I took a deep inhale and let the breath flow out slowly.
With another huge inhale, I felt my shoulders relax.
"Better," I said.
"Okay, good." He moved back to the bed and I followed. "I think that picture is pretty common among spellbooks and rituals, so don't let it freak you out too much."
I nodded, avoiding looking at it again.
"We don't have to do this now," he added, searching me for clues of my condition.
"No, I want to," I quipped. "We need to." I lifted the first page and studied the words.
He watched me closely, noticing the shake in my hand.
"Like, now?" he asked.
"Yeah. Do you have any candles?"
Before long, he was back with two fat candles, clearly stolen from his mother’s decorative candleholders. I laughed as the scent of vanilla and cinnamon filled the room.
"I guess they'll do," I chuckled.
We arranged the candles on the desk, and Dom lit them with a lighter from the top drawer. I hesitated for a moment, wondering what he needed a lighter for, but brushed away my curiosity, keeping focus on what we were doing.
Dom closed his curtains, shutting out the brightness of day, and he closed his door.
"Good?" he asked.
"Perfect."
I sat back on his bed and stared at the pages. It was a miracle that we even had them. They held so much history, so much knowledge. I hoped we could honor their power as it was meant to be used.
I glanced up at Dom as he settled on the edge of the bed.
"Thank you for doing this with me," I said.
He shrugged. "Hey, I owe it to Shane." He pressed his lips tighter, halting any more words.
And I knew what he said to be true.
Dom had always felt a level of guilt toward Shane, from when they were kids. Dom interfered with the curse in the woods somehow, directly impacting Shane. I never fully understood what happened that day, but it was clear Dom hadn’t ever cleared his conscience of it.
And now must be his chance.
It made sense to me now.
"Okay, let's begin." I positioned the first page between us, so we could both read it.
Together, we started chanting the words out of sync at first, but then we fell into a rhythm that resonated our voices throughout his room.
Phrases filled the space around us, like "Reveal your location unto thee, slow your journey to mild stasis, energy enough to halt thy death, mask thine own signs of life so thy may join thee in disguise."
The words became meaningless as we repeated them over and over. The energy they produced became the focus, and our voices grew louder as the chanting took on its own form.
My heart pounded with excitement as our voices carried me away from Dom's room into a void of white light. The thrum of our chant drummed behind me as I entered the space alone.
Lifting my hand in front of my eyes, I moved my fingers and gasped as I saw straight through them. It was like I was there, but not really. Like a transparent form of myself, like my soul had left my body.
My eyes widened at the thought, and panic shot through me. If my soul had left my body again, like at Laney's, I'd be vulnerable to the darkness. I had to keep faith that Dom would protect me while I explored this new realm.
I moved without making a sound, without making contact with the ground. It was a feeling of weightlessness, and it sent unnerving butterflies through my stomach.
And then with a blink, he revealed himself to me.
At first, I only felt his presence, but soon after, his image filled my vision.
Was it a hallucination? Could I be dreaming?
"Shane?" I whispered.
He focused on me with a look of disbelief.
"Brynn? How did you get here?" He moved to me in desperation. "Are you hurt?"
His arms reached for me, and as I gasped in pure shock, he wrapped me in a heart-exploding embrace.
I choked with overwhelming emotion as Shane held me. Every feeling of love and longing burst through me. Every second of soul-destroying grief released from my being as I allowed him to reclaim my soul.
"It's just like when we were in detention and connected outside of our bodies," he gasped. "I can feel you, Brynn." His voice shook with emotion.
And he was right. It was exactly like that time we made love in the strange realm outside of our bodies. Although we had been held in separate rooms that day, we’d never felt closer.
I trusted this space.
I believe in it.
"Shane, I've come to help you cross back over. You don't belong here. You need to come back." I cleared my head, not knowing how much time we had together.
"But how?" His eyes begged mine for information. “I feel like I’ve been here for so long.”
I blocked his words, not wanting to know how long that might have been.
"Hold on to me with everything you've got,” I said. “When the incantation ends, I'll pull you back with me."
It was the only plan I could come up with, and as I spoke it, the weaknesses became apparent.
"It won’t work, Brynn.” His head shook with sorrow. “The forces here are more powerful than you and me. We need the portal. You have to go back to the cemetery. Set the ritual there." He released me and stepped back. "I'll wait for you."
"No, stop!" I reached for him again. "Don't leave me."
He stepped farther back, fading into the white light.
"Shane!"
I screamed his name over and over, desperately searching for his form.
"Shane!"
I shook from the effort and jolted as my name was called back to me.
"Brynn!"
My eyes widened, searching for the source of my name. He was trying to hold on—trying to stay connected to me. I searched the mist for him, and the sound of my name resonated through the fog again.
A quake rocked through me again as I strained to find him. The whirls of cloud-cover spread, allowing me to finally see more clearly, and I jolted from the shift in my senses.
“Brynn!”
Dom continued to shake my shoulders.
With a reviving gasp, I focused on Dom's panicked face as he struggled to pull me from my trance.
Realizing that his efforts at bringing me back from the spell had been the reason Shane faded from my sight, a wave of fury coursed through my veins. I struggled to re-enter the realm of the abyss to see Shane one more time, but it was too late. Dom had brought me back.
I stared at Dom in outrage as the last memories of Shane’s contact scattered into lost pieces in my mind. And without thinking, I reeled back and punched him square in the jaw.
Chapter 13
My fist connected with his chin in an explosive force of hate and loathing.
Dom had broken the soul summoning spell, causing my mind-blowing contact with Shane to end abruptly, and I wanted to kill him for it.
"What did you do?" I shrieked. "I had Shane in my grasp!"
Dom held his chin and winced in pain. "Jesus, Brynn."
He lept up from the bed and paced in front of me, cursing with each step. His hand lowered from his face, and I noticed a red welt forming already.
He stopped and stared at me. "I was only trying to help. You started screaming,” he blasted. “I didn't know what was happening. You could have been hurt. There's was no way I could have known." His voice cracked as he barked at me.
The hurt in his voice was unmistakable. And I was sure it had nothing to do with pain on his jaw.
I bit my bottom lip, regretting the punch. The ache in my hand made sure I wouldn’t forget the force behind it.
I'd hurt him more deeply than I'd meant to.
It was just an immediate reaction to what had happened. It was all so emotionally charged, and when I lost contact with Shane, it was enough to make me lose my mind.
Shane.
He'd told me to go to the cemetery. To try the spell again.
"I need to go
," I blurted, gathering up the pages of the spellbook.
"Wait," he begged. "You can't just go. It’s dangerous. We have no idea what we've conjured. Please."
He reached for me, and I yanked my shoulders away from him.
His face fell in wounded confusion. A look of rejection covered his face shooting a sting through my heart.
But I didn't have time to console him.
I needed to find Shane while his soul was still in search of me.
"Brynn, please stop. You need to hear what I saw."
His words stopped me short, and I paused.
He exhaled through puffed cheeks.
"Well, what?" I pressed.
"The Dark Witch," he stated. "She's here. I saw flashes of her face as I chanted the words. The louder we got, the clearer she became. I tried to stop it. You were screaming." He choked on his words
My shoulders fell as the danger became more apparent. Dom had reacted out of fear to protect me.
"We conjured more than just Shane?" I whispered.
He nodded with a harrowed expression.
Now I felt even worse for having punched him.
He had only been trying to protect me.
Again.
This time from the Dark Witch.
Somehow, she had infiltrated her way into the soul summoning as well. No space in the open realm was safe from her, and now she knew what we were up to.
"I'm sorry I hit you," I murmured.
My shame wove through my apology as I thought of everything Dom had been through. The Dark Witch had terrorized him in more ways than I knew—the most obvious being his wolf curse. I just had no idea why she had targeted him so specifically. And Laney had done the same.
"Don't worry about it," he muttered, rubbing his jawline. "I'm impressed with your swing." He gave a weak grin, and I smiled back.
I dropped my eyes to the floor then, knowing that I still needed to act while things remained in chaos.
"I have to go to the cemetery,” I murmured. “Shane said I needed to open the portal to help him cross back over." I moved toward his bedroom door.
He flinched at my movement as if stifling his natural instinct to stop me. He’d already figured out that that was likely impossible.
"It will be getting dark soon." He glanced out his window as worry lines etched into his brow.
"I can't wait any longer, Dom. He's fading, and I'm scared he'll be gone forever if I wait."
He dropped his head and shook it. "It could be a trick," he mumbled. "The whole thing. We just conjured the Dark Witch, and this is her way of getting us to walk right into her trap."
He grabbed an athletic bag and pushed two flashlights into it. Then he blew out the candles, poured their wax pools onto his desk, and shoved those in too, along with the lighter.
I watched in surprise as he packed.
"We'll be needing those too." He pointed to the pages of the spellbook in my hands.
I shook my head in confusion.
Dom spread his Lakefield Football t-shirt on the bed. "Wrap them in this," he said.
After rolling the pages together and tying the twine around them, I wrapped them in the soft cotton shirt. He loosened his cinch sac, and I placed the bundle inside.
"You don't have to come, you know," I said, still stunned by his preparations. "I can do this alone."
"Oh, I'm aware," he chuffed. "But, no. I need to be there." He took out his phone and started typing. "And so does Courtney."
"What?" I blasted.
"Brynn." He stopped and glared at me. "That incantation worked. I don't know what the fuck went down, but something real just happened. We might have a chance here."
My eyes widened as his words penetrated my being.
He thought we had a chance.
For the first time, I wasn't alone in my thinking that we could fix this.
And with Dom and Courtney, we'd be unstoppable.
Cruising toward the town woods, I watched the sun dip behind the tops of the trees, casting long shadows on the road ahead of us. My stomach clamped at the threat of nightfall. It hadn’t escaped me that going to the woods in the dark was a death wish. We'd done it enough times, and not once did it work out well.
I just had to remind myself, it's only the absence of light—it’s only darkness. The woods remain the same, the cemetery the same, only illuminated by the moon instead of the sun.
But they weren't the same.
And I knew it.
The darkness brought mystical forces into the world. It carried fear and insecurity. Its bone-chilling cold and nervous energy affected all who passed through.
I shuddered at the thought of facing the Dark Witch in the woods, on her turf.
But then, facing danger seemed to be what brought Shane's image more vivid in my mind, every time. Living on the edge had a way of bringing him closer to me.
I wasn't sure why.
Maybe because it heightened my senses, piquing every nerve. Or perhaps it was because I lowered my defenses when I became reckless. Either way, walking straight into the Dark Witch's lair seemed foolhardy enough to fit the bill.
I could only hope that with each brash action, I would get closer to Shane.
It seemed to be working so far.
Somewhat.
Maybe.
"I feel like this is it," Dom muttered. "Like this is the end game."
I straightened in my seat.
"Seriously? Do you think so?" I bounced nervously. "Because I feel it too."
"Yeah. I mean, there have been some divides within the UMAs, but I feel like it was a natural split. Like it was meant to happen that way." He turned to see my reaction.
"Same. I feel like the split could be intentional. Like it has its own purpose." I swallowed, pushing down the churning twist in my stomach.
"Or maybe we're just trying to convince ourselves that our non-conforming behavior is justified," he sighed with a guilty shrug. "There's no way to be sure."
"Except for trying," I added.
As we turned in the direction of the town forest, I took a double-take and blurted, "Is that Courtney?"
Dom swerved to the side of the road, causing me to sway in my seat.
Without looking up, Courtney slowed.
"Hop in," he called to her. "Perfect timing."
Her presence at that moment had me stunned, even though I knew Dom had contacted her by text. For some reason, it was still bizarre to see her there.
I still wasn't sure what Courtney's full deal was. It seemed like she was in her own in this world like her parents didn't even know she existed. I knew there had been a spell in place for when she went missing through the portal, but I figured that would have worn off by now. But there she was, like a wandering misfit.
Courtney climbed into the back seat and leaned forward. "You’ve been up to no good,” she said. “Just as I suspected you might be.”
She knew exactly what we’d been up to. Without her, it wouldn’t have been possible.
I turned to her and took a deep breath. "Thank you for the pages, Courtney. Without them, we'd be lost."
"I know," she agreed with a nod. "I'm ready to not be lost anymore."
My eyes narrowed on her, but she kept her gaze pointed out the front window.
Dom drove past the parking area and pulled into a thicket of trees at the edge of the woods.
"Best to remain concealed," he stated.
We climbed out of the Jeep and pushed past the branches and twigs that made every attempt to stop us. Within a few moments of bushwacking, we gathered at the benches by the trailhead.
"Are we ready to...." My voice stuck as searing pain ran up my arm. I grabbed the burning area and lifted my eyes to Dom. His face grimaced with a wince as he held his forearm as well.
Ms. Kelly had called it the mark of the Witch Hunter, and suddenly, I wasn't so keen on the label. But the fact that Dom had it too definitely made it more bearable.
"I guess that's our call to ac
tion," I jested, nodding at Dom.
He bared his teeth with a hiss. "Yup. Let's do this."
Chapter 14
We made our way along the trail with pointed determination. First, we wanted to get to the cemetery before full nightfall. Second, we hoped to avoid any run-ins with ghouls of any sort. And lastly, our nervous energy bounced between the three of us, super-charging our fight-or-flight response, setting our pace at a near run.
Our familiarity with the route helped us navigate it with ease—hurdling the gate, stumbling across the uneven terrain, and then navigating the thick trees to find the Dawson farm and the lost cemetery. By the time we found the three bright-green pines, we were panting from the exertion.
Courtney slowed by the three unusual trees, studying the area around her. Her heaving chest proved more than fatigue. It was evidence of her inner turmoil.
Of all of us, Courtney was the one who suffered the most. She'd lost her family to the murderous hysteria of misguided thinkers. And she carried regret with her, everyday—regret for not being able to stop it, regret for surviving, regret for leaving.
It was at that moment that I realized Courtney's agenda would be very different from ours. We all wanted to change the past for a better, more fair outcome. But I wasn't so sure that was Courtney's goal.
I prayed that we would achieve a result that we could all live with.
"The cemetery is that way," Dom said, pointing into the shadows of overgrown shrubs.
Courtney's head jolted in that direction, and she moved toward it with quick, jerking motion. Dom and I followed, and with each step, I planned our approach.
I would kneel between Shane's stone and mine, light the candles, and then bring out the pages of the spell. It was crazy to set a ritual in a cemetery, at night, while a witch roamed the woods. But nothing could stop me from making the final effort to save Shane.
"Here," Dom called to us as he stepped over the low stone wall that surrounded the perimeter of the plot.
Courtney jumped to his side and entered the ancient, lost cemetery. She treaded gently in the moss, surveying the entire area, and then moved to the first set of stones.
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