by Cecy Robson
“Genevieve,” I say. “What’s happening?”
“Fate and Destiny can’t co-exist,” she says, mirroring Gemini’s exact words. She slams the edge of her staff into the ground, tracing a circle around Johnny’s writhing body. On the opposite side, the other witch does the same.
Genevieve steals a glance my way. “The skies are reacting to their magic. If Ines and I don’t create a strong enough barrier to encase him, and buy the others time to get Destiny off the mountain, the mountain will split.”
“The mountain will split?”
“Yes,” she replies, moving quickly. “Fate and Destiny should never meet.” She looks up and toward the road. “She’s coming. She’s coming now.”
What feels like a tsunami of magic rages down the mountain. Johnny is screaming, but over his screams, and the increasing clamor of thunder and lightning, I hear her.
Destiny’s cries fill my ears, the anguish in her sobs palpable. The air shifts, each particle filling with the extent of her hurt.
Tye, now human, slowly rises, his naked skin dripping with sweat. “What are you doing to her?” he roars, his fierce gaze fixed on Johnny.
The wolves growl, snapping their fangs and keeping Tye from Johnny.
Genevieve and Ines begin chanting in their respective languages, their voices raised and their magic pumping into each syllable. But it’s not enough. Their words of power only mildly affect the cacophony of energy advancing toward us.
The witches dig their staffs into the ground, yelling over the destruction of the escalating storm. A globe, alternating in sparks of silver and yellow surround Johnny, growing denser with each punch of magic the witches use to reinforce it.
More lightning, more thunder. The storm is closing in, bringing down more trees. Genevieve and Ines are now screaming, putting everything they have into their spell. But they’re only two people trying to stop a dam of energy from bursting.
Wicked winds swirl, turning the small space between us into a cyclone of divination, and leaving us in the eye.
Koda changes back. “It’s not working,” he hollers. His long hair smacks against his face. “We have to get our mates out.”
Gemini looks to the road. “We can’t leave the Fate, nor can we risk drawing him closer to Destiny!” he yells. “Genevieve, we need a stronger blockade around the Fate.”
“We’re trying!” she counters. Her voice is barely audible, and like Ines, her entire body is quaking.
“Proteggere!” Genevieve commands. “Proteggere!”
“Protéger!” Ines orders. “Protéger!”
Protect they mean, nourishing the spell with all their might. They’re trying and formidable. They’re just not enough.
That tsunami of power I felt approaching amplifies, ready to drop as an army of SUVs careen down the mountain.
My right arm shakes uncontrollably, making it hard to keep my feet. Each jolt of lightning that strikes the earth slaps at my power, challenging it and attempting to cast us aside.
Oh, and my arm doesn’t like it one bit.
The familiar buzz surges through me, coming to life and increasing in viciousness the closer the strikes land. My arm is angry. No, I’m angry. The foreign power I’m feeling more like a threat and an invasion, rather than something natural and welcomed.
I don’t think about what I’m doing. I follow my arm’s lead, permitting my fear and frustration to soak my magic in wrath. It’s now my arm and I challenging the clashing energy, calling it out and making it clear it’s not the only thing here with power.
I ball my hand into a fist and raise it, barely keeping the flowing energy tensing my muscles contained. “Power,” I whisper, my vision clearing as the potent energy effluxes and comes crashing down. “Give me power!”
All at once the bolts of lightning rampaging the sky thread, forming a flashing cobweb of light that join at the center and become one.
“Taran!”
Gemini’s voice is the last sound I hear before nature’s fury and everything that is Fate and Destiny strikes my arm.
My body crashes to the ground, the world as I know it fading in and out.
Chapter Fourteen
My teeth and skeleton are rattling out of control. Every bone colliding against itself, scrambling my brain and organs into mush.
My body twitches in response to the surplus of power, convulsing, thrashing, taking on a mind of its own.
It takes a long few moments for me to settle—at least, that’s what I think—except for my right arm which can’t stop quivering.
I’m lying on a bed of sand, that’s what it feels like. I can’t be sure how I landed on sand and I can’t make anything out. My eyelids are unusually heavy, giving me only blurry glimpses of my surroundings.
There’s no noise, no sound, no wicked winds beating against my skin and hair. There’s only silence that dreaded silence that always accompanies the end of life.
I think I’m dead.
My racing heartbeat threatening to implode within my chest proclaims otherwise. It also calls me a bitch for putting us through whatever the hell I put us through this time.
Somehow, I manage to pry open my eyes. As I watch, the once tumultuous clouds part, revealing the sun in all its morning glory.
For one quick breath, peace is all I see and feel. That tranquility, however, is abruptly obscured by Gemini’s face, his expression fierce as he clutches me against him.
He’s speaking fast. Not that I can hear him.
“What?” I ask, my voice sounding muffled.
I think he’s yelling. That’s what it looks like. His lips move slower and his features further tense. Something pops in my right ear and his voice fades in and out.
“God damn . . . crazy . . . the fuck . . . die . . . seriously. . . die . . .”
“What?” I ask again.
He lowers me, standing abruptly and peeling off his shirt.
A bombardment of little popping sounds overtakes my right ear. Emme appears in my line of vision. She takes Gem’s shirt and drapes it over me.
“Gemini’s angry,” she says, her voice barely perceivable. “About you devouring the storm. He’s right, Taran. You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I ate a storm?” I ask, my voice stuttering out of control.
She turns to where he’s pacing, and I think swearing, too. “Perhaps it’s more accurate to say you devoured Destiny and Johnny’s combined magic. Well, at least your arm did.” She tucks a strand of her hair when it falls around her cheek. “Whatever happened allowed Destiny to pass. She’s off the mountain and headed away from Squaw Valley.”
Emme sounds as if she’s under water. It’s only because I’m straining to hear and reading her lips that I catch as much as I do. “Is she all right?” I manage.
“I don’t know,” she replies. “She was screaming as she passed. The Elders were trying to shield her like the witches shielded Johnny. It wasn’t enough.” She folds the shirt around my waist. “But you were. You were everything they needed.”
“Dude,” Shayna says. She shoves her face in mine as the pressure dulling my left ear eases slightly. “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.” She thinks about. “Except for the time you set the entire sky on fire. That was pretty cool, too.”
She pulls off her shirt and tugs it over my head, leaving her wearing only a sports bra. I don’t know why everyone continues to take off their clothes and cover me until I realize I’m naked.
“What the hell?” I ask, scrambling to push up on my elbows.
I fall perfectly still when I realize my legs are bent at the knee and I’m buried in blue ash from my shins down.
Shayna holds out her hands. “You should have seen yourself, T. It’s like Thor himself swung his hammer and brought it down on your arm —only there was no, you know, hammer. Just lightning. Lots and lots of lightning.”
“Uh-huh,” I say, grateful I missed the show.
I try wiggling my toes. Turns out I
can’t. For now, I’m just thankful they’re still attached, given Shayna’s oh-too descriptive visual of me being nailed into the earth.
Emme ties Gemini’s shirt around me like a skirt when I sit up. “You sort of . . . exploded,” she explains. “And the blast disintegrated the ground.”
The retelling becomes too much for Gemini. He abandons his cursing fit and lifts me in one smooth move, placing me further back and near what resembles a burning shoe. My charred outline remains on the ground. With a trembling hand, I try to toss my hair over my shoulder, except all I feel is bare skin. I gasp, thinking I’m bald.
“It’s still there, T,” Shayna assures me, her words releasing in spurts of sound. “It’s just sticking up a little.” She does an arching motion around her head. “Like an afro. But I think Genevieve can fix it and give you back your eyebrows.”
“My eyebrows?” I ask, not wanting to believe what came out of her mouth.
“Totally,” Shayna adds, nodding. “You fried them and your lashes clean off.” She holds out her hands. “But don’t worry. I don’t think anyone will notice and, on the plus side, you may never need another bikini wax again.”
“Oh, God,” I whimper, touching my face. All I feel is smooth skin and lots of ash.
I look up to where Genevieve and Ines elegantly wait. But don’t you worry one damn minute, they’re fine and still very much have their eyebrows. In fact, both raise theirs when they get a gander of me.
Their beautiful maiden gowns sway in the dying breeze, along with their silky hair. Meanwhile I’m standing in a tube top that barely keeps my breasts in, a ripped T-shirt for a skirt, and the only hair on my body levitating in the air.
“How’s it going?” I ask, stepping forward.
“Fine,” Ines replies, her French accent thick and just as lovely as her face, even as it fades in and out. “Et toi?”
“Oh, I’m dandy. Just missing some hair.” I shrug. “It happens, you feel me?”
She nods. Sort of.
Vieve can’t stop staring at my forehead. “That was quite a display of power, Sister Taran,” she says. I can barely hear her, but I don’t think she’s whispering. Like my sister and Ines, her voice is most like a muffled and distant echo, its pitch alternating from almost normal, to barely audible.
“Tell me about it,” I say. Her eyes widen. “What’s wrong? Am I yelling?”
She appears almost afraid to answer, looking to my sisters for guidance. “Ah, yes.”
“Oh. Sorry.” I stop just in front of her, muttering through my teeth. “You can fix this shit, right?”
“I . . . hope so,” she says, casting an apologetic glance in Gemini’s direction.
Awesome.
I continue forward, trying to strut and failing miserably. With how bad my arm continues to jerk and twitch, I can’t even walk a straight line.
My focus travels to Johnny where he’s sitting on the ground. He looks weak, tired, and is breathing fast, but he’s no longer screaming in agony, nor does he seem in pain. I’m glad. I don’t know him, but it was hard to watch him suffer like he did. And poor Destiny, I can’t help thinking she’s worse off.
Not that I’m the only one who’s thinking of her.
Tye appears ready to charge. If it weren’t for the wall Bren and Koda are making with their colossal bodies, and the way Gemini’s twin wolf continues to circle him, Johnny’s blood would be dripping from Tye’s fangs. Johnny can sense as much, his full attention on Tye.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Gemini mutters tightly. I didn’t know he was behind me, my hearing still out of sorts. He adjusts my clothes, making sure I’m covered. “You could have been killed.”
My hands fall against his skin, leaving blue and white soot marks. I try to wipe it off, only to give up when I make it worse. “I didn’t have a choice,” I say, hoping I’m keeping my voice soft. I motion to the damaged trees surrounding us. “We were all going to die.”
“That doesn’t automatically make you the go-to sacrifice.” He releases me slowly as if it pains him. I want to reassure him except I don’t get a chance. He leaves me and walks to where the wolves await his orders.
I wish we could leave. But as much as we’ve already faced and fought through, his job isn’t done and our situation is far from over.
I hurry behind him, at least I try to. Something is off in my balance, and the world isn’t quite as I remembered it.
Mounds of blue and white ash expand across the perimeter, creating a flower with petals extending out in sharp sweeps. My guess is, the way all the bolts intertwined, I was hit with one mighty blow, the residual power branching out of my body and creating the blossom.
Each step I take reminds me of the soft, powder sand along the Caribbean beaches, except instead of white sand, there’s ash in swirls of blue and white. It must have been something to see, but it was a whole something else to perform it. I don’t think I was unconscious long, just long enough to settle the weather-beaten atmosphere and stop the earth from quaking.
If I had to repeat the process, I’m not positive I would be able to, or if I’d survive. I pretty much followed my arm’s instincts and magic, unsure exactly where she’d lead us.
Shayna helps Emme forward until both stand beside me. I hadn’t realized I’d stopped walking. The way the earth continued to sway, I assumed my legs were still moving.
“What happened exactly?” I ask, watching the world pitch from side to side and briefly pondering if it might be me and not it.
“You blew up and everything around you,” Shayna tells me. “But whatever you took, you took for the team. The earth rumbled at our feet, but we didn’t feel the impact.” She gives me the once-over. “I mean, not like you.”
“Good,” I say, thankful I didn’t barbecue the entire mountainside and everyone on it.
Shayna clasps my hand when I take another few steps. It’s then I realize I’m headed away from everyone and into the woods. “Are you okay?” she questions.
“Sure. Why do you ask?” I answer, wondering why there are two of her.
Both Shaynas blink back at me. “You’re wobbling. Not in a bad way, more like a baby learning to walk.” She looks around and behind me. “You might try walking with your legs closed, if you can.” She crinkles her nose. “That skirt you have going on wasn’t made for squatting, if you know what I mean.”
I nod slowly, noting how dizzy the motion makes me. “All right.”
“I think you need help,” Emme says. The soft touch of her fingers brush against my cheek before I can ask her who she’s talking to. “There could be something off in your system.”
“Could be,” I agree.
“I’m over here, Taran,” she says, carefully. “That’s a tree you’re speaking to.”
“Sorry, I didn’t notice,” I say. And I still don’t notice now.
“Oh, I see,” Emme says quietly. “You ruptured your eardrums, and you have some ah, bruising at the base of your skull.”
Almost immediately, the world rights itself. I feel myself straighten and my balance returns. “Better?” she asks.
“Yes,” I reply. I didn’t realize how bad I was until she fixed me. I sigh and fuss with my makeshift skirt. “Much better. Thank you.”
Gemini frowns in my direction, his voice low as he speaks into his cell phone. He must have heard my conversation with Emme and is likely bothered by how much I tried to mask.
He disconnects, looking to Tye. “Destiny is safe. The Elders have settled her at one of our strongholds.”
“How is she?” Tye asks, his glare cutting in Johnny’s direction. “‘Safe’ isn’t good enough and doesn’t tell me shit.”
Tye stands naked, giving us a full view of his muscles and everything else God gave him because Tye is were and doesn’t give a damn.
“She’s sick, Tye,” Gemini answers. “Whatever happened left her weak.”
My wolf doesn’t bother to sugar-coat anything, but I was counting on a little hope.
“Is she in pain?” Tye asks.
“No, not like before. Mostly weak and fragile.”
“How fragile?” Tye curses when Gemini doesn’t answer. “Just tell me.”
The silence between them is almost too much to take. “She’s dying, Tye,” Gemini tells him. “The Elders don’t think she has much time left.”
Shayna sucks in a breath. All I can do is cover my mouth.
The color drains from Tye’s face. “That’s not possible,” he says. He glances around as if searching for something. “She was fine yesterday. I talked to her on the phone. She wanted to meet up when she returned—”
Gemini meets him square in the face, silencing him instantly. “I’m sorry,” he tells him. “You have the Pack’s deepest condolences, and I swear, we’ll help you and Destiny anyway we can.”
Tye doesn’t seem to hear him or understand. Shock riddles his features only to be displaced by an unrelenting fury. “How the fuck is she dying?” Tye asks, his eyes glistening with all the pain he feels on behalf of his dear friend. “She’s a Destiny. Destinies don’t die. They keep going until another is born to take her place.”
“Another did take her place,” Ines responds, her tone flat as she scrutinizes Johnny. “Just not in the way any of us could have predicted.”
Tye hones in on Johnny. “Bullshit. He’s not taking her place,” he says, his stone-cold tone, holding everyone in place. “That’s not how this is supposed to work.”
“How is it supposed to work?”
Emme’s words are barely noticeable, the breeze rustling the thick pine needles and the tension stabbing the air drowning out her meek voice.
“Tye, Destiny is our friend,” she says, her stare softening as she looks at Tye. She wipes a tear that falls. “None of us want anything to happen to her, and I’m not trying to upset you. I merely want to understand what’s happened so I can help, or somehow make this right.”
“There is no making this right, Emme,” Tye tells her. He regards the witches, the anger he’s feeling punching out every syllable. “Is there?”