by A. N. Sage
I looked around and smiled—we couldn’t have picked a better night to do this.
The full moon was high above and its radiant light coated the field in shades of silver, the rays dancing along the treetops of the wooded area that sheltered the farm from the rest of the world. There was a definite chill in the air but at this point, I was so used to Shadowhurst weather that I didn’t even bother zipping up my jacket. The amethyst pendant around my neck swayed against my skin as I drew the last rune and leaned back to inspect my work.
Since I couldn’t very well bring my grimoire with me, I had to leave it back home—concealed with a spell—and work the ritual from memory.
Huh. Did I just refer to the guest house as home? That’s weird.
I retraced the details of the ritual in my head and walked around the salt circle to make sure each of the five elemental points was correct. When I was satisfied, I looked to the hunters, and Peyton, and gestured for them to come forward to claim their spots.
As a group, we decided that myself, River, Peyton, Savannah, and Jayden were playing the parts of the elements while Tyler, Abigail, and Morgan hid in the cornfield to keep watch. It was a decent enough plan and if something were to go wrong, at least I knew I could trust Abigail to protect us with the knives she had already sharpened in preparation. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be the case but who knew at this point.
“So who’s where?” Peyton asked, looking around the runes in confusion.
Her act of clueless human was convincing, though I knew better. Peyton was a shadower—not just any shadower, a soul sucker—and her knowledge of ritual and spell-work had to be better than average. The more I thought about it, the more her obsession with the occult made sense. I just wish I’d seen it sooner.
“Um.” I cleared my throat and raised to standing. “Savannah should take the Fire spot. River can take Water and Jayden should be in the Earth spot. You can stand in the Air position and I’ll hit the middle, right where the Spirit element would be.”
“No probs, bestie.” Peyton winked at me and hopped to her designated rune.
I didn’t fail to notice the emphasis she placed on the word and the smile that widened on her face as she passed me. It was super uncomfortable to hear a shadower refer to me as her best friend but I couldn’t keep lying to myself. I cared for Peyton, shadower or not, and it was throwing my entire perspective on life off orbit. The soul suckers I’ve vanquished in Stamwick were vicious and cruel and they wanted nothing more than to hurt humans. But Peyton was different. She was sweet and I did not get any evil energy off her at all, even after I found out she was a shadower. Plus her eagerness to help me save this town was endearing; she was willing to risk her life to help me, a witch, and I simply couldn’t believe it was true. Maybe not every shadower was bad. It was possible that what we’ve been taught by the High Coven wasn’t entirely true. I mean, they lied about so many other things, why not this too?
Peyton’s shoulder brushed against mine and I reached for her elbow to stop her in her tracks. “Thanks for helping,” I whispered. “I mean it.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Like I told you before, girl, I got your back.”
I knew she meant that and my shoulders slumped in relief.
As the others settled into their spots on the freezing cold ground, River walked over to me. I was so distracted going over the correct placement of amethyst dust and peach wood that I didn’t see him approach. By the time I noticed, he was already crouching on the ground next to me and his hand was on my shoulder. Warmth rushed through me and I buckled back as the sudden urge to hold him overtook me. He was so close that I could jump his bones before the others even noticed what happened. Focus! I growled at myself and shook the thought away though the racing of my heartbeat refused to simmer down. His fingers grabbed mine and I looked up at him, tears welling behind my eyes. How could someone this beautiful be interested in someone like me? I couldn’t believe it.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” He asked and pulled me in closer. “We don’t have to do this you know.”
Behind him, Savannah said something nasty and I laughed when Peyton flipped her off. My friend looked my way, signaling that she could finish off Savannah if I wanted her too and it only made me laugh harder. Having a soul sucker on my side might prove useful after all. I wiped the tears that fell as I laughed from my face and turned to look at a very confused River. His eyebrows arched and he looked between me and Peyton like he was trying to size us up.
Good luck figuring this out, hunter! I giggled and squeezed his hand to get his attention. “I’m fine. And we most def need to do this.”
“But we’re going in blind.”
“What he said!” Jayden yelled out in agreement. “You sure we can take this witch?”
I looked around the circle and forced a smile. “I’m not.”
Jayden and Savannah groaned in unison but to my surprise, it was Peyton who spoke up next. The red streaks in her hair looked almost pink in the moonlight and the thick eyeliner around her eyes made her appear even more dangerous than I already knew she was. Her voice was loud and boomed over the circle in a commanding manner I haven’t heard her use before.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” she said, “but aren’t you lot supposed to be hunters? Maybe I got something wrong here, but I expected, oh, I don’t know, some courage?”
The hunters didn’t respond but I could see her words struck a chord. Savannah arched a manicured eyebrow and her teeth clenched together, making her high AF cheekbones even more defined. I touched my own face and frowned.
“Okay, cool,” Peyton continued. “So if you three wussies are ready, I’d like to get this over with so I can get back to binging Survivor.”
She turned and gave me a thumbs up.
“What she said,” I choked out, mimicking Jayden’s words. “You guys ready?”
“As long as you’re sure,” River said and stood up. He looked back at the group. “Whatever happens, we protect Billie at all costs.”
Everyone except Peyton nodded. Instead, my best friend hissed like a cat and buried her feet into the earth next to her rune. She is so freaking weird.
I walked around them, shifting their weight to align them into the best position. As I reached River, I took my sweet time as I rearranged his body. A cocky grin formed on his lips, deepening his unbearably cute dimple, and I pinched his side and rolled my eyes, roping my hand over his waist to move him forward a few inches. His own hands wrapped around mine and I found myself frozen, holding him in a tight hug from behind. My thighs shook as I took in his scent and I leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek when I was sure no one else was watching.
River’s cheeks blushed and I had to force myself to step away.
“So what now?” Savannah asked, drawing me back to the circle.
I stepped around River and took my place in the center. “Now we draw blood.”
“Oh, hell, no!” Jayden yelled. “Uh-uh!”
“Relax, it’s just a drop.”
I pulled out the dagger from my boot and ignored the gasps of surprise from the circle. I tossed it hilt first to River. “Nick your index finger and trace the rune by your feet with the blood.”
He nodded and did as I asked, passing the dagger to Peyton beside him. They went around the circle until it was Savannah’s turn, and though she took her sweet ass time to follow suit, she finally finished the job. Her eyes narrowed on mine as she tossed the dagger back to me and I had to refrain from squirming, worried she was aiming for my throat. I caught the blade and brought it my palm, slicing across the center and slamming my hand into the earth.
Around me, magic whirled in circles as it rushed into my body. The air thickened and I found it hard to keep my eyes on the rune in front of me. Power surged inside me and it was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I could sense the energy of the circle members and it called for me, begging for me to drink it in. My eyes closed and my head rolled back as I
opened myself up, letting the life forces of my friends to enter me. My lids fluttered and the ground under my feet grew dark, dying as I sucked its energy in with the rest. Gasps sounded all around but I couldn’t pinpoint who they belonged to. On my finger, the moonstone ring throbbed and ebbed and I fought the urge to rip it off. My blood felt like it was boiling and sweat dripped down my face and back.
Suddenly, the energy shifted and a cold breeze whipped by me, throwing my loose hair into my eyes. My body froze and I snapped my eyes open to follow the source.
My head whipped around just as a shadowy figure stepped out of the trees close to us. As it approached us, my jaw tightened and my hands fisted at my side, gripping the dagger with more strength than I thought I had.
She came.
My eyes narrowed in the witch’s direction and I squared my shoulders, rising to my feet. It wasn’t until she was just outside our circle I realized who I was looking at and my entire world exploded.
The Witch I’m After
“Mom?”
“Ms. Hunting?”
“Evanora?”
We all yelled out in unison. My jaw dragged on the ground and my knees were so weak I couldn’t stand straight. To my left, River’s face was the same shade of grey as the concrete walls in the magical prison and my heart broke for him.
Evanora threw her head back and laughed, then walked around the circle so she could face me. Her hair was braided off her face and she wore a dark, wool coat over one of her signature suits. In her right hand, she clasped a handful of crystals and I could see a tightly knit bushel of herbs tied around her neckline.
SHE’S THE KILLER? No, this can’t be right. River’s mom is the witch I’m after?
My pulse skyrocketed and a heavy pressure formed behind my temples until I could barely see a foot ahead. My gaze jerked to River but he couldn’t see me staring, his eyes were only on Evanora. I could see him try to form words but his mouth only opened and closed like he didn’t know where to start. He was a fish out of water and I was watching him struggle to breathe right in front of me.
“It’s you?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. “Why?”
The rest of the circle was quiet while we waited for her to respond. Peyton kept looking from me to Evanora to River and the confusion on her face mimicked my own. Next to her, Jayden’s expression looked like he was trying to solve a math equation while Savannah was a mystery as always. Her tight curls bounced as she shook her head ‘no’ but her face was angered and determined. Her hand reached to the waistline of her leather leggings where I knew she stashed a knife, or two, in case things went off the rails. Both she and Jayden looked like they didn’t know whether to listen or kill Evanora on the spot. I waved my hand at my side, hoping to get their attention before they did something stupid and got themselves killed. To my relief, Savannah saw me and let her arms drop to the sides. The glare I got from her told me I’d regret it later but it relieved me she knew well enough to listen.
“Why not is what you should ask,” Evanora said, ice in her voice.
Time had seemed to stop and I didn’t even remember asking her a question at all but as soon as she spoke, I was back in the circle, my eyes fiercely trained on hers.
“Mom, what the hell are you doing here?”
“Language!” Evanora snapped and walked to her son. “I taught you better than to forget your manners.”
“Manners are the least of my worries right now! You’re a WITCH?”
Evanora sneered and ruffled River’s hair with her slender fingers. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, darling, but it was bound to come out sooner or later. I had hoped for later.”
“Why, mom? Why are you doing this?” River shook his head, his eyes red. “You killed those students…”
“I did what had to be done.”
“Bullshit!” I yelled out and took a step toward her.
Evanora tightened her grip on River’s hair to send me a warning. If I didn’t watch myself, he would pay the price. My heart broke into a million pieces as I thought about what River must have been feeling. His own mother; a killer. One that was threatening his life right now just to get what she wanted. Goddess. And I thought Beatrix was bad.
“You know, I’m starting to see where you’re getting those unpleasant habits,” Evanora purred and let go of his hair. My shoulders sank and I breathed out a sigh of relief but didn’t move an inch. “It would appall your father to see you with the likes of her.”
“You called dad an inbred imbecile, remember?”
Evanora’s lips curled into a sinister smile and she let out a howling laugh. It echoed through the field and though I couldn’t be certain, I was willing to bet I heard a flock of birds take off from the sound. “Not that idiot. Your real father.”
Everyone in the circle turned to look at River, myself including.
“My…” He stammered. “What?”
“Your actual father, River. Or did you think you were the fruit of the wasted space that left us without so much as a goodbye?”
“I… I…”
River’s gaze met mine and the hurt that flashed across his features broke me. I wanted to run to him, to wrap my arms around him, and tell him it would be all right but that would have been an even dumber move that this entire ritual. I shouldn’t have brought him here. Any of them. I should have done this on my own and then maybe River’s heart wouldn’t be breaking in front of me. Tears fell down my cheeks and I sniffled my nose, wiping it with the sleeve of my jacket.
“I should have told you,” Evanora said, “but I didn’t think you’d understand.”
“So, you what? Pushed me into witch hunting? But you’re a witch! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”
His shout rose over us, reaching as far as the cornfield and I was suddenly very aware of the hunters hiding in the stalks. How much have they heard? And why were they still hiding?
Evanora turned to face her son. She reached for his face but River shrunk away from her, his lips smashed into a tight line. “Just tell me why.”
“Because witches ruin everything.”
“You’re a witch!”
“Yes, yes I am,” she smiled and it almost looked genuine. “But I am not like the rest of them. They ruined my life, River. They ruined our life! They forced me to kill your father just because he wasn’t like them. Could you imagine what that felt like?”
The night somehow got darker to match Evanora’s gaze. Her eyes were vacant and she stared somewhere past my shoulder, her face paling with each moment that passed. A few tears glistened at the edge of her eyes but she blinked them away in an instant. My thoughts were a mile a minute as I tried to connect the logic of her words. Witches forced her to kill River’s father. But why? There was only one reason the High Coven would order a killing and—
Oh, my Goddess.
“Oh, I see someone is catching on,” Evanora said my way. Her eyes burned into me and I looked away, worried she might see more than what she came here for. “Your father was a shadower. A shifter, and the strongest, kindest man I’ve ever met. But they couldn’t see that. All they saw was that he was different and as soon as the coven found out I was pregnant, I had to choose—him or you. I was still a kid but even then I knew I could never not pick you. Your father knew it too so when I showed up to vanquish him, he didn’t even fight back. That’s how much he loved us.”
“A shadower? High Coven?” Savannah asked.
River’s mom snapped her head in Savannah’s direction and the girl jumped back. “Yes. You know, for witch hunters, you children are ill-equipped in the way of knowledge. I really should have done a better job of pointing you in the right direction. Perhaps after all this is done, I can help train you better.”
My blood bubbled and anger rose in my throat. She’s a freaking lunatic! Whatever beef Evanora had with the High Coven didn’t excuse her actions. She was a murderer. She killed innocent kids. And for what? To avenge a choice she made herself long ago? It was
pathetic.
“You chose for yourself,” I said. “You killed him just like you killed all those kids. You’re a monster.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Evanora stepped over the salt threshold of the circle and walked up to me. She was my height to the tee and I could feel her breath on my face as she leaned into me. “I’m not surprised to see you defend them. I was just like you once, you know.” She sighed and turned her back to me. “I was young and impressionable. When the High Coven found me, I had already run away from home and had nowhere to go. So it was easy to fall for their lies because they were my kind, my people. They were witches and witches stick together. At least they do until someone steps out of line. Then they toss you away like you’re nothing but not before they break you until you wish you were dead.”
A scowl formed on her lips and she crossed her arms, tightening her overcoat closed. Her shoulders dropped and she shifted her weight from foot to foot like she was unsure if she should stay or go. Darkness passed over her features and tears fell down her cheeks, her shoulders bobbing as she tried to stop herself from crying. She was so heartbroken that I almost felt sorry for her. Or at least I did until I remembered why we were in the field. My eyes instinctively drifted to River. The slouch of his shoulders and the redness in his eyes told me he was in more shock than the rest of us. I couldn’t blame him. If I found out my mother was a lying murderer and that my dad was some rando shifter, I’d lose it. It all started to make sense now. My immediate draw to him, the darkness I felt rolling off him when we touched—it spelled shadower blood through and through and I never let myself see it. What would that mean for him now? For us? I wanted to reach for him, to tell him everything will be fine and that I’ll help him through it, but my feet were planted too firmly to move. And he hasn’t said a word since Evanora showed up so I doubted he needed me to make matters worse. All things considering, he was doing a pretty good job of not ripping her head off. Unlike me, who wanted nothing more than to pounce on her and get it over with.