Jaycen smiled and turned to see the shop assistant, a small chubby teenager with greasy hair and a cigarette hanging from his lips. “Is he okay?”
“Erm, he’s, he’s hungover.” Jaycen rubbed the back on her neck. “Wild night last night.”
The guy smiled wide. “Same.” Before putting out his cigarette and turning to walk back into the shop.
Jaycen turned on her heels. “We need to get out of here.”
Chapter 16
They had no plan.
They arrived at the cabin an hour later, dragging a still unconscious Sampson Grenadier with them. Then they tied him to a chair and spent the rest of the hours looking at him. Luckily for them, the cabin didn’t have any close neighbors, and thanks to the large trees surrounding it, it was shielded from the road not too far by.
“What are we going to do with him? Keep him prisoner until I can come out of hiding?” Jaycen scrunched up her face and folded her arms.
Iris was shoving chips into her mouth. “Benedict told me someone will meet us here. I’m kind of hoping that someone knows what to do.”
Again, they had no plan.
Jaycen walked over to the window, the cabin was small, with only two rooms, a living room/ kitchen area and a bedroom, but it was well-equipped. What little furniture that was there was covered with white sheets, a sofa and a bed, mainly. There were logs for the fire and an old matted rug on the floor. This cabin wasn’t set up to be lived in, it was a stop off, another safe house. Jaycen leaned against the wall, looking out at the trees, before voicing the thoughts that had been plaguing her thoughts for the past hour.
“He didn’t use magic on me.”
With her mouth still full, Iris said, “Huh?”
Still leaning against the wall, Jaycen turned to look at her. “When I was running, he could have used magic on me. Stopped me. He didn’t.”
“Right. So, you don’t think he’s magical?”
“I didn’t say that. I just don’t think he wanted to hurt me, otherwise, he would have.” But that also didn’t mean he was their friend.
Sampson’s head moved side to side as he groaned. “Ouch.”
“He’s waking up, he’s waking up.” She threw the chips on the floor and straightened, her face panicked.
Slowly, Sampson looked up, blinking and squinting at his surroundings. “What did you do to me?”
Jaycen cleared her throat. “I hit you.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you were going to hurt me. Do you know my name?” She moved away from the window and walked over to where Iris has dropped the chips, she picked them up and grabbed a bunch, not taking her eyes of Sampson as she dropped them in her mouth.
He smiled slowly and nodded his head. “Oh yeah. I know who you are. Couldn’t believe it at first, thought I was seeing a ghost.”
“In a lot of ways, you are.” Iris said, watching him so closely. “And it needs to stay that way. Hence why you’re tied to a chair.”
Sampson looked at Jaycen. “Who are you running from?”
“The world.”
He snorted, shaking in his head in disbelief. “Go on any of our channels, our world is mourning you, right now.”
“Channels? What are you talking about? What channels?” Jaycen rubbed small circles on her temples as a sharp pain shot through her head.
He looked confused for a second. “The magical channels. Go on any of them, The Cure are holding a memorial for you tonight and your funeral will be in a few days. It’s the only thing any of the channels are talking about.”
Iris looked around the space. “There’s no TV here, maybe they have a radio in one of the cupboards. We could listen to it if you want?”
Her stomach suddenly felt heavy. Did she really want to see that? To see what would happen after her death? The chill running down her spine said no.
“Maybe,” she mumbled.
“It could be our only way of keeping track of what’s happening out there.” Iris was mainly talking to herself now as she walked over to a set of drawers and started opening and closing them.
Ignoring her, Jaycen put all her attention on Sampson. “Are you a warlock? Neither of us recognise your name.”
He made a sort of snorting laughing sound as he shook his head. “No. You wouldn’t do. Let’s just say I’m not in your club.”
“And what club is that exactly?”
“The Violets. God, the smallest group of the magical community that feels like they have dominion over the rest, all because of who their parents are, and who their parents were before them. It’s ridiculous, but, it’s the world we live in.”
“If you knew anything about me you’d know I wasn’t born to any magical family,” she pointed out smugly, just as Iris walked over to her carrying an old-style radio.
“Found one, we should be able to tap into The Cure radio from it. Hear what they’re saying about you.” She put the radio on one of the small side tables and plugged it in, the sound of static filling the otherwise quiet room.
“You were born to the Emka family. But you were made to be so much more,” Sampson finally said.
“My second name’s Reece, they are not my family.”
Just then Iris’s fiddling with the radio paid off as Benedict’s voice spoke loud and clear through the speaker.
“Jaycen’s power, her life, conjured something different to all of us. For some people it meant hope, others fear. What I want us to find in her death is unity. There are many forces trying to tear us apart, but we are one magical community. Our power is stronger when we are together.”
She smiled to herself, hearing his words, they were soothing yet strong.
Sampson laughed. “Together? Benedict Ravensmith wants to talk about unity? That’s rich.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. Benedict gives everything to this community, everything,” she snapped, regretting it instantly as she turned away, rubbing her head again. Her headache worsening.
Sampson smiled. “Oh yeah, I forgot you and Benedict were close. Maybe I didn’t realise how close. Isn’t Benedict like twice your age?”
She moved fast and without thinking, ignoring the pain in her stomach and her head as she got in Sampson’s face, rage burning through her.
“You should use your words very carefully when talking about Benedict, especially around me.”
She was breathing heavily and staring into his eyes, her anger not lessening, even as she saw the fear in his.
“Jaycen, maybe you should take a step back?” Iris gently touched her arm from behind.
Sampson didn’t say anything, but his eyes held hers. “I agree with your friend.”
It was hard to pull away, harder than she cared to admit.
Sampson let out a breath and an uneven laugh. “That was not the reaction I had been expecting. I honestly thought you were going to smoke me.”
She couldn’t deny that she had been going to.
“I need some air.” She walked across the room towards the door, grabbing Thornton’s jacket from the sofa as she passed.
“Try not to be seen by anyone,” Iris called after her, she didn’t reply. She also didn’t feel like she could breathe right until she was out of the room and into the cold, fresh air.
Her anger still sat within her, wrapping itself around her chest, making everything difficult. Wrapping the jacket tight around her she began to walk, not knowing where she was headed but needed space.
“She’s dead, we’ve taken her magic. Why isn’t this working? Why isn’t her magic bending to us like the others?”
The voice, so clear and precise, sounded so close that Jaycen stumbled forward and fell on her knees in the dirt.
She looked around, “Hello?”
“If I knew why this wasn’t working, I would fix it. But I don’t.”
Darius and then McKenzie. She knew both their voices and knew they weren’t here with her. Still kneeling in the dirt, she closed her eyes and jus
t listened to the voices she had heard before.
“I need to use the knife again; we’ll see if I can pull another’s magic through it. Maybe the knife itself is burned out, used too much.”
Darius scoffed. “Nonsense. That knife is thousands of years old and was created by the most powerful of magical beings. It does not get burnt out.”
“It’s strange. It’s almost as if her magic hasn’t let her go. It’s as if I can feel her still, Jaycen. Do you feel that? Do you feel her?”
“What are you talking about? She’s dead.”
“Is she?”
And just like that, everything was quiet and Jaycen was alone kneeling in the dirt, the voice completely gone.
Pushing herself up to her feet Jaycen raced back to the cabin. McKenzie was onto her, and if he hadn’t worked it out already, he would work it out sooner or later. She needed to tell Benedict, she needed to warn him that they were going to kill someone else.
She burst through the door, slamming it shut behind her as she called out, “Iris, Iris we need to get in touch with Benedict. Quickly.”
Sampson, still tied in the middle of the room smiled. “You really can’t go anywhere without causing trouble, can you?”
Ignoring him completely, Jaycen marched into the bedroom just as Iris was coming out.
“What’s happened? Did someone see you?”
Shaking her head Jaycen said, “No, but I know Darius’s next move. They are going to kill someone else and strip them of their magic, we need to tell Benedict. They said they said they could feel me. Feel me still being alive.”
“Who? Who are they going after? Did you get a name?” Sampson tugged on his restraints, suddenly looking desperate.
That was interesting, Jaycen thought, turning her attention back to Iris. “How is that possible? We need to get in touch with Benedict, and we need to do it now.”
“Did you get a name of who they were after?” Sampson shouted at the same time.
“No, I didn’t get a name,” she gritted out, just as someone knocked on the door.
And for a beat, no one moved.
They knocked again; this time louder.
“You need to hide,” Iris whispered, already walking over to the door.
“Can you see who it is? What do I do about him?” Jaycen ran over to Sampson as he twisted and turned in his chair. “Stop moving, stop moving right now.”
“Tell me what you saw, tell me who they are after,” he demanded, finally stopping his twisting to look up at her.
“I can’t see, just hurry up.” Iris placed her hand on the door handle and waited.
“Stay quiet while she opens the door and I will.”
He didn’t answer right away, then nodded once.
Going behind him Jaycen pulled him back as far as she could, the knock at the door now a bang.
“Stay quiet, not a word,” she warned before disappearing into the bedroom and waited for Iris to open the door.
“Hi there, we just wanted to come over and make sure you were all okay. We don’t normally see people at this cabin. Everything still working in there?”
Jaycen pressed her ear again to the wooden walls and listened to what sounded like an older woman speaking to Iris.
“Yes, everything is working fine thanks. We’re just staying for a few days.”
“Good good. Well if you need anything, we are just in the cabin over. Don’t think twice about coming over. The seclusion of this place is beautiful until you need a cup of sugar, then it’s a pain.”
They both laughed and said their goodbyes. Jaycen waited until she heard the door lock before stepping out of the room.
“I need to know exactly what you heard; did they say any name at all? Any name?” Sampson pressed as soon as he saw her.
“That was close.” She signed to Iris before turning her attention to Sampson. “I told you I didn’t get a name. But it was Darius and his son that I heard.”
Sampson looked panicked. “You need to tell someone. You need to warn someone. Please.”
“Someone is meeting us here in the next few days. Hopefully, they will have a way of getting in touch with Benedict,” Iris said calmly.
Sampson wasn’t having any of it. “Screw Benedict we need help now.”
“Why? We don’t even know who they are after yet,” Jaycen snapped, letting the sofa take her weight.
“Yes, we do. They will go after the weakest bloodlines; the clear bloods like me. I know because they’ve attacked my community before, and they’ll keep doing it until they are stopped. So please, tell someone. Tell someone before another one of my friends is killed.”
Chapter 17
They had no phone, no computer to e-mail, they weren’t even allowed to send letters.
“I had a cell on me before you kidnapped me. It’ll be in my car. How far away is that?” Sampson pressed, his eyes bouncing between Jaycen and Iris.
Leaning over and turning her head, Iris whispered, “Don’t tell him. He might be able to work out where we are.”
Hiding her mouth with her hand, Jaycen whispered, “We need to do something. We can’t just let Darius kill someone.”
“I can still hear you,” Sampson snapped, clearly irritated. “I honestly don’t care how you do it. But somehow you need to warn someone, preferably my someone. This is real.”
“I have an idea. Do you have a number of someone I can warn? I’m not telling them we have you, I’m just going to call them up and tell them they are in danger and to be careful,” Iris stated, and then waited patiently for him to give her a number to call.
He shook his head, clearly unconvinced. “No. They already know they’re in danger, we are always in danger. They need something more specific.”
“I will give them what they need. Just tell me who to call, before I change my mind.”
There was no way Iris would mind, Jaycen knew that. Sampson did not as he rushed out a number and a name. Suzie.
“Great. I’ll be back.” She motioned to the door with her head, and Jaycen followed. “I’m going to nip to the other cabin, remember that sweet old lady from earlier? Well, she probably has a phone. I’ll use that. I’ll call Benedict and whoever Sampson wants me to call.”
“Just, be careful what you say, to both of them,” Jaycen warned, opening the door for Iris and locking it behind her.
“She’s definitely going to call them, isn’t she?” Sampson asked immediately.
Jaycen nodded. “Yeah she’ll call. They won’t be able to work out where you are though. Unless they can track phones,” she said the words before she could even think about them. What if they could actually do that?
“No, we’re not the FBI,” Sampson frowned.
“No, but who are you? Are you part of a group? A cult?” She moved the white sheet off the sofa and took a seat, so she could look at him, still tied to the wooden chair. And then another thought hit her. “And why haven’t you escaped yet?”
Sampson looked completely confused, before shaking his tied hands. “Don’t you think I would if I could?”
“You said you were magical. So, use your magic.” If she had been in that position, she’d have been able to get out within seconds. It was a simple spell, one of the first she had learned at The Cure academy. So why hadn’t he got himself free yet?
“I’m clear blood, remember?”
She had heard that phrase before. Bullies back at the school used to taunt other kids with it. It was a phrase that meant, weak, less than. And Jaycen didn’t understand why he’d call himself that so willingly.
“What does that mean?” she asked simply.
He cleared his throat. “Don’t they teach you this at that fancy school of yours?”
Jaycen stayed silent until he had no other choice but to continue. “I have magic. Just not as powerful as yours. I can’t cast a spell and watch it work. I have to channel my power into something, like a group spell, or maybe even an object. You know?”
No, she reall
y didn’t know. “An object? You put your magic into things? For safety?” Or maybe like the knife that Darius used on her?
“No not for safety. To build it up, so when I want to use it there’s enough for the spell to work. It takes time. Magic is precious, sacred. And you violets use it like it’s a never-ending river. It’s insane.”
She’d never heard of magic being described like that, so rare. Her hands rubbed together on their own accord as she remembered the feeling of magic, and the buzz it left as it ran through her veins and into her hands. She hadn’t realised how much she missed that feeling until now.
She didn’t know what to say, so instead of something comforting, or real she asked a question she already knew the answer to. “So you’re not a direct descendant then? Not one of the top five?”
He even looked disappointed with her question. “No. I’m not. I am well and truly at the bottom of the magical food chain.”
This is where she could have stepped in and corrected him, that no, actually, that was her. But she didn’t, instead, she stayed silent.
“That was why the idea of you, was so appealing to people like me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your magic was pulled from our ancestors. The magical line was renewed, reimbursed. It’s amazing to think about for someone like me. Someone where magic is so close but so far out of my reach. Then we had heard you had been killed, and it was like our last chance died too. You know?”
“It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Those who give it can also take it away,” she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Mmm.” He nodded in agreement. “Wait, wait?”
Shaking her head, she mumbled. “Nothing.”
Iris barged through the door then, “I did it, Benedict wasn’t happy to hear from me, but I did it. Called your friend and I called Benedict. Gave him a sort of secret message, which I hope to God he understood. And I promised Elma that if we’re still here tomorrow we’d go for dinner.”
“Did you speak to Suzie? Did you tell her they were going to attack another one?” Sampson demanded before she could take the seat next to Jaycen on the sofa.
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