But she had no idea that Rebecca Payne had known the truth as well.
Before she died, Rebecca knew what Clarissa did. That realization escalated the nauseous feeling that threatened to overtake Clarissa. Now she had a chance to come clean and tell them what she had done.
She couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Valerie pushed away from her brother, wiping her tears and leaving damp streaks across her face. “Mom first told me when I turned sixteen, when my powers started to show. She said Dad knew about her magic, but she never told him about me and you never showed signs of any power. She taught me how to do a few spells, but nothing too big. About a month before the acc… before she died, she taught me a lot all at once. She must have known she didn’t have much time left. She left me a box of journals and books. That’s where some of these came from,” she said, gesturing to the pile of books on the counter from their earlier spells.
“I went through all the actual books on magic, but I haven’t gone through the personal journals much. I read Mom’s once right after she died. There are also journals that go back even before her. Grams’ might have something that could help us.”
“Grams, too, huh? Well, that’s as good a plan as any,” Gavin said. “Let’s split them up and see what we can find.”
“They’re in the locked box under my bed, where we got the books earlier,” Valerie explained, nodding at Clarissa.
Clarissa and the mermaids got up from the table to retrieve the journals. Clarissa paused on her way out to glance back at the Paynes as they hugged each other again. As much as it cheered her to see them reconnect, a sinking feeling continued to grow in her heart.
Gavin was supposed to die that day, but why?
˜
{ Chapter 40 }
Journals in hand, they spread out through the house to read the tomes. The books dated back to Josephine Lila Henley, Gavin and Valerie’s great-great-great-grandmother. A few scattered pages appeared to be even older than that. Each started keeping a journal when they began training in magic. Valerie said her mother had encouraged her to keep a journal as well, so it could one day be handed down with the rest.
Valerie stayed alone in her room, sprawled on the floor with pictures of her mother fanned out between the handwritten journals. Clarissa and Kellen sat together at the kitchen table, slowly making their way through a stack of texts. Gavin laid out on the couch, although it was impossible to avoid putting pressure on most of his injuries. Arista joined him in the living room, sitting on the floor with her back against the couch. While reading his book, Gavin reached down to stroke his fingers through her hair.
Arista’s volume came from Evelyn Winters, Gavin’s grandmother. She discovered his grandfather built the lake house where she first stayed with Gavin. Although Evelyn wrote about her husband Henry serving in the war, Arista had yet to find any references to the Ahnenerbe or the blutjagers. It took her a long time to read the text since she was far from familiar with all the words. Every other page or so she had to stop to ask Gavin the meaning of a word.
Halfway through the journal, one reference in particular jumped out at her. While describing new herbs she was planting in her garden, Evelyn mentioned that Henry had brought the seedlings back from the Shades of Death.
“Gavin, have you ever heard of this?” Arista asked, passing the book to him.
“I have no idea what that could be. I’ve never heard of anything like that. Maybe she’ll mention it again,” he said, handing the book back to her.
Arista started to read once more, but couldn’t stop wondering about the Shades of Death. Instead of continuing to read in chronological order, she flipped through the pages attempting to spot the phrase.
She nearly reached the end of the book before she saw the words again. She was turning the pages so quickly she almost missed it. Arista pulled the book closer to read the passage.
“It cannot be entrusted to anyone. It must be protected. There’s only one place to take it. It will only be safe within the confines of the Shades of Death. I will travel there myself to ensure it is kept under the watchful eyes of the Guardian. This is the only way we shall know that magic will be protected.”
Arista scanned the rest of the page, but that was the end of the entry. Neither the previous nor the following entries referenced it again. She flipped through the rest of the book to no avail.
“Gavin, look at this. I think this might be something.”
Gavin took the book from her to examine the entry. He frowned as he read it and reread it once more.
“What could she have been trying to hide?” he wondered aloud.
“I’m not sure,” Arista said, shifting onto her knees and craning her neck to review the page with him. “But see here at the end where it says ‘magic will be protected’ ? Doesn’t that sound like what we need now?”
“It does, but it doesn’t give us much to go on.”
“Maybe the others have found something else in their books to help.”
“Yeah, we should touch base on what we’ve read,” Gavin said, getting up from the couch. He called his sister out from her bedroom and the three of them went into the kitchen to join Clarissa and Kellen.
Clarissa pushed her latest book away and picked at a hangnail on her finger. “I don’t know about you guys, but we haven’t had any luck. Although, we still have several books in our pile that we’ve yet to read through,” she said glancing at Kellen, who nodded in agreement.
“Same here. I’ve come across a few interesting tidbits, but nothing terribly useful,” Valerie said.
“I haven’t found much either, but Arista discovered this,” he said, handing the journal to his sister. “Grams mentions bringing something to the Shades of Death to hide and protect it. Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”
Valerie leaned against the nearby wall, pushing back a corner of peeling wallpaper with her shoulder. She read the passage carefully, breathing faster as her heart beat with excitement.
“I thought this was a rumor,” she said breathlessly, looking up from the book. “I don’t know what item she’s talking about, but supposedly all magic is protected within the boundaries of the Shades. I’ve heard of it before, but even among those who study magic it was thought to be only folklore.”
“Do you know where it is?” Arista asked.
“It’s actually not far from here. It’s been turned into a state park, believe it or not. They dropped Death from the name to make it sound friendlier, so it’s just Shades now.”
“Why was Death ever part of it?” Clarissa asked.
“Local traditions contain your usual suspects. One story says it was the site of an Indian massacre by settlers way back in the day. There’s another tale about a crazy pioneer woman who butchered her family. Less fanciful people say the forest is so dense that it’s incredibly dark and the death moniker stuck as a result.
“Within the realm of magic, it’s always been treated as a sacred site. I’ve gone there myself to gather seedlings for some of the herbs and plants I can’t find elsewhere. As Grams wrote, there’s supposed to be a Guardian, someone who protects magic within the boundaries of the forest. I’ve never tried, but the stories say you can’t use any dark magic under the shade of the trees; the Guardian will stop you. If we believe this passage, then Grams had something with magic so powerful she thought it would only be safe there.”
“It says so ‘magic will be protected.’ Could we use what she hid there?” Arista asked.
Valerie sighed as she reviewed the text. “I don’t know, maybe. I have no idea what that item could be. If Grams had something like that, and if she took it to Shades like she said, there’s no guarantee we could find it or that it would help us.”
“What if it’s true that no harm can be done there? Could we be protected there?” Kellen asked.
“Yes, in theory. I’ve never put it to the test though.”
“You said it’s near here?” Arista said, and Val
erie nodded in return. “That’s the only lead we have so far. What if some of us go there and try to find what your grandmother hid? We could also learn if we are protected there. The rest can stay here where we know it's safe and read more of the journals, see if we can learn anything else that could help us.”
“Who’s going to go?” Clarissa asked.
“I would like to,” Arista said.
“Then I’ll go, too,” Gavin said, almost as fast.
Clarissa looked around the table. “I’d like to stay here, see if I can find anything more in the journals.”
“I’m fine staying here, too,” Kellen said.
Valerie looked thoughtfully at the books, weighing her response. “I suppose I’ll go with them then. You guys will be safe here at the house behind the barrier. I can work out a way to test magic in Shades, see if we would be safer there.”
“Let’s get some rest tonight and leave first thing in the morning,” Gavin said.
“Wait a minute,” Valerie said, looking at her brother. “We should heal more of those injuries before you go running around again.”
“I won’t argue with that,” he said.
Valerie walked up to her brother and held his hands in her own. She shut her eyes and the others watched as the flow of magic trickled into Gavin. Although slow at first, his wounds began to visibly stitch themselves back together. She released her hold on him several minutes later, panting a little as she struggled to catch her breath. He wasn’t fully healed, but it was a noticeable improvement.
When they had finished, Valerie gave up her bedroom for Arista and Gavin. She went to the basement so Kellen wouldn’t have to spend more time there. Kellen, meanwhile, threw blankets on the living room floor while Clarissa fell asleep on the couch nearby.
…
Tick tock. Tick tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Arista glanced at the clock on the left side of the bed, its red numbers glaring angrily back at her — 3:11.
But the tick tocking wasn’t coming from that clock. Instead, it was the large antique timepiece hanging on the wall across the room. In the darkness, she could barely make out the hands turning on its face.
Her mind kept racing, unable to slow down and sleep. When she stopped thinking for even a moment, the ticking and tocking on the other side of the room was still there.
It’s amazing how often people think about time.
She couldn’t count how often she watched people look at their phones, watches, or clocks. But is it the time that’s important or the moment that swiftly passes by? She frowned at the thought. Time was not important to her. Mermaids didn’t track whole years, let alone count the seconds. She never thought it could be something so valuable, precious even.
How could people sit there listening to clocks as they tick down their lives, tocking away at their existence? Each second moving them closer to nothingness.
Arista stirred restlessly in the bed, kicking her feet over to the cool spot she found underneath the warm sheets.
And yet, knowing we’re running out of time, is that what makes us want to hold on more to the present? Grasping onto where we are right now, because in another moment it will be gone?
She rolled over to look at Gavin as best as she could in the darkened room. The moon cast enough light through the window for her to see the outline of his face. She wondered what he was dreaming about in that moment. The moment that was passing them by.
Arista rested her head gently on Gavin’s shoulder, trying to lock the image of him into her mind.
He said to treasure these moments… and the clock is ticking.
˜
{ Chapter 41 }
Everyone awoke shortly after sunrise. Arista was relieved when she heard Gavin rousing next to her. She was sure she had slept a little, but it felt as though she had been awake the whole night. Gavin rolled over to face her, his brown eyes reflecting the morning sunlight seeping in through the blinds covering the window.
“How are you feeling? Are you up to this today?” he asked, his voice quiet as he playfully pushed some of her falling hair away from her face.
“I don’t think I slept much, but I’m definitely ready to see what’s out there,” she answered.
“Alright, why don’t you jump in the shower for a bit and I’ll find out when Val thinks she’ll be ready to go.”
Arista nodded, happy to have some more time in the water. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead and she felt the rough stubble on his chin tickle her soft skin.
Gavin left the room and Arista stretched before ambling into the bathroom. She paused and looked in the mirror. Her neck was already healing from her encounter with Salazar. Ever since they broke the nexus, the scratches from the birds had also healed. She turned on the water to let it warm as she brushed out the knots from tossing and turning on her pillow all night.
After fixing the mess in her long dark hair, she stepped into the shower. The steamy warm air and hot water relaxed her. When they were young, she and Kellen took trips to the eastern side of the lake. A few power plants lined the shore, causing the water temperature to be several degrees higher than the rest of the lake. Young mermaids from all around flocked there to enjoy the warmth. The hot stream of water reminded her of those trips and part of her longed for those days, before everything became so difficult.
Ever since her bout of dehydration, Arista had been careful to immerse herself in water often. Now that she was more attuned to it, she could tell how much it helped, even after being in water for only a few minutes.
She toweled off her hair and ran the brush through it once more before finally getting dressed. She walked out to the kitchen where Gavin was setting a bowl of fruit and a small plate of waffles on the table. He smiled and pointed at the seat in front of the food.
Arista happily sat down and immediately started eating. She vowed that as long as she remained on the surface she would eat as much food as possible. She doused the waffles in syrup, reveling in the sticky sweetness.
Valerie stumbled out to the kitchen not too long after her, still bleary-eyed and drowsy. Gavin handed her a steaming cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepted. She stood in front of the window sipping the hot liquid. After finishing the cup, she turned back to the table where Gavin and Arista were still eating.
“After everyone went to bed last night, I stayed up a bit longer and I think I found something to test the magic in the forest,” Valerie said.
Clarissa and Kellen entered the kitchen then, armed with their stacks of journals to read.
“We’ll get started on these shortly. We can call you if we come up with anything that may help,” Clarissa said, setting her books down on a chair.
“We may lose service in the woods, but I’ll try to boost the signal a bit,” Valerie said, taking out her phone and spinning it in her hand. “I’ll try it on mine while we’re there, then we can still use Gavin’s if I accidentally fry it.”
Gavin and Arista cleaned up the kitchen table while Clarissa and Kellen took over their spots, spreading the journals out across its surface. Valerie left to pack and returned with a tattered backpack slung over her shoulder.
“I have some camping supplies in the shed out back. Can you help me grab those?” Valerie asked, tossing her keys to her brother.
“Sure thing,” Gavin said, heading out the front door.
Arista turned to follow him, but Kellen stopped her before she left. “Be careful,” he said. “We’re still not entirely sure what’s out there.”
“I will,” she said, giving him a hug. “You guys be careful, too. We won’t be far if you need us to come back.”
Valerie gave Clarissa some last minute instructions on checking the barrier around the house to ensure it was functioning. Then she and Arista left, closing the door behind them.
Clarissa sat down at the table with Kellen, but didn’t open a journal right away. Kellen noticed her vacant expression and gently touched her arm.
“Everything alright?”
She hesitated before answering. “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.”
˜
{ Chapter 42 }
Gavin drove the truck along the rural roads out of Covington. Arista sat next to him in the cab of the truck, watching out the window as they drove. Despite defeating Salazar, Arista still watched for any birds following them.
Meanwhile, Valerie sprawled across the backseat with a book propped open on her knees. She wanted to work out the details on how to test the protective powers in the forest.
“What’s that?” Arista asked, pointing ahead to a building that sat far away from the side of the road.
“It looks like a gift shop of some kind,” Gavin said, slowing down as they drew closer.
Valerie pulled her head away from her book to glance out the window. “I’ve been there before. An old guy runs it, selling trinkets and souvenirs.”
Arista stared at the property as they drove up. Between the building and the road sat dozens of stone statues and metal sculptures. Posed in haphazard fashion between birdbaths and ceramic deer were everything from giant old-fashioned lampposts to rabbits frozen in mid-hop through the grass. Painted wood signs advertising the shop's wares hung across the exterior of the building.
“Would you mind if we stopped? Just for a minute?” Arista asked Gavin.
“We can visit for a few minutes. What do you think?” he asked, looking at his sister in the rearview mirror. Engrossed in her book, Valerie nodded without tearing her eyes away from the page. Gavin flashed a smile at Arista and turned into the driveway of the shop. Valerie waved at them to go on without her as she turned another page of the book.
Arista and Gavin wandered among the statues and outdoor sculptures. They paused to appreciate unique pieces, like the big stone ball of yarn and the bottom half of a dog digging ferociously into the ground. When they opened the wooden door, the ringing brass bell over their heads announced their arrival. They appeared to be the only customers, although the shelves and racks crammed into every available spot made it difficult for them to see.
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