“I don’t know what that means.” Abby considered turning and running, but where could she hide that Leath wouldn’t find her?
“It means that in order for me to win, you must lose—your soul, your gift, your inheritance.”
“I don’t understand.” Abby was trying frantically to buy some time for help to arrive.
“Poor Abby, she has no idea of the larger forces at work.” Leath crossed her arms and sighed. “Evan knew you were special, different and yet she did nothing to protect you. She didn’t protect Jacqueline and she won’t protect you, I’ve seen to that.”
One question answered. Leath was responsible for what had happened to Evan. If Abby could just keep Leath talking maybe she’d figure out what the hell was really going on. She didn’t dare look in Dena’s direction, but she hoped she was giving Dena time to regroup.
“Who is Jacqueline?”
“She was the eldest of our Council. She was to pass her power to me. It was my time to reign. I was second in line. But Evan fucked all of that up.” Leath was becoming more agitated as she talked. “But it no longer matters because I’ll have you, and your line is potent, ancient. You have no idea of the power you would have wielded if you’d been allowed to ascend.”
Movement caught Abby’s eye. Dena was on her feet, but Leath hadn’t seen her get up.
“We’re going to have a different sort of ritual tonight…”
“Get the fuck away from her, Yankee bitch.”
Leath spun around.
Dena was defiant as they faced off. She kicked off her Crocs so that she was barefoot on the stone floor. A small electrical storm was building in front of Dena. She shifted quickly and hurled a large churning orb. Leath stopped the orb, holding it aloft with both hands. She divided it in two, and the roiling orbs doubled in size. Dena assumed a defensive pose, but she was no match for the surge of power that detonated, first one and then the other, before she could recover.
Dena staggered backward as Leath pummeled her with a light show from her outstretched hands. Abby had to shield her eyes. She could no longer see Dena. She started to back slowly away. She needed to escape to get help. It was obvious that they were no match for Leath, and there was no way she’d risk Foster and Jai stumbling into this attack. She’d only made two or three steps when Leath turned and pinned her with a searing look. Her muscles refused to move, her arms pinned to her sides by some invisible binding. Her heart raced and her breath came in gasps. Stay calm. Stay calm. Think.
“Stop!” Abby shouted.
Leath dropped her hands and slowly turned. Abby could finally see beyond her to the scarred and blackened wall outside the library. Dena was on the floor, unmoving.
“Quite right. I’ve spent too much time here already. We should go.” Leath was talking to Abby as if there was no doubt that Abby was leaving with her.
When Abby made no move to follow, Leath reached for her arm.
“Come.”
“Please don’t do this.” Abby wasn’t even sure what Leath planned to do, but every cell in her body told her she would not survive. Whatever this ritual was, it was her end.
“Don’t plead. That is so tiresome.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Oh, I know you will.” Leath’s words were heavy with snarling contempt.
Abby shivered involuntarily.
“You will give me whatever I want before the night ends.”
“You’re not taking her anywhere.” Evan leaned against the wall at the mouth of the hallway to the kitchen.
Abby’s heart leapt to see Evan on her feet, but she could tell from across the room that Evan was a shadow of her former self. Evan braced heavily against the wall as if letting go would mean falling. Evan would never be able to withstand what Leath had just done to Dena. Abby stepped in front of her, between them, to shield Evan.
“Hmm, interesting.” Leath smiled thinly. “I thought you liked the writer. Your fondness for Evan is surprising.”
Abby looked over her shoulder in Evan’s direction. She wanted Evan to stay out of this, to stay safe.
“Abby, you don’t need to protect me from this petulant, self-aggrandizing bitch.”
Leath stiffened. If Evan was trying to make her angrier, then she was succeeding.
“She got what she deserved from Jacqueline…nothing.” Evan practically spit the words.
Leath’s hair swirled about her face as a static charge began to build.
“Please, don’t—”
Abby’s words were cut off by a bolt of electricity thrown at Evan. A black hole marked the spot where Evan had been standing. Somehow, she’d managed to move just in time. Leath and Evan seemed to have some serious history that Evan hadn’t shared.
“Stop! I’ll go with you.”
“No, Abby! You—”
Whatever Evan was about to say was knocked from her as Leath used her powers to shove Evan against the wall. Evan dropped to her knees, gasping for breath. Leath pointed as if she were going to hit Evan again, but Abby stepped in front of her, blocking the strike.
“I said I would go with you.” The strength of her own words surprised her.
Across the room, Evan groaned. If she was trying to say some final word to Abby, she was unable to discern what that was. Abby looked back one more time at Evan and then Dena as she allowed Leath to take her arm and steer her toward the door.
Chapter Twenty-four
Tremors shook Foster as she huddled in the large bath towel. She’d stripped out of her waterlogged clothing and was perched on the edge of Jai’s bed as Jai searched for something that might fit Foster. Anything that actually fit Jai was not going to fit Foster, but all she needed was temporary cover. Reasonable cover to allow them to refuel the car and get back to Abby’s house. Abby. The separation was making Foster anxious. Her gut told her to hurry. She was feeling more desperate by the minute.
“Here, I think these will work.” Jai held up a zippered hoodie and some old-school sweatpants. “This is probably all I have that will even come close to fitting.”
“Do you mind?” Foster gripped the towel with one hand and the sweats with the other. She was in a hurry, but not in the mood to give Jai a show.
“Oh, sorry, of course.” Jai turned around to give Foster privacy to change.
Foster’s hands still shook, making it hard to dress quickly. She wondered if she’d actually be able to drive.
“What happened, Foster?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“You can turn around.” Foster zipped the front of the sweatshirt and pulled the hood up over her damp hair for extra warmth. She wondered if she’d ever feel warm again. “I don’t remember what happened.”
Jai turned around with her arms across her chest. The look on her face told Foster she had doubts about Foster’s selective amnesia.
“Dena told me to come get you…something happened to Evan…” She’d almost forgotten how the whole thing started. Evan. Evan was sick.
“Is Evan hurt?” The pitch of Jai’s voice went up a little, a look of concern on her face.
“I’m not sure. She collapsed in the kitchen.” Foster rubbed her eyes. She was trying to remember. “She said it was a spell and that we should get Dena…so that’s what I did. I couldn’t reach Dena by phone so I drove to the library…she left and that’s when…that’s when the woman came up to my car.”
“Describe her.”
“Tall, pale…too thin. She was wearing all black and she had dark hair…and her eyes…she had weird eyes.” As Foster added that detail, she couldn’t actually remember what the woman’s eyes had looked like. She must have noticed their color, but for the life of her she couldn’t visualize any specific details about the woman’s facial features. That seemed odd.
“Listen, can we talk as we go. Something’s not right. I have this terrible feeling.” Foster covered her revolting stomach with her hand. For a minu
te she thought she might be sick. She focused on breathing, in and out, in and out.
“Yes, my neighbor does small engine repair. He always has a gas can in his truck.” Jai grabbed a jacket and her keys. “I’m sure he’d let us have it for your car.”
“I’d ask you to drive, but Dena says you don’t drive.” Foster followed Jai out the apartment door.
“I don’t have a car, but I can certainly drive.” She pulled the door closed behind them as she tugged on her jacket. “It’s a long story.”
Jai had been right about her neighbor. He wasn’t around so Jai left ten dollars under a wrench where the gas can had been. In another few minutes they were refueled and on their way to the Spencer estate. Foster’s hands were shaking so badly she had to press them against her thighs and hold on.
“Are you okay?” Jai glanced at her from the driver’s seat.
“No.” Might as well be honest. She wasn’t okay. She was so far from okay that she’d probably never find it again. Something was wrong with Abby. Something had happened, and her skin was crawling from the not knowing.
When they turned into the driveway it was as if the Spencer house had been transformed into a haunted mansion. Low hanging fog swirled around the estate. Dense clouds blocked the sun over the property, despite the fact that the sun was blazing twelve miles away in Spencer’s Cove. Ravens filled the trees along the drive like some eerie recreation of The Birds.
“What the hell?” Jai stopped the car before they reached the circular drive in front of the house.
Foster and Jai both leaned forward, craning to see through the windshield.
“Don’t pull up to the house.” Foster’s bad feeling was getting worse.
They got out of the car and approached on foot. The sweat pants Jai had loaned her were several inches too short, a chilly draft seeped up each leg, past her exposed, sockless ankles. Her wingtips, still waterlogged, squeaked with each step. She looked down and considered taking them off, but the gravel underfoot would cut her soggy, cold feet to shreds, so she kept them on.
The front door was open, dark, like the entrance to a cave. Foster wanted to barge in, but Jai caught her arm to signal caution. Jai stepped in front of her and peered inside. The place was utterly silent. Jai crossed the threshold and Foster followed. It took a minute once inside the dimly lit entry hall to take in the scene. A skirmish of some kind had definitely gone down. Furniture was smashed and overturned, lamps and tables tossed about. The walls were marked with dark shapes that looked like detonations.
“There’s Evan…but where is Dena?”
“And where is Abby?” Foster started across the room toward where Evan lay on the floor.
She heard a low moan from the other side of the room, coming from beneath a pile of charred furniture. Jai rushed in that direction.
“Dena is over here!” Jai tossed debris aside.
“Hey, easy.” Foster knelt beside Evan and helped her sit up and then lean against the wall.
“Foster, she took Abby.” Evan coughed and then gripped her side as if the cough had been painful.
“Who? Who took Abby?”
“Leath Dane.”
The little hairs along Foster’s arms stood at attention. She had to be the same woman who locked Foster in a cage so that she’d slowly drown. She rocked back on her heels so that she could put her head between her bent knees to keep from throwing up.
When she glanced up, Evan was watching her.
“Describe Leath Dane, because I’m pretty sure she’s the one who just tried to send me to Davy Jones’s locker.”
“Tall, thin, long straight dark hair, dressed in black…epic bitch.” Evan ran her hand across her scalp. She stopped mid stroke, as if she was surprised by some discovery.
“Yeah, someone shaved your head.” Foster couldn’t help noticing the tattoo now evident on Evan’s scalp.
“Help me up.” Evan reached for Foster, and she did her best to hoist Evan to a standing position.
Evan braced against her with an arm across her shoulders as they joined Jai on the other side of the room. Dena was alive, but she looked as if she’d been to hell and back. Both lenses of her glasses were cracked, her flannel shirt was torn and charred, her face was smudged with ash, and her Crocs were missing.
Jai was still kneeling beside Dena. She propped a singed cushion behind her head. Foster and Evan were standing, looking over Jai’s shoulder. Dena pulled her glasses off to examine them and then tossed them onto the pile of broken furniture.
“Never really needed those anyway. Just for looks.” Dena started to get up but grimaced and dropped back to the floor.
Jai gently probed along her left leg until she reached a spot just above her ankle that made Dena howl in pain. Jai lifted up the cuff of her jeans to examine the injury.
“It looks like it’s broken, but the bone isn’t through the skin.” Jai calmly relayed the information and then looked up at Foster and Evan. “We need to get her to a doctor.”
“No…no way.” Dena’s response was quick and stern. “You need to go after Abby. I’m perfectly capable of waiting here for an ambulance. I’ll just—”
“Heaven’s above!”
Everyone looked in Cora’s direction. She was standing on the far side of the room, holding what looked like a birthday cake piled with flowers sculpted out of pink frosting. Cora took in the scene of disaster, wide-eyed, mouth ajar.
“I’ll wait here for the ambulance.” Dena started giving orders again. “You should go without me.” She was looking at Evan.
“Go where?” Foster hated to state the obvious. She’d like nothing better than to run out the door and chase down this evil wench and get Abby back, but she had no idea where Leath had taken her.
***
The sensation of moving through space and time was an event like nothing Abby had ever experienced. The act of departure as much from self as place, a real event taking place in the realm of the invisible. She’d seen science fiction movies, she’d read even more books in the genre, and the closest description to what she’d just experienced was passing through a wormhole. Only this one was created by Leath, not some collapsing star. Although, Abby would certainly describe Leath’s energy as something similar to a black hole, pulling in all light around it, including hers. Abby felt her essence retreat and weaken with every minute spent in close proximity to Leath. By the time the movement, the motion, stopped, she was drained and powerless.
The sound of the pounding surf was the first identifiable sound. The smell of salt and seaweed wafted in the damp air. Wherever they were, it was very close to the ocean. She tried to sit up and struggled to do so. Wet, black rock above and on three sides. Leath had brought her to a sunken chamber at sea level. The space was almost a cave, a concave chamber carved from the rock by millions of years of surf and wind.
She didn’t recognize the place.
“Welcome to the party.” Leath was near, but Abby couldn’t see her.
Abby was sitting on a flat platform that rose up from the bedrock about three or four feet, like some sort of natural stone altar. Surely when the tide came in the platform would be cut off by water at the base, possibly submerged completely. She shivered and hugged herself. She hadn’t taken time to grab a jacket. Between the salt spray and the wind, she was chilled. She brushed damp strands of hair away from her face and studied Leath.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You still don’t know, do you?” She recoiled as Leath reached out and brushed her fingertips across Abby’s cheek. There was no tenderness in the touch. “Poor Abby…orphaned so young by her parents. Left in the dark about her own destiny…until now.”
Abby hated the truth of Leath’s words. Why hadn’t her parents told her about Mercy, about the ties to witchcraft? Why hadn’t she been more curious about her own heredity? She’d had clues that she was different, but she’d tamped them down, buried them to protect others, and ultimately herself. She’d never wanted to be dif
ferent. She just wanted to be normal. As she got older, she’d begun to see that there was no normal. Normal was a construct, completely subjective. Her act of denial had been an epic miscalculation, a huge mistake. Frantically, she tried to conjure a plan of escape so she could get back to Foster and see for herself that Foster was unhurt.
“Whatever it is you want, I’ll give it to you.”
“You will give me nothing. What I want has to be taken…at your expense, I’m afraid.”
“What did you do to Foster?”
“Was that her name, your little butch bookworm girlfriend?” Leath smirked. “She’s cute. I have to agree with you about that.”
“Please don’t hurt her.”
“Let’s see…” Leath looked at her arm as if she were checking the time, but she wore no watch. She was mocking Abby. “Given the time and the approach of high tide, I’m afraid it might be too late.”
Abby’s throat closed around a knot in her throat. She choked off the sob, refusing to cry in front of Leath. She looked away, toward the churning sea. The sky was dark with heavy cloud cover. Abby took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She thought of Foster. The warmth of her skin, the soothing calm of her presence, the touch of her fingers, and somewhere, deep inside, Abby knew that Foster was okay. Her senses confirmed it. She turned back to Leath, not revealing what she knew.
A strange pain began to build in her stomach. It felt like a cramp, but sharper. She bit her lip and pressed her fingers into the spot where the pain seemed worst. Leath cocked her head with a curious expression. Then a second pain, much worse than the first, caused Abby to curl up on her side, bringing her knees to her chest.
“The pain will get worse.” Leath leaned over. Her voice barely audible over the rushing surf. “The transmutation has begun. It won’t be long now…just a few hours.”
Abby looked up. There was no mercy in Leath’s eyes, only emptiness.
“Where are we?”
“We are where we will not be disturbed.” Leath placed both palms on the stone platform and leaned uncomfortably into Abby’s personal space.
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