by Nova Nelson
“A ghost?!”
“Did I stutter?”
I held out my arms and looked down at them. They looked solid and real, not at all transparent.
“Does Ruby know you’re doing this?” Grim asked.
“Why? You wondering if you can blackmail me about it later?”
“You know me so well. Also, if she knows about it and gave her blessing, there’s a slightly smaller chance you’re doing something incredibly stupid.”
I shook my head. “Nope. She doesn’t know about it. And I’m definitely doing something incredibly stupid.” I paused. “Wait, have you been here all day begging for scraps?”
“No. I went outside a couple times to relieve myself.”
“Thank you for not doing that inside, but also, yes, you’ve been here all day.”
“Judge yourself first, woman. Sure, I’ve been gorging myself on bacon and sausage and hamburger and maybe a short stack of pancakes one of the Tomlinson kids decided not to eat. And, yes, if someone requests my services cleaning their plate, I’m going to do what I can to help. That’s just good manners. I may end up fat, I’ll give you that, but there’s a good chance you’ll end up dead.” He paused perking up his ears. “Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“What, being fat?”
“No. Being dead.”
Cassandra checked on the next table over, and as she made her way back toward the kitchen, she looked right at me. Chills shot through my body like electricity.
She winked and nodded for me to follow.
“Pause your paws,” Grim said. “Did she just look right at you?”
“Yep.”
“Is she a Fifth Wind? I feel like I would have known if she was.”
“She’s not.”
He tucked his head under his giant paws. “Oh boy. You’ve really gone and stepped in some swirls with this, haven’t you?”
I sighed. “No doubt. The others are waiting for me. I need to go.”
“Waiting where?”
“Rainbow Falls.”
“For the love of bacon! Who are you with? And why are you at Rainbow Falls this late?”
“Why are you at Medium Rare this late?” I replied.
“Like I just said: for the love of bacon.”
The kitchen door was still flapping gently when I reached it and stepped through.
Instantly, the ground disappeared beneath me, and with a teeth-rattling jolt, I opened my eyes and found myself by Rainbow Falls.
“Swirls!” I said.
Tanner cracked open an eyelid. “What happened?”
I let go of his hand, and the second I did, the pressure of magic pushing outward from our circle disappeared. I stumbled forward, having not realized I was counterbalancing against it. Donovan and Eva had to take a quick step to keep on their feet as well. “I saw her, and I know she saw me. She wanted me to follow, and so I did, but as soon as I made it into the kitchen … I don’t know what happened. I was jolted back here.”
“Should we try again?” Eva asked. “It was only your first attempt at doing this. Maybe you just need another shot.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, another woman’s voice jumped in. “No need.”
I whirled toward the source to my left, behind Landon, and a figure slinked out of the darkness, stalking toward the glow of the fire.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“You went through an awful lot of effort to summon me,” she said. “You could have just sent an owl, and I’d have come.” She halted just a few yards away, taking her time as she took us in. “What can I help you with?”
“We know what you are,” I said before internally chastising myself for sounding so dramatic. “You need to lift the love spell on Eastwind. It’s tearing this place apart.”
She pouted her lips, blinking rapidly. “Love spell? What are you talking about?”
Tanner moved forward to stand beside me, his hand on his wand. “Oh, come off it. Just lift the spell and we can get on our merry way.”
Cassandra laughed. “No time for unicorn swirls, this one.” She winked at me. “I like him. If I hadn’t already met the man of my dreams, I would steal him right out from under your nose.” Her smile faded and she placed her hands on her hips with a sigh. “The spell isn’t on Eastwind. At least not intentionally. Eastwind is just experiencing the fallout from a powerful spell. It happens sometimes. Unfortunate, but unavoidable. All you really have to do to rid yourself of it is get the intended target to leave. Or, you know, get that new tramp of his to leave so he’s free to return to the one he’s meant to be with.”
“If he should truly be with you,” I said, “you wouldn’t need a spell to make it happen.”
She shrugged a single shoulder. “That’s debatable. Sometimes the universe needs a little nudge, and I’m just powerful enough to give it one.”
Donovan took another step forward. “Please, just undo the spell. We’ll help you win back Liberty some other way, if that’s what it takes.”
Cassandra grinned at him. “Well, since you asked so nicely, sure.” She raised a hand into the air and snapped. “There, all gone.”
I snuck a glance at Landon, who stared back at me with the same uncertainty. Then he nodded toward Donovan. I got the message.
After a little kick from Landon, Donovan looked over at me, and when ours eyes met, I got the answer to my question. “She’s lying,” I said, resisting the urge to provide a physical demonstration of just how much the spell was still in effect.
“Of course I’m lying!” Cassandra cackled. “You think I’d just put a stop to this because Mr. Dreamy asked nicely? If you really don’t like it, all you have to do is hop the first train to Avalon.”
“You’re not running us out of our own town,” Landon said, his fists clenched by his side. “If you aren’t going to do it willingly, we’ll make you.”
Cassandra grinned. “Oh, he’s cute. Which one of you is rekindling a romance with him?” She grinned. “Eva? You seem his type.”
“You know I’m with Donovan,” Eva said firmly, moving closer to her boyfriend.
“Ah, that’s right …” The archetype shook a finger at him. “And now it makes sense. Wow, this circle you witches whipped up sure is a tangled web.” She paused. “I better get back to work. As you know, Nora, Medium Rare doesn’t wait on itself.”
But the moment she put her back to us, Landon stepped forward, drew his wand, and did something so brash and idiotic, I was almost proud of him. Light shot out of his wand and nailed Cassandra in the back, causing her to stumble forward a half-step.
She whirled around, looking more annoyed than angry. “You can’t stop me. No matter what you do, neither you nor your friends stand a chance against me. The only reason I haven’t driven each of you mad yet is because I don’t want to get fired, understood?”
“Um, guess what,” I said, “you’re fired, Cassandra. So totally and completely fired.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I was being flippant. I actually like you, Nora, and I don’t want to have to hurt you or your friends.”
“But you are,” I said. “You’re hurting me and my friends by preserving this spell over Liberty. We’re not going to stop until it’s lifted.”
“This isn’t your fight,” she snapped. “You can’t stop me.”
“I hope you’ll excuse me if I don’t take your word for it.” I reached out and grabbed Tanner and Landon’s hands again. The others followed suit and we reformed our circle.
Cassandra sighed and watched us with light interest.
I was determined to make her regret that.
The power began to build between us again, and I reached out with my Insight to ask the right question: What now? Would anything supply the answer? That’s when words began to echo in my head: This isn’t your fight.
But if not us, then who?
The answer was right there …
“We’re going to do this the ugly way, I see,” she sa
id. A split-second later, she clapped once, and it felt like someone had touched each of my hands with a live wire. I yelped and let go along with the others. Though our circle had been broken, this time I could still feel the power pulsing in my body, which was an unexpected treat.
She stalked toward us again, her intense gaze homing in on Landon. “I hope you know she won’t be waiting for you. What do you think she does all day while you’re at work? You actually think she stays in the house, hidden away with a book? Or is that just the version you want to believe exists? How quickly you forget the real reason she disappeared, the life she led that no one knew about. You can’t change her. She likes her men dangerous, and you, pussy cat, are not that. It’s nice of you to offer her your house and …” She paused, grinning. “Oh, I see she’s led you to believe you’re more than just friends. She’s committed to the charade. Well, good for her.”
Landon’s hands hung uselessly by his side. “Not true,” he muttered.
“You’re right,” I said. “It’s not true. She’s just trying to get to you. Don’t listen.”
Cassandra groaned. “Don’t you start, Nora. I’ve seen inside your mind, and let me tell you two”—she pointed at Donovan and Tanner—“you would be shocked by how often she’s not thinking about either one of you in bed at night.”
They both turned toward me, staring disapprovingly. “Hey,” Tanner barked at Donovan, “she’s not supposed to be thinking of you. Don’t look so hurt.”
Cassandra laughed. “This is too easy. You think you have it bad now? You’re not even getting the full strength of the spell. How about I give you a taste of that and see how it suits you?” She pushed her hands, palms out, toward us, and my legs went out from under me as the wind rushed from my lungs.
The crushing weight that hit me wasn’t love. It couldn’t be, right? My body ached and the sudden need to cry was too strong to actually muster any tears. I bit my tongue to keep from wailing. Could extreme love really cause such deep pain?
Donovan and Landon dropped to the ground next to me, moaning in the same agony.
“Stop it right now,” Tanner said. He and Eva strode toward her, their wands out. “Whatever you’re doing, make it stop.”
“Uh, nooo, and also, I’m surprised to see you still on your feet, Eva … considering.”
Eva’s face was stone. “He’s not in Eastwind, so you can’t control me with him.”
“Hmm … Then maybe I should bring him here. I could do it, you know. Would you be able to resist it then? Old love is old love.”
“You’re wrong,” Eva said, hardly more than a whisper. “Those cords snapped when he tried to kill me. I’m a new person now. You bring him here and I’ll kill him myself. Then I’ll kill you.”
Cassandra raised her eyebrows at that. “Big words. Unfortunately, I can’t be killed.” She faked a frown. “But I applaud the speech.” She sighed. “Shoot. I really didn’t want to have to kill anyone tonight. Now it seems I don’t have a choice.” She tapped a finger to her lips. “Who should I start with? Ah, well that’s obvious. How about the one who can’t be easily replaced?”
My vision was blurred under the weight of the spell, like a thousand-pound blanket draped over me, but I was able to make out who she was pointing at.
Yep, yours truly.
Tanner fired off his first spell, and Eva wasn’t far behind. Each one hit and exploded in a shower of sparks, but didn’t slow Cassandra’s progress as she approached me, raising me to my feet without laying a finger on me.
“Sorry to have to do this to you. Maybe another Fifth Wind will give you a chance to make your peace. Or maybe you can finally be with that ghost you—”
I crumpled to the ground when Cassandra was knocked sideways by something massive, black, and furry. She shrieked, and the break in her concentration was just enough to lift the spell on Donovan, Landon, and me.
Scrambling to my feet, I reached for my wand before realizing that wasn’t what I needed right now. “Grim!” I shouted.
“Busy,” he replied, growling ferociously and snapping his massive jaws at the archetype who struggled to hold him at bay. “She still smells like bacon.”
“I wouldn’t recommend eating her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“That’s exactly what I’m—”
The air around them warped like a heat wave, and Grim was launched off of her with a yelp, flying in a high arc until he landed in the soft grass twenty feet away. I heard the air whoosh from his lungs, but I didn’t need to worry about him long.
“You can’t say I didn’t try,” he moaned from the ground. “I’m just gonna stay here for a bit and rethink all my life choices. You kids have fun.”
“Nora,” Tanner said.
I looked behind me, and he was waving me over. “We need to stick together.”
I nodded and hurried to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him and Eva.
Cassandra was back on her feet, and a hungry grin spread across her face as she started toward us.
“Join hands again,” he ordered, and we did, facing outward from the center this time. Donovan grabbed my free hand, and the power that ran through me was tremendous.
The ground shook beneath me, and it was only when I saw Cassandra stumble that I realized it wasn’t her causing it. Tanner’s eyes were closed like he was meditating, which probably wasn’t far from the truth. His head was bowed and he mumbled something under his breath.
I hoped he knew what he was doing, as a cliffside wasn’t the safest ground to stand on during an earthquake, especially when the edge was only ten yards off, and Cassandra was blocking off our only escape route.
A crack opened up in the earth separating Cassandra from the rest of us and growing wider by the second.
“Stop,” Landon said suddenly. I cast a glance over my shoulder just in time to see the edge of the cliff crumble and fall down into the cavern below. Now the edge was only eight yards off. Great.
Eva broke the circle, but the half-life of the power we’d generated was long. It seemed to increase each time we joined hands.
She stepped in front of Tanner and on a full exhale, pointed her palms at the ground by Cassandra’s feet, causing a ring of fire to flare up around the archetype.
“Whoa,” I said, taking a quick step away when the heat of the flames assaulted my skin. How did she just do that without a wand? Had she ever done that before? Did she know she could do that? I glanced at Donovan, who was watching her with a keen interest, and I suspected her ability came as a surprise to him, as well.
“You will not come through that fire,” Eva said.
The orange glow cast long shadows up Cassandra’s face. “Oh, Eva. Are you really going to threaten me with fire? After what happened to you? I thought you’d want nothing to do with it. But I guess poison like his is infectious.”
“What is she talking about?” Donovan asked.
“Nothing,” Eva ground out. She stepped forward and the circle closed in tighter around Cassandra. “You can’t use him against me.” She moved toward the crack in the earth, her toes practically hanging over the edge.
The archetype shrugged. “Fine. And you can’t use that”—she pointed at the flames—“against me. Clever containment magic, but ultimately ineffective toward my kind.”
Cassandra sauntered straight through the fire, and while the hems of her clothes crackled in the flames, she emerged unscathed and moved to the edge of the fissure in the earth. The women stood only a few feet apart, staring each other down for a wordless moment.
Then Cassandra leaned forward, reaching out for Eva to pull her into the deep split, and the next few things happened very quickly.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Water from Rainbow Falls crashed down like a hammer upon Cassandra, but not before Tanner lunged forward and yanked Eva back, out of harm’s way.
A gust of frigid air knocked me to my knees from behind, and when I looked up again, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
> Eva’s circle of fire was extinguished and Cassandra was frozen solid in a crystal-clear sphere of ice.
Her arms were over her head, shielding herself from the onslaught of water. The pose looked so defenseless, I almost felt sorry for her.
Tanner kept his arms wrapped around Eva on the ground while Landon and Donovan looked about as shell-shocked as I felt, despite being responsible for the ice.
Donovan rounded on Landon. “What’d you do that for?”
Landon snapped back. “You mean why did I immobilize her rather than letting you simply wash her away into the hole in the earth?”
“Yeah!” Donovan said, missing Landon’s sarcasm.
“You can’t just wash people into holes in the earth!”
Tanner let go of Eva and maneuvered onto his knees. “I don’t think there’s a law against it.”
“Murder!” Landon shouted, throwing his arms into the air. “It’s called murder! And I’m pretty sure there’s a law against that.”
Tanner conceded with a nod.
“Except we can’t kill her,” I said. “Isn’t that the whole thing?”
“Then how do we banish her?” Eva asked. “Or are we just supposed to keep her in a freezer for eternity?”
When I snuck a glance at Donovan, I knew that wouldn’t work. My desire for him was still there in a very big way, despite the shock of the last few minutes. We hadn’t neutralized the spell, just bound her physically. This wouldn’t do.
And I doubted how long it would even hold.
I paused, clearing my mind to let Insight sift forward.
Archetypes were creatures of patterns. That meant they were cyclical. They were history repeating itself. My eyes wandered to Tanner. He was the best man I knew. And he was my fresh start. He was a break from the cycle of wrong men. He marked the death of the old Nora and the birth of the new.
Donovan and Roland, however …
As it turned out, both Roland and Cassandra had been right about one thing: “This isn’t our fight. She’s not here for us. There’s only one person who can put an end to this.” I shook my head. “I’m an idiot. I told him not to come because I didn’t trust he could do it, but he’s the only one who can.” My hand was already on the chain link in my pocket. I closed my eyes and made a wish.