by Baker, Apryl
“Earth and Air, I summon thee
To hide us from eyes that must not see.
Shield us and protect us, so that we may learn
What they wish to keep unknown from us.”
Okay, it wasn’t the best thing I’d ever come up with and it didn’t really even rhyme, but I don’t think it honestly mattered. A jolt of something like static electricity coursed through me and I breathed in the scent of freshly mown grass carried on a fragrant summer breeze. It invaded my senses, wrapped around me like a warm, comfy quilt on a cold winter’s night. A peaceful calm washed through me and the panic retreated. We were safe. I knew it. I gave Jeff’s hand a reassuring squeeze and he stared at me in awe. Could he feel it too? Did he smell what I did?
“As you all know, the preparations have already been made.” Mr. Martin opened the door. “Everything is ready. We just need to double check the specifics as no one has even opened the book since the last time…”
His voice trailed off as his eyes fell upon the pedestal. An outraged gasp seemed to echo among the men staring past him. The room erupted into shouts.
“Be quiet!” Mr. Martin yelled. He walked further into the room and muttered something I couldn’t hear. He searched every inch of the room with his gaze. His eyes passed over Jeff and me without faltering. I wanted to shout for joy. It had worked. We were really safe. They couldn’t see us. Thank you, Elements.
“The wards have been broken,” Mr. Parker bit out. Anger blazed in his voice. “These wards were put in place three years ago and no one has been able to get through them since.”
“Until now,” Mr. Corey, the drugstore owner, pointed out.
“Yes, we can see that, Mark,” Mr. Martin barked. “I can’t find a trace of magic. Whoever broke these wards and stole the book is very good.”
“Who would have stolen the book?” Mr. Corey asked.
“Who indeed,” Mr. Martin murmured. “We need to call a meeting immediately. Mark, have Gretta start contacting everyone. The rest of you help her. I want everyone at the Hall within the hour.”
“Gregg, a moment please,” Mr. Martin stopped Jeff’s dad. “Will you check in with Roger?”
“Surely you don’t think he would have stolen the book?”
“He has more reason than anyone,” Mr. Martin shook his head. “After Emily’s…accident, he’s going to do what he can to hinder us. And he’s the only other besides myself who has the power to break those wards.”
“Still, Jonas, I don’t think Roger would have done this. That book is the most important asset we have. It’s invaluable to the Coven and if nothing else, he’s still loyal to this Coven.”
“Is he?” Mr. Martin asked angrily. “Where has he been the last three years? He stepped down as our leader and left us to grieve alone. Does his loyalty still lie with our Coven? Will he do what must be done? Or will he try and stop us?”
“What do you expect, Jonas? His daughter died. If it had been Jeff or Meg, I might have done the same thing. We all deal with grief in different ways. It doesn’t mean we forget where our loyalties lie. He’ll do what needs to be done.”
What needs to be done? I wanted to shout.
“I’m not so sure,” Mr. Martin disagreed.
“And you, Jonas, are you willing to sacrifice…”
“You know that I am, Gregg. If it’s what needs to be done, then I will do it. We cannot know the truth until Samhain.”
Mr. Parker let out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you, Gregg.”
“I’ll just stop by the library and let Jeff know to be here for the meeting first.” Mr. Parker turned to leave.
“Jeff is at the library this early?” Mr. Martin asked, surprised.
“Yes, he and CJ went over there this morning.”
“CJ?” Mr. Martin asked sharply. “He’s with CJ?”
Mr. Parker nodded. “She’s helping him with Calculus.”
Mr. Martin’s lips pursed. “That’s a good idea, Gregg. I’ll see you when you get back.”
I held onto Jeff’s hand and edged to the door. We needed to get out before it closed.
“So, CJ was up and about this morning, was she?” Mr. Martin mused to himself as he turned back to the empty pedestal.
We didn’t wait for him to finish. We ran. Jeff and I flew through the kitchen and out the back door, only stopping when we got to the back entrance of the library.
“Hurry,” Jeff urged and pulled open the service door. We climbed the back stairs and settled into one of the study areas upstairs. Jeff pulled out his Calculus book and handed a bunch of papers to me. He opened his book to a random page and then we both took a minute to catch our breath.
“CJ, are we still hidden?”
Now how was I supposed to know? I shrugged. He rolled his eyes. “Dad needs to be able to see us.”
Oh. “Air and Earth, I thank you for the help and release you from my service.” It didn’t sound right, but it was the best I could come up with.
Again I felt a jolt of electricity as the Elements left us.
“Who the hell are you?” he growled. “You shouldn’t be able to do any of that. Not even Kay can do a concealment spell.”
What could I say? I didn’t have an answer anymore than he did.
“I’m telling you, Gregg, I haven’t seen either of them this morning,” Mrs. Guilford, the librarian, sounded flustered. “There’s no way they could be up here.”
The door opened and Mr. Parker strode in. He eyed us both with a calculating look.
“Dad?” Jeff looked up from his book. He looked way too nervous, like a kid who’d just got caught stealing his mom’s fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.
“How long have you been here?” his dad asked him, frowning.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “A while.”
“But I didn’t see you come in,” Mrs. Guilford looked puzzled. “How did you get up here?”
“You weren’t at your desk, Mrs. Guilford,” I smiled. “We didn’t see the need to bother you and just came on up to the study area. Were we supposed to let you know?”
“No, no, dear, of course not. It must have been when I stepped away to get a cup of coffee,” she shook her head.
“Jeff, there’s a mandatory meeting at the Hall at nine,” Mr. Parker told his son. “Don’t be late.”
“Meeting?” Jeff frowned. “This early?”
“Yes. Same for you, Betty,” he told Mrs. Guilford. “CJ, you might want to get on home.”
“Yes, sir,” I nodded.
Jeff let out the biggest sigh I’ve ever heard and slumped in his chair when the door closed behind his father and Mrs. Guilford. “I thought we were so totally busted.”
“Have a little faith, Neighbor Boy.” I slumped down into my own chair. I’d thought there for a minute we were busted too.
“CJ, you know you’re freakin scary, right?” He started shoving his stuff back into the bookbag. “The things you can do…it’s just freaking unbelievable.”
I felt like a freak, but didn’t tell him that. It wasn’t my fault the Elements responded to me. I didn’t ask for it and I didn’t want it, but I had to get up to speed and quick.
“Can you bring over some books tonight?” I asked. “Something on the Elements maybe?”
“Yeah,” he nodded and stood. “I can do that. Just be careful okay?”
“Sure,” I smiled. “You’d best get going before they come looking.”
“I might not be able to tell you anything about the meeting,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure you won’t,” I laughed. “That’s alright. We’ll figure this out.”
“We will,” he promised and left.
Alone, I started to shake. I wanted to throw up. I learned more than I wanted to.
Dad. They thought he took the Book because of what happened to Emily, or rather Kay’s dad did. Mr. Martin knew what happened to Emily. I felt it in the very marrow of my bones. It was the way he’d s
aid the word accident, like he knew it wasn’t an accident. Had he caused her accident? If he had…there wouldn’t be a place on this Earth he could hide from me.
I would get to the bottom of this no matter what I had to do.
There wasn’t a lot I could learn without the Book…or was there? The Celtic symbol. I could do some research online. It was a huge part of our heritage, so it might be a good place to start. Just not here.
With a plan of action in mind, I left the library and headed home.
It was time to do some digging.
Chapter Sixteen
The internet is a vast and wonderful place. It’s also the most frustrating thing ever created. I Googled Celtic symbols and literally a thousand pages popped back. I tried pagan symbols. Same thing. The morning passed slowly as I sorted through the junk, but by afternoon, I started to feel a bit of excitement. I came across a website listing Celtic gods and goddesses and the symbols associated with each one. While I didn’t find an exact match, I did find two that would look like mine if they were combined. Jackpot.
Arwan was an old God of War and sometimes called the silver-tongued King of Hell. He rode, collecting souls for the Underworld. He was called upon when vengeance was needed and mortal means were not deemed suitably harsh enough. Arwan would collect the souls to serve in his Hell for eternity. The second deity I discovered was Agrona, goddess of war and slaughter. There wasn’t a lot known about her except that she was called upon in battle to ensure the slaughter of a clan’s enemy.
Our school uniforms bore the combined insignia of the god and goddess of death, destruction, and slaughter. As did the town monument. In a way, I could understand the choice. Our families had been betrayed by members of their own Coven, and anyone would want vengeance. The curse had to have something to do with that betrayal. Maybe the symbol was a way of reminding the future generations of what their ancestors lost and to strengthen the desire to keep that hatred alive? Just because I understood it, didn’t mean I agreed with it.
I went on a fishing expedition and Googled the word curse and the thirteenth daughter. Useless. Nothing relating to Salem or the burnings came back. I really didn’t expect to find anything, but tried nonetheless. I figured it was worth a shot.
One thing left to check. Ethan Matthew Warren. I surfed through hundreds of pages, but could find no one remotely similar to Ethan. No Facebook, no My Space, no Twitter, no nothing. Who in their right mind didn’t at least have a Facebook page? Apparently my boyfriend. Was he really who he said he was? The bigger question, and one I didn’t have an answer to, was why couldn’t I just trust him like he asked? I shook my head and turned my thoughts back to the symbol.
Even though I discovered what might be the origins of our insignia, I was still sitting at square one. Emily’s Book of Shadows was nowhere to be found, then someone had the audacity to steal my damn Book. Maybe Dad. I knew without asking he wouldn’t tell me if he had. Worse, he’d want to know how I knew and I refused to lie to him again. I felt bad enough as it was for doing it before.
I was back to Emily’s Book of Shadows. I needed to find it. But how? I’d looked everywhere I could think of. She said I knew where it was, but I didn’t. I’d read every Nancy Drew mystery novel I could get my hands on when I was younger. I should be better at finding clues and solving mysteries. Dammit, why couldn’t something just be easy for once in my life?
“CJ!”
“Yeah, Dad?” I hollered.
“Someone’s here to see you!”
Jeff. Maybe he could tell me what happened at the meeting. I wasn’t betting on it. It wasn’t Jeff’s voice I heard, though, when I reached the top of the stairs. It was Ethan’s.
“You shouldn’t be anywhere near her,” Dad told him.
“Believe me, Mr. Bishop, Cassie is safer with me than with anyone else in town.”
“For now,” Dad growled.
Ethan remained silent.
For now? What did that mean?
“If you hurt her…”
“You already did that, I believe,” Ethan countered. His voice held the icy bite of a blizzard’s sharp sting. “Sir.”
Best to stop this before it went any further. I bounded down the stairs and stopped, my heart in my throat. He stood just inside the entryway holding a bouquet of daisies. His hair was tousled from the wind outside. A black, long sleeved tee-shirt molded to his biceps and abs and his poured on jeans hugged his ass indecently. I wanted to drool. Melt in your mouth M&M. And he was all mine.
“Hey,” I greeted him, a smile on my face.
He turned and looked me over from head to toe. The intense look in his eyes made me blush. Did he have to look at me like that and with my father not more than a foot away? I glared at him. He laughed.
“CJ, why didn’t you tell me you were dating Ethan?” Dad glowered at me.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “It just never came up.”
“Is he the jerk who had you in tears?” he asked, eyes boring into Ethan.
“Yeah, but he apologized for being an ass and I forgave him.”
“Ethan, dear,” Mom smiled hugely as she came out of the kitchen. “It’s good to see you. I’m glad you and CJ were able to work out your differences.”
“I’m just glad she saw it in her to forgive me,” he winked at Mom. My eyes narrowed. They seemed awfully chummy. This could be a perfect time to find out who was lying.
“So, Ethan, Mom told me something very interesting. She said your dad made sure to bring you to visit your granddad every summer. Here to New Salem.”
He frowned and looked confused. “No, Cassie, we never came to New Salem. Its true Dad brought me to visit Gramps every summer, but we usually met him in Statesville or Mooresville. Dad promised my mom he wouldn’t bring me here and he didn’t.”
Mom nodded. “I’m sorry, CJ, if you misunderstood. I met up with Ethan and his father in Signal Hill Mall about two years ago while they were visiting. His father told me then he was trying to convince his wife to let Ethan come spend some time here to learn about this side of his heritage. That’s all. I never meant to imply anything else.”
Maybe neither of them was lying and I was just beyond paranoid. It seemed such a simple answer. Dad’s thunderous face made me believe otherwise. He turned away and stomped into the living room. I chose to ignore what I couldn’t understand at the moment. Ethan was here. My heart nearly exploded at the sight of him.
“Are those for me?” I asked him.
“What? Oh, yeah, daisies.” He handed me the flowers. “You told me they were your favorite.” He sounded distracted.
“Here, CJ, I’ll get a vase and then put them in your room.” Mom smiled and took the flowers.
“What are you doing here?” I turned to him after she’d gone into the kitchen.
“I just wanted to see you.” He gave me a smile that made my insides melt. Why did he have to have dimples? They drove me to distraction. “Let’s go for a walk.”
He grabbed my coat and bundled me up. It was cold out, but he wore only a long sleeved shirt. Come to think of it, I’d never seen him wear a coat. Did he not get cold? Ghost boy. The phrase popped into my head without warning. Don’t be ridiculous, I scolded myself. He is not a ghost. He was alive and warm. Dead people were cold. His hand around mine felt solid and warm. Definitely alive.
We ended up in the park under the same tree where we’d had our first date. He sat there, staring out into the distance, not saying a word. It worried me. He had the strangest look on his face.
“Is something wrong, Ethan?”
“Hmm?”
“You look like something’s bothering you.”
His frown deepened.
“Where were you this morning, Cassie?” He finally looked at me, his gray eyes cold. I felt a shiver run down my spine at the frost in them.
“I was online most of the morning.” I shoved my hands into my coat pockets. I didn’t want him to see them fisted. I needed to be careful. He cou
ld always tell when I lied to him.
“Earlier, Cassie Jayne.” His eyes hardened. “Before the Coven meeting.”
Shit. He had to go and ask me that now didn’t he?
“I was at the library.” There, that was the truth.
“Cassie. Jayne. Bishop.”
I sighed. “Alright, I was at the library with Jeff.”
“Why?”
“He needed help with his math.”
“Try again, Cassie.”
“He’s helping me with something,” I admitted.
“What?” he demanded in a hard, clipped tone.
“It’s none of your business.”
“The hell it isn’t!”
My eyes widened. “Are you jealous?” Ohmygosh – he was! I saw it in his eyes and couldn’t have stopped the smile from spreading across my face if I’d wanted to.
“No, I most certainly am not,” he denied with an angry shake of his head.
“Oh, but you are,” I grinned. He was so totally jealous.
He glared. “There’s more to it, Cassie. Something was stolen this morning from the Hall.”
“What?” Ohh, this could be good. Ethan might tell me what I needed to know without ever realizing it.
“A book,” he finally said. “A very important book. When Jeff’s dad told us he and you were out and about before the crack of dawn, it was questioned.”
“You think I stole a book?” I laughed. It was laughable. I doubted I’d have been able to get through the wards. “If it was so important, why wasn’t it locked up?”
“It was, in a manner of speaking. Do you know anything about wards?”
“Not much.” Something I could answer honestly. “The only thing I really know is that you don’t want to mess with them if you don’t know what you’re doing. They’re supposedly dangerous.”
“These wards were more than dangerous, Cassie. They could have killed you.”
“And you think I stole a book guarded by those kinds of wards? Or Jeff for that matter? He’s still in the Junior Coven. It’s a fairly safe bet, Ethan, to assume he doesn’t have that kind of skill yet.”
“That’s exactly what I told them,” he snorted, “but you know more than you’re saying, Cassie. You’re smiling so hard, it looks like your jaws might meet your eyebrows. I’m guessing it’s to keep your lip from quivering.”