“I’ve so got to get a boyfriend,” Piper says as she shakes her head.
Toni looks at her with disbelief, and I’m pretty sure my expression is similar.
“You probably have boys lined up for miles to go out with you,” I say.
“Ha,” Piper says. “My dating pool is pretty thin. Like nonexistent. Well, nothing remotely serious anyway.”
Where moments ago I was jealous of her, now I totally sympathize with her plight. Going out for pizza or to a school dance is probably not difficult for her, but a serious relationship? That gets a little stickier when you’re a witch, even if you can’t use dark magic.
We start down the hallway, heading to lunch.
“Did you get all of our stuff?” I ask.
“Yeah. The clothes and other things are already in our rooms,” Toni says.
“The vehicles are stashed in an underground garage, weapons included.”
Keller holds me back so that Toni and Piper get a bit ahead of us. “How did things go this morning?” he asks.
“Okay, but they haven’t unharnessed me all the way yet.” I lift my arm to show him. “I was afraid of releasing both of us at once, so we’re taking it slow with Egan first. But I’m on tap this afternoon. Don’t guess there’s any chance of you skipping out on that now that you’re back, is there?”
“Nope.”
“That’s what I thought.”
He hugs me close. “I have faith in you.”
“Yeah, we’ll see what you say once your pants are on fire or I start a cyclone inside.”
He laughs, but I’m not sure I couldn’t do both of those things fairly easily. Keller is well aware of that too, despite his vote of confidence. “So, where are we, anyway?” I ask.
“On a big tract of wooded land a few miles outside of Salem. There’s an average-size house above this facility. When you leave here, you exit through the house. You’d never know this underground building is here. And not even the house is visible from the road.”
“Sounds perfect for hiding out for three centuries.”
I don’t eat much at lunch either due to the same anxiety. If I can get through this afternoon without setting the place on fire or maiming someone, I’m going to be ready to eat a buffet all on my own at dinner. But food is the last thing I’m concerned with when we return to the stone room. I’m so nervous I can’t stand still. I pace, wishing I could go outside instead and run until I totally exhaust myself.
Keller grabs my hand as I walk by him and pulls me to a stop. “It’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” he says. “But even if you do get off to a rocky start, you’ll get the hang of it eventually. You have to believe that.”
I take his other hand in mine. “Sometimes I think you’re too good to be true.”
“Be careful, you’ll give me an ego big enough to rival Egan’s.”
“I heard that,” Egan says.
I smile, determined to prove Keller right. I turn and face the Bane members, and the stone walls of the training room surrounding us gives me an odd feeling of going back in time, reminding me of just how long the Bane have been around. Keller and Toni retreat to the back of the room near the door. As Egan did this morning, I lift my arm. This time it’s Caren who steps forward to unbind the magic. Sarah, Hope and Piper are nearby just in case their combined power is needed. I try not to think about how it won’t be enough if the darkness totally grips me. Not even a dozen members of my family coven could stop me.
“Maybe you need one of those poison darts ready just in case,” I say.
“Don’t worry,” Sarah says. “Remember, the bracelet isn’t coming off.”
I take a deep breath and nod at Caren. From the moment she starts pulling back on the binding, I’m uncomfortable as something builds inside me. A storm on the horizon like in my nightmare.
“You can do this, Jax,” Egan says. I feel him trying to soothe me through our connection. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to that feeling.
I brace myself as the pain increases in my arm. I don’t want to watch the skin moving back where it belongs, but I can’t look away. Even though I’ve seen a lot of things done with magic, this is still freaky. In the space of a blink of my eyes, the bracelet is no longer a part of me. I twist my arm, still holding my breath as if the demon I carried around for so long is going to come roaring to the surface. But nothing happens, and I eventually let out my breath. I laugh a little nervously.
“See, you’re good,” Egan says.
The words have barely hit my eardrums when a voice from deep inside me whispers, I’m free. I suck in a deep breath before I feel the full extent of my power rush back into me like a flash flood. I vibrate with it, and electricity arcs wildly down my arms and out my fingertips. Before I can think how to contain it, blasts of power hit the opposite wall and send shards of stone flying through the air.
I detect a shift in mood among the Bane as they prepare to take me down. I see regret on Piper’s face, but the others just look determined. Anger bursts to life in me. The air starts to stir, lifting my hair. I pool power in my hands, ready to throw it at them.
Suddenly, Keller steps in front of me with one arm outstretched toward me and the other toward the members of the Bane. “Wait,” he says to them then faces me fully.
The edges of my vision start to darken, but I pull back hard on the energy thumping wildly throughout me. I will defeat this. I will not hurt Keller.
He holds his hands out toward me. “Jax, look at me. Look me in the eye. Focus on the light inside you. Don’t let the dark control you. You’re stronger than it.” His words seem to take a long time to get from his mouth to my ears, but they gradually start to sink in.
I concentrate on my breathing, bringing a bit more of the magic under control with each exhalation. In. Out. In. Out. I ignore everything around me except Keller. He is worth fighting for, more so than anything else in this world. There, just at the edge of my magic, I feel something light. My lips twitch, wanting to smile as I realize it’s love. And it’s fighting the darkness and beginning to beat it back.
“That’s it,” Keller says as he takes a careful step toward me. “You’re doing it, Jax.”
It feels like it’s happening in slow motion, but my hair falls back into place and the air stills. The energy leaves my hand and recedes up my arms until it’s safely back inside me. And then Keller is pulling me to him and whispering in my ear. “You did it. You beat it.”
That’s when I begin to shake uncontrollably. But instead of letting me pull away, Keller holds me tighter. I give in and hug him back. No one says anything, no one speaks for I don’t know how long. Finally, I grow aware of the fact that Keller and I are the center of attention, and I ease away from him. When I look him in the eye, I almost can’t stand the look of pride there.
“See, I told you I had faith you could win this battle,” he says.
“I think I’m a long way from winning.”
“Maybe the war,” Sarah says from beyond Keller, “but that was a good first step.”
I move to the side of Keller so I can see Sarah. “You say that after I turned the room into an electrical storm?”
“Yes. Would you have been able to pull yourself back together like that the night you killed Barrow?”
I jerk a little as I always do when reminded of that night but then shake my head. I run my hand over the bracelet. “I thought you said I couldn’t access dark magic with this on.”
“That was likely residual magic from that night, some that hadn’t spent itself,” Sarah says.
“Probably why you were able to control it now,” Hope adds.
I think about their explanations for a moment, but then shake my head. “That’s not it. I know what dark magic feels like, and this bracelet isn’t keeping it in check.”
“How do you know it’s the dark magic?” Piper asks. “Maybe it’s just your white witch magic, and you ha
ven’t learned how to manage it.”
I turn my head slowly toward her and fight the unwanted urge to do her harm. I lift my hand. “Maybe this will convince you.” I concentrate all my power in one spot. Flames erupt from my hand, but it’s not normal fire. The flames crackling in the air are black as coal.
Even Sarah gasps.
Chapter Six
I watch the inky flames and feel myself being pulled into them like they’re a black hole.
“Jax.” I can tell from the tone of his voice that Keller is concerned and trying to tame my savage beast.
I stare at the odd black fire a moment longer then close my fist. As I meet the gazes of everyone around me, they all look as if they’ve been hit with a stun gun. Not that I blame them. I feel a bit that way myself.
“What are you feeling right now?” Sarah asks.
I consider her question for a long moment. “The darkness is still there, and I can call it up. But it’s different than before.”
“How so?”
“It’s not separate anymore,” Egan says.
“You feel it, too?” Keller asks.
Egan nods, and I notice sweat beaded on his forehead. Did my black fire display do that to him? “I’m sorry.”
He meets my eyes but doesn’t say anything immediately. Finally, the tenseness in him eases a little. “I know.”
“He’s right,” I say as I refocus on Sarah and the rest of the Bane. “Before, when I was fighting the darkness it was like a separate entity inside me. I thought of it as being possessed by a demon. That’s what it felt like, a demon trying to take over my actions and thoughts. But now . . .” I search for a way to explain. “It’s like it’s intertwined.” I shake my head. “No, that’s not quite right.” I stare at the ceiling and try to visualize what I’m trying to say. “The dark and the light, they’re both there, everywhere within me.”
“Which feels stronger?” Sarah asks.
“Right now, neither. But a few minutes ago, definitely the dark. Sort of like moods. Sometimes you’re happy, and sometimes you’re angry.” I eye the spot on the wall where the blasts of my power had hit. “You need to fuse the bracelet back to my arm.”
Sarah shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“I don’t want to risk what happened earlier. You’re all lucky I didn’t seriously hurt someone.” My stomach churns at that thought.
“I don’t think it was luck at all.” Sarah crosses her arms. “Things are not the same as the night we brought you here. You’re not the same.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Gut feeling.”
“I’m not sure I’d base everyone’s safety on a gut feeling,” I say.
“It’s more than that. Call it instinct plus observation.”
I’m beginning to doubt Sarah’s sanity.
“I think that’s enough for today,” she says. “I need to check on some things, but I’d like to meet you all back in the dining room in fifteen minutes.” With that, she hurries from the room.
With a few nervous glances, the others filter out, too. In a matter of seconds, the only people left in the room are Toni, Egan, Keller and I.
“Did anyone besides me see me go all freaky dark witch?” I ask, wondering how my life keeps getting nuttier every day.
“Have you ever seen anyone produce black flames like that?” Keller asks.
“No.”
“But you controlled them,” Egan says. He braces himself with one outstretched arm against the wall. “You were totally in control. I could feel it as clearly as I feel myself breathing.”
“I was?” As soon as I ask it, I realize I know that already. “I was. It’s still dark power though. I shouldn’t be able to access it. Can you?”
“No,” Egan says. “I can feel yours, but it’s like there’s a glass wall between me and it. And I don’t even feel mine.”
“Maybe it’s because of your white witch potential,” Toni says.
On the surface, what she says doesn’t make sense, but that potential is the thing that differentiates Egan and me. My head begins to pound. “I think I need some food.”
When we reach the dining room, however, no one is there except Piper. There’s a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches and bowls of tomato soup. I look at Piper. “What’s going on?”
Her forehead scrunches slightly in confusion. “I don’t know. But I’ll find out.” She heads out of the dining room, leaving the four of us alone.
Egan grabs a sandwich and takes a bite. When he catches us staring at him, he swallows. “What? I’m hungry.”
Toni snorts and looks at me. “I swear, it could be the apocalypse and boys would find time for a sandwich.”
Egan points his sandwich at me. “Stand there and tell me doing magic doesn’t make you hungry.”
“I can’t.” I grab a sandwich and take a bite, which causes everyone to laugh. I look toward the empty hallway. “Though I guess it’s rude to eat without the others.”
We sit and wait to serve ourselves anything else other than the second sandwich Egan nabs. Sarah’s fifteen minutes comes and goes, and the empty seats around us begin to worry me. Despite my fear of the darkness within me, I can’t stand the idea of being chained up again. Would it even do any good unless they bind my magic again?
“Were you able to contact your parents while you were out today?” Egan asks.
Keller nods. “Just my dad. We told him everything was fine, that we were making progress on finding a way to deal with the covens.”
I glance at Toni. She sees me looking and shrugs. “We thought it best if I didn’t talk to Mom directly,” she says. “Uncle Jacob will tell her I’m okay.”
I get the distinct impression that despite her mother’s overprotectiveness and their disagreements about how Toni dresses, Toni misses her mom and younger sisters. “Do you want to go home?”
“Part of me does.” She runs her fingertip over the edges of her spoon. “But I know if I were there, I’d be so worried about all of you that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything.” She stops messing with the spoon. “No, I’m here for the duration.”
I reach across and place my hand over hers. “Hopefully, it won’t be that long.” Though I have no more idea how to fix the coven problem now than I did when I found the passage in the Ending Book that says a white witch is the one to stop the covens. If I only knew how. Again, I curse whoever ripped out that page of the Beginning Book.
The sound of approaching footsteps draws our attention to the doorway. All of the Bane walk in.
“Is everything okay?” Keller asks.
“We’re hoping you can tell us,” Sarah says. She holds up a clump of partially melted plastic. After a moment, I realize it’s a phone. She looks at Egan. “You’re the tech wonder boy, right?”
“I know my way around,” he says.
Sarah puts the phone down in front of him. “This is badly damaged, but we’re hoping you can access the memory to see what calls were placed.”
The few bites of grilled cheese sandwich I took settle like lead in my stomach. “That’s Barrow’s phone, isn’t it?”
Sarah nods. “We retrieved it from his back pocket before Caren disposed of his body. We searched his vehicle, too, but it was clean.”
“What happens when the authorities find it?” Keller asks.
“They won’t be able to identify it,” Sarah says. “We destroyed the license plate, erased the VIN, anything that could be traced. Though I doubt very much that he even had it registered.”
I realize just how easily the Bane can make a person disappear and hope I don’t give them reason to do the same to me.
Egan lifts the phone and looks at it from all angles. “I’ll see if anything is salvageable.”
As I stare at the phone in Egan’s hands, I’m surprised there’s anything left of it. It will be a miracle if he gets any information at all off the thing, let alone useful information.
As everyone sits down and start
s eating, Egan ignores the food in favor of starting to work.
“It can wait until after dinner,” Sarah says.
“Actually, it can’t,” I say. “Egan is physically incapable of resisting a tech challenge when it’s right in front of him. Plus, he already downed two sandwiches before you all got here.”
“I believe I wasn’t alone in eating,” he says as he gives me an I’m-taking-you-down-with-me look.
It feels good to tease and joke. It helps alleviate some of the concern that’s been building in me ever since my magic was unbound. It’s making me jittery when I need to be mastering calm.
Egan glances up from where he’s poking around at the innards of the phone and lifts an eyebrow. I wave him back to his work and take another cooling bite of soup. I only half listen to the conversations around me until I hear Egan curse.
“What?” Sarah says.
I feel the well of disbelief in Egan then the feeling that maybe whatever he’s seeing is a mistake. But when he meets my gaze, I don’t think I want to hear what he’s found.
“I found a series of text messages back and forth between Barrow and the person who hired him to kill us,” he says.
Keller leans forward. “Who was it?” I don’t need witch powers to sense the tension in him. “Was it my father?”
But Egan doesn’t shift his gaze away from mine. “No. It was Jax’s.”
I feel as if all the electric energy I possess has suddenly turned on me.
I lie in bed later staring at the dark ceiling. Light filters around the door from the hallway, illuminating the room enough to see. Toni is asleep in the bed opposite mine, but even my fatigue does not invite sleep. I’m afraid if I close my eyes, the nightmares will come. I’ve dreamed of walking through hell, of killing the guy I love, of Fiona’s death. I don’t want those images replaying in my mind.
But being awake isn’t much better. Part of me still thinks this is the dream, that I’ll wake up and find out that my family didn’t stoop so low as to hire a supernatural hunter to kill me. Did Barrow even know who’d hired him, or was he so blinded by his hatred of the supernatural that it didn’t even occur to him to ask?
Magick (Book 3 in the Coven Series) Page 7