I opened the driver’s door and she moved around to the passenger’s side. I stood there staring at the closed car door before I climbed in.
“You don’t want to drive?” I asked as I put the keys into the ignition and started the car.
“No, of course not,” she muttered.
“Are you going to tell me where we are going, then? Or am I just supposed to drive us around in a circle until I guess correctly?”
“I need to go to the Guild in Spokane,” she said, and I flinched.
I paused as I rubbernecked at her, sure I hadn’t heard her correctly. “You mean the newly remodeled one? The one that’s currently being built into a fortress—that Guild?” I asked.
“Yes, I know a way inside,” she replied, as if she’d said it was a nice sunny day outside, which it wasn’t. It was storming and nasty outside. And she wanted to go to the Guild, the same one I’d almost lost my head at, thanks to a crazy blonde with a large sword, who happened to be with the Fae.
“You know they’re actually there, watching it,” I mumbled. “If they catch us breaking in, they aren’t going to like it.”
She shrugged as if it was of little consequence. “Whatever comes at us, you can handle,” she said after a few moments of silence had passed.
“Uh, no, I can’t. They’re Fae, Kendra. Like, the immortal Fae of the world who don’t die and are mostly immune to magic—not to mention, they have an actual Fae who trained as a witch and isn’t one to be fucked with.”
She shrugged again and watched out the window as we passed the town’s sign. She turned as we passed it. “Where’s the Haven Crest sign?”
I scrunched up my nose, laughing at her. “They took it down when they decided it wasn’t needed anymore. It sits in front of town hall. They taught us that in our lessons. It was replaced with the one for Metaline Falls.”
“Sorry, I have chunks missing from my memory from before…well, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
We made it to the Guild in a little under an hour and pulled up outside a decrepit old building. I parked the car and we climbed out, eyeing the rickety old thing with unease. It looked as if it had been built when the traders first entered this city and named it.
“You’re sure this is the place?” I asked, gazing down the street to where the Guild stood with pristine new doors and stairs that led up to them. That was new, but it had been a little while since I’d been here—or the news cameras had been brave enough to get close enough to get a good image of it, for that matter.
“There’s a basement with stairs that lead into the catacombs that run inside the Guild. You can reach the secrets rooms through it. They’ll be none the wiser.”
“You were here before,” I stated, not bothering to ask it as a question.
“Many times,” she agreed. “They have archives of the first covens and even more than that. Creatures you cannot begin to believe even exist; their information is also stored in the Guild so that it was protected from our enemies.”
“I understand that, but why would you come? You knew it wasn’t safe here for you.”
“Curiosity, at first, and then I needed facts,” she explained as she pushed open the ancient door, which resisted. I pushed against it with her, and together we opened it. I dusted off my hands and then rushed to catch up as she led the way to the basement.
“This place reeks,” I said, wondering how her pregnant nose could handle it.
“At one time it was a paper mill used by both the Guild and the newspaper. Then the Guild closed itself off to the other factions, keeping its secrets protected from the outside world.” She headed down a set of stairs that looked less than sturdy. I followed her, wondering where her fear had gone. She’d been adventurous, yes, but she was afraid of heights and right now we were walking down the oldest staircase in the world, without a bottom in sight.
“And you know this how?” I countered as the wood creaked beneath us.
“History lessons, where else?” she scoffed as we followed it down to the bottom.
What felt like an eternity later we reached the bottom, the floor was submerged in water. She didn’t hesitate, just moved right through it as she headed towards the Guild.
“What do you need from the Guild?” I asked, and she stopped, swiveling to look at me.
“Why all the questions?”
“Because I’m curious what we are risking our lives for. What could they possibly have that you need?”
“They have a few necklaces, for starters, ones that ward off demons. They also have a lot of items that would assist us in fighting Lucifer, should it come to it. We need everything we can get to protect ourselves against him. You have no idea how evil he is.”
“Kendra, he’s the devil—it’s self-explanatory.”
“Actually, he’s not the devil. That would be Satan, who is one step up from him. He’s the Prince of Darkness, or Lucifer. Secondly, there are worse monsters in the world than him, now that every monster known to mankind can be freed.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s the worst of our problems at the moment,” I said as I pushed against a secret door that popped open, releasing even more water into the already growing pool at our feet.
“These items will help us,” she insisted as we stepped onto dry ground as we passed through the doorway. “Close it behind us.”
I closed it and followed her. She whispered the spell for light, and several candles that adorned the shelf-wall exploded with flames. The deeper we got into the Guild, the worse the feeling of being caught grew.
It wasn’t until we hit a room that was filled with skulls that I paused, taking in the single coffin, which sat alone. It was old, and it was beautifully inscribed. I shivered as the candlelight bathed the wording, glowing as we passed it. Shivering again, I continued following her out of the room until she stood in front of the room that had held the grimoires inside it.
She waited, eyeing it until she realized it wouldn’t open on its own. She frowned, moving to it and pushing it open. Inside, nothing remained but a few trinkets. She spun in a complete circle.
“Impossible,” she said, pushing her hair away from her face and holding it back. “There should be stacks of grimoires and jewels in here. The archive said it was rimming with artifacts from the coven’s journey here.”
“I read that a mad witch placed them here, in care of the Guild,” I muttered, and the color drained from her face.
“Mad? She was being hunted, she wasn’t mad. She was brilliant, the first to turn dark aside from the witches of old, and she remained so for a time before she caved to the desire to turn fully dark. She wrote about it for others so that we could forge through to become what was needed! They’re archived here by the Guild’s elders. If they were here, maybe they could tell us who took them?”
“The Guild fell, Kendra. Shortly after you were here, it fell to an evil from within.”
“A Guild doesn’t fall, it’s the Guild.”
“You knew it fell, remember?” I asked as she shook her head.
“That’s impossible,” she argued. “Come; there are other things she left here.”
I didn’t move. “Who is she?”
“The witches of our coven,” she said as if I was a lame child who had been told many times before. “In time of wars, they hid things for the others in case the coven fell.” I followed her with an uneasy feeling as she moved back into the room with the coffin. She started at the wall, removing the skulls and, every once in a while, pulling out a piece of jewelry from inside of it. It was going to take forever.
“Isn’t this like violating the dead’s peace?” I asked, reaching for a skull.
“Not if they gave their lives for ours. Most would have been placed here after death, but in times of discord, it’s an honor for a witch to give her life and soul to protect the cov
en. They hide memories, information, spells, and sometimes pieces of our protection jewels. Once you finish recreating it, you have a powerful charm that can either be of light or darkness.”
I offered her a crystal I pulled from a skull and she smiled as I dropped it into her growing pile. Once every skull had been searched and placed into its pile as she’d instructed, she moved towards the coffin.
“Some would even give their life to hunt the coven’s enemies into the new world, to revenge her sisters or the one she loved. I read that this one gave her soul to have it attached to another witch…to capture a monster, one she planned to kill.”
“That’s horrible,” I said, noting I’d read the coffin’s inscription wrong.
“Why? Why is revenge bad if it saves those you love? I think she was brave; to be soulless isn’t something many can handle, and yet hers left her to join with others. So she could never move on, so she slumbers endlessly.”
“You mean she’s alive?” I asked hesitantly.
“Not quite. Her soul joined with another, therefore she was fractured. If a piece of the soul leaves the body and another piece isn’t tethered, both souls leave both bodies. Tethering a soul takes time, though, and isn’t an easy thing to do. She tethered hers, which allowed the host to keep her inside of her as this body died. Unfortunately, when she would be reborn, she’d know only that for which she spelled herself to, and those memories would go to the same soul the larger portion died with.”
“So she’d take control of the soul and body?” I asked, not following the logic.
“If she was strong enough to silence the host and eventually kill the soul, yes,” she said as she pushed the top of the coffin off and it shattered on the rock floor. I looked around and then stepped back, unwilling to look upon the remains inside the coffin.
She searched it, uncaring of the dead inside of it. I stepped back even further, observing as she pulled things out and placed them into her pockets. I felt them before I saw them. The air sizzled with power and the hair on my nape stood up with awareness.
“Kendra,” I whispered as I moved to her and whispered the words to make us invisible. No sooner had I done it than a male with dark blond hair materialized inches from us. Synthia was next, dressed in a flowing white gown. I almost gave a sigh of relief, until a monster sifted in with huge gossamer wings the color of the midnight sky. His irises glowed amber as he stared right at the coffin.
“Lena,” Synthia sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Three seconds, that’s how long before I start swinging this time,” she growled.
I dropped the spell and exhaled slowly as everyone did a double take of me and Kendra. Kendra threw her hand in the air, intending to cast magic. I pushed her hands down at the last second.
“Why did you stop me!” she demanded.
“Because they won’t hurt us,” I stated as I stared Synthia down.
“You said they would kill us,” she hissed.
“No, I said they wouldn’t like us in here to deter you from wanting to be in here.”
“It’s our stuff!” she huffed angrily.
“Synthia,” I whispered, trying to fight for calm. The beast moved and my eyes moved up, and up, and up, until my neck was careening to see. I exhaled a shaky breath and stepped back, hitting something solid. I spun around, finding glowing sapphire orbs staring at me with interest.
“Play nice, Zahruk,” Synthia laughed. “Change back before you break their poor necks. Fairy, do not growl at me. Lena, explain why you are here. You already…” I shook my head behind Kendra and Synthia’s words stalled. “I expect a reply.”
“We needed items that the coven hid here so that we can fight the demons,” I explained as Kendra scowled at them with disdain.
“And you didn’t think to just ask?” she offered.
“No, I don’t think we actually put much thought into this at all,” I admitted and observed Zahruk’s lips as they lifted into a seductive grin. Ryder laughed outright, and Synthia covered her own laughter with her hand.
“I would have to agree; the moment you entered, the alarms were triggered,” she said softly.
Power rippled through the area and I looked around curiously, leveling Adam with a cold glare as he sifted in. He smirked nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t been all over me helping Lucian.
“Asshole,” I seethed angrily.
“Lena, good to see you with more…of your own mind,” he replied easily. “Glad to see you made it out of there alive.”
“Not with your help—what was the price for helping him brand me? Helping them brand me?” I demanded.
“What is she talking about?” Synthia asked, her gaze moving between my stiff anger and his easy grin.
“Lucian asked for a favor and I granted it, so now he owes me.”
“And what did you have to do?” she demanded.
“He turned me mindless against their…stuff,” I amended at the last moment as heat filled my cheeks.
“Is that true, Adam?” she asked softly, but he stood up straight and had the decency to look guilty as he scratched his head.
“You know what he does, you know what I needed,” he explained.
“She didn’t deserve that, no woman does.”
“You think I liked doing it? I mean, she’s hot as fuck, but she’s not the one I want—but I needed him to owe me a favor. He’d have found some other asshole that wouldn’t have cared if she was damaged in the process. She’s alive, she has her mind. She should be happy it was me and not someone else.”
“Are you guys brother and sister?” I asked, feeling a tug at my heart as Joshua’s image shimmered briefly before vanishing. They stopped, eyeing me as I surveyed them.
“No, but we were raised here together,” she said before she moved closer. “You should go, and next time, ask us first. If it is from your coven, it is yours, not ours. I have no issue with giving them to you, unless they will harm you, Lena.”
“Some witches are born in the fire. Others spend their lifetime trying to grasp it. I don’t grasp anymore. I am the fire now.” I tapped my head. “I am bathed in fire and born under the blood moon, Synthia. You need not worry about me, not for that reason anyway.” Zahruk passed me, moving into the other room as Ryder exited the one we were in. I twisted around, preparing to tell Kendra I agreed that we should go, but she was gone. “What the hell?” I moved to the coffin, finding nothing but artifacts and a staircase that led deeper into the bowels of the catacombs.
“She left you soon after we caught you,” Synthia said as she tilted her head. “I, however, needed to know how you did that, so I let her go since I assumed you didn’t want her to know.”
“Did what?” I asked, feeling an overwhelming urge to follow Kendra.
“Took the grimoires into your mind and are holding on to them. No one has ever done it before and lived,” she replied. “There are stories of witches who tried and failed. They died within seconds of it. You still have them and are in control.”
“I don’t know, honestly. I just touched the pages and they filled my mind.”
She narrowed her gaze as she considered my words, and then nodded. “Keep your secrets, Lena, but you should go. We hadn’t planned on staying much longer. Until we have guards stationed here, it isn’t safe for mortals.”
“But Kendra, she can’t be alone. She’s been through hell, literally.”
“We will find her and bring her to the abbey, promise.”
I left before they could change their minds. Kendra had ditched me, and she’d left me to face the Fae alone. Not cool. Not when this was her idea in the first place. I got in the car and looked around, hating that she wasn’t with me.
I took off for home. As soon as I entered the stretch of highway that led into town, a flash of light hit the car, the sound of glass shattering filled the small space. I didn’t
have time to react before the car flipped end over end in the middle of the road. My face slammed against the steering wheel before the airbag deployed and the car came to a crashing stop on the roof in the middle of the road.
I could smell the obnoxious odor of gas, but I couldn’t move. Pain held me locked there, unable to move or do anything to help myself. I could see the feet of shadowy figures, several pairs of them as they approached the car. I mumbled for help, but nothing came out except a pain-filled gurgle. More shadows approached from the side of the car, moving towards the others, and then they collided. Light exploded, as if they were throwing light at each other.
Strong arms reached for me, pushing the shattered window away as my seatbelt was cut. I could hear other noises—fighting? I could see shadows moving around the car, heard the sound of metal clashing, along with other things. Everything blurred in and out as I blinked. The smell of gas and the sound of it pouring onto concrete made my stomach heave. I felt something tug against the seatbelt as the noise of cloth being cut and the pain sliced through me as someone pulled me from the car. Gentle arms held me, cradling me against a chest. I didn’t see who it was, didn’t care. We moved away from the car, and then it erupted into an array of lights as it exploded.
The world blurred around me, and pain tore me apart as consciousness eluded me.
Chapter 23
My eyelids cracked open as debilitating pain erupted in my entire body as consciousness slowly came back. I groaned as the pain ripped through me. My face ached to the point that I almost gave in to the icy claws that fought to pull back to unconsciousness. I peeked around as best as I could, considering my head felt as if it was weighted down.
I’d been brought to a cottage, one that was covered in a fine layer of dust. There was a picture of an older couple displayed on the wall above a crackling fire that burned in the hearth. Candles fed the room light while the sound of something hitting something else pulled my attention to the dark corner of the room.
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