by Sarra Cannon
"Still, we need all the help we can get," I said. "I'm going to write them on the list and if they want to join us, maybe they can leave Meredith at home so the whole town isn't in danger. I don't think it will hurt to let them know our plans and let them make the decision on their own."
Jackson and Angela nodded. We continued to list anyone and everyone we could think of, and when we were finished, we had about fifteen names.
"I wish Lea had come," Jackson said.
Hearing her name made my stomach tighten. It was probably my fault she wasn't here.
"She made her choice," I said. "There's nothing we can do about that now."
Jackson looked toward the fireplace, a tight expression on his face. "No, there isn't."
I swallowed, pushing back a rush of jealousy. He had chosen me, so I knew he wasn't upset because he wanted to be with her. Still, it was obvious he cared for her and she had let him down.
"How are we going to let everyone know what we're planning?" Angela asked. "We can't possibly risk going around talking to all these people individually."
I bit my lip. She had a point. We needed to get everyone to one central location and explain our plan to everyone at once.
We could do the meeting here in the safety of the crow village. But how to get everyone here without going to talk to them?
Then, it hit me. I sat up on my knees, excitement dancing through my veins. "The shoes," I said.
Angela scrunched her eyebrows together. "What in the world are you talking about?"
"The cheerleading shoes," I said. "You used to put a memory spell inside them so that when we put them on, we'd automatically know the steps of a cheer or a dance, right?"
She nodded, but still looked confused.
"Could you put a similar spell on the wristbands Essex made?" I asked. "Something that would give people a memory of how to get here to the crow village?"
Her eyes grew wide and her lips parted. Then, she smiled, finally understanding what I meant. "Yes! I could put a movement spell on the wristbands so that when anyone put it on, they would know the steps to take to get here. They wouldn't necessarily understand where they were headed, or why, but the bands could bring them here or to any location we wanted."
"We could mail them out to the people we want to invite," I said. "Maybe we could include some kind of message to let them know it was a secret meeting with me. The wristband would allow them to get into the village. All they would have to do is put it on and follow the steps."
"Very smart," Jackson said. "Of course, once they get here, our secret hiding place won't be a secret anymore."
"It's a risk we're going to have to take," I said. "If we go anywhere else, we'll risk being discovered."
"At the meeting, we can ask everyone to make a decision about whether to help or not," Angela said. "If they decide they don't want to risk their lives for this, we can ask them to take a potion that will make them forget. That way Priestess Winter can't hold them responsible for keeping secrets, but we also won't have to worry about them telling anyone where we are or what we've got planned."
"Good idea," I said.
"I'll go talk to Essex and see if I can get started on the memory spells," Angela said, standing. "I'll have to imbue each one with specific directions from their house to the village. This could take some time."
I looked back over the small list of names. My stomach knotted. We were taking a huge risk trusting these people, but we needed the help. It was truly a leap of faith.
I carefully tore the list from the notebook and passed it to my sister, my hand trembling slightly as I let go.
There Wasn't A Minute To Waste
Mary Anne and I woke up super early to prepare for our trip to Brooke's.
I practiced my glamours, making myself look like Mary Anne, Angela and Zara until I felt confident I could replicate Brooke's body and clothes with nothing more than a brief glance as she walked to her car. The glamour had to be convincing enough to fool her mom if necessary.
My skin tingled. Getting the ritual items was vital to our entire plan. Without them, there was no hope of even attempting to free Aerden. Today had to be a success.
I glanced at the clock. Six-thirty. "You ready?" I asked Mary Anne. "We need to get over there early enough to make sure we don't miss anyone leaving the house."
Mary Anne pushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm ready," she said. "I'll shift to crow form and stay there until we get back unless you need me. Once you're inside, listen close for my call. I'll fly onto the roof and make as much noise as possible if someone is coming back into the house."
I nodded and wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans. "Let's do this," I said.
Jackson stood in the doorway of our gray house, his arms crossed at his chest, worry in his eyes. I brought a hand to my lips and blew him a kiss from the bottom of the steps.
A weak smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "Be careful," he said. "If you're not back here in two hours, I'm coming after you."
"We'll be back," I said.
I picked up my bag full of fake ritual items. They weren't exact copies yet. Essex had done most of the work and last night, the six of us had gathered around the stones and poured a small part of our energy inside. According to Essex, our gifted power would allow the items to hold their glamours for at least a week. As soon as I found the three ritual items in the Harris house, I would simply have to use my glamour magic to make our fakes look exactly the same before I put them in place.
By the time the stones lost their charge and the glamours faded, Aerden would already be free. Or not. Either way, the ritual would be over and we'd know.
All we had to do was get these items.
Mary Anne shifted into a small black crow, her blue eyes still large and bright. I had already created a strong connection to the core of my power, so becoming invisible only took a moment. Together, we stepped outside the barrier and flew toward the Harris house. I used levitation instead of my demon form so that it wouldn't leave a trail.
It only took us ten minutes to get there. We settled into the field across the street from the house and waited. We didn't dare talk or change from our current forms. There was zero room for error this morning.
Nothing happened for a long time, but finally around seven fifteen, the front door opened and Brooke's mom stepped onto the porch wearing black leggings and an oversized tshirt. She stood on the porch for a few minutes stretching, then stuck her earbuds in her ears and took off down the dirt road.
One down, two to go.
Angela had said Mrs. Harris ran five miles in the morning. At a decent pace, that meant we had about forty-five minutes before she'd be home. The clock was ticking. My toes danced inside my shoe.
When the door to the garage opened fifteen minutes later, I bit my lip to hold back my excitement. Mr. Harris' car backed out and as he drove away, I could see he was alone in the car.
Now there's just Brooke.
I had snagged a watch from one of the houses in the crow village and found myself constantly checking it. When Brooke finally emerged from the house, it was right at seven forty. That gave me less than twenty minutes to get in the house, find the three items and get out.
I studied Brooke carefully. Every detail of her outfit was important. Dark skinny jeans. Leopard print ballet flats. Red button-up shirt with a leopard print scarf tied around her neck. Her dark brown hair hung loose down her back.
There was no sign of my mother's necklace and relief filled my heart. I didn't have a plan for what to do if she'd been wearing it today.
Seeing her again made a large lump form in my throat. There was a time when I thought she was a good friend. Someone I could trust and share my secrets with. I thought she cared about me back then.
But she'd just stood there while Priestess Winter tried to take my life.
She got into her car and drove away. I waited a full minute just to make sure she wasn't coming back for anything, then hurried across the roa
d toward her house, still invisible.
I stepped around the side of the house, out of view of any cameras. I sat down on the pavement and concentrated on every detail of Brooke's outfit. Slowly, my body transformed. My hair became dark and straight. My clothing changed to match Brooke's exactly. I pulled a small mirror out of my messenger bag and smiled.
Perfect.
To the cameras, it would just look like Brooke had come home for a few minutes. It wouldn't send off any warning signals and hopefully no one would pay it any attention.
I stood and rubbed my sweaty palms against my jeans. I had about fifteen minutes left before Mrs. Harris should be home. There wasn't a minute to waste.
I strolled around the front of the house and turned the doorknob. The door was unlocked and I walked right in.
The entryway opened up into Brooke's large living room. It brought back strong memories of my first sleepover here. The night we'd all stayed up practicing cheers for my audition. Back then, I thought I'd just been incredibly lucky to have made some real friends here in Peachville. I'd believed this town was really my chance at starting over and having a better life.
I swallowed down my regrets and started my search for the ritual items. I was sure they wouldn't be out in the open anywhere. When I'd seen the dagger at the Ashworth's house the night of the Homecoming dance, it had been locked in a black case in Lydia's office.
With a quick look around the single-story house, I found the office and looked for the case. After a couple of minutes, I couldn't find it anywhere. I needed to move on. I checked the master bedroom, thinking maybe Mrs. Harris had tucked it into her closet or under the bed. I looked everywhere, but there was no sign of the cup or the dagger in the bedroom.
Where else could they be? I tapped my toes nervously. Ten minutes left.
A growing panic welled up inside. Mrs. Harris could be back any minute now. What if she decided to take a shortcut or if she was an exceptionally fast runner? I had to hurry.
I decided to start in the living room and go through each of the rooms one-by-one. I would just have to go as fast as possible and search inside every closet or closed space.
After looking in the living room and the kitchen, I stepped into the hallway that led down to Brooke's room and the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My heart skipped a beat and I gasped. I could feel them. The stones inside the ritual items were practically calling out to me.
Excited, I stepped forward, following some strange connection I felt deep within. I passed a closed door on the right side of the hall and my arms erupted in goosebumps. I backed up and opened the door. The room had probably belonged to one of the older Harris girls at some point, but was now set up as a basic guest room. There wasn't much here except for a queen-size bed, two bedside tables and a dresser, but it was the dresser that caught my attention.
I walked straight over to it and ran my hands down the front of each drawer, stopping as I reached the second one from the bottom. I clasped the clear glass knobs and pulled, breathing in deep to calm the flutters in my stomach.
There, nestled next to a blue velvet ritual robe was a black case and a silver cup.
The Old Brooke
I reached into my bag and pulled out two of the fakes Essex had created. I picked up the cup-shaped one, then grabbed the real silver ritual cup. I concentrated on recreating every detail of the real cup, then felt the fake transform in my hand. When the glamour was complete, I set the fake chalice in the drawer, careful to set it down in exactly the same place as the one I'd taken.
I opened the black case and removed the ritual dagger, replicating it the same way and putting the fake one in its place. Then, I put both of the real items in my bag and closed the drawer. I stepped back and studied the area to make sure nothing looked out of place.
I glanced at my watch. Only five minutes left. Crap. I still had to find the necklace.
I breathed in deep through my nose, letting a calming breath fill my lungs. If I had been able to feel a connection to the stones in the dagger and the cup, I would definitely be able to find the necklace the same way. After all, I'd worn that necklace for years. Long before I understood what it really meant.
I could tell the necklace was not here in this bedroom. I went back out into the hallway and shut the door behind me. I knew from that first night I'd stayed here that Brooke's room was at the very end of this hallway. If she sometimes wore the necklace to school, there was a good chance I would find it in her room somewhere.
As I got closer to her room, I knew I'd been right. The necklace was definitely in there.
Her door was halfway open and as soon as I walked inside, my eyes went straight to the blue stone. I nearly cried out in excitement. Even though the necklace was a symbol of the Order's control over my ancestors, it meant so much more to me than that. All my life, it had been my only connection to my mother. Every time my fingertips touched the stone, I imagined my mother's hands touching the same exact spot. It had always been such a comfort to me through the hard times.
When the necklace had been taken from me by Priestess Winter, it had felt like a part of my mom had been stolen from me. Now, taking it back was like taking a part of my life back. My confidence and power.
I crossed over to Brooke's dresser and scooped up the necklace, closing my fist around the stone and bringing it to my heart. I secured it around my neck and ran the pendant up and down the chain like I'd done a million times.
I reached into my bag and pulled out Essex's fake. It was nothing more than a thick string with a bottle cap attached. A small red stone was glued inside the bottle cap, loaded with just enough power to fuel a glamour for a week. In my hands, the fake quickly became an exact copy of the real necklace. I set it on top of the dresser and turned to leave.
That's when something under her bed caught my eye.
I leaned down and grabbed the small bronze horse. Brooke's spirit animal. It was cool against my skin, and I turned it over in my hand. From my crouched position, I could see there was more hidden there under her bed. Several horse magazines, drawings, pictures. Even a few brochures for veterinary schools. I set the small bronze horse down on the floor and picked up one of the magazines.
Brooke had earmarked several of the pages and I flipped through them, my breath catching in my throat as I came to a beautiful picture of a chestnut brown horse. Brooke had drawn a large heart around the picture. I brought my hand to my mouth, touched by that heart.
The night of her initiation, I remembered how we had sat together on the grass staring up at the fireworks. A nervous Brooke had confessed to me that she had always wanted to be a veterinarian. She'd told me about her love of horses and how all she'd ever wanted to do was work with animals.
I'd thought that side of Brooke had been lost forever, but this hidden stash showed me there was still a part of her that wanted a different life. She hadn't completely disappeared.
This was proof that somewhere deep inside, the old Brooke still existed.
I stuffed the magazine back under the bed and as I turned to leave, realized I could just make out the sound of a crow cawing on the roof.
Her Secret Dream
My mouth went dry.
What had I been thinking? I should have never wasted a single second looking through Brooke's things. I should have taken the necklace and gotten the hell out of here.
Brooke's mom must have gotten home from her run.
I didn't know whether to make myself invisible or just hide out here in the bedroom until she'd gotten in the shower or something. I stood quickly and tripped over the small bronze horse just as Laura Harris poked her head through the bedroom door.
I pressed my hands tight to my jeans and tried to smile. My ears rang and my insides twisted with terror. I prayed my glamour was in place.
"Brooke? What on earth are you still doing here? I didn't even notice your car was still here." She looked down at her watch. "It's almost eight. You're going to be late for school
."
Her eyes traveled up and down my body, finally resting on the horse at my feet.
She pressed her lips into a thin line and clenched her jaw. "What have I told you about those damn horses?" She leaned over and snatched it up from the floor. She gripped it so tight, I thought she was getting ready to throw it at me. "You know you're not allowed to show any preference for your old dreams. How many times am I going to have to say it to get it through that thick skull of yours? You're never going to be a veterinarian."
I didn't dare say a word. I stared down at the floor, letting my hair fall around my face.
Mrs. Harris stepped closer to me. Her shirt was covered in sweat despite the fact that it was still relatively cool outside this time of morning. She must have been running hard.
"Do you want to mess this whole thing up for us?" she said, her voice low and tense. "I will never forgive you if Priestess Winter chooses a different family for this town, Brooke. I swear to god, I would disown you and never look back before I would give up our chance for taking control of this town."
I struggled to breathe. How could a mother say that to her own daughter? I lifted my chin and looked her straight in the eye. No wonder Brooke was so messed up.
"You know how important this is to me and your sisters," she said. "It should be important to you, too. I never want to see another horse in this room, do you understand me?"
I nodded, swallowing back my desire to give this woman a piece of my mind. Was power really more important to her than her own daughter?
"Good," she said, softening her tone and relaxing her shoulders slightly. She placed her hand on my arm, and I had to stop myself from pulling away in disgust. "I know it's been hard for you ever since Mrs. King was killed, but that was a necessary loss. She was a traitor. You understand that, don't you sweetie?"
I struggled to hide my surprise. Killed? What had they all been told?
"Priestess Winter says it's only a matter of time before we get Harper too," she said. "We just have to hang in there a little bit longer and the whole world will be at our fingertips."