"Please, no more Annie, either," Sebastian called behind her. "If I have to hear 'It's a Hard Knock Life' one more time, I may knock myself out."
"Oh I love Annie," Helena murmured. "I used to have a TV you know, at Ula? But then Faustine got the flu and we had several electrical explosions in the castle. Ended my movie era."
"His flu caused electrical explosions?" Abby asked, impressed.
"Yep, he has quite the electromagnetic field, a force to be reckoned with, surely."
"Maybe we should finish this tomorrow," Abby yawned. "Lydie will be peeved if I zonk out before the opening music."
"Sure honey, you're the queen of this household." Helena winked. She put lids on several of the containers.
"The queen, I like that," Sebastian added, pulling one of Abby's long curls and watching it swing back and forth.
"This hair is getting out of control," Abby started, reaching her hands back and attempting to gather it into a ponytail. "It was already growing fast, but since I started taking the prenatal supplements, I swear it's three inches longer."
"You're a mama lioness," Helena growled.
"Heck yeah, much sexier than a hippo." Sebastian laughed.
Abby leaned over and tried to bite him.
"Better not cross me then," she told him when he danced away.
"Popcorn and black bean brownies?" he asked. "Made special for the occasion."
"Yay movie time." Helena jumped up and down and laughed.
"What'd you find for a movie, Lydie?" Abby called toward the living room.
"Avatar?"
"Yes!" Sebastian yelled, his head in the oven. He came up with the pan of brownies.
"What's Avatar?" Helena asked.
"Only the best movie of all time," Sebastian began.
Abby grinned and walked into the living room. Sebastian might spend five minutes describing the ethical implications of the movie in comparison to their own society. She joined Lydie on the couch.
****
Dafne raced through the woods. Branches ripped at her face and hair. After months of captivity, her legs had no strength. Bones and skin with little muscle to propel her forward and away from the devil that chased her. She fell and skidded in the snow.
It took her. She had no strength to fight the spirit. Even if she wasn't weak in body, she was weak in her soul. Bone tired, weary to the core of her being. She considered surrendering to the being, allowing Kanti to take over completely. Dafne could slip into oblivion. She could wake after it was over, but she knew that this was her last chance. Soon the being would strip the last of her energy. She would die and Kanti would go on.
She drifted into the background. She felt the darkness of Kanti's presence, pushing her further into the recesses of herself. She struggled to keep contact with her body, to see through eyes that she no longer controlled.
Kanti turned back toward the house. Dafne heard the distant sound of voices. She knew that retaking her body had alerted Abby and the others. AS if looking through smudged binoculars, she saw them. Abby, Sebastian, Lydie and Helena. They stood on the porch looking into the moonlit woods, searching for the noise that awoke them. They felt the presence of something, but they could not name it.
The sight of Lydie and Helena made Dafne's heart ache. She wanted to seize her body and run to them. She wanted to fling herself into Helena's arms and beg mercy from the witches, the friends, that she'd betrayed. Kanti felt her rallying and stopped in the forest. Dafne felt a wave of black push her further from her body. She started to fall into the void—the place that she disappeared into when Kanti possessed her. A place where she had no consciousness, no memory of what transpired. She clung to the edge of awareness. She retreated so that Kanti could not sense her.
Kanti darted through the shadows. She conjured a fire and held it in her palm. She put the fire to her mouth and swallowed. The rush of flame and power poured through her. She took out the dragon dagger and removed the blade from the sheath.
****
"Answer your damn phone," Oliver spat, dialing Abby's number for the fifth time. "What is the point of these useless things if no one ever answers them?"
"They may be fine," Julian told him, staring through the windshield as the trees raced by. His eyes darted everywhere. He was not only wary of creatures on the ground, but also those in the sky.
"You don't think so though, why? Why, Julian?" Oliver demanded, starting to throw his phone and then taking a deep breath before setting it on the dashboard.
Julian glanced at him.
"Sebastian has been experiencing some things. A pull toward dark pursuits. Eventually this curse is meant to move from the abstract into the tangible. That skin-walker we just encountered was placed there to draw us away from something. What this spirit wants is not at Ula—she wants Sebastian and Abby."
"And Lydie and Helena are with them right now." Oliver slammed his hand on the dashboard. "No, it's okay," he spoke out loud. "Helena is a powerful witch, they're all powerful. It's going to be okay, right?"
Julian said nothing.
****
Abby stood in the snow, disoriented, but alert. Sebastian had woken her. The movie had nearly ended and she had dozed on the couch. It was Lydie who sensed something off and then Helena who heard a sound in the woods, a familiar screech.
They stood on the porch. Abby's eyes raked across the trees and the lake. Her ears perked for any sounds that didn't belong. At first, the four of them stood motionless, listening, and then Lydie lifted her face to the night.
"I smell something...animal," she whispered, and Abby glanced at her.
Abby expected Lydie to appear the way that Abby felt, terrified, but Lydie looked determined and angry. Helena opened the door of the house and slipped inside. She returned with pouches of Julian's powder and a shotgun.
"Abby," Sebastian started and she could see the fear in his eyes, fear for her safety.
"No," she told him. "I have to stay and fight, Sebastian—it's the only chance we have."
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The baby shifted within her. The ball of blue energy had begun to expand at the base of her spine. She was ready to fight.
Sebastian started to argue, but he stopped as she drew her hands in front of her and the energy began to glow in her fingers.
"How did they get in?" Helena asked. "We placed a dozen spells at least."
"Someone on the inside," Abby answered, reluctantly.
She turned to Sebastian.
"If Claire is about to walk out of those woods, this is the time to tell us," she said.
Sebastian looked at her, surprised.
"We don't have time to have this conversation, so I'm only going to say this once. If you love me, trust me. From this moment, until the night ends, I need you to trust me," he told her. "They didn't get in through me."
Abby looked into his face and nodded.
Lydie looked back and forth between them.
"I think they're here," Lydie whispered, raising a shaky finger toward the trees.
****
Kanti stepped from the woods. Although she inhabited Dafne's body, her spirit molded Dafne so that she looked like a hybrid of the two. Skinny and pale, with black hair and black eyes shining, she moved from the darkness of the trees into the open. Abby could see the girl from her dreams in the woman before her. Shoulders squared and held high, she marched toward them without fear. Abby glimpsed the glint of the dagger.
"It's Dafne," Lydie squeaked, though she sounded unsure.
It was Dafne and it was not.
"It's Kanti," Abby said.
On the moonlit earth, Abby saw the shadow of a flying creature. The skin-walkers. Tobias and Alva and more. Five or six in all flew over them.
One of the skin-walkers dove. It seemed to hit a force field above the house that blasted it away.
"Some of the protective spells are holding," Helena whispered.
Kanti lifted the dagger and began to slice thr
ough the air. She drew the blade in a dizzying pattern.
"She has access to Dafne's magic," Helena moaned. "She's undoing the spells."
Abby watched the emptiness in front of Kanti grow solid, waver and then disappear.
"It's broken," Lydie said.
Sebastian started to walk forward. Abby reached for his hand, but he brushed her aside. He stepped from the porch slowly, almost catatonically. The man who had stood by her only moments before seemed to transform before her. He looked vacant, empty.
"What's he doing?" Lydie asked, turning to Abby desperately.
"We have to stop him," Helena said and she lifted her arms into the air, creating a cyclone of wind and snow.
"No," Abby commanded.
Helena paused and before she could fling the vortex of wind, one of the flying Vepars fell upon her. Lydie conjured a ball of fire and threw it at the beast, but it had already ripped away from Helena with a hunk of her hair in its mouth.
Helena barely seemed to notice. She reached into her cloak and grabbed a pouch of Julian's powder. She created another wind tunnel and threw the powder, driving it toward the skin-walker. It nearly reached him, but the wolfish-bat thing disappeared into the darkness of the sky.
"Oh thank God," Abby breathed as Oliver's van careened down the snowy driveway. It skidded to a stop. Oliver and Julian leapt out.
"We made it. I can't believe we made it," Julian murmured, running for the porch behind Oliver.
"Where is Sebastian?" Oliver asked.
Lydie pointed toward Sebastian, walking toward Kanti in the distance.
"Dafne?" Oliver started and Helena grabbed the sleeve of his coat.
"No, it's..."
"Kanti," Abby finished.
Oliver unstrapped his bow and cocked an arrow. He aimed for Sebastian's back. Abby saw him from the corner of her eye and lunged at him, knocking the bow from his hand. It skidded across the snow.
"We're going to let him go and join them?" Oliver raged, incredulous.
"Would you put an arrow between his shoulder blades?" Julian asked, staring Oliver down.
Oliver glared at him and picked up his bow and arrow. He did not take aim again.
Abby watched Sebastian walk to Kanti. She smiled up at him with Dafne's mouth. He did not return her smile, but stood obediently as she removed a long silver chain from her neck. In the moonlight, Abby saw a golden amulet with a pulsing red stone in its center. Sebastian kneeled and she placed the amulet around his neck.
Chapter 29
"No, no, no," Abby murmured the word over and over, not wanting to believe what unfolded before her. Sebastian would not—could not—choose hatred over love. She wanted to run to him, to drag him bodily away from the dark witch who had taken Dafne and now Sebastian as well. Her feet stayed rooted. She knew if she tried, Oliver and Julian would stop her. She wanted to crumble into a ball of despair, but she had to stand and fight.
Two more of the skin-walkers attacked. The first went for Oliver. He squatted, pulled his bow from his back and launched an arrow at the beast. It twisted away and he missed. The second snatched the bag at Julian's feet. Julian threw a cloud of dust into the creature's face. It rose away, the bag clutched in its talons, and then twitched and released its grasp. The Vepar flew wildly into the trees, screeching and shaking its head.
Kanti did not move. She did not turn to watch the Vepar as it disappeared into the trees. Her eyes were trained on Abby. Abby stared back at her, willing her gaze to rip the evil spirit from Dafne's body.
Another skin-walker dove, and another. Helena picked up the shotgun, took aim and fired. She missed and another of the creatures plunged and sunk its claws into her back. Julian took hold of the monster's wings and ripped it away. It turned, biting and clawing, and Julian released it before it could sink its venomous teeth into his hands. Lydie conjured a stream of fire that hit the monster in the face. It flew and then plummeted, shrieking, into the snow at the edge of the woods. The moment the fire extinguished, the beast transformed. It heaved and gasped until a man, a Vepar, emerged. He stood from the ground, hulking, seven feet tall, with patches of black hair on his blistering red scalp. Abby saw that most of his face had been burned. It looked raw and sticky. He glared at the porch and the witches and then broke into a run, his eyes trained on Lydie.
Abby conjured ice from the lake. It flew in daggers into the sky at the beasts that continued to circle. Several of the ice spears sunk into one of the flying creatures. It spiraled down and thudded on the deck, wriggling, already transforming back to a Vepar. Abby did not recognize the changing form, but shifted her attention back to the Vepar racing toward them. Lydie shot fire at the beast, but he dodged it, leaning down and scooping a huge rock from the ground. He flung the rock toward Lydie and she dove to the side. It crashed into the porch and splintered wood exploded. Abby drew more daggers of ice from the lake, directing them toward the Vepar. One of them sunk into his shoulder. He ripped it out and continued, but Helena, hunched and in pain, had sent a blast of wind at the Vepar. He struggled forward, but couldn't make any ground. Lydie, her face a mask of hatred, stepped to the edge of the deck. A huge orb of fire floated above her fingers. She sent it into Helena's wind. The Vepar caught fire and began to dance and howl. He fell to the snow, thrashing and then growing still. As the fire died, Lydie strode purposefully down the steps and into the yard. She leaned over the monster and drove the stake into the Vepar's stomach and up through his chest.
Oliver straddled the Vepar who had hit the porch. He shoved his metal blade through the thick breastplate and into the pouch beneath the heart. Abby heard a loud pop and saw a burst of black blood that sprayed Oliver. He wiped his arm over his face.
Kanti conjured a handful of fire; it grew and danced and lit her twisted features. She smiled and laughed and howled at the moon. Sebastian stood beside her. The amulet on his chest glowed brighter with the fire that Kanti held. As she thrust the fire toward the house, Abby conjured her own ball of ice and water. She cast it toward the maniacal witch. It collided with the fireball just before it struck the widow's walk. Kanti created another ball of fire and another, until she and Abby cast their energies back and forth with dizzying speed.
A black crow flew from the forest. It dove toward Kanti, ripping at her hair. She swatted it away, but then another appeared and another. They started to attack her, ripping at her face and hair. She howled with rage and opened her arms wide, creating a dome of fire that rose above her.
The birds flew to Abby. They landed on the porch around her, watching her with their curious dark eyes.
Kanti took hold of the amulet around Sebastian's neck. She trained her black eyes on his and pointed to Abby.
"Bring her to me!"
Abby watched, sick, as Sebastian turned toward her. His body moved as if controlled. His face held a sheet of impassivity. Abby started to retreat on the porch and she bumped into Julian, who had created a cyclone in the air. One of the Vepars was caught in its grasp.
"Go with him," Julian urged, so quietly that Abby almost missed it.
"What?" she asked, alarmed, suddenly convinced that Julian too had become a dark witch.
His light eyes bored into her, and she nodded.
When Sebastian stepped onto the porch, Oliver attacked. He launched onto Sebastian's back, trying to tear the amulet from his neck. A Vepar fell from the sky and sunk its teeth into Oliver's shoulder. Julian raced to his aide, pulling the Vepar from Oliver as Sebastian shrugged him off. He moved toward Abby, his eyes glassy and distant. He scooped her into his arms and terror seized her. What if she didn't fight back and he took her to Kanti?
And then he was running. Running faster than any human should have been able. Behind them the earth was splitting. Trees groaned and crashed. Sweat poured down Sebastian's face as he directed all of his energy, energy that he couldn't possibly have, into the earth behind him. The crows followed them, flying through the darkness of the trees overhead. Abby saw Kanti for an instan
t, shock and then savage fury crossing her face. A tree crashed and blocked her from Abby's view.
****
"Where's Abby?" Oliver screamed as the earth at the edge of the forest began to rumble and split. He watched trees crashing in the distance. He spun wildly in a circle and then his eyes fell upon Kanti. He followed her gaze to Sebastian. Sebastian fled into the forest with Abby in his arms. Kanti looked mad with rage.
****
Beneath the dark canopy of trees, Sebastian set Abby roughly down and reached for the ground. He lifted a tarp, covered in snow, and flung it to the side. Beneath it, she saw a storm cellar door. He jerked it open and shoved her in, following close at her heels.
"I know you're freaking out right now, but I need you to run," he bellowed as she tripped down the stairs.
He held her arms to steady her.
In the cellar, Abby saw tunnels, sparsely lit, branching out in several directions.
"This one," Sebastian shouted, pushing Abby toward the tunnel to their left.
He took the lead, holding her hand and then, apparently frustrated by her slowness, he lifted her back into his arms and carried her.
She didn't speak. She wanted to. She wanted to ask him what had happened. She wanted to rip the throbbing amulet from his chest and demand an explanation, but she understood that they needed to get away and that Sebastian was making that happen. The tunnel ended at a huge wooden door. He kicked it open. On the other side, he set Abby down and dug a key from a divot in the wall. He locked the door and slipped the key into his pocket.
"Up and out," he said, hustling Abby up a set of crude wooden stairs. They emerged in darkness, deep in the forest and she shivered, scared. A hulking dark shape loomed before them. Sebastian reached for it and pulled off another tarp. A black Jeep stood beneath the cover.
"Get in," he told her, sliding behind the wheel.
Born of Shadows- Complete Series Page 87