Sword of Elements Series Boxed Set 2: Bound In Blue, Caught In Crimson & To Make A Witch

by Heather Hamilton-Senter

“If you ever want to talk . . .”

  “OK. Thanks.”

  I was the recipient of my first ever Lacey McInnis smile before she waved and joined a couple of Bumblebees on their way to cheerleading practice.

  The school day ended on such a weirdly pleasant note that I took courage and began to look forward to going out that night.

  After a quick snack and a long shower, I rummaged through the contents of a laundry hamper that now contained the majority of my wardrobe and came up with a slightly wrinkled jean skirt and one of Mom’s chiffon tops. Neither were dirty—I’d just thrown them at the hamper because I was too lazy to hang them back up. As I took the charm bracelet off and placed it on my night table, I was glad the long sleeves of the top covered the burn on my wrist.

  I was slipping on a pair of sandals when Peter started honking outside. Stuffing my phone and some money in the back pocket of my skirt, I rushed out.

  “Hurry up!” he yelled through the open window of his mom’s mini-van. It wouldn’t be stylish, but at least we would all fit. The automatic side door slid open. “In the back,” he ordered.

  “Why?”

  “I want Miko to with me. Besides, don’t you want to sit with Ty?” He pulled away so fast I was almost thrown out of my seat before I could get my belt on.

  “I don’t know, do I?”

  “You should. He’s been asking about you all week.”

  “Really?” I wasn’t sure I believed Peter. If Tynan had wanted to talk to me, he could have found me any time.

  “Really. He’s like, obsessed with you. I hope Daley found a date or it’ll be weird. He wanted to know about you too, but Ty was all over it.” My heart dropped as I realized my wish had gone unanswered.

  We went north on Simcoe Street, the same road Winfield was on, until we passed Port Perry. Following the directions on my phone, we turned off and headed towards Lake Simcoe. When we arrived at the address we’d been given, neither of us spoke for a moment. Mansion might sound like somewhere one of the villains in Peter’s comic books would live, but it was the only word that fit the sprawling stone building at the end of a dirt lane, backed by forest. The other two and three acre lots around it were still bare and waiting to be bought and built on.

  Peter pointed at the red sports car parked in front. “Do you know what that is? It’s a Jag F-Type V8 S! They start at a hundred grand and go up.”

  The others were waiting for us on the massive stone porch and were in the van before Peter could get out and open the doors. “Nice ride,” Tynan laughed as he buckled himself into the seat beside me.

  Peter flushed. “Well at least we’re not sitting on top of one another.”

  Miko ignored her seatbelt and slid across the front passenger seat to nestle into Peter. “Now that sounds like fun.” His blush went nuclear.

  Daley climbed into the back. “We need to stop somewhere first.”

  When Daley gave him the address, Peter caught my eye in the rearview mirror; we both knew it very well. Twenty minutes later, we were at Lacey McInnis’ house. Tynan and I got a bright hello as she climbed into the van. Peter and Miko were ignored.

  “Hey, Day,” she said as she sat beside him.

  I would have bet big money that Daley would hate the nickname, but all he said was, “You look nice.” She did too. Lacey carried her extra ten pounds better in a t-shirt, sleek jacket, and ruffled skirt.

  “Wow, that’s beautiful.”

  “Don’t touch it!” I turned in surprise to see Daley tucking the chain and its pendant under his collar. Lacey looked like she might cry.

  “Sorry,” he apologized after a moment. “It caught in my hair and you pulled it.” I could hear the lie, but Lacey smiled in relief.

  Miko snorted and made a face as she snuggled in closer to Peter. “We need to make another stop.”

  “Sure. Where?”

  “Somewhere quiet.”

  He grinned. “I know just the place.”

  Uncomfortable, I shifted in my seat and gazed out the window.

  We drove across town to Parkwood, a historic estate and one of the few tourist attractions in town worth checking out. The grounds were almost always open, but I’d heard it was easy sneaking in even after hours.

  It’s amazing what people will say around you when they don’t notice you’re there.

  We parked and walked past the house and down a path to a sunken clearing with a stone pavilion at one end. During the day, the area was used for weddings. During the night, it was occasionally used for the type of activity that resulted in some of those weddings.

  Peter draped his arm over Miko’s shoulders and wandered away from the rest of us. Not to be outdone, Lacey glared at him and then put her arm through Daley’s. Tynan and I stared at one another awkwardly. I wanted to say something witty or cute, but feared I’d probably end up making out with him just to avoid speaking to him.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “What?” The horrible thought occurred to me that he was sorry he didn’t want to make out with me.

  Tynan looked at his brother. Daley and Miko had both detached themselves from their partners and Daley nodded back at him. Tynan straightened into full and impressive height and pointed at the trees on the one side of the clearing. “Ae veyll ooæk ee - ærree bee ægh!” he yelled.

  Dandelion yellow flashed across my eyes. As Tynan continued to shout gibberish into the shrubbery, I had the terrible feeling I was about to get punked the same way that poor girl Carrie did on the night of her prom.

  Before I could move, the air became wet and I closed my eyes against a blast of icy wind. Colors swirled in my mind’s eye and shaped themselves into something monstrous.

  A white form licked by corpse blue flame. Silky hair slicked in dew. Glistening fangs. Dog shaped and yet as far from a dog as a nightmare is from a dream.

  Three short howls echoed through the clearing. The vision in my mind wavered and I opened my eyes.

  Peter had put himself between the direction of the sound and the rest of us. “Better stay back. It might be a coyote or a wild dog. Try not to make any sudden moves.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not what it is.”

  “You can see it somehow, can’t you,” Miko whispered as she sidled up behind me, “even though it's not yet fully present in our world.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t play dumb.”

  I shook my head again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Another howl and the bushes shook and swayed. Peter looked around wildly as he tried to locate the source of the sound. Lacey whimpered.

  “What is it?”

  “A member of the Wild Hunt, a hound of Avalon. Most supernatural beings have many names, but the Welsh would call it a Cŵn Annwn. The Hunt guards the Wall between our world and the world of magic. Tynan called this one from its pack.”

  I stared at her in shock. “Why?”

  Miko’s lopsided smile was full of mischief. “To win a bet.”

  I might have slapped it right off her pretty little face if hell hadn’t suddenly erupted. A white creature burst into the clearing. It landed facing Peter, snarling and huffing. The beast matched what I’d seen in my mind except for the glowing red of the inside of its ears. It was beautiful.

  And completely pee your pants terrifying.

  Peter held his ground out of range of its claws. “Get back to the van! I’ll hold it off somehow!”

  “Protector,” Miko murmured. “Check.”

  Lacey didn’t need to be told twice. When the beast’s gaze remained fixed on Peter, she raced up the stone steps and out of sight down the path.

  “Useless,” Miko sneered. “Check two.”

  I looked at Tynan, but he was staring at the ground and wouldn’t meet my eyes. Daley stood with his arms crossed, watching us. “Do something!” I screamed. Neither of them moved.

  Rhiannon, listen to me. We cannot be seen. Hide in the shadows and be still and silent.
>
  Mom’s voice rang through my mind like a bell in my skull. I had to obey and disappear. I waited for the color that always followed her words to pass over me, but could only find wisps that I could barely focus on. I blinked my eyes and then even they were gone.

  The beast turned its head to look at me with eyes like moonstones.

  “He sees you,” Miko said. “I don’t know how you’ve been hiding yourself from everyone, but you’re all here now. What are you going to do?”

  Even if I’d had an answer, there was no time. The creature moved so fast it seemed to fly. The air was knocked out of my lungs and when I could think again, I realized I was flat on my back with the Cŵn Annwn’s cold paws on my chest. Claws like curved, bleached bones dug into my ribs, but the creature was strangely light. I gasped as its claws pierced the fabric of my top and it lowered its head to look at me intently. It wasn’t attacking. Yet.

  I should have been blank and white with terror, but its touch seemed to have changed something. Or maybe I’d hit my head when I went down and couldn’t comprehend the reality of my danger. I tried to focus on the Cŵn Annwn, but it shifted between a dog-like beast with white hair and a creature made from the glowing blue-green of marsh gases and the silvery grey of windblown skies.

  I couldn’t help myself—I put my hand out to touch it. Peter hissed at me to stop. The Cŵn Annwn growled as my fingers sank into the slick, wet fur at its neck and I froze, expecting razor teeth to sink into my skin, but the creature shook its head as if confused.

  Some instinct told me to close my eyes. The Cŵn Annwn was still there in my mind as an aura of pale flame. I felt it flicker up my arms and across my body. It called to me.

  I let go of the beast’s fur and reached for the tongues of flame flickering blue, then green, then silver and grey. In my mind, they leapt up in response. As they seeped into my skin, a pleasure spread through my gut that I’d never experienced before. I felt the beginnings of ecstasy, but it wasn’t fast enough. Impatient to have it all—to feel it all—I imagined myself reaching out to grasp the Cŵn Annwn’s colors and my palms burned with cold fire.

  I opened my eyes when the creature whimpered and everything I thought I knew about myself and my synesthesia was blown to hell. I could still see the flames that danced across my hands and their connection to the beast.

  I think I can see magic.

  The weight on my chest increased and I knew the Cŵn Annwn was preparing to attack. Acting on instinct again, I tightened my grip on the beast’s aura and yanked it away.

  Sensation swept through me. I could smell the rich odor of wet earth, fallen leaves, and running streams. Wind slapped my cheeks and I exulted in the reckless joy of the hunt. I raced across misty moors and dove into salty seas. I tore through the skies and fell on my prey like a bolt of lightning. I felt a joy so pure I wanted to cry.

  The weight disappeared and I was forced back into myself. The Cŵn Annwn was gone.

  “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Peter skidded to his knees beside me and I thought I saw a thread of brilliant green connecting us, but my head started throbbing and I lost it.

  An oval face smiling a lopsided smile swam into view.

  “Anomaly,” Miko said. “Check three. I win!”

  CHAPTER NINE

  We sat on one side and they sat on the other—enemy camps separated by the no man’s land of the table. Tynan appeared miserable and even Daley seemed uncomfortable. I could tell Peter was angry, but Lacey was harder to read.

  The only one who was perfectly relaxed was Miko. She was wolfing down an apple crisp slathered in whipped cream. I considered the bowl of chocolate mousse in front of me and picked up a spoon to shovel a generous portion into my mouth.

  Lacey broke. “How can the two of you sit there eating after what just happened?”

  Miko didn’t bother looking up. “Have some. You’ll feel better.”

  “How is dessert going to make me feel better about being attacked by a monster?” Lacey cried, but it was a topic no one was ready to discuss.

  One by one, the others began to eat what Miko had ordered for them. Even Lacey began to pick at her shortcake until she was finishing it with enthusiasm.

  Fortified by chocolate, I was ready for answers. “How did you know?”

  Miko didn’t blink. “Know what?”

  “That chocolate mousse is my favorite and pecan pie is Peter’s?”

  “Everyone likes to claim they’re into wheat grass and steamed vegetables and whatever, but I can see past the illusion of the lie they tell themselves to uncover the truth.” She grimaced. “People rarely appreciate being told what they really want.”

  Tynan nudged her gently with his shoulder. “We do, Meek.”

  I was sick of all the games. “So she is your sister then, and not just some chickie who works for your dad.” Tynan ducked his head and his hair fell over his eyes. His refusal to look directly at anyone for long was starting to irritate me.

  The noise Miko made was a cross between a laugh and a snort. “I told you, unlike these two losers, I have a family of my own—even if I’m not on speaking terms with any of them at the moment.”

  “So what did you win in this bet of yours then?”

  Lacey dropped her spoon with a clatter against her plate. “What bet?”

  “I think it was a bet we wouldn’t get killed, at least, not too quickly.”

  Daley shook his head. “I would have stepped in if the Cŵn Annwn had attacked. Up until you did whatever it was you did, it was only curious. We search for Potentials. Miko can usually sense what category they fall into, but you three were difficult to sort out. It was her idea to try something a little bit unorthodox.”

  “Potential for what?” Peter asked. “And what was that thing?”

  “Not potential,” Tynan corrected from beneath the curtain of his hair, “a Potential. Someone with untapped abilities. Magic.”

  “Magic,” Peter said, laughing.

  “Magic,” Lacey said with wonder in her voice.

  I didn’t say anything. I already knew that magic existed.

  A waitress arrived with mugs of hot chocolate and we were silent as she passed them around. “The boys and I still need sugar,” Miko explained after the woman left. “Using magic depletes the body’s physical and mental resources.”

  “Tynan was the one who called the Cŵn Annwn.”

  “Tynan has that ability. At the moment.” Tynan flushed and looked away. “Daley was maintaining a perimeter to contain the beast. I was holding a glamour over us to make sure no one witnessed our little experiment.”

  Peter laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Daley sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but Miko has a magic device—a harp—that gives us information on where a Potential might be.”

  “Oh come on!”

  I put my hand on Peter’s arm. “Just listen for a minute.” His pale eyebrows shot up, but he nodded.

  Daley flashed me a grateful look. “Sometimes the harp is as specific as a name and a place, but usually it’s just a general area and we have to narrow it down ourselves. The harp sent us to Ontario, but we’ve been searching cities since the spring and it’s been like chasing ghosts. Since most abilities show up in adolescence, we normally start in the schools and Eastdale was the first on the list here. Miko could sense something, but she wasn’t sure what. Since there were three of you in one place—which is unprecedented—it was probably messing with her abilities.”

  Miko perked up. “I was being blocked!”

  “Maybe,” Daley conceded.

  “But then there was the weird thing in the bathroom,” Miko interrupted.

  Lacey wrinkled her nose. “What weird thing?”

  Miko ignored her and looked at me. “You were doing some kind of magic I’d never felt before.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Daley frowned. “You said you were Viviane Lynn
e’s daughter. Our father has been looking for her, but she’s been missing for years. Everyone thought she was dead.” He paused when he saw the look on my face. “Sorry. We didn’t realize it was true, or how recently it happened, until you told Tynan. Anyway, at the time, our father thought the name was maybe just a coincidence, but it was worth checking out. The three of you seemed connected so we watched you all, or at least, we tried to. You were always difficult to find. I’d track you down and then something would catch my attention and you’d be gone. You being able to hear the harp was another red flag. Miko had the idea of putting you in a stress situation to see what would happen and I agreed.”

  “And what’s the harm of a few wagers on the side, right Meek?” I glared at the girl, but she was inspecting the polish on her nails and looking bored.

  Daley made an impatient gesture. “If you want to be angry with someone, be angry with me.”

  “So what was the bet then, Day?”

  A muscle jumped in Daley’s cheek and his eyes narrowed. I was right—he didn’t like the nickname. “Miko’s bet was that within three minutes of facing a threat, she could confirm exactly what you were.”

  “What are we then?”

  Miko answered with three black-tipped fingers raised as she ticked the points off. “A Protector, a Mongrel and an Anomaly.” She smiled sweetly at Lacey. “You’re the Mongrel, in case you were wondering.” Lacey’s mouth opened but no sound came out.

  Miko pointed at Peter. “Protector. You’ve inherited the ability from a relative or an ancestor. We can check with Taliesin and see if we can find out who it was, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Protector magic is one of the few abilities not diluted by breeding and you can never predict which generation it’ll pop up in.”

  The finger turned to Lacey. “Mongrel. One of your ancestors mated with a lorelei or something. The hint of those abilities is what makes you more popular than you deserve. In ancient times, you might have had enough natural talent to become a witch, but now you’ll probably become a weather girl on regional TV. National, if you’re lucky.” Cruel, but basically what I would have predicted for Lacey too.

  The finger moved to me. “Anomaly. Do you even realize that sometimes you’re almost invisible? That’s a witches’ trick, but I’m mostly immune to those. That day in the bathroom, I saw you fade before my eyes and then come back, though not as strong as before. It was like you were still out of focus.”