by Mona Hanna
He put his hand gently on her belly, her bump definitely noticeable. Ariel had been perpetually touching her stomach since she’d started to show, something she had done before but was doing more now. Their child was becoming bigger. She was growing, blossoming, coming to life. Only four more months and they would get to meet her. Their little Erica. Their little darling.
They just had to get through helping the new High Witch out of the danger she was in. Ariel hadn’t had any more visions about the girl, so they were no closer to figuring out who the man that looked like Julius was. They were both certain the man wanted to turn the other High Witch and only hoped she had escaped him. What if she hadn’t? Were they too late? Was the High Witch safe or was she still in huge danger? They didn’t really know anything. Just that they had to get to her, and fast.
Chapter 15
“But you’re still healing. You still need medical attention.”
Nicholas finished doing up his shirt, then stood and started to walk from the room full of patients.
Thomas, the healer, moved in front of him, blocking his path to the door. “At least let me give you some salve for your wounds. I don’t know why you’re so eager to get out of here, but not taking care of yourself will only ensure you get worse, not better. You may be doing well, but you’re a long way from being fully healed.”
Nicholas took a deep breath, looking down at the middle aged man. “I’m fine. I’ll send payment for your care. I don’t need any more help.” He pushed past Thomas, walked out of the room, and left the building. He began to walk briskly down the street, feeling a little winded at his first time properly exercising in weeks, and decided to just magically transport home. He stopped, shut his eyes, visualized his home in his mind, and instantly arrived within his house. He sat down in a chair at a table and leaned his head against his hand, sighing. Everything had fallen apart. So much for his plan. So much for his revenge.
He still hated Ariel. Still hated everything she stood for. Because of her, the one he loved most was gone, and no one even cared. No one even cared! He didn’t want to hurt Hallie—she was nothing to him. It was Ariel, young, beautiful, powerful—everything a man wanted and everything his mother was killed for….
Everything his mother was killed for.
But no one cared that Nadia was dead. No one cared that she was used, taken advantage of, a slave for over twenty years to his pig of a father. None of that mattered to anyone. Her death was forgotten, nothing, of no consequence. Nadia was slaughtered in front of all those people and everyone had just moved on.
No one even made a move to stop Julius killing her, the men who worked for his father had said. The men who had been there the day Julius put Ariel through the test. Ariel had saved her lover, saved her family, but they’d all left Nadia to die. Julius ruthlessly murdered his mother so he could have Ariel, and they’d let him to save themselves.
Julius was already dead, and his hatred for his father was sated by the fact the man had been killed. He was almost grateful to Ariel for wiping the man out, something he’d never been able to do. Almost grateful for her hating Julius as much as he did.
But Nadia still had to be avenged for being sacrificed for a younger woman.
He wasn’t going to rest until he’d killed Ariel.
And anyone who tried to stop him.
***
The blood. The blood.
“ARIEL! NO!”
***
Hallie shot up in bed a few days later, breathing heavily, her heart racing. She tried to hold on to her dream, to what she’d seen, but it was slipping out of her mind quickly. She had glimpses—a blonde young woman and a man screaming her name, the flash of a knife, sticky and bright red with blood—but the images faded. All she had left was the feeling. Her heart gradually slowed down and her breathing returned to normal, but the feeling in her stomach was horrible.
She told Sean about the dream over breakfast.
He froze, gaping at her. “Do you think it was actually her? Ariel?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Who else could it be? Hallie, did you have a vision? Do you get those? Was Nicholas in the dream?”
“I don’t know, Sean, stop pressuring me! I don’t know what I saw, just that it was a dream and it was awful. No, I don’t get visions—at least, I don’t think I do. I’ve never been able to figure out what my power is. Witches or warlocks who receive visions don’t have other powers—that’s their core gift. I can do… other things, so I don’t think….” She groaned, shutting her eyes, feeling so terrible her teeth hurt.
Sean grasped her hand. “I’m sorry, it’s just so huge if it was a vision. I don’t want you to be upset.”
Hallie looked at him gratefully, then nearly jumped when there was a knock at the door. She frowned, not expecting anyone, not knowing who it could be. She rose and walked towards the front door.
Sean immediately moved to stand beside her. “Just in case it’s someone dangerous.”
“Nicholas isn’t likely to knock,” she replied but wasn’t really admonishing him. She half-smiled, then opened the door a little way. She saw two people standing there, a blonde young woman and a man with light-brown hair. Hallie froze, unable to think clearly. She gulped, then slowly opened the door wider.
The woman looked at the man and nodded. She took his hand and appeared to take a deep breath. “Is your name Hallie?” she asked. “My name is…”
“Ariel,” Hallie whispered.
Ariel looked at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
“How did you know who I am? Who are you?”
Ariel bit her lip. “I’ve been looking for you,” she said. “I think… we have something in common. May we come in? We really need to talk. I don’t want to alarm you, but I really need to tell you something important. It’s about… your power.”
Hallie nearly couldn’t breathe. She put her hand over her mouth, feeling tears well in her eyes. She choked out a sob. “Ariel, what am I? What’s wrong with me?”
Before she knew it, the taller woman had her in a hug, holding her closely while Hallie wept against her shoulder. She felt like a fool, like an idiot, crying in the arms of a stranger, but she couldn’t help it. The relief, the fact that she nearly had answers—it was like a dam had burst, with all her years of holding back and hiding who she was coming to a head. Maybe she’d finally learn the truth. Maybe she could finally stop being afraid.
***
They all assembled in the front room of Hallie’s home, Ariel and her husband Brayden on the settee while Hallie and Sean sat in the armchairs on either side. Everyone had introduced themselves but were now sitting in silence. Hallie noticed Ariel was pregnant, something which made her dream even more alarming.
Ariel finally spoke. “About six months ago, I learned something about myself that I never knew. I’m a witch—I’ve always known that—but my powers were always… unusual. I didn’t just have one core power like other witches—controlling fire and water, being able to call things to myself, being psychic or whatever. I was able to do a bit of everything. But the strangest thing about my power was that I couldn’t control it.
“Whenever I tried to cast a spell, it would always be bigger than I intended, be dangerous, something I couldn’t manage. And my powers didn’t just come out when I tried to use them. Every time I was upset, I would accidentally perform magic, as if it was just pouring out of me. Eventually I learned to just not use my powers, but my magic still came out sometimes. I didn’t know what was wrong with me—why I was so different—but then I met Brayden and he explained everything. He told me I was a High Witch.” Ariel looked at Hallie closely, as if waiting for her words to sink in.
Hallie felt nervous, astounded that so much of what Ariel was talking about made sense. She swallowed loudly. “What’s a High Witch? I’ve never heard of that.”
Ariel smiled a little. “I hadn’t heard of it either. But Brayden is distantly related to a High Witch, so he kn
ew what I was and was able to explain it to me. A High Witch is a rare kind of witch. There are only ever three of us in the world at once. A High Witch can perform any kind of magic other people can do, and a great deal more. And our power is also much stronger, much more powerful, and needs to be carefully managed. We can tap into nature, control the weather, cast spells of fire and light. We can do practically anything. I keep saying ‘we,’ Hallie, because I think… I had a vision where I saw you cast a huge spell. I don’t know much about you, and I didn’t even know your name until yesterday. But I think you’re a High Witch too. Does any of this make any sense?”
Hallie stared at her hands for a long while, overcome with all of the information. She looked up at Sean sitting across from her, and he was looking at her in wonder. She put her hand on her heart, knowing he was so happy Ariel was there, telling her who she was. She felt a sense of relief but was still very sad. She looked at Ariel. “Can a High Witch… can she….” Hallie paused, not wanting to talk about this but needing to know. “When I was much younger, I cast a spell. I didn’t mean it—I didn’t want to. But a lot of people got hurt, and I’ve tried to not use my magic ever since. Some people had me cornered, and I made a green wave of light pour out of me. It knocked them all back, then somehow there was lightning and thunder, and… people got hurt. I don’t know how I did it, but it was horrifying, and if that’s what a High Witch can do, I don’t want to be one! I just want to be normal! How do I make it stop? How do I get rid of this?”
Ariel looked at her sadly, then sat forward, reached out, and took Hallie’s hand. Her eyes were filled with pain, and Hallie just wanted to hide and not hear all of this. Ariel squeezed her hand gently. “Hallie, it wasn’t your fault. I’m willing to bet no one has trained you to use your magic, and if you were only a child, you can’t have been able to control it. It’d be like handing a child a sword in a battle and then getting mad at them for not being able to wield it properly. I don’t know why our powers are so strong from such a young age, but it’s just the way it is. That’s part of the reason I wanted to find you. I wanted to find the other High Witches, tell them who they are, and teach them to use their magic. How I found you is a very long story, but I’m here now and I’ll do anything I can to help you. To protect you.”
Ariel released her hand and sat back, then looked at Brayden. Hallie wondered what she meant by protect. Did Ariel know about Nicholas? How? And wouldn’t Ariel be more worried about herself in that case? She was about to ask when Sean spoke up.
“What do you know about the danger Hallie is in?” he asked. “You said you saw something in a vision, something that hasn’t happened yet? You need to tell us everything—you can’t hold anything back.”
Ariel was silent for a moment. “I intend to tell you everything, but it’s a lot to take in,” she said. “Hallie is a High Witch. There’s the truth about those who’d want to hurt you. A High Witch is very powerful, and there are those who want to harness that power, to control you, to force you to obey them. I need to warn you about this, but please don’t panic. I did see you in a vision—a young man had captured you and Sean—but this was something that has already happened. Did you just escape from someone? Did someone try to hurt you?”
Hallie nodded. “His name is Nicholas, but he said he wasn’t going to hurt me. He said he wanted to hurt you. He said he was after you because he blamed you for someone’s death, and he’d captured me and Sean to force you to come to him. He said you were looking for me—he knew about that. We managed to escape him, but we think he’ll be back at any time. What are you talking about, Ariel? What do you mean, someone wants to harness my power?”
Ariel frowned at her, looking very confused.
Brayden sat forward. “Wait… this Nicholas. He didn’t say he was going to put you through something called the test? He wants to hurt Ariel?”
Hallie felt sad she’d told them so bluntly. “Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Brayden put his arm around Ariel’s shoulders, and she put her hand on her stomach, looking distressed. “He must be Julius’ son,” she whispered. “He wants to hurt me because I killed him. When will this end? When will that devil’s terror stop?”
Hallie cringed, realizing she’d made a mess of things. She’d just blurted out Nicholas was after Ariel, not even breaking it to her gently. Hallie didn’t know who Julius was, or what Brayden meant by the test. She waited for Ariel to recover, hoping she hadn’t hurt her too badly.
“This isn’t what we expected,” Ariel finally said, her voice a little shaky and her gaze down. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m here to help you, here to teach you about your magic, and to keep you safe. But it looks like it’s not just you who’s in danger. It doesn’t matter. It won’t deter me.”
Ariel looked at Brayden, and he sat forward. “First things first,” he said. “We need to tell you a story. It’s about a man named Julius and a woman named Nadia.”
Chapter 16
Hallie paced backwards and forwards before the others, scared out of her mind and just about ready to scream. The test! She’d never heard of anything so horrific! To think this Julius person put Ariel through it, all so he could bind her to him. Yes, Ariel and Brayden had survived, but it was still horrifying! And Julius had just killed his wife, stabbed her even though she’d been with him all those years. The man sounded like a lunatic, and Hallie was glad he was dead.
And Ariel thought Nicholas was his son.
Hallie clenched her fists, barely able to breathe. She looked at Sean, and he rushed to her side, put his arms around her, and held her. She sighed against him, mortified, not wanting to know any of this. What a huge mess. To think, Nicholas wanted Ariel dead and he was still less evil than his father. Hallie remembered what Nicholas had said, saying she should be thankful he only wanted revenge. So he knew all about the test. And he was angry with Ariel for killing his father.
But, wait…
That wasn’t what he said.
“Wait, wait, I’m confused about something,” Hallie said, stepping back from Sean’s embrace and looking at the others. “Nicholas said someone was dead because of Ariel and he wanted to avenge their death. But when I asked him who you hurt, he said he wasn’t after you because of who you hurt. I didn’t understand what that meant, and he just started ranting and none of it made any sense to me. What do you think this means?”
Ariel looked at her for a while. “When I had my vision of you, your captor looked a great deal like Julius, only younger. I thought he must be related to Julius because of that, or maybe even be his son. I thought the danger was him wanting to turn you, that Julius had filled his mind with talk of High Witches and capturing them. Then when you said Nicholas was after me, my natural conclusion was that he is Julius’ son and wants revenge for his death. But if that’s not the case, then I don’t know what’s going on.”
Brayden suddenly groaned beside her. “Ariel, don’t you see? If Julius is his father, who do you think his mother is? Who do you think he wants revenge for, if not Julius?”
“Nadia?” Ariel said.
“Yes!” Brayden exclaimed. “It makes sense. If he has a soul, he would have hated seeing what Julius did to his mother, and then Julius just kills her after all those years of her being his slave? Nicholas must be so angry, and with Julius gone, the only one he has left to blame is you! And how messed up he must be… I can’t imagine Nadia was any kind of mother to him, given that after she was turned, her heart would have gone cold. A mother who wants nothing to do with him and a father who’s one step away from the devil—it’s any wonder Nicholas has any sanity at all. But a man who’s lost everything has nothing to lose. This is bad. This is more than bad.”
Hallie became very nervous. “So what do we do? How do we stop him?”
Ariel stood and paced. “How did you get away from Nicholas? I had a glimpse of the spell in my vision, but I don’t really know anything.”
; “He… he grabbed me when I was trying to free Sean and somehow I burned him. I don’t know what I did, but heat came out of me and his skin caught fire. I didn’t see what happened—I just got us out of there. That was a month ago, and we haven’t heard from him since. I don’t know how badly burned he is, but I just have this feeling he’s going to come back.”
Brayden sat forward on the settee and rubbed his chin. “Do you think he might not have survived? Do you think he might be dead?”
Hallie looked at Sean, and he put his hand on her back. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I don’t think the wounds would have killed him. Besides, the feeling I have is so strong… there’s no way I believe he won’t come back. I know this isn’t over. There is one way I can find out for sure, though…”
“What?” Brayden and Ariel asked.
Hallie hesitated. “I know where he lives. I can still see his house in my mind. I know I can transport there, because that’s how Nicholas brought me there. I haven’t gone back because I felt like that would be walking into a huge trap and I didn’t want to take the risk. Sean and I have been trying to find out all we can about him, but we’ve only come up with dead ends. I don’t know what to do.”
Ariel stood still for a while, appearing deep in thought. She walked up and down the room, not speaking for a long time. Finally she stopped and faced Hallie. “I think my original plan should remain. I came here to train you to use your powers, and that’s what I want to do. I don’t know if Nicholas is going to return, but I think we should focus on training you, getting you as strong and in control of your magic as possible. Then, when you’re ready, I think we should go to his house, prepared to confront him. I think it’s the best thing we can do. We need to face him and finish this.”