Someone is in trouble, and all I can think is that my mom is here in the colony. I run toward the sound, slipping free of Angelo’s sudden grip on my elbow.
I’m scanning the darkness when I see it. A soft glow of light, illuminating two figures. One of them looks like Bilda. “Mom!” I yell - not the best idea - and then I’m on top of them. Something stabs me in the ribs, then I hear the heavy breathing of struggling people, I get a hold of an ankle, lose it, and then a handful of hair.
One of the figures slides from under me and runs, but I hear a new kind of grunt and know that Angelo’s caught them. Good.
I straddle the figure under me, but I’m almost certain, even in the dark, that it’s Bilda. “Mom?” I ask over the shouts of men behind me.
“Trinket?”
That isn’t Bilda’s voice. “May?”
“Thank goodness you showed up - I thought he had me.”
I roll off her, then help us both off the ground. “What’s happening?” I ask, looking from her to Jones and Angelo, who has somebody pinned to the ground about twenty feet away.
May looks too, then hugs me. “We have to help your mother,” she says, “but you can’t be anywhere near Dravo.”
Uh...no. “Sorry. I’m going to help her.”
“You can’t.” I hear voices, and then hear Angelo give a few of his men directions to lock up the prisoner and keep an eye on him. Then they walk to where we’re standing.
“Are you all right?” Joes asks me.
I nod. “Except that May here isn’t making any sense. She says I have to leave.”
Angelo leads us back down the sidewalk to a streetlight, where I can see that May looks really rough. Her hair is frizzy and pulling away from her bun and her dress is covered in dirt and leaves. “Who was that?” I ask. “”And why were they attacking you?”
Angelo answers. May is smoothing her skirt and picking at her hair. “Calhoun.”
“Calhoun...” I know the name, but I can’t put it with a face.
“You met him in Dravo’s office, remember?” Jones prompts me.
“Ooh, the little prim and proper guy who didn’t believe I was Dravo’s daughter. I remember. Blakely said he worked for Dravo.” I turn to May. “But you two were friends. What happened?”
She sniffs. “We were never friends.”
“Really? Because it looked like...”
“No. Never. Associates, in the loosest sense of the word.” She turns to Angelo. “We have to do something how, Angelo. Dravo is about to make a move.”
“I figured as much. We were on our way there, actually.”
She shakes her head and points to me. “She doesn’t need to be anywhere near him. Not now. Maybe not ever, unless you can get him under control.”
“Why not? He’s got Bilda.”
“I know.”
“You know?” She says it so casually that I’m starting to rethink her role as a possible ally in all of this. “Why haven’t you told anyone? Or done anything to help her?”
“Dravo made a pact with the Quellen Coven. We trusted him - I’m not proud of that - but then he turned on us.”
“What kind of pact?” Angelo asked, his voice tight.
“To rule the island alongside him, much like your Council. But now that the island is within his grasp, he’s doing away with his partners, so to speak. Or at least, having Calhoun do it for him.”
“So he needed your help, but now he doesn’t, and you’re basically collateral damage.” It makes more sense now.
“Exactly.” She’s still looking at Angelo. “He won’t hurt Bilda - he’s using her to draw in Trinket.”
Angelo nods quietly and studies her face.
“Why?” I ask. All three of them look at me.
“He needs you power, dear.”
She sounds so much like Mom when she says it that tears spring to my eyes. I blink them away. “I don’t understand. I thought he was mad because I never learned to practice my magic.”
“He doesn’t need your magic. He only needs to channel your power.”
“Oh.” I have no idea what to do with this information. Can I hide my power? Is it like holding my breath? Somehow I doubt it.
“He needs you within the walls of his home to pull it off. That’s why he put you in the dungeon.” She cocks her head and looks at me to see if I’m getting it.
I am, more than I want. “You mean he put us in there and then let us escape?”
She nods. “Yes. He just didn’t think you would find Bilda and take her with you.”
Well that’s something, I suppose.
She continues, “If that hadn’t happened, would you even know he had a dungeon?”
I shake my head.
She turns to Angelo. “He needs you, too.”
“Wait - I thought the battle was for the island.” Now I’m really confused. “What makes him think Angelo will participate in something like that?”
“Because you two will be wed.”
I can’t help it - I laugh. This woman has truly lost her mind. “Say that again?”
“Dravo doesn’t just want the island, Trinket. He wants control of the human realm. That will require a lot more power than even he has, so he’s collecting anyone with power he can tap.”
“That’s ridiculous.” My mind is reeling with the enormity of Dravo’s ego. I look at Angelo and Jones, both silently digesting her words. “There’s no way he can pull that off, is there?”
The dark expression on Jones’s face tells me that he thinks it’s possible.
Angelo is nodding slowly.
I put both hands on my hips and glare at May. “Well, first of all - Angelo and I aren’t married. We aren’t even friends. Second... Well, I don’t know what’s second, but this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“No it isn’t.” Jones looks at me, then Angelo. “He’s brilliant, if this works. Imagine - being the king. I can see it.”
“I can’t. Why would he even want the human realm?” I think of my friend Tawny, and Darrell, the owner of the nightclub back in Raleigh. I think of Clay - whose mind would explode if he discovered the existence of a magickal realm.
That might be fun...
“Some men are just power-hungry, dear. History is full of people like him.”
“But why him, and why now? Wouldn’t he have tried this before?”
“He has - that’s how he ended up in Jagged Grove in the first place,” Angelo says quietly. “I just thought he was content, and that’s a big mistake.”
“Apparently.”
He continues. “I thought, when he asked for you, that he was finding his heart and wanting to build a relationship with his long lost daughter.”
“Is that why you agreed to bring us here when he asked?”
He nods. “I’m sorry.”
“Ok, so my father is trying to take over the world. He’s kidnapped my mother to drag me into his plans and...what? Force me to marry Angelo, so that he can siphon our combined power?” I ask May. It’s hard to even say with a straight face.
“Yes.”
“I’m not marrying Angelo under any circumstances.”
“Even if your mother’s life is at stake?” Her voice is quiet.
I can’t answer that, but her gaze tells me she knows. The idea rocks me to the core. As much as I complain about Mom, I would do anything to save her life. Instead I say, “And Calhoun...”
“Is working for him. Calhoun’s job is to kill anyone who stands in Dravo’s way.”
I wince. “Including you, Aries and Sabrina, even though Aries is his blood relation.”
“That doesn’t matter to Dravo.”
It’s hard for me to imagine anyone wanting to kill their twin sister for a chunk of power. Dravo is really terrible. It must be the demon in him.
“I’m afraid I’m afraid you’re right, though.” She pats my arm. “When he had Aries killed and we knew he would never share it, everything fell apart. He only wanted us out of
the way. After that, Sabrina. I knew then that I had to stop him - or I was next.”
“Good.”
A look of horror crosses her face.
“Not good that he was trying to kill you - good that you were trying to stop him,” I explain.
Her face clears. “Of course I was trying to stop him. No amount of power is worth a person’s life.”
“So how do we do that?” I ask. “Stop him, I mean.”
We all look at Angelo.
“Dravo needs to be bound.”
The voice isn’t Angelo’s. I shift my gaze to movement just over his shoulder and see Blakely step into the pool of light. Jones turns.
“Who are you?” May asks, taking a step back.
I touch her arm, never letting my eyes leave Blakely. “It’s OK. This is Blakely.”
He bows. “A lowly vampire, at your service.”
May doesn’t look relieved. “And how do you suggest we bind him? His power is incredible.”
Blakely nods. “Yes - a match for Angelo, I hear. No matter.”
“No matter?” I ask. Is Blakely losing it, too?
“Not with as formidable a team as us.”
I’m staring at him in confusion. So is May. The only one of us who seems to be getting it is Angelo. “Do you think we can pull it off?”
“If we follow through with Dravo’s plan.”
“I don’t understand,” I start to say, but then the pieces come together in my head. “Oh. No. Hell, no, Blakely. I can’t even...”
“I wouldn’t even suggest it, my sweet, except for the fact that the union must happen for your souls - and magick - to intermingle and increase.”
Uh-uh. Not happening. “I’m not...intermingling...anything with Angelo. Find another plan.” I cross my arms and turn away. I am not marrying Angelo, even on pretense.
There is silence for a moment, then Jones says, “It’s Bilda’s life, Trinket.”
I startle. “I know. But it’s my life, too, and having my soul intermingled with Angelo’s is just...wrong.”
I think about the intimacy we shared just a few hours before, and suddenly I want to hit Jones really hard. “Bad idea.”
“Then Dravo wins.” Jones sounds sad. “And we all get to live in a hell of his making.”
Chapter Seventeen
I groan. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Surely there is another way. Can’t we just kill him?”
Angelo looks at me. “You’d kill to avoid marriage to me?”
“Yes.” I’m nodding hard. “Yes I would.”
“We can’t kill him.”
“Why? He’s not immortal, is he?”
“No.” Angelo shakes his head. “But close. The demon in him is, and that will make things...tricky.”
“Impossible,” Blakely interjects.
“Then we’ll do tricky. I’m not marrying you, Angelo.”
“Would you stop for a second?” Jones snaps. “Listen to yourself? Bilda needs us right now, and she needs you to not be a little snot, for once.”
“I’m not being a...” I can’t even finish the sentence. Instead, I stalk off, back toward the path and into the woods. I’m going home, and I’ll figure out something else. There has to be a way to stop Dravo and get Mom back without chaining myself to the most irritating man in the world.
Of course, we wouldn’t really be married, but even I, as un-magickal as I am, knows that once souls are intermingled they can’t really be apart. That’s probably why Dravo can steal Bilda at will. It’s also why so many witches remain single - mingling two souls is not a decision to take lightly.
Even though the sun is starting to peek over the horizon, the path seems darker than ever, now that I’m alone. I shiver and walk faster. I’m far from the others when I remember that Dravo is looking for me, and that it’s probably not a great idea to wander through the woods without help if I need it.
I stop. Look back toward the others, who are completely out of sight now, and sigh.
Are they right? I know my mother’s life is more important than anything, but would she want me to stoop to this?
I wish I could ask her. I wish she was here to tell me what to do, and help me figure out how to stop Dravo.
If I don’t do something, I might never get to talk to her again.
The thought hits me like a sledgehammer in the gut, and I sink to my knees on the path, holding myself, rocking back and forth, and crying. Part of me is aware of the danger - Dravo could scoop me up like a kitten right now if he wanted - but the rest of me is breaking into pieces. Life with Bilda is frustrating but definitely spicy. Life without Bilda would be the dullest existence of all.
It seems like a long time, but then hands are helping me to my feet and Jones is whispering in my ear. “It’s all right, Trinket. We’ll figure something out. Don’t cry, babe.”
He pulls me in and I cling to him, my face smashed into his chest. “I don’t want to marry Angelo,” I moan. “I just want to save Bilda.”
“I wouldn’t want to marry Angelo, either,” he says, stroking my hair.
I push away - not far - and look up at him. “Do I have to?” I ask.
He looks out over my head, into the woods, and doesn’t answer.
That doesn’t bode well. “You’re supposed to reassure me here.”
“I can’t. You know I don’t know enough about magick. I’m just a shifter - my first instinct is to hunt him down and rip his throat out. Others will have to fix this, and it looks like marrying him is the fastest way to get the job done. I’m sorry.”
“Or you could hunt him down and rip his throat out...” I echo, only half joking. Even I know that Dravo wouldn’t stand around and let that happen. Jones would be applesauce by the time my father got finished with him.
We’re quiet for a moment. “I have to, don’t I?” I say finally.
“I can’t think of any other way.”
“OK, there has to be a reversal of some sort, right? If I marry Angelo, can’t we...undo it, after we stop Dravo?”
“I’ve never heard of that happening, but maybe,” he says, but the doubt shines bright in his eyes. We both know better.
“So - I marry Angelo, then we go to Dravo and demand that he quit it? How does this work?”
“Uh, no, babe. It isn’t that simple. First of all, you can’t get anywhere near the man, especially after the marriage ceremony.”
“Then how do we actually stop him?”
Blakely’s voice makes us both spin around. “I will gather the others - anyone willing to lend their power. Then a ritual to bind him will be in order.”
“And then...?”
“Then Angelo will be able to handle him, but only if we properly bind him. That can be tricky.”
“And then we save Bilda?” Jones asks.
“Oh, no.” Blakely looks pained. “No - we get her out immediately, as soon as he’s bound.”
I look from Blakely to Jones, and then back again. Angelo and May step around a turn in the path, and May looks so much like Bilda for a moment that I gasp.
I study her. “OK, I’ll do whatever we have to do to get her back.”
She looks relieved. Jones looks pensive. Angelo looks mad. Blakely looks at me, meets my gaze head on, and winks. I offer him the best smile I can, under the circumstances.
“Be at the Break in ten minutes,” May tells us, turning to go. “I’ll gather the others.”
“Where is the Break?” I ask, but she’s gone.
“Near the water, on this end of the island. Not far,” Blakely tells me.
I nod. This is going to be weirder than anything that’s happened to me yet.
The clearing is as bright as noon, even though it’s only just before seven in the morning. I stand as straight as I can and work up the courage to keep walking until I’m in the center of the clearing. Tall birches block most of the view, even though I can see hints of ocean in between the mottled, thin trunks. The piece of ground that we’re on juts out over the
water, making a point at the edge of a cliff. I fight the urge to jump in and start swimming.
Jones must sense my tension, because he holds tightly to my hand. “It’ll be OK,” he says quietly, for the millionth time. I’ve stopped answering him. All this time, he’s been quietly stealing my heart, but after today, there will be no chance of ever pursuing a relationship with him.
It makes me sad, but if I’m honest, I’m a tiny bit relieved. Last night gave me a taste of how explosive our relationship could be, and I’m not sure I could handle it on a day-to-day basis. Jones is one of those men that every woman wants, but no one can handle, and I’m half convinced that even if he was properly corralled by some lucky lady, it wouldn’t be long before he was jumping fences to find fresh pastures.
Then I wonder why I’ve slipped into horse analogies. That’s weird.
The Quellan coven has assembled in a loose group near the edge of the surrounding trees, whispering among themselves and casting the occasional glance our way as May explains the situation to them. I don’t blame them for being nervous - if it weren’t for Bilda’s involvement, I don’t think I would be brave enough to get within a mile of this mess.
I have no idea what the ceremony entails, so I assume I’ll just follow their leads and get it over with. It isn’t like this is going to be a real marriage - I’m not in love with Angelo, and we won’t be together forever, if I can figure out what to do about the intermingling souls thing. It’s all just a formality to trick Dravo.
I look up at the witches as they walk toward us, and I can immediately pick out Bloom, my other aunt, even though we haven’t met yet. She has my mother’s walk, and a touch of joyful lines about her face. Our eyes meet, and she offers me a small, tense smile. I smile too, a little. We can get too know one another later, once we all survive this.
They form a circle, someone marking it to shield us from negative forces - not including the one I’m about to marry. I remember bits and pieces from my mother’s coven rituals from when I was small, and while the actions are the same, the feeling is not as comforting. Uneasiness lines the faces of the women and makes the entire process feel dull and heavy.
Lots of lives are riding on this, and what follows. I hope we’re doing to right thing.
Evicted Witch (Jagged Grove Book 3) Page 14