by Ainsley Shay
It was almost eleven. Snow would still be sleeping, but I tried calling her anyway.
“Are you dead?” she asked groggily when she answered.
“Not yet.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost eleven,” I answered.
“Call me at noon.” The line went dead.
I called back. “Don’t hang up!” I said when she answered this time.
“I think this is considered harassment.”
“I’d say this is considered neglect,” I retorted. “Please wake up and come get me. I want to do something fun today. And, since you’re the only fun person I know—”
“Where’s Blacwin?”
“I don’t know. He said he had to take care of a few things. I didn’t get details; thought it would be safer not knowing.” I wanted to know, and Blacwin would have told me. But, when I saw the questioning expression in his eyes, I decided not to ask. After he had kissed me goodbye, he promised he would be back by late afternoon. That meant I had several hours to keep myself occupied. I would have gone to the bookshop, but with the return of Blacwin, Mr. Yves felt that I was in better hands with both Blacwin and Chandler to look after me. So, he had decided to close the bookshop for the week of spring break and visit his sister a few hours north of Gradywoods, on the Florida-Georgia line.
Snow was quiet on the other end of the line and I knew she had fallen back asleep.
When I screamed her name, she screamed back, “Jeez! You know if you give me a heart attack, you’ll have no one to play with. Ugh...let me take a shower and wake up, and I’ll be there in a little bit.”
I sat on the curb in front of my apartment while I waited for Snow. She had texted me and said she was on her way. That was forty-five minutes ago. I tried calling her, but the call went directly to voicemail.
Peter walked toward me. His pace was quick and determined. As he approached, he slowed when he realized it was me. He tried to avoid my stare as he took something out of his pocket and fidgeted with it. When he was closer, I recognized the shiny object as a pocketknife. “The bookshop is closed for the week,” I said.
“I wasn’t going to the bookshop. I was coming to see you.”
Peter was two years older than I was. He should have graduated with Marley a couple of years ago, but dropped out a few months before graduating. I never understood how people could go to school for so many years, and then right at the very end...quit, just like that. I had heard rumors his home life wasn’t great. But, he was really smart. He could have gotten out of this town, away from his father.
“What? Another delivery?” I snidely asked.
He shrugged, stopped in front of me, and flicked the knife’s blade open and close. It was a visual of the switchblades I felt opening and closing in my stomach. Heat flared under my skin. His face was a combination of so many of the emotions I had felt in the last several weeks. More out of fear than anger, I said, “Go back to your pimp and tell her to fuck off!” He flinched at the harsh words. I hadn’t cared. Peter may have had his own issues, but I also had mine.
“It’s not that easy—”
“Sure it is.” I brushed him away with the back of my hand.
Peter’s watery glare penetrated mine. “They took my little sister.”
Now it was my turn to flinch. “What?”
“You heard me.” His tone was low and dangerous. “They also kidnapped your friend Morgan.”
Snow! I screamed in my head.
Tears were welling in his eyes. His voice cracked as he strained to say his next words. “When you’re on a plane out of this goddamned town, then they’ll let my sister come home.” His chest heaved as he took short uneven breaths.
“What about Snow—Morgan?”
“I don’t know.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Just go make your reservations to Skelside, wherever the hell that is, so I can get my little sister back!”
“Skelside,” I whispered. Oh God! Adelina wasn’t taking any chances this time.
His fist clenched and unclenched. “If anything happens to Lacy...” He turned without finishing his sentence. Stuffing the hand holding his pocketknife back into his pocket, he walked back the way he had come. He kicked a soda can that was in his path into the street.
I knew how the sentence ended, anyway. On shaky legs, I stood. Fumbling, I dug my phone out of my bag and dialed Blacwin. When he answered, my sentences were cut short with unclear and jostled words. I wasn’t sure how he could understand anything I said.
“Baby, let me hear you take a deep breath; let it out.”
Concentrating on his voice, I tried to calm down. “They have Snow. We have to go to Skelside.”
I imagined him running his fingers through his dark hair. “I thought we’d have more time,” he said.
“Me, too.” I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised. Adelina had waited far too many generations for me to come this far and not carry out her plan.
“Are you in your apartment?”
“No. I was waiting for Snow—” my voice broke, “—on the curb just outside.”
“Go upstairs and lock the door. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Hurry.”
After throwing my bag on the couch and taking off my shoes, I made tea. Chandler would have broken out the brandy. The insane reality of how far Adelina would take this was mind numbing. My best friend had been kidnapped by a witch, and taken to a castle so I would be lured there to kill the Lord who ran the place. Caught between nothing to do, and wanting to do everything, I paced, sat on the couch, straightened the apartment, cleaned out the fridge, and other useless things until Blacwin showed up about an hour later.
He rushed to me and threw his arms around me. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry.” He loosened his hold and looked down at me. “We’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”
I nodded.
Chandler actually knocked once before he barged into my apartment. “Why all the sad faces? What’s going on?”
The thought of telling Chandler that Snow was missing was going to be worse than telling him we were Skelside bound. I hadn’t had it in me to call him. It would have to be Blacwin who told him. I wouldn’t be able to bear the look on his face, or the feeling that would crush my heart. I knew he would break his vow never to go to Skelside, again, to go with me, especially to rescue Snow. But, the part of myself I hated, was I expected him to.
32
It was midnight.
Day zero.
Today, I woke up as a weapon for revenge.
Today, I would be able to kill Lord Darenfys.
Was I even capable of stabbing a person to death?
Even if I knew the evil he had inflicted...on me?
I didn’t want to think about it: the torture he’d put me through.
Darenfys’ face faded.
My thoughts drifted to Adelina. “...if I have learned nothing else, I have mastered that hatred can crush every other feeling, even love.” She had planned everything perfectly.
My whole reason for existing had come to this.
“Are you ready?” Blacwin asked.
Still lost in my own head, I nodded. I zipped my suitcase I had arrived with for my father’s funeral, when I had only planned to stay a few days. Again, I packed lightly. This time I prayed it was only for a few days.
“Do you have the medallion and the dagger?” he asked.
“Yes.”
I wasn’t ready.
33
Chandler was waiting on the curb. His face was a mix of so many emotions, many that reflected mine: fear that Snow would be harmed, dread that we would not return, scared that all this would not come to an end, and rage that we had been put in this position to begin with. He walked toward me and as soon as I was in arm’s length, he reached for me and pulled me to him.
I’d held back the tears for so long, they were like a tidal wave when they came; there was no stopping them. I was mumbling, while I apologized for things I hadn’t e
ven known I was sorry for. If I hadn’t arrived at Skelside all those lifetimes ago, everyone would have been happy. Chandler seemed to have read something in my tone.
“I’m not sorry you came. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. You reminded me what it was like to have a sister, a real family.”
Blacwin reached for my hand. “If you had never come to Skelside, we’d still be prisoners there.” He kissed my knuckles. The guilt would not be erased that easily.
Chandler had taken care of getting our tickets for the flight. I’ve never been on a plane before. Flying had never been on my list of things I must do. It seemed to take no time at all to get to the airport and check in. I had called Mr. Yves and told him I had no choice but to go to Skelside to rescue Snow. He was reluctant, but as always, supportive. Our flight was in queue as we sat on the runway. We hadn’t even left the ground and I was already dreading the next twenty hours. We had two stops to change flights before we arrived at Gatwick airport in London. Then, we had another six hours by train to get to Yorkshire Dales. After that, the challenging part of our trip would come, hiking the mountain’s edge to Skelside.
Chandler reached across the aisle and slapped my knee. “Would you stop looking like you’re preparing for the plane to crash into the ocean?”
Where was the humor in that? “You’re an idiot,” I had told him, and meant it.
“Everything’s going to be fine. Besides, we’re in first class.” He downed his mini bottle of booze. Then he was the one to appear stricken with bad images. “This is the easy part.”
I needed to talk about something else. I rolled my head away from Chandler to face Blacwin. “What did you have to take care of yesterday?”
He stiffened. “Don’t get freaked out.”
“That was so not the right thing to say to make me not freak out.” My chest felt like a boa constrictor was coiling itself around my heart.
The plane moved up in queue.
Laughing, he said, “Probably not.” His face turned serious.
“Oh no! You’re leaving. After this is all over—you’re—”
Blacwin cupped his hand over my mouth. “Shhh.” He shook his head. “Just the opposite,” he whispered. “I bought a house yesterday. Well, it’s more like a cottage.” He lowered his hand from my mouth. “But, it’s in town and I don’t want you to...”
I waited for him to finish. What? Don’t want me to what? See it? Help you decorate? Move in?
“I just didn’t want to scare you off, or for you to feel pressure in any way. When we were together when I returned, I knew I needed to be exactly wherever you are.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was ecstatic, scared, nervous, thrilled.
His dark eyes searched my face for any signs. “Say something,” he pleaded.
Smiling, I shook my head and kissed him. “When we get back, I want you to show me.”
His brilliant smile shifted something inside of me. I rested my head on his shoulder. The plane moved into the final position before taking off. Blacwin squeezed my hand. He leaned close to my ear. “Soon, all of this will be behind us and we’ll have forever to look forward to.”
I wanted to believe him. He had forever; I had only now. “If anything happens to Snow—”
“It won’t. Adelina needs her as a ploy to get you to Skelside. And it’s obvious she wants to be there for the grand finale.”
“What if she turns her to stone?”
It was Chandler who answered, “Then, we’ll figure it out when the time comes.”
The plane surged forward, and I was forced back into the leather seat. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed. I just wanted to fall asleep, thinking about what Blacwin’s cottage looked like, and imagine visiting and possibly staying the night. I thought about what would happen when we got back. In a few weeks, I would be turning eighteen. I wondered what I would do. I always planned to go to college. But, that hadn’t felt right for a while now. Maybe I could do something with my art. The plane was climbing in altitude. My ears popped and I yawned to release the pressure.
Blacwin was still holding my hand. Finally, when the plane had leveled off, and I felt like I was floating, I let myself drift off to sleep.
Hours had passed when I woke. Blacwin was sleeping when I glanced at him. Chandler had earphones in and his eyes were closed. I thought he was sleeping until I saw his fingers tap against the armrest. I didn’t want to disturb him. I took a book out of my bag and tried to concentrate on the words. An hour had gone by when an announcement was made that we were landing soon. Moments later, we landed and boarded the next flight, which was a much smaller plane. The flight was not as smooth as the first, but not nearly as bumpy as the third. Grateful for when we finally landed for the last time.
The scenery was so different from anything I’d ever seen. It was odd to think that I had lived a life here on the other side of the globe. Chandler had everything planned. The motel was booked and paid for. He had hired someone to gather whatever we needed for our trip. In the room were all of our supplies for our hike to Skelside.
It was dawn when we set out on the 39-mile hike. Since it was a major hiking area for locals, and for people who had come from all over the world, we didn’t look out of place. We waited until the night sky settled in to travel off the path into the woods, as not to draw attention to ourselves. The hike was long and exhausting. Blacwin lead, I was in the middle, and Chandler was in the rear. When we reached the edge of the woods, my life as Catherine slammed into me. And every nightmare I had ever had become very, very real.
A dark skeleton loomed in front of us as if it was reaching for the night sky. Skelside was exactly the way I remembered it.
The Carving Witch
Book Three
1
Skelside.
The Carving Witch had set her stage and prepared for murder. She was the reason we, Blacwin, Chandler, and I, were standing at the edge of the woods staring through the darkness at the castle that was run by a self-made monster, Lord Darenfys. She had kidnapped Snow and brought her here to Skelside. Our original mission had changed from not only killing the Lord, but now, also saving my best friend. My nightmares were no match to the dread rippling through every cell as I stood there facing what had become my reality. The tips of the tall dagger-like towers were drowned in the low, hovering clouds. The moon’s light knitted over the ground near the edge of the grassy field in front of us, forging a path leading directly into the mouth of the enemy.
Blacwin took the first step. I readjusted the backpack’s straps on my shoulders and followed. When I turned to look behind me, Chandler still stood at the edge of the woods. “Chandler, come on,” I hissed.
After a few moments, he did. He slowly raised his foot and stepped onto the moonlit path.
“See, it’s not so—”
My words were cut short. “He’s wise to stay hidden in the shadows of the forest.” The voice seemed to have come from nowhere, and yet it surrounded us.
Chandler spun around to see who had spoken. From where I stood, it was too dark to see anything beyond Chandler. “Who’s there?” he called into the dark void of the forest.
Blacwin was at my side in an instant.
No one answered.
Blacwin eased me behind him, keeping one hand on my arm, the other on the hilt of his knife. Chandler walked backwards, away from the forest, toward us. “You guys heard that, right? A very deep, drawn out voice that basically said I was the smart one by not going any where near Skelside,” he whispered. “I’m not going to lie, I’m still freaked out—just for a different reason now.”
“I’m not sure the voice was saying you’re smart, but yeah, we heard it too. Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy,” I said.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t sure there for a minute.”
Blacwin moved past Chandler and walked back toward the forest. His hand never left the hilt. He walked into the darkness, disappearing just on the other side of the moonlight.
“Blacwin, what are you doing? Come back!” Hysteria was finding its way up my throat. What was he thinking—walking right into...only God knew what? I nudged Chandler in the back for him to go after Blacwin.
“No way. He’s on his own—stupid decisions equal deadly outcomes.”
“Chandler!”
The sound of rustling from the woods immediately drew our attention to where we’d watched Blacwin enter. When I saw Blacwin, I quickly went to him, stopping just short of reaching him when I saw a dark figure. When the man was in full view, I had to readjust my gaze to above Blacwin’s head. He was extremely tall. Although his frame looked thin and feeble under the robe he wore that was tied at his waist.
“Kenyon,” Blacwin said, with his back still to us.
“Only a few weeks ago, I told you, if you wanted to live, never come back to Skelside.” Kenyon’s voice was thick with warning.
“We had no other choice,” Blacwin stated with defiance.
Kenyon stayed hidden under the protection of the trees in the darkness. “If that is true, then you would be sensible to wait until morning to make the rest of your journey.”
“In the daytime, when we can be seen by all?” I hadn’t meant to blurt out the question but, I remembered from my nightmare, Catherine arrived during the day and it didn’t turn out so well. The Lord’s soldiers were everywhere. I saw Blacwin’s eyes briefly close and his face pinched in pain. I knew he was reliving that day too.
“I’m with Iris. Let’s break in, get Snow, kill Darenfys, and get the hell back home,” Chandler suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed. Blacwin was trying hard to keep the smirk off his face and agreeing, but I saw the seriousness in his expression that said our mission was not going to be quite as simple as that. I took a step toward him and rested my hand on his chest. “I’ll do whatever you think is best.”