I flew backward…and through a narrow opening.
My back crashed into sharp edges, and pain shot through my body.
Jackson leaned into the doorway. He raised his eyebrows.
“Ouch,” I groaned.
He chuckled. “That was a creative way to go through a door.”
I laughed and held my hand out. “Help me up, birthday boy. This sword is heavy.”
His answering smile took my breath away. I liked this side of him. I felt a rush of anger toward his family and Michael for robbing him from feeling like this all the time. He reached out and took my hand, then lifted me back to my feet. His hand gripped my hip then slid around to the small of my back.
Heat filled my cheeks, and my heart fluttered. “Thanks.”
He looked down at me then nodded his head to the side. “You go first. That way I can catch you if you fall.”
I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue. But then his words registered. I turned and my jaw dropped. It was a narrow spiral staircase; that was what I’d crashed into. The light at the end of the tunnel was here, and I wanted to get the hell out. Now. I took a deep breath then lifted Michael’s sword and lurched up the steps. Jackson only chuckled a few times on our way up, but he was so happy I couldn’t be mad at him.
When we finally made it all the way to the top, I was a little dizzy and lightheaded. But that silver door handle was calling out for me. I reached out and turned the handle, and the stone wall in front of me popped open. Fresh air slammed into my face.
I smiled and hopped out—then stopped short. We were definitely not in Rouen anymore. The sky was brightening to a vibrant blue, and the sun was peeking up between some buildings—not the same buildings we’d just seen. Birds chirped in the distance. We seemed to be in some kind of park, but I didn’t recognize it.
“Where are we?” I frowned and spun around. “Jackson, do you know?”
His jaw dropped. He blinked and glanced around. “We’re…hell… We’re in London.”
“London?!” I spun in a tight circle. “How the hell are we in London? We were just in France!”
“I-I have no idea.” He shook his head and pulled out his phone. He snapped a picture then started typing. “Let me send this to Tegan.”
I nodded and sat down on a stone bench. Michael’s sword was heavy as hell, so I propped it up next to me. Now that we were back above ground, fatigue crashed down around me. My body felt like lead. My muscles started to twitch and burn. I looked around and shook my head. I still couldn’t believe it. We’d succeeded. We followed that quest all the way down the rabbit hole and actually found Michael’s sword.
Bright white light flashed, and then Tegan appeared. The second her feet hit the pebbled pathway, she lunged for Jackson and gave him a huge hug. “Lancaster! Congratulations!”
Jackson blushed and it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. He adjusted the crown on his head and smiled. “Thank you.”
“You deserve it.” She gave him a high five, then spun to face me with a huge shit-eating grin. “BETTINA!” She tackled me faster than I could blink. She squealed in my ear. Then she jumped back, grabbed my left arm, and yanked my sleeve up. Her grin widened, but there was an edge in her eyes I didn’t like.
My pulse quickened. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I knew it.” She looked down at my arm, then back up at me. “You’re not Death.”
“WHAT?” Jackson and I yelled at the same time.
Tegan grimaced. “Long story. Big fight with Joseph. Paulina sacrificed her Mark to survive. So…when he called…they all thought you’d gotten her Mark. But I knew you weren’t. I KNEW IT. Because this…Bettina…”
My stomach tightened into knots. “What? What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing.” She met my eyes and grinned. “Bettina, this is Timothy’s Mark.”
Chapter Six
Bettina
Timothy’s Mark?
I looked down at the black letters on my arm, and my jaw dropped. I’d been so caught up in the pain, and then the excitement of finding the sword, that I hadn’t stopped to think about my Mark.
But now I did, and it took my breath away.
XX.
Number twenty. Judgement.
Timothy’s Card. His Mark.
And now it’s mine.
“Holy shit,” I breathed and stumbled back until my legs hit the stone bench. I dropped down and then just sat there, staring at my Mark. “Holy shit. Holy hell. I don’t— Oh my God. I’m a Card. I’m in The Coven now…”
I’m in The Coven now. Then it really hit me. My brain felt foggy and slow. It’d been a couple weeks since he was taken from us. But I had a Mark now. I wasn’t a tag-along anymore. I wasn’t an intruder. I wasn’t Tegan’s annoying best friend who wouldn’t go home. I was one of them.
Tears pooled in my eyes. I looked up and found Tegan watching me with a wide grin. “T…”
She squealed and did a little happy dance then hurried over and sat on the bench beside me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me tight. “Welcome to the family!”
I glanced up, and my gaze landed on Jackson. His face had paled and his eyes looked a little dark and haunted.
He stared at my arm. “I don’t…I don’t understand. How? Timothy…Timothy died over a month ago…”
Tegan dropped her arms and sat up straight. She pursed her lips. “What happened down there? Right before your Mark appeared?”
I shrugged. “I picked up Michael’s sword—”
“That’s it.” Tegan grinned and looked beside her to where Michael’s sword was propped. “Wicked.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand, T.”
“Me either,” Jackson whispered.
Tegan’s eyebrows rose. She glanced back and forth between us. “You were Marked Judgement when Timothy died, but that blocking spell prevented it from being visible. Emersyn and I had the same deal. We couldn’t see our Marks until Myrtle removed her spell.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did you know this?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.” She grimaced and her cheeks flushed. “I felt it almost right away. That was why I pushed for you to come with us to see Myrtle. I’d hoped your Mark would reveal itself then—”
“TEGAN!” I smacked her arm lightly. “How could you keep this from me?”
“I really am sorry, B.” She sighed and shook her head. “You have to trust me. Knowing would have stressed you out, and that would’ve slowed down your healing. That spell someone put on you was hella strong, dude. I can still feel it in you, even right now.”
Jackson gasped. “When she touched the sword…”
Tegan nodded. “Heavenly power shot through you and overpowered that spell. That’s why your Mark is visible now. I bet it won’t take long for that spell to break completely.”
Jackson cursed and ran his hand through his hair. “I-I… Wow. So wait, she has ice magic now?”
I gasped and sat up straighter. “ICE MAGIC. OH MY GOD.”
Timothy had ice magic. I’d seen it with my own eyes. It was incredible and lethal. I looked down at my hands and tried to summon it—
Tegan grabbed my hands. She shook her head. “Your energy is tapped. This quest took a lot out of you. We don’t want you getting Witch’s Shock. Get a full night’s sleep, and then we’ll do your initiation, then you should be good to experiment with it.”
This can’t be happening right now. Is this real life? I grinned and jumped to my feet.
She was definitely right. I was exhausted, but in that moment, all I felt was pure excitement. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. I was a Card in The Coven now. I had ice magic. I couldn’t wait to try it. It took everything in me to heed her advice and avoid Witch’s Shock. We were a long ways from home and our Healer.
“OH, Tegan!” I skipped over to Jackson’s side and picked up his right arm. “Can we heal paralysis?”
Tegan scowled. “Say what now?”
Jackson
sighed. “We fought this monster that paralyzed my arm.”
I nodded. “Yeah. It paralyzed my whole body first, but then I landed on Holy Land and this golden light wrapped around me and then I was healed. But it didn’t heal him, which is weird.”
Tegan scowled and stood. I could tell there were thoughts racing around in her mind that she wasn’t sharing. “Weird. Right. Let’s get home and get you both healed up nice.”
Before I could stop her, she turned and reached down for Michael’s sword. The world slipped into slow motion. I yelled out for her to stop, but I was too late. Her hand wrapped around the glowing hilt, and bright white light exploded out of her. She gasped and shot into the air, her back arched—and then she dropped.
“TEGAN!” I dove for her. My arms caught her upper body and broke her fall. Together, we sank to the pebbled pathway. I pushed her hair back off her face, and her eyes were closed. “Tegan? TEGAN!”
Jackson cursed behind me.
I tapped her face gently and tried to shake her. “Tegan? Tegan, wake up. Tegan, can you hear me? Tegan!”
My heart pounded against my ribs like it was trying to break out. My hands trembled as I pressed my fingers to her throat and searched for a pulse. It took me a few tries, but I finally found the soft beat. I pulled the collar of her T-shirt down and checked her soulmate glyph. It was such a soft pink it was practically white.
“Where’s Tennessee?” Jackson yelled behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder and found him clutching his phone. “Speakerphone!” I hissed.
“Jackson,” Tennessee’s deep voice growled over the speakerphone. “Where is she?”
I knew he was feeling something off. He had to be.
“She passed out again,” Jackson said in a rush. “She picked up Michael’s sword and dropped. Just like at the Garden of Eden.”
Tennessee cursed violently. “Why does this keep happening?” he shouted, and I heard glass shatter from his end of the call.
“What do we do?” Jackson dropped to his knees beside me. “She’s breathing. Just tell us what to do.”
“Get to Holy Land. NOW,” Tennessee yelled. “Call me when you get there. Don’t stop for anything.”
Chapter Seven
Bettina
Jackson shoved his phone into his pocket. “You grab the sword. I’ll grab her.”
“How? You only have one arm!” I glanced back and forth between him and Tegan. “How are you going to carry her?”
“I can’t carry the sword, Bettina. We don’t have a choice.” He leaned down and threw Tegan’s arms over his left shoulder. Then he stood up, bringing her with him. King Henry’s crown slid sideways on his head. “We just won’t tell Tenn I carried her like this, okay?”
I hated seeing my best friend thrown over a guy’s shoulder like that, but he was right. We didn’t have choice. She was unconscious, and we needed to hurry. He couldn’t carry the sword, and I wasn’t strong enough to carry her. I cursed and scrambled over to where Tegan had dropped the sword. When my hand touched the hilt, it sent bolts of electricity up my arm. I grimaced and climbed to my feet.
“Come on. I know where the closest Holy Land is.” Jackson turned and pointed down a pathway through the park. “Let’s get moving.”
I tried to follow him, but he was moving too fast. This sword was too heavy. I couldn’t actually lift the thing. It took both hands just to drag it along the ground. It felt like I was dragging an elephant by the trunk. Jackson walked ahead of me, but he was limping slightly. His right arm hung there unmoving, while Tegan bobbed against his back. Her long black hair hung down, swaying with each of his steps. The purple tips just about touched the ground.
I stopped and took a few deep breaths. Ain’t this some bullshit. Just when I was feeling good about myself and my abilities, the world had to remind me just how weak I actually was. I looked down at the sword and growled. Come on, sword. Work with me. I summoned all of my strength and pulled the sword up. My hands slipped, and I dropped it. The sword and I did this weird little fumble-dance, and then I caught it in the crook of my elbow. I reached down and hooked my other arm under the blade, then scooped it up until I was cradling the thing in my arms like a baby. It sizzled against my body, but I grinned. This will work.
A gust of wind ripped through the park and brushed over my face. I inhaled to get a whiff of that clean early-winter air, and my heart stopped.
Maple syrup.
Demons.
“Oh, shit.” I looked up and scanned the park, but all I saw was green. Everything looked normal. But the smell got stronger. A cold chill slithered down my spine. My magic tingled in my fingers. “Jackson…”
He stopped and turned to face me. Then he frowned. “You okay?”
I shook my head.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re not alone,” I said in a low, rushed voice.
“I don’t see anyo—” His eyes widened. He looked to his right, then to his left. “THERE!”
I jumped and followed his gaze just as a big green hedge leapt across the open grass area toward our path. “Oh shit.” I started to grab for my sword then froze. I was still holding Michael’s, and it took both of my hands and arms to do so.
Blue flames shot over the grass and slammed into the moving hedge-demon. It hissed and flew back, flipping over its head and landing on its stomach.
“BETTINA, MOVE!”
I sprinted forward without thinking or looking. I just moved. But when I did look up in front of me, I found Jackson racing toward me—with Tegan still draped over his shoulder. He held on to her knee to keep her in place. He took another step then lifted his hand and shot blue flames over my shoulder. His right arm hung down by his side lifelessly, and with only one hand, he couldn’t hold Tegan and wield a sword.
A hedge the same height as me jumped out in front of me. I screamed and slid to a stop, but Michael’s sword threw my balance off and my back slammed into the hard pebbles. The demon-hedge stood over me, snarling and growling. Over its shoulder, I saw Jackson’s blue flames, but they just rolled over the demon’s leafy back. I scrambled with the sword and managed to hold the over-five-foot-long blade straight up just as the demon-hedge lunged for me. The glowing blade punctured through the demon’s chest and leaves exploded.
Blue flames soared over my head in every direction. Which meant we were in trouble. I cursed and rolled onto my stomach. Michael’s sword sparkled under me. I pushed up on all fours and looked around. There were demons coming from all around us. Jackson slid in beside me, still firing his magic.
Magic.
I have new magic now, but how do I use it?
I looked down at my palms and summoned my magic. I called my energy to my hands. My palms cooled and frosted over, but I couldn’t fight demons off with that. I cursed and grabbed Michael’s sword then gasped. It didn’t burn as much. The ice! I gripped the hilt with both hands and pushed onto my feet. It was easier to hold now, like the ice was blocking some of the heavenly magic from touching me.
A demon-hedge jumped out at me and I tried to swing the sword, but my whole body went with it. My momentum carried me forward, and the tip of the blade stabbed the demon in the chest. It exploded into leafy confetti. My eyes widened. I didn’t have to swing. I just needed to stab.
I wrapped my arms around the sword like it was a machine gun or something. I had one hand on the hilt, the other gripping the blade. Ice wrapped around the heavenly metal under my hand. I took a deep breath then lunged forward and slammed my blade into another demon-hedge. It burst into leaves, but I didn’t stop to watch. I turned and charged for another. It took all of my strength and abs I didn’t have just to maneuver this sword, but it was getting the job done. It was like popping balloons. Jump and poke. Jump and poke.
Six demon-hedges appeared out of nowhere, lunging straight for me. I cursed and scurried back to give myself some room to work. I smelled a wave of Christmassy scent, and then Jackson’s arm wrapped around my waist
from behind. His fingers dug into my skin, and then my feet lifted off the ground. Tegan’s legs pressed into my back.
And then I was spinning. I opened my mouth to scream—and then I realized what he was doing.
Michael’s sword swung in a perfect circle, slicing through demon after demon until there was nothing left.
The world wobbled and spun in circles. My stomach turned, and bile rose up my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed through my nose. And then the pressure around my waist vanished. My knees hit the pebbles and I winced. I threw my arms out to catch my fall, but they buckled and gave out. My face hit the ground, and then I rolled onto my back. My stomach turned again. I squeezed my eyes shut. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.
“You okay, love?”
I opened my eyes and found him standing over me, one leg on either side of me, Tegan still draped over his left shoulder. His aquamarine eyes sparkled down at me and his golden bronze hair was all tangled around the crown. I sighed. He was too beautiful. It wasn’t fair.
Then he crouched down a little. “Bettina?”
“Did you…just…use me…”—I groaned and licked my lips—“to use…his sword?”
Jackson grinned. “Personally, I thought it was brilliant.”
I chuckled and wrapped my arms around my still rolling stomach. “Patting yourself on the back for that idea?”
“Maybe I’ve been hanging around this one too long, eh?” He chuckled and held his hand out for me. “Figured I couldn’t hold the sword, but I could hold you.”
I leaned down with my hands on my knees and just breathed. I was drained. “They all gone?”
“Yeah, but we need to get out of here before more come ‘round. You okay to walk?”
“In theory.” I nodded and stood up straight. “We need to get her to Holy Land. Do you know where that might be?”
“Yes.” He frowned. “Well, in theory.”
“Just try to warn me if you’re going to spin me again, ‘kay?” I groaned and picked Michael’s sword up off the ground, but I wasn’t quite ready for the weight and I stumbled.
The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series Page 82