
“Actually, you can cash in your favor by helping Hubs burn the bodies we left on the beach,” I said.
“Umm, okay, and why are you doing that?” Claire asked.
A huff of air escaped me. How could I explain?
Violet placed a hand on my shoulder. “You take care of Lena, double check she’s okay. I’ll have Claire help me and Hubs handle the rest,” she insisted.
She reached around me and swung the door to Lena’s apartment open.
“Thanks.” The word had a double meaning.
“No,” Violet insisted. “Thank you.”
I knew then even if I didn’t get to hang around Lena would be okay. She had Violet and Hubs to look after her. Claire seemed as though she cared about her too, and I was willing to bet Mason did as well. He was a decent guy.
Hell, Lena had this entire crazy town and its amazing people to help her with anything if she needed it. There was a sense of comfort in knowing that.
I kicked her front door closed behind me and headed to her room. When I reached it, I laid her on her bed and checked for a pulse again. It was strong and steady. Relief trickled through me.
She would be okay, but would I?
If the answer was no, Lena deserved to know why. I didn’t want her to think I’d left her willingly. Coldness uncoiled in the pit of my stomach, sending chills spreading through me. I swallowed hard. Something wasn’t right.
This time I knew it had nothing to do with the Sisters and everything to do with me.
A pad of paper and a pen on her dresser caught my eye. I grabbed both. If I couldn’t tell her in person how I felt about her and explain things the way I should, I could at least write it all down in a letter and leave it somewhere she would find it.
Eighteen
Lena
My legs slid across soft sheets as I stretched. Why were my muscles so sore? When my eyes opened I noticed I was in bed. How had I gotten here?
I searched my brain for the last thing I remembered. Fighting the Sisters. With Thane. On the beach.
Oh, shit!
All the air rushed from my lungs as clips of the moment surfaced. I jerked into a sitting position and flung my blankets off. Where was Thane? Violet? Hubs?
“It’s okay. You’re all right,” Thane insisted from where he sat the corner of my room. He was on a bar stool from my kitchen. “Everyone is all right.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “What happened? How did I get here? The last thing I remember was being on the beach and the massive showdown with the Sisters.”
A smirked twisted his lips. “Yeah, we took them on and won. You were pretty badass about it.”
My raven fluttered inside my chest because of the satisfaction we both felt at hearing Thane say we were badass at anything and the simple fact that we were now free from the Sisters. Never again would we have to look over our shoulder in fear of them finding us. We never had to worry about them at all.
My gaze locked on Thane.
Nothing and no one could keep us apart now. We could finally be together, happy and free, like we’d planned so long ago.
So, then why didn’t he seem excited?
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You don’t seem happy.”
He lifted his gaze to mine. The yellow in them had grown dark. “I am happy. Trust me. I’m happier than you could ever know.”
Then why did he seem so sad?
I slipped out of bed and padded across the cool hardwood floor toward him. His hands gripped my hips as I positioned myself between his knees. The coldness of his touch seeped through the thin fabric of my tank top. I ignored the goose bumps prickling across my skin and leaned forward to kiss him.
“Good,” I said when our lips parted with the intention of lightening his mood. “Happy Freedom Day.”
He chuckled. “More like happy Halloween.”
“Really? But, it can’t be Halloween. It’s still two days away!”
“It was. You’ve been asleep for a couple of days. Violet had some woman named Ida and her granddaughter do some sort of crystal healing on you last night. I guess going against the Sisters took a lot out of you, mentally and physically. They said you were depleted. That’s why you passed out on the beach right after everything went down. I carried you up here, and I’ve been watching over you since.”
Ida and Gwen gave me a crystal healing? I barely knew them. I could count on one hand how many times I’d spoken to either of them. Violet must have been pretty persuasive.
“Wait a minute. I’ve been out for two whole days?”
He couldn’t be serious.
“Yeah. Whatever those two did healed your raven. The old woman said she was the problem. She was tapped out. Completely.”
My hand instinctively went to the center of my chest where I usually felt her most. She fluttered her wings and relief settled in.
“She feels fine now.”
“And what about you? How do you feel?” Concern warmed his eyes.
My stomach grumbled before I could answer him.
“Starved, apparently.”
“I’m sure.” He chuckled. “Why don’t we get you something to eat? Not sure we can find a place serving breakfast since it’s nearly six, but I’m willing to bet anything would suffice. Am I right?”
It was already six at night? Holy crap!
“Yeah, anything will work at this point.” I moved to my dresser for some clean clothes. “Let me shower real quick first.”
“Afterward, we can head to the town square. There’s been a lot of people parading around due to the Halloween Festival. I swear, the entire town was transformed overnight.”
A wide grin sprang onto my face. I loved the Halloween Festival.
“I hope you’re ready for a crazy time because this is the biggest festival Willow Harbor does. For obvious reasons.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from a town of supernaturals.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I headed toward my bathroom.
“I’ll be in the living room. Take your time.”
While I peeled out of my clothes and started the water, all I could think about was finally being free from the Sisters. They couldn’t hurt me or those I cared for ever again. Today was the beginning of a new chapter—not only for me but for Thane as well—and I couldn’t wait to see what was on its pages.
Nineteen
Thane
Willow Harbor definitely knew how to party when it came to Halloween. With Lena’s hand in mine, we wove our way through town square checking out the festivities. My eyes kept darting to the strings of orange lights that seemed to loop through the sky above us unattached to anything. Swarms of bats fluttered overhead as well. When I zeroed in on them I was disappointed to learn they were mechanical of some sort. I’d thought it would be pretty cool for there to be a group of bat shifters in town.
“So, what do you think?” Lena asked. Her eyes glistened in the orange lights. I could tell this festival was her favorite.
“It’s great,” I said. “That spider over there sort of freaks me out, though. It looks too real.”
I nodded toward the large spider someone had placed on
the steps of the library.
“Don’t worry, it’s not.” Lena chuckled.
Her grip on my hand tightened as we continued to make our way through town square. There were dozens of booths and tables set up everywhere I looked. People were selling everything from cotton candy with candy spiders on it to caramel apples and popcorn balls that resembled pumpkins. Kids in creative costumes ran amok from one booth to the next, eager to see what was available to them when they uttered the magic words, ‘trick or treat’.
Music floated to my ears. It seemed to come from everywhere at once. I noticed a few couples dressed in full costume dancing.
“Do you want any cotton candy?” Lena asked. “The purple is my favorite.”
I shook my head. Eating wasn’t something I was interested in. My stomach was still too knotted up from being so uncertain of what would happen to me once the night ended. Hubs had said I had till Halloween and then the veil would close. Now that the Sisters were gone, I didn’t know what that meant for me.
“How about bobbing for apples?” Lena suggested.
“I’m good just walking around and soaking in everything,” I said and felt her deflate beside me. I knew I was being a party pooper. “Willow Harbor is in serious Halloween mode. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
A small smile twisted at her lips. Relief trickled through me at the sight.
“I knew you’d like it.”
“I do.”
I glanced around as we continued to walk slowly from one side of the town square to the other. A tent near the willow tree caught my attention. The sign out front said they offered real fortune-telling sessions. I pretended to see something else that struck me as interesting and detoured Lena in the opposite direction. The last thing I needed was for her to suggest I got a reading. Even worse, that she got one and then the fortune teller told her she couldn’t see a future for us because she couldn’t see me at all or some crap like that.
“What’s that?” I nodded toward a group of women dressed in all black and wearing pointy witch hats huddled around a large cauldron. The blond girl who owned the food truck, Anna, stood among them. “What are they selling? Must be something good. They’ve got the longest line here.”
[Willow Harbor 08.0] Raven's Sight Page 13