I licked my lips and really opened myself up to the Stone. “It has wants, and needs. It’s like its crying and begging for help. There’s this whisper in the air. It’s just out of my ear’s reach—”
“A whisper?” Tenn frowned and dug into his front pocket. He pulled out his pendulum and let it dangle from his fingers. A faint purple mist swirled around it. “I can hear a whisper—”
The Stone in my hand burst with energy. I felt it scream and pull for the pendulum. “Tennessee…these two stones know each other. What if…what if this Stone knows where it goes? I know that sounds crazy, but I can feel this thing’s desires.”
“Seek the tool from thieving hands,” Henley said softly. She blinked slowly then glanced up at Tenn. “We know we need George to close the Gap…”
Tegan nodded. “And we know the spell requires we use the five Stones at the location. Babe, ask George.”
“I don’t understand.” Cooper scratched the back of his neck. “Why are you feeling all this just now? That Stone has been in Tenn’s dagger for months.”
“Hematite and black crystal. Together, they would block the energy of any stone.” Constance leaned down to look at the crystal in my hand.
Larissa gasped. “And his dagger wasn’t always like that. Those spirits in the cemetery did that. They were preparing it so that you could capture the Spirit Stone with your dagger.”
Tennessee stared at his pendulum then cleared his throat. “George, can you use the Spirit Stone to lead us to the Gap location?”
YES.
Chapter Forty-Six
TENNESSEE
I sat in silence on the bed in the room Tegan and I had been sleeping in. My dagger was tucked into my left boot and my sword hung from my right hip in its holster. I was fully clothed in boots, jeans, shirt, and jacket. My hair was pulled back and tied out of my way. George was in my front pocket, waiting.
Everything was ready to go…except me.
This was it. The night I’d spent every day training for since I was five. This was the night we either saved the world or condemned it to destruction. Not we. Tegan and Emersyn. A couple months ago, they’d been two terrified teenagers trying to keep up. Now everyone followed their lead. Everyone relied on them to save us.
Tegan and I had been through so much in such a small amount of time, but it felt like forever. She’d never been a stranger to me. Now, this awful, stressful destiny was upon her shoulders, and I’d only be able to help her so far. The second we stepped out the door, our future together was on the line. I’d already lost Cassandra and Libby, and Deacon was too close of a call for my own sanity. And all for this quest. This prophecy.
There was a really good chance Tegan wouldn’t walk out of this mess, and it rocked me to my core. It made me not want to go at all. Heat filled my chest.
The door swung open, then Tegan appeared in the doorway. She shut it behind her then sat beside me on the bed and wrapped her arm around mine. Her aura was strong and tense. She rested her head against my shoulder then laced her fingers through mine.
“Is it time to go?”
She nodded. Then after a few moments of silence, she sighed. “So, this is it.”
It wasn’t a question, just a statement…and one I didn’t have a response to. This was it. I was ready, technically. My father and Cassandra had made sure of that. But I wasn’t ready, not at all. We sat there for a few moments in silence, clinging to each other. We didn’t know exactly what awaited us when we walked out the door tonight, but we knew it was going to be dangerous. Every night, the attacks from the demons got harder and harder to fight off. They didn’t want us to survive to tonight, and they sure as hell didn’t want us to succeed in closing the Gap. Which meant tonight was going to get ugly. And I knew I wasn’t the only one who didn’t trust that spell we did to block the Unseelies.
“Promise me something…” I looked down at her face and waited for her eyes to find mine. “Promise me no matter what happens tonight that you will close that Gap.”
“I promise.” Her voice was softer than I’d ever heard it. Those big pale green eyes filled with tears. She looked down at the ground. “I can’t shake this feeling we won’t all be coming home tonight.”
I groaned and pulled her into my chest, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. I took both her hands in my left hand and squeezed. “I feel it too.”
“Tennessee. I don’t need a hero tonight. I only need you alive when November hits.” She sniffled and shook her head. “Promise me you won’t be reckless, you won’t put yourself in danger. Promise me you’ll play it safe tonight. Just stay alive.”
My heart sank. That wasn’t an easy promise to make. If one of my Coven-mates was in trouble, could I help them without risking myself? I didn’t know, but it seemed I was going to find out. “I promise.”
“Stay close to me tonight.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead. “Forever.”
Sharp, hot pain shot through my hand. I hissed. Tegan cursed and shook her right hand out. Wait. A sparkle flashed, and my eyes widened. I pulled my arm from around her shoulder and raised my hand up in front of my face.
I gasped. “Tegan. Tegan, look.”
She picked her head off my shoulder then jerked upright. She raised her right hand up next to mine. Hers may have been significantly smaller than mine, and her skin much paler, but the shimmering pink crystal on the backs of our hands were completely and entirely identical. The lines of our glyph were such a deep red they looked kind of purple, and now they stretched to wrap around our fingers.
“It’s done,” she whispered. “It’s complete.”
Despite everything, I smiled. “Now it’ll change colors, and I’ll feel what you feel. Now I’ll know exactly how you are just by looking down.”
“Now I’m going to be staring at my hand all night.” She chuckled.
The air shimmered in front of us with a soft white glow, like sparkly fog…and then Devon appeared. At first she was slightly translucent, but after a second, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that this was just a projection of herself.
Devon smiled. “We don’t know how far away we’ll have to go, so we better get going.” She inclined her head then disappeared.
“We better go.” I sighed and got to my feet then turned to face her and held my hand out.
She took a deep breath then put her hand in mine and let me pull her to her feet. I cupped her jaw then leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. I let myself get lost in her for a moment. For all we knew, this was our last night together. When the Gap was opened over three hundred years ago, dozens of innocent civilians had died…and half The Coven died just to put the temporary seal and cloaking spell on it.
If this was our last kiss, then I was going to make it count.
I angled her head and deepened our kiss. I embraced the warmth in my chest and heat in her skin. I basked in the scent of the jasmine shampoo she’d used, and the silkiness of her hair tangled in my fingers. I soaked in the beat of her heart pounding in my chest. When I pulled back, she gasped for air, clutching my jacket and holding on tight.
I tipped her face up and met her hooded gaze. “I love you.”
She sighed and gave me a smile that took my breath away. “I love you, too.”
“Let’s go save the world, shall we?” I winked and walked to the door.
“No pressure,” she said with a nervous chuckle and tucked her hair behind her ears.
We walked down the hall in silence, holding each other’s hands. I knew we were both thinking about the job that lay ahead of us. I hated the unknown. I hated not being able to prepare myself. We were going in blind, and I was one step away from losing my mind.
The wooden stairs creaked under our weight, and twenty pairs of eyes snapped up to us. There were no smiles, no sounds of laughter. No jokes from Royce or Easton. The energy in the room weighed down on us like we were on the ocean floor. But they were ready. Daggers and swords were sheathed and strapped to thei
r bodies. Everyone looked to me with expectant eyes.
“We’ve trained a long time for this, and I know that doesn’t make it any less terrifying, so does anyone have any questions or concerns before we go?” I waited but they just shook their heads and stared. “Emersyn? Tegan?”
“I just…” Emersyn sighed and ran her hands over her hair that was pulled back tight. “Not to get emotional, but…I just…something tells me tonight is going to be scary and ugly, and I wanted to thank you for taking us in like we’d always been here.”
There was an exchange of smiles and little thank-yous, then everyone turned their eyes to Tegan. They weren’t Coven Leaders, but this was their prophecy. Their task. Their mountain to climb. I looked down to my soulmate and waited, knowing she’d have something to say.
“Happy Halloween?” She grinned and everyone chuckled. But then she sobered. “Just remember, all is fair in war and magic. You have so much more power inside you than you even realize. Tonight is the night to tap into that. Your magic, your rules. Don’t hold anything back.”
“The demons have been planning for this as long as we have.” Henley closed her eyes and shuddered. “Trust me, they will come, and they will stop at nothing to prevent us from closing the Gap.”
I nodded. “If things get ugly, the twins will have to focus on the Gap, so it’ll be up to us to watch their backs. Stick together. No one fights alone. If we work together, we may have a chance.”
Bentley jumped to his feet. He had a black pouch gripped firmly in his hands. “It’s time.”
“All right, let’s go.” I took one last glance at my family then turned and walked out the front door. When I crossed the threshold, I found five shirtless guys lounged under the big oak tree out front. I stopped beside them. “How are you doing?”
“About as good as you.” Koth stood and brushed his hands on his jeans. The other guys jumped up and followed their king over. “And we’re coming with. We came here to protect you and help see this through. We’ll stay out of your way until the fight starts.”
“Thank you.” I gave a little bow. He was, after all, a king. Then I held my hand out toward our Hierophant. “Bentley, the Spirit Stone, please.”
The Stone was smooth like glass and cold against my palm. Its power sent tingles of energy up my arm. I pulled my pendulum, George, out of my pocket and let it dangle from my fingers. That familiar whisper tickled my ears. The purple mist swirled around the crystal.
I cleared my throat and held the Stone up close to it. “George, please use the Spirit Stone to guide us to the location of the Gap.”
The purple mist shot out and coiled around the Spirit Stone. The whispers grew so loud I was almost able to make out words. Energy pulsed then radiated out of the Stone. A small bolt of electricity shot up from the pendulum into my fingers, then it swung from left to right in a long arc.
We followed each swing of the pendulum as a group. No one spoke a word as George led us through town. It was Samhain in Salem, the town known as Witch City. Possibly one of the most infamous places to spend Halloween. The streets that should’ve been crammed and overloaded with hundreds and thousands of people were empty. The tents and food vendor stands sat bare. Haunted houses were silent. Stores, restaurants, and hotels were all vacant.
The humans were gone.
It was the smartest decision to make, to send them away. With them gone, we didn’t have to worry about innocent casualties. We only had to focus on ourselves and the Gap. It was just us in this ghost town.
But the silence was deafening.
The sun was sinking rapidly in the sky, leaving a beautiful range of pinks and purples over our heads. Trees swayed in the cold breeze. Leaves of brown and red rained to the ground. I exhaled and a puff of smoke left my lips. Larissa had given us another potion to keep us warm, but an icy chill still prickled my face.
George switched direction, swinging wildly to the right. I turned and led everyone down a quaint little street with houses set close to the road. We walked down the curved road, but it didn’t make any sense. We were in the middle of a residential neighborhood. On our left was a cute little cul-de-sac with a handful of houses huddled together. The cold air had caused most of the trees to shed their leaves, yet the road still had a cozy feel, despite the eerie emptiness. Up ahead, a sign for Walgreens on the corner stood out over the treetops.
And then George stopped.
I froze in my tracks. On our right was a two-story white house that probably normally served as a home to a nice family. To our left was a break between houses. The ground was built up into a small hill. In the back, a bunch of trees were clustered together. Right off the sidewalk, nestled between two houses and one rocky cliff, was a little crescent-shaped structure.
I frowned. This? This is where the Gap is located? It sure as hell didn’t look like much. Not that I knew what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this.
Evaline gasped. “Oh my Goddess.”
I cleared my throat and focused on my stone. “George, is the Gap located in front of me?”
The blueish crystal swung away from me then back. YES.
“Wait a second, I know this place,” Deacon whispered.
“Deacon…” Emersyn whispered.
“Hmmm.” Tegan cocked her head to the side. “It looks like a memorial.”
“It does.” I lowered my arms and stared at the site in front of me. “But what memorial is this? I don’t remember it being here.”
Evaline sighed. “It’s the memorial for all the witch trial victims…because this was where their lives were taken.”
“What?” Easton scowled and shook his head. “No, that was on Gallow’s Hill.”
“Last year, some historians discovered the place we called Gallow’s Hill was not the correct location of the hangings.” Evaline shrugged then pointed at the memorial. “This is.”
Emersyn walked to the wall of the memorial and looked up. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist. When she turned back to face us, her skin was pale. Her eyes were red and brimming with tears. She looked to Deacon and shook her head. “This is…this is where…from the tree…the feet— I remember…we saw.”
Deacon went over and pulled her into his arms. “I know. But it’s over.”
“This was the crevice, Deacon. This is where they—” She shivered then covered her mouth. “They were up there. I can see it perfectly in my head.”
They hanged the witch trial victims here… Tegan’s voice whispered into my mind. Right where the Gap is.
I took a deep breath then blew it all out. The sky above us was giving way to night. Any second now the sun would set.
“Bentley…” I cleared my throat and turned to face our Hierophant. “We need those other Stones now.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
TENNESSEE
“All right, Tegan.” I turned and held the Spirit Stone out for her. “This is your rodeo, love. What would you like us to do?”
She took the Stone out of my hand then walked up to Deacon. “Take this, walk with it until the Stone feels happy, then set it down on the ground.”
Deacon nodded and palmed the Stone, which had turned the same dark blue color as the sky. He stepped away from Emersyn then closed his eyes. With his eyes squeezed shut and the Stone held out in front of him, he began walking. I had no idea what he was feeling from it, but for me, it felt like all the other Elemental Stones—powerful.
I looked down at my pendulum. George, am I going to need you again tonight?
I don’t know.
Do I need you again right now to remove the cloaking spell?
No.
Well, at least there was one definitive answer. Thanks, George. I stuffed it back into my pocket. I’d been tempted to ask it other questions, but Henley and Cassandra had both warned me never to ask a pendulum a question I wasn’t ready to hear the answer for. And I definitely wasn’t ready for it.
“Here.” Deacon froze in the middle of the str
eet. He knelt down and set the glistening Spirit Stone on the pavement. “Right here.”
“Okay, you’re starting now. We will spread out around here,” Koth said in his deep, gravelly voice that radiated authority. “We’ll stay close but won’t interfere unless there is trouble. Good luck, Coven.”
I inclined my head. “Thank you, Koth, guys.”
Without another word, the five of them shifted into their dragon forms and flew away. My pulse quickened. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. This is it. We started. Tegan wasn’t wasting any time.
Tegan walked over and stopped about fifteen feet away from Deacon, right in the middle of the right lane. “Bentley, the Water Stone, please.”
Bentley jogged over to his sister then dug into his black pouch. When he pulled his hand out, he had a big crystal the same color as the Caribbean ocean. She took it and set it on the ground just like Deacon had his. Then she walked in a straight line into the left lane and held her hand out. Bentley dropped the glowing green Earth Stone in her palm. She repeated this two more times, with the Fire Stone and the Air Stone making the other two points of the pentagram.
“Everyone make a circle around the pentagram.” Tegan stood by the Spirit Stone. She met my eyes then looked pointedly at the spot beside her. “We need the whole Coven for this. We each have to invoke the power that is ours to unlock the spell. I’ll get us started, then each of you jump in one at a time.”
I walked over and took the spot right beside her. Everyone fell into action, quickly spreading out around the Stones to make a circle. We’d all done circles enough times, no one needed explanations. But the energy on Pope Street was so thick and dense I kept expecting fog to appear. We were nervous and scared, and I wasn’t too proud to admit that. I glanced around and found Royce and Henley chewing on their fingernails, a shared family nervous twitch. Timothy balled his fists, loosened them, then recurled them. Several of the girls twirled their long hair around their fingers.
The Aether Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 6) Page 25