He released her, but stayed close, watching Julian move around the space, bending close to the earth and then shuffling to another area to examine things that Abby could not see.
Abby had almost died in the exact spot only weeks before as had Sebastian, Julian, and practically everyone she cared for. That memory hurt, but the scene before her caused a bubbling rage. Ethel had intended to kill her, to steal her baby, and yet Abby could not deny the absolute horror of that charred ground. The wind in the trees seemed to hold their cries of anguish. Abby wanted to stuff her hands over her ears.
A century ago, Dafne, Abby's ancestor, had watched her friends, her coven, burn in those woods. How many witches had perished in the Ebony Woods? How many of her own blood?
"It has to end," she whispered.
"What?" Sebastian asked, leaning close.
Abby walked to Julian.
"Did you find anything?"
He shook his head. "There's nothing left to find."
Abby retreated from the circle, wandering toward the trees. Beyond the raw, burned space, the forest was dense and fragrant. She took a deep breath of the dank foliage. It was not only scorched earth lingering in the space, but smells of burned flesh and hair. It was subtle, but hung like the tepid mist slipping off of Lake Michigan. She pushed her face into a thicket of glossy leaves and inhaled. As she pulled away, she spotted a single silver hair caught on a branch. She pulled it away and thought of Ethel - the dark witch with her long silvery hair and empty eyes. In some sick way, Ethel had gotten her revenge after all. She had helped Clyde rise again.
****
"This is our fault," Oliver barked, shaking his head in disgust.
He stood with Faustine, Julian and Elda in the library.
Faustine stared out the window, his back to the group. The dark lake stretched beyond the castle, illuminated by the moon.
"You're right. We weren't expecting a skin-walker. It was her coven we waited for. All of the magic we set up was intended to detect witches. It never even crossed my mind that Vepars would appear," Julian said.
"A skin-walker no less," Elda added, forcing a cup of tea into Oliver's hands though he tried to wave it away. "Drink it, Oliver. It will help you relax."
"Is this really a good time to relax?" he asked, nearly spilling the cup as he threw up one hand in exasperation.
"We wanted them to get in. We intended to trap them all in the cellar. The skin-walker took us by surprise. We left the backside open so that the L'Obscurite could enter and attempt to rescue Ethel," Faustine said, still not looking at them.
"Then we'd swoop in and slam the door and lock it. Ha," Oliver laughed and set his tea on the fireplace mantle. "Sounds like a plan that a group of thirteen-year-olds come up with to catch a stray dog."
Julian sighed. "You were there with us, Oliver. You had plenty of opportunities to disagree with the plan or offer your own."
Oliver looked angry and defeated. He sank into a chair and leaned his head back.
"I know," he sighed. "Except in retrospect, I feel like a complete idiot."
"The important thing is that everyone is okay," Elda murmured, going to Faustine and putting a hand on his shoulder. Still, he did not turn.
"Everyone is not okay," Oliver argued. "Ethel and those other L'Obscurite are dead. Burned alive for Christ's sake! Elda if you try to hand me that rock, I swear I'll throw it through the window."
Elda paused, returning the hunk of black tourmaline to the desk.
"Oliver is right," Faustine sighed. "We lost sight of the real issue, Victor and Clyde. We played right into their hands. Abby sacrificed her own life to prevent Victor from rising. Now we turned around and gave him a coven to murder in our place."
"It was going to happen anyway," Julian argued. "Victor had to sacrifice a group of witches. Clyde couldn't transition otherwise. Do you honestly think they wouldn't have found some other unsuspecting coven to attack? Or worse, tried for us a second time?"
"That's not worse," Oliver said. "We were ready. We might have finished this once and for all."
"But we didn't," Faustine murmured. "The fates have something else in store for us."
Elda pulled on Faustine and eventually he allowed her to guide him to a chair. He sat down and gazed toward the fire. Though summer had arrived, fires burned year-round in the drafty castle.
"You believe Victor has taken the place of Tobias?" Elda asked.
"Worse." Julian intoned. "For a period, Clyde and Victor are one. Clyde is restored, and he has full access to his power and Victor's as well."
"Do we have any idea how long?" she continued.
"Not really, though what happened with Dafne here at Ula when she arrived in 1908 lasted only a couple weeks. That doesn't mean that Clyde's reign had ended, only that he stopped terrorizing us," Julian muttered. His eyes grew stormy as they always did when he recalled the violent encounter that took the life of his beloved wife, Miranda.
"Let's assume that Clyde has no more than a month to do his worst and then some balance is restored and Victor takes back his body," Faustine thought out loud. "Are we better off trying to destroy Victor while Clyde has full control or would our chances improve if we wait?"
"We can't wait," Oliver interrupted. "Kanti has power too, and she directly opposes Clyde regaining power. She wants to be free, which means Abby, her mother, and the baby are in danger."
"I still don't understand why the Vepars would help Kanti..." Elda mentioned, searching their faces as if one of them could offer a suitable explanation.
"Vepars aren't the type to dutifully serve a master," Julian scoffed. "They'll shift their allegiance to whoever gets them what they want."
"Clyde can't have absolute power over the Vepars in his lineage because he draws some of that power from Kanti," Faustine offered. "She figured out how to tap into that channel. And I agree with Julian. She offered them something."
"She helped them transform," Oliver said suddenly, looking up. "None of us ever saw a skin-walker before. They couldn't change. Somehow she helped them transition."
"Maybe," Julian started. "But Sebastian saw drawings of the skin-walkers in Victor's room in Australia. They're obviously a product of his imaginings."
"What if he envisioned them, but never accessed enough power to create them? What if Kanti has been holding back all this time? Just because he used magic to trap her doesn't mean she wasn't fighting back from beyond the grave, preventing him from full access to her power," said Oliver, standing and pacing the room.
"I agree with you, Oliver," Faustine told him. "Perhaps it is a combination of Kanti growing stronger and Clyde growing weaker."
"Which would be wonderful if both were not our enemies," Elda murmured.
"Nora, the witch from Montana, said the amulet and dagger were both stolen from Serpent House. We have to destroy those items and anything else he created that gives him power," Julian said. "The truth is that they are linked. If we destroy Clyde, we eliminate Kanti as well."
"Which is what she wants," Faustine added.
"Can't we just kill Clyde?" Oliver asked. "I mean how does he continue to exist? Is he inhabiting those objects?"
Faustine wrinkled his brow and shook his head.
"Yes and no. I believe Clyde's body still exists. He was a hybrid, not a witch. He could not survive merely through bewitched objects. But is that body alive? I cannot say."
"Would Meghan know?" Julian wondered aloud. "I keep coming back to her. It was no accident we chose the Sky Mothers to help us destroy the curse. Clyde's deadly plans were born there. She still waits for him to return."
"But she's locked in a world of her own creation. We can't get in even if we wanted to, which I can tell you right now, I don't," Oliver said.
"Binda could speak with her at the pond," Julian continued, ignoring Oliver's arguments.
"You gave her a false amulet," Elda reminded him. "No doubt she's angry now."
Julian nodded.
"I nee
d time to meditate on this, but Meghan is a resource for us, a reluctant one perhaps, but valuable nevertheless."
****
"I'll be a half hour, tops," Sebastian told her, grabbing his wallet from the counter.
"I'm fine, Sebastian. I promise, take your time. And don't forget the gelato! Sea salt caramel or Blondie Fudge Swirl," Abby told him, standing on tip-toe to kiss him goodbye.
He kissed her back, his hard abdomen pressing against her equally hard and huge stomach.
"I fear this baby is coming between us," he whispered, his eyes twinkling.
She laughed and pushed him away.
"Wait until she's laying in the center of our bed crying at 2am. You'll miss this beach ball body."
"I will miss it," he agreed. "But not for the quiet. I'll miss my gorgeous pregnant wife. You know you're stunning, right? I have to remind myself not to ravish you in your fragile state."
Abby grinned and shook her head appreciating Sebastian's ability to lighten the mood.
After their trek through the Ebony Woods, a cloud of despair had settled over her. Sebastian had insisted on cheering her up with a foot rub and a promise to get gelato and make lasagna for dinner. They couldn't escape the darkness surrounding them, but for a little while they could close the shades and imagine sunny skies.
"No ravishing until you get back with the gelato," she ordered.
"Yes, my Witchy Goddess. I am your loyal servant." He bowed out the door and Abby watched him drive away, experiencing the first pang of fear creeping back in.
She busied herself cleaning the kitchen, throwing out old food and searching for the box of raspberry leaf tea that Helena had tucked in some impossible to find location. Brewing a cup of tea, she scanned the kitchen for dust. A few Baboon fur balls floated beneath the refrigerator so she pulled on her rubber gloves, settling onto the floor for a good scrubbing. In the last several weeks, she found the urge to clean insatiable. She had never been an especially tidy person, a tiny act of rebellion against her perfectionist mother. Helena said she was nesting, which she found to be hilarious considering the penchant for birds to hover around their house at all hours of the day and night.
Abby mopped the dust and hairballs from the floor. A chill whispered along her neck and she shivered, rubbing her arms. The day had grown hot, the temperature at least seventy-five degrees, but the kitchen suddenly felt like a freezer.
"Sweaters in summer. Probably another funky pregnancy thing," she said out loud. Abby hoisted herself up and walked toward the living room, sure that Sebastian had discarded a hooded sweatshirt the previous evening.
She spotted it draped over the back of the sofa. As she reached to put it on, a spasm ripped through her abdomen. It wrenched like fire across her torso and she stumbled forward grabbing at anything to break her fall. She caught the back of the couch and braced her hands for support as a searing pain cut through her.
"Arghh!!!!" her scream tore through the quiet house.
The bulb in the lamp on the table next to her exploded.
The agony did not subside. It rose to a crescendo and held the peak. She hunched forward and dropped into a squat, resting her head on the back of the couch and closing her eyes. She grabbed a throw pillow and stuffed it into her mouth.
Pressure, like hands wrapped around her womb, squeezing, caused a terrible cramping that raged into her thighs. A pipe burst in the house. She heard the explosion and the sound of gushing water.
"What's happening?" she shrieked, dropping onto all fours.
The baby jerked in her belly as if trying to escape from something.
Abby crashed onto her back. Her head smacked on the wood floor, but the sensation barely registered. The tearing in her belly overwhelmed every other sensation. She watched the mound beneath her white shirt. It wriggled and shifted in a wave of motion that made Abby fear the baby would rip clear from her stomach and flop onto the floor at her side.
She pressed her hands into her rolling flesh and focused.
"Sshhh...shh..., it's okay," she whispered and even though it did not feel okay, she forced her energy to grow slow and thick and calm. Less like a turbulent sea, more like a placid river, barely moving, sleepy in its creek-bed.
The baby jerked again and Abby hissed as she watched her daughter shift to the other side of her body.
An enormous pressure invaded her. Abby thought her womb would rupture. She gasped and called upon her element, seeking the great body of water that lay just outside her home. The pressure eased and something dark slipped out of her. She sensed it more than saw it, a presence, a cold, slippery blackness that lifted away - Kanti. The room turned from cold to ice. The chill bit with such force that Abby's eyes ached. She continued to slow her breath, hands on the stiffness in her belly, chasing away the demon that had invaded her womb. She felt violated.
After several more pain-free breaths, Abby rolled to her side. She touched the floor, fearing a smear of blood or a puddle of water that would signal early labor. Nothing. The dry, smooth wood met her searching hands.
She shifted onto hands and knees and then slowly, like she had gained a hundred pounds since walking into the room, she climbed to her feet. The floor swam and tilted. Shutting her eyes, Abby shuffled to the front of the couch, and collapsed, resting her head in her hands.
She wanted to get out. To run from her own home and find Sebastian or Oliver or Helena. Yet her body would not obey her and anyway, where could she run to that Kanti could not follow?
Chapter 4
"I think she's trying to possess the baby," Abby sobbed.
She lay on the bed beneath their huge comforter. The crying had started when Sebastian returned, likely due to relief, and had continued for an hour.
It was not the pain that terrified her, but fear for her child.
"No." Sebastian shook his head, squeezing a pillow between his hands. "No, she can't, she won't. You're protected, you're blocked. Faustine assured me, nothing can get to Vidya."
He paced around the room, slapping the pillow against his leg, staring at every surface as if the answer might be sitting there just waiting for him to spot it. He glanced at her and then down at the pillow, throwing it on the ground. She watched his slow intake of breath as if seeking calm for her sake.
"She's angry with us. We let Clyde rise again. After it ended, I knew Kanti was lashing out to punish us," Abby told him.
Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her towards him. She snuggled into his side and cried.
"We'll go to Ula," he murmured. "It's safer. We need the power of the other witches if something goes wrong."
"I'm scared, Sebastian. The pain. The baby was in pain. I felt her trying to get away."
Sebastian frowned and closed his eyes. His face looked drawn. Abby watched him trying to hold it together for her sake.
"Ula," he said.
****
"I should have been there," Helena fretted, shaking her head back and forth as she gently prodded Abby's belly. "I'm so sorry, honey."
Abby offered a weak smile, wincing as Helena touched a sore spot. Tenderness stretched across the mound of her stomach. Her hips ached as did her ribs and low back. She wanted to be surrounded with ice packs or soaking in a scalding tub. Both opposing sensations sounded better than her current discomfort.
"It wasn't your fault, Helena," Sebastian insisted. "I wasn't even there for Pete's sakes. I went into town to get ice cream of all things."
"Stop it, both of you," Abby murmured, closing her eyes at another tender push from Helena. "Kanti wasn't in the room. You couldn't have stopped her, somehow, she was in my body. I can't explain it. It was like she was attacking Vidya in my womb."
Helena inhaled a sharp breath. Sebastian's face contorted into a Halloween mask of rage and pain, and Abby regretted her words. She thought he might punch the stone wall and tried to think of a distraction. Helena picked up a bottle of lavender and spritzed it in his direction.
He frowned and s
watted the mist away.
"Inhale it, you fool," she told him. "It will help you come down a few notches."
He took a deep breath and perched on the edge of Abby's bed.
Elda walked into the healing room carrying a tray of tea.
"Bridget sent refreshments. And I spoke with Galla. She's coming through the mirror in an hour to do a banishing spell for Abby," she explained.
"A banishing spell?" Abby asked, not bothering to take a cup of tea. She wasn't ready to sit up.
"Galla has a special ability to move into the experiences of others. It makes her vulnerable to psychic attack. She has a tool to block such things and has graciously offered to perform that magic on you."
Abby nodded, grateful, and also scared.
"It won't hurt the baby?"
"Of course not," Elda promised.
****
"I'm sorry I missed your wedding, Abby," Galla, the witch from the Coven of Sorciére, told her, as she spread a huge silvery blanket on the floor. "Although on second thought, maybe I'm not sorry."
Abby forced a smile, but after her experience that afternoon, laughter was scarce.
"It seems like a lifetime ago," Abby admitted.
"It was," Galla murmured, smoothing the creases from the blanket and beckoning Abby to lie down in its center. "Elda told me you died and came back. Do you remember?"
Abby moved onto the blanket and laid down, blinking up at the high stone ceiling. They were performing the ritual in one of Faustine's towers to enhance Galla's air element.
"No," Abby admitted. "I haven't wanted to think about it. I feel sick to my stomach when I remember that night."
Galla laid a cool, dry hand on Abby's forehead.
"I understand. Let's shift then. I don't want to muddy the spell with high emotion. Close your eyes, Abby."
Abby did as she was told. The blanket felt alive beneath her, the fabric undulated and shivered. The movement caused goosebumps along her arms and neck. Even her scalp tingled.
Born of Shadows- Complete Series Page 116