Even if it means embracing the darkness in you?
“Enough,” I hissed in warning, but the voice cackled.
Come now, you’ve known all along there’s more of your father in you than you’d like to admit. Sooner or later, it will come out, and who will you take your wrath out on? Those who deserve it? Or those you’re meant to save?
“I said enough!” I snarled, and the voice didn’t speak again.
“Sounds like you’re having quite the conversation with yourself,” Lucy said from behind me, and I flinched. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“No, this is your garden after all.” I didn’t turn to face her, worried about what my face looked like.
I clenched my jaw and shut my eyes tightly before opening them, when I felt the fence shake.
She leaned beside me, staring up at the heavens.
I stared at them with her. “See anything useful?”
“Sadly no. The stars have been unusually unhelpful of late,” she mused, craning her neck to see as many as she could. “I was out here every night you three were gone, hoping they would give me an answer, but nothing.”
“Too bad, it’d be nice if the universe gave us a helping hand for once, instead of smacking us back down.”
“If only the world worked like that,” she said with a smile.
We stood together in silence for a few minutes, listening to the quiet of the night around us.
“I meant to thank you both for keeping Kate safe,” she told me. “For bringing her back alive.”
I stiffened at her words, but bowed my head. “Course.”
“Craig, what’s troubling you, huh? The smartass demon who walked through my front door over a month ago is not the one standing here tonight.” She glanced back at the house and moved closer. “What happened to you out there?”
“It’s nothing worse than what the other two saw,” I muttered. “Really, I’m fine.”
“Like hell you are.”
“No offense, but I’m not in the mood for a lecture, alright? I saw things… things that happened back then, and I just… I can’t seem to get them out of my head.” I grabbed the fence and glared at the ground beneath my boots. “I let them down, and I can’t do that this time.”
“Let who down? Kate and Forrest?”
“No,” I growled, hearing that voice laughing again in my head. “Celandine and Malcolm. I was meant to protect them and instead… instead, I let them die.”
She sighed heavily, and her hand squeezed my shoulder. “You can’t let that weigh you down in the present.”
“Why not? I’m meant to keep them both alive! I have to do it.”
“Says who?”
“The connection between us. I didn’t even realize it before,” I grunted as I paced away from her, moving back and forth along the fence line. “I’m her protector, I was always her protector, her and Malcolm. Even here in the present when I met her, I kept experiencing this insane urge to keep her safe.”
“That’s just who you are,” she insisted. “You’re a true friend, loyal to a fault. Anyone can see it.”
“No, this is different, and you know it. The three of us, we’re part of something so much greater, a power we have yet to tap into.” I stopped suddenly and smashed my hands to my ears when the cackling grew louder. “I’m going to fail them again, I can feel it.”
I closed my eyes, and flinched to see the bodies of Celandine and Malcolm before me. But then suddenly, they transformed, and it was Kate and Forrest. Their bodies were broken and bleeding. I tried to open my eyes, but they were open. The garden was gone. Lucy was gone, and it was just me alone with two dead bodies.
My mouth dropped open in horror, and I shook my head, reaching down toward them with shaky hands. “No… not this isn’t happening… it can’t be.”
Kate’s eyes shot open, and I lurched backward. “It is. We’re dead, Craig, dead because of you.”
“No, no this hasn’t happened yet! It isn’t real!”
Forrest sat up and grabbed hold of my leg, keeping me there when I tried to leave. “You swore you would protect us, but you didn’t. You killed us, Craig. You did this to us!”
They climbed to their feet, chanting over and over again that I killed them. I begged for them to stop, but they circled around me, blood dripping from their open wounds. I sank to my knees, waiting for the nightmare to end when two strong hands yanked me back to my feet.
“Craig! Snap out of it!” Lucy yelled. “Kate! Forrest!”
I jerked away from her, wondering when we got inside.
A chandelier was overhead, and I was shaking uncontrollably.
Lucy yelled for help again, holding my shoulders down when I bellowed in panic.
A blooded Kate and Forrest stood behind her, glaring at me over her shoulders.
Steps stomped downstairs, and I stared toward the doorway as the real Kate and Forrest appeared.
I glanced wildly from one set to the other.
“What happened?” Kate asked panicked. “Craig?”
“He’s been affected by something,” Lucy said. “Hold him! I need to get to the greenhouse!”
Forrest rushed around to my head and grabbed my shoulders, while Kate cupped my face in her hands, both trying to calm me.
“Easy, Craig, we’re right here,” Forrest assured me, and I nodded, feeling my panic start to subside.
“Craig, just stay focused on us, alright? Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real.”
I wanted to believe her, but a cackling laugh shrieked in my ears, and the bloodied face of the other Kate hovered over her shoulder. She leered at me, blood spilling out of her mouth now as she taunted me.
“Craig?” She held my face, but I couldn’t feel her hands anymore. “Forrest, what’s happening? I don’t understand! When did this happen to him?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think he was hurt.”
A sharp pain shot down my spine, and my back arched off the table as a strangled scream escaped my mouth. Visions of death and destruction filled my mind, and I saw a familiar sight.
I saw Boshen burning and destroyed. The fortress that stood for thousands of years was falling in on itself as the demons left standing fought to the last soldier to survive. But it was no use, the darkness closed in like a tidal wave rising up over the land and threatened to swallow them whole. Swallow us all.
But then the image changed, and I was back by the Darrah ruins, the field swarming with the undead plagued and dragons, demons, all the races, fighting a losing battle. Blood, there was so much blood. The images didn’t stop, but kept going. They got worse, and I thrashed around, trying to make sense of it all, but there was too much death, too much pain.
“Mama Lucy! Help him!” I heard Kate yell, but couldn’t see her face, or Forrest’s.
“Working on it, just hold on one more minute, Craig, just hold on.”
I had no idea what was happening anymore. There was too much pain and screaming. I felt something hot against my forehead, and then I was forced upward into a sitting position. A thick liquid was poured down my throat, and I choked on it, swallowing it down.
Immediately, the visions stopped, but I was tired, so tired and weak.
“Rest now, Craig, everything’s going to be fine. Just rest.”
I felt my back hit the table and let myself sleep, the last sensations I felt were of Kate’s hands on my face, and Forrest holding my shoulders.
16
Craig
I sucked in a deep breath, and my eyes shot open, trying to get my bearings.
“Hey, hey, you’re alright,” Kate whispered.
I felt her take my hand, and turned to see her watching me worriedly, hair a mess, bags under her eyes, and looking how I probably did after watching her go through an episode.
“How do you feel?”
“Like shit.” I tried to sit up, but she forced me back down. “Now who’s being pushy?” I smirked, but she didn’t smile with me. “Oh com
e on, I’m fine, Kate, really.”
She still didn’t look convinced, and nibbled at her lip. “Do you remember what happened? What you saw?”
The smile on my face became strained, the longer she stared at me with so much worry. I sighed and gave in, sagging against the couch. “Now I know how you feel when you’re forced to see images you don’t ever want to see again. It was you and Forrest; you guys were both dead and taunting me. Then there was the fighting and the battles, the dead… so many dead.”
I felt myself start slipping again.
Kate squeezed my hand tighter. “Just stay with me, alright?”
I shook my head to clear it. “Sorry, I just… there’s something bothering me about what happened. Was I hurt by the plague? I don’t remember getting wounded.”
“Mama Lucy doesn’t think it was the plague. We found no sign of it,” she told me.
“No, no it was something else.”
What was it about those images that was bothering me so much? It nagged at me, and I tried to sit up again.
Kate let me this time, scowling at me, but I had to get my thoughts clear. When I tried to stand, it felt like my brain rattled around in my skull.
“Craig? What are you doing up?” Forrest hurried to my side in the living room and made to guide me back to the couch, but I shrugged him off. “You shouldn’t be up yet. Lucy said you would probably sleep all day after what she gave you.”
“Well I’m up, and I’m not going to lay back down, not yet.”
I thought back over the visions that tormented me and settled on the one from Boshen. Each time I thought about it, a single frame as if from a picture came to the forefront. One of Boshen, destroyed by a great force of darkness. One I’d seen before…
I patted my hands down my legs, but these pants, they weren’t the ones I’d been wearing while we were gone. “My clothes, where are my other clothes?”
“In the laundry room probably—Craig! Where are you going?”
I took off toward the kitchen, Kate and Forrest rushing to keep up with me. I needed to see it, needed to figure out if I was going crazy or not. I dug through the pile of clothes on the floor and found my pants.
I was about to open the pockets when I stopped and stared at Kate and Forrest watching me warily in the doorway.
“Wait, who changed my clothes?”
Kate glanced at Forrest, and he winked before giving me a catcall. “Nice physique you have, Craig,” he said, giving me a thumbs-up before I chucked a dirty shirt at his face.
“I’m not sure I’m enjoying this new Forrest anymore.”
He and Kate smirked, but then I dug into one of the buttoned-up pockets and found the folded sketch I’d taken from Kate’s room before we left for the dragon realm.
I unfolded it and stared numbly at the exact same image I recognized from my visions.
“Wait, did you take that from my sketchbook?” Kate asked, but she didn’t sound mad.
“Yeah, I meant to ask you about it.” I turned the picture around for them both to see, but only Forrest seemed familiar with the image.
“That’s Boshen, a ruined Boshen, but Kate drew this?”
“Wait, that’s Boshen, your home?” Kate took the sketch and shook her head as she studied it. “No, it can’t be. I’ve never been there before. How would I know what it looks like?”
I tapped the paper. “That image? I saw it several times last night along with others.”
“This exact image?”
“When did you sketch this?” Forrest asked her.
Kate’s face paled as she replied, “Months ago. I don’t… I don’t understand how I could’ve seen this, or you. What’s going on?”
“I think I might have some answers to that question soon enough,” Lucy said, and I saw her over their shoulders, standing in the kitchen with Harry at her side, of course. “I’ve made some calls as promised, and several of my acquaintances will be arriving as soon as they can.”
“What did you tell them?” I asked, not sure how comfortable I was about being in a house filled with witches. Many of them had grudges against demons, just like most of the other races did.
“Nothing, yet. Just that a situation has occurred that requires our immediate attention.” She grinned brightly as she turned. “I do have quite a bit of pull in the coven, as one of three council members.”
“I knew it,” I whispered, and Kate and Forrest frowned at me. “What? You know how rare Moon Portals are? Only a council member would have one.”
Lucy winked, and told us to get some breakfast.
“Wait, you’re not going to give us any idea of what happened to me last night?”
“It’ll be better if we wait. I could be wrong.”
I groaned in annoyance, but there was no point in arguing.
Kate was still holding the sketch.
I took it from her and tucked it back in my pocket. “Listen to Mama Lucy before she gives us all a lecture.”
17
Kate
I woke up in my old room, and was confused for a few minutes before I remembered what Mama Lucy told us about waiting for visitors.
There were voices downstairs, all women from what I could tell, and more car doors closing echoed up from the street.
I stretched, surprised I slept through the night, but after sitting up with Craig the one before, I didn’t fight exhaustion. My body was still sore, but I felt rested.
It was also nice to have my closet back. I might not be a girly girl, but God, was it nice to have clean clothes for me to choose from. Not to mention, a hot shower. While I let the water wake me up, I thought back to what had been happening before those horrible visions overtook Craig.
Forrest and I had been talking and then the next thing I knew, we were kissing.
I didn’t understand how I could feel this way about them both, but I was tired of always trying to hide my feelings, and something told me, they were too.
That moment between us had been more than just a kiss. I needed him to know I trusted him, just as much as I trusted Craig, to keep me safe and see this journey through.
When I was cleaned up and dressed for the day, I exited the bathroom to the sound of even more voices, laughing and gossiping like old hens instead of a coven of witches. How many had she invited over? I hadn’t even thought to ask how big the coven was.
I hurried to the bedroom at the end of the hall and peeked inside, stifling a laugh. Craig and Forrest were both passed out on their narrow beds, their bodies barely able to fit. Their feet hung over the edge, and both of them were snoring, well growling was more like it.
Forrest’s lip twitched every few seconds, and Craig was face down on his pillow. I wasn’t sure how he was able to breathe.
I tiptoed inside, and the beds were close enough together, I could poke them both in the face at the same time.
Craig’s growl deepened, and Forrest snarled, smoke trailing from his nose.
“Let’s go, time to get up,” I announced, gently at first, but neither of them stirred.
I poked harder, and when that failed, I placed my fingers in my mouth and whistled as loud as I could.
Both of them flew off their beds with a yell, looking around wildly as if we were under attack.
I sank to my butt on the floor, cackling as they glowered at me.
“There’s something wrong with you,” Craig grunted, and fell back to the bed, rubbing a hand over his face. He was starting to get a bit of a beard, and I found I liked it on him.
“Something you need?” Forrest scratched at his bare chest, and I took a moment to admire his strong physique.
He was leaner than Craig, but still quite attractive with his dark skin and tattooed runes. He caught me staring and beamed at me, so I was laughing again.
“The witches are here. You two might want to get up,” I informed them.
“How many?” Forrest asked as he picked up his shirt from the foot of the bed.
A few more car d
oors sounded outside, and I went to peek out the curtains. “A lot from the sound of it. They’ve been arriving for the last hour or so at least.”
“Great,” Craig grumbled. “More women who are going to try and turn us into something.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe they’re all like Mama Lucy.”
Forrest and Craig arched a brow at the same time, and I shrugged, trying and failing not to smile.
“What? It’ll be fine. Now come on, I’ll even walk down there with you two, so I can keep you both safe.” I grinned when I said it, but a dark look came over Craig’s face before he cleared his throat and turned away from me.
I looked to Forrest for answers and saw him tilting his head in thought… or like he was listening to something.
“What are you so scared of?” he asked quietly, and Craig froze.
“Nothing, and I’m not scared.”
“Yes, you are. I can feel it.”
Craig glared at him over his shoulder. “What do you mean you can feel it?”
Forrest stared at the floor as he whispered, “I think I’m an empath. It started last night really. I uh, I could reach out and feel what you were feeling. Both of you. If I tried hard enough, I could see it, touch it almost.”
“Wait, both of us?” I asked.
“Yes. I can feel both your emotions right now. I’m sorry, Lucy told me to wait to talk about it, and then Craig started having these visions, and I forgot to mention it,” he finished with a cringe.
I wasn’t exactly upset about this new information, confused, but what was new about that? “Yeah, well, maybe just not say anything about that right now. Why don’t we head downstairs and see if Mama Lucy’s found anything out yet?”
I told them I’d wait for them at the top of the stairs and left them alone. As I closed the door, I heard Forrest apologize to Craig, but whatever he growled in reply was too quiet for me to hear.
I let them be and busied myself with strolling slowly down the hall, studying the pictures hanging on the walls. Pictures that Mama Lucy had taken over the years. She’d helped so many kids. I wondered if there had ever been a day she thought she’d be helping someone like me. Or that we’d be facing the darkest evil of our time. I doubted it. Despite everything that happened to me, there were mornings I woke up and swore it had all been a dream.
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