And then, in a whirlwind, Colt stood before them. He carefully placed Mia down on the ground, holding her arm to steady her.
‘Mia!’ Cassandra and Madeline hooted in delight, elated to see her alive and well.
‘You’re here!’ Mia cheered in surprise.
‘Yes, Wendolyn sent for us,’ Cassandra explained. ‘Where’s Dino? Is he with Tol?’
‘No, he’s right behind us. He’s OK, but Tol can get inside his mind and use him like a puppet.’
The women nodded to one another. Mia had confirmed what they already knew.
‘But Dino has not yet joined Tol’s coven?’ Wendolyn checked.
‘No.’
‘So Tol hasn’t ascended?’ Madeline asked.
Mia looked confused.
‘No,’ Colt answered for her.
Cassandra and Madeline slowly turned to Colt. Their eyes narrowed critically.
‘You’re a Hunter,’ Madeline remarked, a hint of disapproval in her tone.
‘The very best,’ he retorted, parrying her disapproval with arrogance.
Madeline fixed him with a sarcastic smile. ‘That’s what they all say.’ She swapped a look with her sister.
‘Ha!’ Colt exclaimed. ‘Then they all are lying. And on that note, no need to thank me for saving your children from certain death…It seems that to get a thank-you from an Arcana is like pulling teeth – which, quite frankly, I’d prefer.’
Cassandra eyed him suspiciously. ‘Thank you for saving my children,’ she replied cagily. ‘May I ask why you would do such a thing?’
‘You may. I have been infected by love,’ he told her, as though it were a terminal disease that he had recently come to terms with.
Madeline’s jaw dropped open in horror. ‘Good God!’ she cried. ‘Please tell me that’s a joke!’
Colt bowed his head in commiseration. ‘I’m afraid not. I was upset about it, too. But I suppose no one is exempt.’
Cassandra turned to her daughter. ‘Mia, is this true?’ she asked gently.
Mia smiled sweetly, and an innocent dimple appeared in her cheek. ‘It’s true.’
Madeline fanned her face with her hand. ‘I feel faint,’ she declared. ‘It’s like history repeating itself.’
‘Try not to judge,’ Wendolyn advised kindly.
‘I think I’m getting a stress-related aneurism,’ Madeline rambled. ‘This is what’s going to kill me, you know. Stress. I’m too young to be dealing with this.’
Mia and Colt looked at one another and shrugged.
‘Oh, don’t tell me,’ Madeline gasped, regaining an abrasive tone. ‘Please don’t tell me you’re bearing his child! I refuse to go through this again, Mia. I refuse!’
Mia flushed in embarrassment. ‘Of course not!’
‘Well, that’s one thing, at least,’ Madeline grumbled. ‘But that’ll be next. I’m warning you now, Cassandra, that’ll be next!’ She wagged her finger at her sister, although she wasn’t entirely sure who to direct her anger towards.
Wendolyn jumped to Colt’s defence. ‘Colt is a fine young man, and a gentleman at that.’
Colt beamed with pride. ‘Well, I’ll be damned! A gentleman. Isn’t that something! How very mundane I must be.’
Footsteps approached and Dino jogged out from the trees.
‘Cassandra!’ he smiled warmly at his mother. ‘Aunt Maddie!’
Madeline scuttled over to him and gave him an impromptu hug. ‘I’m glad to see you safe, you terrible wayward child.’
Dino hugged her back. ‘It’s good to see you, too. My God, Maddie, you’ve aged since I last saw you,’ he teased mercilessly.
‘You see!’ Madeline shrieked to Wendolyn. ‘What a horrible little pest! He’s so cruel to me, I can hardly stand it.’ She rubbed her temples for dramatic emphasis. Despite her irritation, Madeline herded Dino and Mia as closely to her side as possible.
Cassandra joined the huddle. ‘Dino, Mia, there’s something you need to know,’ she confessed in earnest.
They gave her their undivided attention.
Cassandra continued, ‘You’re probably wondering why Tol has taken such an interest in you.’ She paused. ‘This may shock you, but Tol is…your father.’ She braced herself for their mortified reactions.
‘Is that it?’ Mia asked charily, as though she were waiting for another bombshell to be dropped.
Cassandra and Madeline frowned.
‘He’s your father,’ Cassandra repeated. ‘Tol. He’s your father.’
‘We know,’ Dino replied.
Cassandra glanced at Madeline. ‘Oh. Well, there we are then.’
Colt smirked. ‘And may I just say, excellent choice in spouse. He seems like a wonderful man.’
Right on cue, a hissing, snake-like voice suddenly broke in. ‘What’s this? A family reunion? Seems my invitation was lost.’
Madeline made a noise of revulsion. ‘You!’
‘How lovely to see you, Cass,’ Tol sneered. ‘You’re looking well. Or as I remember you, at least.’
‘I wish I could say the same to you,’ Cassandra replied hotly. Standing before her was a distorted version of the man she had once loved. It was like looking at a watercolour that had been ruined by a sudden shower. Time had warped him into a monster.
Tol glanced disdainfully at Madeline. ‘Cassandra, I see you still insist on bringing that troll with you everywhere you go,’ he remarked.
‘Troll?’ Madeline screamed. ‘How dare you! I’m going to enjoy watching you beg for mercy.’
‘Ah-ha,’ Tol mused. ‘So, you have a little plan up your sleeve?’ He spoke only to Cassandra now. ‘I’m sure you won’t be surprised to find that I do, too.’
‘Tol,’ Cassandra whispered remorsefully, ‘what have you become?’ Even in his toxic state, she couldn’t help but try to reach out to the human part of him – the part that still held her heart. ‘How can you harm our child?’
‘Harm him?’ Tol boomed. ‘I will improve him!’
‘By leading him into darkness?’ Cassandra argued. ‘By taking away his life? This, what you are now, is a fate worse than death. And this is what you want for him – to live like you, a demon in the shadows? My Tol would never have wanted this. Not for himself, or for his son.’
‘I was never your Tol,’ he said scornfully. ‘I belong to the power, and the child belongs to me.’ He turned his attention to Dino. ‘Come to me,’ he commanded.
Dino robotically walked towards him, his eyes glazed over in a trancelike state.
‘No way!’ Madeline grabbed hold of Dino, hauling him back. ‘You are not taking my boy!’
‘He’s not your boy,’ Tol spat. ‘He is my son.’
‘He’s just as much my son as he is yours,’ Madeline disputed. ‘I raised him from a baby – long after you were out of the picture.’
Cassandra stole a glimpse at Wendolyn’s pendant. The amber stone remained dormant, meaning that William Wix was not yet with them.
Come on! she urged Blue and Kizzy silently.
Time was running out.
‘I can’t find it!’ Kizzy wailed in despair. ‘We’ve searched every gravestone here and none of them are William Wix’s!’
She and Blue raced frantically around the moonlit cemetery in a mad hunt for the grave. The wind chimes clattered in cheerful fashion, mocking their failure.
‘It’s got to be here somewhere,’ Blue reasoned. ‘This is the only g-graveyard.’
‘But we’ve checked every stone, and we’re running out of time!’
Blue ran his hands through his hair. ‘Then we must have missed one.’ In his arms he cradled four white candles and a scroll of yellowed paper.
Kizzy hopped up and down on the spot manically. ‘We don’t have time to search again!’
‘Well, we’re going to have to,’ Blue told her. ‘You take the north side, I’ll take the south side.’
Kizzy chewed on her thumbnail. ‘OK.’
As Blue spun around to leave, a candle fell f
rom his arms and rolled across the moss. He bent down to pick it up from where it lay at the foot of a gravestone. Blue looked up at the stone slab.
‘Spangles,’ he read aloud. ‘Wait…’ he murmured. Setting the other candles down, he peeled back the weeds growing at the base of the gravestone. And there, in tiny slanted writing, was the name William Wix.
‘I found it!’ Blue cheered. ‘Spangles was William’s nickname! This is it!’
‘Here lies William Wix,’ Kizzy recited the words that were etched into the stone. ‘May he rest in peace.’ She smiled satirically at her companion. ‘Time to wake up, Spangles!’
She and Blue dropped to the ground on either side of the grave and set to work arranging the candles at the north, south, east and west points.
Kizzy beamed joyfully at Blue, and he returned the look.
Then there was an extended pause.
‘Go ahead,’ Kizzy said at last.
‘Go ahead with what?’
‘Light the candles.’
Blue scratched his head. ‘I don’t have the matches. You’ve got them.’
Kizzy’s smile vanished. ‘No, I haven’t. You’ve got them.’
‘Oh, no!’ Blue bellowed. ‘We have to go back to the castle.’
‘We don’t have time!’
‘But we have to light the candles! The spell won’t work without them lit.’
Kizzy sucked in her breath. ‘Blue,’ she said, ‘you’re a Conjurer. Can’t you, maybe, conjure us some matches? Maybe?’
He cringed. ‘I only make buttons.’
‘No,’ Kizzy contested, ‘that’s not true. You’re a Conjurer,’ she enunciated the title with profound emphasis. ‘You’re one of the most powerful and rare witches around.’
‘I’m not a Conjurer,’ Blue replied apologetically. ‘I’m a button factory.’
‘I disagree.’
‘How can you disagree? You’ve seen it with your own eyes. And you hear what they all call me – Benny Buttons.’
‘Forget them.’ Kizzy glowered at the memory of the taunts. ‘You’re not Benny Buttons, you’re Benny Blue. And you’re a Conjurer.’
Blue closed his honey-brown eyes, already accepting defeat.
‘Blue,’ Kizzy implored, crawling across the grave and plonking herself down beside him. ‘I know you can do it.’ She took hold of his hand and kissed him on the cheek.
He opened his eyes and cast his gaze upon her. ‘I don’t want to let you down, Kizzy. I don’t want to let anyone down.’
‘Forget them!’ Kizzy exclaimed.
‘I can’t,’ Blue whispered.
‘Benny, it’s OK if you make buttons. That’s still a power to be proud of.’
Blue snorted bitterly. ‘Tell that to my f-family.’
‘Are they Conjurers, too?’
‘My great-grandfather was. He passed away before I was born, but they say he was one of the most powerful witches of his era. I suppose everyone in my family wanted to be born with the Conjurer gene, but I was the only one. My parents expect me to be fantastic – as good as my great-grandfather – and I guess they’re kind of disappointed that I’m n-not.’ He hesitated for a moment, looking up to the purple sky. ‘I’ve been coming to the Glass Castle for a year, Kizzy. I’ve read practically every book in the library and I work on my power every day…It’s just not going to happen for me.’
Kizzy put her arm around him. ‘Then that’s who you are, and I think that’s pretty awesome. I think you are incredible.’
Blue smiled shyly. ‘I think you are, too. I’ll run back to the castle and get the matches. OK?’
‘OK.’ Kizzy gave him a final hug, and before she knew what she was doing, she leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
They stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say.
‘Sorry!’ Kizzy grinned sheepishly.
‘No, no, I liked it!’
Kizzy giggled. ‘Quick! You have to go and get the matches.’
With a deep breath, Blue changed tactics. He dug through his jeans pocket and drew out his vial of ciron thistle like a knight drawing his sword. He sprinkled the grains into his hand and enclosed them.
‘Matches,’ he whispered. Unfolding his fingers, he examined the contents of his palm.
‘Well?’ Kizzy pressed.
‘It’s not matches,’ Blue confirmed.
‘Button?’ Kizzy asked.
‘Yeah, it’s a button.’ Blue studied it curiously. ‘But it’s on fire!’
Kizzy gasped and clapped her hands fervently. ‘I knew you could do it!’
Without wasting a second, Blue used the flaming button to light the candles.
Kizzy crawled to the other side of the grave and looked across at him. His expression, highlighted by the glowing candlelight, was strong.
‘Let’s raise the dead,’ Blue said with a smile, the pulsating flames reflecting in his eyes.
Wendolyn, can you hear me? Cassandra asked silently.
Wendolyn glanced at her briefly. Yes, I hear you, she replied to Cassandra’s voice, communicating through murmurs of the mind. The two Readers had become adept at conversing beyond the ears of others.
Is William with us? Cassandra asked.
Wendolyn traced her frail fingers over the amulet. I’m afraid not, she returned.
I don’t know how much longer we can hold Tol off, Cassandra admitted grimly.
Tol circled the Arcana and Colt, flocking them like lambs. But his focus was constantly on Dino, relentlessly chipping away at his mind with an intensity undetected by the others. The struggle to resist had worn Dino down to exhaustion.
‘Say the words,’ Tol hissed. ‘Tell me that you want to join my coven, and this will all be over. I know you want to accept. Can’t you feel it?’
Dino could feel it. The desire to become a Hunter was stronger than anything he had ever experienced before. It devoured him. Something in his subconscious reminded him that Tol had planted these feelings, but it barely mattered. The urge was so extreme that it was almost impossible to resist.
‘Mia, keep talking to me,’ Dino begged, desperate for an anchor to pull him back.
‘Don’t listen to him,’ Mia pleaded. ‘It’s all a trick. You don’t want to be a Hunter.’
‘Come with me,’ Tol persisted in a lulling voice. ‘I’m your father.’
Dino baulked. Throughout his entire life he had dreamed of meeting his father. He had often fantasised about running away to find him and escaping the household of women. Now the option was a reality – although it wasn’t quite the fishing trips and sports events that Dino had imagined.
‘Say the words,’ Tol seethed.
So far, Dino had resisted, but like a fraying rope he knew he soon would snap.
‘If you will not succumb to the desire,’ Tol murmured, ‘then perhaps you will submit to pain.’ He contorted his hand into a fist, and Dino cried out in agony.
I need to act now! Cassandra cried to Wendolyn. He’s torturing him!
‘Ah,’ Tol let out a satisfied breath, momentarily releasing Dino from his clutches. ‘It seems my army has arrived.’
The Arcana waited on tenterhooks as Tol’s two followers surfaced from the shadows. Shrouded behind dark robes, their sunken, hollow faces resembled skeletons rather than humans.
‘Oh, look what the cat dragged in,’ Madeline scoffed. ‘This really is a family reunion. And a family reunion just isn’t complete without my two treacherous brothers.’
‘My uncles?’ Mia gasped.
‘Anton and Phillip,’ Cassandra confirmed. ‘Good heavens, Phillip! You used to be such a handsome boy. I see that evil has spoiled you, too. You look quite rotten, my dears.’
Anton and Phillip hardly registered their sisters. Sixteen years of greed and poison had turned them into blank minions, emotionless drudges that did Tol’s biddings.
Tol turned to his two underlings. ‘Slaughter them all,’ he instructed.
Anton and Phillip lunged forward like hound
s, their razor-sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight.
In a reflex action, Colt raised his hand. He charged a gust of air at the Hunters, throwing them onto their backs.
Tol directed his hand towards Colt. ‘You are a nuisance, Hunter. Why won’t you just die?’
‘The feeling’s mutual,’ Colt retorted.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Madeline raced forward and leapt on to Tol’s back. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders.
Tol roared and flung her off him. She hurtled through the air and landed on the ground with a smack.
‘Maddie!’ Cassandra screamed, rushing over to her sister’s unconscious body.
A vibrant blush of scarlet light warmed Wendolyn’s hand. She looked down at the glowing amulet. ‘Hello, my love,’ she whispered to the pendant.
Cassandra, she beckoned silently. William is with us. It’s time.
Maddie’s hurt, Cassandra responded. I can’t wake her up!
While Anton and Phillip slithered in and out of the trees circling Mia and Colt, Tol summoned Dino to him.
‘Stand before me,’ Tol demanded.
Dino edged forward until they were face to face.
Cassandra, Wendolyn urged, we need to do the spell at once. If you cannot wake Madeline, then we must use Mia in her place.
Mia! Cassandra looked at Wendolyn in alarm. She’s not ready for such a powerful spell. It will consume her!
We have no choice, Wendolyn told her. Stand beside me, Cassandra. Take my hand.
Cassandra left Madeline’s side and returned to Wendolyn. She grasped the older woman’s hand. They both looked at Mia.
Colt stood protectively in front of her, warding off their two attackers.
‘Mia!’ Wendolyn called. ‘Join us. We need you.’
Mia gripped Colt’s sleeve. ‘I can’t,’ she whispered to him.
Without response, Colt sent a burst of air to clear her pathway. ‘Go to your mother,’ he said.
She didn’t move.
Colt laughed lightly. ‘This is your time to shine. Why are you hiding behind me? You surpass me.’
Mia managed a nervous smile. ‘I thought you were unsurpassed?’
‘Don’t make me say it again! Just go!’ He gave her a little shove and within moments Mia was positioned between her mother and Wendolyn.
The Witches of the Glass Castle Page 22