Mina pulled fire onto her hands, a glove of flame over each hand. She threw a ball to Poppy, Zizi, and Hitch. They caught her magic, using the barely cultivated link between them to access Mina’s magic.
“Now,” Hitch ordered, “Run. Get to the cliff trail. Move down it fast.”
And then with fire in his hands, he disappeared into the trees, there was a flare of light, a howl, and Mina could see now more for Max had taken hold of her bicep and was pulling her with him down the trail.
Charlie and Hailey were just ahead, running fast. It was too surreal to believe. Running into a pack of bewitched animals, but they were doing it.
“Go!” Hitch shouted.
Mina ran as though she hadn’t been hiking for hours, but a shadow leapt for her. She tripped, went down, and she lost her fire. Claws, teeth gouged her calf. Even with the pain, all she could think was that she was glad it wasn’t the mountain lion. She kicked out, ineffectually, but Max got it with his heavy boot.
Hitch darted back with a thick branch. He tossed it to Max who swung it like a bat, and the shadow yowled and flew into a tree. Mina flipped to push herself up, but Max and Hitch grabbed the back of her jacket, and she was on her feet, moving, before she could even process what had happened. Adrenaline made the wound in her leg more of an itch than the pain she knew she should be feeling.
They ran. All of them. For, cold green eyes and mottled fur paced them. Mina threw a fire ball at it, but it leapt back.
Max staggered. He yelped, and a wolf had his leg. They’d paid so much attention to the animals to the right allowing another to swoop in from behind.
Mina stopped.
“No.” Hitch growled lifting her from the ground while she shouted Max’s name.
Max jabbed his branch into the animal’s side. Mina focused, and the end of the branch lit on fire. There was a growl and a yelp, and it let Max go. As soon as it had, Zizi grabbed the animal by the nape of the neck, flew high, and dropped it.
Max struggled to get up, still holding the burning branch, but Poppy was there. She pulled him up, feet wind milling. She flew him to Mina before letting him down.
Another shadow darted in. Yellow teeth, glowing eyes. Max waved the burning branch at the animal, and it cowered back. The burning limb left trails of light in the darkness, but rather than show the way, the light seemed to succumb to the force of the night, be pulled in by it. As the fire lost the battle against the dark, it was harder to differentiate between the shadows of each other and those of the hunters.
There was a flap of wings, a caw, and Poppy yelped, barely shooting to the side in time. Hitch let go of Mina to go for the bird. Mina followed, running at it, determined to distract it from the sprites. There was a loud screech, claws raked Mina’s shoulder, and she cried out. But even as she did, she focused, setting fire to the tail feathers of the bird just as Max shot a stone at it. The bird dropped on the impact of the rock, and none of them spared it a glance as they wove past its still form.
They made it only steps before running into the backs of Hailey and Charlie. A thick shouldered wolf blocked the path. Bodies bounced of each other as they froze in horror. The wolf, eyes red, growl reverberating blocked the entrance to the cliff path. A second, lankier shadow joined the first, staring them down.
One wolf howled. Hailey gasped. Cries of other animals filled the air. A cat, birds, an owl, and loud, lingering, eerie wolf howl after wolf howl until they were surrounded in cacophony of threatening animal calls.
But it was the last that turned the remnants of their courage to terror.
The low, deep, horrifying roar of a bear. Coming from behind the wolves. On the trail. Horror rushed through Mina. Even if they got past the wolves, they couldn’t take on a bear. The wolves herded them back. Towards the cough of the cougar.
Only when they backed away from the trail, the wolves followed them. Blocking the side of the cliff instead. They weren’t going to let Mina and the others go without trying to bury yellow fangs into flesh.
Mina threw a fire ball at the wolf. It leapt lazily over the flame.
The leaner of the wolves darted closer. Charlie kicked at it, pressing Hailey behind him, twisting his arm to hold her against his back. But a shadow of another animal darted in from the side. Max pushed Mina forward, away from it, until the four of them with the sprites huddled together.
The wolves drove them on one side; more animals on the other. Even though the edge of the cliff beckoned, they couldn’t reach it.
“We might be screwed,” Max said, but Mina felt the tickle of his magic as he shot another rock at the animals.
There was a yelp followed by the cough of the cougar. It was closer now.
Adrenaline and nausea mixed as they realized that they were trapped.
“You are going to have to jump.” Zizi said, but as she did the wolves changed the angle of their herding to prevent them from getting to the Cliffside.
“Off the side?” Hailey gasped.
“We can help you,” Zizi answered.
“But there’s only three of you.”
Zizi nodded, flew up, over them, and darted at the wolves from behind. She grabbed a wolf by the back of the neck and flung him into a tree. It yelped, crashed against the trunk, and was still.
Charlie grabbed Hailey.
“Go.” Charlie commanded. Hailey nodded, ran, and leapt, diving into the darkness off the side of the cliff. Zizi darted after her.
Hailey screamed all the way down, and her voice didn’t fade for far too long.
The others ran forward in the opening, stopping at the edge of the cliff. Their eyes met. Two sprites left, three humans. Their heels dug into the ground at the edge of the cliff as another shadow shot towards them. Mina threw a cannon ball of fire at it. Max waved his hand, and stones shot from the ground it.
While they drove it back, the second wolf jumped for Charlie. He tried to stop his fall, but a new wolf joined the fight, leaping at him shoulder. Gravity won and Charlie and the two wolves over the side.
“Crap,” Poppy yelled, and she disappeared after him.
Max and Mina looked at each other. She pulled two soccer balls of fire into her hands. She threw the largest at the animals pressing closer, holding the second close for the next attack.
Max swung his flaming branch, at another raptor she hadn’t even seen come for them. He sent it back into the darkness.
“Go Max!” Mina cried, splitting her fire ball, holding a fire ball in each hand.
“No.” Max said calmly.
He reached forward as if to hug her, but instead, she felt a gentle squeeze on her shoulders followed by firm, determined hands. They pushed her; the ground fell away; the wind rushed past her ears, and she screamed for him, Max!”
Her scream echoed across the top of the cliff, and she just caught site of him turning with his still burning torch to face the bear from one side and the rest of the animals from the other. Hitch grabbed her then. She jerked, but even as Hitch slowed her fall, she heard Max’s scream.
She saw his shape against the sky, highlighted by the flame from the branch. It turned and jumped after her, away from the massive paw of the bear.
Without the security of one of the sprites to bring him to the ground safely.
Even as she fell, even with her terror pounding in her ears, she heard his shout of terror, and her own cry echoed his.
“Max,” she screamed, “Max!”
* * *
Hitch dropped Mina, without a word, and disappeared to the river.
“Max,” Hitch shouted, his deep buzz a hoard of angry bees.
“Max,” Mina repeated, “Max!”
She wrapped her arms around her waist, calling his name again, and rushing forward, into the water, hoping for some sight of him.
“Max.” Hitch said, darting back and forth across the angry rapids. Mina threw him fire, lighting the river, but there was no sign of him.
“I have got him.” Poppy huffed, dragging Max f
rom further up the river, through the current, and to the shoreline. Her dark arms were wrapped around his wrist; her wings beat furiously, and Mina fell to her knees at the sight of them.
Moments later, Poppy pulled him, and Mina scrambled through the water, still on her hands and knees to him. She dragged him up on to her lap, wrapped her arms around him, and whispered his name.
“I got him before he hit the water, slowed him up, but he was going to fast to stop a dunking.” Mina looked up and saw Poppy was sopping wet. “We went into the water, but the river is deep, so we were all right.”
“Poppy,” Mina said, and found she didn’t have the word. Thank you for saving him just wasn’t enough.
“Max,” Mina said again, softly. “Max.” She rubbed her face against his chest like a kitten. “You’re alive.”
He coughed, but even around his hacking breaths, he tried to smile at her. She pushed his hair back, and helped him to sit up.
“I’m all right,” he said. “
“Mina, Max?” Hailey asked from the shadows.
Mina followed her voice and saw Charlie curled onto his side shaking. The moon was bright and full and showed deep scratches on his chest and ragged bites on his side, his leg, his arm.
“We’re alive,” Charlie said, dazed. But he was bleeding pretty profusely.
“Barely.” Hailey said as she pressed her hands against the deepest of the bites, on his thigh.
Mina stood, looked around. The light bobbed at the edge of trees so tall, they’d have dwarfed the ancient ones that grew in the National Forest. The sky was clear here, and the moon lit the water enough to show it was dark and wild.
Mina knelt next to Charlie, pulled the flame onto her arms, and fed it into Charlie, drying him. He curled into the heat.
Hailey touched his face. “It’s bad.”
Mina touched Charlie’s face.
“What are we going to do?” Hailey whispered.
They were at the bottom of a cliff. Their phones didn’t work, and they could barely use magic. Oh, and no one knew they were there except, maybe, whoever laid the spell that drew Sarah here. Zizi landed in the dirt next to Charlie and carefully pushed his hair back, feeling his forehead, and whispering to him. He quieted.
Mina’s gaze slid back and forth between Charlie and the flame.
“I can help.” Zizi said as Poppy and Hitch returned. “I can tell Hailey what to do. I have learned a few things. Enough to help. You two will find Sarah with Poppy and Hitch.”
Mina wrapped her arms around her cousin and whispered, “Hailey, I…”
“Go, Mina.” Hailey nearly growled. “You get Sarah, take down whoever did this to us, and get back here.”
Mina stared at Hailey, finally saying, “I love you.”
“Don’t say that.” Hailey whispered. “Tell me when you get back and you’re a hero. Not now.”
With a sad smile, Mina nodded. She paused long enough to dry everyone’s clothes and start a fire for Hailey.
“When I get back.” Mina promised, pulling off her coat and giving it to Charlie.
She pulled off her t-shirt, leaving behind only a camisole. With Max’s pocket knife, she made strips binding all the places Charlie, she, and Max were bleeding.
* * *
The moon rays reached out to Mina. There was a reason, she told herself, a reason that she’d found out what she was before Sarah was stolen. There was a reason Sarah’s name echoed in Mina’s head.
There was hope.
But, her arm and leg burned. They were already limping, already injured. And they hadn’t even found Sarah yet. Mina followed the water’s edge and the ball of light. Max limped behind her. She knew that Hitch and Poppy rode on his shoulder.
Poppy left the boys, landing on Mina’s shoulder. Mina tromped on, silently. And Poppy let Mina have the quiet, giving her the comfort of a small hand pressing into her neck and asking nothing else.
It couldn’t have been more than a mile, and Mina saw light flickering ahead.
“Poppy,” Mina asked, and the sprite flew ahead.
They waited a mere minute or two before she said from the trail in front of them, “Sarah’s there Mina.”
“Is she ok?”
“Yes, but she’z tied up.”
Mina nodded. She swallowed. And then she stopped, leaned against a tree, and closed her eyes. Max and Hitch stood nearby. Just not being alone was a miracle. What would she do without them?
“Is she alone?” Mina asked.
“There’z someone. I couldn’t see who.” Poppy landed on Mina’s shoulder. Her tone told Mina there was more. And it was bad.
Mina nodded without opening her eyes. She wished, for a moment, that this was a dream. That this was all fake.
She rubbed her eyes and whispered, “Tell us the rest.”
“She’z got spritez in cagez, a Small One, a bunch of animalz.” Mina heard the fury in Poppy’s tone. “They look really bad.”
Mina bit her lip.
“I think they’ve been tortured.”
Hitch cursed, and Max echoed him. Mina just nodded. It was, after all, what she’d expected. But hearing it sent a new kind of fury burning through her. It fueled her magic as if the previous anger had been mere wisps of the wind.
Whoever was behind this spell was torturing people. People like her sprite family. Like Jocelyn.
And they thought they were going to do that to Sarah?
No.
The memory of Sarah. Her laugh. Her manipulating ways. Her precise, careful voice. Mina grabbed hold of those things, and when she pushed away from the tree, she no longer noticed the chill in the air, the pain in her shoulders and leg.
There was nothing but Sarah.
Max grabbed her hand, stopping her.
“We need a plan,” he said.
“Kill everyone.” Hitch answered.
“A real plan.” Max said, squeezing her hand, making Mina face him.
She waited.
“You and Poppy free the others. Mina you get Sarah. I’ll distract the witch.”
Mina shook her head.
“Yes.” Max said.
But she shook her head again, “That won’t work.”
“What,” he growled.
She was going to say that she had to be the one who confronted the witch. That it had been her who’d heard the voice, that it was her sister. But none of that mattered.
“I can’t carry Sarah, Max. I know she’s hurt. I can feel it. Her leg is broken, and she can’t run. You have to get her.”
“No.” Max said.
“It’s the only way.” Mina looked at him. She lifted her hand, pressed it against his face knowing she’d never have had the courage to without her impending death. His face was warm, and the heat of it warmed her to her soul.
“I don’t know why you chose me the first day of school Max. I’m sorry that I got you into this, but I need you. I couldn’t have done any of it without you.”
“No.” Max said. “We’re not saying goodbye. We were going to learn magic together. We were going to visit other Havens. I was…I was going to kiss you.”
With those words, Mina stretched up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. The moonlight twined around them. He pressed against her. His lips were soft. His breath set her alight. She shivered; her fire flared within her, higher and higher.
But then, she felt him pass her his magic through their pressed lips. His magic was a rush of earthy energy, steady and calm while hers roared. And, he fed it to her until she was brimming.
The wave of his magic stopped, but they stayed pressed together, neither wanting the moment to end.
Sarah. She heard again, and she pulled back, smiling softly at him, and kissed him again on the forehead, each cheek, and a final quick kiss to his lips.
“Thank you,” she whispered. She turned from him and limped towards her doom.
Max grabbed Mina’s hand, leaned closed, and whispered, “Don’t die.”
And
then he followed the sprites into the shadows.
She waited until he was gone.
Then she knocked.
Chapter 29
The windows shone a merry light, and the roof was cute wood shingles. There was a bench on the porch, and a hammock in the trees, and it all felt evil.
The door creaked open and a beautiful woman with long black hair stood in the doorway. Her eyes were piercing, intense and brilliantly blue. Mina wasn’t used to seeing her hair down.
“Doctor Seal?” Mina gasped, and the witch narrowed her eyes. “Are you kidding me?”
“So it was you? I told them it was you.” The doctor scowled at Mina, blocking the view of the interior of the cabin.
Mina heard a muffled cry from her sister. A haze of fury blinded Mina. She balled her fist and decked the witch with every ounce of rage rushing through her. As her fist swung, Mina smiled. Sure, she was no match for the woman as a witch.
But she was fourteen, strong, and, maybe, capable of giving the Doc a beating until Max got her sister to safety.
She was, after all, so very, very angry.
Her fist landed, pain rushed through Mina’s fingers, and she grinned as the doctor fell back into the house.
Mina didn’t wait. She kicked the witch in the stomach. Doctor Seal groaned, rolling onto her hands and knees. Mina kicked her again.
Again.
The witch grunted. She gagged. Her hair swung around her face, and her blue eyes promised pain.
Mina grabbed the long black hair and slammed the witch’s face into the ground. And then, Doctor Seal grabbed Mina’s already bloody calf, digging fingernails in.
Mina screamed. The witch yanked. Mina fell.
Her body crashed onto the wood floor, and air rushed from her lungs. As she looked up, dazed, a sprite flew past carrying another in his arms.
Those two, bloody, sprites imprinted on Mina’s memory, and she kicked out.
And missed.
A cat landed on her stomach before streaking through the open door. It had a bloody, oozing nub where its tail had been.
Doctor Seal, blood dripping from her nose and lip, crawled towards Mina.
These Lying Eyes Page 24