The truth was I was playing mind games with myself, and I hated it. Tegan had told me to follow my gut, that my instincts had always been spot-on and that I should trust them. But the problem was, with everything going on in my head, I couldn’t tell my instincts from my elbows. If I wasn’t thinking about Jackson, then I was in a nasty mental loop over Timothy, Erin, and Warner. The guilt over failing to save Timothy. The worry over Erin’s health that wasn’t improving. The crippling fear that we’d never find Warner. It was too much.
I shook myself and followed Cooper down the stairs and through the cabin. As he walked, the muscles in his back and shoulders tightened and made warmth fill my cheeks. He really was handsome. Any girl would be lucky to date him.
But then we turned a corner, and my eyes landed on Jackson’s sharp profile. My heart fluttered. Adrenaline rushed through my body like he’d hit me with a taser. And then he looked at me…and it was like alarms went off in my brain. My legs felt wobbly as I moved to stand between Royce and Cooper at Kenneth’s bed. Why can’t I feel like this for Cooper instead?
Stop this. You’re about to meet the Crones. You need to focus.
I took a deep breath after chastising myself, then focused my attention on the Card lying unconscious in front of me. His skin was pale and ashy, and his breaths were heavy. He had the prettiest silver hair I’d ever seen. Someone had taken his glasses off, and I wondered where they’d gone to. I wondered if he’d ever need them again. The last time I went to check on Erin, I’d asked about Witch’s Shock because I knew Kenneth had it. Katherine had explained just how awful it was. She also told me that if Tegan wasn’t the Aether Witch, she would’ve died from it. I hadn’t even known she’d had it. She left that part out.
Kenneth and I hadn’t been close. I’d only met him once or twice, but he’d been super friendly. Not that that mattered. He was sick, and I hated to think he was suffering. I wanted him to know we were there, that he wasn’t alone. I reached out and placed my hand on his wrist, then squeezed. Rainbow mist billowed out from under my hand, then shot across his body like some kind of forcefield.
I frowned and looked up at Cooper. “Is that…Tegan’s magic?”
He nodded and placed his hand next to mine on Kenneth’s arm. “Yeah. She can give some of her magic in small portions to try and stabilize someone.”
“It saved Deacon’s life…and Tennessee’s,” Royce said softly and shivered.
“I hope it’ll save his, too,” Jackson whispered.
I looked up and found him holding on to Kenneth like we were. The Lancaster red rose tattoo almost looked real lying across his arm. He peeked up under dark eyelashes and met my gaze for a moment before he sighed and looked back down. I glanced at the others, and found we’d all reached out to hold him. Evaline had her eyes closed, and her lips moved like maybe she was mumbling a prayer to herself. More of Tegan’s magic spread over our Hermit’s body.
I just wished there was something I could do for Kenneth, like Tegan could. I wasn’t even a Cup. At least then I could’ve made potions and charms for healing people.
Just then the wall to my right dropped down, which didn’t make any sense since there wasn’t even a door there. Sunlight poured in, and then a slim shadow cut through the light.
Rainbow magic swirled around the shadow’s hand. “Welcome to Crone Island.”
Chapter Thirty
Bettina
“This is Crone Island?” Trey held his arms out wide and spun in a slow circle. “There’s nothing here.”
He made an excellent point. We were standing on an empty island. The sun shined in a bright, cloudless blue sky over our heads. The grass under our feet was vivid green and swayed in the salty breeze. The ocean rolled gentle waves into a dock in the distance. I listened for any sounds, but all I heard was the roar of the ocean. It made no sense. I could see all the way across the island to where the ocean crashed to the shore.
“What am I missing here?” I looked up to my left at Cooper. “Can you guys see something we can’t?”
“It’s a spell.” Jackson stepped up beside him, his aquamarine gaze locked on something ahead. “They’re designed to hide the Crones from everyone. Should someone come upon this island, they will find it barren as we have. If they’re human, they will feel compelled to leave immediately. If they are arcana, one of the Crones will come out to greet them. Only then will we be able to see what is truly here. We must be welcome.”
“Impressively wise,” an unfamiliar female voice said. “For so young.”
We all jumped and spun around. A woman stood behind us wearing a sleeveless floor-length white sheath gown. She was barefoot and wore her golden hair in pigtail braids. A thin string of flowers was wrapped around her head. She couldn’t have been more than forty years old.
“Wait, you’re a Crone?” Gen asked with narrowed, skeptical eyes. “You’re young?”
The Crone smiled softly. “I am. Not all Crones are elderly. We simply never correct those who assume so.”
Royce tapped on Tenn’s shoulder. “Is it weird that Lancaster knew that and you didn’t, boss?”
“About time someone else knew what was going on. Nicely done, Jackson.” Tennessee smiled then turned back to the Crone. “I apologize for showing up without warning—”
“Myrtle said you’d be showing up any day now,” the Crone said with a smile. “We’ve been watching the shores.”
Tennessee gestured behind him. “We brought our Coven-mate, Kenneth. He has fallen to Witch’s Shock.”
“Oh, Goddess, no,” she whispered.
But then she raised her palms up to her waist, and a warm gust of wind swept in. It twinkled like glitter floating in the air. In an instant, everything changed. A whole flock of women in matching pigtail braids and floor-length white sheath gowns stood with their arms behind their backs. Behind them, the open, empty island transformed into a village made of gray stones that looked an awful lot like a castle.
My jaw dropped. I love magic.
“Sisters, please bring Kenneth to the infirmary immediately.” She waited for the flock of white gowns to run by, then she refocused on us. “Come, Myrtle is waiting.”
We followed her for about fifteen feet of me wondering what the hell was going on. But then the air in front of our path shimmered. I squinted. A wall of pulsating purples, blues, greens, and pinks stretched as far as I could see in both directions. It looked like the pictures I’d seen of the Northern Lights. The young Crone didn’t even slow her pace. She strolled right through it.
Okey dokey, then. I nodded and kept walking. Those colors were right in front of me. I took a deep breath and marched through them. The air smelled like roses. There was a misty sensation, but I didn’t feel wet. It was cold, but the Florida autumn was nothing compared to a northerner’s home. Three steps later, the air turned warm and the lighting went back to normal. I glanced down at my body, and my feet froze in place.
I was dressed differently. How did I change my clothes? Before the rainbow wall, I’d had on blue jeans, a graphic tee I’d borrowed from Tegan, and another leather jacket I borrowed from Lennox. Now, I had on a white sleeveless sheath dress that cut off above my ankles. I wiggled my toes against the cool, rich dirt. Something moved in my peripheral vision, and when I looked up, I found Jackson’s eyes on me.
His gaze traveled the length of my body, not once but twice, before turning to watch the path in front of him. Warm shivers ran down my spine. I wanted him to look at me like that again. It made me think I wasn’t alone in this…torture.
And he looked so good in white. So good.
I shook myself. Drooling over him wasn’t healthy for me. I needed to remember that. Instead, I refocused my eyes on Cooper and the impressive muscles wrapped around his shoulders and biceps. Jackson was muscular, but chiseled and lean like the statue of David, whereas Cooper was thicker like Hercules. Come on, Cooper is hot. Let’s like him.
We turned a corner then walked through a stone archwa
y and into a grassy courtyard that sat along the edge of the shore. Ocean waves rolled softly to the sandy area to my right. Tegan, Tennessee, Cooper, and Royce all stopped short and then froze.
An older woman stepped out from the shadows of the stone buildings on my left and into the golden sunlight. She had long charcoal-gray hair braided on both sides of her head. She was barefoot, with vines of flowers wrapped around her ankles and little silver rings on her toes. A silver diadem rested on her head. The symbol on the front, pressed to her forehead, was a circle with a half circle on each side. I recognized it as the Triple Goddess symbol from Lennox’s textbooks. It was the symbol of the Crones.
She smiled and it crinkled the lines around her sparkling silver eyes. The way she stared at the young Coven members in front of me… It was like they were a dream come true.
“Myrtle,” Tegan whispered.
There was a beat of silence, where no one else spoke or moved, and then Tegan sprinted across the courtyard. Royce and Cooper took off in a jog behind her. The woman—Myrtle as Tegan had called her—squeezed my best friend in her arms like they were long-lost sisters. Tears streaked down Myrtle’s tan face as they held on to each other.
“Myrtle,” Tennessee said with a sigh. He rolled back onto his heels then leapt forward…and then he was standing right behind Tegan.
“What the hell?” Harlan squeaked and looked back and forth from where Tennessee had just been standing to where he was now. “How?”
I shrugged. “Apparently he ain’t human.” I’d heard the other Cards joking about that.
Evaline chuckled. “It’s a joke, but it really isn’t. Come on, let’s go meet her.” She waved for us to follow.
“Who is she?” Trey whispered.
“Myrtle,” Jackson said with that glorious British accent that tortured me. He glanced over his shoulder and met my stare, and I knew he was remembering the same thing I was.
The Ouija board.
Chapter Thirty-One
Bettina
I shivered and glanced back to Myrtle, and found her showering Royce and Cooper with kisses on their cheeks. Jackson started walking toward them, so I quickly followed. We were just catching up with them when Myrtle looked up and spotted Tennessee.
Her smile grew as wide as her face. She put her hand on her chest then held her arms open. “Tennessee.”
He went into her arms without hesitation. When he stepped back, he cleared his throat. “Myrtle.”
She looked around at the four of them with twinkling eyes. “I have been waiting over three hundred years for this moment. You have no idea how difficult it was a couple months ago not to squeeze you.”
“Oh, Myrtle,” Tegan cried and blinked away tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how you handled that!”
But she just chuckled and shook her head. “I remembered the first time we met, at least for me, when you told me what day it was in your time… I’ve had that date memorized for centuries, just waiting. It was so long. I rejoiced each and every one of your births. It was so hard not to tell anyone of what was to come, but I told myself this moment would be worth it…when I saw you and you saw me.”
“Sorry it took us so long to get here,” Tennessee said softly, like he was barely holding his emotions in.
“You were busy. I am so proud of you all. You actually did it—” She gasped, her eyes widening. “How is Deacon? How did he handle the time jump? It’s been hard to get details yet. And where was the Gap?”
Royce groaned and ran his hands through his hair. “Myrtle, it was awful. Deacon died like the second we got back, but Tegan pulled some of her tricks and held him over until we got to the cure for spider demon venom. It was such an easy fix, I still can’t believe it wasn’t invented back then.”
“Hold on a moment,” Jackson said with a frown. “Spider demon cure? That’s where I’ve heard your name. Before I left London, I was taught that the Lead Crone, Myrtle Proctor, had found the cure for spider demon venom. That’s you, isn’t it?”
The four Cards in front of us gasped and spun around to face her.
Myrtle grinned. “Well, when seven teenagers from three centuries in the future show up on your doorstep insisting there’s a cure for it in their time…it kind of makes it easy to keep trying to create it.”
Tennessee paled. “Oh my Goddess…I knew that. I knew that. Cooper, Dad taught us that, so how did we not remember?”
Cooper just shook his head. He opened his mouth then shut it again.
Myrtle laughed. “Everyone thought I was crazy. I kept insisting a cure was possible, and then I found it. Let me tell you, I saw all your faces every day until I did. I knew, I knew I had to find the cure before Deacon showed back up with it. I couldn’t let you lose him.”
Royce groaned and wrapped her in another big hug.
Tegan wiped at her eyes. “Oh, Myrtle. We have so much to talk about. So much. Deacon, Emersyn, and Henley wanted so badly to come with us, but this ended up being a quest and not a social visit. But now all I want to do is sit and talk to you,” she finished with a laugh.
Myrtle squeezed her hand. “I’m not going anywhere, dear. We have time for that. Now, why don’t you introduce me to your friends and tell me why you’ve come.”
“Well, it’s a couple reasons, actually…” Tegan took a deep breath then launched into the whole story.
She told Myrtle about Kenneth falling to Witch’s Shock and how it happened. I’d known it happened during the battle on Samhain, but hearing the truth of the moment broke my heart. He’d sacrificed himself for Bentley. It made me want to run over to their infirmary and give the man a big hug. When Myrtle heard how it happened, she sighed and closed her eyes, and it made my heart sink. It wasn’t a good sign.
But before we could ask about that look, Tegan moved on to how we lost our friend to the balefire, and another to a shadowy creature, and I was shocked at how precise her memory was. Tegan hadn’t missed a single detail about a story that wasn’t even hers. And she didn’t let us down when she retold the moment we lost Timothy, right down to his very last words.
Then Tegan turned and pointed to me. “This is my best friend, Bettina, and she found out she was a witch after I did. Anyway, back in August, she played with the Ouija board at the Charleston Major’s home and summoned a spirit… Bettina, tell her about it.”
I wasn’t sure why she was suddenly wanting me to tell the story. She’d done so well at it until now, but when Myrtle turned her silver eyes to me, I couldn’t hold back. The story poured out of me, every little detail. The way it called out my name specifically. The things it said to me: They are not dead, they are coming, Joseph, seek Myrtle. Then I glanced to Jackson since the next part was his story.
“Then it spoke to me,” Jackson said in a low, rough voice. “It said ‘Michael is coming.’”
Then everyone went silent as we waited for Myrtle’s reaction.
For a long moment, she just stared out into the sea.
Then she sighed and turned to Jackson. “I know well of the Lancaster curse. The Crones have been studying it since it happened…and I know of the test Michael will ask of you.”
Jackson’s eyes widened. “You do?”
“Take a breath, my child. Today is not that day.” She nodded and squeezed his shoulder. “Yes, he will come for you, but not yet. But I promise, when that day comes…when Michael shows up on your doorstep…you come to me first, okay? I will help you.”
Jackson sighed so hard he actual swayed.
Before I could stop myself, I reached out and took his hand then squeezed it. He didn’t look at me, but his fingers wrapped around mine and held tight. My heart soared, and it took everything inside me not to smile up at him like some lovestruck little girl.
“I am sorry about Timothy,” Myrtle said softly. “He was a wonderful man. You say he said ‘Joseph Locke?’”
“Yes, that’s what he said.” I licked my lips and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Do you think it was the same Jo
seph the spirit warned me about?”
“Yes, and no.” She pursed her lips and gestured toward Tegan and Cooper. “When you return to Eden, talk to your parents about Ruth and what happened to Joseph. There is no way it can be a different Joseph. However—”
“His name wasn’t Locke, right?” Evaline said with a frown. “I was in Salem when it happened, but I know his name was not Locke.”
Myrtle nodded. “Exactly. I believe Timothy may have been trying to tell you something else, though I cannot fathom what that might have been.”
“What do you know of what happened to Joseph?” Tennessee reached up and tied his long hair into a bun.
“Honestly?” Myrtle glanced around like she wanted to make sure we were alone. “I thought he was dead, along with the others. This is the first I’m hearing otherwise, and I do not like it. I will look into it, but I fear my being on this island will limit my ability to find answers on this. But to start, I would like to know why a spirit reached out to Bettina specifically. It could have told that Major at any moment when they used the board—or your Coven-mate, Paulina, for that matter.”
“Yeah, I wanna know that, too,” I grumbled.
Tegan shook her head. “Paulina tried for days to contact that spirit. We even tried to use a Ouija board with her and Bettina, but no one spoke to us—”
“We were on holy ground, though. I wasn’t the first time,” I reminded her.
“That spirit wasn’t demonic. Of that I am sure.” Myrtle smiled like this was good news.
Which, I supposed it was, but I wanted answers.
“This brings us to the other reason we’re here.” Tegan grabbed my hands and pulled them out. “Her magic is blocked. I tried to break the spell myself, but it’s strong and old. I wouldn’t dare to attempt it by myself. We were hoping you could break it, like you did for Emersyn and me.”
“Well, I was the one who created the spell they put on you and your twin,” Myrtle said with a chuckle. When Tegan made a face, Myrtle patted her cheek. “I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. You see, I already knew you two. I knew how amazing you were and that you weren’t going to give in to your darkness. I also knew you were the Aether Witch, but I might’ve forgotten to tell anyone else. So no one noticed that my spell wasn’t even close to strong enough to fully block your power.”
The Fallen Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 2) Page 15