Clearwater Witches Boxset

by Madeline Freeman

  Felix turns in his desk, catching my eye as he does so. “What’s that?”

  Tucker shifts, looking the slightest bit uncomfortable. The expression is alien on his usually devil-may-care features. “It’s about the whole, you know, psychic thing.” He presses his lips together, glancing at the girl to his left to be sure she’s not paying attention. “What can we… do? I mean, none of this is new to you, right? How did you guys figure out how to control your abilities? After what happened yesterday, I’m thinking it might be… beneficial… to know what I’m doing.”

  From his spot behind me, West turns in his desk and leans across the aisle. “We’d all meet up and practice together. We even had kind of a teacher for a while. But it turns out he’s a maniac bent on taking over the town, so, you know, we’re kind of on our own now.” He offers a wry smile.

  “But, what? You don’t do that anymore?” Tucker asks.

  “Well, it’s been a crazy few days,” Felix says.

  “I’ll say.” Tucker runs a hand through his dark brown hair, disheveling it more than it already is. “Tell me I’m not the only one who’s completely freaked out by having someone else’s thoughts randomly pop up in my head.”

  Felix rubs his temples. “It’s… a little exhausting, yeah. Bridget’s mind races at a mile a minute.”

  West shrugs. “Griffin’s a dick. News flash.”

  Eyes flicker to me and I realize they’re waiting for my assessment. “Yeah, it’s rough.” Tucker nods encouragingly, waiting for me to go on, but I have no interest in sharing specifics with him. Instead, I grab my backpack and fish out my Spanish book.

  “I wonder if it’s as bad for them as it is for us,” Felix says. “Or are we getting the crap end of this deal because we’re psychic?”

  I open my textbook at random. “I don’t know if it’s as crazy for them, but I know Fox is sensing things from me—and Owen.”

  “Yeah, how’s that going?” asks Tucker, even though I directed my comment at Felix. “I mean, you and Fox just broke up, right?”

  I bite the inside of my cheek, my gaze not quite meeting his. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  He holds his hands up. “Sorry. Just I figured we’ve got that in common. You and Fox used to date. Crystal and I used to…”

  “Make out in stairwells,” I mutter, turning forward in my desk.

  “To be fair, that’s not all we did,” Tucker says, a hard edge to his voice.

  I roll my eyes. “Please, spare me the details.”

  “I could do with some details,” West says.

  “What’s your deal, Barnette?” Tucker asks. “In case you forgot, she broke things off with me, so if you’re pissed about that, you’re angry at the wrong person.”

  I take in a breath, tamping down a swell of guilt. I’m being cold toward Tucker—I know I am—but I can’t help it. No matter how much I try to convince myself he’s not the same person he was in my timeline, he makes my skin crawl. I exhale noisily and turn to face him. “I’m sorry. I’m just having a hard time with all this.”

  “Join the club,” he grumbles.

  He’s still upset with me, and he has reason to be. I should offer an olive branch. This has to be difficult on him, and me behaving like this isn’t helping. Whether I like it or not, Tucker is part of this circle. I should treat him that way. “Maybe I could give you some tips on how to block Crystal’s thoughts from your head.”

  He considers this before shrugging. “It’s okay. It’s not, like, a constant thing or anything. Just every once in a while. I mean, enough to freak me out when it happens, but not too much to be overly annoying.”

  “Really?” Unless I’m consciously blocking out Fox and Owen, their thoughts and emotions mingle constantly with my own.

  “Maybe it’s because you’re new at this,” Felix offers. “Maybe that’s saving you from hearing too much from her.”

  Tucker grins. “In that case, maybe I don’t want any training.”

  I turn back to my assignment and the guys continue chatting. Their conversation moves away from psychic-related things and I tune them out. I could do the assignment-completing spell like I’ve done in other classes, but I do it the old fashion way as an excuse to keep to myself.

  Halfway through the hour, the PA crackles to life. “Teachers, please excuse this interruption.” The sub halfheartedly shushes the class in the pause that follows. “Please send the following students to the auditorium immediately: Kristyl Barnette, Bridget Burke, West Harmon, Fox Holloway, Tucker Ingram...”

  I don’t have to listen to the rest of the list to know who else will be called. West, Tucker, and I stand, exchanging glances as the gazes of our classmates flicker in our direction. Felix stands before his name is even called.

  In the hall, I try to fall into step beside Felix and West, but Tucker hooks the crook of my arm with his hand. When I spin to face him, I do my best to press away the memory of the night outside the bookstore. I’m safe here. It’s the middle of the day and we’re at school. Still, it’s only with effort that I don’t call out for Felix and West.

  “Hey, I may be new to this whole psychic thing, but I’m not an idiot,” Tucker says, his voice low. “You lied to me in there. You’re pissed at me for something.”

  His eyes narrow as he studies me. His hand remains on my arm, but he doesn’t apply pressure. Still, it’s everything I can do to keep the memory of the night he attacked me at bay. How can I explain it to him without mentioning the other timeline?

  A beat passes before he releases me, taking a step back. “Look, I’m a big boy. If you don’t like me, have some balls and own it. Don’t lie to spare my feelings. I didn’t ask to be pulled into this whole psychic thing. At least you could have the decency to be honest with me.”

  I hold my breath, not sure how to respond, but Tucker doesn’t seem to expect me to. He shakes his head and follows Felix and West down the hall.

  I close my eyes, rubbing my forehead. Honesty. How long has it been since I’ve been able to be honest with people? The secrets I’ve kept stretch far beyond the weeks it’s been since the timeline shifted. I’ve been lying for years, ever since my abilities started to manifest.

  I jog to catch up with the guys. When I fall into step beside Felix, he raises an eyebrow.

  “Who could be calling us all out of class?” he asks. “Your dad?”

  “I have no idea. Shelly—Miss Tanner—left town yesterday with Jodi. Does anyone else at the school know about us?”

  “I guess we’re about to find out,” West mutters. When we arrive, he holds the auditorium door open.

  Felix makes a sweeping motion with his hand. “Ladies first.”

  I blow out a breath before entering. The house lights are up just enough to ensure we don’t trip on our way down the aisle. The only other illumination comes from the stage: Five people sit at a long table, lit harshly from overhead. I assume they’re teachers until I get closer: While four of them look older—the slender woman in her late fifties from outside the shop yesterday; three men in their thirties or forties, all with dark, graying hair and two in button-down work shirts—it’s the fifth figure that draws my eye: She’s a girl my age. Dana Crawford. My step falters. While I don’t know her well, when my alternate-self first arrived in Clearwater five years ago, the two were close. But, from what I can tell from old diary entries, once my alternate-self got caught up in the circle, Dana was cast aside. After Seth killed her father, I tried to connect with her, but Crystal, Bridget, and Lexie destroyed my good intentions by causing a fire and allowing her to think I was behind it.

  What could this odd group of individuals have called us down for?

  Felix sucks in a breath. It doesn’t take much to pick up on the source of his surprise—the binding spell and our proximity means his mind is an open book. The man sitting nearest Dana, the only one in a suit, is Felix’s dad.

  Felix’s mind spins so fast I only catch a few details—his parents divorced years ago a
nd his father has had little contact since he started dating a woman with two kids right around Felix’s age.

  I reach back and take his hand, squeezing it as I pull him forward.

  “Take a seat in the front row,” says the older woman.

  More of the circle has arrived. Fox is here now, and his alarm quickly eclipses Felix’s in my mind.

  “Gram?”

  The woman inclines her head. “Come down here and sit down, Fox.” Although her voice isn’t loud, it carries effortlessly across the auditorium.

  Within a minute, the witches and psychics are all seated in the auditorium’s front row. A nervous energy buzzes through everyone. We all want to know the same thing: What’s going on here?

  The older woman, Fox’s grandmother, presses her hands into the table as she stands. Although she doesn’t so much as clear her throat, the silence in the auditorium is absolute. “My name is Ruby Riddell, and I am the acting leader of Clearwater’s elder council.

  Riddell. That name is familiar, but I’m not sure why. Has Fox mentioned his grandmother’s name before? Has he mentioned the elder council? I lean forward just enough to catch his eye, but he only shrugs.

  “To my left are Carson Burke, Isaac Taylor, and Lou Wolfe. And I’m certain you all know Dana.”

  Dana sits taller in her chair, squaring her shoulders. Her demeanor is nothing like I expect. Typically dressed in too-high heels and too-short skirts and rolling her eyes during class, this mature, serious version of Dana is definitely atypical. A ripple in the consciousness of the others tells me I’m not alone in noticing this.

  “We should be nine strong,” Ruby continues. “One person is resting, but three more took steps to block themselves from becoming members. Some kind of spell, no doubt.”

  Unease travels through the circle. She’s just confirmed what we’ve all wondered—assumed—since sitting down. These people know about us, about what we are. My eyes flicker to Dana. Has she known all along? No, she can’t have. When the witches were anchored to the crystal, Bridget used a spell to make Dana’s boyfriend fall in love with her instead, and Dana was baffled by the change. Their knowledge must be new.

  “You’re all from founding families,” Lexie says.

  Her father nods. “Which means who else should be up here?”

  “Miss Tanner,” Lexie says without hesitation. “And Krissa’s dad—or Jodi.”

  “Or my mom,” I add. Although she isn’t from Clearwater herself, Mom’s roots can be traced here. I suppose it’s possible that Dad and Anya knew about this council—whatever it is—and maybe had Jodi’s circle cast a spell to keep any of the four of them from being affected. But they cast no such spell on me. “That doesn’t make sense,” I say, forgetting the people on stage can’t read my mind. “Why am I down here and not up there with you? If my parents and Jodi didn’t take the spots for the Barnettes and the Whitakers, then why haven’t I?”

  The five on stage exchange glances and I feel more than a little self-conscious. The question doesn’t seem ridiculous. It can’t be an age thing—Dana’s my age. Since her father’s dead, she’s taking the spot for that bloodline.

  “Are you aware that you’re the first child born from both the Barnette and Whitaker lines since Seth himself?” Ruby asks, although her tone implies she doesn’t expect a response. “Yes, we all know about Seth,” she adds, answering our collective unvoiced question. “Since he’s returned, we’ve been granted the knowledge we need to keep him from harming anyone here. Kristyl, do you really think it’s a coincidence this is the generation he was finally able to return? The original council put in safeguards against someone like Seth being called to the new council.”

  “Wait—Krissa’s not like him,” West says. My heart swells at his immediate defense. “In case you didn’t know, she’s the one who managed to keep him from getting all his power back.”

  “And not to keep it for herself, like he would’ve,” Bria adds. “She wants to stop him as much as you guys. We all do.”

  “We don’t need your help,” Dana says, her voice sharp. Ruby’s eyes flick to her, and she straightens her back before continuing. “We wouldn’t even be talking to you except we were afraid if we didn’t, you guys would do something to screw up our plan. We already know about the barrier spell around the town. We figured if we didn’t talk to you, tell you we’ve got this handled, you’d try to do something yourself.”

  I don’t know whether it’s the sentiment behind what Dana says or the fact that she’s not only brand new to this entire situation but also our age, but her words chafe. “I think we’re more capable than you’re giving us credit for.”

  “Oh, I think we have a good sense what you’re capable of,” Felix’s dad says, leaning forward. “From what I understand, you were one of the two who used the retrieval spell to get your hands on Seth’s crystal. It was safe where it was, but you couldn’t leave well enough alone—you and your circle just had to have it.”

  I press my lips together. He’s right. “You don’t understand—we didn’t know about Seth, we just knew we needed the power inside the crystal—”

  “So you didn’t have all the information yet you took action anyway?” Ruby asks, cutting me off. She surveys me with shrewd eyes. “And what about now? If you could make that choice again knowing the repercussions, would you still do it?”

  I open my mouth to respond, but no words come out. When I agreed to help the witches cast the spell to go back in time and save the crystal, it was because I needed its power to heal Jodi. She’d been afflicted with a curse that would have surely killed her. In a timeline where my mother was already dead and my father was still missing, Jodi’s death would have left me an orphan. Is that a fate I would accept for myself if it meant Seth would remain in a place where he couldn’t hurt anyone? I’m honestly not sure.

  When I don’t answer, Ruby shakes her head sadly. “Your poor decisions are what have brought us to this point. From here on out, I think it would be wise for you to allow us to handle things.”

  Unease seeps through our ranks and we shift in our seats uncomfortably, almost as if we were many parts of one whole. We all have the same question, but Fox is the one to voice it.

  “Gram… What exactly is your plan?”

  Although the council members don’t so much as glance at one another, I sense they’re communicating. After a beat, Ruby’s gaze softens as she looks at her grandson. “Our plan is the same as that of the first council: We’re going to trap Seth’s essence in a new, suitable crystal. His energy will be neutralized and Clearwater will be safe once more.”

  I wait, but she doesn’t go on. “What? That’s it?”

  “How can you guys even do magic?” Felix asks. The question has been bubbling in his mind, so I don’t begrudge him for asking. “I mean—do you even have abilities?” His eyes linger on his father.

  “The spell has given us enough to do what we need,” Ruby answers.

  “Or it would’ve,” Felix’s dad mutters. “If we had all the members we were supposed to.”

  Ruby waves away his concern. “We’ll have plenty of power at the next full moon. We’ll undo the binding spell connecting the children. That will simplify matters.”

  My surprised is shared by the others in the circle. While we don’t glance at one another, a ripple of worry unsettles us.

  A grim smile curls Ruby’s lips. “Yes, we know about your binding spell. I appreciate it had to be done in order to save lives, but it’s no longer necessary. All it’s accomplishing now is making more work for us. After we break that spell, we’ll lock Seth away and safeguard this town against magic again.”

  I allow the plan to sink in. It could work. A similar plan kept Seth locked away for generations. Maybe Dad and Anya won’t have to do anything after all. Is it possible they don’t know about the existence of the elder council? I reject that idea as soon as it crosses my mind. If Dad didn’t know about the council, he wouldn’t have had the foresight to ensure
he, Jodi, Mom, and Shelly Tanner weren’t affected by it. But if he knows about it, and likely its plan, why do he and Anya feel they need to take down Seth themselves?

  “How are you going to safeguard Clearwater against magic?” I ask. It’s the only part of the plan that isn’t immediately obvious.

  “Only by doing what was done before,” Ruby says. “Our ancestors knew the power of our abilities, but also the peril. Generations ago, Seth and his circle were drunk on their own strength, and it caused death then and it’s caused death now. There comes a point at which the benefits of these abilities is outweighed by the dangers. We’ve once again reached that point.”

  “So, what?” asks Lexie. “You’re just going to get rid of everyone’s abilities?”

  “It’s a crude way of putting it,” Ruby says, “but, yes. All the magic and psychic abilities that you have—that anyone in Clearwater has—will be dispersed back into nature. Once the spell is cast, you’ll have no memory of ever having them. It’s for the best.”

  The bell dismissing third hour sounds and the council stands. Ruby squares her shoulders. “As you can see, we have the matter well in hand. Do not attempt to interfere or intervene. This council has been called with a specific purpose, and we’ve been given the tools necessary to do what needs to be done. You all should go to your next class.” Not allowing for further discussion, the council files off the stage.

  Once they’re gone, I stand, ready to head out of the auditorium, but the rest of the witches and psychics circle me.

  “What are we gonna do?” asks Lexie.

  “We can’t just let them take away our abilities,” Bria says.

  “What’s your dad’s plan?” asks West.

  I hold my hands up, staving off any further questions or comments. “Guys, I have no idea. My dad must know about the council, otherwise he couldn’t have kept himself from being part of it. But…” I shake my head. “At this point, you guys know as much about his plan as I do.”

  Lexie sucks her teeth. “That’s not very reassuring.”

  As the group disperses, I can’t help partially agreeing with Lexie. I wish I knew more about Dad’s plan. Still, doubt tugs at the back of my mind. Something Fox’s grandma said keeps replaying in my head. It is my fault Seth has returned, yet I’m not sure I’d do anything differently if given the chance. My choices have led us to this moment. Everything seemed like a good idea at the time—helping the circle retrieve the crystal from the past to save Jodi’s life, using its energy to return Crystal and me to our own time, trusting Seth when he offered to help break the circle’s anchoring spell. But not one of those things ended well.