“What do you mean your mistake? And please don’t take this the wrong way but I think I deserve to know everything, I have a right to know what I’m up against.”
Sighing, Blake leaned back farther into the bench and gazed up towards the star filled sky. “Abby cast a protection spell on you when we realized you had no way to protect yourself. Even though we were still unsure about a lot of things, we knew that Isaac was tracking you, and more than likely Alex was nearby as well. And it was my duty to keep you safe until we could figure it all out. The night you left to see Roger, Isaac was able to break through the spell somehow and find you … or the spell may have had boundaries and you crossed over them. Either way, it was a stupid, careless mistake on my part—one that I may never forgive myself for.” He looked over at me with an agonizing expression. “And you’re right; you do deserve to know what you’re up against. I just don’t know how to explain it all to you. But I will tell you anything you want to know, no more secrets.”
I stared out into the ocean, not knowing what to say. Just the thought of Isaac gave me flashbacks of my dream, the first one I had had about me running into the forest. There were two men that day standing near the tree line, staring at me. Now I was positive that one had been Isaac, and I could only assume that the other was Alex. There was a large part of me that wanted to know about them … everything I possibly could. But another part of me didn’t know if I had the capacity to take all of that in right now. There was already so much information that I felt I hadn’t fully processed yet.
“Oh, and don’t worry about your friend,” Blake said, totally redirecting my thoughts.
“Friend?”
“You know, the guy you met in Rockport.”
My heart sank … Roger. For all Roger knew, I had gone to the bathroom and disappeared.
“What do you mean don’t worry about him?” I gulped, hoping nothing bad had happened to him.
“After you and I left last night, Abby put a spell on him and his friend. He won’t even remember that you went out there. It was the easiest way. Your aunt’s car is also safe. My dad got it back safely,” he said reassuringly.
I had remembered seeing the Cherokee in the driveway earlier that evening but didn’t think anything of it. It looked so normal to be sitting in its rightful place.
“Do you have any more questions for me? I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said, shifting his body so that he was fully facing me.
I turned to look at him. The moon cast a shadow on half of his face, but it was still easy to find his eyes. I stared into them, immediately forgetting the thousand questions I wanted to ask.
“Lots, but I don’t think I can handle any more information tonight. I better let some sink in a bit.”
Scooting closer to him, I rested my head on his shoulder, and he wrapped both arms around me, holding me in a sweet embrace. An hour or so passed in silence, and I caught myself nodding off. I jerked my head back to an upright position, not wanting to sleep. Not wanting to miss any moment when he was near me.
“I should probably get you to bed. Abby will kill me if you’re not ready to go first thing in the morning. Ready to go back?” he asked.
“Not really. I used to love being at home; it was the one place I felt safe. But it doesn’t feel that way now.” I sighed, realizing that nothing was sacred anymore.
“I told you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. That one slip-up with Isaac won’t happen again. Don’t you trust me?” he questioned. I couldn’t help but hear a slight sadness in his voice.
It had nothing to do with trusting him. Of course I trusted him. He had saved me from what could have been one of my worst nightmares come to life. Literally. But I knew I couldn’t run from it. I would have to go home one day.
Chapter Seventeen
By the time we got back to my house, I was exhausted. Blake offered to sleep on the couch and promised he would stay until Abby arrived in the morning. After changing into an oversized T-shirt, I washed my face and brushed my teeth then crawled into bed. With Blake downstairs, I felt safe. But even though I was completely exhausted, I couldn’t sleep. Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling, trying to envision what the next day would be like. Abby would perform a summoning spell on me to link me with my powers. Even though I knew all of the typical clichés that went along with witchcraft, I would probably feel like a fool when it was nothing as I had expected.
After tossing and turning for what was probably an hour, I got up and headed downstairs, hoping a glass of milk would help calm me. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I couldn’t help but look around the corner to sneak a peek at Blake. I found him lying on the couch, eyes wide-open, and deep in thought.
“Blake,” I whispered.
“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”
“Can’t sleep.” I sighed.
“You have a big day tomorrow, and I will have to answer to my sister if you are not fully rested. She may not look like it, but she can be pretty nasty when she gets angry.” He grinned as he adjusted the pillow behind his head in order to get a better look at me.
“I was thinking … about the other night with Isaac.” Just the thought of him having me in his grasp sent a shiver down my spine.
Blake’s face had turned serious at the mention of Isaac.
“What did he mean when he called you a friend?” I asked.
He let out a loud sigh, and I walked over toward him, taking a seat at the end of the couch, never taking my eyes off his face.
“We used to be friends. It seems like a hundred years ago, but it was just a few years back … in my time, that is.”
I gulped too loudly, and he began to explain. I assumed he felt that he owed me an explanation as to how he had been friends with a guy that wanted to hurt or maybe even kill me—the jury was still out on that one.
“Years ago, Isaac and I were like brothers. We trained together when we first found out about our powers so it formed a strong bond between us. My family and his family were all very close. Abby and Isaac were engaged to be married.”
“Abby and Isaac?” I gasped. Then I remembered the awkward glance that Annette and Blake had shared at dinner and the distant look Abby had had on her face. When I brought up the wedding between Aunt Rose and Jack, it must have triggered something for her.
“Yes, he was very different back then, before his entire life changed, transforming him into the monster he is today.” Blake looked back toward the ceiling, diving deep into his thoughts, back into the past.
“One night, Isaac and I were up late studying some spells. It was around two in the morning when we finally called it quits for the night and he headed home. By all accounts, he saw the fire consuming his house from a few blocks away, but he was too late. When he got to his house, it was engulfed in flames. He tried his hardest to go in and save his family, but the flames had already taken over. Word spread quickly through town, and I found him the next morning, sitting near the embers where his house had once stood. When I approached him, he didn’t flinch or speak. For days, he wouldn’t respond to me or even Abby. It was so difficult for us not to be able to help him. He stayed at our house for a few weeks without speaking to any of us. He was in a constant daze. It took all of us to just get him to eat and drink something every day. Then one night he disappeared. We didn’t see or hear from him for a year. Then one night he returned and he was very upset. He started mentioning Alex, saying Alex told him that if he helped him get what he wanted, then Alex would bring his family back. He said that he and Alex had a plan but it had gone wrong. That everything was all ruined. I tried to calm him down. Abby tried to comfort him, but he stormed off in a rage. He seemed upset that we didn’t take him seriously. A few more months passed before we saw him again. He was a totally different person then. There was no soul left in his eyes. He said that he and Alex had another plan, one more chance, and they were confident that it would work this time. We didn’t understand anything of what he w
as saying. And we couldn’t understand why he had trusted Alex. He had been our biggest enemy for years. He practiced dark magic and would do anything for more power.”
“Wait … are you saying that Alex could bring Isaac’s family back … from the dead?” I asked, interrupting his story.
“Yes. Ancient stories have been told that an Astoria—an all-powerful witch—has the power to bring the dead back to life, among other great powers. If a witch were to perform a ritual to take the powers from the Astoria, and then kill them, then that witch would consume their powers. Only every two hundred years does an Astoria exist, so it’s a very rare occurrence. It was prophesied that, at the end of the twentieth century, two Astorias would be born: twins.”
The calculation came up quickly in my mind, and I gasped, knowing that could only mean one thing. Charlotte and I were the two Astorias.
Blake paused, searching my eyes, trying to measure my reaction. But I must not have looked too overwhelmed, because he continued, “When Isaac came back to us that last night, he started to ask specific questions about you. He began to go on and on about a sacrifice that had to be made and then he would have his family back. It was just a few hours after he left that the Witch’s Council called upon us for help.” He finished, his eyes finding mine again.
I sat there stunned, not sure of what to say. As crazy as it was, my thoughts first went to Isaac. The loss of his entire family in one single night had sent him into a tailspin of destruction, and oddly, I felt like I could relate. I didn’t agree with what he was doing, but somewhere inside me, I understood how he felt. If there was some way I could bring my family back, I was not sure what I would be capable of doing to make it happen.
Then my thoughts drifted to Abby. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. The man she loved had turned evil. Now she and her family were hunting him and ultimately trying to stop him … all in order to protect me.
“I really think you should be getting some sleep.” Blake’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“You’re probably right,” I agreed. “Would you mind if I slept down here with you? I don’t feel like being alone right now.”
“Of course.” He adjusted himself by turning over on his side, giving me the other half of the couch.
It’s not that we hadn’t just slept like that the night before. Could that have only been last night? I thought. It seems like it was a lifetime ago. I snuggled up beside him, our bodies barely touching, but it was enough. My heart began to pound against my chest as he pulled me in closer, wrapping his arms around me, forming a protective cage. When we were finally settled and my heart had calmed, I quickly fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke the next morning, I was alone. There was a faint ray of light coming in from the window, and I knew it must still be early. I glanced around the room and began calling out for Blake, but there was no answer. Then I heard the doorbell.
Who on earth could be here so early? I wondered. I glanced at the clock on the mantle. It was only six-thirty in the morning. I opened the door, and whose face did I see smiling back at me? Abby’s.
“Good morning, sunshine. I did say first thing, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.” I laughed, trying to be inconspicuous as I looked around her, searching for Blake. But he was nowhere in sight.
“You can quit looking for him. He already left,” she said, entering the house.
“Oh.” I frowned.
“No pouting. He really wanted to be here, but he did not want to put too much pressure on you.”
“Pressure?” I questioned.
“Yes, learning the craft can be very difficult at first. We still have to do the summoning spell just to get your powers. I need all of your focus, and I think he’s quite a distraction for you. But I must say it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my brother this happy. I just hope …” Her voice trailed off before finishing.
“You just hope what?” I questioned, fear running through me.
“Nothing. I’m sure everything will work out just fine. Now, are you ready?” she asked, this time forcing the smile across her face.
I looked down and wondered how she could even ask me that question. I was a total mess. “No, but give me just a few minutes,” I said, sprinting up the stairs.
When I was getting dressed, I couldn’t ignore what Abby had said about the hoping thing. Was she hoping that Blake and I would work out? Did she know something that I didn’t? There was the fact that they came from a different time period, and there was the possibility that one day they would have to leave. I guess I hadn’t even thought about that yet. I tried to avoid negative thoughts, hoping, just like Abby, that everything would work out fine.
After throwing on a pair of jeans, an old T-shirt, and tennis shoes, I ran into the bathroom, threw my hair in a ponytail, and brushed my teeth. I bounded back downstairs and found Abby sitting with her legs crossed on the couch, reading from an old brown leather notebook.
“Just trying to catch up on some of the beginner spells. It’s been years since I’ve even looked in this thing,” she said as she continued to flip through the pages. “You should eat some breakfast. It’s going to be a long day, and I’m not sure we will break for lunch.”
She was really taking this seriously. But she was my teacher after all. I walked into the kitchen, pulled out two pieces of bread, and popped them in the toaster. As I stood there waiting, I couldn’t help but think of what Abby must be going through. Here she was fighting against a person she once loved or maybe still loved, the man she had been engaged to no less. I couldn’t imagine how much that would hurt, to fight against someone you loved.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Her voice made me flinch. I had not even noticed her come in. She was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at me intently.
“Um, it’s nothing really. I’m just a little nervous about today, that’s all,” I lied.
Saved by the toaster. After putting a thin layer of peanut butter on each piece, I wrapped them up in plastic wrap and turned toward Abby. “Ready,” I said. “I’ll just eat on the way. It will save some time.”
She laughed. “No, we will wait until after you finish. Rule number one: no flying and eating.”
“Flying?” I swallowed hard, remembering what it had been like when Blake flew me away from Isaac and then back to the Harpers’. The nausea slowly started to rear its ugly head. “How does that work anyway?” I took a large bite out of my toast and chewed quickly, hoping to dull the queasiness.
“With magic, of course. It’s one of the simplest forms, actually. That is one of the first things we will learn. But we are getting way ahead of ourselves here. Just finish up your breakfast. We will have plenty of magic-talk today. I promise, by the end of the day, you will be begging me to stop.”
She made it sound so simple, and I began to feel a little apprehensive. What if the summoning spell didn’t work? What if they had it all wrong and I was not the great and powerful Astoria they thought I was? They had quite an expectation of me, and I hoped that I lived up to it in the end.
I stuffed the last bite of toast into my mouth and stood up, ready to go.
“Chew and swallow, I don’t want you to choke on the way over there.” She laughed, shaking her head.
I chewed and swallowed, opening my mouth to her just to prove it was empty.
All of a sudden, my world as I knew it was spinning, and I had no control. It continued like that for about a minute or so, and then I could feel myself slowing down and then finally coming to a stop. Even though my body had come to a halt, my head continued to go round and round.
“Whew, that is tiring with two people. I forgot how exhausting that is.” I heard Abby speak, but I could not focus on her face. “Don’t worry; the dizziness—”
“…will fade, just breathe,” I interrupted her. “You forget, this is not my first time flying.”
It took me a few minutes to gain my bearings back and to realize that I was in a place that
I did not recognize.
“Where are we?”
“Steer Swamp.” She grinned.
“Wow, that’s impressive. You got us all the way over here in just those few seconds?” I asked, astonished.
She smiled proudly. “Yes, it was actually fifty-eight seconds to be exact, but I’m a little rusty. Can you walk? You don’t look so good.”
“Yeah, I can walk.” I stood up, determined to prove it, but the moment I got up, I stumbled forward.
Abby caught me before I collapsed onto the green grass. “Oh, boy. This is going to be fun. Come on, I have us set up over here.” She groaned as she lifted my arm over her head.
“Set up?” I questioned.
“What did you think, that I was going to fly over here with you and all the supplies? I’m a teacher, not a miracle worker.”
We walked about twenty feet. Behind a large wall of trees, we came into a small open space. We stopped, and she guided me down to a small circle on the ground. It was about three feet in diameter and looked to be made from a mixture of flowers, pine needles, and some type of ash. She sat across from me and asked for my hands. I reached over, placing my hands into hers, mimicking her by crossing my legs into an Indian-style position. Immediately, energy rushed over me. There was a tingling sensation shooting throughout my body, and for the first time, I actually believed that powers did exist somewhere in me.
“Follow my lead. Just relax, let your body open up to the energy and the natural elements. I will take care of everything else.”
She closed her eyes, so I did the same. She began to murmur something under her breath, and I tried my hardest not to concentrate on her voice. Instead, I let every bone and muscle in my body relax. It was difficult at first, but slowly it felt like my body was melting into the earth. I was tempted to open my eyes to see what was happening, but I resisted. Soon I was totally zoned out, feeling like I was having almost an out-of-body experience.
Then there was silence. No wind rustling the leaves in the trees above us, no birds chirping happily, and no more chanting from Abby. I sat there frozen, unable to open my eyes in fear of what I would see if I did.
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