For the next hour, Jilly had Caroline throw every spell she had learned in the last two days. Finally she was feeling better about her sister coming with them.
“You should spar with the others for a bit. I’m going to practice by myself for a while,” Jilly said as she walked a little ways away from everyone else.
She closed her eyes, and concentrated on calling the elements to her. This time, it was water that stepped forward; she could feel a surge of power in her veins. She opened her eyes, and they swirled like a green whirlpool. She held up her palms and water shot up from the ground high into the air. It formed the shape of a tornado, sucking everything around it into the giant cone. After a few minutes, Jilly waved her hands, and the water shot back into the earth; only a fine mist remained in the air. She turned around to find everyone watching her.
“Alright, show’s over, get back to work,” she called out before turning around again.
Jilly and William were curled up on the couch together, watching TV. “I wish tomorrow never had to come,” she said wistfully. “I feel like I used to feel in high school the night before a big test.”
William chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Everything’s going to be fine, Jill.”
“I know it is, whatever is going to happen will happen. I can’t do anything to change that. I just don’t like the not knowing. I keep wondering about who Sabine’s working for.”
William nodded. “I know how you feel, but let’s not think about that anymore tonight. I’m sure I can find something to occupy your attention for a while.” He raised an eyebrow and Jilly giggled.
Jilly hopped into his lap and ran her hands through his hair. “I wish tonight could last forever,” she whispered.
William smiled up at her, taking her face in his hands. “My darling, forever isn’t long enough with you.”
He brought her mouth down to his own and kissed her, making her feel the emotion behind the words he had spoken. She twined his hair in her fingers, pinning his face against her own.
They kissed for a while, finally breaking apart when William’s phone rang. “It’s Nik. I should take this,” he said as Jilly slid off his lap. He got up and went into the kitchen while he talked on the phone. Jilly leaned back into the cushions.
Caroline came down the stairs in her pajamas. “I half expected to find you guys making out,” she said with a laugh.
“We do other things,” Jilly said in mock irritation.
“Sure you do, although I don’t see why you would. He’s sex on a stick, Jill.”
Jilly covered her face with a pillow. “Don’t I know it. It’s so hard not to just rip his clothes off and have my way with him.”
Caroline shot her a wry look. “You know my opinion; you’re only prolonging your agony.”
“Don’t start with that again,” Jilly said with a laugh. She was saved from further discussion by William coming back into the room.
“Am I interrupting?”
“No, you aren’t interrupting anything. Caroline was just leaving,” Jilly said quickly. Caroline laughed and sauntered into the kitchen.
“Did I miss something?” William asked.
“No, she’s just giving me a hard time.”
Something in her expression made William want to ask more, but he didn’t. “Want to head up to bed?” he asked.
“Sure, we could use the extra sleep, right?”
They headed upstairs and William stopped at his door. “Sleeping alone tonight?” Jilly asked.
“No, I want to shower and change into pajamas. I’ll be in soon.”
Jilly nodded and went into her room to do the same. Fifteen minutes later, William joined her in bed. He leaned in and kissed her softly before wrapping her in his arms. Jilly was smiling as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 11
Jilly woke up feeling supremely rested. She reached for William, but he was already up and gone. She lay for a moment, trying to mentally prepare for what was going to happen this day. Finally, she got up and dressed, grabbed some shoes, and headed downstairs.
Caroline and William were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading the paper. The bags under Caroline’s eyes spoke volumes. Jilly hugged her before grabbing some coffee and joining them.
“Nik and Kat will be here soon,” William said, setting his paper down.
“Ok, what time are we leaving?” Jilly asked.
“In an hour, maybe sooner.”
Jilly’s face lost some color. “Ok,” she said softly. “I guess it’s better to just get it over with, right?” she said with a small laugh.
Caroline was silent; she just drank her coffee.
“You don’t have to come, Car,” Jilly said gently.
“I know, but I’m coming all the same,” Caroline said, steeling herself to her task.
“Alright, I thought I’d give you one last chance to change your mind. I’m not going to ask again.”
They finished their coffee and Caroline went upstairs.
“Just because she’s coming, doesn’t mean she’s not scared,” William said softly.
“I know. I just wish she would change her mind.”
William nodded. “Let’s sit out back while we wait.”
He led Jilly out back and they sat on the bench.
“It feels like forever ago that we sat here together, when it’s really only been a few days.”
“I know. A lot has happened this week,” William replied.
“I feel less nervous than I thought I would be.”
“It’s probably all of the training we’ve done this week.”
They sat quietly for a while. Jilly rested her head on William’s shoulder, just listening to the wind.
Nikolai and Katya pulled up twenty minutes later. Jilly and William followed them into the house. “I’m going to go get Caroline,” Jilly said as she started up the stairs.
She found her sister lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. “Car, it’s time to go,” Jilly said softly.
“Let’s do this then,” Caroline said, and they went down to join the others.
Everyone but Jilly and William were already outside. Jilly was buttoning up her coat when William stopped her.
“Whatever happens today, know that I am truly blessed to have known you, Jillian Elizabeth Proctor.” He released her and strode out the door.
She joined him on the porch a minute later, feeling flushed. “Well, here goes nothing,” she said as they walked down the stairs.
Nikolai and Katya faded into the trees as the trio set off into the forest.
They walked quickly through the trees, all on alert for any whiff of danger. They came to the small clearing where they were supposed to meet Sabine, and stopped. They looked around, but apparently they were the first to arrive.
William turned to Jilly and pulled her close. “Be on alert today. If something feels wrong, grab my hand. That goes for you as well, Caroline; you’ll be stronger connected with either Jilly or myself.”
Caroline nodded, not feeling much better about the situation.
“I’m nervous. Not so much about Sabine anymore, but more about this mystery person she works for. I don’t like not knowing what they want from me.”
The sound of twigs snapping behind brought them to attention and they spun around to face the threat. Liam and Sabine approached them slowly; they came to a stop about ten feet away from them.
Sabine spoke first. “It’s good to see your face again, William. How long has it been, one hundred years?”
He nodded his head toward her in acknowledgement. Jilly could feel the tension rolling off him in waves and shivered slightly.
“What is it you want from us, Sabine?” William asked in a voice full of malice.
Sabine shrugged and held up her hands. “There is someone who wishes an audience with your young witch here, and I am merely the facilitator of the meeting.” Her thick French accent grated on Jilly’s nerves.
Jilly
spoke up now. “What makes you think I’m going to go anywhere with you? William obviously doesn’t trust you, and I’m inclined to agree with him.” Her voice was full of hate. Caroline squeezed Jilly’s hand in support.
Sabine smiled evilly at her. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. I think you’ll be coming with me, and you’ll not make a fuss about it either.” She jerked her head toward Liam, and he raised a phone to his ear and spoke softly into it.
Several minutes later, two figures emerged from the forest. Jilly’s eyes widened in shock. She didn’t recognize the man, but the woman she knew; it was Emily.
She tried to run toward her, but William held her back. Emily was blindfolded and her hands were tied with rope. Her pregnant belly very obvious with her hands tied in front of it. Jilly could see the tears running down her face, and struggled against William.
“I have to help her,” she hissed at him, her eyes flashing bright green.
“I know,” he whispered back, “but they hold all the cards right now. They won’t hurt her until after we do whatever it is they want. They won’t want to risk you not doing it out of anger.”
She sagged against him. She could see that fighting was useless; William had a point, they wouldn’t hurt any of them until after. They had plenty of time to figure out a way to get Emily out of harm’s way.
Sabine laughed a horrible sounding laugh. “You’d be surprised how easy it was to get this one out of the house. All I had to do was make her see a vision of you in trouble and calling out to her, and she left all on her own. After that it was quite easy for Maxwell here to snatch her up.”
“Ok,” Jilly said calmly. “I’ll go with you. Just let her go and I’ll do what you want.”
“Uh, no, my darling, she’ll be coming along with us; she provides quite an incentive for you to be compliant.”
Maxwell shoved Emily roughly and she fell down on her knees, unable to brace herself for the fall. Jilly broke free of William and ran to her friend.
“I’m so sorry, Jilly. I thought it was you sending me the vision. I never should have left,” Emily sobbed.
Jilly brushed the dirt off of her friend’s face “Don’t worry, Em, we’ll get out of this, and you can’t blame yourself; Sabine is very powerful. Just do what they say right now. William and I will figure out something.” She helped her friend to her feet and Maxwell grabbed Emily’s arm and jerked her away.
“Hurting her isn’t going to make me want to help you,” Jilly said angrily.
Sabine shot a look at Maxwell and he released his hold on Emily. “Now that we’re all here, I think we should get going. We have a car parked about a mile from here.”
They all walked slowly since Emily had a hard time walking blindfolded. Finally they reached the black SUV Sabine had been talking about. Shoving Emily in the back with Maxwell, Sabine motioned for Jilly, William, and Caroline to sit in the middle seat, and she hopped into the passenger seat, Liam was the driver. Once they were on their way, Sabine told Maxwell to untie Emily’s hands and take the blindfold off.
It took a little over an hour for them to reach their destination. They stopped in front of a small wooded area about half a mile from the water. Once they were all out of the car, Sabine motioned for them to follow her, and Maxwell and Liam took up the rear. Caroline held Emily’s hand, both of them feeling better with the contact.
They came to a small cave nestled into the rocks by the beach. Sabine tapped something on her phone and a few seconds later someone emerged from the cave followed by a trio of strangers. Jilly gasped in surprise and William sank to his knees.
“Hello, William. Long time no see,” the woman said.
Recovering a bit from the shock, William got up. “Mary? How is this possible?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m an amaranthine, just as you and Sabine are. You didn’t think that you and Patrick were the only ones in our small town with that gift, did you?” There was a wicked glint in her eye.
“Why have I never seen you or even heard your name spoken in all these hundreds of years?”
“Simply because I didn’t wish you to know, but I have been kept updated on your whereabouts all these years and I knew it was only a matter of time before you ended up here to find her.” The last word was spoken with such hatred that Jilly took a step back. Mary turned to face Jilly now. “I knew I just had to wait for you. Patrick showed me a vision of you long ago. You, who would be the strongest of my family line, it was you who I’ve waited all this time for.” She took a few steps toward them and William shoved Jilly behind him.
“What do you want with us?”
“Oh, I think you of all people should know what it is that I desire, William.”
“Patrick,” William said quietly.
“Of course Patrick. How can I not free my beloved when I now possess the one who can free him?” Mary paced in front of them, getting angrier with each word she spoke. “You, who so easily cast aside your own brother for the love of my pathetic sister. It’s ironic that she wasn’t even your match after all you did. I hope that you have lived with the pain of loneliness as I have. The thought of that has been my only solace all these years.” She laughed; it was an awful mirthless sound.
She turned to Jilly now and walked toward her. “You will release my Patrick from his tomb so we can finally be together as we should have been all these years.”
Jilly stuck her chin out in defiance. “I will not help you, Mary. You can do what you want to me, but I’m not releasing Patrick.”
Mary howled in rage and slapped Jilly so hard she drew blood. William rushed forward, but one of the people that had come with Mary stopped him. William was frozen in place, unable to move anything but his eyes.
Jilly smiled through narrowed eyes and laughed. “If that’s all you’ve got, then you may as well let us go now.”
With rage in her eyes, Mary whirled on Caroline and grabbed her by the hair.
“Don’t worry about me, Jill. I don’t care what she does to me; don’t do what she wants!”
Jilly could see the determination on Caroline’s face, and she felt a surge of pride for her sister.
Mary shoved Caroline down roughly and kicked her in the side. They heard the sickening crack of her ribs as Mary continued to kick her. Jilly flinched involuntarily.
William struggled internally, trying to break the spell. Finally, after a few minutes he broke free and ran to Mary, pushing her away from Caroline. “Leave them out of this, Mary. It’s me you’re angry with.” His face was pulled tight with barely concealed rage. “Let’s settle this between us and be done with it. We will never release him, so you can just get that out of your head right now,” he said as he circled her, eyes narrowed in anger.
“I have every intention of settling this with you,” she said as she pulled out a long knife. She smiled at him. “But it’s not you I wish to harm, William, my dear.” With a flash of skirts, she had Jilly in her arms, the knife tightly against her throat. “Do you still wish to deny me my Patrick?” she asked harshly.
Jilly swallowed, her mind strangely at peace. “Do what you must. I’m not afraid to die if it means keeping you away from Patrick forever. Your family should have sealed you up in a tomb too.”
With a shriek of anger, Mary sliced the knife down and plunged it in Jilly’s chest. Jilly sank to her knees, blood pouring out. Both Caroline and William screamed and ran to her as Mary walked back into her cave, laughing.
“Now you know what it’s like, William,” she screamed.
Chapter 12
William sank to his knees and cradled Jilly’s head in his lap, tears streaming down his face. Jilly tried to speak, but she only managed a weak gurgling sound. She coughed twice and spat out blood.
“Don’t cry, William. I’m not afraid to die. I can finally be with Liza and my mom.”
Caroline rushed over and clutched Jilly’s hand. “No, Jilly, you can’t leave yet; not now when we’re finally sisters again,” she sobbed.
<
br /> “Its ok, Caroline. You know who you are now. You’ll be fine without me. You should move back here and live in the house; it needs a Proctor warming its halls.” Jilly coughed some more and laid her head back on William.
Emily sat down and grabbed Jilly’s free hand. “I’m not ready to lose you,” she said through her tears.
“Em, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess,” Jilly said softly. “I love you, and that little girl you’re growing. Take care of her, and look in on Caroline for me.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t leave me. I love you so much,” Emily said, her tears flowing freely.
“Em,” Jilly said softly, trying to squeeze her friend’s hand.
Emily sat down beside William, pulling Caroline into a hug.
William leaned down and kissed Jilly’s lips gently, his tears mixing with hers. “I love you. All of my life it’s always been you,” he whispered.
She smiled at him and reached for his hand. “I love you too. Take care of Caroline; she’s going to need you now.”
With that, she closed her eyes, and her hand went limp in his. William cradled her lifeless body to his chest, sobbing; Caroline and Emily put their arms around him and sobbed just as loud, their bodies convulsed in hysterics.
After a few minutes, William got up and gently laid Jilly’s body on the ground. Removing the knife from her chest, he wiped the blood on his pants.
“What are you going to do?” Caroline asked in a voice that bordered on hysterical.
“I may not be able to really kill her, but I can do some damage.” His voice was full of rage. He ran into the cave after Mary.
Liam and Maxwell looked at each other and decided since Jilly was dead, they really didn’t need to be there anymore, and they left. Sabine yelled after them, but they ignored her. Caroline glared at her as she ran into the cave after William.
*
It was dark inside the cave, and it took William’s eyes a few minutes to adjust. The cave was surprisingly deep, and Mary could be anywhere inside. He found a large stick and lit the end on fire, and started walking deeper into the cave.
Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches) Page 14