by Kathy Dexter
“How’d the lights go off?” Kat crossed to the light switch. “It’s still in the ‘on’ position.” She wrinkled her nose. “Magic. The doctor has the gift?”
“No.” Hunter scanned the room, nerves on edge. “That means someone else is here. We better check on Logan and make sure he’s not outnumbered.”
She ran toward the hall only to have the library door bang shut.
Hunter grabbed the knob, but it wouldn’t turn.
“I’ll take that book,” a voice, steely with anger, thundered. “And the others that were on the table as well. Where did you hide them?”
Kat pivoted. “Gran?”
A familiar dizziness coiled through Hunter. The truth crashed upon her, and pieces to the puzzle fell into place. Evil disguised. The haunting nightmare of her family’s boat bursting into smithereens flashed into Hunter’s brain and shredded the curtain. The memories engulfed her: she’d been napping on the cushions surrounding the stern when angry voices awakened her; Clarissa and Connor argued on the prow; her grandmother demanded something, and he had refused; Meredith stood in front of Hunter.
“No!” Meredith shouted. “You can’t have her.”
Clarissa waved a hand, flinging her daughter-in-law into the side of the boat. Connor leaped toward his mother. Clarissa whirled, her magic creating a small tornado that slammed Connor against the cuddy cabin. She turned, clutched Hunter’s arm, and began to rise into the air.
Meredith grabbed a knife from a pile of rope near the cabin. She slashed Clarissa’s hand, causing her to lose her grip on Hunter, who dropped safely to the boat’s deck.
With an angry howl, Clarissa descended, snatched the knife, and thrust it into Meredith’s stomach.
“No!” Connor bellowed and lunged for the knife.
Scowling, Clarissa faced him, knife still in her hand, and stabbed him in the chest.
“Dad!” Hunter ran to where he’d fallen. Pressing her hands against the seeping wound, she tried to stop the bleeding. No use.
Her father struggled to speak. “Run, girl.” His head fell back, he coughed, and was gone.
Sobbing, Hunter jumped up and flew to her mother, now leaning against a seat cushion, holding her middle.
Meredith glared at Clarissa. “Leave us alone! Hasn’t the death of your son damaged this family enough?”
“It’s your fault!” Clarissa wailed. “Give me Hunter!”
Meredith raised a hand and fired a stream of flames toward her mother-in-law.
Clarissa curled her fingers, flicked them outward, and released streams of black and red energy. The flames snuffed out.
Meredith reached toward the skies and mumbled strange words Hunter didn’t understand.
Waves surged around the boat. A waterspout spiraled upwards. Out of the vortex’s center, an apparition appeared.
“Mother,” Meredith wheezed. “Save Hunter.”
Hunter clutched her mother and cried, “Don’t leave me!”
The apparition briefly embraced them both, then swooped upon Clarissa. Whirling faster and faster, the specter held Hunter’s grandmother suspended in space.
“You must leave,” Meredith told Hunter. “My mother can’t restrain Clarissa much longer.”
Meredith slumped and rolled onto the deck. She groaned, fell silent, and slipped away.
Sobbing, Hunter clung to her mother’s lifeless body.
The apparition encircled Hunter. A faraway voice echoed, “Escape. Now.”
A force lifted Hunter and flung her into the water. She held her breath and rose to the surface. The apparition hovered above her.
“How dare you interfere with my plans, Mary Hawthorne!” Clarissa screeched. “Your daughter’s bones shall be entombed, unreachable, for all eternity!”
She waved a hand, and the bodies of Hunter’s parents vanished.
Mary Hawthorne’s spirit glowed. Shafts of luminescence flowed toward Clarissa and the boat. The craft trembled and rumbled, then heaved and contorted in sickening circles.
The world exploded around Hunter. Something hit her on the back of the head, and she lost consciousness.
Numbed by the violent memories, Hunter couldn’t move. No wonder she hadn’t fought harder to remember the horrible deaths of her parents, the unbelievable evil committed by a once-beloved grandmother.
Hunter stared at the unmasked enemy. Rage boiled through her, curdling her stomach. Black hatred hardened her heart against the woman who’d professed to care about her. “You killed our parents. Your own son.” Fury steamed through the words.
Flinging back the hood of a full-length black cape, Clarissa levitated almost to the ceiling. No longer the fairy tale godmother, her once-kind sapphire eyes transformed into ice-cold pools of midnight blue. Her mouth stretched downward, deep grooves digging into her cheeks and along her nose. Soft white hair swirled into chaotic, windswept spikes. She pointed nails as sharp as knives at Hunter and Kat. Hisses and crackles of magnetic force, soot-black and blood-red, surged from curved fingers.
Hunter grasped her sister and rolled sideways. The streaks of high-powered voltage spattered against the upper part of the wall, a safe distance from the two women even if they’d remained standing. A warning shot?
Hoping to shield her sister from another volley, Hunter jumped to her feet. She reached for the dragon.
Clarissa snarled, “You two have interfered with my plans far too long.”
Eyes glowing, Kat moved to Hunter’s side. “You’re the one who kept us apart, aren’t you? You imitated Twyla’s voice and warned of a danger that didn’t exist.”
“Playing games with our lives.” Hunter fought through the pain of renewed horror and revulsion. “I remember it all. My parents tried to protect me, and you stabbed them to death. If Mary Hawthorne hadn’t saved me, would you have killed me, too?”
“No matter how much I longed to get rid of you, you and your dragon could make me all-powerful, beyond the puny skills of the Gyld.” Clarissa’s black and red aura coiled around her.
“I didn’t have the amulet with me.” Another memory flashed inside Hunter’s curtainless brain. “I hid it at home, afraid I might lose it when I swam in the lake.”
“Which I discovered when I slipped into your room at the Mystic Lake hospital.” Clarissa pulled at the ends of her spiky hair, luminous shards sparking between her fingertips. “I searched the house the next day and couldn’t find it.”
“I’d already taken it.” Kat’s eyes gleamed. “Mary Hawthorne appeared to me in a dream the night before. With her guidance, I followed the magic vapors emitted by the dragon to the secret niche where Hunter had hidden it. That grandmother really loved us, cared for us.” Kat spit the words. “She explained Hunter would use the amulet to battle a curse shrouding her memories. You must have cast the spell when you sneaked into Hunter’s hospital room.”
“That damn woman!” Clarissa shrieked. “Mary Hawthorne’s done her best, even in death, to get in my way.”
“When I came to Mystic Lake, searching for my past, you told me you hadn’t been in town when the boat exploded,” Hunter said. “More lies!”
Clarissa cackled. “Easy enough to transaura migrate to Gideon’s and establish an alibi.”
“I should have seen through your lies much earlier. It took me awhile.”
Clarissa sneered, “I don’t believe you.”
Hunter took a deep breath. She had to stall until help arrived. Logan, where are you? Bring the police. Would he get the mind link? Or was he too far away?
“You think Logan will save you?” Clarissa smirked. “We’ll be long gone before the police get here.”
Hunter stared. “You tapped into the mind link? Without permission?”
“You think I follow the rules? Stupid girl.” Clarissa raised her hands as if to cast another barrage of charring flares. “Your plan to delay me with your little story won’t work.”
Hunter had to poke some holes in the woman’s ego. “Oh, I realized something
was wrong when you performed the ritual in the museum’s library.”
Clarissa blew a derogatory huff. “My spellcasting was flawless. I almost succeeded in gaining control of you and your dragon.”
“Until the amulet came to my rescue and shielded me from the mist you created.”
“Damn! That’s why the spell fizzled.”
“Then Riley and Logan showed up. You couldn’t chance continuing the ritual.” Hunter kept talking, trying to find a weakness in the woman. “And those apples you gave. Not really intended to break the curse but intensify it, right?”
“The blasted dragon interfered.”
“And then Dave Jones attacked me at the book signing.”
“Your point?”
“You said my amulet would warn me when any of the thieves who’d tried to steal the books came near. Dave Jones was the leader of that attempted theft, but the dragon gave no alarm at his approach. I really began to wonder about you then.”
Kat glared at Clarissa. “When I decided to reveal my identity to Hunter, you insisted on coming to the cottage with me. To see if my appearance would break the dark enchantment? If so, did you plan to kill us to keep us quiet?”
“No, that would ruin her plans,” Hunter said. “She needs both of us to gain the magic of the Ancients.”
Kat grabbed Hunter’s arm. How?
Hunter stared at her sister. Kat could communicate by touch instead of mind linking.
Kat gave a slight nod.
Ah! That’s why twelve-year-old Kat had placed her head against Hunter’s in the hospital, yelled at her to wake up and break the spell. The sisters had connected by touch in the past.
Hunter rubbed Kat’s hand. She intends to use your ability to track magic vapors. Then she’ll attempt to force me to use the grimoire and the sapphire dragon to steal paranormal powers.
She can’t translate the grimoire herself?
“Okay, ladies, I’ve had enough storytelling for one night.” Clarissa glanced toward the clock on the wall. “Time to go.”
“Where?” Hunter asked.
“To the cottage to pick up the grimoire. From there, we’ll transaura migrate to Gideon’s. Once we have the spell to siphon magic, you two will make sure Gideon and I control all cosmic forces!”
Hunter laughed. “You can’t read the grimoire.”
“Of course I can,” Clarissa thundered, colors swirling. She closed in, looming ominously over Hunter. “With the amulet. Then I’ll take your magic.”
Was that true? Hunter had to convince her otherwise. “Another one of your lies. I showed Kat and Riley how to read the grimoire in the mirror. They only saw scribbled gibberish. I alone could read the words, as the Ancients predicted. You can’t access the ancestral spells without me.”
“You think you know more than I do?” Clarissa railed, voltage combusting around her. “You are powerless against me. Just like your parents.”
“You had to murder them to get what you want,” Kat growled.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen. I had convinced them to let me take Hunter on a trip to visit her uncle Gideon. When I transaura migrated to the boat, they refused to let her go. The Gyld warned them Hunter would be in danger.” Black and red flames danced around Clarissa’s figure, trickling off the ends of her spiky hair. “More interference!”
“What about Kat?” Hunter asked. “You need her, too.”
“I intended to stop at the house and pick her up. Then everything fell apart. All because of the Gyld and Mary Hawthorne!” A green glow lit edges of Clarissa’s aura, infusing the black and red flames. “I’ve waited long enough. Ten tedious, drawn-out years. Give me the amulet.”
The air trembled with Clarissa’s wrath. Hunter had to act. She clutched the dragon and sent a blue burst of ice-cold flames toward her grandmother.
Clarissa deflected the salvo with one outstretched finger. Once again, black and red energy streamed outward, curled around Kat, and metamorphosed her into Shadow. Radiant bars crisscrossed around her, trapping her inside a bewitched cage.
Clarissa cackled again, her mouth taut like a death mask. She grinned at Hunter. “You’ll do as I say if your sister is to live.”
Fear prickled along Hunter’s skin. “Why would you harm her? Her magic is as vital to your plan as mine.”
“If either one of you fail to follow orders, the other will suffer. Watch.” Waves of soot- and blood-colored voltage battered the cage.
Sparks flared and seared the cat’s fur. Shadow yowled and clawed the bars. Electrical filaments knifed her skin. Blood dripped to the floor.
“Stop!” Hunter cried. “Don’t hurt her!”
“Give me the amulet. Now!” Clarissa held out her hand.
Don’t give it to her. Logan’s words filled Hunter’s head. Where was he?
Clarissa’s eyes gleamed. “I wouldn’t listen to him. Or Kat might be mutilated so badly, you’ll never recognize her.”
Hunter fumbled for the clasp. The amulet clattered to the floor. She fell on top of it.
“Nervous, my dear?” Scorn tinged Clarissa’s words. “You should be. Move away. I’ll pick it up.”
Hunter made her body shake. “Give me a moment to collect myself.”
“No more tricks!”
Lightning snapped through the air and tumbled Hunter’s body over and over until a wall stopped her. She looked up to see Clarissa snatch the amulet from the floor.
The witch raised the amulet in the air. Nothing happened. Clarissa shook her fist and roared, “Why isn’t it working?”
Hunter took in several lungfuls of air. “The dragon answers only to me.”
“Show me how it works,” Clarissa demanded.
“When you let Kat go.”
“I don’t think so.” Fleming stepped from the shadows at the back of the library. Hair mussed, shirt torn under one arm, he rubbed his cheek where scratches oozed. His eyes hardened. “Hostages can provide a way to get past the police.”
“Where did you come from?” Clarissa’s nostrils flared. “The library door is sealed.”
“Miranda told me about her mother’s obsession with secret passages when we first broke into the museum years ago. When that feebleminded excuse of a curator gave me a tour, he couldn’t resist bragging about finding a hidden door.” Fleming’s grin had no humor in it. “Didn’t take much buttering up to get him to show me. Came in handy when I had to dodge the policeman.”
“Where is Logan West?”
“I made him think I bolted out a window.” Fleming’s lip curled. “He’s probably still running down the side streets outside the museum. We better get out of here before he brings the whole force down on us.”
Clarissa flicked her fingers in dismissal. “They can’t get in.”
“You put a spell on the place?” Fleming groused. “How do you expect us to get out?”
Clarissa looked down her nose. “I said no one could enter. I didn’t say the barrier prevented people from leaving.”
“But that detective and his buddies will be waiting outside,” Fleming complained. “You have us trapped.”
“Idiot!” Clarissa snapped. “You think mere mortals can touch me?”
She flung fiery rays at him. Sparks flared along his arms and down his legs. He cried out and slapped at the stinging flames.
When he succeeded in smothering the last fiery snippet, Fleming wiped the sweat from his face. “Are you crazy? I’m on your side!”
“Then do as you’re told. Make Hunter show you where she’s hidden the books you and your crew failed to acquire during the Halloween Ball.”
“Not my fault,” he muttered. His fingers gouged Hunter’s arm as he lifted her and shoved her against the wall. He leaned toward her, his mean eyes too close.
“Get away from me, you creep!”
He tightened his hold until her skin burned. “A fighter. This will be fun.”
“Let go of her!” Logan plunged out of the gloomy darkness of the bookshelves and tackl
ed Fleming. The two of them rolled about the floor, under the table, and toward the bookcases.
“Break it up!” Clarissa glided toward the shelves, apparently engrossed in the fight. She raised her arm as if to send an energy ball, but held off as the men appeared to be intertwined.
Hunter now had a chance to retrieve the authentic amulet from her pocket. She dispatched a blue laser beam toward Shadow, cutting away her prison bars with hypersonic speed.
The white cat dropped out of the broken cage, shapeshifting in mid-air to her human form. Kat’s feet touched the floor, and she dropped into a crouch.
Hunter flew to her side and shoved the grimoire into her hand. She communicated by touch. Run!
Kat shook her head. I won’t leave you.
Keep the grimoire safe. If you aren’t here, Clarissa has no leverage to use against me. I’m free to fight with the dragon amulet. Hunter gave her a quick hug. It’s my chance to save you this time.
Clarissa whirled on them. “Stay where you are!”
Kat hesitated a moment, then sprinted toward the secret passageway. She disappeared inside.
CHAPTER 46
A FTER HER SISTER ESCAPED into the dark tunnel, Hunter took a deep breath and turned to face Clarissa. A woman who’d worn the mask of loving grandmother. That portrait disintegrated, its benign, pastel colors shifted, reshaped, into the menacing ugliness of someone willing to destroy her own family for supreme power.
Rage––at the loss of her parents, the separation from her sister, the dark enchantment that held her prisoner all these years––pierced Hunter’s core and unleashed an inferno of hatred and vengeance. She would stop this maniac, make her pay for what she’d done.
Clarissa howled. “You’ve interfered with my plans for the last time.” She raised her arms. Glittering currents of black and red coiled around her like electrified snakes.
Logan disentangled himself from Fleming and ran, gun aimed at Clarissa. He fired.