I descended the remaining steps to see Josh sitting on the floor with books all around him.
My gaze met Isaac’s. Josh knew what Isaac was. He knew about magic and curses and what ailed Kaylee. He had to or he wouldn’t have been there. By the amount of reading material sprawled around the room, it was obvious they were searching for a cure. I didn’t know what to say. Isaac broke the silence.
“We good?”
I nodded.
“We’re three strong now,” he said to Josh. “You find anything?”
“No. There are too many curses with the same symptoms. It’ll take forever to perform each of the counter spells.” Josh looked at me. “Hi, Madison. I take it Isaac explained everything to you?”
“Not yet.” Isaac touched the iron ring that circled the walls. In response, the ring glowed orange for a couple of seconds. A low hum reverberated through the room. “I’m reinforcing my protection spells, or wards, to use the correct magical term,” he explained. “I really couldn’t’ve built this room better if I did it myself. The stone floor and brick walls are all made from the earth and help maintain the strength of the spells. The iron ring distributes it evenly around the room, not to mention keeps unwanted visitors out.”
“Unwanted visitors?” I repeated and wondered, if school had an iron ring around it, would it keep Paige out?
“Some forces are allergic to iron,” Josh said, closing the book in front of him.
“Of course,” I muttered, not really understanding and still waiting for my new knowledge about the powers to fully sink in. “Are you expecting trouble? Is that why you have the, what did you call them?”
“Wards,” Isaac said. “No, I wasn’t expecting trouble. Most of them were for practice.”
“And now?” I asked, not missing his use of past tense.
“Now they will be put to the test. My intention ward will stop anyone with ill intent from being able to come down here.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “How can a spell know what someone is planning and then stop them from marching right into your room and doing it?”
Isaac took a moment to answer. “Say you wanted to steal from me. The ward would sense this and put up an invisible barrier. You’d be able to see the stairs, even think there’s nothing unusual about them, but you wouldn’t be able to cross the threshold. A wall of magic would stop you.”
“It’d be like walking into a sliding glass door you didn’t realize was closed,” Josh added.
I cocked my head to the side as I considered this. “Does it only stop those who have powers?”
Isaac shook his head. “It works on everyone.”
“And the other wards?” I asked, fascinated by what magic could do.
“The concealment ward will hide our powers from others. They won’t be able to sense our magic. There are a few others as well.”
I nodded. It was a lot to absorb in one afternoon, but after witnessing the type of magic Isaac could do, I didn’t need to question his ability to cast these wards.
“And you’re a witch?” I asked Josh.
“Not as strong as Isaac. Both his parents have powers. My mom doesn’t.”
I walked over to Josh and placed my hand on his bare arm. Sure enough, a jolt of power, like static electricity, shot into my hand.
I looked back at Isaac. “And your parents practice magic? Like family hocus-pocus time?”
Isaac remained near the wall. I got the feeling he was studying me, trying to gauge my reaction to all of this. “They taught me what I know and are members of a coven in Amesbury. They don’t use their powers unless they have to.”
“What about Kaylee? Does she have powers?”
Josh shook his head. He looked miserable, and his guilt at not being able to help her coursed through me. It was awful, choking me from the inside.
I hugged myself and took a seat on the edge of the bed. “How long have you known about each other?”
Isaac sat next to me. “Since the day I moved in. The energy in the air when our fathers shook hands was too powerful to ignore. After Josh passed the test of my intention ward, I invited him to add one of his own. It allows him to enter the basement when I’m not here. It also gives him a safe haven, should he ever need one.”
The day I’d helped Isaac set up his room, he’d been glad that his mom hadn’t liked the paint for the dining room. He’d said it had given him an excuse to get me down here. “Is that why you were happy to have a reason to invite me into your bedroom, to test my intentions?”
Isaac smiled sheepishly. “Past events have taught me to be careful and probably less trusting than most. I had to be sure you weren’t pretending not to know about your powers.”
There’s a test I passed with flying colors. If only English class were that easy.
“Does anyone else I know have powers?” I knew the answer, though, before Isaac even replied. It seemed so obvious now.
“Paige,” Isaac said. “And she has little to no control over hiding it. Her powers ooze from her pores like puss from an open wound.”
“And someone at the bonfire was using,” Josh added. “The air reeked of it.”
“Using?” I asked.
“Magic,” Isaac explained. “That’s what you call it when someone casts a spell.”
“Oh. So you mean Paige was using at the bonfire, don’t you?”
Isaac shook his head. “She was using when she introduced herself, so I know what her magic feels and smells like. She’s not a natural witch, which is probably why her powers reminded me of worms or fish. The magic we smelled later that night, though, made me think of rotten eggs or sulfur. Besides, Paige’s powers definitely aren’t strong enough to give off the type of energy we felt.”
I would have preferred that answer to be, Yes, it was Paige, because that would have meant we knew who hurt Kaylee. We could demand she make things right. Once she did, I’d yank out a handful of dark red hair to make myself feel better.
“Does she know about you and Josh?” I asked.
“Me, yes,” Isaac replied, “but I don’t think she realizes Josh has powers too.”
It was a relief to finally have some answers. Isaac’s powers had to be the secret behind his throaty laughs and sly smile. They were the reason he chose his words carefully. There was one important question left. “How do we help Kaylee?”
“Josh, Paige, and then you,” Isaac said. “It had me wondering how much power is in Gloucester. Most people never discover what they are. Hell, even those who have embraced their powers know they need to keep them a secret. It’s not something people wear on their sleeves. It would be the Salem Witch Trials all over again; only this time it would be death by lethal injection instead of hanging or burning. Always remember, people fear what they don’t understand.”
I would never forget the image of Isaac standing in my bedroom doorway with his hand extended in front of him, canceling my out-of-control spell as if he were blowing out a candle. He’d bound me without so much as a word. Moved me from where I’d stood to my bed without touching me. People had a very good reason to fear power like that. In the wrong hands, it could be dangerous.
“We’ve been digging into our past,” Josh said. “Isaac’s was the easiest. His parents had already researched their family, so he just had to ask them. I was able to trace my family back to Gerald and Margaret Corey, who lived in Salem in the seventeen hundreds.”
“And they were witches?”
“We know they were accused. Considering my father and I have powers, I’d have to say at least one of them was a witch.”
“We did a little digging into your mom’s past too,” Isaac confessed.
“My mom?” I asked. “How would you know where to begin?”
“Your dad mentioned her family was from the area that day Chase told me she passed away.” Isaac pulled out a notebook. “We believe your mom’s family goes back to the Salem Bassets. We can’t be sure without the names of your great-grandparents, however.�
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“Do you think she possessed the powers?”
“They’re passed down through blood, so it would make sense that she did.”
“But wouldn’t I have known if my mom could move things with her mind?” I thought back to when Mom had been alive, and I couldn’t think of anything magical that had happened. Objects hadn’t moved by themselves. Fires hadn’t started without manual intervention. And the only scent that had lingered around my mom was the jasmine perfume she’d wear.
Isaac shrugged. “She may not have known what she was.”
They gave me a few minutes to process it all. If what Isaac and Josh were saying was true, a lot of people in Gloucester, maybe even Essex County, could have powers. It was a scary thought, really, knowing that your friends and neighbors could do terrible things to one another. What would tip the scale in favor of the good guys?
“When we came down here, you said we were three strong,” I said. “What does that mean?”
Isaac answered, “A spell performed by a coven is always stronger than a spell cast by a single witch. It means our coven has the power of three.”
“So, how do we help Kaylee?”
“That’s what I don’t understand.” Isaac rubbed the back of his neck as he studied a spot on the wall near the stairs. “This morning, when I was at the hospital, I couldn’t help noticing the curse is as strong as it was on Saturday, like it was just cast.”
“How’s that possible?” From the reading I’d done in the morning, I knew a curse’s power came from its source. Kaylee had been cursed three days ago. Since then, her parents hadn’t wanted a lot of people seeing her like this. They’d requested limited visitors, and the only ones they approved were in this room. So the person who did this to Kaylee couldn’t have gotten near her—not even to visit.
“We don’t know.” Josh punched the stone floor; blood trickled from his knuckles. “Not one of these books says it’s possible without some cursed object holding its victim prisoner.”
“You mean like a hex bag or voodoo doll?”
Isaac nodded. “It can be anything, but Josh took her clothes from the hospital, and you have her purse and backpack.”
Josh’s head fell forward into his hands. “The only things she has that are hers are the pajamas her parents brought her and the necklace you gave her.”
A wave of dread pushed through me.
I had done this to Kaylee.
I swallowed the scream building in my throat and said, “I know what it is.”
Chapter 10
The Fifth Floor
ISAAC DROVE US TO the hospital.
“But I saw you give her the necklace,” Josh said from the back seat.
“Mark gave it to me,” I mumbled. I played with the strap of my purse, concentrating on twisting it around my index finger only to untwist it and start over again so that I didn’t have to look at either of them. I knew the only thing dumber than taking the necklace from Mark was telling the guy I liked that I’d accepted jewelry from someone else, but what choice did I have? Kaylee’s sanity depended on my honesty. I kept telling myself I hadn’t exactly taken the necklace, I’d offered to hold it, but that didn’t make me feel better about the whole situation.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Isaac give me a sidelong glance.
“I know,” I moaned. “It was stupid.”
Josh bounced his head off the backseat. “Can’t you drive any faster?”
The tires on the Jeep screeched against the pavement as Isaac took the turn into the hospital parking lot. He pulled into the first available space he saw, and we piled out of the Jeep and ran to the doors. The necklace had to be what was holding the curse to Kaylee, which meant Mark was a witch. His keys probably had a spell on them too, and the man Kaylee had thought she’d seen in the parking lot at The Grill had been a product of his magic. It also meant Mark wasn’t trying to harm Kaylee; he was trying to harm me.
The elevator ticked by each floor at an annoyingly slow rate that was made even more painful by stopping to let people on and off at the different floors. I was ready to scream by the time we reached the seventh floor, and I didn’t know if I should then feel relief or panic when I saw Kaylee’s bed neatly made with clean linens. The color drained from Josh’s face.
Isaac placed a hand on his shoulder. “You would have felt it if she’d gotten worse, like you did at school when this whole thing started. Remember, your feelings for each other make you a part of each other. They connect you to her. You need to remain strong, for her.”
Josh spoke through clenched teeth. “Then where the hell is she?”
“They’ve moved her,” said a young nurse standing behind us. “She’s on the fifth floor.”
“Why?” I asked, stepping aside so that she could get by me and refusing to let myself think the worse.
“They can take better care of her there.” She set a clean bedpan and water pitcher near the bed.
We sprinted back to the elevators and punched the five button. Josh drummed his fingers against his leg as the elevator descended two floors.
“This can’t be good,” I mumbled.
Isaac took my hand in his. Josh looked as if he was ready to jump out of his skin as the light in front of us highlighted the number five. The doors opened into a dingy white hallway. There was a small waiting room to our immediate right and double glass doors to our left. A blue and white sign above the door read, All visitors must check in at the Nurse’s Station. Isaac held the door open. An air of despair and hopelessness engulfed me as a middle-aged woman in a motorized wheelchair rolled past, muttering something about being late for the party.
“This has to be wrong,” I whispered. “Kaylee shouldn’t be here.”
Isaac coaxed me forward. “Come on. Let’s find out what’s going on.”
We stopped at the nurse’s station. A bored looking woman looked up from her magazine. “May I help you?”
“We’re here to see Kaylee Bishop,” Josh said. “We were told she was moved to the fifth floor?”
I didn’t like it here. In the room across from the station, a man stared intently at his hands, and in the room next to him another man was busy stacking and restacking checkers. First, the red were in one pile and the black in another. Then he’d scatter the piles and restack them one at a time so that they were every other color. I kept hoping we had the wrong floor. Maybe we got out on four by mistake. They couldn’t have put Kaylee with these people. She wasn’t crazy. Didn’t they see that?
“Names,” the nurse said curtly.
Isaac answered for all of us.
She checked our IDs, typed our names into the computer, and said, “She’s in room twenty-three. Down the hall, third door on the left.”
The good news was she wasn’t behind the solid white door with extra locks and a bright red sign that read, Psychiatric Ward. Josh jogged down the hall. Isaac and I followed behind him.
Mrs. Bishop was asleep in a chair in the corner of the tiny private room. Her mascara was smudged, making it hard to tell where her makeup ended and the dark circles of someone who hasn’t been sleeping well began. She clutched a rosary tightly in her hand.
My eyes wandered elsewhere. There were bars on the outside of the windows, and the bed frame was padded with thick white cushions. I tried to tell myself it could be worse: it could have resembled a prison cell. Wide black straps held Kaylee to the bed by her wrists, ankles, and waist.
“Don’t move,” she whispered, her voice raspy, her eyes bloodshot, and her face damn near gray.
Josh took a step forward, stopping when Kaylee pleaded.
“Please.” A tear slid down her temple. “You’ll wake them.”
Her eyes moved to the empty corner of the room.
Isaac whispered, “She’s seeing demons.”
I couldn’t take it any longer. How much more could Kaylee bear before she really went over the edge? What if we were already too late?
We moved at the same time. Josh
went for the necklace, tearing it from her neck and crushing the stone in his hand with a blast of power. His magic tasted different than Isaac’s. It was more like hot apple cider with a touch of tin, although I’m pretty sure the tin was an emotion he wasn’t supposed to use to fuel his powers. I went for the strap around Kaylee’s waist, fumbling with the buckle. Isaac went for the ones around her ankles, releasing her feet with a wave of his hand.
“Madison, let me get that,” Isaac said.
I moved, and in less than a second he had her waist and wrists freed.
Josh discarded the remains of the necklace onto the floor, scooped Kaylee up in his arms, and sat on the bed, holding her tight. She looked small curled against him, like a child. I watched his magic pour out of him in a delicate golden web that wrapped itself around her like a cocoon before fading and becoming invisible.
I was afraid to touch her, fearing she’d break. But crouching down in front of them, I dared to brush her bangs away from her eyes with my fingertips. “Kaylee, honey, are you okay?”
Before Kaylee could answer, Mrs. Bishop was on her feet. “What are you doing?”
“Taking Kaylee out of this place,” Josh growled. “She doesn’t belong here.”
Mrs. Bishop’s voice shook as she spoke. “She needs help.”
“You call this helping her?” Josh stood with Kaylee cradled in his arms. Kaylee clung to him.
Mrs. Bishop stepped toward them. “Josh Corey, you put my daughter back on that bed.”
I stood up and blocked her path so she couldn’t get any closer to Kaylee. “Mrs. Bishop, this is not helping her.” I waved my hand at the room for emphasis. “She is not insane.”
Mrs. Bishop went for the door next, but Isaac beat her there. He rested a hand on her arm, his mouth moving fast and forming unspoken words. I could feel his powers. Then, loud and clear, he said, “We’re supposed to take Kaylee with us.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Bishop said as she twisted her hands together. “You should take her with you.”
Isaac guided her back to the chair. “You don’t want to tell anyone we were here.”
“No.” Mrs. Bishop agreed. “Certainly not.”
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