****
"How is Faustine?" Julian asked Elda.
He had waited until Sebastian stepped through the mirror, back to his home in Trager, before asking the question.
Elda wrinkled her brow.
"He's okay, but quite concerned," Elda said, continuing to stare at the mirror where Sebastian had disappeared moments before. "When he attempted to view Sebastian through the Crystal of Sight he said a horrible blackness descended over him. He described the pain as a sledgehammer against his skull."
"Ugh," Oliver groaned. "That's nuts. Why did it happen?"
Elda shook her head.
"He's not sure. Was it insight into Sebastian or a fluke with the crystal? He honestly doesn't know."
"Is Abby safe with Sebastian?" Oliver asked.
"Helena is aware of what occurred. She's going to keep a close eye on things. Tell me what happened with the watch," Elda said, leaving the mirror and sitting on the edge of a chair.
"We were too obvious," Julian confessed.
"The important thing is that he knows it exists," Elda said.
"We need a ruse," Oliver agreed. "Lydie," he said, an idea suddenly striking him. "Lydie takes the watch and acts like she wants to meet Victor on her own. When he doesn't show, she pretends she's going to throw the watch in the lake. He met with Ezra because he didn't see her as a threat. None of us are less threatening than Lydie."
"No," Elda announced. "No, Oliver." She shook her head. "That plan is absolutely ridiculous."
"I want to do it," Lydie announced, barging into the library where she'd clearly been listening at the door.
Julian frowned.
"It could work, Elda. She's a teenager after all. Impulsive, she snatches the watch, plans to give it to him to get him off our backs..."
Elda gave Julian a venomous glare.
"Do you really have no more sense than that, Julian? You would put Lydie in danger to..."
"To end this curse?" he snapped. "To save us all?"
Elda stood, her fists balled at her sides.
"Lydie, you need to leave this conversation. You will not be used as a ploy to draw Clyde in. The fact that Oliver and Julian would even suggest it calls me to question the state of their minds."
"Elda," Oliver said, "we'd be right there with her. We're not going to send her into the woods unprotected."
Elda spun around and glared at him.
"Because all of your schemes go according to plan, don't they?"
She grabbed Lydie's hand and dragged her from the room, allowing the library door to slam behind her.
Julian shrugged.
"We'll talk to Lydie tonight," he said.
Oliver stared at the slammed door. He had rarely seen Elda angry. The thought of defying her made him uneasy.
****
"This is just stupid," Lydie said after an hour. She stood from the log and gave it a good kick. The bark flaked off and revealed a layer of scurrying bugs. She bent down and inspected the ants racing along the ashy surface.
Tucking the pocket watch in her cloak, she pulled up her hood and started picking her way toward the beach. She needed to maintain the facade even with her thoughts and concentrated on doing just that.
Had she really thought Victor would sense her in the Ebony Woods and come after the watch? It had been a foolish plan, one that Max would have boxed her ears for if he was still alive. At the thought of Max her shoulders slumped, and she considered pulling the watch back out and chucking it into Lake Michigan. A little bit of screw you to that bastard Clyde who she now understood was behind it all. And not only the death of her beloved Max and Dafne, but also centuries of horror, babies abandoned, soulmates ripped apart, covens destroyed. Her own parents had fallen to a similar evil. Not Clyde as far as she knew, but then again what were the chances another group of Vepars lived in northern Michigan? They all likely belonged to him, did his bidding.
She took the watch out and flipped it open.
"I hope you rot in Hell, Clyde," she whispered against the cracked glass. She reached back as far as she could. She wanted that watch to disappear and never be found. Cocking her arm, she started to fling it forward, but a hand caught her wrist.
Shock almost paralyzed her, but her instincts took over and she crouched, swinging low and chopping hard with her hand. Unfortunately, the hand that Victor had grabbed stung and throbbed above her head. He easily stepped back before she could swipe his legs from beneath him. She waved her good hand and a wall of fire rose up between them. The watch had fallen into the sand and Lydie grabbed for it with her bleeding hand. She glanced and saw the half puncture of his teeth etched into the flesh of her palm.
Her mind wanted to attack him. Here he was, and she was meant to get her revenge, but already the venom raced through her blood. Her right hand had gone hot, tingling and finally numb. That numbness was flowing into her wrist, now her elbow. It traveled fast, and she had no time. She looked beyond him for Oliver or Julian, but her vision suffered and she could only concentrate on the man, the Vepar, before her.
She fumbled in her cloak, felt for the canvas pouch of Julian's powder, and whipped it out, releasing the bag and sending it whooshing on a breath of fire towards Victor. He twirled away, grinning, his black eyes glowing orange from the fire that raced past him.
An arrow soared from the trees and struck Victor in the back of his calf. His eyes widened, and he howled in pain as he reached and yanked it from his leg. He blinked rapidly, dropping the gold dagger and whirling toward the forest where Oliver pounced onto the beach, another arrow cocked and ready to fire. Julian came from the water and with him a rush of wind that knocked Victor to his knees. A dark foam had begun to ooze from his mouth. Oliver released another arrow, but somehow Victor rolled just enough and it planted in the beach beside him.
Lydie held a steel dagger in her hand and walked slowly toward Victor writhing on the beach. He had begun to transform. His human body contorted, and he screeched and howled. Wings broke through his back, and he opened his wolfish mouth to reveal rows of fangs.
Lydie stalked toward him, not allowing him to escape, but the venom slowed her.
"Lydie, no," Julian shrieked as she reached the Vepar turning Skin-walker.
She plunged the dagger into his chest, intending to hit that hard bulge of darkness that would end his life. She missed. He roared in pain, but the transition had completed. He took flight, his talons sinking into Lydie's shoulders surpassing flesh and grasping the bones beneath. She screamed and kicked and tried to throw fire into the beast's face, but she missed. The skin-walker flew higher moving, over the lake. Dizzy and nauseous, Lydie saw Oliver and Julian standing on the beach behind her. Oliver had sent another arrow but if fell short of the mark.
Chapter 25
Oliver cocked another arrow and let it fly. Julian sent a rush of wind and together they honed on their target - the center of the skin-walker's back, right between the wings. It hit home. The screech barely reached them, but they watched him plummeting towards the water. He had released Lydie who hit first. Oliver was already swimming. He'd never swam so hard in his life. He heard Julian beside him, his own legs and arms slicing through the water.
Oliver knew the place she'd gone in and dove below, searching. Julian found her first, wrapped an arm across her chest and swam back to the surface. Oliver looked for the skin-walker, didn't see him and didn't care. If Victor lived, which was unlikely, they'd deal with him later.
They pulled Lydie onto the beach and Julian sent bursts of air into her lungs. She coughed and choked out water, but did not awaken. The Vepar's venom flowed through her blood. Julian pulled out an antidote and poured it into her mouth. Blood streamed from the wounds in her shoulders. Oliver could see bone peeking through Lydie's ripped flesh.
He pulled off his t-shirt and tore it in two. Wrapping the cloth around her bleeding shoulders, he pressed and tried to staunch the flow. She looked ghostly pale beneath him, her eyelids fluttering. Julian held his
hands against her chest, his eyes closed, his lips moving with an incantation that Oliver prayed would help. He thought of Elda. She would be furious that they had put Lydie in harm's way. How could they have been so stupid?
"We need to get her to Abby's house," Oliver choked, feeling the sob he'd been keeping at bay rise into his throat. He didn't have time to cry.
They carried her through the woods and loaded her in Oliver's van. Julian drove and Oliver held her, smoothing the hair from her feverish forehead.
"She's burning up," he told him.
"That's good," Julian replied, hands white knuckled against the wheel. "She's pushing the venom out."
"Shit, shit, shit. This was insane. I'm so sorry, Lydie. I'm so sorry." Oliver leaned down and kissed her cheek, but she remained unconscious. Only the rise and fall of her chest gave Oliver a moment of ease.
Julian drove fast down Abby and Sebastian's driveway, slamming to a stop and flinging open his door.
Oliver hoisted Lydie from the back and Julian already had the front door open. Running through it, he called out Abby's name.
"Abby, Abby!"
She hurried from the kitchen, eyes widening when she saw Lydie's bleeding body.
"Oh my God! What's happened? Helena!" she cried out.
Helena ran to the door, Sebastian followed holding Vidya.
"In here," she barked, pushing Julian out of the way and striding into the living room. She whipped a blanket from the couch and spread it on the floor.
Oliver knelt, laying Lydie on the blanket. For a moment Helena, looked up at him and their eyes met. He saw the accusation there and looked away, staring at his feet.
"Abby, the transfusion equipment is in your linen closet, top shelf."
Abby ran from the room. She returned with a plastic tote filled with tubes, needles and glass bottles.
Helena worked quickly, tying off Abby's arm and slipping a needle into the large blue vein. She set up Lydie next, her mouth set in a grim line. Sebastian rocked Vidya back and forth seemingly mesmerized by the scene unfolding. Oliver held Lydie's hand. Julian too stayed silent, standing in the corner.
"Go get Elda," Helena snapped.
Julian's face fell, but he slipped from the room.
****
"We have two out of three now," Julian argued. "The dagger and the ring. Yes, it was a sacrifice, but a worthwhile one."
Elda stomped her foot and a geyser of water exploded from the lagoon behind her.
Lydie slept in the healing room. Abby's blood had begun to heal her, and Helena stayed by her side. Elda, Oliver, Julian and Faustine had moved to the lagoon where Elda looked ready to strangle them both with her bare hands. Faustine too had an expression of disappointment that made Oliver writhe beneath his gaze.
"I specifically forbade you from involving Lydie in this scheme and look at what happened! Lydie nearly died. Would you ever have forgiven yourself? Oliver? Do you both have no sense at all? No moral compass?"
Oliver blushed, but Julian set his jaw defiantly.
"You forbade me, Elda? Is that your place? Are you the leader of this coven and I one of your lowly followers?" Julian spat.
"Julian," Faustine warned, his eyes holding the same threat as his voice.
Julian glared at him.
"What would you have us do? Wait until one morning we walk through the mirror to find Sebastian, Abby and their baby slaughtered in the woods, staked to the ground, the newest Vepar sacrifice."
"You're a danger to us all, Julian. Ever since Miranda, you have been unhinged, operating on your own vendetta. I'm tired of making excuses for you. She's gone, Julian. Destroying us all won't bring her back," Elda seethed.
"I won't listen to this," Julian hissed, turning on his heel.
"No," Elda shrieked, throwing up her hands. Julian stopped as icy water seemed to flow through his veins. He stood paralyzed by her magic. "I will be leaving to check on Lydie, the child you nearly killed today."
Elda stomped away, her dark cloak billowing behind her.
After she had disappeared from view, Faustine released Julian. His face turned crimson, and he too stormed off in the opposite direction.
"I'm sorry, Faustine. I can't tell you how sorry I am," Oliver told him.
Faustine considered Oliver, his mouth in a grim line.
"Oliver, I understand that it is hard to question Julian's guidance. He was your teacher and I blame myself for that. I believed that having a disciple would draw Julian back from the edge. Unfortunately, he merely passed his own extreme tactics on to you."
"It was my idea, Faustine. I never thought he'd get near her. I..."
Faustine held up a hand to quiet him.
"It may have been your idea, but the foundation of your learning was formed by Julian. He lost sight of weighing risks a long time ago. He has put you in danger many times. I too have been complicit in his choices. I have been so happy that he has returned to us that I've turned a blind eye to the very behaviors that forced a wedge between us originally. I do not blame you, Oliver. But I do expect you to do better. From this moment on, you follow your heart's advice and nothing else. Your love for Lydie should have eliminated that idea the moment it arose, but Julian has taught you to bypass those insights and go with your head. It is time to live from your heart."
Faustine did not say more. He looked toward the sand dune where Julian had disappeared, but turned and walked back toward the castle.
****
Abby knocked on the door to Faustine's tower and pushed it open a crack. He sat on the floor with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. When he heard her, he glanced up, and she saw the Crystal of Sight suspended between his eyebrows. For a moment he watched her, his eyes twitching as if following a series of images she could not see. He blinked and pulled the crystal from his head.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Abby said. "Helena asked me to check on you. The Crystal is working then?"
"Come in," Faustine said. He stood and set the crystal on a dark cloth.
Abby hovered just inside the doorway, gazing at the ceiling that narrowed to a point five stories above them.
"It's high," she murmured.
"I work better with the space," he told her. "Abby, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"
She paused, preferring to slip back out the door and pretend she hadn't heard him. But he watched her intently. Knowing that he had seen things she had been keeping a secret, she walked into the room.
"You've been to Snake Island?" he asked.
Abby nodded.
"And you have the amulet?"
She put her hands on her hips and considered what explanation might suffice.
"I needed to do it alone, Faustine."
He nodded, steepling his fingers in his lap.
"I understand those needs, Abby. I have often followed them myself, but there's a reason that witches created covens. We are smarter, safer and stronger when we share the burden. It is hard. We want to protect those we love, not involve them in the danger, but we hurt them much more with our lies."
"I didn't lie," she started and then sighed. "Okay, I lied. I'm sorry. Sometimes it feels like the talking and the planning distract us from actually doing anything. I needed to do something."
"It's valuable information you've found. More so, we have the amulet which we can now destroy and be one step closer to ending Clyde's reign."
"I need the amulet," Abby told him.
Faustine frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"I need to confront Clyde wearing the amulet. Kanti will help me destroy him."
Faustine cocked his eyebrows and Abby could tell he was weighing his words.
"Allowing Kanti to possess you is very dangerous."
"I know that, but Dafne discovered how to allow the possession and still keep Kanti from having control."
"And yet she still killed herself to escape that possession."
"Because she never got to perform the charm that would have p
rotected her," Abby argued. "This is my life, my child's life."
"The amulet gives Clyde direct access to you, Abby," Faustine stated.
Abby frowned and shook her head.
"I'm not wearing it. It's safe."
"I know," Faustine agreed. "You've returned it to our dungeon here at Ula, a wise decision. However, I cannot in good conscience allow you to put that necklace on and invite Kanti into your body."
Abby felt like a child being scolded by her stern father and a part of her wanted to act the part by stomping from the room and slamming the door behind her.
"Teach me, prepare me, whatever it takes. But I am doing it, Faustine. I know this is the way."
****
Sebastian felt trapped. The walls of his and Abby's bedroom seemed to close in. He threw his book at the opposite wall in agitation. He trotted down the steps, listened, and when silence greeted him, made for the front door. Outside the cold night air filled his lungs. He gasped it in and ran for the woods, losing a sandal and then another. He pulled his t-shirt over his head. His jeans felt too tight. He stopped and stripped them down, already running before he kicked them off. Still the pressure continued. His skin seemed to stretch over his muscles and bones like taut rubber-bands. He wanted to rip his skin off. He raced through the woods and burst onto the shoreline. His body seemed to burst with him. He shrieked as he felt his skin tearing away. His lips curled back and his teeth poked sharp into his gums. Something poked and then thrust through the skin of his back. He screamed and fell to his hands and knees. It was agony and ecstasy, burning, tearing, searing pain coupled with that blissful release as the confines of his tiny, powerless body exploded.
He left the beach. Huge black wings opened behind him and he soared out over the moonlit lake. As the wind rushed beneath him, he felt the sensations as it moved over this foreign body, the way it tickled the tiny hairs that had sprouted from his skin. A primal hunger started a rumbling in his belly. He needed to feed.
Born of Shadows- Complete Series Page 133