“No,” he choked out.
“It has to happen,” Landon said.
“You mean to tell me she knew what she was doing?” Sandra demanded. “She wants us to destroy her.”
“We can’t do that!” Alex shouted.
Landon threw back her shoulders as she stepped away from the coven. Reid understood why Avery had given her crystal, and her life, to Landon; she would do whatever was necessary to keep everyone else safe.
The wrenching sorrow in Reid’s chest almost drove him to his knees. The coven gazed in dismay at his sister and then back at the girl who was, and was not, Avery.
“Do you know who I am, Regan?” Avery asked as she stopped a few feet away from him. “Do you know what I am?”
The voice issuing from her was oddly musical and sweet. Regan’s face was set in grim determination while he watched Avery move before him. Reid knew he was waiting for the right time to attack.
“No,” Regan replied.
“Come now, Regan, of course you remember me,” the musical voice taunted. “I was the first one you came for, the first one you tried to turn.”
“Tlachtga,” he stated.
Avery laughed again, but it wasn’t her laugh; it was Tlachtga’s. “Of course.”
“You gave Avery this spell,” Regan said.
“Yes.”
“You’ve destroyed her. You’ve destroyed your bloodline.”
Avery’s head swayed back and forth as she inspected Regan. “If it means finally destroying you, it was worth it.”
Regan bellowed and launched himself at Avery. Reid took a protective step forward, but he realized trying to protect her was useless when, with a flick of her fingers, Avery flung Regan across the room again. He slammed into the wall near Mario, who stumbled out of the way of the indented wall.
“No,” Avery hissed, and all the sweetness vanished from her voice. “That is enough out of you. You like playing games, so now you are going to play our game. Stay down!”
A wave of her finger propelled Regan to the floor when he tried to pry himself out of the wall. Hatred radiated from him when he lifted his translucent spirit head to glower at her. Mario, Rosie, and Eric edged away from him and closer to the rest of the coven.
“Do you remember me, Regan?” Avery asked. Her voice was no longer soft and musical but ragged. “I was the first one you turned. I’m Tlachtga’s great-granddaughter. You turned me and left me, and then my coven killed me after I gave birth to my baby boy. I never got the chance to hold him.”
Reid gulped at this revelation, and the color drained from Landon’s face. That information was kept from their Books of Shadows.
“Do you remember me?” that strange voice asked.
“Of course, I remember you, Galiana. I enjoyed watching you die.”
“And I’m going to enjoy watching you burn in Hell.”
Regan laughed as he pushed himself up from the floor. “I have other powers I can embrace.”
His face contorted into a mutation that sent shivers down Reid’s spine. His features melted and blended to form a faceless mask. Stumbling back, Shawn bumped into Isla as something black and sinister oozed out of Regan.
Avery’s head tilted to the side while she examined him like he was a tiny, disgusting bug. Then she released a bitter laugh as the blackness shot out of Regan and slammed into her. Lifted off her feet, Avery flew backward.
When her feet caught the back of the couch, she tumbled over it before crashing onto the coffee table. The table gave way beneath her, and she collapsed onto the floor in a pile of broken wood.
Reid ran toward her, but Landon stepped in his way. “We’re not needed yet.”
“He’s going to kill her!” Reid spat.
He went to shove past his sister, but she blocked him again and lifted Avery’s crystal into the air. Something caught his attention when it flashed inside the crystal’s clear blue depths.
“He can’t kill her, Reid,” Landon said. “She’s not in there anymore.”
When the light in the crystal brushed against the side of the stone, he felt the warmth of Avery’s essence emanating from it. “A part of her is still inside her body,” he said.
“Only a tiny part,” Landon murmured, “and it’s not enough.”
Reid’s eyes met Landon’s tear-filled, blue-green ones.
“We have to stay out of this until we’re needed,” she said, “If you try to stop this, you will fail and her sacrifice will end up being for nothing.”
He struggled against tears and anger as anguish tore at him. As much as it killed him to admit it, Landon was right.
Avery pushed herself up from the rubble and rose to brush away the debris clinging to her. Rage swirled within her inhuman, deep violet eyes, but there was also amusement.
“I told you to stay down!” she said.
The voice that issued from her was a mixture of everyone within her, and Reid realized there was good and evil inside her; when she embraced the power of her ancestors, she’d taken all of it into her. When her fingers flicked again, a violet light shot out of the tips and smashed into Regan. The light encircled him before knocking him to his knees. His features became human again and waves of black pulsed from him, but nothing released.
“Ye can’t beat me, Regan.” Reid turned as a masculine, Irish accent issued from Avery. “Da ye rememba me?”
“Yes,” Regan said. “Niall McShane.”
“Aye, tat would be me. Ye killed my wife ta try an’ turn me.”
“Then you killed yourself.”
“So he did.” The new voice was Tlachtga’s again. “You have gotten some of us through the ages, but others have held out and stood against you. I’d gladly destroy my bloodline to stop you.”
“Avery—” Reid started.
“Let her go, Reid.” It was a new voice, but one he recognized; Celia had returned. “She’s a part of us now. A hundred of her ancestors fill this body with their power, strength, love, and hatred of you,” she spat at Regan.
“You can’t defeat me!” Regan roared and lurched awkwardly to his feet.
Lifting his hands, the floor and walls quaked as power vibrated the house. Reid stumbled back when the floor lurched, and a cracking sound echoed through the house. Before Reid knew what was happening, a green vine burst through the floor and whipped at the air before lashing toward Avery.
She dodged out of the way, and when it went at her again, she turned and caught the tip of it. A strange screaming noise filled the air as the vine tried to rip away from her, but she didn’t release it. Black spread through the green before it disintegrated, and ash spilled from her fingers to scatter across the floor.
Before she could go back at Regan, a low growl filled the air, and a werewolf stepped into the doorway. Its amber eyes burned as a strand of drool fell from its mouth to plop on the floor.
“You think you’re the only one with power?” Regan snarled.
When the wolf sprang into the room, two more appeared behind it as another vine burst through the floor. When the vine lashed out, it caught the back of Landon’s knees and knocked her to the floor.
“No!” Alex shouted.
He ran toward her as the vine rose from the floor and curled in on itself before striking. Alex threw himself on top of Landon and screamed when the vine pierced through the back of his leg, pinning him to the ground.
“Alex!” Landon yelled as she clawed at the vine, but it didn’t release him.
Chaos and snarls filled the room as one of the werewolves pounced on Eric while the other two crashed into Sandra and Mario.
“Son of a—”
Mario’s shout of anger turned into a yelp when the wolf sank its teeth into his shoulder. Reid lurched forward, and enclosing his arms around the beast’s neck, he seized its upper and lower jaw to pry them apart. Mario yelped and bit at the creature as it gave him a hard shake.
“Don’t use your powers!” Landon shouted as she gripped the vine and tried jerking
it free of Alex. “He’s trying to drain us.”
Reid succeeded in prying the wolf’s jaws off Mario and yanked the beast to the side. They rolled across the floor before Reid wedged his legs between them and shoved the creature away. He was about to rise when a vine burst through the floor and pierced through his shoulder.
He howled as it lifted him five feet in the air before slamming him against the floor. His breath rushed out of him, and he struggled to break free as another vine rose over him in preparation for the death blow.
It may not be what he wanted, but Regan would destroy them all to save himself.
CHAPTER 41
Karen knew she had to look, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn and face whatever gripped her shoulder. Before she could move, a thick vine tore through the concrete floor. Tina jumped and nearly dropped the skull when the vine smashed through the floor over their heads.
“Oh, no,” Tina breathed.
Karen recalled that Tina’s nightmare was of plants and greenhouses, and now it seemed to be a reality.
Which meant the hand….
Please don’t be a clown. Please don’t be a clown.
Karen gulped as she finally worked up the courage to turn and see what gripped her shoulder. Her mouth went dry, and her heart lodged in her throat when she found herself gazing at a witch she recognized as another Halloween decoration. It was so close that the witch’s hooked nose nearly touched hers, and the hairs on the wart at the end tickled her skin. Beady black eyes stared at her from an ugly, green face beneath a pointed black hat.
Her relief over it not being a clown was short-lived as another vine burst through the floor, and the witch released a cackling laugh worse than nails on a chalkboard. Karen threw her hand up to knock the witch away and stumbled back when the thing let her go.
The click of skeletal bones drew her attention as pumpkin-head came toward them with its head bobbing and weaving on its shoulders. A groan emitted from the shadows of the basement before a decomposing corpse dragged its way out of the dark toward them. The bottom half of the body was gone, and its intestines spilled free as it pulled itself across the floor.
“Karen,” Tina breathed. “Karen, we have to get to the other set of stairs.”
Karen glanced at where pumpkin-head still blocked the storm doors before shining her light toward the basement steps twenty feet away. They led to the hallway outside of the formal sitting room. They should have gone to them first, but there was no guarantee the door wasn’t locked.
She looked to Tina, who had no color left in her face. Overhead, another loud crash shook the house, but she couldn’t worry about the others; they had to get out of here. She gave Tina a subtle nod before lowering her shoulder and running at the witch blocking their way.
The thing was a lot more solid than she’d anticipated when she crashed into it. The impact staggered her back, and she nearly fell on her ass. Laughing, the witch snaked out a bony, green hand and grasped Karen’s wrist.
“No!” She swung her other hand down and battered it against the witch’s arm, but it didn’t knock the thing’s grasp free. “Let go!”
Karen kicked the witch and knocked away one of its plastic legs, but that only caused its cackling to grow louder as it somehow maintained its balance. The blood drained from her face as she tried not to give in to her rising panic. Tina snatched the flashlight from her and shifted the skull in her grasp before smashing the light into the witch’s head.
Behind them, a maniacal laugh filled the air, but Karen didn’t look back. The fast scraping of feet was enough to let her know pumpkin-head was coming for them. Tina battered the witch again as Karen jerked at her arm. Plastic gave way beneath the crushing blows, but the thing would not let her go.
“Tina, go!” she shouted.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Get the skull to Avery; that’s the only way to stop this.”
Tina’s face scrunched in concentration as she hammered the flashlight onto the arm holding Karen. Plastic gave way with a crunch, and something grunted behind them as more vines broke through the floor. Karen finally succeeded in jerking her arm away and shoved Tina in front of her. The scratching of skeletal feet followed them as they ran for the stairs.
• • •
Avery lifted her hands and released a wave of light that tore the vine hanging over Reid in half before she destroyed the others. Turning her hands, she held them apart in front of her face, with her palms facing each other. Slowly, she brought them together. The wolves were pulled away from the coven and smashed together. Their broken bodies fell beside Lila, who remained unconscious.
She wiped her hands and smiled at Regan while she mentally sought out a member of the coven.
“Mario.” Mario’s head lifted when she sent the thought into his mind. The blood oozing from his wounds coated his shirt, but he still looked strong. “Karen and Tina are in the basement with the skull; bring it to me. The door is in the hallway. Go!”
He stared at her for a second before turning and running from the room.
• • •
Tina hit the steps first and was halfway up when her foot caught, and she went down. Karen nearly fell on top of her, but she threw herself to the side in time to avoid crushing her friend. The wooden railing wobbled against her back and cracked ominously. Her eyes met Tina’s as the cracking grew louder.
Tina lurched toward her. “No!”
She grasped the bottom of Karen’s shirt and yanked her forward as the banister gave way. Karen’s knees smacked on the stairs when she landed on the steps above Tina’s head. Knocked from her hand by the impact, the flashlight bounced down a few steps before falling through the spaces between the stairs and spiraling into the darkness.
Karen’s heart leapt into her throat when the skeletal footsteps pursued them from the shadows, and then the pumpkin’s giant head emerged from the dark. Its maniacal laughter was worse than nails on a chalkboard; she recoiled from it as her scream came out as a squeak. Bony fingers curled into the bottom of Tina’s shirt, and it tugged her toward its open mouth. Karen didn’t see any teeth, but she suspected being eaten by this thing would be like falling into a black hole.
“No!” Karen shouted and smacked her hand into the thing’s head.
The jarring impact radiated up her arm, but it only caused the thing to laugh louder. Light suddenly flooded the stairs, and Karen turned to see Mario standing at the top, coated in blood.
“Mario,” she whispered as she took in the jagged tears in his shoulder and the blood covering his shirt.
The pumpkin slid into the shadows as Mario ran down the stairs and clasped her arm.
“Get Tina,” Karen said.
Mario grabbed Tina’s hand and pulled her to her feet. He released her but held on to Karen as he ran with her to the top of the stairs with Tina on their heels. When they stepped into the hall, Tina let out a startled cry, and Karen turned back as Tina threw the skull at her. She managed to catch it before it hit the floor.
“Get it to Avery!” Tina yelled.
Karen gasped when she saw the skeletal fingers wrapped around Tina’s ankle. The hand yanked Tina back, and she threw out her hands to protect herself when she fell forward. She cried out when she hit the steps with a thud that made Karen wince.
“No!” Karen shouted when Tina was pulled down a few steps.
Karen shifted her hold on the skull while Tina scrambled for purchase on the stairs. Her nails raked the wood as the pumpkin pulled her further away. Mario lunged forward, but before he could reach the stairs, the door slammed shut. Falling back, he managed to avoid losing some fingers as the sound of the closing door reverberated in the hall.
“Tina!” Karen screamed as she set the skull on the floor and grasped the knob. It wouldn’t budge beneath her hands. “Tina!”
Mario nudged her hands aside to grab the door and yank at it while Karen beat at the wood.
“Son of a bitch,” Mario muttered as he braced
a foot against the wall and pulled harder.
“Tina!”
“What are you doing?” Sandra demanded.
Karen turned to find Sandra standing in the hall.
“It took Tina!” she gushed out. “And we can’t get the door open.”
Sandra ran toward them and grasped the handle to help Mario, but the door still wouldn’t budge. Karen’s hands ached and were turning red, but she couldn’t stop hitting the door as she yelled for her friend. She refused to shed the tears burning her eyes; Tina would be fine, and she couldn’t allow herself to believe anything else.
Then Sandra noticed the skull at Karen’s feet. Bending, she snatched it off the floor.
“There’s only one way to save her; this has to end. Come on,” Sandra said and ran back toward the formal room with the skull under her arm.
Karen stared helplessly from Mario to the door as her tears spilled down her cheeks. She couldn’t help but feel that she’d lost all her best friends today. Mario clasped her neck and drew her close to kiss her forehead.
“I’m going to get her back,” he vowed. “But we have to stop Regan.”
Karen couldn’t speak, but she managed a nod.
“Come on,” he said.
He pulled her away from the door and ran with her back toward the sitting room. Karen’s mouth dropped when she saw the destruction wrought on the once pristine room. However, what shocked her the most was the sight of Avery standing in the middle of all that destruction with her black hair waving about her face like Medusa’s snakes.
But none of it was as unnerving as Avery’s hideous eyes. In that instant, Karen knew she’d lost Avery too.
CHAPTER 42
“They got it!” Sandra cried as she bolted into the room.
Reid’s gaze fell on the skull Sandra held, and relief washed over him. There was the final piece they needed to end Regan. The piece that Avery had sold her soul for so she could save the rest of them.
“There it is,” Avery whispered, her voice a jumble of spirits.
Regan bellowed and lurched toward Sandra.
Dream Walker (The Coven, Book 3) Page 21