Between

by Kirstie Keatings

Immediately after hanging up, Lila made her way upstairs to where Gloria was staying, which was close to the prison. She was on the phone, so Lila hung out by the door, trying not to listen in, but it was too irresistible to hear a different side of things going on in the coven. When Gloria turned the phone's speaker phone on, she gave an apologetic grin. It was Gloria's boyfriend on the phone, and he was telling her all about the things they'd done to get back in touch. He hadn't gone with the group to the cell towers, but he had helped them plan the mission and had helped them make a system which would work, bolstered with magick since there was likely more than one tower out. As a result, the whole state now ran on magic-boosted energy.

  It was an impressive idea, and Lila wondered if the civilians would right it as soon as they could, or if this would be a new era; not all of the civilians would agree with what they were told; there were many who ignored television on principle, and something like this could “out” their existence. It would go one of two ways – they'd be accepted, or they'd have to wipe the memories of everyone around, something which was generally frowned upon. Still, it was an emergency situation and they'd done what they could.

  When Gloria hung up, Lila walked over and wrapped her arms around her aunt, squeezing tightly, secretly pleased that she was getting the hang of using her body again. She could feel her magick properly again, thrumming gently beneath her skin.

  “I'm so sorry.” she insisted, and the older woman's eyes widened a little. Her own arms rose up, wrapping high around Lila's shoulders.

  “What on Earth are you sorry for?” Gloria asked, her voice trembling lightly. “I'm the one who betrayed you, and the coven.”

  “No, you didn't.” Lila insisted vehemently. “You did what you thought was best, and I know that if they'd tried to do anything, you would have sacrificed yourself.”

  “It's my fault they got Rose, though.”

  “Rose is fine. You were being tortured – we've all been responsible for something horrible this last year, we know that sometimes, there's just no way around it. I'm glad you're alive, and I'm sure the others will forgive you. We forgave Sadie for things beyond her control.” Lila answered, squeezing tighter unintentionally, but releasing it when she heard Gloria wheeze. “Sorry.” she repeated.

  Gloria laughed weakly, one hand moving up to run through Lila's auburn hair, which was getting long, the ends resting just at the bottom of her ribs on her back.

  “You are the sweetest child alive, little night.” Gloria spoke softly, and Lila buried her face in her shoulder. The nickname came from the Arabic root of her name, which literally meant night. When she'd been younger, she'd been insistent that she turn off the night light her mother bought for her, and would wish on the stars from her window. She had believed that the night was special to her, since her mother had told her often of the meanings of her name.

  “I haven't heard that in so long.” Lila murmured.

  “Too long.” Gloria agreed, then released her to hold her at arms length. “But you're not a little girl any more, or a child. I was wrong about that. You're an old soul, Lila. We've always known it. Your parents knew it too. Such an intuitive girl, even before your powers manifested.”

  Lila blushed, sombre at the mention of her parents, but reflective about what she had been told.

  “I always felt weird, having the premonitions when I was a kid.” she admitted.

  “You were just special, love. It's hard to be different, but being strong enough to be a good person despite adversity is just incredible. That's what makes you truly special.” Gloria insisted, and dropped her arms. Lila exhaled gently.

  “Aside from apologising to you, I came to ask a favour of you.” Lila admitted.

  “The prison?” Gloria asked, and Lila knew that the others had been passing on messages on her behalf, obviously anticipating their reconciliation. Lila nodded. “Count me in. Do you want to do it now?”

  She hadn't expected such a ready willingness, but knew she'd been naïve to doubt her aunt. She was ashamed of how standoffish she'd been towards the other woman, and vowed to be a better person and offer the benefit of the doubt first and foremost.

  “I think the sooner the better. We can test it on Beth. I think her spirit is about the same age – when the spirits are pulled out of these witches, they'll be around the same strength.” Lila answered, and Gloria led her over to a plush sofa. They both sat, and Gloria took her hand, squeezing tight.

  “Let's go.” she suggested, and Lila nodded, letting her eyes drift closed.

  They worked well together, quickly dismantling the veil to the other side, which was still thicker than it should be. The moment they stepped into the Spirit realm, Lila gave a shudder, which she recognised.

  “Beth's close. Work fast.” Lila warned, and they both used their power to pull up long vines, black and glowing. They held hands tightly, working in tandem to wind their vines into bars, small squares of emptiness left so that they could see their prisoners once they were inside.

  A deep growl alerted them to the presence of the malignant spirit, and Lila whirled. Gloria continued working to close up the gaps in the prison, and Lila raised her hands. Beth threw back her arm, trying to throw energy at her, but it failed. She tried again and again, but it wouldn't work, and alarm built on her face.

  One glance at her wrist, and Lila knew why. Somehow, she'd carried the bracelet with her, the one which drained spirits of their power. It was keyed to her energy, so apparently this had allowed her to pull it with her. The realisation was enough to bolster her confidence, and she threw out a vine of power, wrapping it around Beth's legs at the ankles to knees. She felt slightly sadistic, a need for revenge driving her, so she dragged the woman off her feet and into the prison. Gloria wove a door with the vines, then together they partitioned part of the prison off to hold Beth, even when the others were put there. Releasing the grip on Beth, Lila was breathing heavy, fuelled by adrenaline and feeling the Spirit power prickle at her mind – it was a dangerous place to be, so she stepped back.

  She and Gloria watched as Beth stood and struggled against the prison, yelling out when she found it was too strong. Lila ran her power through the bracelet in her wrist, sensing the black onyx, then removed it, winding it into the prison. That tiny piece was enough to neutralise the power Beth had been using, and Lila hoped it would render the Keres witches useless, too.

  “Let's go.” Gloria echoed her earlier words, and it snapped Lila out of her thoughts, which were increasingly dark. Lila took her hand, and they stepped back out of the veil and into their bodies. Lila gasped for air as she awoke, suffering the momentary sensation of not being real, before she reconnected.

  “I hope this doesn't drive me to madness.” she murmured. Gloria squeezed her hand tightly.

  “You know we have ways to help. You need to rest after this, Lila. I'm not surprised this is affecting you strongly. After what you did...” Gloria trailed off.

  Lila had wondered when this would be mentioned. She sank lower in her seat.

  “I had to. I wasn't thinking about how dangerous it was, just that I had no choice but to do it.” Lila murmured, feeling ashamed despite her words and knowing it was the right choice.

  “I'm not blaming you, honey. It was just incredible, and then we thought we were going to lose you. That was horrible to go through. The people you saved, though – they're so grateful, and they thought their lives had caused your death. It's an awful burden.” Gloria explained.

  “I'm fine, though. They don't need to feel guilty.” she insisted, and Gloria gave her a look she knew well – the that's not the point look. “I know. Trust me, I do. I just don't want to think about it any more.”

  “Okay, well, we need to go and tell your companions about the success we just had.” Gloria replied, then looked down at her wrist. “And you'll need to tell Noah he's to fix that.”

  “I hope he's not too mad.” Lila looked sheepish.

  “Oh no, he'll be pleased that he he
lped. Trust me.” Gloria reassured her. Lila knew that she was right, smiling as she dropped her hand and stood, just a little wobbly as she got used to the real world again. She wasn't one hundred percent, but she was ready enough.

  The journey up to the warehouse was full of pleasant conversation, purposefully absent of anything to do with magick and instead filled with tales of back home and the people Gloria had spoken to. The Critchlows, who were friends of Gloria's, were apparently expecting their first child together, Lila's cat (who she felt guilty for failing to ask about) had followed them to the sanctuary, and was now a semi-permanent resident of the library, lying on the bookshelves and catching the heat from the heaters as it rose.

  It was all so perfectly innocent that Lila almost didn't expect to see the factory until she stepped into it. Its gigantic proportions intimidated them into silence, and Lila focused on finding Noah, since he wasn't at his usual workbench. She found him towards the back of the room, near a furnace, and waited for him to notice her. When he did, he gestured for her to wait one moment, then came back over with hot metal, which he cooled with his water magick.

  “Hey! You two look cosy. Did you make up?” he asked, smiling. Lila nodded, and there was something in her serious expression which made Noah be quiet, looking worried. “What happened?”

  “Nothing bad, well, not really.” Lila answered, holding up the bracelet. “We made the prison and captured Beth, but I had to use the black onyx to seal it. It worked perfectly on her. She's only half the strength of the other spirits with the decaying, I think, but with more of these, I think we're going to win.” she smiled.

  Noah's momentary look of annoyance was replaced with one of joy.

  “You mean, I helped?” He asked, and Lila smiled.

  “A lot. Seriously, I've been up against Beth a few times now, and she was more than capable of killing me, but with this, she couldn't use her powers at all. It was almost anti-climactic, beating her so easily.” Lila replied.

  “Ah, my niece, the warrior.” Gloria chuckled.

  “Well, I can fix that if it's just the black onyx. Pass it over?” Noah asked, and Lila tried to figure out how to take it off. After a moment, Noah came over and helped, the bracelet sliding off of her wrist as if it should have been that easy all along.

  “You're going to have to show me how to do that.” She told him, and he gave her a scolding look.

  “Hopefully I won't need to – because you're not going to break this one, right?” Noah's voice told her that he was partially serious, and she bit her lower lip, trying to prevent a nervous grin from building on her face.

  “Sorry.” She answered, and Noah rolled his eyes before carrying the bracelet over to his original workbench, right next to the door.

  He had just begun his work when the door broke open, and Liam entered with a witch hunter, Troy propped between them, his face a mess of blood and bruises. Everyone tensed, and Noah dropped what he was doing.

  “What the Hell happened to you!?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Liam and the witch hunter helped Troy to sit down next to the work bench, and his boyfriend immediately dropped down to his knees to look him over. Liam looked exhausted, but Lila could tell he was working up to using his magick to heal Troy.

  “What happened?” Lila asked, soft and concerned.

  “Homophobic witch hunter.” Liam frowned. “He jumped him in the prison corridor, Finn and I had to pull him off, but it took a while. The guy was like a freight train.”

  The hunter beside Liam, who seemed to be in his early twenties, looked equally as exhausted as Liam. He also looked incredibly uncomfortable at the conversation they were having.

  “That was my father. I'm so sorry. We don't talk; I think he was taking his frustrations about me coming out on Troy here. He's also really against witches, so I can safely say we have very little in common.” Finn apologised. “I promise, my friends and I would never do something like this.”

  Lila smiled reassuringly at Finn, dipping down to look at Troy while Noah freaked out, understandably.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Troy softly, reaching up to examine his injuries.

  “Will be. Should see the other guy.” he coughed, and blood sprayed out. He'd obviously damaged his gums, but didn't appear to have lost any teeth.

  “You're such a liar.” Noah laughed, and Lila could see that the other boy had tears in his eyes. It was touching, how much concern he had for his boyfriend. They had a solid relationship, even if they had been having troubles recently.

  “I am not. I never said I got a hit in, just that you should see him. Big, brawny bas-”

  “Okay, okay, we get the point.” Noah interrupted, grinning faintly before burying his face against his chest. Troy lifted his bruised and cut hand to rest on the back of his head, toying with his long hair and the curls which formed just below his ears. His other hand was on his own ribs, several of which were broken.

  “I should be able to heal you up, now. The black onyx's effect is beginning to wear off.” Liam piped up, while Finn stood awkwardly. Liam dropped down, shooing Lila out of his way, then took hold of Troy's free shoulder, letting his magick flow into the other boy's body.

  For the first time, Lila marvelled at the distinct lack of homophobia in the covens. It was generally accepted that love was love, and she'd thought the world was past this cruelty – how naïve she had been. It was so hard to believe that anyone would treat someone like this. She stood, shoulders squared in a display of strength, and turned to Finn.

  “Get Jeffrey. Tell him to come here right now. Liam, stop healing Troy for now.” she insisted, and Liam moved his hand away. Troy's face was still a mess, but he had moved his hand away from his ribs, so they were obviously healed.

  Finn nodded, then disappeared back through the door. Fifteen minutes or so passed, with Noah helping Troy's wounds to stop bleeding by spreading water magick over them to seal them. Eventually, Finn returned, with a rather moody looking Jeffrey tailing behind him. Lila folded her arms.

  “You called for me?” he sounded irritated, to say the least.

  “I did. I have a few conditions to add to our deal.” Lila's voice projected a strength she tried to emulate inside. Jeffrey's eyebrows shot up, but he made no attempt to answer her, so she continued.

  “You need us.” She stated; it was a fact, not fiction. “I'm the one with the power to move those witches into the Spirit realm, and it's Noah's inventions which are going to drag them out of their bodies. So – with this in mind, I demand that you remove the collar and bracelet. This is non-negotiable. If you don't remove them, we're done. I know for a fact that the Keres coven aren't interested in killing the witches in this area, so we have the upper hand.”

  After a long moment, where Lila could see Jeffrey's jaw working, his teeth grinding together, his shoulders dropped in defeat.

  “Fine. They will be removed. If you try to attack us, we will fight back with extreme force.” he warned. Moving over to Troy, he removed the collar on his neck. Troy tensed until it was off, then let out a sigh of relief. Jeffrey stepped back, stuffing the collar into his pocket.

  “One more thing.” Lila added, and Jeffrey tensed, looking at her slowly. “If any of my people are treated like this again, we will expect fair trial of the individual involved. If they are found guilty of fault, I want them removed from the team as long as we're on it.”

  “That is hardly -” Jeffrey began, but was cut off.

  “It's perfectly fair! We won't work with people who are a risk to us. We deserve this. We've co-operated with your people perfectly; I brought you back to life, Jeffrey. We've gone above and beyond, and we want to trust you. We can't trust you if you don't defend us fairly.” Lila's voice raised, leaving no room for argument. Jeffrey blanched, and he clenched his fists tightly.

  “Fine. We will propose trials for unfair treatment.” he agreed. “But that is the last thing I will agree to. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go and rem
ove the bracelet from your friend.”

  Lila gave a nod, turning her back on him, which he growled at quietly before leaving the room once more. Finn remained, and gave a low whistle.

  “I've never seen anyone stand up to him like that.” he said, voice full of appreciation. “And to get him to back down, wow. You were perfectly fair, too. Those collars and bracelets were just barbaric. I know you guys aren't bad, not like the other witches. All of this has given most of the younger generation an appreciation for the difference between you.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about that.” Lila admitted, turning back to face the young witch hunter. “When this is over, we want a truce. We will help you bring any rogue witches in, if you let us deal with their punishment, fairly decided.”

  Finn was thoughtful for a moment, then gave a small nod.

  “We have a leadership vote soon. A lot of people aren't happy – but if we can get the right person up in charge, then we can really discuss this. It sounds fair to me, and God knows we need the help sometimes.” Finn responded, rubbing his thumb along his forefinger absently. His dark hair was long and unruly, just long enough to reach his eyebrow. It was easy to see how earnestly he believed in this cause, his unusually bright blue eyes full of respect and determination.