“No way,” I muttered.
“What is it, Allie? What’s wrong?” Beck said.
“Who the hell is she?” Nicole asked.
Mike stared at the girl, mesmerized, unable to speak.
“Anna Starr. My twin,” I said. “Her adopted mother’s a Trimark. Trust me, she’s not here to help.” Heart pounding in my chest, I stepped between Anna and the others. “Stay back.”
Anna edged closer. Something glittered in her right hand. “But I am here to help,” she said. “Just listen. Please.”
I scanned the darkness behind her, looking for moving shadows. “Did your mother send you? Not that you’d tell me if she did.”
“No, Allie,” Anna said. “Our mother sent me. Faye. Yours and mine. I went to Peacock Flats looking for you. I showed her my pendant, and she told me where to find you.” She pulled a folded paper from her pocket. “She said to give you this.”
I snatched the paper from her, stepped back and strained to read the words illuminated only by starlight. Fortunately, my mother wrote in large purple script embellished with little hearts for the dots.
Listen up, Allie.
Anna Starr has changed. I’ve been trying to tell you that for days, but you didn’t want to hear it. After our visit last winter, her so-called mother sent her away to boarding school. Anna started to have weird dreams about flying through the night sky, then she was given a pendant with seven stars. Her mother wouldn’t let Anna come home this summer because her mom’s in a huge custody fight with the ex-husband over Anna. Instead, her mom shipped Anna off to a summer camp in Maine, and Anna used her dad’s credit card and flew out here. She believes you need her, Allie. I do too. Give her a chance. Ya hear?
Your loving mother, Faye.
I studied Anna’s face. My desire for self-preservation was strong. I still had huge trust issues. She was the same girl I’d met in southern California and instantly despised. Back then, she couldn’t be bothered to listen to our plea, much less help us. Yet now, she wasn’t the same at all. Her phony mannerisms were gone. Her blue eyes, so like Faye’s, looked directly into mine without guile.
“How did you get here?” Beck asked.
“Eppic Air,” Anna said. “Flew into Gillette and rented a car. The same as you guys.” Her words hung in the air between us.
“How do you know what we did?” I snapped.
“Faye told me.”
Mike stepped closer. “My God, I can’t believe it. You look just like your mother did at your age.”
“Who’s he?” Anna whispered.
“Anna, meet your birth father, Mike Purdy,” I said through gritted teeth. This whole scenario was way beyond bizarre.
Beck had been peering over my shoulder, reading the letter from Faye. He said, “I think she’s for real, Allie.” He was looking at Anna with a gleam of appreciation in his golden eyes. Bear in mind, Anna was a pretty girl and Beck was half lust demon.
Okay, now I had two problems. Trust Anna? Trust that half-demon Beck was using his amazing oversized brain and not the other part?
I decided to do my own interrogation. “Why now? Why here?” I asked, thinking, this better be good or she can go straight back to Maine.
Anna said, “Give me your hand, Allie.”
I hesitated briefly before complying. Was this a trick? She placed a pendant and chain in my palm and curled my fingers around it. “I think you’re supposed to have this. It’s hard to put into words, but I had to come. Something drew me here. It felt like a magnet was pulling me. I know that sounds crazy.”
I thought about my experience walking the trail. “Actually, it doesn’t.”
I opened my hand and examined the pendant. Set in silver, seven stars glittered in a dark blue background.
Nicole leaned close and whispered, “Sammie’s gone. The prophecy says two girls. So, maybe she’s supposed to be here. Now what?”
“Now she gets to prove she’s telling the truth,” I said.
Chapter Thirty-Five
DESPITE FAYE’S heart-intensive letter, I wasn’t totally convinced Anna Starr was for real. Maybe she was just a really good actress. Lacking the ability to give her a lie detector test, I chose the next best thing. The moonstone. Could the moonstone tell if she was lying? Of course not, but Anna Starr didn’t know that. If she was faking it, I hoped her actions would give her away.
Even though we were the only people out and about, I said, “Follow me,” and stepped further away from the tower path. I pulled the moonstone and cross from the neck of my shirt and handed the star pendant to Anna. “Put it on and face me. The moonstone will know if you’re lying.”
Mike, Nicole and Beck formed a semicircle around us. Anna slipped the chain around her neck. We stood toe-to-toe, the moonstone and star pendant just inches apart. I tried to look like I’d done this many times before.
Anna blinked rapidly. “Now what? Does it buzz or something?”
I ignored her question. “Did your mother send you here?”
“No. I haven’t spoken to my mother since my birthday, I mean, our birthday, on May fifth. I wanted to come home for the summer and she wouldn’t let me. The very next week, that strange old woman gave me this pendant and everything changed.”
The moonstone warmed against my chest and began to glow with a pale iridescent light. I glanced at Anna’s star pendant. One by one, each of the seven stars flickered and brightened against the dark background.
Anna followed my gaze and gasped. “Oh my God, what’s happening? I’m not lying. Honest.”
Instead of putting her mind at ease, I pressed harder. “Why should I trust you? You completely blew me off last December.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She shook her head. “You know how I was brought up. It was all about getting stuff. Clothes. Cars. Cute guys. Anything I wanted. When you came to California, Faye told me things that scared me to death. Then my mother freaked out and sent me away. I’ve had a lot of time to think, and guess what? My whole life has been a lie.”
She paused and gulped back her tears. “Now, maybe I’ve got a chance to do something good, but I don’t have a clue how. But you do. All I know is I’m supposed to be here. I have to be here.”
Anna and I locked gazes while our pendants winked and blinked at each other. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the moonstone was trying to tell me something.
While I pondered my next step, Anna dashed her tears away, narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin. She looked exactly like Faye in and that’s my final word mode. “You can try to send me away, but I won’t go.”
I refused to blink. “Maybe you’re spying for your Trimark mother.”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “And maybe you’d rather stay mad than let me help you. You need me, whether you know it or not.”
Was I letting pride get in the way of common sense? It was entirely possible. I sensed the rest of the group holding their collective breaths. Finally, I nodded and backed away. Both pendants went dark. “Do you even have a clue what’s going to happen tonight?”
Anna shrugged. “No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
I filled her in quickly, emphasizing the danger we were in. “If the Trimarks get through the portal, the first thing they’ll do is kill us all.”
Anna jerked in surprise, but to her credit, displayed no signs of fear.
Mike stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not too late. Leaving would be the smart thing to do.”
Beck and Nicole murmured their agreement.
“I told you I’m staying.”
Nicole said, “Can you do any magic with that pendant?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never tried.”
Nicole pinched her lips together in disapproval but refrained from one of her usual zingers.
“That’s okay,” Beck said. “She can stick with me. We can always use another set of eyes.”
Nicole hooted. “Oh, please. Another set of eyes? Rein in the horses, buddy.”
<
br /> I couldn’t help it, I snickered.
“What?” Anna said.
“Later.” I sobered quickly when I realized how the dynamics had changed. Our team of four was now five, one of the members, a cypher. With Anna trailing behind, we walked silently to Nicole’s hiding place.
Before she slipped into the crevice, she said, “Allie, do you still have the cross Danny ripped off me?”
I dug around in my pocket. “Yes.”
“Give it to Anna.”
Hastily, we unclasped the chain holding Anna’s star pendant and added the silver cross.
The moonstone sparked back to life when we stepped onto the tower path, pulling me toward the spot where we’d met Grace Peterson the night before. Remember the moonbeams dancing upon the stone thing? I truly hoped the moonstone was guiding me to the right place. I had no choice but to trust it. One of Kizzy’s favorite sayings was, “Fools go where angels fear to tread.” Yep, I could relate.
Our plan (such as it was) included the following: Be adjacent to the clearing but don’t get trapped between the path and the tower. Stay out of sight and wait to hear from Nicole. Be ready to break through the perimeter using all forces at hand, magical or otherwise. As we each picked a spot to hide, I related all this to Anna.
“If the prophecy’s right, you and I have to stay close together,” I said, pulling her behind a huge boulder.
Mike and Beck, behind us, spaced themselves well apart on higher ground.
Anna started to ask me something when the sound of voices wafted through the night air. I raised a finger to my lips and peeked around the boulder. A large group of people—maybe twenty—from the campground were making their way to the tower path. The girls wore colorful cotton skirts, skimpy tops and lots of beads. Most of the guys had long unkempt hair and wore ragged cut-off jeans and tank tops. The smell of pot hung in the air.
“The ranger called them new age whackos,” I whispered to Anna. “Could be Trimarks.”
“You know what’s weird?” Anna said. “They’re all wearing sneakers instead of sandals.”
“Good catch.” I hadn’t noticed. “Sneakers are better than sandals when you’re in a fight. No way to know for sure, but maybe we’re dealing with Trimarks.”
Beck appeared behind us so suddenly, Anna and I both gasped in surprise.
He whispered, “Just got a text from Nicole. Six black SUVs are approaching from the other side of the tower. There’s a dirt road out there that comes to a dead end. They’ve left the road and are coming cross-country.”
“So if we’ve got twenty Trimarks here,” I pointed at the group milling around on the path, “and possibly six carloads on the way. And, if there’s, say, five in each car, that makes around fifty Trimarks against the five of us.”
Beck grinned, his teeth gleaming white in the darkness. “Piece of cake.”
I didn’t need a text from Nicole to tell me the SUVs had arrived and they were indeed carrying Trimarks. I felt their presence. The overwhelming sensation of smothering, breath-stealing evil that screamed, “Trimarks.” I was living my recurring nightmare in real time. Adrenaline pumping through my system, I felt every muscle in my body tighten with anticipation.
Beck’s eyes glowed with demon intensity as he scanned the area.
A few minutes later, Mike joined us. Beck brought him up to speed, and immediately Mike began practicing his air manipulation spell, hands lifted toward the sky.
The four of us watched as thirty black-clad Trimarks of varying sizes appeared on the trail. Their hoods were extra large and completely concealed their faces. Men? Women? I couldn’t tell. They ignored the new age group and silently left the path, heading for the clearing. I heaved a sigh of relief. We now knew we’d picked the right location.
Nicole sent another text. “Bogies in your area. Hiding behind rocks and trees. I’ll be there in a sec to help.”
“Huh,” Mike whispered, “Why didn’t they form a perimeter?”
“Because they want to wait and trap me inside” I said.
“Trap us inside,” Anna said.
I put my hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Once we’re in that clearing, there’s no telling what they’ll throw at us, but it won’t be good. You don’t have to come.”
She glared up at me. “Shut the hell up, Allie. I’m going and that’s that.”
I lifted my hands in surrender. “Okay, fine.”
Mike took hold of my arm. “Maybe we’re looking at this backward. Obviously, they want you inside the perimeter. Maybe you and Anna should do the opposite. Stay outside and let us help you break through.”
I pulled free and shook my head. Somehow, I knew this was wrong. “No way. I have to be on the rock at midnight. What if I can’t get through? I can’t risk it. Anna and I will just have to deal with whatever they throw at us . . . with your help, of course.”
Nicole appeared out of the darkness. “You guys fighting already?”
I rolled my eyes, and we settled in to wait.
Then, at precisely 11:45 p.m., Anna and I slipped from our hiding place, and taking care to avoid the fake new agers milling around, crossed the tower path and made our way toward the clearing. Aware of the malicious gazes following our progress, I felt the hair on the back of my neck prickle. It took every bit of self-control I possessed to keep from casting nervous glances toward every rock and tree.
Anna felt it too. Her labored breathing was clearly audible as we picked our way through the boulder field.
I gripped her hand and whispered, “Courage.”
She nodded and then stopped and filled her pockets with rocks. “Ammunition,” she murmured.
We slipped between the trees into the clearing and walked to the flat rock under the pine tree. We scrambled up the steep bank leading to the rock, our feet slipping in loose gravel. With Anna perched on the rock next to me, I looked for the moon. It peeked over the tower beneath the Big Dipper, its light filtering through the tree branches.
“Now what do we do?” Anna asked.
“Not sure,” I said. “Wait until midnight and see what happens.”
Before my other senses kicked in, I knew the Trimarks were closing in. Couldn’t see them or hear them, but I knew. Their evil presence rolled over me like a massive avalanche roaring down a mountainside. My stomach contracted violently, and it was all I could do not to double over.
“They’re coming,” I warned, my voice shaky with dread.
Anna’s body tensed. Her hands curled into fists. “I’m ready.”
We waited, the two of us, back to back on the flat rock. Both of us shaking. Both of us scared out of our wits. Both of us determined not to give in to our fear. The next few minutes seemed like hours as we listened to the sounds of careful footsteps on slippery rock and the murmur of low voices as the Trimarks spread out to form the inverted triangle and activate a perimeter.
Suddenly, a screech of pain echoed through the night air followed by the sound of rock hitting rock and muffled cursing.
“Chalk one up for our guys,” I whispered to Anna.
I’d barely spoken the words when a jolt of electricity passed through my body and the ground around us glowed with an unearthly light. The perimeter was alive. Something about seeing my worst fear flicker to life banished my fear. Anger boiled up inside me. Why should we wait around to see what the Trimarks had in store for us? I turned to Anna, “This is nuts! Let’s go after them with everything we’ve got.”
But Anna wasn’t listening. She grabbed my arm and pointed to the edge of the clearing. “Look!”
A pack of enormous black wolves with glowing eyes and bared fangs were creeping toward us, snarling and snapping.
That’s when the fog rolled in.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“START THROWING ROCKS,” I yelled. I touched the moonstone and willed my power to rise.
Anna began firing rocks through the dense fog, hoping to score a hit and keep the wolves at bay.
TKP was my only h
ope. In the past, I’d used it to make Blaster the bull float the entire length of his pasture, so I should be able to handle a few wolves. If only I could see them. But, I couldn’t. It was time for Plan B.
I focused on a good-sized boulder, pointed at where I’d seen the wolves and yelled, “Go!”
After a brief, heart-stopping pause, the boulder lifted and spun through the air. A surprised yip and intense growling told me it was a near miss. I glanced behind me. Anna was throwing rocks as fast as she could, but the wolves were closing in.
I gritted my teeth and sent more boulders flying through the fog. I heard a yelp of pain as one of the boulders connected with a solid thud. One down. Another wolf lunged out of the fog and began scrambling up the steep bank toward us, teeth snapping, snarling with rage. The rest of the pack was creeping closer.
“Come on, guys,” I screamed, hoping Beck and the others could hear me. “Do something!”
I’d no sooner spoken the words than a blast of hot wind swept over us. I grabbed Anna as the powerful gust blew us off the rock and rolled us up against a tree.
“It’s Mike,” I yelled over the howling wind. “He’s doing his air manipulation spell.”
“He can do that?” Anna shrieked.
“Grab hold of the tree!” I screamed.
We locked our arms around the tree trunk and held on as the Mike-induced wind whirled around us. Then it stopped as suddenly as it had started. The eerie silence that followed was broken only by the sound of our panicky breaths.
“The wolves are gone,” Anna whispered.
I pushed away from the tree and gazed around the clearing. No more wolves. Or fog. The perimeter had been deactivated by Mike’s air manipulation. For maybe thirty seconds. Then we heard a woman’s strident voice issuing commands, and the triangle lit up again.
Midnight Moon (The Unbidden Magic Series) Page 21