The Rebel Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Pain flared in my chest. I hissed and stumbled a few feet. The pain grew hotter and more intense. My vision went blurry. My mouth watered like I was going to be sick. I pressed my hand to my chest and yanked it away. It burned to the touch.

  I smiled. Tennessee! I screamed out for him with my mind. He was close. My glyph only stung when he came near. I took a few more steps, and the pain grew worse. Yes. I was going in the right direction. I clenched my teeth and sprinted forward. My pulse skyrocketed. The pain grew so intense I struggled to breathe. I ran but my legs were heavy and weak. I didn’t stop. I ran until I slammed into a solid black wall.

  I crashed to the ground, rolling over and over. When the world finally righted itself, I opened my eyes and found the most beautiful face staring down at me. Tennessee. His hair was disheveled and falling into his face. His eyes were wild and full of more heat than the fire dancing around us.

  I took a shaky breath and tried to calm my racing heart. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” He grinned and it took my breath away. He got to his feet then pulled me to mine. Once I was upright, he scanned me up and down. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  Willow ran up beside him. She smiled and wrapped her arms around me for a hug. When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. “We thought we lost you, too.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Deacon groaned from Tenn’s other side. He must’ve walked up while I was hugging Willow. He shook his head and looked around with wide, violet eyes. “One second you were there, and the next you’re gone.”

  “I heard Tennessee calling for me and I saw like the shadow of him, but he was far away… I don’t know. I just panicked and ran toward him and then…” I shook my head. “When I turned around, everyone was gone. I was alone in the dark with just the fire. There were other voices calling out for people, but I couldn’t see them. It’s like some twilight zone kind of thing.”

  Deacon’s eyes narrowed on me. “Did you recognize any of the voices?”

  “No.”

  Deacon cursed and scrubbed his face. He turned away from me, mumbling to himself.

  “How’d you find your way back?”

  I jumped at the sound of Willow’s voice, too distracted by Deacon’s behavior. I rubbed at my chest and looked up into Tennessee’s eyes. “I felt…”—you—“something.”

  A muscle in his jaw flexed as he stared down at me. I knew him enough to know he was holding back whatever he was thinking and feeling. His nostrils flared, and he looked away. He shook his head just enough for me to see. It was the same face he made that day after I went to Hidden Kingdom without him, without anyone else besides Emersyn. He was mad at me, and I couldn’t blame him. I was almost lost.

  I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and tugged. I’m sorry. I just ran to you. I panicked. I didn’t think, I said into his mind.

  His eyes found mine again. He nodded and wrapped his fingers around mine. “You’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”

  “All that matters?” Willow shrieked. “Everyone else is gone!”

  “Wait, what?” I spun around and realized far too late that there were only four of us standing there. I’d been so caught up in my fear, and in Tennessee, that I hadn’t noticed no one else greeted me.

  Deacon paced behind us while pulling on his hair.

  Oh God. My stomach turned. “Where are they?”

  “I was hoping you could tell us,” Tennessee whispered. “You were the first to go. Then it all happened so fast, and they were just gone.”

  But I found my way out, so it was definitely possible. I turned my attention to Deacon. His cousin was out there, except so was his soulmate.

  Deacon.

  He froze and turned toward me with a frown.

  Deacon, did you see which direction Emersyn went?

  He nodded.

  “Willow, hold on to Tennessee.” I grabbed Tennessee’s hand and dragged him over to where Deacon stood. Willow bounced after us, but she was holding on. I slid my hand into Deacon’s and squeezed. “No one let go.”

  Deacon, move toward the direction Em went in until your chest burns.

  He stood tall and looked at me with a guarded expression.

  Relax, I know about it. Your secret is safe with me. Right now, I need you to use it to find my twin. Okay?

  He licked his lips and nodded. “Okay.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Tennessee. He winked and gave me a smile. I sighed. At least he realized what I was doing. Poor Willow definitely had no idea.

  We walked together, the four of us linking arms for several feet before Deacon gasped and froze in place.

  Deacon, is it burning?

  He nodded but didn’t look at me, his eyes locked on the fire.

  Good, now slowly take one step forward. I tightened my grip on both his and Tennessee’s hands.

  Deacon’s eyes went wide. He snarled and hissed.

  I knew what he was feeling. The soulmate glyph was desperately burning through the magic of the Old Lands.

  Deacon threw his free hand up in the air. The Devil’s red lightning shot out of his fingers. “Give her back,” he growled into the darkness.

  The flames parted, and Emersyn dropped to the ground at our feet.

  “Emersyn!” I screamed in relief.

  She coughed and pushed herself up on all fours. Her hair was wild and tangled, and for some reason, smoking at the ends. Deacon reached down and pulled her up on her feet. She jumped forward and wrapped me in a hug. When she stepped back, she turned her eyes to Deacon and placed her hand on his chest.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Deacon blushed. “You’re welcome.”

  I released Deacon’s hand then grabbed my twin’s. “Em, hang on to Deacon. We can’t get separated again.”

  She didn’t hesitate to take her own soulmate’s hand. The two of them exchanged some kind of glance I couldn’t quite see, but then she turned her attention to me. “Where are the others?”

  My heart sank. Royce, Chutney, and Cooper were still lost to the darkness. I gnawed on my lip trying to think. Emersyn and I were lucky enough to have soulmates we could detect. There would be no beacon to guide the others. I’d known to follow the pain, but I couldn’t even be sure my twin knew. If Deacon hadn’t commanded—

  I gasped as an idea popped into mind. “Deacon, command the balefire to give them back.”

  His violet eyes widened. “Like I did for Emersyn! Why didn’t I think of that?”

  Because these gifts are new to you, too. I thought it, but I didn’t say it. Deacon’s power of persuasion came with the Mark, but he’d only just gotten a taste. You got this.

  Deacon closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them again, little red bolts of lightning flashed through the whites of his eyes. He looked at each of us, then turned his stare to the fire. With one hand raised out to the flames, he yelled, “Release your captives!”

  Fire surged higher. The flames turned from orange to red, to purple, then to white. The ground rumbled under our feet. We still only saw blackness. The fire hissed and crackled like someone had poured water on it. White smoke billowed from within the darkness, rising into the black sky.

  Chutney was the first to pop out. She was screaming, with tears streaming down her face. Willow gasped and dove for her. Deacon shouted with his magic, demanding it to listen. The flames shot out toward us, and Royce rolled like a tumbleweed right into Deacon’s feet. Deacon yanked him up by his collar without pausing his commands. Smoke surged thicker, then it popped. Cooper ran for us with his swords raised. Em and I gasped and dove for him.

  Then the ground opened up under our feet and we fell.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Tennessee

  My back slammed into something hard. Sharp pain shot through me. I tried to shout, but the wind was knocked out of me. Black dots danced in my eyes. I gasped for air, and it took way too long to get in. My pulse pounded in my veins. Between that and the hig
h-pitched ringing in my ears, I couldn’t hear anything else around me. I tried to move, but the world spun and my shoulders felt glued to the ground, or whatever I’d landed on. I closed my eyes and counted to three.

  When I opened them, the world stopped spinning, but nothing made sense. Stars twinkled against a dark blue night sky. The moon was a massive golden orb staring down at me. Thick gray clouds swirled into view, blocking patches of the moon’s light. Or was that smoke? I squinted and tried to discern what I was seeing. The last thing I’d seen was the darkest black and raging fire…then we fell.

  We. We fell. Where are they? My pulse quickened to a speed I was sure wasn’t healthy. I had to get up. I had to find Tegan. My chest burned, but I couldn’t tell if it was her or whatever was hurting. I wasn’t even sure what I hurt. I just knew it throbbed.

  I took a deep breath. Then another. Then two more. I summoned all the strength I had and tried to roll to my left. Pain like I’d never known exploded in my shoulder. I shouted a string of violent curse words I’d never used. The ground rumbled under me.

  “Tennessee!”

  Tegan’s beautiful face came into my view. Her green eyes were wide and bouncing around. Her lips moved faster than I’d ever seen her speak before.

  She leaned down and whispered to me, “No. Don’t move, love.”

  “Is everyone all right?”

  I recognized Cooper’s voice, though I couldn’t see him.

  “Cooper, get over here!” Tegan screamed. Her face was pale. She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead, and it left a streak of blood. “Cooper!”

  “What’s wrong? Who is— Oh, God.” My adoptive brother’s face finally came into my view. His green eyes perfectly matched his sister’s. His jaw dropped and his face went pale. His gaze seemed to jump around at something below my face. “Okay, okay. It’s okay. We can fix it.”

  “Fix what? What’s wrong?” Royce loomed above them, his black hair blending in with the night sky. His jaw went slack. He smiled but it wobbled. “Hey, how’s my favorite non-human?”

  I frowned. Something was wrong. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew the pain in my shoulder connected to the horrified looks on their faces. A bunch of equally awful scenarios flashed through my mind. I groaned. “What is it? Just tell me.” I hated how weak my voice sounded.

  Cooper whispered something to Royce, who nodded and disappeared from view.

  I cursed. “Talk to me. I am alive down here.” I am, aren’t I?

  Tegan smiled and brushed my hair off my forehead. We know you’re alive, love. We want to keep it that way.

  I frowned. That did not make me feel better at all. I must’ve made a face because she shook her head.

  There’s some kind of…unidentified object protruding from your left shoulder. There’s a lot of blood, but it’s nowhere near your heart.

  I sighed and it brought a whole new wave a pain.

  “Get. It. Out. Of. Me,” I hissed through the torture.

  Cooper’s face reappeared. “Hey there, brother. So this is going to hurt like hell, but we need to lift you off this…thing. Okay? Can you handle it?”

  “He’s not human. He can handle anything, right, boss?” Royce’s wide smile was back on.

  “Yes. He can handle it.” Tegan nodded. “I’ll give him air. Y’all get him off fast.”

  “Wait!” Emersyn jumped into view right between her siblings. She raised her hands over my head. Something dark was wrapped around both fists and stretched in between. She brought it down to my lips. “Bite down on this so you don’t jack up your teeth and jaw.”

  A belt. Brilliant. I opened my mouth, and she slid it between my teeth. It wasn’t until I bit down on the warm leather that I realized how much it was going to hurt if she thought I needed a belt.

  Tenn, look at me, Tegan whispered in my mind.

  I blinked and met her gaze. Her eyes were calm and steady.

  You tell me when you’re ready.

  I inhaled a deep breath through my nose then nodded. No need to stall. It would only make things worse.

  She smiled down at me. I love you. One…two…three…

  Agony. Blinding, hot agony. I couldn’t have said what happened or how, but the next thing I knew, I was sitting up against the cold earth mountainside. I spit the belt out, and it dropped to my lap in three pieces. Oops. I leaned my head back and just focused on staying conscious through the pain. Something squeezed my shoulder and I flinched. When I looked down, I found it was a shirt wadded up against my shoulder. Blood poured down my chest, making my black shirt cling to my skin.

  Cooper crouched down in front of me with a dark strap in his hand. “Tenn, you okay?”

  I exhaled. “What the hell did I land on?”

  Royce chuckled and rubbed his face. With his other hand, he pointed behind him. “The only time I see something get the best of you, and it wasn’t even preventable. Some kind of tree branch or something.”

  I looked over to where he pointed and found Tegan standing there. She squatted down in front of a large, pointed end of something white…and covered in what had to be my blood.

  “It’s not a tree,” she yelled back without turning.

  Emersyn crouched beside her. She shook her head and looked around. “Whatever it is, there is a lot of it around here.”

  Tegan reached out and grabbed the object at the bottom. Orange flames flickered between her fingers. A second later, she stood up tall with the object in her hands. She turned and walked over to where I was propped up. Her eyes were narrowed and her eyebrows scrunched down low. She pursed her lips and glanced around before looking at me. “It’s a bone.”

  My jaw dropped. I frowned as she dropped to her knees in front of me and held out the object. I took it in my right hand and held it up to my face. It was thick like my forearm, and solid white. It had to be a foot long. She was right. It was definitely not a tree. I looked around our surrounding area, and my stomach turned.

  I cursed. “It is a bone.”

  “Why did you cut it off?” Deacon leaned over and wrapped another belt around my shoulder in a makeshift tourniquet. “Couldn’t you tell it was a bone before you did?”

  Tegan sighed. “Because we don’t have the ability to heal him here. What if Katherine needs to know exactly what impaled him? I’m not taking that risk. So I cut the damn thing off.”

  The ground trembled under us.

  “Tegan, it’s okay. We get it. Don’t bring the mountain down on us,” Willow grumbled.

  “I… That’s not me,” Tegan whispered.

  Their eyes turned to me.

  I frowned. “I didn’t do that.”

  “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!” Royce screamed from out of sight.

  “Royce, what’s—”

  A loud roar ripped through the night, cutting Deacon’s words off. The ground shook like an earthquake. Royce flew through the air and slammed into the side of the mountain.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Tennessee

  “ROYCE!” Deacon screamed and raced over to where his cousin lay in a motionless heap on the ground. He dropped to his knees. “He’s breathing! Royce, c’mon, bud, wake up!”

  There was a shriek like something from an alien movie, and it echoed around us. The mountains trembled. Rocks rained down on us. I grimaced as one hit my shoulder. I needed to move. Whatever tossed Royce was going to attack the rest of us. Deacon was still trying to wake him, but Royce wasn’t budging.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is that?” Deacon scurried backward, but thick black vines coiled around his legs. He swatted at them, but they spread up and trapped his hands against his body. “Get it off me!”

  Cooper sprinted over with his daggers at the ready. As soon as he got close, he started slicing through the vines, but each time he chopped one, two more popped up from the ground. “What the hell?”

  “Cooper, move!” I shouted, but it was too late.

  The snake-like vines grabbed ahold of his dagger and pulled him f
ace-first into the dirt. Cooper rolled to his back. “Stay back or we’ll all get trapped!” he yelled to us as the vines wrapped around him like he was being mummified.

  Damn it. I clenched my teeth and summoned my magic. A gust of wind swept under my legs and hauled me to my feet. My left arm was strapped to my chest in a makeshift sling made of belts. I held my palm out and called for my sword. The cold black crystal hit my palm in seconds. I ran to the middle to where Tegan and Emersyn stood with their weapons drawn.

  “Guys, what’s happening?” Chutney cried from right behind me, her breath brushing over the back of my arm.

  Willow stumbled back and bumped into Emersyn. “What is it?”

  “Where is it?” Emersyn muttered. Her golden eyes were narrowed and staring straight ahead, like she was daring whatever it was to come out and get her.

  “Where are we, is my question.” I frowned and took my first look around.

  We were in some kind of valley. What I thought was mountainside was really just cliffs that towered several stories over us. The walls were rounded and smooth. Heat burned through my shoes. I bent down and touched the dirt. It was hot. Smoke seeped out from all around us, billowing up and out of our valley then pouring into the sky. I had no idea how deep the space was. The far side was cloaked in shadow. Bones of varying shapes and sizes littered the floor. Except they were different from the ones outside the Garden of Eden. Those had been perfectly intact, like the victims had simply fallen asleep and never woke. These were torn apart and tattered…like something had ripped them apart.

  I spun in a circle, trying to make sense of where we were and how we got here. There was no staircase, no ladder, no bridge hanging over. It was like we were in the bottom of a bowl.