“You know she will never come back. You made your choice. She will never forgive you.” Eric turned to face Connor.
“It doesn't mean I want her hurt,” Connor stood as he spoke.
“Then you better hope she stays out of the way.”
***
I turned back to Eli gasping for air. He jumped over to me and grabbed for my hands.
“It happened again, didn't it?” He asked, but it seemed he already knew what was going on. “I saw them again. This time I know it's real,” I whispered. “You know what's real?” Eli didn't let go of my hands and knelt down in front of me. I opened my mouth to tell him, but I knew I was going to fall apart. The first man I'd ever loved betrayed me. He may act like he loved me, but something had changed him and it scared me.
“It was Connor wasn't it?” Eli didn't wait for me to tell him about what I'd seen. “I knew something was off about him when you came to get me.”
“Why would he do this?” I whispered. “Because he loved his sister and love can make us do stupid things sometimes.” I met his eyes. He was full of strength and kindness. I had seen that behind Connor's eyes, but from the beginning I'd known there was a little more darkness than I would ever want to see.
“They want your powers. They want to restore Eric's magic” I pulled my hands away from his. “They said something about you having a different kind of magic” He stood and stepped back.
“I do have different magic than a full blooded witch. I have a little Fae mixed in with the witch.” “What does that mean?” I asked, standing myself. “It can mean trouble.” He glanced around and then back to me. “If you want to hold this place back from Eric, we are going to need help.”
“What kind of help?”
“The kind that doesn't come from this world.” He sighed. “We have to go back to my world.”
*** “I have been waiting for you,” the Oracle said opening the door to her home. When we went inside, I could see the same circle as before. A part of me was scared of traveling like this again, but I knew it was important. If Eli said we needed more than the two of us, I believed him.
“As before, you will have a limited time to get what you need and get back,” the Oracle said ushering us into the circle.
I stopped and turned to her before getting into the circle. “I have to know. Did you know Connor was going to hurt me when we were here before?” She smiled and took my hand.
“There is always a chance the visions are wrong. There is always hope for those we love.” She pushed me into the circle and kept smiling. “Don't be too long. I fear there will be trouble if you are.”
I felt Eli grab my arm and pull me closer to him. “Close your eyes or you may get sick from the travel,” he said holding me tightly. I closed my eyes and took a breath. A part of me didn't want to go back to the Fae world, but I also knew I had too in order to save my friend, Eli and myself.
I felt the air heat up around me and my feet find the ground. I let out a breath and opened my eyes. We were in the same field I'd met Oni in.
I glanced up at Eli. He was still holding me tightly and for a second it felt a little awkward, but it also felt right. He finally smiled and let me go.
“What are we looking for?” I asked, trying to think a little clearer. “It's not what, but who,” he said glancing around before starting to walk to what I figured was the west. “I thought she would be here, but it seems she's not.”
“Who?” I stepped in behind him as he walked. He didn't answer me, but kept walking fast, making me almost run to keep up.
Before long we were out of the clearing and back into the little town I'd visited before. Eli just looked at people coming at him and didn't say a word. Finally he stopped in front of me and I looked up to see what he was looking at. It was Oni. She was on the other side of the road sitting in a tree. I could see her long iridescent gown hanging from the branch, hiding her legs.
Eli smiled and started towards her. “I need your help, Oni.” I glanced quickly from her to him. She only smiled.
“What do you need me for?” She asked, jumping from the branch. “I need to protect a place in the earth world. I figured you would want to help me out.” Eli didn't take his eyes off her.
“Protect a place or a person?” She glanced in my direction. I let it go. What was the point in starting a fight about protecting me. I was getting tired of people thinking I couldn't take care of myself, though.
“Do you remember the crystal land?” He asked her. He eyes got wide and she waited. “There are people looking for it and if they find it, things could get bad for all of us.”
She sighed and put her hands on her hips. “If I help you this time, you both are going to owe me big time.”
Eli held out his hand to her. “We don't have a lot of time.” “No, you really don't. I've seen the future and it's not going to be pretty. Lots of sacrifice and pain.” She looked at me with fear in her eyes. “I don't think we are going to all make it out alive.”
I didn't know what to say. I took Eli's hand and closed my eyes. I would be glad to see the Oracle again and to hopefully be safe for at least a little while. I felt the ground under my feet and opened my eyes. My gaze met the one person I thought I loved.
Connor.
Eight
“Get the boy!” I heard as soon as we were in the circle. I reached for Eli, but he was being pulled away by another witch I didn't know.
Connor grabbed me and pulled me to him. “Let him go. They will kill you if you don't,” he whispered in my ear. I pushed at him, trying to break free.
“The only reason you're still alive is because of Connor. You'd best listen to him,” Eric said, stepping in front of me. I took a breath and watched him. His eyes stayed glued to mine. “I would love to kill you for taking my magic from me, but I'll be getting that back soon enough.” He walked away and my eyes met Eli's.
He was being pulled away by the other witches Eric had with him. A part of me wondered why he didn't fight back? Why didn't he use the magic he had if it was so special?
I looked around the room for Oni, but she was nowhere to be found. At least they didn't get her too. “Take them to my home. Connor and I have a place to find,” Eric said, looking straight at me and then shifting his eyes to my crystal. He knew I had been there and that I knew of it's power as much as he did. He smiled and I tried to pull out of the other witch I'd been passed to. Now we were in trouble and I knew it.
*** The witch shoved me into the room I'd had when I'd stayed here before. The room hadn't changed, but now I was really a prisoner. I sat on the bed and sighed. What was I going to do now? Eric had Eli and his magic and Connor was looking for the commune. We had lost and it was my fault. I'd trusted Connor and he let me down.
I remembered the window at the west wall and went to it. I wondered if there was some way I could let my dad know where I was. If he knew what happened, he would come to get me.
The window was open, but it was much to far to jump. I closed my eyes and closed my hand around the crystal Eli gave me. It tingled in my hand. My thoughts floated to my dad and his home. I could see him and felt like I was in the same room with him, watching him.
*** I watched him walk to the other side of the room. He was clearly worried. I reached out to him and tried to grab him, but it was like I was not even there. I took a breath and tried harder, pushing myself to get through and then he stopped. He looked around the room like he could feel me.
“I'm here, dad,” I said. He looked right at me. “Lucy? Is that you?” He took a step towards me, but stopped unsure of what he was doing.
“It's me, dad. I need your help.” I waited for a moment before telling him the whole story.
“I'm on my way, kid,” he said, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.
“Wait! There are too many people there. You won't be able to get to me and then back out.” “I've got that covered,” He said, smiling and opening the door.
*** I felt my
body give way and hit the ground. My eyes wouldn't focus on anything and my breathing was fast. I tried to get a hold of myself, but it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. And before I could focus, I was gone again.
*** My bare feet were tickled by the grass underneath. I was back at the commune. I didn't even have to think about it and I was inside watching the crystals hum with their magic. I gasped and ran into the center of the circle. I spun around and tried to remember all of the witches faces. The faces swirled and ran together. All but two. Eric and Connor.
Eric was standing in the center of the circle, a smile plastered to his face. He held his hands up and the chanting from the others stopped.
“This is what we have been waiting for. Now I will not only get my magic back, but enough to finish what we started all those years ago. This is what we worked for. And tonight, it will be a reality,” Eric said. “Bring him to me.”
Two large men dragged Eli in. He looked worse for ware and hurt, but he was still alive. They put him down in front of Eric and backed away. “Finish the spell,” Eric barked at Eli.
Eli said some words I didn't understand and a blinding light shot from the crystals hanging from the ceiling. I put my hands in front of my face and closed my eyes.
*** “Lucy, get up.” I heard in my ear. It was far away and faint, but I could hear it. “Lucy, you have to get up. We don't have much time.” The voice was a little louder this time. I opened my eyes to see my dad standing over me. He was visibly worried and seemed relieved when I looked at him.
“Come on. We have to go,” he said pulling me up. “Can you walk okay?” I nodded, but my head felt light and like it was floating along next to me. He pulled me down the stairs and towards the door.
“Wait, we can't leave Eli.” I pulled at them and managed to stop them before they got to the doorway. “There's not enough time,” my dad said, reaching for my arm. I pulled away.
“If we don't get him, then all this is for nothing. He's the key to what Eric is doing. I know what will happen and where.” Oni reached for my hand and smiled.
“Eli knows what he's doing.” I wrinkled my nose at her. I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me, but a part of me relaxed.
“We have to get out of here, now,” my dad pulled me out of the home and a little ways down the street before throwing the travel potion onto the concrete. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, we were standing in the middle of my dad's living room.
I looked at my dad and then at Oni. She was smoothing out her dress. I collapsed on the couch and took a deep breath.
“So, what happens now?” I asked anyone that was willing to listen. “We have one more night figure out what the best plan is,” my dad took his trucker cap off and ran his hand through his hair. “At least we know this place is safe.”
“How can you be so sure?” I managed. “They have what they want now.”
I thought about that and a part of me wanted to shake Connor so he could see what he was doing. I closed my eyes, begging my magic to give me a vision of Connor, but nothing came.
“We have more than they realize,” Oni said, bouncing around the room until she found a chair she liked. I gave her a puzzled look. “We know where they will be and we know what they are planning. We have the upper hand.”
I laughed. “Right, we have me with no magic and a Fae who never wants to tell things straight.” “It's part of my charm,” she said glancing at my dad. “You can make potions, right?”
“Yeah, but there aren't any potions I know of that can stop this.” My dad met her gaze. “Not here, but at the commune there are plenty of herbs and such to make the perfect potion for this.” She was almost jumping out of her skin with excitement.
“What are you talking about?” I said. “You are more than you think,” she said standing up. “The humans and even the witches have a power in their blood. They just don't always feel it”
“So, I guess we go to the commune and get this elusive potion created.” I glanced to my dad who just shrugged his shoulders. “It seems we have a plan.”
Nine
I watched the Fairy as she stood by the door of my fathers home. A part of me wondered if the plan she put together would even work. We had to get into the commune and then get back out to the edge with the stuff in order to make this potion Oni didn't want to tell me about.
“So, what happens when we get there?” I asked, sure I didn't really want to hear the answer. “We just have to get to one of the common buildings. They will be too concerned with the ritual they are working to worry about us.” She smiled, but something told me it wasn't that simple.
“Once the potion is made, then what?” I kept my eyes on her. She simply smiled. “Then we grab Eli and get out of there.” “What about Connor?”
“Your boyfriend?” She paused and took a breath. “I'm afraid he has betrayed us all. He can't be trusted. You have to let him go.”
That was easier said than done. He saved me from so much and now he was in need of saving. I didn't want to stand by and watch him be taken from me, not when I might be able to do something about it.
She put her hands on mine. “I know it's not easy when you love him like you do, but you can't trust someone that has already shown what he's capable of.
“Are we ready to go?” My dad walked into the room holding a bag and a couple of other random things. “We will need these for protection,” he said, holding out a couple of crystals. He glanced at the one around my neck and smiled. “Well, we'll need protection.” He handed the other crystal to Oni and put one on himself as well.
“We will have to be quite and fast once we get out there,” Oni said, turning to the door and putting her hand on the handle. “ Are you ready?” She looked directly at me. I took a deep breath and smiled.
“I'm as ready as I can be,” I said and then it happened.
Another vision.
*** I was standing in the middle of the commune,watching the action going on around me. Eli was using the magic I'd never seen him use to fight off a group of witches. When I turned my head, I could see Eric on the floor, holding his arm. He looked up and locked eyes with me. I felt a cold chill and opened my mouth to speak, but nothing would come out.
Then I felt the stinging pain in my chest. It burned and stung at first, but then felt cold and hard. When I looked down, I could see the crystal on my neck turn a deep blue. It was what caused the burn, but it also was filling me with something I didn't understand. It felt ancient and powerful.
I looked back to my birth father, Eric as he watched what happened to me. His eyes burned, even then, with hate for his own child. I fought to stay in the vision, but something pulled me out. There was something I wasn't ready to know.
*** I stood there with my hand on my chest, waiting for the fog to clear from my vision. I wanted it to come back, to know if Connor was okay more than anything. I felt the eyes of the others on me and glanced up.
“Are you okay?” My father said, reaching for my arms.
“I'm okay, just a vision.” I held onto him for support.
“I thought those didn't happen anymore,” he said, confused. “It seems the universe has other plans,” Oni said smiling. The front door was open behind her just as it had been before. She was waiting. Like she knew it was going to happen that way.
I stood up from when the vision hit and started walking towards the door. I glanced at my father, who was following close behind. I could see the concern on his face, but wasn't sure why.
We walked for some time before anyone said anything, but when they did, I partly wished they hadn't. “I don't understand what we're doing,” my dad said, turning on Oni. “They don't know about what that place really is. Why are we going right to them?” He clearly had held this in for a long time. Oni just looked at him and then back to me.
“This is not the time for this.” That same sternness from when I'd first met her came through a little bit.
“Then when is?” He wa
tched Oni walk past him. I stood behind the pair watching the exchange. “When it is.” She didn't turn around and my dad had no choice but to follow. I raised my eyebrows, but also followed. I figured there was really no turning back now.
We watched the guards at the commune and waited for a good time to slip by. Once we couldn't see them anymore, we slipped through and headed towards the commune main building.
“The herbs and such are in here,” my dad said, reaching for my hand. “I don't know what we'll see in there and Connor may not be the man you thought he was.”
“He is deep down,” I said with conviction. I took a breath and thought about things. A part of me really wondered if he was going to be the same or if he was going to be just another enemy waiting to kill me.
“We have to get inside and get back out without being seen.” He glanced back to Oni. “Is that even possible?” She looked at him and then to the ground, not answering.
I crept along the path to the big building. My heart was beating hard in my chest and made me grimace in pain. My dad glanced in my direction.
“Are you okay?” I smiled.
“I'm fine,” I lied. A part of me felt like something was way wrong, but I pushed it away. When we opened the door, I could feel the energy they were raising. It hit me like a wall and almost made me want to pass out. I swallowed hard and followed my dad as he made his way through the main room and up to where the potions and herbs are. I glanced behind me, feeling like someone was watching me. When I looked, no one was there.
Oni opened the door and peeked her head in to check for anyone. She turned to my dad and me and motioned for us to follow. We all headed into the room and started rummaging through the potions lining the wall.
“What do we need?” I asked, reading the different options. Before she could answer I heard the door to the room open. I spun around and met the eyes of Connor blocking the door.
“What are you doing here?” He didn't move and looked directly at me.
The 13th Witch Complete Trilogy Page 10