by Bethany Shaw
The woman bit her lip and Cadence held her breath, waiting – praying – that the woman would help.
“My daughter and I will help,” she finally agreed. “But I will only send you to your correct time. That is as far as I will extend my offer.”
“Thank you so much,” Cadence said. “I’ll be in touch with the details in a few weeks.”
“My number is listed in the phone book. There is no need to stop by,” the woman said.
Cadence nodded and took a few steps back until she stood on the porch. The door slammed shut in her face. She ran a hand through her hair. That hadn’t gone exactly as planned, but it had worked. Now they just had to lay low for a few more weeks. Then they would be back in their time.
***
Zak looked up, letting relief wash over him as Cadence opened the door and entered the living room. "What took so long?”
“Annette and her mother are going to help. She needed some convincing,” Cadence said as she brushed her hand through her locks.
“But she agreed?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose that’s one less thing we have to worry about,” Zak said, moving closer to her.
“It is.”
“We just need to lie low for another week and then everything will be fine. I thought we could scope out the mansion tomorrow, let you get the lay of the land and decide where we want to do the spell.”
“Isn’t it occupied?”
Zak shook his head. “No. Because things are so tense with the witches in town, we only occupy it when we come to cull them.” He winced, realizing how that must sound to her.
Cadence cleared her throat. “I don’t want to fight...”
“But?” He could almost guess what she was going to say based on their current conversation.
“What’s going to happen to Maddie?” she asked quietly.
Yep. He’d been right about her question. “I don’t know.”
“You haven’t thought about it?” she asked as she moved past him and sat down on the couch. She flopped back into the cushions and stared absently at the far wall.
“Of course I have. Part of me wants to kill her to ensure my siblings’ and my safety. The other part knows it will destroy us.” If he killed her friend in cold blood, Cadence would never forgive him.
Cadence looked at the floor. “Melanie and Harrison are going to look into an alternative. They have time to come up with one.”
Zak didn’t believe one existed. If the woman was allowed to continue to breathe, she could procreate, making even more weapons to be used against them. Liana and Malcolm would never stop until he and his siblings were dust.
“I assume you didn’t tell the witches too much,” he said, changing the subject.
“Only what I had to. They understand the timeline can’t be interrupted any more than it already has been.”
Zak nodded.
“Liana really has been talking to the coven,” she said as she let out a long breath and combed a hand through her hair.
“How so?”
“They knew who I was... by name.”
“We’ve suspected as much,” Zak said.
“It makes me wonder how long she’s been orchestrating all of this.”
“It also proves that we’ve done all of this before,” Zak said.
“I wish we knew how it turned out with our future selves,” Cadence said as she turned to look at him. “She’s been planning this for years, decades, maybe even centuries. We’ve been pulling plans out of our asses. It’s a wonder we’ve made it this long.”
Zak clasped her wrist. He picked up her hand and kissed the knuckles. “It doesn’t matter. We’re going to figure this out,” he said, hoping he could keep the promise. They’d come so far. He refused to fail now.
Chapter Thirteen
Zak grunted as he narrowed his eyes. It couldn’t be. He moved through the tree line, careful to stay out of sight. “Stay back.” He flung his hand out to stop Cadence from wandering closer.
“What is it?” she asked.
Melanie and Harrison pulled up short behind Cadence, both turning their attention to the mansion.
“People are there,” Harrison said, turning to his brother. “I thought you said it was abandoned and that no one would go there.”
“It’s supposed to be.” Zak suppressed the urge to punch something. The coven – hell, everyone – knew to stay off the property. His family ensured there were enough ghost stories about the place to keep humans away, and the coven stayed away for fear of retribution.
“It’s Liana’s doing,” Cadence said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “She told the witches to go there and check it out, I’m sure of it. If it’s occupied, we can’t do the spell there and we won’t end up in a house full of vampires in 2016. We’ll have to find another location and hope Liana doesn’t figure out where we are.”
Zak scrubbed his hand over his face. She was right. They needed a new place to do the spell. Liana would find them no matter where they went. He just hoped they could land in friendly territory so they’d have someone to watch their backs.
“How? How could she possibly know?” Melanie asked.
“Magic,” Cadence stated. “We might have fooled her and Malcolm initially when we jumped into 1944, but if she’s been watching then she knows we’re here.”
“It makes sense since she’s a ghost. She can view the timeline but can’t interact unless she is around witches,” Harrison said.
“At least we have some time to find another spot. There’s no way we can do here now,” Cadence said, still staring.
Zak licked his lips. This wasn’t going to end well. Jamie wasn’t going to contact them again, and he was certain Cadence didn’t know the spell to try to contact them instead. There was no way they could tell reinforcements that they had to change the location of the spell. He and Cadence were going to be screwed.
“We should get going before we’re spotted.” Zak turned to Cadence to pick her up, but stopped when twigs snapped. He growled.
Cadence touched his arm. “What is it?”
“Someone’s coming.” He couldn’t see them yet, but they were close enough for his vampire ears to hear them. “Harrison, Melanie, go! I don’t want anyone to know you’re here. Cadence and I will distract them. We’ll meet you at the house.”
“Zak—”
“Go!” Zak cut Harrison off. He didn’t see Malcolm down there, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t lurking somewhere.
Harrison took Melanie’s hand and they sped off.
Cadence stared in the direction where Harrison and Melanie had disappeared. “What are we going to do? We can’t kill anyone. God only knows what might happen if we do. This is my coven. We could change the future.”
He gritted his teeth at the reminder. It would be nice when they got back home and they could kill their enemies. Keeping the timeline intact was the only reason he was making an exception.
“Relax, we’re just going to scare them a little. No magic.”
“No magic?” Her brows furrowed with confusion.
“No. I don’t want them to know how strong you’ve become.”
She nodded and licked her lips. “How long do we have until they get here?”
He cocked his head to the side. The footsteps were closer. “Not very.”
“So what, we just wait for them to show up?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? Won’t we be alerting everyone to our presence?”
“I need to know if Malcolm’s in town. If he is, we’ll have to be careful until the full moon.” They couldn’t go anywhere else at this point. There was no way they’d find a witch in time if they did.
Cadence’s eyes widened, and she shivered.
Zak took a step in front of Cadence. “Get ready.”
Twigs snapped, and he narrowed his eyes. A group of five witches snuck toward them, stopping as they caught sight of them.
No one did anything for a long momen
t, and then the witches began to chant. Zak raced forward and knocked one of the men to the ground. He gasped for breath as he curled in on himself. The others stopped chanting, scattering as if they had no idea what to do. Good.
Cadence appeared beside him, punching one of the women in the face. She screamed loud enough for everyone at the mansion to hear.
Zak tripped the other male witch and wrenched his arm behind his back before shoving his face into the ground. The man wailed and flopped about, trying to get free. He was no match for Zak’s strength.
Cadence sparred with one of the other female witches. The last one ran yelling through the woods toward the mansion.
Zak waited, keeping his eyes on the woods. When several seconds had passed and there was still no sign of Malcolm, he let out a breath and darted toward Cadence. He swept her up into his arms and sprinted away.
The coven was at the mansion, but it didn’t appear Malcolm was with them. At least they had that on their side.
They did have some time to find a new location for the spell, but nowhere else was as safe as the mansion. Just for once, Zak would have liked things to go their way. A feeling of foreboding bloomed in his belly. This wasn’t going to end well.
***
Eli sighed and poured another glass of scotch, setting the bottle on the far end of his desk. The glass was halfway to his lips when there was a soft knock at his door. He lifted his brow, expecting one of his siblings to come waltzing in. They were the only ones who ever dared disturb him while he was in his study. But they didn’t, and now that he thought about it, they didn’t knock.
“Come in,” he said, watching the door. Who was out there?
It clicked open and Maddie’s small frame slipped in. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” She shut the door behind her.
He motioned her to the chair opposite his desk. “Please.”
She gave him an awkward smile as she walked to the chair, placing her hands on the back of it and letting out a long breath.
“How can I help you?” he asked, curious as to why she was visiting. The two witches had stayed locked in their room since they’d returned to the manor a day ago.
“Liana has been trying to contact me. I can feel her and the other elder witches trying to coax me back to the coven.” She stared at the seat cushion.
“I’ll double security outside your door to make sure you don’t go anywhere.”
“Thanks, but that’s not why I’m here.”
He raised his brow in question.
She shifted on her feet. “As the full moon draws nearer, the coven is only going to get more relentless. I know there’s unease here. I’m a liability to everyone in this house.”
“No one will harm you, you have my word,” he said, hoping she could see his sincerity. The members of the clan would follow his commands even if they didn’t like it. He wasn’t so sure about Grace and Oliver, but she didn’t need to know his concerns.
She shook her head. “I’m not a fool. I know it’s only a matter of time until I’m dead, whether it’s by your hands or Liana’s.”
Eli didn’t say anything, only stared at the young woman.
“If I’m going to die, I want it to be on my terms – no one else’s.”
He could understand that, but he still wasn’t sure what she was saying.
Maddie stood straighter and leveled her gaze on him. “I’m ready to take you up on your offer.”
“Now?” he asked, his voice slightly higher than normal. She wanted to become a vampire right now?
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Why now? There’s no reason not to wait until after the full moon?” Granted he would sleep better at night knowing there was no way for his family to die, but he didn’t want to do anything to disturb their alliance with Jamie or Cadence.
“Liana is whispering to me right now. I’m afraid my resolve is going to give at some point.” Maddie looked away, and for the first time he noted the paleness of her features. She really was having an internal struggle.
“We might need your help on the full moon,” he said. “Jamie is only one witch against a whole coven.”
“You’ve been very kind, and I appreciate it, but I won’t make it to the full moon. Not here. Not anywhere. Liana will find a way to get me. I’ve come to terms with my future. I know what my options are, and I’ve made my decision. I’m going to die, but it will be on my terms.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and Eli’s throat went dry. She was offering to sacrifice herself.
“Do you wish to become a vampire?” he asked.
Maddie gulped and looked up. “Yes.”
He nodded. “When you are ready.”
“You don’t understand.” She took another step forward. “I’m ready now. Just make it quick.”
Eli studied her for a long moment, watching as she stared at him. She really wanted to do this now. “You’re of sound mind? No compulsion?”
“Vampires can’t compel witches,” she said. “And I’m of as sound a mind as I can be given the circumstances. I don’t want to die, Eli. And I care about the balance of magic too much to let Liana sacrifice me. I know what I’m doing.”
She was right, and from what he could tell she didn’t appear to be under any spells. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“No, but I’m not stupid either. This is the only way.”
She wavered on her feet, seeming unsteady. Liana’s hold must have been increasing.
She gritted her teeth, then gulped. “I was hoping you’d do it. Right now.”
Eli turned to the cupboard and pulled out another glass before facing her again. He bit into his wrist and let the crimson dribble into the bottom of the cup. Using a tissue, he wiped the blood from his arm and handed her the glass.
“You don’t need to take much. Just enough to get it in your body.”
Maddie swallowed hard, her eyes falling on the contents of the glass. She took it with trembling fingers. The red liquid slid down the edge of the cup until it touched her lips. Eli watched, waiting for her to finish.
She leaned forward, setting the cup on the desk. “You’ll make it quick?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“You won’t feel a thing. Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Do it.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “She’s in my head. I—”
Eli didn’t let her finish. Racing forward, he positioned his hands on both sides of her face and wrenched her neck to the side. Her body fell limply forward. He caught her before she could hit the ground and, scooping her up, carried her to the couch. One of their problems was resolved. Now they just needed to get Zak and Cadence home safe and sound.
***
Zak looked around the woods and let out a breath. This would have to do.
“You haven’t said anything. Is that a good or bad thing?” Cadence asked, studying him.
“This is the place. It’s better than all the rest.” He pointed to the rock formation behind her. “Our backs will be protected.”
She followed his finger. “True.” She turned and faced the woods around them from the vantage point. The rock formation arced out around them, giving them even more protection. “Do you think Melanie and Harrison will have found anything better?”
With the full moon tomorrow night, they’d split up to cover more ground. The woods around Bedford Falls were large, but the witch had said she’d only travel so far from home to complete the spell. They’d had little time to find a new, safe location.
“No. This looks good.”
“You don’t want them to know where we are, do you?” she asked as she leaned against the rock wall.
“No.”
Cadence looked away and closed her eyes. “They’re the only backup we’re going to have. Everyone else expects us at the mansion.”
He looked away and shook his head, knowing exactly what she was getting at. “I know.”
“We could use their help.”
“Cadence,” Zak said, blowing out a br
eath. He didn’t want to fight. He’d allowed them to come with them because he enjoyed their company, but he had no intention of lifting his coercion on them. They would stay away from his family until after the full moon.
“They can take care of themselves. Harrison and Melanie want to help, and we need their help. As strong as we both are, we can’t take on Malcolm and the entire coven alone. Someone’s going to get hurt.”
He looked away as a tic formed in his jaw. That “someone” would be her. He couldn’t die – she could. If something happened to her, if he was wrong about her turning into a vampire, if he lost her forever, he would never forgive himself. At the same time, he didn’t want to lose his little brother or Melanie. Maybe there was another way.
“Fine. We’ll show them this location.”
“Everything is going to be okay,” she said quietly.
“You’re not a seer. There is no way for you to know that,” he said in a clipped tone. Sure, she meant well, but there was no point making promises she couldn’t keep.
“I’m hopeful.”
He wished he could view the world as positively as she did, but too much had happened in his long life. He still wanted her to be right.
Cadence clasped his palm as she turned to look at him. “I have to believe that everything is going to be okay.”
He reached out, cupping her cheek. “Maybe you’re right. Harrison and Melanie will give us an advantage they won’t expect, and your magic...” She would surprise everyone with her power. Maybe they did have a chance.
Cadence burrowed into him. “I just want to get home safe.”
“Me too.”
***
Cadence swallowed thickly as she gazed at the paneling lining the wall of their rented home. This was it. They were making final preparations for their return home.
Zak lifted her arms and tied weapons onto her wrists. The cartridges were loaded with stakes. All she had to do was punch hard enough to send the wood into her victim.
He wasn’t saying anything, and his unease was making her even more on edge. They would be returning home in less than an hour and had no idea what they would be walking into. Though, if she had to guess, it wasn’t going to be good.
She watched as he walked to the table and picked up a sheathed knife before returning to her. "Put this around your thigh where you can access it easily if needed. Vampires can’t die, but you can hurt them.”