by Mona Hanna
“Do you want me to tell them to leave?”
“No, I need them. The bad men could return at any time. They want Julia—they want to take her away from me forever. I can’t let that happen! I need protection, I need…”
“I’ll protect you,” Cameron said. “I’ll do anything.”
Alexandra half-smiled through her worried expression. “Cameron, those men are powerful, they’re evil. The High Witches—Ariel and Hallie—they’re astonishingly strong with magic, and they know all about what’s going on. I do want them to stay. One of them is going to stay with me for a while, until we can be sure Julia will be safe.”
Cameron felt sick again. “And how long will that be? When will Julia be safe? How do we stop those men once and for all?”
Tears filled Alexandra’s eyes again. “Cameron, I don’t…”
She began to cry, and Cameron didn’t hesitate this time. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest, placing one hand on the back of her head. She cried against him, clinging to his shirt. He shut his eyes for a moment, wanting more than anything just to take Alexandra and Julia far away and not look back. They had the money he’d given Alexandra. He could make them all disappear. They could run—if there was one thing he knew how to do, it was run. But that was no life for Alexandra, leaving behind her family and friends. He couldn’t push it onto her. They had to take care of this the hard way.
“Mama,” a small voice said.
Alexandra left Cameron’s embrace, wiped away her tears, then walked over to Julia. She was sitting up in bed, the other baby still asleep beside her. Alexandra sat on the bed and kissed Julia’s head and rubbed her back. “I love you, my darling,” Alexandra whispered. “I love you with all my heart.”
Cameron watched the two of them together and made a decision. He hoped Alexandra wouldn’t argue. “I want to stay here too—or at least nearby,” he said. “I can take some time off from work. I don’t want to leave you in all of this, leave you with all these people and no one you know.”
Alexandra turned her head and looked at him. “Cameron you don’t have to…”
“I do have to. Do you think I could go about my life like normal knowing Julia is in trouble? She’s my child. I need to be part of this. Please don’t push me away, Alexandra. Please let me be here for you.”
“Mama?” Julia said, reaching out and grasping for her mother.
“Yes, darling, I’m here,” Alexandra said, turning back to Julia and bringing her into a hug. She briefly looked back at Cameron and then nodded.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said. He stood there for a moment, then walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
He had to protect them. He had to save them.
Chapter 12
Ariel sat in Alexandra’s bedroom, nursing Erica. Ariel had changed her and was hoping after she was fed she would go back to sleep, but it wasn’t likely. Alexandra was giving Julia lunch in the kitchen, and Hallie was preparing lunch for everyone else.
Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound, coming from Alexandra’s spare bedroom.
Ariel couldn’t move as she was still nursing her baby, but she saw Brayden run down the hall towards the spare room. Ariel heard him open the door, and then he cursed loudly.
“He’s gone—Christopher’s gone,” Brayden said, appearing in the doorway. “The chair is on the floor—the crashing sound must have been it falling to the ground. I don’t know what happened.”
Ariel sat Erica up as she’d finished feeding. She adjusted her blouse, then stood and walked into the spare bedroom, holding Erica in her arms. Brayden was right—Christopher was gone. The ropes that had tied him up were strewn on the ground. Ariel sighed.
“We didn’t watch him—the others in his group must have rescued him,” Brayden said beside her.
“How?” Ariel asked, turning to him. The others walked into the hallway; Raven, Hallie, Sean, Alexandra holding Julia, and Cameron.
“Christopher’s gone,” Ariel said to them. “But how? You mean the other men transported back here right under our noses and found Christopher? They were here with all of us in the house?”
“I guess,” Brayden said. “I mean, they’ve seen the inside of the house, so they could easily transport back in, and if they were invisible and very quiet, we might not have come across them. I guess they quickly looked around until they found Christopher, then freed him and transported back out. We should have watched him.”
“So it’s my fault for putting him in the spare room?” Ariel snapped. “I didn’t want him to hear our plans! You’d think with three magical people here—four, with Cameron—we could have sensed others wandering around invisibly. Oh I’m so angry. How could we let this happen?”
“It’s not our fault, Ariel,” Brayden said. “It’s none of our faults. I didn’t mean to imply that I was blaming anyone. It’s only in hindsight that we can see the problem. I swear I didn’t mean that I was blaming you. Sometimes everything that comes out of my mouth is utter rubbish.”
Ariel shook her head. “That’s not true, Brayden.” She shut her eyes, so upset that they let Christopher get away. He was the key to finding the other men, to stopping them. Now it was all so much harder. “This house isn’t safe if the men can just appear here anytime they like,” Ariel said, looking at the others. “How can we protect Julia?”
“I have an idea,” Raven said. He scratched his head. “We can put a barrier around the house so no one can transport in or out. It’s an extremely difficult spell—usually you’d need at least eight people of strong magic to cast it. But I’m hoping that if me and you and Hallie cast the spell together, the extra power you both have might be enough to make the spell work. I’ll need to leave for a while to gather the ingredients, but I can be back soon. What do you think?”
Ariel nodded. “That’s a good idea. That sounds perfect. Why didn’t you suggest it before?”
Raven frowned. “It really is a difficult spell. It’s not something that people often cast because it’s so complicated, and it will stop us from being able to transport into and out of the house too. But we can manage without that—the most important thing is everyone’s safety. I’ll leave now—I’ll hopefully be back soon.”
Raven nodded to the others, then turned and walked towards the front room.
Ariel sighed deeply. “Alright, I guess we can go back to what we were doing. There’s nothing else we can do for now. Lunch everyone?”
“It’ll be ready in a short while,” Hallie said. Hallie headed back to the kitchen, followed by Sean; Brayden and Cameron walked to the front room of the house. Ariel and Alexandra, along with their children, were left standing in the hallway together.
“Ariel?” Alexandra said hesitantly, her brow furrowed. “Are you alright with all of this? Being here, helping me? You don’t even know me. You don’t owe me anything.”
Ariel looked at her. She wondered how Alexandra was coping with all of this. It was so very much to heap on someone all at once. “I want to help,” Ariel said. “Not just because Julia is a High Witch, although that makes me desperate to protect her and help you in any way I can with her special kind of magic. But who would I be if I just abandoned you both when Julia is in trouble? And she’s in trouble because of me, in a way—because Christopher and the two other men are concerned about something me and Hallie might do. We’re together in this, Alexandra.
“I understand you’re strong, and capable, and I can see you look after Julia amazingly well. But we’re all bound in this, because your daughter is special. She’s like me, like Hallie, like Erica. Me and Hallie struggled our whole lives because of our powers, not understanding them, not knowing how to control them. I don’t want that fate for Erica and Julia. We’ll be there for them, and I’ll do whatever I can to teach your daughter to use her magic well, to not let it overwhelm her. As much as this might be strange to hear, to me, Julia is like family. There are only four High Witches in the
entire world! I want to help. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.”
Alexandra’s eyes became moist. She wiped away a tear that fell down her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much.”
Ariel smiled and reached out and touched Alexandra’s arm. She then turned and walked to the front room to join Brayden and Cameron. She sat beside her husband on one of the settees, then leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Are you alright?” Brayden asked quietly.
Ariel snuggled against him. “I’m fine. Just tired. I think we should stay here with Alexandra, instead of Hallie and Sean. Me and you and Erica. I don’t think she’d mind all of us being here, and I need you. I can’t do this without you.”
Brayden put his arm around Ariel, then kissed her forehead. “I’ll always be here for you,” he whispered. “I’ll do anything for you.”
Ariel looked at him and then gently kissed him on the mouth.
Brayden smiled. “I miss kissing you,” he said, grinning.
Ariel giggled before leaning her head against his shoulder again. “I miss it too, my darling.”
***
Ariel snuggled up to Brayden and Erica in the bed in Alexandra’s spare bedroom that night. She was exhausted. Brayden has his arm stretched out, and Ariel lay against it while Erica slept between them. Ariel shut her eyes, so tired, so spent. All she wanted to do was drift away.
She’d cast the barrier spell with Hallie and Raven in the late afternoon, then Hallie, Sean, Raven, and Cameron had left. They’d all gone to stay at a nearby inn and were going to come back the following morning. Cameron had said he had to travel home first before staying at the inn that night, as he had to tell his employer he was taking some time off from work and arrange for someone to take care of his cat. Ariel was pleased to finally be able to rest, to just lie there and relax. It had been an awful day.
She sighed deeply and drifted off to sleep. She could hear Erica and Brayden breathing beside her. She felt comforted, lying there with her family, close and comfortable. Erica made gorgeous snuffling sounds in her sleep, which warmed Ariel’s heart. She loved her family so much.
Then sleep did take hold, and Ariel’s thoughts faded away…
***
They need you. They need the help.
Thousands of witches. Thousands of vulnerable women.
You shouldn’t ignore them, my child. You are brave and strong, with a heart full of love. I know you’re afraid—I know you don’t know how this could work. But you need to do what’s right—trust in what’s right.
I will be there for you. I will protect you. I will guide you.
Trust in your soul, Ariel. You know what you should do.
Let me show you their stories…
“No, don’t hurt me.”
“Magic isn’t bad.”
“I’m not any different than you.”
“You’re just a filthy witch.”
“Is her kind allowed here?”
“I don’t want you involved with a witch.”
“I’m taking away your child—I don’t want a witch raising my granddaughter.”
“No, don’t hurt me!”
“Please, I wasn’t trying to do the wrong thing. It was just a spell.”
“I’m not bad… Please don’t kill me! I beg of you, don’t kill me!
“I beg of you…”
You need to do what’s right…
***
Ariel’s eyes flew open at dawn. She lay there, breathing heavily, the images and words from her dream flashing through her mind. Was the message from the same being that gave her the dream about Erica? That told her having four High Witches would be alright?
She struggled to piece together what she had seen. Was it really about the prophecy—the spell? Was the One telling her to cast it? She was confused and overwhelmed, but a sense of peace—the same peace she had felt the last time the One had spoken to her—was floating through her body. A sense of being loved and protected, of not being alone. She was frightened but felt a strength behind her, something that told her she would be guided, as the voice had said. She sat up, running a hand over her hair. She had to talk to Hallie. She had to talk to everyone. It would be a very difficult conversation.
Then Ariel looked at baby Erica, fast asleep in the bed, and wondered how a child who had not shown any magical ability could help cast a world changing spell…
Chapter 13
Hallie awoke in the early morning and lay in bed, looking at the ceiling of the room at the inn her and Sean were staying at. She was warm and comfortable in the large bed, but anxiety ran through her over all they were going through. She could hardly keep it all in her head—the prophecy, the spell, poor Julia being wanted by Christopher and the other two men. Hallie wondered how Alexandra was coping, dealing with the fear over her daughter being in trouble, as well as so many new people suddenly in her life. Hallie thought Alexandra must be very brave to be coping at all with the whole mess. Ariel was the backbone of their group, taking charge, dealing with everything while looking after baby Erica. It was all so much to handle, and Hallie didn’t even have a child to take care of! She was barely coping and it was just her. But she was doing her best.
Sean grumbled next to her, then rolled over and opened his eyes. He rubbed his face, then wrapped his arm around Hallie’s waist, drawing her close to him. He gently kissed her forehead. “Morning,” he muttered, sounding half asleep.
Hallie nestled close to him, enjoying the warmth his body provided. She loved being in his arms, in his embrace. She only wished she could give him the child he desperately wanted. But she decided not to worry about that now. “How are you?” she asked.
He sighed. “Fine. How are you? This is much harder on you than it is on me. How are you coping?”
Hallie didn’t speak for a moment. She lay there for a while, wondering how to form her thoughts. “I’m alright, just worried. I’m not sure how to deal with all of this. I’m not sure what our next move is. And I keep expecting those horrible men to try to snatch Julia again. We put the barrier around Alexandra’s home, but what if that’s not enough? I’d die inside if the poor little girl was taken. Honestly, though, I’m not sure what those men want to do—maybe their plans have changed. Maybe they intend on stopping us from casting the spell in some other way. I don’t know what to think.”
The two lay in silence for a while. Sean held on to Hallie, but she wondered if he was going to slip off to sleep again, as he was so quiet.
Finally he let out a deep breath. “Are you thinking you want to cast the spell? It sounds like madness to me. I mean, helping other witches isn’t the crazy part, but the whole thing about a dark force being unleashed—what does that even mean? And the prophecy said you’d have to battle it? I don’t want you to have any part in this—not unless we can find out more. I want you to be safe, Hallie—safe and protected and with me. I don’t want you in any danger. I…”
Sean brought her into a huge hug, holding her tightly against him while he kissed her neck. “Stay with me…” he whispered, and Hallie trembled from the emotion in his voice. She hadn’t realized how concerned he was.
She held on to him closely, her arms around his neck, wanting desperately to console him, to comfort him. But she didn’t know how. Maybe casting the spell was madness. Maybe Sean was right. “It’ll be alright, my love,” she whispered. “We’ll cope. We don’t know what’s happening yet, so don’t stress. I love you so much. I’d do anything for you.”
Sean moved back slightly so he was looking at her. He put one hand on the side of her face, gazing at her closely. She held her breath. “Know that I love you with every part of me,” he said. “Know that whatever you do, I’ll be with you. I’ll be next to you. Don’t ever forget that I’m yours.”
Hallie wrapped her arms around Sean’s neck again, holding him tight. She moved her lips to his and kissed him, surrendering to his touch. He kept kissing her, clutching her nightdress, h
is tongue moving with her own. Hallie nearly couldn’t breathe from the intensity of the embrace. All she ever wanted was him.
***
Alexandra walked to the front door upon hearing a loud knock, then hesitated with her hand on the door handle. “Who is it?”
“Cameron,” a deep voice answered. “I’ll go to the window to show you.”
Alexandra went to the window, pushed aside the curtain, and saw Cameron standing there. She went back to the door and opened it, and he walked through.
“Thanks,” he said softly. “How are you?”
“Okay,” Alexandra said. She went and sat back on the settee, looking at Julia, who was sitting on the rug playing with some toys.
Cameron sat beside her. “Did everything go okay last night? Any disturbances?”
“No, it was fine,” she said. “Ariel and Brayden are still in their room. I felt safer with them here. The only interruption was Erica crying at times, but that’s to be expected.”
Alexandra looked at her hands, not knowing what to say. She’d asked for Cameron to come to her but didn’t really know how to talk to him. Before Julia had almost been taken, she’d wanted to take things slow with Cameron, have him only see his daughter once a week at the most. She’d wanted to ease into things, to see if Cameron could be trusted. Now he was going to be there all the time, in a situation where everything was so difficult, and she didn’t have time to get to know him slowly. Maybe she was crazy to want him there, but Julia was his child, and he deserved to know what was going on.