She landed hit after hit, coming in lightning quick with every jab. I blocked them as best as I could, curling in on myself to make her target as small as possible. I used my own craft to fight back, but my wards weren’t holding against Camryn’s power. They fizzled under her blows as I gasped for breath, my focus torn apart by the pain in my collarbone.
“What’s wrong?” Camryn asked as she spun me around and locked me in a hold with my hands behind my back. “Can’t control your superpowers?” She slammed my head into the fence and let me fall to the ground, where I lay dazed in the crisp, dead grass. Camryn stepped over me, her teeth bared in a feral grin. “Any last words, Kennedy McGrath?”
All of a sudden, Gwenlyn appeared behind Camryn. She locked her arm around the other witch’s throat.
“I have one,” she snarled. “Goodbye.”
12
Gwenlyn
If I hadn’t hesitated, I could have rid the coven of Camryn’s influence forever, but Morgan’s voice whispered to my conscience. We were not killers. Even as a sinister desire to complete the act flowed up from the mark that now covered half of my body, I remembered that I should not stoop to Camryn’s level. For a fraction of a second, I loosened my grip. It was a mistake. Camryn ducked out of my hold, blasted me backward with a blue-gray force field, and fled the scene, vanishing into the woods.
I knelt beside Kennedy, who looked worse than I’d ever seen her. Her vibrant hair was dulled and matted with mud. Her face was a pattern of awakening bruises. There was a split in her bottom lip. Blood trickled down her chin. She hugged her elbow close to her chest at an odd angle, evidence of a larger injury. Camryn’s dark magic had knocked the wind out of her, sucking her dry of her powers.
I looped her uninjured arm around my shoulders and hoisted her to her feet. “Come on. We need to get you to Nora. She’s meeting us at the barn. You’ll both be safe there.”
Kennedy barely had the strength to use her voice. “But Camryn—”
“I can protect you from Camryn,” I replied firmly as I lugged Kennedy through the side yard of the house and up the sidewalk. I grunted with the effort. Kennedy was all muscle, making her heavier than a bag of cinderblocks, and I didn’t want to waste my extra power on dragging her along. “Can you at least try to move your feet?”
“Doing my best.”
To her credit, anyone else would’ve given up after Camryn’s attack, but Kennedy possessed an inhuman determination to return to her little sister. She surged ahead, her hand twisting in the fabric of my jacket as she used me as a human walking stick.
“Easy does it.” I adjusted my position so that she could lean more steadily on me, and together, we made our way up the hill.
Kennedy huffed with exhaustion, her face red and sweating. “You scared Camryn off. How’d you do that?”
“You should save your strength. I’ll fill you in at the barn.”
“No, you won’t,” she said, side-eyeing me as I heaved her over a crack in the sidewalk. “It’s that mark on your leg, isn’t it? You told me you got power surges from it. That’s what was happening in the woods when you collapsed. Miracle recovery, if you ask me.”
“Fine,” I conceded. “Yes. The mark’s growing again, and it seems to be feeding me power every time it does. Strength, stealth, combat ability. It feels natural to me now. I beat Camryn once before. If she had tried to fight me again instead of running away, I probably would’ve done it again.”
“You hesitated. Why?”
“I’ve never killed anyone. Well, I’ve never killed a human. Demons and a warlock, but that was different. Camryn’s one of us. Taking down your own family comes at a price.”
Kennedy’s breathing was becoming erratic. It bubbled in the back of her throat—a bad sign—but she spoke anyway. “You need to get rid of that mark, Gwen. It’s time. Tell Morgan about it.”
I clenched my teeth. “Soon.”
“It’s going to kill you.”
“I can deal with the pain.”
“Really?” Kennedy panted. The skin around her eyes was red and watery. “Because you didn’t see yourself back there in the woods. You were completely gone.”
Once the ground leveled out at the top of the hill, it was easier to pilot Kennedy past the Summers house and into the woods behind it. There were no signs of unrest at the house yet, though I knew that the day would deliver a new element of arguing. The sky was just beginning to lighten. Dawn steadily approached, signaling the first of Nora’s three days to decide whether or not to condemn the coven.
“Do you want to beat Adrienne or not?” I asked her. “It’s all coming down to this, Kennedy. In three days, we either win or die, and I’m not about to go down without a fight.”
“You don’t get it,” Kennedy said. Her voice was a hoarse whisper. She grew weaker by the minute. “It’s hers. That power you’re borrowing. It’s Adrienne’s.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. In the back of my mind, I already knew this. The witch’s mark had appeared the same day the curse in Yew Hollow had been activated. It was too much of a coincidence for the incidents to be unrelated. But did Adrienne even know that I was feeding off of her dark magic? Was I siphoning her power to use as my own? With any luck, it would take its toll on Adrienne, not me.
“Then I’ll find great justice in using it against her,” I replied.
But Kennedy had passed out. Thankfully, the barn was in view. I struggled to lift Kennedy’s weight onto my back, staggering toward the door. She sagged, and I nearly dropped her, but Nora appeared from behind me just in time.
“Careful,” I warned as she reached for Kennedy’s other arm. “She’s injured. Something’s wrong with that shoulder.”
“Broken collarbone,” Nora muttered, supporting Kennedy around her waist instead. Together, we maneuvered her over the doorstep and laid her down on the couch. Nora stripped off her sweater, bunched it up, and used it to prop up her sister’s head. “Get me clean washcloths and warm water.”
I did as asked, filling a mixing bowl with water from the tap to bring back to her. She dipped a washcloth into the bowl and began to wipe the dirt and blood away from Kennedy’s face. In the warm glow of the barn’s light, Kennedy looked even worse. I shuddered thinking about Camryn’s power. She too was growing stronger. It was the only explanation as to how she got the upper hand over Kennedy’s instinctive wards.
Nora probed Kennedy’s chest and sides, frowning. “She’s bleeding internally too. Camryn did all of this?”
“Afraid so,” I said. “Are you strong enough to fix it?”
“I can do enough to get her back on her feet.” She gently freed Kennedy’s injured arm from her coat. “But it will take her some time to return to her full strength.”
“That’ll have to do.”
Nora went to work, igniting her aura. It tangled around Kennedy like twine, reaching for the areas that were most severely injured first. Pink tendrils wrapped around her shoulder, and my stomach twisted as I heard the crunch of her collarbone resetting itself. The cut on her lip hardened and scabbed over, and the bruises faded from purple to yellow. Nora was in her element. I had seen her help the witches countless times, but it was a new experience watching her heal her own sister. She was completely absorbed in the process, her hands meticulously weaving spell after spell like a complicated, interpretative dance. Her love and care for Kennedy shone through and fed her strength. As she worked her magic, Kennedy began to look human again, rather than a pile of ragged skin and bones. Finally, Nora drew away and slumped against the side of the couch.
“Here,” I said, kneeling down and offering her a glass of water. “Drink this. Are you okay?”
She gulped the water. “Just tired.”
“I meant in the grander scheme of things,” I clarified. “Your mother shouldn’t have put this decision on your shoulders. The whole coven will come after you, but you don’t have to make this choice alone.”
Nora pinched the bridge of her no
se, squeezing her swollen eyes shut. “She knew that would happen, and she did it anyway. I know that she’s manipulating me, Gwenlyn.”
I sat down beside her and patted her outstretched leg affectionately. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. She’s your mom.”
“She’s not who I thought she was.” She leaned her head against the couch and stared off into the distance. “I’m not okay. Not really. But I can’t think about that right now. If we’re going to beat her, you need my help.”
I sighed. “It would be a whole lot easier to imagine defeating her if the witches were all on the same side. The next three days are going to be hell.”
“Unless we can unify the coven,” Nora pointed out. “You said that Camryn is manipulating her supporters. What if we could prove that to Morgan and break Camryn’s hold on them?”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
Nora smirked. “I have an idea.”
Snow fell in earnest as I approached Alana’s house for the second time in a matter of hours, but this time around, I planned on using the front door. I knocked lightly, and the curtains in the window rustled as someone inside checked for their visitor. A pair of keen gray eyes peered at me through the glass. I waved. The door swung open and Yvette appeared.
“You were here earlier,” she said before I could even wipe my feet on the welcome mat. “I felt your aura in Alana’s room. Kennedy’s too.”
“Kennedy needed to see her mother,” I replied. “It was imperative.”
“And now that all the secrets are out?”
“I’m not so sure that they are.”
Yvette’s hand remained on the door, as though she was trying to decide whether or not to slam it in my face. To my surprise, she opened it further and beckoned me inside. “Well then? Why have you graced us with your presence?”
“I need your help,” I answered. “Yvonne’s too.”
“With what?” Yvonne had emerged from the hallway to the bedrooms at the mention of her name. Like her sister, she watched me warily. They were both on Morgan’s side, but it was no secret that I had been the one to let Kennedy inside the ward, thus making it possible for Adrienne to infiltrate Yew Hollow. The guilt had already begun to eat away at me, but now was not the time to dwell on mistakes.
“Camryn,” I said. “We’ll never find a way to defeat Adrienne with her around. We need to make the Summerses a unit of their own again so that everyone stands behind Morgan.”
Yvette crossed her arms. “Quite the challenge, considering half the coven disagrees with Morgan’s choices at the moment.”
“That’s the thing,” I said, snapping my fingers. “What if they do agree with Morgan and Camryn is somehow making them think otherwise?”
Yvonne narrowed her eyes. “What are you trying to say?”
“I spied on Camryn and her followers,” I explained. “She’s doing something to make them compliant. We just need to find out what. Yvette, with your wind ability, you can get Camryn alone. I’ll take over from there. We’ll subdue and contain her. Then Yvonne can question her. Make her tell us how to turn off her influence.”
Yvonne was a truthsayer. What she asked of you, you were compelled to answer honestly. In my opinion, it was a frightening ability to both possess and experience. The truth never seemed to be what you really wanted.
“And when do you propose we perform our little caper?” Yvonne asked.
I glanced outside, where the snow was steadily coating Yew Hollow in white. “How about right now?”
The flaw in this plan was that Adrienne’s declaration had set every witch in Yew Hollow on edge. The air buzzed with auras and energy. After Adrienne’s departure, Morgan had called for a respite in the discussion. These days, it felt like all we did was discuss things. While Morgan and her sisters schemed to take down Adrienne, I felt compelled to tackle the action closer to home.
Like last time, Camryn and her supporters gathered at Sage’s house. Yvette, Yvonne, and I kept our distance, scouting the enemy territory through the attic window of a house across the street. If someone tipped Camryn off about our presence, our plan would go to pieces. This was why I had chosen Yvette to help.
“Ready?” I asked her.
Without answering, she began to work. Her hair blew about in the wind of her indigo aura. When she released her spell, it gusted through the open window, across the street, and into Sage’s house. I trained my gaze on the front door, waiting breathlessly.
“Come on,” I muttered. “Come outside, Camryn.”
A moment later, Camryn stumbled onto the front porch, clutching at her throat. Yvette had stolen her oxygen. She coughed and spluttered, staggering along the path of breathable air that Yvette had created for her. If she strayed, she would suffocate, so she sprinted across the street, yanked the door of our hideout open, and came inside. The click of her heeled boots echoed up to the attic from the first floor. I patted Yvette on the back and motioned to Yvonne.
“Wait for my signal,” I ordered.
I left them and crept down to the first floor. Camryn paced back and forth in the dining room, gasping for breath. As the steps creaked beneath my feet, she gripped the back of a chair.
“I know you’re there,” she growled. “I can sense it!”
With the last two words, she spun around and threw the chair with all of her might. It glimmered with gray witchcraft as it rocketed across the room. I replied with a quick protective force field. The chair smashed against it, splintering into pieces around me as I crouched in the stairwell. Then, before she could try again, I lashed out with an attack spell of my own.
The house turned to rubble as we traded blows. Dark magic shattered windows, broke picture frames, and scorched the floor, but I had never felt more powerful. Energy flooded my every pore, and I reveled in the way Camryn’s eyes widened as I descended the stairs at my full height without fear.
“You’ve gotten stronger,” she shouted over the noise of our battle.
In reply, I blocked a shimmering hex. It reflected off my personal ward and hit a vase of dead flowers. Camryn’s gaze flickered to the explosion of glass. I charged forward, tackling her around the waist and pinning her to the ground.
“Now!” I yelled.
Behind me, Yvette and Yvonne thundered down the staircase. They flanked my either side, securing Camryn’s wrists to the floor with magical bonds. She struggled to free herself, but my craft had surpassed hers. It smothered her gray aura with a wave of dark green. Finally, she gave up, her chest heaving as she glared up at us.
“Well?” she demanded. “What do you want?”
Yvonne pressed the palm of her hand to Camryn’s forehead, where turquoise witchcraft blossomed into petals. “The truth about your followers. What have you done to them?”
“Nothing,” she spat.
Yvonne’s craft encircled Camryn’s head like a crown as she tried again. “What have you done to your followers?”
“Nothing,” Camryn said again and laughed.
Yvonne pulled away, bewildered. “She’s not lying.”
“Or you’re not asking the right questions,” I suggested. “Try again.” I leaned over Camryn as Yvonne’s craft settled around her head. “Camryn, are you using your ability to influence the Summerses?”
Camryn fought against Yvonne’s control, pressing her lips together until they turned white. Then she sputtered, “Yes.”
“And what ability is that?”
Another silent struggle. “D—deception.”
I sat back on my heels in understanding. “All this time, you’ve been lying to the coven about your real ability? Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
I explained to Yvette and Yvonne. “She can claim she did nothing to her supporters because all she did was speak to them. She never cast a hex or a spell to get them on her side. Right, Camryn?”
“Right.”
“So how do we get them to recognize the truth again?” Yvette asked.
<
br /> “You can’t,” Camryn huffed. “I’m the only one they’ll believe now. You want them back on your side? You’ll have to kill me.”
“At this point, I’m sure Morgan will have that arranged,” I snapped.
Camryn chuckled. “You’re forgetting something.”
“What?”
“I have an army.”
The front door blasted open with an array of auras as Camryn’s followers stormed the premises. Yvette and Yvonne immediately fell prey to attack spells. They were unconscious before they hit the ground. I heaved myself away from Camryn, who easily freed herself from the bonds. As I retreated to the far corner of the room, hiding behind a black and green shield of my own creation, the Summerses advanced. Every hex hit my shield with a resounding pop, weakening my defense little by little. I drew on the power of the witch’s mark, but against so many opponents, the well dried up quickly.
The witches parted to let Camryn through, never letting up on their attack. She looked down on me. “You’re not the only one who’s grown stronger, Gwenlyn.”
She crossed her forearms in an X shape. Her power gathered there, and when she released it, it was as though she had dropped a grenade. It fell in slow motion, clattered against the floor, then exploded right in front of me. It blew my shield to pieces and blasted me off my feet. I crashed into a china cabinet. Glass and broken plates rained down as the last bit of my energy flickered and died. My legs went limp, as though they could not support my weight without the help of the mark. I landed in a pile of debris, my hands sliding against shards of glass as I tried to steady myself. My aura had snuffed out. The familiar sense of its presence was suddenly gone. I felt empty inside, as though someone had torn out my soul.
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