Clearwater Witches Boxset

by Madeline Freeman

  When the door finally opens, my breath catches. Following Felix into the apartment is Owen, his eyes downcast.

  Bria glances at me. “Wait—what?”

  Seth turns his attention from the bowl of herbs, his brow furrowed. “Felix?”

  Felix’s eyes flick to me momentarily. “Long story short? Owen recently discovered he’s also a psychic. And since Seth wanted all of us…” He shrugs.

  Owen lifts his head, offering a smile and nod to Seth, Bria, and West in turn. When I think he’s going to ignore me completely, he surprises me by crossing to my side. “Felix explained about the crystal. If it’s really affecting them like you think…” He closes his eyes momentarily. “I know she’s not my friend, but I want to help her.”

  West and Bria exchange confused glances, but I understand: Lexie. They were best friends in the other reality, and since Owen remembers it now, he remembers that, too.

  Seth clears his throat. “Since we’re all here, we can begin.” He scoots to a spot just inside the edge of the salt circle and spreads his arms wide, inviting us to do the same.

  I settle down on the floor across from him and he spreads out a handful scanned pages from handwritten books and printouts from websites.

  “This is all the information I could find about anchoring ceremonies and how to break an anchoring spell. Now, I can lead you through it, but I’m afraid I won’t be much help. Krissa, you will have to take control of the magic. You’re the strong one, and there’s only a little I can add to the process.”

  Bria raises her hand to half-mast. “I’m hearing a lot of talk about spells and magic. Where do we come in?”

  Seth nods like he expected this question. “At the funeral today, I spoke with Crystal Jamison.” He bites his lower lip. “Perhaps hypnotized is a more accurate description. What I learned is that while it is a spell that bound them to the stone, because of the unique quality of the energy contained inside it, a psychic link has also been forged.”

  Hypnotized. That explains why Crystal seemed off when I saw her in the parking lot.

  “Because of this,” he continues, “it necessitates magical and psychic ability to sever the tie.”

  “But if Krissa’s both, why do you need us?” West asks.

  “She needs her magic to connect with the crystal, but it’s psychic ability that will combat the anchoring spell. If she does it alone, she may exhaust herself before it’s done. But if she can draw from the four of you, she should be able to accomplish the task.” He surveys the group but is met with only blank stares. With a sigh, he continues. “If you’re all focused on the same goal, putting your energy toward it, you can accomplish more together than one of you could do alone.”

  “So, we’re linking together?” Bria asks.

  “Informally,” Seth says. “There are certain spells—binding spells—that can link you formally, so that members can draw on each other’s abilities at will. If a binding spell includes psychics, then thoughts and emotions can be passed with little effort. But there’s no need to perform a binding spell today. Your united focus will suffice. Any more questions?”

  “Just one,” Owen says. When all eyes flick on him, he offers a small smile. “I know I’m the new guy here, so maybe you’ve already talked about this, but… what do we do once the circle’s not anchored to the crystal anymore? I mean, what’s to keep them from just doing it again? Are we gonna destroy it somehow? Or…” He shrugs.

  “Discharge the energy?” I suggest. “I mean, once they’re not connected to it anymore, we can just discharge the energy, right?”

  A muscle in Seth’s jaw jumps. “Yes. Once the circle’s no longer anchored, we’ll remove the energy from it.”

  “Okay. Let’s do it.” I take in a breath and twist my father’s ring around on my finger. “It’s not—it’s not going to hurt them, is it?”

  Seth leans forward, catching my gaze. “It’s not their magic to begin with. And whatever’s inside that crystal is making them do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Being anchored to it is what’s hurting them.”

  It’s not lost on me that he didn’t exactly answer my question. A flutter of unease builds in my stomach, but I tamp it down. Seth’s right: Being anchored to the crystal is the real danger. “Let’s do it.”

  All at once, the candles around the circle spring to life, causing Owen and West to jump. Felix’s mouth twitches as he tries to conceal a smile. Bria rolls her eyes, mouthing, Boys. I offer a smile, even though I was startled by the candles as well. I didn’t think Seth could light so many at once like that.

  Seth waits until everyone stills before moving to the next phase. He holds his hands out toward the bowl, nodding at me so I do the same. He murmurs an incantation under his breath, and after a few times through, I start chanting with him. A few times more and I’m chanting on my own. Power wells inside me and I allow it to fill me up. My palms tingle, and when I focus on that spot, a jolt of energy leaves me, lighting the herbs in the bowl on fire. Seth smiles, nodding encouragingly.

  “Now, locate the crystal. Seek out its energy.”

  I press my lips together, unsure how to begin doing that. An echo builds in my head as Felix sends me a thought. Astral projection. It’s something he mentioned at my first psychic training session, but I’ve never tried sending my spirit out somewhere. Before I can tell him I don’t know how, the knowledge fills my head. Felix gives me his experience and it’s like my own. I understand the process, and I know to expect a disconcerting separating feeling when my spirit leaves my body, so I’m not scared when it happens. Suddenly, I’m looking down on the scene—the six of us sitting around the salt circle in the center of Seth’s apartment. But I can’t waste time marveling—I need to find the crystal.

  I know the feel of it, and I search for that feeling. It’s a simple shift of attention—like looking for a pair of sunglasses in a cluttered pile. But instead of knowing the look and shape of it, I know the sensation of it.

  And suddenly, it’s in front of me. I stand in an unfamiliar bedroom, and although the crystal is hidden at the bottom of a wooden chest, I know it’s there.

  Seth’s voice reaches me, as if from a great distance. “Connect with it.”

  I stretch my hand forward, toward where I know the crystal lays. The heavy wood of the chest doesn’t impede the motion and my fingertips slide through it. For a moment, I hesitate. How is this possible? The answer inserts itself into the corner of my mind—Bria’s thoughts: As an astral projection, I’m just energy. If I were bilocating—taking form in two places at once—then I could interact with the things around me.

  Seth’s voice echoes again. “Connect with it.”

  My hand is still halfway through the wood of the chest. I press forward until my fingers slip into the center of the quartz.

  And I’m back in Seth’s apartment, in my body once more. But now I’m linked to the crystal—a fine, shimmering thread connecting it to me.

  “Find the circle,” Seth murmurs, his voice louder than before. “Use the psychics.”

  Their energy joins with mine effortlessly and together we travel along the connective thread, back to the crystal. Now I sense six silver cords extending out from it. These are the links anchoring the circle’s members to the stone. Instead of being equal in size, some are thicker than others. I choose the thickest of the lot.

  Seth begins chanting again and I allow the phrase to repeat before joining him. Each time I say the words, a thrum of energy emanates from my core, shooting out like a shock wave toward the thick cord. Each time I say the words, the link weakens.

  It’s working. We’re really going to do it. We’re going to separate the circle from the influence of the crystal. No one else will die.

  A wind rips through Seth’s living room, blowing my hair back, catching my shirt. But when I look around, the candles’ flames are unaffected. I continue chanting. The first cord is nearly severed now.

  The wind swirls around me again, this time bringi
ng with it a searing agony in my stomach. I fall backward, twitching on the floor, clutching my middle.

  When I’m aware of my surroundings again, Owen is crouched over me, his blue eyes wide and terrified. His hands on my shoulders, he eases me to sitting. “Krissa, are you okay?

  Seth’s eyes blaze when he looks at me. “What happened? You were so close—”

  “I—I don’t know.” I take in a deep breath. All traces of the pain have vanished. “Something was wrong—like, bad wrong. Couldn’t you feel it?”

  Bria and West shake their heads and Felix frowns.

  Seth crosses his arms over his chest. “How do you know it’s not the crystal, protecting itself? Did you think of that?”

  I press my lips together. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind—in the moment, nothing did, just the pain. But the crystal isn’t sentient enough to do something like that, is it? Or maybe I’m not giving the abilities trapped within enough credit. If the power within the crystal is aware enough to cause those anchored to it to provide it with more energy, then why couldn’t it work to keep me from doing what needs to be done to cut off its supply chain?

  “We have to continue,” Seth says, his posture relaxing. “We were so close before—if you just go a little further, you can break the anchor and your friends will be free.”

  I exchange glances with Felix. The look he gives me echoes what I’m thinking. Seth is right. We can’t stop now, not when we’re so close. If I don’t do this, someone else could die. I cup the sides of Owen’s face and nod. He takes my meaning and settles back in his spot from before. I take a breath when my phone rings, startling me.

  Seth curses and I offer an apologetic smile. I pull the phone from my back pocket, ready to put it on silent, but when I see Fox’s name, I can’t dismiss the call. After how things left off between us at the funeral, he must have a good reason for calling. Ignoring Seth’s impatient glare, I accept the call, stand, and exit the circle.

  “Hey,” I say when the call connects. “Fox, I—”

  “Krissa—it’s… it’s happening again, I think.” Fox’s voice holds and edge of panic that puts me on alert.

  “What’s happening? Fox? Where are you?”

  “It’s Zane—oh, god—we were just standing here and then he fell down—” Sirens wail in the background.

  Icy dread fills my core. “Fox, slow down. What’s going on with Zane?”

  “It’s just like you said,” he continues, and I’m sure he’s not really hearing what I’m saying. “I felt it—I felt the magic. One minute he was standing here, and the next second he was on the ground, shaking and I tried—I tried everything I could—”

  The sirens’ volume increases, and it takes a moment for me to realize the sound isn’t coming only from the phone. “Fox,” I say, trying to keep my tone even. “Where are you right now?”

  “I’m on Main—near Jodi’s shop. The ambulance is here now…”

  I rush to the bank of windows and survey the street below. An ambulance is parked one store down from Jodi’s, and two paramedics are crouched beside a crumpled form on the sidewalk. Zane. Fox stands off to the side, phone pressed to his ear.

  “Oh, god. I don’t know… Krissa, I think it’s bad—”

  I turn to Seth, eyes wide. This can’t be a coincidence, Zane collapsing right when I’m about to sever a link to the crystal. I want to leave the apartment right now, to run down to Fox and wrap him in my arms—but I want to know what’s happening first.

  “It’ll be okay, Fox,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm. “Zane’s gonna be fine.”

  “They’re taking him to the hospital. I’m gonna go with him.”

  Muffled voices filter through the phone. They’re urgent but not unkind.

  “I’ve gotta hang up. Krissa, I…”

  “I’m coming, Fox, okay? I’m coming.”

  The call ends and I shove the phone back into my pocket before stalking toward Seth. “You said it wouldn’t hurt them! The ambulance outside tells a different story.”

  Seth avoids my eyes. “I was afraid of this.”

  Heat floods my body. “What? Afraid of what, Seth?”

  He steps backward, eyes still downcast. “Since the circle anchored itself, has he been using magic very often?”

  I nod. “Yeah—all the time, actually. He’s always doing spells in school so we wouldn’t have to do anything in class, probably a hundred other stupid things, just because he can.”

  “Is it safe to say he was using magic more than the others?”

  My stomach twists. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, yeah. Why?”

  He runs a hand through his hair. “I saw mention of this in my research, but I thought it would take longer to affect them, that’s why I didn’t say anything. But if they’re using the magic this liberally… They’re becoming dependent on it, and the magic in the crystal is infusing their systems.” He says everything quickly, almost under his breath, like he’s talking to himself and not me.

  I take him by the shoulders, giving him a shake. “Seth.”

  When he meets my gaze, his eyes are hard. “If we don’t separate them soon, it will be impossible to do it at all.”

  “But we can’t do it now—look what happened to Zane!”

  “We’ll take precautions—”

  I throw up my hands. “I can’t do this right now. I have to get to the hospital.”

  “You need to finish the spell—”

  “You need to figure out how to sever the connection without hurting anyone!” I pivot and head for the door. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

  Seth calls something behind me but I’m on the stairs. When I’m halfway down, I hear footfalls behind me.

  “Owen?”

  “Do you even know where the hospital is?” Without waiting for an answer, he holds up a set of keys. “I’ll take you.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Owen parks in the lot closest to the emergency room and cuts the ignition. When his hand goes to the belt buckle, I cover it with mine. “I should go in alone. You coming in… It’ll just make things complicated. Fox is already upset enough.”

  Owen’s jaw clenches but he nods.

  Guilt swells, but I tamp it down, opening the door and climbing out of the car. I run through the parking lot to the emergency room entrance. If Zane arrived by ambulance, that’s where he’ll be. And if he’s not, I’ll figure that out when I get inside.

  From all the movies and television shows I’ve ever seen, I expect the ER waiting room to be bustling and full of energy. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth: A dozen seats in the waiting area are full of people in varying states of lethargy and boredom. The nurse behind the main desk looks harassed but not frenzied. Neither Zane nor Fox are anywhere in sight. I cross to the nurse, a woman in her late forties with her frosted blonde hair pushed into a high pouf on the top of her head, and hover, not sure the best way to attract her attention. Her eyes remain on the computer screen before her as she clicks deliberately on her mouse.

  I clear my throat. “Excuse me?”

  She arches an eyebrow and turns her face incrementally toward me, but her eyes don’t shift. “With you in a sec.”

  I count to ten, my agitation growing. Fox sounded so panicked on the phone. He has to be out of his mind with worry. “I’m just looking for someone. A boy—seventeen? He would have come in on an—”

  “In a sec,” she repeats.

  Irritation flares and I dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. Anger rises from the pit of my stomach. In the past, such uncontrolled emotions would be cause for concern, but now I understand what’s happening, and I know how to direct the energy building. I focus on the computer monitor and release a pulse of power, a wave of satisfaction overtaking me when the monitor buzzes and the nurse’s eyes go wide, her face bathed in the glow of the dreaded blue screen. Her gaze flicks to me just as I hear a familiar voice coming from the hallway behind her. Without a second tho
ught, I take off around the corner, not caring if I’m allowed to or not.

  Fox stands at the end of the long corridor, gesticulating wildly at a man in a lab coat who looks both concerned and nervous. The man holds an allaying hand toward Fox, but the gesture seems to have the opposite of its intended affect.

  “Young man, if you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to ask some orderlies to come remove you—”

  “Just tell me what’s going on!” Fox’s voice is strained. “They just wheeled him in there—I just want to know—”

  “Fox?” I’m still several feet away, but I want him to know I’m here, I came.

  He turns and the lab-coat-clad man takes the opportunity to disappear through the double doors behind him. Fox’s face is splotchy and red, his eyes wide. His mouth opens but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, in two steps, he’s closed the distance between us, wrapping me up in his arms. His breath is hot and labored against my neck and I return his embrace, stroking his hair. Fox’s shoulders shake and I squeeze him tighter. “Sh. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

  We stand like that for several minutes. Occasionally, someone walks in or out of the double doors, but no one gives us a second glance. A display like ours must be commonplace here. Finally, Fox straightens, taking a step away from me. I feel the absence of his warmth and resist the urge to pull him close again.

  “We were headed to Jodi’s shop,” he says, his voice small and distant. “He said he needed supplies for a spell. I asked him what he needed and he pulled a list out of his pocket and—it got caught in the wind and I started to chase after it, but he said he’d get it. The wind picked up in the other direction and the paper started coming back toward him and… he just dropped.”

  I freeze. Wind. Wind ripped through Seth’s apartment when I was trying to break the anchoring spell. It must have been Zane’s cord I was severing—that’s why I felt his spell. I grab Fox’s arm and squeeze it. “It’s gonna be okay, Fox.”

  Voices rise at the far end of the corridor, drawing our attention. Crystal, Bridget, and Lexie turn the corner and take off at a shuffling run toward us. Lexie displaces me unceremoniously, fixing me with a withering stare. “You can go now.”